R. Kelly and Jay-Z's first collaborative effort, 'The Best of Both Worlds', was a let down, and was released around the time of R. Kelly's issues with legalities, so I guess this was take two on the artists' attempt to bring the best of both worlds together. This album is apparently comprised of unreleased songs from their first album, that would also serve as promotion for their tour. However, the tour was short lived with R. Kelly and Jay-Z taking shots at each other during the following years. I guess the two were never meant to be a true team. Although this is said to be predominantly made up of cuts that didn't make their first album, the quality is a touch higher in my opinion. One of the first things I've noticed is that the sound is more towards hip hop, whereas the 'The Best of Both Worlds' is more R&B sounding. This may be because R. Kelly had less to do with the production on these songs compared to the pair's debut with Tone of Trackmasters credited with most of the beats. Like 'The Streets' was on their debut as well, 'Don't Let Me Die' is in the same kind of vein and is by far the strongest song here. It has so much more energy and emotion than anything else here, not to mention layers in the production. It's like it's the only song that they put a lot of effort into. 1. The Return 69/100 See track 11. 2. Big Chips 50/100 Ehh. The production is weak here and vocally there is nothing to save for later. 3. We Got 'Em Goin' 70/100 A decent bangin' hip hop track with Kelly rapping and a catchy enough hook. 4. She's Coming Home with Me 75/100 More Kelly rapping here. It's interesting with a collaboration between a rapper and a singer that Kelly does so much rapping on this album. Another catchy hook sung by Kells backed by a toe tapping melody. Part 2 of 'Somebody's Girl' from 'The Best of Both Worlds' as Jay says. 5. Feelin' You in Stereo 56/100 This is the one solo R. Kelly produced song and you can pick it from the jump. It sounds similar to some songs from the album 'TP.3 Reloaded' from 2005 and also has his signature figurative language touches. It's nowhere near his best though. Jay jumps in for a low effort quick eight bars towards the end of the song. 6. Stop 60/100 Another with more of a hip hop feel to it. It feels like a sample but I'm not sure it is. This one is safe and feels a bit too monotonous. Kelly takes shots at Sisqo who he felt disrespected him by claiming to shut R&B down. "20's on the drop/ Blue and yellow rocks/ Keke yelling stop/ Sisqó's album flopped." 7. Mo' Money 51/100 A remix of 'Get This Money' from 'The Best of Both Worlds' 8. Pretty Girls 73/100 Similarly to 'She's Coming Home with Me', there is a catchy melody and good hook. 9. Break Up (That's All We Do) 75/100 10. Don't Let Me Die 95/100 The choir, the way the song seems more like a collaboration between the two artists than a number of other songs, the passion in Kelly's vocals, etc. It all just comes together to make this the best track here and probably the best track from the two Jay/Kelly collab albums. 11. The Return (Remix) 75/100 Where in the original, Kelly sings putting on a Slick Rick accent, here we have the man himself. This adds to the original by adding Slick Rick and some beat boxing by Doug E. Fresh with Kelly singing over it that should've gone on longer. It plays as a homage to the legends and hip hop. I know I'm meant to give this album a 0 to show how sanctimonious I am, but nothing is bad here. Although this isn't his greatest vocal performance by any means, R. Kelly does most of the heavy lifting, which is a good thing as he is the more talented artist of the two, and there is enough to like. It's a consistently decent project. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Vocals/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: She's Coming Home With Me, Pretty Girls, Break Up (That's All We Do), Don't Let Me Die, The Return (Remix)

T-Rock never stops as he drops another project just a month after his collaboration with Twisted Insane. Unfortunately 'Abort Da Mission' sounds like Rock recorded it in a plane. It was the second song he released on his YouTube channel, so maybe he wanted it to sound gritty? I don't know... The rest of the album is mastered fine. There are some tracks that don't wow me, but he is just such a talented rapper that few in the game have ever ridden a beat as well. The way he just starts spitting on 'Solid' after the introductory chorus is fire. While a lot of T-Rock's catalogue is g-rap, he always includes some intelligent consciousness as he does on 'Biological Warfare' on this project. Best Tracks: Make a Plan, Biological Warfare, Solid, I'm Back, Bounce Back

This album drops off in the middle with 'Kick It Wit You', 'C-Bonics' & 'Bellybutton' being nothing great, but since this dropped in '05, I've always gotten something out of the other songs, and many are the best Cassidy has put on an album out of his four so far. I like Cassidy on the mic. He has a good presence and given he's known for battling and freestyling, it's no surprise he has some good punchlines. A little inconsistent but I love the best it offers, particularly 'A.M. to P.M.', 'Can't Fade Me', and the street anthem 'I'm a Hustla' bangs as well. Beats: ★★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★★ Best Tracks: I'm a Hustla, On da Grind, A.M. to P.M., Can't Fade Me, Get 'Em

