I'd heard 'Is It Real (My Mind Still Playin' Tricks on Me)' on a '90s hip hop compilation by chance when playing stuff from Spotify and loved it so I thought that I needed to give this a listen.
I've talked about how much I like 'Is It Real'. I think one of the reasons is the contrast between the nicely sung hook and the hard bars. Cube is always a welcome addition on any '90s song and adds to the title track. The hook is basically nothing though, which will be a common theme of this review. The beat is basically just left to ride. 'Rap Rehab' is a decent humorous skit about Willie perhaps not selling the number of records that he thought he would when he went solo. 'Throat' and 'Something Good' are sex tracks. 'Throat' is okay but the hook on the latter isn't something I can really sing along with... 'Guess My Religion' picks it up being topically one the best tunes. Willie talks about the things he laments about religion. Again, though, the hook is just a boring sentence repeated a few times. 'Guess My Religion' returns to a nicely sung hook with synth production. 'I Wanna Fuck Your Mama' is pretty humorous with Willie not scared to touch any topic! "Hit her with this big fat cock and let your daddy watch/What a great adventure/When I make her suck my dick and knock out them dentures." Again, the beat just rides between the verses, as it does on 'Smoke'm'. 'They Laphin' Atcha' is one example where it's basically just laughter and 'Niggas Are Dyin'' is another where the chorus is a child's near-incomprehensible talking.
My initial inclination was to 3.5/5 this and I still will as Willie D is entertaining and the production is likeable but the choruses stop this from being anything better.
Beats: ★★★☆
Bars: ★★★★☆
Hooks: ★★☆
Best Tracks: Is It Real, Play Witcha Mama, Guess My Religion, U Got Homeboys, We Got Homeboys, I Ain't Changin' Shit
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