This is another great project from Naughty By Nature as far as I'm concerned. Not that it means a lot these days but this one won them the first Grammy for best rap album. They were the masters at making rap anthems that maintained a street sound while also appealing to the pop audience, and although not done a lot, they could also make songs with a message. 'Clap Yo Hands'-which uses a sample that they already used on 'Rhyme'll Shine On' on their Naughty debut-, 'Craziest' and 'Feel Me Flow' are some of Naughty's best anthems, being strong chorus based tracks. 'Sunshine' is a good sexual themed tune which follows the pattern of 'Written on a Kitten' from their previous album and works well. All of the rappers flow like a river over the 'Hang Out and Hustle' beat. Minnesota did an excellent job at making 'City of Ci-Lo' feel like you're on a gritty city street corner. 'Connections' is the one real aggressive banger on the album, like Wild Muthaf---as is on 'Icons', however 'Klickow-Klickow' isn't far behind and also goes hard. There is a lot of heat here with many sounds present as well, even though it's handled largely by one producer, Kay Gee, who remains incredibly underrated. The only tracks I lack to feel much on this disc are towards the end of the album. 'Slang Bang', has a weak hook, however Treach and Vinnie trade bars well over the verses, and 'Shout Out', has lyrics that are often just left to the liner notes of an album. While it features decent enough production, we probably didn't need a seven-minute shoutout track. For me, they hit it out of the park with their first three Naughty albums. I probably revisit this one the most though. Beats: ★★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★★☆ Best Tracks: Clap Yo Hands, It's Workin', Feel Me Flow, Craziest

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

The first half is all really solid except for the Danny Brown verse which completely ruins that song. How do people like that voice? But this is 4-5 songs too long. The sound begins to get boring and some of the features are not great at all. Mac Miller's verse being one such example which is annoying. It also could have used another song or two with the energy of 'Shitsville'. Gibbs is at his best over harder beats as opposed to Madlib production in my opinion. Best Tracks: Deeper, Shitsville, Thuggin', Uno.

Piñata was good. I didn't love it. Without relistening to it, from memory my problem with it I think is similar to this one. "It ain't smacking, it ain't funky, it ain't bangin'" - Michael Rapport said this about Nas' 'NASIR', and whilst I was listening to this I thought of that quote. I don't need an album full of bangers but there isn't a lot to get me excited. I like Gibbs as a rapper, but he isn't a great natural fast spitter which he attempts to do a bit throughout this album. In my review of Pinata I said, "Gibbs is at his best over harder beats as opposed to Madlib production", and nothing on this album has swayed me from that opinion. My favourite Gibbs song is '[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZiR4ztpo8c,Fuck Rap Pt 2]' - I think the dark trap like beat suits him best... and even 'Shitsville' which is my pic from his previous album. While he spits with some pace, the beat fits him more. This has a couple of 4/5 star songs, but throughout my 3-4 spins of it, nothing has grabbed me enough to go beyond that.

This begins with odd beatboxing pinball like sounds on 'Bumper Snippet (Kid Part)'. I'd be interested to hear the story behind it. While some aren't the finished product, a number of these songs sound dated compared to what ended up on 'Dangerous'. 'Monkey Business', that made it on to 'The Ultimate Collection' years later, is one of my least favourite unreleased songs I've heard from MJ. 'Work That Body' and 'She Got It' are demos but sound more like incomplete '80s 'Bad' era songs. The arrangements are entertaining at times though. 'She Got It' actually give off a bit of a 'Come Together' vibe. 'If You Don't Love Me' has some ol' school rock influences. It's one of the better songs here. 'Serious Effect' with the LL Cool J feature is decent, but again, doesn't feel like it would've fitted on 'Dangerous'. 'Happy Birthday Lisa' is MJ's song from The Simpsons. It's nice to hear him sing it but isn't a song I'd ever play again. The 'Black or White (Remix)' is The Clivillés & Cole Radio Mix and moves it into the dance genre. It's okay... 'Dangerous (Alt. Ver)' is the early version of "Dangerous" finally released on "The Ultimate Collection" in 2004. This is amazing and almost matches the version that made the album. The 'Who Is It (Remix)' is the IHS Mix and strips it back and extends it. I love the original but I find this version boring.