"Don't get me wrong I put songs that was conscious out / But I'll still grab the Thompson and blow your conscious out" Cassidy was involved in a murder case between recording his previous album, 'I'm a Hustla', and this project which plays a large part in the topics on hand. Where the previous two albums featured a lot of brag rap, battle rap like punchline bars, and some tracks for the ladies, here there are many more introspective, religious, and conscious moments. He would've been stupid not to use what he'd experienced throughout the trial and behind bars as lyrics for the album and the variety of songs means he isn't just making the same album again. 1. Intro (B.A.R.S. Vs. Da Hustla) 64/100 Cassidy starts this album in a similar way to his previous one, battling an alter ego that includes some self-deprecating bars. The production isn't as bangin' but it works okay. 2. My Drink N My 2 Step 31 Swizz Beatz is back to his worst here. There is nothing good about this one. 3. Where My Niggaz At 44 Again, the production isn't very likeable on this attempt at a hard, gritty gangsta rap type of track. 4. I Will Never Tell (Uh Uh) 62 One of the many anti-snitching songs within the hip hop genre. The change up from the bridge to the chorus is likeable. 5. I Pray 60 Another decent song, this time about the power of prayer, but it doesn't go beyond decent. The production just needs something else. 6. Innocent 89 After building through some okay moments, this is the first song that hits. Cassidy raps about his murder case: "They showed up to the crib that my mother was at / My son, my baby mother, and my brother was at / And they was strapped, actin tough and start bustin the gat / To protect my family I started bustin it back." 'Innocent Man' by Mark Morrison is sampled and it all comes together nicely with the interesting lyrics. Swizz Beatz redeems himself from 'My Drink N My 2 Step'. 7. Cash Rulez 43 More repetitive production that doesn't work well enough. 8. Leanin' on the Lord 80 Cass is back on the gospel tip and Swizz again provides a beat that works. Lyrically, this feels a little like R. Kelly's 'Pray Changes', where Cassidy begins each verse with "Here's a story" and tells a different tale about the subject turning to God, including the third verse that is autobiographical. 9. Damn I Miss the Game 93 Catchy hook, dope production and relatable lyrics about missing what hip hop used to be. 10. Done 4 Me 83 More enjoyable jazz rap/soul production backed by lyrics about Cassidy being thankful for what he has and what God has done for him. 11. I Get My Paper 53 I don't love the chorus of this one 12. Take a Trip 52 On 'I'm a Hustla', Swizz was 1 from 4, producing most of the worst songs, and here I'd give him 2/4. This is the one love/girl track from the album. 13. Celebrate 74 "Get the obituary ready, get the Reverend / My old style died, and went to punchline Heaven / You cats know that that's my flow, I'm a legend" This one is thematically similar to 'Done 4 Me'. 14. All By Myself 80 As the title suggests, Cassidy created this song all by himself. More introspection, being thankful for God, and a lack of trust in others are the themes. "I wanna thank my fans, good looking for the mail / Cause I was going through it when they put me in the jail / They put me in the cell, just me and the rats / And my relationship with God is what kept me relaxed." I don't know how much else Cassidy self-produced, but if he actually did produce this all by himself, he should've kept going. The production is really nice. There are some strong moments, but the production isn't good enough on too many songs to make this album stand out from the crowd. With some of the content, where he was, coming out of such a life changing moment, it's a shame the production isn't to a more consistent high standard. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: Innocent, Leanin' on the Lord. Damn I Miss the Game, Done 4 Me

Maybe this is slightly overrated in some circles, but I can't give this any less than a high 4/5 myself. Big L is so likeable on the mic, and while the dark, raw, horrorcore influenced beats do fall short at times (e.g. '8 Iz Enuff'), they are good enough on the whole. Big L may not have the content of some other legendary rappers of the mid '90s, as he is more of a punch-line rapper, but he does it flawlessly. The best tracks are classics, and while I don't feel a few of these enough to give the album a higher rating, I'd still recommend this very quickly for the best it offers. Beats: ★★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★★☆ Best Tracks: Put It On, MVP, No Endz No Skinz, All Black, I Don't Understand It, Fed Up Wit the Bullshit, Let 'Em Have It "L"

