Some good songs, with humorous lines as Redman has always written. The beats, largely handled by Erick Sermon and Redman himself, are good enough without jumping out at you too much. It's worth noting also that the beats are not as funk-influenced as much of Erick's previous beats. A solid album without being anything extraordinary, hence the 3/5. Redman fans should get something out of this. Best Tracks: I'll Bee Dat!, Jersey Yo!, Keep on '99, Da Da DaHHH, D.O.G.S., Brick City Mashin'!, Soopaman Lova IV

Mario is back after his previous album, 'Go', didn't quite achieve the commercial success of his breakout, 'Turning Point'. For me 'Go' had a few solid tracks but didn't keep me interested enough to listen to the whole album, at least not very often. This may explain the direction this album and lead single has taken. Listening to this album (which I have about seven times already) you can see almost every song being able to achieve radio success, something his previous albums haven't had. Much of this album, particularly the first half, is heavily influenced by hip hop production and is dance/club R&B. It gets a touch into more contemporary R&B closer to Mario's breakthrough track 'Let Me Love You' toward the end of the album but most of it still maintains more of an upbeat feel. The slowest track comes with the final track, 'The Hardest Moment', which reminds me a bit of Michael Jackson's slower songs in the Dangerous/History era. Apart from the opener, which is easily the worst song on the disc, (it just sounds like a million other boring beats Gucci and other southern rappers of his quality have used, and it doesn't allow Mario any room to move), there ain't a dull moment on the album. The only small problem with the overall faster pace of the album means that it doesn't allow Mario to quite use all his vocal skills often enough to their full potential. The other negative for me is Big Sean on 'Before She Said Hi' which is one of the best tracks on the album. But I'm not really feeling his rap verse at all on it. It brings the track down a notch. Track for track though everything is solid and I think this is comfortably the most consistent Mario album of his four. So far this year the R&B I've given a listen to has had a pretty good success rate. Best Tracks: Get Out, Soundtrack to My Broken Heart, Starlight, Ooh Baby, Before She Said Hi, Don't Walk Away, I Miss My Friend, The Hardest Moment

While looking forward to this album as I do with anything Nas has involvement in, I never had high expectations as the other half of this collaboration, Damien Marley, is someone whose material I haven't enjoyed too much. However, I did love their collaboration, 'Road to Zion', which was easily the best song on Marley’s grammy award-winning 'Welcome to Jamrock', so there was some hope for some great songs, if not a great album. However, after plenty of spins, I'm fairly happy with the quality we have received, and I probably like this more than I thought I would. It's a very cohesive album with a constant theme throughout, lyrically and on the boards. It's one of those albums, because there are some great tunes, particularly at the beginning of the album, the slightly weaker tracks do grow on you the more you listen. As just mentioned, it does start off great with Nas and Damien trading lines in the opener which does give any track afterwards a hard task in bettering it, however, all of the first three tracks are very good. And while there are a few slightly weaker tracks like 'Land of Promise', it is easily one of the more consistent albums that you'll hear these days. To the artists, and when Nas does get the chance to rhyme on this he impresses, with a similar flow to that on his last album. The fact he is spitting similarly themed lyrics probably adds to that feeling. Damien Marley is also good vocally, and you couldn't get a much more distinctive pair. Although sometimes, particularly when is trying to sing/rap fast, his accent makes it hard to completely comprehend the lyrics. Their styles do combine for something unique though. Overall, the sixty-two-minute duration does fly very quickly even after many listens, which is always a good sign an album ain't too bad. Also, pulling off a six-minute song can sometimes be a challenge in hip hop but 'Strong Will Continue' particularly, feels like a general four-minute tune. The only criticism and why this doesn't get a higher rating from me - is probably that it lacks that one or two more really great songs. Collaborations like this are generally hard to pull off but the Distant Relatives have created a very cohesive crossover album that is hard to place in particular genres. If you enjoy what Nas has been doing on his past couple of albums and a touch of Reggae/R&B, this should be a likeable album for you. Best Tracks: As We Enter, Tribes at War, Strong Will Continue, Friends, Dispear, Nah Mean, Africa Must Wake Up

I enjoy Daft's debut, I heard it a lot as a kid when my sibling played it, and I heard this a fair bit as well, but my memories of it aren't as positive. In terms of the sound it would be the equivalent of a rapper going from gangster rap to pop rap with their second album. I always hated 'One More Time', which I didn't even think was a Daft Punk for such a long time because it is so soft. Given that, I'm surprised the majority think it is better. 'Superheroes' develops into being '70-s'80s influenced, as is 'Veridis Quo'. The majority of the best songs here are like that, with some '70s and' 80s electronic influences, that remind me of a lot of Frédéric Mercier's music. Best Tracks: Aerodynamic, Superheroes, Veridis Quo, Short Circuit

A fairly well done biographical piece about the second Native American Olympic gold medal winner, Billy Mills, at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Being Native American, there are obviously some racial issues Billy had to struggle through which makes for interesting viewing, but if you have seen other sport dramas there isn't much surprising here by way of plot. The racing scenes though are done well, and having watched the real thing, the upset victory is quite accurate to what occurred in '64, where Billy beat favourite, Ron Clarke. The film never reaches real high points though, and sometimes it moves too quickly without completely establishing relationships and characters. Recommended though to fans of track & field, particularly for the story of one of the biggest underdog victories in track and field history!