Revisiting '23 Review: I revisited Cassidy's other three official studio albums and finish off here. After the first listen, it was clear that this was better than I remembered. While I was coming off his better second and third album with my original review, with this listen I was coming off C.A.S.H., his fourth and worst album, so maybe that had something to do with my original opinion.
1. My Interpretation (produced by Felli Fel) 70/100
The beat is just okay but Cassidy just spits for three minutes straight and uses the same ending sound for each bar which is not the easiest thing to do.
2. Hotel (Swizz Beatz) 90
Cassidy's one true pop hit. R. Kelly kills the feature as he always did adding some of his best Michael Jackson-esque adlibs. The instrumentation sounds like something R. Kelly could have produced that makes it work perfectly with him as the feature.
3. Lipstick (Swizz Beatz) 60
A decent pop rap song that has a different feel for the hook compared to the verses making it stand out.
4. Get No Better (Swizz Beatz) 66
Like the previous song, this toes the line nicely between pop rap and still sounding street. Catchy hook.
5. Make U Scream (Swizz Beatz) 70
More poppy but the contrast between the verses and sampled 'What's a Telephone Bill?' by Bootsy's Rubber Band works well.
6. Tha Problem (Skit)
7. Tha Problem (Swizz Beatz) 64
Samples 'Terminator X to the Edge of Panic' by Public Enemy for an ol' school feel. It needs a beat change or a hook that is more varied to be a next level song from my perspective.
8. Pop That Cannon (Swizz Beatz) 60
The hardest song so far but it's nothing great. Beat is meh...
9. Blood Pressure (J. Brown) 80
The hardest song on the album. Cassidy raps gangster rap bars and the beat thumps.
10. Can I Talk to You (V. Flowers) 76
Franco Micalizzi's 'Affanno' sample is the track and it works really well. Another hard track. The beat change up from the end of the chorus to the verses is dope.
11. Real Talk (Skit)
12. Real Talk (Nottz) 67
The one soulful tune.
13. Husslin' (Swizz Beatz) 70
High energy tune. A grower.
14. I'm Hungry (Rockwilder) 60
This is another that took a listen to grow on me. Decent. Again, the hook could be more creative.
15. Around Tha World (Neo da Matrix) 62
The production is decent here, but the hook could be better.
16. Hotel (Vacation Remix) (Swizz Beatz) 85
Kind of a stripped-back version of the original with Trina and more great Kelly vocals.
Overall, I underrated this. There aren't many skips and bad moments. Cassidy raps like he is hungry and the production is enjoyable for the most part. I think Swizz has had many more misses than hits over his career, often producing the worst songs on albums, but he handles 6 of the 14 songs here and does a decent job.
Beats: ★★★
Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆
Hooks: ★★★☆
Best Tracks: My Interpretation, Hotel, Make U Scream, Blood Pressure, Can I Talk to You, Hotel (Vacation Remix)
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Original Review: I'm reviewing this after listening to Cassidy's second and third album and this is far worse than them in my opinion. His second album features some really good tracks and is a solid album and his third ain't bad but doesn't feature the better songs of I'm a Hustla.
On this album, the main problem I have is with the beats which are mainly done by Swizz Beatz. I've never been a massive fan of his work but a fair few of these tracks are just boring, and this is despite my positive feelings toward Cassidy on the mic which he shows over some better production on his next album. Overall, nothing leaves me with any great joy.
Best Tracks: My Interpretation, Hotel, Make U Scream, Blood Pressure, Husslin', Hotel (Vacation Remix)
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