Swizz Beatz... You can pick his beats from anywhere, particularly from the era this was released in, and that isn't necessarily a good thing. I've never been a fan and there have been many occasions where he has produced the worst song on albums. Here though, it's almost all him. It is hard to get excited about this from the intro where Swizz says the same thing over a poor backdrop. It sets the standard for the majority of this album. Another reviewer labelled the beats as soulless and it's not a bad description. Eve spits hard gangster lyrics that you'd expect and there's nothing great there either but the beats, and hooks in some cases, are the biggest issue here. My favourite track is one of the couple Swizz doesn't handle; the less gangsta, 'Heaven Only Knows', produced by Shok. As with 'Heaven Only Knows', 'Let's Talk About' is probably my other pick where Eve and Drag-On trade bars offering something different. Nothing is memorable. Thankfully her next couple of albums would be a step up. Beats: ★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★ Best Tracks: Let's Talk About, Heaven Only Knows

The thing I enjoyed about Trouble, (3.5/5), was that while it wasn't brilliant from front to back, it was different to most mainstream music, with a few different musical influences throughout most of the songs. Konvicted doesn't have this to the same degree which doesn't make it stand out like his last did. In saying all of this, it's a fairly consistent album and has some great songs to go back to. 3-3.5 /5. Best Tracks: I Wanna Love You, Never Took the Time, Tired of Runnin', Don't Matter, Once in a While, Gringo (Bonus Track)

Despite all the hate for this guy, I've always enjoyed the mix of R&B and hip hop he provides on his records. While I didn't love the single, 'Lonely', tracks like 'Locked Up' and 'Ghetto' are the stand-outs here and provide enjoyment years on. This lacks the consistency his next two albums have, but the best are among his greatest hits. Overall, I don't play the whole thing much these days but I still go back to a song or two every now and again. Best Tracks: Locked Up, Ghetto, Journey, Don't Let Up, Locked Up (Remix) *Written in 2010.

While I rate Ghostface Killah as a rapper, I've never been able to get thorough enjoyment from any of his albums, and after a number of spins of this new offering, the main problem I've had with some his previous projects is what I'm feeling with this as well. That is that the production from Adrian Younge is far too similar among the twelve songs. It's also not progressive at all, to me sounding like something from the '90s, and I feel like I've heard it before. Overall, this is probably a fair reflection of my feelings with many of the Wu artists - I dig the majority of the rapping but the beat selection has never thrilled me. Adrian Younge's influences for this album included Curtis Mayfield and Ennio Morricone. It reminds be very much of RZA's production style who was the executive producer for this album, and there is a bit of that Wu influence, but again, I don't think there is enough for it to stand out, nor do I think that hip hop hasn't done this kind of thing before with eerie beats. Fans of previous Ghostface projects will eat this up, but I feel like I'm almost hearing the same song twelve times. I expected something more unique after boning up about this prior to its release. 2.5-3 /5 Best Tracks: Beware of the Stare, Blood on the Cobblestones, The Center of Attraction, Murder Spree, The Sure Shot

I'm not a big enough fan of Common, nor, at the time of writing this, have I heard enough of his older material to be disgusted at him for going down this path like others are. Production wise, I enjoy most of the songs, which is a surprise given I haven't been a huge fan of The Neptunes lately who produce most of the tracks. Lyrically, it's unCommon like in parts, which brings it down a touch and there are no real outstanding tracks that I see myself going back to in a few months. Edit - I did go back to 'Everywhere'. 3-2.5 / 5. Like 1. Everywhere 2. Inhale 3. Announcement (feat. Pharrell) 4. Gladiator 5. Punch Drunk Love (feat. Kanye West) 6. Changes (feat. Muhsinah) Okay... 7. Make My Day (feat. Cee-Lo Green) 8. Intro/Universal Mind Control (UMC) (feat. Pharrell) Skip 9. What A World (feat. Chester French) 10. Sex 4 Sugar