Here to Save You All 1996 Album

Chino XL

All I'd heard of Chino prior to this was his most recent album, the 2012 'Ricanstruction: The Black Rosary'. I wrote a very brief review citing the rapping as unimpressive. Either he fell off from this or there was something wrong with me seven years ago, because the rapping is fire to say the least. He goes heavy on the punchlines with bars being full of similes. He pulls no punches with them either, taking shots at everyone, feeling somewhat like Eminem before he blew up. The beats are kind of dark, boom bap and give the album a theme. They aren't great, and I probably wouldn't want an instrumental version of this, but they more than do the job and there are some nice touches over the 16 tracks. There is some gangsta rap, some brag rap, as mentioned, Chino taking shots at everyone and also moments where he raps about the challenges of being mixed race on songs like 'What Am I?'. We see that being common with Logic these days. Beats: ★★★☆ Bars: ★★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: No Complex, Partner to Swing, What Am I?, Many Different Ways, Rise