I checked this out after 'County Jail' popped up in my recommended which remains as the best song. The 20th Year Anniversary version is on the streaming platforms and it adds three new songs to the beginning of the album. I was shocked when I heard 'Thug Need Love' as the first song. After hearing 'County Jail' the poppy sounds and subject matter wasn't what I expected. The next 'Photo Shoot Remix' is weak too. 'Comin for You' is harder and better but none of these are worth going back to. I don't know if these are left overs from the '98 recording sessions or new songs. 'Thug Need Love' does seem to have a more modern sound though. On to the original songs that are more my thing. Interestingly, one of these members sounds very similar to Ice Cube at times. I kept checking the feature list to check if it was Cube. Listen to the final song and tell me it doesn't sound like him. There are many better g-funk and west coast albums, but at only about 40 minutes, minus the new three songs, it's an easy listen. Fans of the genre will get something out of this, but there is nothing top tier. Between a 2.5-3 out of 5. Best Tracks: County Jail, Caps, Dopest on the Planet, Rollin' Wit Connect

On Z-Ro's 1 Deep Entertainment label, Lolita has many similar traits. She sings and raps, and does so about many similar topics. There's no doubt he saw some of himself in her. I've played this through about six times and never felt the urge to hit skip. It's a really consistent mix of hard rap with some singing. One thing I like about Lolita, again like Z-Ro, is that she can actually spit. She doesn't talk through the bars like so many hip hop artists these days. She has also written some catchy, well-written hooks and some noteworthy bars that will catch the listeners attention. Z-Ro is officially on six tracks, but I also hear him on 'Top Back', but only Killa Kyleon is credited with a feature. Maybe the Z-Ro vocals are samples? Or it's a mistake. If you like Z-Ro, you should check this out. I actually think it's more consistent than Z-Ro's latest album, 'Pressure'. I couldn't give this less than a 3.5/5. Best Tracks: Top Back, I’m Not Lying, Fresh Set of Dominoes, Listen, My Bad, Nothin but Real Shit

I saw the trailer to this movie a couple of times in the cinemas and it didn't look good. I'm a good judge. I was bored with this. Maybe some lines were lost on me as I haven't seen Nic's whole filmography, but lots of what was meant to be funny fell fairly flat. Surely they could have come up a more interesting idea for Nicolas Cage playing himself than this plot that is basically every action movie ever.

Despite his success as an actor, LL still feels the need to keep hip hopping, releasing his 13th album. When I heard the title of this album, I thought that maybe LL would be returning to his roots, creating an album of hardcore classic hip hop. This thought was quickly put to bed when 'Ratchet' dropped. It isn't great. It improved from there though with 'Take It', that isn't a bad pop rap track, in a similar vein of 'Closer' from the standard version of this album. Of those tracks, 'Take It' only made the bonus tracks, with the final track list being reworked. Original Track List 1. Something About U (FTW) 2. Where Ya At (BOSS) 3. Take It (feat. Joe) 4. Closer (feat. Monica) 5. Too Late 6. New Love 7. Dream With Me 8. Girl So Bad 9. Ratchet 10. Bartender Please 11. Bath Salt 12. Getting Paper 13. Jump On It 14. Hell Yeah 15. Whaddup Overall from this album, of the sixteen tracks that have made the cut, many are pop-rap centered around the ladies such as: 'Between the Sheetz', 'Closer', 'Give Me Love', 'Live For You', 'Not Leaving You Tonight', 'Something About You (Love the World)', 'Take It', and 'Waiting on You'. There are others that are funky, treading the line of pop-rap such as: 'Bartender Please', 'Remember Me', and 'New Love', where Charlie Wilson kills the chorus making it one of the best songs on the disc. The production is great too. Then there are the hardcore hip hop songs that include 'Bath Salt' ("hand on my nuts, that's product placement"), 'We Came to Party', 'We’re the Greatest', 'Whaddup' and 'Jump on It'. I feel like I've said this before on recent LL album reviews, but the pop-rap works better here than the songs closer to hardcore hip hop. His beat selection isn't as crisp on the harder songs. 'Bath Salt' isn't bad, but the others leave something to be desired, with 'We Came to Party' being the worst of these featuring 2003-esque Fatman Scoop shouts. Overall from LL in 2013, I'm not left disappointed. It's an alright listen, with a couple of songs to keep in the playlist, and only a couple of really poor songs. 3-2.5 Best Tracks: New Love, Closer, Take It, Remember Me

Original Review: I can understand fans of early LL material being really disappointed with this, with its half poppy stuff (compared to his last album though you could call some of it NWAish), but apart from loving the track 'Mama Said Knock You Out' and enjoying '14 Shots to the Dome', I have never been a massive fan of his albums as a whole let alone his supposed 'classic' earlier stuff. As a vocalist and rapper though I have always rated him highly on the mic. For me, Exit 13 ain't a terrible album and has enough tracks I like to have some replay value. The track 'Ringtone Murder' though is perhaps a bit contradictory given some of the material he has created is the past. The hardest tracks though, such as 'It's Time for War' and 'Speedin' on da Highway' are quite well done. Best Tracks: It's Time for War, Old School New School, Baby, Baby (Rock Remix), I Fall in Love, Mr. President, Speedin' on da Highway / Exit 13. --------------- 2022 Revisit Review: The beginning of this reminds me of '14 Shots to the Dome'. The first song is dope and the second isn't far off. It's a shame he never quite made an album just full of hardcore hip hop. The hook of 'Get Over Here' ruins it. 'Baby' has a contagious hook but will be too poppy for many hip hop fans. The production aside from the hook is average though. Marley Marl returns for the first time in ages to produce 'You Better Watch Me' that takes us back to a harder hip hop feel for the first time since the start of the album. 'Like a Radio' is very Ryan Leslie. He always had a unique sound. He was everywhere for a minute then never quite seemed to pop. 'Speedin' on da Highway / Exit 13' is the song I have listened to most from this album over the years. It's high energy with LL's rapping great on the verses. There is more of an ol' school feel to some of the production on here compared to his previous albums. There isn't as much pop rap either as a number of his albums. This has a better balance but there isn't enough great stuff. So the thoughts in my original review haven't changed much with this one. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: It's Time for War, Old School New School, Baby (Rock Remix), I Fall in Love, Mr. President, Speedin' on da Highway / Exit 13, New York