This starts off brilliantly and makes it very hard for you not to be disappointed with the rest of the album. 'NY Weather Report' to 'Say Something' are all 5/5 songs, but from there most of the beats just lack anything special. Talib would have been better off spreading them around a lil. Among the weakest here are Madlib's beats ('Soon the New Day' & 'Eat to Live') who I'm not a fan of and are borderline boring tracks. Worth checking out because the best are crack, and the worst ain't too bad, but it's too inconsistent for a higher rating. Best Tracks: NY Weather Report, Hostile Gospel Pt. 1 (Deliver Us), Say Something, Hot Thing, Listen!!!

I've said this with Slaughterhouse and other hip hop groups, but to be a successful hip hop duo or group, in my eyes, there needs to be distinction between the rappers. I don't hear enough between the Bone Thug members and they don't have captivating voices. It all sounds a tad too similar early on into this release and while they are good technical fast rappers, at times they are extremely difficult to understand, although this complaint isn't exclusive to these rappers. Overall, I find this to be pretty boring and one paced. Even the Grammy winning single 'Crossroad' is lackluster. One of those hip hop albums heralded as a classic that I don't get. Best Tracks: Down '71 (The Getaway), Mo' Murda

I'm a fan of B.V. His first two albums have some of the best R&B the mainstream has given us over the past 10 years, and his next two had their moments as well. There are too many weak features on this, with the best tracks being solo tracks. It doesn't help when I only really like one of the featuring artists in Cassidy. In saying that, 'Mirror' is pretty good, but it would have been much better without Wayne who misses a lot more than he hits with his features these days. While I'm on this topic, I've never really been a big fan of a quick 16 in R&B songs. There are exceptions to the rule, but a lot of the time I find it to be a bit pointless. For his 6th effort, Bobby would be better off just having one or two features for radio play and keeping the rest for himself. Hit or miss but the hits are fantastic. Best Tracks: Before You Break My Heart, Nothing on You, Save Me from Me

Not long ago, David Banner boasted in an interview that "this was one of the best albums since the '90s", so that reminded me that I needed to check it out. After a few spins I just find this to be an album that just comes and goes. 'The Light' almost makes it to be a true standout, but doesn't quite get there, and there just isn't much memorable stuff here. Surprisingly the track I cited as the best track earlier is the only one that 9th Wonder isn't credited to of having produced. David Banner isn't a great rapper either, and doesn't make the album excel. Some of the hooks kind of get worse the further the album goes on also. It's okay, but for only 30 minutes of material, this should be much better. Best Tracks: The Light

It's a shame how some of these brilliant beats-due largely to great sampling-could have been brilliant songs, and there are enough great beats for it to have been a brilliant album. But unfortunately, like another producer come rapper in Black Milk, they bring some of the songs down a notch by being on them. I think it says something when my favourite track is the 'instrumental' final track. Even a number of the features have weak voices. Nevertheless, the album is good, a grower, and one which improves as it goes. Couldn't give it any lower than 3.5 / 5 Best Tracks: They Told Me, When I Was Young, The New Day (Death Has No Meaning)