I love some of the sounds on this. 'Aye' reminds me of some classic '90s hip hop that I can't put my finger on. Songs like 'Gheddo Motivation', that seems to borrow from Outkast's 'GhettoMusick', has a catchy rhythm with clever song writing, as a number of these songs do. Known for his comedic abilities, some of the skits work, while others, such as 'Obama Stick Up' are a waste of time. I don't get why some skits are titled with 'Skit' and others aren't, but anyway. The Jersey posse cut, 'Lite It Up', is full of well known '90s rappers, but the beat is average and only hearing the legendary Treach for eight bars is just a tease. I just said this in my review of Snoop and Dre's album, and I'll say it again, if another song is never made about the topic of weed again, we won't be missing anything. Snoop has to be tired of it by now and with Redman in his mid 50s, the average listener may have been wishing for a little more lyrical growth. Redman kept us waiting, and while the album falls away somewhat as it concludes, he's given us a fairly consistent body of work here, albeit without having anything that touches his best creations. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Lalala, Aye, Don't Wanna C Me Rich, Gheddo Motivation

This one is a well produced, fun tape with many different sounds present. 2 Lettaz sounds like Freddie Gibbs, which is a good thing as his voice is dope. An overlooked project that I just added to the AOTY database. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: 2 Joints, Jimi, Crave You, 565 Shit

This sounds as you'd expect a Daz album to, which isn't a bad thing. 12 tracks of bangin' west coast hip hop. The only song that sounds a bit different is the more romantic 'I Love You', but Daz wrote a catchy hook, which he has for many of these songs. After a number of albums in the 2010s with Daz using other producers, it's no surprise that he sounds better with himself making the beats, which he does here. As I say a lot, there is nothing touching this artist's best work, but everything is a high enough standard to enjoy repeated plays. As I also wrote about the previous Daz album, the yell/howling vocal effect that appears way too often is really annoying and he needs to stop using it. All in all though, this is one of the most consistently solid albums from front to back that I've heard this year. It's all good music. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: How 2 Become Number 1, Don't Waste My Time, U a Buster, I Love You, Who Do U Think U Are 1. Dilly Tha Dogg 70 2. How 2 Become Number 1 77 3. Don't Waste My Time 83 4. U a Buster 80 5. Hittin Switches 74 6. Mind on My Money 72 7. Who Do U Love 70 8. I Love You 78 9. Top Down 70 10. My Life 74 11. Who Do U Think U Are 77 12. I Like Dat 70

This is full of mostly mediocre pop rap. 'Ooh Big Momma' samples the classic 'Computer Age (Push the Button)' by Newcleus making that one stand out, but at the same time, it's not one I'll be rushing to play again. Nas' 'I've Got to Have It' sounds like it could've been a Nastradamus cut. 'I Want to Kiss You' sounds like a Mariah Carey song. Mac Nelson's R&B song, 'Love's Not Love', is comfortably the best thing here. Best Tracks: Radio, Love's Not Love, Ooh Big Momma, Get Up

There's nothing in the first song. 'Mini Birki' couldn't be more generic. 'Fresh' could use some drums kicking in at some point. 'Paradise' sounds incredibly dated. The title track does as well, but it's better. See what was said on 'Fresh' for 'They Don’t Love You'. You can't give us only 31 minutes of music and it be this weak. There's nothing to revisit here. Best Tracks: Dog House, The World Changed on Me