The first two songs are similar. They have a nice bounce to the production by Brian Kidd and Timbaland respectfully, and the rappers ride them well. Minus the 'Intro', Swizz Beatz only produces two songs which would normally be a positive, but the production never reaches great heights at all. The DMX track, 'Friend of Mine', is the best thing here. It's not an album that is giving me much to write about. It's all passable gangsta/east coast hip hop, but nothing excels. Beats: ★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: Dirrty, They Ain't Ready, Friend of Mine

This one’s packed with solid late-’90s east coast cuts. DJ Clue and DURO co-produce roughly two-thirds of the production, but it’s the rappers who carry the weight more than the beats with everyone on this from Pun, Nas, Jay, Busta, and Redman to name a few. Drag-On opens the remix of ‘Ruff Ryders Anthem’ with a verse that feels like he’s channelling DMX, but beyond that, there isn’t much to say about this one. Overall, it’s a consistent set of street tracks that are safe, reliable, but lacking anything that really stands out. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: Ruff Ryders Anthem (Remix), It's On, Thugged Out Shit, The Professional, Cops & Robbers, Come On

A longtime Aftermath affiliate finally delivers his album, even if not under the label’s banner. The raw honesty and straight facts on ‘The Heretic’ grab attention immediately and stand as the project’s peak. ‘The Realest Shit’ follows with a classic west coast vibe, and ‘Shoot Em Up’ keeps the momentum strong. After a string of heavy, aggressive cuts, ‘Razor Blade’ offers a welcome switch-up, with Kokane and Warren G joining Bishop for a track that works well. The first half is consistently strong. On the other hand, ‘Lost’ falls flat, weighed down by Sinead White’s whiny, grating vocals. In contrast, her shorter notes shine far more on the hook of the next track, ‘Dream Big’. Unfortunately, much of what follows doesn’t reach the heights of the opening run. At 80 minutes, the album could have benefited from trimming, as the production (sounding like early 2010s Dre house beats) starts to feel repetitive. Still, the highs are undeniably high, and while the back half doesn’t quite measure up, the overall quality never drops too far. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: The Heretic, The Realest Shit, Shoot Em Up, Life or Death, Razor Blade

Swizz Beatz cannot produce whole/the majority of albums. It was never worked. He produces all bar the opener, 'Dope Money', and the R&B track, 'I'm a Ruff Ryder', that are all better than almost everything Swizz touches. The production just lets this down. Too often there is little to no progression and it just seems lazy or like it was created by an untalented producer. Thankfully these Ruff Ryder projects got better from here where Swizz doesn't handle as much of the production. Beats: ★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★☆ Best Tracks: Ryde or Die, I'm a Ruff Ryder, Some X Shit 1. Ryde or Die 73 Samples the dope 'Head Banger' by EPMD. You can't go too wrong with that but it could do more on this posse track that features six Ruff Ryders. 2. Down Bottom 54 Okay, but this gets monotonous. 3. What Ya Want 58 Again, it's okay, but it's just missing something else to make the production feel fuller. It decently toes the line between pop rap and street as Eve could often do well. 4. Jigga My Nigga 50 This is the third Swizz Beatz beat in a row, and man, it sounds so like him, and I don't mean that in a good way. Swizz could make some real cheap amateurish sounding beatz. The hook is purposely low energy too. "Jiggaaa." Nope. 5. Talkin' Money (Skit) 6. Dope Money 64 There's better energy and rapping from the LOX and beat from P. Killer Trackz, but the beat almost has no change, not even for the hook. Still though, this is one the best efforts on the boards. 7. I'm a Ruff Ryder 73 Parlé gives us some R&B and it's one of the best songs so far. This group deserved an album. 8. Bug Out 60 Samples 'Funky Worm' by the Ohio Players that has been sampled hundreds of times. The first of DMX's two solo tracks. A short one though at just over one minute in length. 9. Kiss of Death 54 Jada is spitting, but the beat and chorus isn't good enough. 10. The Hood 50 As before, the production just isn't interesting enough. 11. Platinum Plus 30 As before, but worse. God, Ma$e was fu**ing boring. He could be spitting the best bars of all time, but his voice/delivery is so flat. Again, there is almost no instrumentation changes including for the hook. 12. Buff Ryder (Skit) 13. Do That Shit 52 Eve is trying but it's the same story here too. 14. Piña Colada 60 It's great to hear more of Pun who helps this be okay. But the beat (surprise!) could be better. 15. Some X Shit 70 This track uses a loop later repurposed for DMX’s classic ‘Where the Hood At?’. It almost feels like an early demo of that song, which was ultimately elevated by the additional co-producers on the final version. DMX shifts constantly between aggression and calm, mirroring the production changes, which keeps the track from slipping into monotony.

This begins well, with some standard g-rap, but the quality slowly dips bit by bit, hitting a low with the generic Swizz Beatz cut ‘What They Want’. 'Ghetto Children' is slightly better with some reggae vibes. Then we have the first of two Latin hip hop/reggaeton tracks that are skips for me. Flashy and Scarlett (who?) breathe life back into the album with ‘What Ryders Do’, a smooth pop-rap track laced with soul. Akon produces and features on the following 'Stay Down'. While not his best, Akon didn't miss on hooks from this era. Flashy spits some stories of struggle on the verses. The momentum continues with the Scott Storch produced ‘Get Wild’, the lone DMX appearance, and easily one of the project’s highlights. The beat doesn’t break new ground, but it bangs and the energy is undeniable. That’s the album’s best stretch. 'Blood in the Streets' has weak production and is a skip. Aja Smith's 'Stupid Bitch' isn't bad. Swizz Beatz redeems himself with 'Aim 4 the Head' where Cassidy, Jin & J-Hood spit solid gangsta bars. From there, Drag-On's 'Throw It Up' is weak. The gun cocking sound effect heavy 'Keep the Gunz Cocked (If It's Beef... RMX)' is more decent gangsta rap and on the tier below the best tracks. 'Dale Poppi Dale' s the second reggaeton skip that I alluded to earlier. The final hip hop track sees Flash appear again with '100 Bars of Crack' that features almost six minutes of bars/punchlines that catch the ear often enough to be worth a listen. Given the amount Flashy is on this (six tracks) you'd think Ruff Ryders had bigger plans for him, but we never got anything aside from mixtapes. Then, on the finale we have the softest shit ever from Lynne Timmes that feels completely out of place on this project. All in all, it's inconsistent, but has its moments Beats: ★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: Ruff Ryders 4 Life, What Ryders Do, Stay Down, Get Wild, Aim 4 the Head 1. Ruff Ryders 4 Life 80 2. If It's Beef... 70 3. Knock Knock 60 4. What They Want 40 5. Ghetto Children 54 6. Dame Reggaeton (Skit) 7. Dame Reggaeton 30 8. What Ryders Do 76 9. Stay Down 72 10. Get Wild 80 11. Blood in the Streets 54 12. Stupid Bitch 60 13. Aim 4 the Head 74 14. Throw It Up 44 15. Keep the Gunz Cocked (If It's Beef... RMX) 70 16. Dale Poppi Dale 30 BONUS TRACKS 17. 100 Bars of Crack 61 18. So Serious 60