From only the first few songs, I was thinking that this was already better than his previous efforts, 'E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front' and 'Anarchy'. The production is much better and the songs more catchy. While there are producers from his previous album/s, the addition of Dr Dre, Mel-Man, and others just upping their game make this a more enjoyable project. The Neptunes join the party for two songs, but I don't think either are great with 'What It Is' having some 'Drop It Like It's Hot' minimalist production but it suffers from the meh Kelis chorus. The boom-bappy, 'Shut 'Em Down 2002' makes me wish Busta had more songs in this style. In saying that, at 81 minutes with 'Pass the Courvoisier Part II' as an extra track, this still has some fat to trim. 'Pass the Courvoisier' (that pails in comparison to the great Part II), 'Genesis', that doesn't do enough to make it interesting, and 'We Got What You Want' are some of the weak ones. And others like 'Betta Stay Up in Your House', 'Ass on Your Shoulder' and 'You Ain't Fuckin' Wit Me' are okay but don't bring the house down and the quality of the songs does drop off after 'Holla'. In comparison to Busta's previous efforts, there are fewer songs to skip, there aren't as many average songs, and the best are better than on the previous two albums. I'm five albums in to my revisiting of Busta's discography and I'd place this one in second place behind his debut at the moment. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Everybody Rise Again, As I Come Back, Shut 'Em Down 2002, Break Ya Neck, Bounce, Truck Volume, There's Only One, Pass the Courvoisier Part II

Firstly, why the hell is the clean version the only one on Spotify? I never understand why this happens... Getting over this annoyance is made easier by the quality of the beginning of the album that is to a high standard. The opener samples 'Wild Flower' by Creative Source with Floetry adding in soothing vocals making for a soulful track with Cheeks rapping mostly about the state of hip hop. Then Mr. Cheeks remakes the hip hop classic 'They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)' with 'Reminisce 03'' that keeps the original artists onboard, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth. Anyone would sound great over the Reminisce instrumentation so it's a bit of a cheat code. 'Hands High' brings us more of the radio friendly danceable production that some songs on his debut had. I mentioned in my review of his debut, that there were a number of tracks that toed the line nicely between boom bap but still felt somewhat poppy, but some here, like 'Back Again' and 'Pimpalicious' step over the line for me and make the tail of the album disappointing. Before them though, 'I Apologize' and 'Crush on You' get into the R&B influenced relationship raps. Both choruses are nice with Mario Winans' 'Crush on You' making for the better pop rap song. Unfortunately the backend stops this from getting a higher rating, and as I mentioned in previous reviews of Cheeks albums, as a rapper, he doesn't do anything that makes him stand out. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Supposed To, Reminisce 03', The Hussle, Crush on You, Let's Get Wild, The Wire, Brighter 1. Supposed To 84 2. Reminisce 03' 90 3. The Hussle 79 4. Hands High 66 5. I Apologize 60 6. Crush on You 80 7. Let's Get Wild 71 8. The Wire 81 9. Back Again 54 10. Pimpalicious 50 11. Brighter 74

Revisiting Review '23: Earlier this year I was revisiting Busta's discography, but I stopped at 'The Big Bang' knowing that this was next which I originally had rated at 1/5! With the revisiting of Busta's work resumed, let's see if it's as bad as I remembered. 1. Wheel of Fortune ★★★ From the jump, this will catch the listener's attention with its operatic introduction. It's not that enjoyable to listen to, and is somewhat of a risk and unconventional choice from Busta that could be said on other tracks as well. It borrows from 'DeBarge's 'I Like It' for the hook and it's not great. It won't be the last time I'll mention a bad chorus throughout this review. The song is okay though, with some interesting production touches from DJ Scratch, but it would be considered filler on his best albums. The way Busta raps here reminds me of Slick Rick at times. 2. Give Em What They Askin For ★★☆ This time the chorus borrows from Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams'. Again, there is not a very enjoyable hook. Busta is of course an outstanding rapper, so he makes this average production okay during the verses. 