This one begins decently with one hardcore hip hop/crunk song after another. From 'Hate Ourselves' the production gets more soulful, the lyrics more conscious and this makes the second half of the album better than the first. It's an easy listen from front to back with 'For the Streets' being the only weak moment for me. As a rapper, Bone Crusher doesn't do anything to make him stand out.
Beats: ★★★☆
Rapping/Bars: ★★★
Hooks: ★★★
Best Tracks: Puttin' in Work, Sound the Horn, Ghetto Song, The Wall
I think this is better than his 2004 effort, 'The Ridah'. It's slightly more consistent; however, there are still some average moments with more of a mainstream sound throughout the album than most of what he released before, some of the hooks could be better, and it never reaches great heights. It begins well enough but falls away from 'She Got Hydraulics on It'. One of the best moments is 'Cold of the Streets' that has elements of the production that reminds me of a well known song that I can't pinpoint at this moment.
Beats: ★★☆
Rapping/Bars: ★★☆
Hooks: ★★☆
Best Tracks: Dyin' 2 Ball, It's Shame, Fake Ass Gangsta, Gangsta Girl, Cold of the Streets
1. Dyin' 2 Ball 70
2. It's a Shame 74
3. Gangster As I Wanna Be 64
4. She Got Hydraulics on It 50
5. Rude Boy 53
6. Fake Ass Gangsters 67
7. Character 54
8. Thug in Me 64
9. Candy 40
10. She So Fly 59
11. Gangsta Girl 70
12. Da Ghetto 65
13. Cold of the Streets 75
14. Thug Thang 66
15. East Bay G's 63
Being set on the Amalfi Coast of Italy there is some scenic eye candy to stare at, but it does feel different to the first two movies. Robert McCall seems more brutal and there is less we see that leads to the violence. The violence is well done but there isn't enough build up to it. It feels like the movie needed a longer running time to build more suspense and more of a dynamic between Robert and the villains for me. It all comes together too easily and quickly. Still a 3/5. I enjoyed it, but it's not amazing.
Mostly produced by Phonk Beta and Lynch himself, everything sounds too similar. It's a difficult album to get through and then to want to play again to get a better grasp of its qualities as nothing is very memorable. Lyrically, it's not as graphic as lots of other Lynch music. Skits are attached to the start or end of tracks that should almost never happen as it ruins the replayability of an album.
Best Tracks: Die (1 by 1), Thatz What I Said, On My Brief Case
My apologies to the previous listeners who have loved this, but the rating is about to drop. I gave this three-four spins and nothing really grabbed me. I've said it many times, but I wish Televangel worked with a different kind of rapper. Sleep is fine, showing an ability to be lyrically for the lyric-heads out there, but these "my mind's always loaded" type of cliched underground rappers get old and there's not much to separate him from so many others. When he quotes Nas' 'Nas Is Like' bars my ears pricked up. It's an easy listen, with a stronger second half in my opinion, but I won't be going back to it.
Beats: ★★★☆
Rapping/Bars: ★★★
Hooks: ★★★
Best Tracks: Create a Player, Incorruptible Saints