In the years it took for Ryan Leslie to release his debut album, I got both of the unofficial mixtape releases from Ryan Leslie and enjoyed both. I played 'Used to Be' for a while as there were quite a few tracks from it I loved. Maybe that got my hopes up for this. Maybe all his best stuff leaked and were on those unoffical/bootleg releases, but this album is fairly average R&B. It begins well with 'Diamond Girl' and 'Just Right' is good later on but it first leaked in I think 2006, so most would have heard it. Of the rest of the tracks, there ain't a lot to love or hate. Ryan doesn't have a great or overly distinctive voice and it's all okay R&B but nothing blows you away. When you have other similar but better artists all putting out better stuff recently, the only real thing to take from this is Ryan does have his own production style, which if you like will enjoy the album more, but as i said, nothing blows me away. Best Tracks: Diamond Girl, Just Right, Quicksand

Not every track is great, but the best tracks should keep you coming back for more if you enjoy any previous Jaheim records or some nice Soul/R&B recordings. It features a good mix of uptempo joints, like 'Whoa' and 'Her', to your slow-jamz, 'Impossible' and 'Closer', to name a couple. I'd say this has kept me a fair bit more entertained than his previous release and is well worth a listen particularly during the first eight tracks. Best Tracks: Ain't Leavin Without You, Whoa, Bed is Listening, Impossible, Another Round, Her, Closer, Ain't Leavin Without You (Remix)

This finishes quite well from the nice 'Celebration' with Frédéric Mercier's 'Spirit' sample, which was also used on Jay's Blueprint 3, and from there there are some good tracks, but the beginning of the album features nothing too outstanding. It lacks from not having enough dope beats and containing a few wack hooks such as on 'Sky' and 'Free' which I'm not feeling a lot. Nothing is bad, but there ain't enough I'm loving. Best Tracks: Celebration, Coming From, Murda

These guys were featured on a number of video games back in the day and that was how I was introduced to them. 'Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX' had a great soundtrack that included 'Great Expectations' and once I heard that I had to hear more so I purchased this album. I'm not going to go on about it too long, it's just a fresh sounding underground album with dope rappers trading bars. If there is one criticism I have it is that apart from Chali 2na they don't sound that different from each other. I've said that many times with hip hop groups. Beats: ★★★★ Bars: ★★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: The Influence, Great Expectations, World of Entertainment, Contribution, Swing Set

The only tracks that offer any enjoyment are mentioned below. Overall though, with plenty of average beats, Mike's poor lyrics and ad-libs, it all makes for a very poor album as the rating suggests. Best Tracks: Drop & Gimme 50, Give Me a Call, Swagger Right, Next to You