New Blood 2014 Album

T-Rock

Another few months, another T-Rock/T-Rock affiliated album. I'm not complaining though, as he is my favourite artist who consistently puts out material. However, on average, these compilation type of releases from T-Rock and the Rock Solid Label haven't been as crisp as many of his recent solo albums. This one has grown on me after a few spins but still lacks the real punch his solo albums often have. T-Rock's new R&B signing Kehoa offers something different on the album. It opens with a fiery verse from T-Rock, then Smoke straight away after that. It would have been better separating these because Kehoa's singing verses blend in too much with her hook and it almost gets boring, but has enough going for it. Elsewhere, the Rem Steele (sounds like a wrestler's name or something) songs 'Inhale and Pause' and 'A Peace of Mind', taken from Remsteele's 'Cities Been Raped' are quality with the former being my pick from the disc (T-Rock does these vibey smoke songs well), and the latter features Kool and The Gang's 'Little Children' sample best known to hip hop fans as being in AZ's 'Happy Ho Jackie'. Lil Tec's 'Another Day' is another one worth mentioning featuring a good hook and beat. The only things that kind of fail to work are the posse song 'The Gunline' taken from last year's 'Revelations' by Smoke that goes on a touch too long and 'Shed Some Blood', that while featuring a catchy chorus, fails with the beat and verses. 3-3.5/5 Best Tracks: Inhale and Pause, Another Day, Gotta Go, A Peace of Mind.