After finally buying this album after it was released here about two weeks after it was in the US, I was a little bit disappointed. Not because it’s a bad album or that I don't enjoy it, but due to all the reviews and such I've read through in the past couple of weeks I almost expected another Illmatic.
My main problem with this album is the beats. While it definitely has an original sound to it compared to most rap albums, there are many that I don't love. 'Real' is one such example. 'Might Be Okay' follows on a bit from there but the chorus is more memorable. When it works it works excellently though, with songs like 'The Instrumental' and 'American Terrorist' being strong favourites. In terms of the rapping, it's all been said. Lupe is one of the best new rappers doing it in terms of lyrics and his rapping ability.
Overall, it’s a quality album and one of the best of 2006. However, it is an album that while looking through my ratings, I do feel it is out of place with many of the 4/5 star albums, but I don't feel like it belongs with the 3.5 bunch either. All in all I love a handful of tracks here, that no doubt go a long way to this earning this its 4 star rating, but the overall sound doesn't send me into a feeling of ecstasy.
4 - 3.5 / 5.
Best Tracks: Might Be Okay, Kick Push, The Instrumental, The Cool, American Terrorist. Kick Push II
In the years it took for Ryan Leslie to release his debut album, I got both of the unofficial mixtape releases from Ryan Leslie and enjoyed both. I played 'Used to Be' for a while as there were quite a few tracks from it I loved. Maybe that got my hopes up for this. Maybe all his best stuff leaked and were on those unoffical/bootleg releases, but this album is fairly average R&B. It begins well with 'Diamond Girl' and 'Just Right' is good later on but it first leaked in I think 2006, so most would have heard it. Of the rest of the tracks, there ain't a lot to love or hate. Ryan doesn't have a great or overly distinctive voice and it's all okay R&B but nothing blows you away. When you have other similar but better artists all putting out better stuff recently, the only real thing to take from this is Ryan does have his own production style, which if you like will enjoy the album more, but as i said, nothing blows me away.
Best Tracks: Diamond Girl, Just Right, Quicksand
Not as consistent as Lemar's last record, but there are still some excellent R&B/Soul ballads here.
Best Tracks: The Reason, Weight of the World, If She Knew, Over You, Mayday, Wait Forever
Not every track is great, but the best tracks should keep you coming back for more if you enjoy any previous Jaheim records or some nice Soul/R&B recordings. It features a good mix of uptempo joints, like 'Whoa' and 'Her', to your slow-jamz, 'Impossible' and 'Closer', to name a couple. I'd say this has kept me a fair bit more entertained than his previous release and is well worth a listen particularly during the first eight tracks.
Best Tracks: Ain't Leavin Without You, Whoa, Bed is Listening, Impossible, Another Round, Her, Closer, Ain't Leavin Without You (Remix)
This finishes quite well from the nice 'Celebration' with Frédéric Mercier's 'Spirit' sample, which was also used on Jay's Blueprint 3, and from there there are some good tracks, but the beginning of the album features nothing too outstanding. It lacks from not having enough dope beats and containing a few wack hooks such as on 'Sky' and 'Free' which I'm not feeling a lot. Nothing is bad, but there ain't enough I'm loving.
Best Tracks: Celebration, Coming From, Murda
