Juvenile is quite mumbly and incomprehensible at times, but at the same time he is a fun rapper to listen to. Songs like 'Ha' demonstrate this well. Mannie Fresh does a good job with the beats but they don't blow me away as they don't on his other produced albums from around this time like on Wayne's albums. Best Tracks: Ha, Welcome 2 the Nolia, Back That Azz Up, Ha Jay-Z Remix.

For me, Naughty's first three albums are all right up there as far as my favourite albums go. They are each consistent pieces of work each with their own great singles and mix hardcore hip hop with more poppy beats at times containing hooks that'll get stuck in your head. I love everything here except some songs towards the end, although I still like 'em and wouldn't rank them as filler. A hard album. Best Tracks: Hip Hop Hooray (got me into the group), Ready For Dem, The Hood Comes First, The Only Ones, It's On, Written On Ya Kitten.

While I don't find Jadakiss overly interesting to listen to on this album what mainly lets the album down are that some of the beats are quite boring and a few of the choruses are unsatisfying. There are some good tracks mentioned below but nothing too great. Gets a 2/5 after a couple of spins. Best Tracks: Pain & Torture, Can't Stop Me (Hook lets it down a little though), What If, Smoking Gun, Come and Get Me, By My Side

This album has some of the best tracks I've heard in a while. 'Auditorium' is brilliant. Slick Rick needs to drop another album. The best track of the year so far in 'Priority' is way way too short, and probably the best one minute track I've heard but great nevertheless and 'Life in Marvelous Times' is quality and feels like it's always building up. Then the other favs come toward the end titled 'Roses' and the penultimate track 'History'. Amongst the greatness though, not all the production is to my enjoyment. I find a lot of it on the tracks I haven't mentioned boring, and apart from 'Wahid', 'Casa Bey' and 'Quiet Dog Bite Hard', which I enjoy to some degree, it's fairly hit or miss. In saying this though, I have to give 'The Ecstatic' a good 3.5/5 because the best tracks more than earn it and it has some originality to it. Best Tracks: Priority, Auditorium, Life in Marvelous Times, Roses, History

Rating this album ticks off Jay-Z from my to listen to list, and the one I've put off the longest is one that I enjoy more than most of Jigga's albums. Again, there is nothing outstanding in the production department, with the beats following on a tad from the Vol series, but I enjoy this one more. Many of the beats have some funkiness to 'em which is always a welcome addition to hip hop, and there aren't as many average-terrible beats that are on his previous albums. Given all the featuring artists here, including the legendary Scarface and the R&B king, R. Kelly, I'd recommend this to fans who enjoy Jay in smaller doses (me), as this is more of a Roc-A-Fella collab album. Best Tracks: Change the Game, Streets Is Talking, This Can't Be Life, Guilty Until Proven Innocent, 1-900-Hustler, Soon You'll Understand, Squeeze 1st