All in all some of the beats are average, but when Luda comes, he still comes with that mic presence, flow and charisma that made him who he is in the rap world. I hope that for the album that has seemingly been coming for years, Luda gets more beats that suit him well, as he is still an attention grabbing rapper. Best Tracks: Raised in the South, Shes a Trip, Mad Fo

I'm still yet to listen to all of The Roots earlier, slightly more acclaimed material, however, after listening to this and their previous release, and seeing fans of their earlier material still predominately enjoying them, I'm not sure it will do me any good. My main issue with this album is just that nothing grabs me a lot. The hooks are too soft and at times annoying with corny, poor lyrics. 'Right On' is an example of the annoyance of the chorus - very whiny high kind of singing. Also, the rappers, largely Black Thought, don't do much for me as far as their voices go, there ain't a lot of distinctiveness. You could pick a 2pac, Rakim, Ice Cube, Biggie etc out of a crowd of thousands, Black Thought doesn't have that quality. Furthermore, just as I give long albums some leeway, a short album like this needs to knock my socks off, which is doesn't. And call me crazy but I don't understand what you are meant to do with the couple of 40-second songs either. They are over before they begin.

I don't get the Chingy hate that you get in some corners of the internet. Sure his lyrics aren't great, but neither are a number of acclaimed rappers. He can rap and his beat selection isn't too bad here. That is, until the last few songs where the quality really falls away. I think I'm yet to hear one song with Fatman Scoop that has been good. Some decent songs. Best Tracks: Club Gettin Crowded, Nike Aurrs and Crispy Tees, Cadillac Door, Pullin Me Back

This has comfortably the best run of tracks I've heard from anything by J-Kwon. Erryone knows he doesn't have the greatest skills or pen but I'm enjoying the beats on this album (more so the first half or so of it) and some of the catchy choruses. Vocally though it's like he is trying to sound like Lil' Wayne throughout much of this album, he even does that Lil Wayne laugh during 'What You Heard About Me' and he also uses some autotune. One of the most heard things anyone says in rap to up and comers is to be yourself. Subject wise it won't be a surprise that it is all gangster and brag rap also. The gangster side of things has increased more than he has done in the past. It's hard to recommend J-Kwon but I've surprisingly found enough I like. Best Tracks: Close Your Eyes, What You Heard About Me, I'm Shinin', Just Don't Kno, Just Livin' My Life, Tipsy '09

After the unfunny intro, where J-Kwon tells us why he didn't buy a beat for the 'Intro', (to spend money on kush among other things), the two standouts, 'Hood Hop' and 'Tipsy' get the bass going. The strength with these tracks is the bangin' production. Most of everything else isn't as bad as some others will have you believe, there are some reasonable beats throughout it, but it isn't special either. Best Tracks: Hood Hop, Tipsy