Take yourself back to 1997. Nas was coming off his great 'It Was Written' album. AZ reuniting with him for a whole album after the heralded 'Life's a Bitch' with his solid couple of solo projects as well. One of, if not the most popular female rappers, Foxy Brown, coming off a platinum album the year prior. Dr. Dre and the Trackmasters handling most of the production! And Cormega, I mean Nature as the 4th rapper, who was filling in for Cormega, who was meant to be on the album, but had some creative differences. After listening to the themes on this album, and then listening to most of Cormega's subject matter in his work, it doesn't seem like a perfect fit. Despite the change in MC, I can imagine anticipating this heavily in '97, drooling as the plastic was ripped off the case and slotting the CD in the player only to be left disappointed 53 minutes later. If consumers knew that Nas would hardly be on this before they bought it, I'm sure that would've lowered expectations. After track 10, he doesn't have another verse until track 16 and is missing from earlier songs as well. AZ goes missing as well. Wizard has a short track on track 11. I have no idea who that is. It's fairly consistently decent but given the lineup, you'd expect some brilliant songs, and there is none of that here. 1 Intro We are introduced to the Mafioso theme of the album through one of many interludes. 2 Firm Fiasco ★★★★ One of the strongest tracks even if AZ sounds a bit like he is trying to fit too many syllables into each bar with somewhat of an unnatural flow. 3 Phone Tap (Intro) N/A 4 Phone Tap ★★★☆ A clever concept with the verses sounding like they are coming through a phone. 5 Executive Decision ★★★★ 6 Firm Family ★★★☆ 7 Firm All Stars ★★☆ Sounds like something from Bad Boy. 8 Fuck Somebody Else Intro N/A 9 Fuck Somebody Else ★★☆ 10 Hardcore ★★★ 11 Untouchable ★★★ 12 Five Minutes To Flush Intro N/A 13 Five Minutes To Flush ★★★☆ 14 Desperados Intro N/A 15 Desperados ★★★★ 16 Firm Biz ★★★★ 17 I'm Leaving ★★★☆ 18 Throw Your Guns ★★★☆ Best Tracks:

A really nice enjoyable 35 minutes of soul that Barry White did so well across many albums, but only the first song comes close to really knocking my socks off. One of those between a 3-3.5 / 5 Best Track: I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing, Once Upon a Time (You Were a Friend of Mine), I Can't Leave You Alone

"The 13 tracks are mostly throwaways" - AllMusic... I don't know what they're smoking. If you enjoy early to mid '90s Cube, where in my opinion he did very little wrong on any of his projects, you'll love most of these songs. A number are ones you would have heard before as they were added to anniversary issues of his classic albums, but in '94 when this was out they would've been first time listens. The remixes are dope, add something to the originals and in some cases are better. Non-remixes like 'My Skin Is My Skin' and 'You Don't Wanna Fuck Wit These' are bangin'. I put off listening to this for way too long.

Without ever hitting the heights of his earlier career, with Laugh Now, Cry Later, Cube has created another solid worthwhile album again providing some thoughtful content. The topics vary from race on 'Why We Thugs' & 'The Nigga Trapp', current hip hop on 'Child Support' and Cube coming up on 'Growin' Up' among others. There ain't a bad song here with some bangers that make you wanna turn the volume up such as 'Why We Thugs' and 'The Game Lord' and others that make you wanna listen to the lyrics more carefully such as 'Child Support' and 'Growin' Up'. Some of the production is really fantastic. A good comeback album after Cube released his worst six years prior. Beats: ★★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Why We Thugs, Smoke Some Weed, Child Support, The Game Lord

A good consistent debut album from Cube, but not enough blows me away. There ain't as many classics here for me as his later albums would have. This is no doubt due to my favourable feelings toward mid '90s production compared to the '80s/early '90s beats that often just lack that extra punch. An original important hip hop album, but not Cube's best in my opinion. Best Tracks: The Nigga Ya Love to Hate, What They Hittin' Foe?, You Can't Fade Me, Who's the Mack?