Revisiting '23 Review: I revisited Cassidy's other three official studio albums and finish off here. After the first listen, it was clear that this was better than I remembered. While I was coming off his better second and third album with my original review, with this listen I was coming off C.A.S.H., his fourth and worst album, so maybe that had something to do with my original opinion. 1. My Interpretation (produced by Felli Fel) 70/100 The beat is just okay but Cassidy just spits for three minutes straight and uses the same ending sound for each bar which is not the easiest thing to do. 2. Hotel (Swizz Beatz) 90 Cassidy's one true pop hit. R. Kelly kills the feature as he always did adding some of his best Michael Jackson-esque adlibs. The instrumentation sounds like something R. Kelly could have produced that makes it work perfectly with him as the feature. 3. Lipstick (Swizz Beatz) 60 A decent pop rap song that has a different feel for the hook compared to the verses making it stand out. 4. Get No Better (Swizz Beatz) 66 Like the previous song, this toes the line nicely between pop rap and still sounding street. Catchy hook. 5. Make U Scream (Swizz Beatz) 70 More poppy but the contrast between the verses and sampled 'What's a Telephone Bill?' by Bootsy's Rubber Band works well. 6. Tha Problem (Skit) 7. Tha Problem (Swizz Beatz) 64 Samples 'Terminator X to the Edge of Panic' by Public Enemy for an ol' school feel. It needs a beat change or a hook that is more varied to be a next level song from my perspective. 8. Pop That Cannon (Swizz Beatz) 60 The hardest song so far but it's nothing great. Beat is meh... 9. Blood Pressure (J. Brown) 80 The hardest song on the album. Cassidy raps gangster rap bars and the beat thumps. 10. Can I Talk to You (V. Flowers) 76 Franco Micalizzi's 'Affanno' sample is the track and it works really well. Another hard track. The beat change up from the end of the chorus to the verses is dope. 11. Real Talk (Skit) 12. Real Talk (Nottz) 67 The one soulful tune. 13. Husslin' (Swizz Beatz) 70 High energy tune. A grower. 14. I'm Hungry (Rockwilder) 60 This is another that took a listen to grow on me. Decent. Again, the hook could be more creative. 15. Around Tha World (Neo da Matrix) 62 The production is decent here, but the hook could be better. 16. Hotel (Vacation Remix) (Swizz Beatz) 85 Kind of a stripped-back version of the original with Trina and more great Kelly vocals. Overall, I underrated this. There aren't many skips and bad moments. Cassidy raps like he is hungry and the production is enjoyable for the most part. I think Swizz has had many more misses than hits over his career, often producing the worst songs on albums, but he handles 6 of the 14 songs here and does a decent job. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: My Interpretation, Hotel, Make U Scream, Blood Pressure, Can I Talk to You, Hotel (Vacation Remix) -------------- Original Review: I'm reviewing this after listening to Cassidy's second and third album and this is far worse than them in my opinion. His second album features some really good tracks and is a solid album and his third ain't bad but doesn't feature the better songs of I'm a Hustla. On this album, the main problem I have is with the beats which are mainly done by Swizz Beatz. I've never been a massive fan of his work but a fair few of these tracks are just boring, and this is despite my positive feelings toward Cassidy on the mic which he shows over some better production on his next album. Overall, nothing leaves me with any great joy. Best Tracks: My Interpretation, Hotel, Make U Scream, Blood Pressure, Husslin', Hotel (Vacation Remix)

I feel like Cassidy was starting to drop off from being in your general hip hop fans' eye-line with his fourth album. The lines are blurred more so now than ever, but this is considered his last official album to this day. The producer list isn't bad, with Cassidy retaining some producers from his previous projects, like Bink! and Neo da Matrix, but a staple of his previous albums was his mentor Swizz Beatz, who isn't involved here. Cassidy adds more titles to his producer CV, co-producing a number of songs and producing the final track, as he did on his previous album. It begins with Cassidy just listing people he'd like to see rap battle on 'Face 2 Face (Intro)'. Any hip hop head will get something out of it listening to the rappers he names, but it's not one to put on repeat. The following 'Paper Up' samples 'Quick Fast, in a Hurry' by New York City making for some decent production with a catchy enough hook. 'Hate Me or Love Me' has enjoyable verses, but the hook is weak. 'I'm a G Boy' is the one song I've gone back to since first hearing this album. The production is thumping and Cassidy spits some noteworthy bars. 'Peace' is one of the rare moments that isn't just gangster rap or pop rap. Overall, the production isn't great, sounding cheap in parts, and is a sizeable drop-off from the best he had on his second and third album. Even the self-produced final song isn't as good as what he created on his last album, 'B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story'. With Cassidy's second and third album there seemed to be development as an artist, with more maturity and content in his bars, but there isn't much here at all. It shows devolution as an artist. Beats: ★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★ Best Tracks: Paper Up, I'm a G Boy, Peace