Same old formula from Twista. Some reasonable hardcore hip hop with ferocious spitting, although these are even a step below his past material, surrounded by pop rap and other songs with so-so production. He needs to try something different. A whole album with the same producer doing hardcore hits.
This album is basically as unconscious as hip hop gets, just look at the tracklist, four to five of them are about nothing but getting paper, but it's hard to listen to many of these songs without wanting to bounce. Paul continues to ride the beats in an enjoyable manner as well.
After three great albums Paris couldn't quite keep it up long enough, and while not by much, this album is a small step in the wrong direction. It is still good though with Paris continuing to make some great beats, be it the laid back or hardcore kind, but some don't work quite as well in keeping you interested for four minutes. Lyrically it also isn't as powerful as before. It drops off in the second half also which you couldn't say about a Paris album in the past. In saying all of this though, I think if you like his other material a lot you should enjoy this as I do. Paris doesn't make bad music.
Best Tracks: Mob On, Fair Weather Friendz, Act Right, Street Soldier, It Don't Stop, Conversation
A fairly consistent album from T.Q,. and as with his past releases, the production sounds a touch different to what's out there with other artists. Track for track, this starts off fairly well with the songs with more of a hip hop feel to 'em kicking the album off. Then 'The Fastlane' adds to that list a few songs later on with a nice hip hop themed tune. Actually, while most it is R&B, it certainly has a bit of a hip hop feel to a lot of the production as do the lyrics like 'the aforementioned 'The Fastlane', 'Kill Jill', 'Pop Pop' and 'Electronic' where T.Q. sings "Even if it's electronic, it's gangster because I'm on it". While there is nothing too great about this fans of T.Q. and general fans of R&B with an influence of hip hop should find something here - the tracks mentioned below have been getting a good amount of plays since I got this album.
Best Tracks: Pop Pop, Street Dreams, Kind Of Blue, The Fastlane, Wett, Cry, Unbelievable
There's some good conscious hip hop on offer here, albeit without much content that we haven't heard before. The album gets better toward the end with some recognisable soul samples put together by DJ Shakim such as Andrae Crouch Singers 'I Come That You Might Have Life' on 'Shine' that Snoop Dogg also used on 'I Love to Give You Light' from 'R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece'. The lyricist Spectac does his thing, as mentioned mostly spitting some conscious hip hop, with a few songs specifically about the golden age of hip hop such as 'I Miss...', along with 'Can I Kick It?' using A Tribe's famous chorus.
Best Tracks: Moment of Truth, B Sure, Shine, I Was Born