3. Respect My Conglomerate ★★ With a better hook this would be okay, but Debby Coda just talks throughout the chorus with a less than appealing accent and tone that ruins the song. The production is late '00s all the way. 4. Shoot for the Moon ★★★☆ Coming into the middle of the chorus, tell me this doesn't sound like 'Compton' by The Game... "Where the cops is crooked, and them bitches is killas/And them niggas hold it down like black guerillas." Those lyrics enter my head every time. This is the first likeable song mainly because there is nothing annoying about it and the chorus is decent that contrasts nicely with the verses. 5. Hustler's Anthem '09 ★★★ And something about this make me think of 'I Love My Bitch' by Busta and Kelis. Interestingly, both of the soundalikes I've mentioned are produced by will.i.am. Another decent pop rap song. 6. Kill Dem ★★★☆ Busta brings out his Jamaican roots with the way he raps on this one. The chorus is in two parts, first with Busta and Tosh Alexander, and then Pharrell. I like the production. 7. Arab Money ★ And.........we're back to the wack choruses. Ron Browz gives us some Arabic in autotune. Again, once Busta hits on the verses, it's okay, but the chorus hurts the song as a whole and the production is once again very late '00s and poor. 8. I'm a Go and Get My... ★★ I like most of the production and there is some more risk taking with the chorus being somewhat unique inspired by the shopping scene in the film 'All About The Benjamins', but Mike Epps "Doo doo do do dooooooo" throughout the verses are unnecessary and annoying. And it also takes one minute to get into the song that limits its replayability for anyone who did like the song. 9. We Want In ★ More crap autotune choruses, again from Ron Browz. From the number of bad choruses on this album, I think this is my least favourite. 10. We Miss You ★☆ As above but not quite as bad. Another unlikeable chorus that seems to go on forever. 11. Sugar ★★ Finally some actual natural singing on a chorus. This is the obligatory sex track. Some of the lyrics are as cliche as it gets throughout the verses for this type of song. It's listenable, but not one to rush back to. "I wanna taste your body (yeah)/I wanna taste your face/Wanna taste your breasts/Taste below your waist (uh-huh)." 12. Don't Believe Em ★★★ Again, everything here is so '09. The triumphant beat from Cool & Dre, Akon on the hook and T.I. as a feature. There is nothing to dislike on this one, but it doesn't elevate itself to anything noteworthy for me. 13. Decision ★★★★ This is fairly easily the best song. It's full of talented artists, and Mr. Porter provides solid production that sounds like it would have fitted perfectly on 'The Big Bang'. 14. World Go Round ★☆ This dance-pop rap song samples 'Sweet Dreams' by the Eurythmics. It might get a club going, but I don't like it. It's a poor way to end the album after the improving couple of songs before it. At least the chorus doesn't ruin the song though. After revisiting this, it's not as bad as I remembered. There are some decent moments and I like songs like 'Decision' more than I did previously. Half the songs though have something unlikeable about them with most of those things being bad choruses. Unfortunately Busta and his producers got caught up in some of the bad trends from the time this album was created that makes for too many bad moments across the 14 tracks. Beats: ★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★ Best Tracks: Shoot for the Moon, Hustler's Anthem '09, Don't Believe 'Em, Decision ----------------------------- Original Review: This has some alright tracks but all in all it's another very disappointing album from Busta and after what I thought was an improving 'The Big Bang' came in '06 I expected more. The production throughout is fairly average but 'Wheel of Fortune', 'Respect My Conglomerate', 'Arab Money' and 'I'm a Go and Get My...' are all further ruined by featuring annoying chorus' which is a shame cause I actually don't mind the production and verses of 'I'm a Go and Get My...' or in the opening tracks case an annoying intro. If you listen to older Busta stuff, either his debut album or guest appearances around that time like 'Yeah' with Keith Murray or even really further on like 'Break Ya Neck' he really had as I wrote on The Big Bang review, "jack in the box attitude" which made the music more fun which I think suits him more than what he is doing on this disc. To the little I enjoyed now, 'Shoot for the Moon' ain't bad and is my pick from the disc, 'Hustler's Anthem '09' is a good pop rap tune, 'Kill Dem' ain't bad either with the Neptune production showing through, but again nothing groundbreaking, T.I. is enjoyable on 'Don't Believe 'Em' and 'Decision' is alright also but again nothing to put into a playlist. Overall, what's bad is unlistenable and what's okay-good is nothing you haven't heard before. Best Tracks: Shoot for the Moon, Hustler's Anthem '09, Kill Dem, Don't Believe 'Em, Decision