There are probably a few different 'classics' fans of hip hop don't find classics themselves unless they are conformists and/or like everything. I am neither of those and this is definitely one that I've always found surprising that it is often considered the best hip hop album ever! I've given this album more than enough time, so much so that my rating of it has increased, but some of the production for me just has a lack of colour, and despite some excellent rapping, half way through some of the tracks I find myself skipping to the next. The monotonous beats just ain't my thing and I don't quite get how they do it for so many rap fans. Maybe the rating I've given it is harsh, and it is a case of great expectations leading to disappointment, but I've never dug this album, or many of the songs enough to put it on any pedestal. Best Tracks: Bring Da Ruckus, Shame on a Nigga, Da Mystery of Chessboxin, Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber, Pt. 2

There is a lot of Juicy J/DJ Paul on this and a number of featuring artists that don't make this be as much of a Gangsta Boo album as it perhaps should be. Lots of the production is too similar and not that great to my ears. I haven't found one great song. I think Boo's vocals are mixed too low at times making it sound like she is yelling but can't project beyond the beat. Best Tracks: Fuck You, Nigga Yeah Know, Money and Powder, This Is Personal, Only You, Who We Be

It seems like a while since I've heard some new Gunplay. 'PYREX POPPIN' is an oldie but a bangin' goodie and there are some other good trap rap tracks containing catchy hooks. Most of the rest are decent. The closer, Bible Off Da Dash, is one of the weakest songs largely due to its poor production that also doesn't sound anything like any of the other songs. Best Tracks: PYREX POPPIN, Aunty Hold Up, Oath, Baby in Da Pool, Paranoid

It's like M. Night and his team of writers thought of a great idea (people ageing quickly) but never managed to come up with a good enough story around it. This does keep the viewer trying to guess the reason for what is happening to the characters, but then the reason/ending is anti-climactic. Another major flaw is the amount of exposition. It's like the script writers were so worried that the viewer wouldn't know what was going on so they needed to explain everything. It comes across as them taking the viewers for chumps.

The biggest issue this has, not unlike other Michael Bay films, is the overuse of comedy. Not only does the comedy not work too well here, it reduces the potential immersion the viewer could feel into the drama the movie creates. Much of it was just out of place as well. An early plot problem was how Danny didn't have a driver 5 minutes before the heist. I don't recall this being explained. That aside, after about 15 or so minutes to orient the viewer, it's basically non-stop action for the remainder of the duration. If you went in knowing who directed this, nothing should've been too surprising.