I really liked 'Love Me or Hate Me' so I got this. Unfortunately, I don't like the rest of the album very much. If you like any other song other than the aforementioned one, then you may like the majority of the album as the rest of the tracks are probably more similar to each other. Best Track: Love Me or Hate Me

This looks like Naughty's last LP they will ever do, and while it doesn't reach the heights of their older music, it's still quite solid all the way through, a better listen overall than their previous album, and as you come to expect there is a mix of anthems and 'real' hip hop on here. Anthem wise you have the tracks such as 'Feels Good', 'Red Light' and 'Swing Swang'. More conscious stuff like the last track 'Family Tree' and 'Naughty by Nature', and you also have what past Naughty albums have had - a sexual inspired track like in 'What You Wanna Do'. There's also what has been on a few previous albums in a real aggressive banger toward the end in 'Wild Muthafuckas' produced by Lil Jon. Unsurprisingly, with Kay Gee not being involved with this album the beats are created by many more producers than their previous efforts, but it still has that Naughty By Nature feel to it, and Treach and Vinnie don't miss a beat. Best Tracks: Icons, Swing Swang, Rah Rah, Feels Good, N.J to L.A, Red Light, Wild Muthafuckas, Family Tree. Here's to another Naughty By Nature album in the future. *Written many years ago.

It's a shame that Shyne seems to have lost his voice while he was incarcerated. He had this great raw style on this and his debut which work well over the right beats, for which this album, more so than his debut has. There are only a few songs that don't work. 'Jimmy Choo', with Ashanti, is too pop for Shyne, 'The Gang' beat is lacking and 'Behind the Walls' doesn't suit him or fit in with the rest of the album's production. The production itself comes from some big names, and Shyne himself provides the beat for a diss track that was recorded from a phone from prison, 'For the Record', along with co-producing a couple of others. It's a tight 4/5 as a few don't work but I love the best few. Best Tracks: More or Less, Shyne, Martyr, Godfather, Edge, Diamonds & Mac-10s

The original version, 'God's Son', is better, and this having clean acapellas over 9th Wonder's beats doesn't help (creates a few gaps in songs), but this is still a good remix album and works better than 9th Wonder's other major remix album from around the same time 'Black Is Back'. The only thing certainly better on this to the original is 'Thugz Mansion' which I think improves on the original - it gives it an actual beat. Elsewhere, the original 'Made You Look' is a great alternative with the 'Broken Wing Bird' sample working greatly. Other than that, all the originals are probably better, but most add something different like 'Hey Nas' which makes the song sound much rawer than its original. The biggest negative difference to the originals as far as enjoyment goes for me is 'Get Down' that doesn't feature a chorus and just lets the beat roll which lets the track down and 'Book of Rhymes' that has a boring beat. Like much of this remix album, with the one track from Stillmatic, 'Ether', 9th Wonder brings down the intensity of the song and makes it a touch more soulful. It you like the underrated God's Son, this is well worth checking out.

I've never loved Lupe's beat selection—even on his acclaimed debut—and there isn't a lot here that blows me away either, but it's comfortably better than his previous two albums, as far as it being a cohesive project goes, as I feel the production more. The only thing I don't like on this is 'Bitch Bad', because no matter how relevant the message is in this song, it isn't brought forward in a way that is very entertaining. Much of the subject matter has been heard before throughout the album, but as Lupe says on 'ITAL', "I know you’re sayin’, Lupe rappin' 'bout the same shit, well, that's cause ain’t shit changed bitch." I also ask the question of what albums these days offer something that is very much original lyrically? It seems okay to be repetitive with pop rap or gangsta rap, but with conscious hip hop it is frowned upon. The rapping is dope though and makes the album for me, as Lupe takes ownership of the songs using a variety of flows, and I don't think that this feels like a 70-minute album. A few songs could have been left in the studio—largely between tracks 9-12—but I don't understand the hate and I enjoy the majority of this album. Best Tracks: Strange Fruition, ITAL (Roses), Around My Way, Audubon Ballroom, Lamborghini Angels, Cold War