I didn't like his debut, Marcberg, but from memory that was mainly because I found the beats boring. Now I find the beats to be an improvement, but my problem is with Roc's rapping. His flow and rhyme pattern sounds like he is freestyling half the time and I can't say that it impresses me at all. 'Wee II' is a good example of what I'm talking about. It's grown on me from the first spin, but there is still nothing that I find to be amazing and there are many tracks that bore me before they're finished. Best Tracks: Not Told, 76, Emerald

The first two songs bang. The keys on 'Billionaire' give me a 'Still D.R.E.' feel. The verses on the next song, 'Boxcutter', are dope, as are the fast-moving keys, but the hook brings the song down a notch though. 'The Human Body' is like part three of the Alphabet and Numerical Slaughter series. This time, Papoose spits anatomical information. We will hear about the immune system on the next album - Karl Pilkinton will be happy! Shoutout to anyone who gets that joke. 'Maturity' is an enjoyable jazz-rap tune in a similar vein to 'Corba Scale' that uses Maya Angelo's poems/speech excerpts to break up the verses. Numerical Slaughter returns with part 2. While these are impressive, he begins by naming a heap of things for '10' but then it gets less extensive with each number. The album finishes with 'Tribute', that samples Tavares' 'Out of the Picture', that was also used on 'Many Men'. It's a song about people who have been killed and includes an anti-cop message. As a listener, I'm kind of over hearing about this. It's all we've seen in the media, even when I watch sport. I get it but as a topic, but I'm kind of over it unless it's done in a more creative manner. Ice Cube's 'Good Cop Bad Cop' is one example where it was. Papoose doesn't get enough respect as a rapper. Again, the beats aren't extraordinary from front to back, but on the whole, I think they are better than some of his previous projects and Papoose is still great to listen to rap. Along with the production not being amazing, the problem is probably just Papoose's ability to craft great hooks as well. 3-3.5/5 Best Tracks: Billionaire, Boxcutter, Antidote

Underrated Most of this isn't touching the great man's past material, that goes without saying, but there is still some brilliant material on the disc and little that doesn't provide enjoyment. While enjoyable and original as Michael always has been, there is a definite nineties vibe here, particularly on the beginning of the album with the upbeat dance-pop tunes. There is a slight new jack swing vibe also which you didn't get a lot of in the '00s. The three upbeat songs to kick the album off feature raps. Notorious BIG is on 'Unbreakable' and features a rap verse by The Notorious B.I.G. originally from 'You Can't Stop the Reign' by Shaq. This is decent although it doesn't match his verse on 'This Time Around' from HIStory. A rapper signed by Sony called Fats, is on the next two. These verses are unmemorable and his vocals have been mixed too low compared to the other vocals on the song that probably add to that feeling. When you consider that many songs' genesis dates back a number of years prior to the release of this album, the slightly dated sound in some parts isn't too surprising. In saying that, the R&B ballads here still sound right at home in 2020. While most of the upbeat tunes lack something previous MJ tunes didn't, the ballads are fairly good with the beautiful 'Speechless', 'Break of Dawn', 'Butterflies' and 'Don't Walk Away', (in which he reminds me of Tracy Chapman) working particularly well, and I think with Michael getting on in years this would have been more of what he would have created. The Carlos Santana featuring 'Whatever Happens' builds up nicely and is also a stand out late on in the album that I didn't find until I revisited this album. There are also moments of creativity with 'Heartbreaker' being the pick with its dubstep sound before dubstep was a thing. '2000 Watts' also has a unique sound that was one song I used to rank highly but almost every other song here has gone past it as I've listened to the album more and more. Surprisingly, it was originally Tyrese's song for his album of the same name. Having heard other Tyrese music I would assume there were changes to it but it's just an assumption. For another unique Jackson track, I recommend that you check out the leftover 'Shout'. Jackson raps over industrial-like production on the verses. I love it. It's like a higher tempo, more intense 'Do It' by Teddy Riley's Guy. For the first time, Jackson had label issues throughout the creation of the album and the promotion suffered. They didn't agree on the first single. Jackson wanted 'Unbreakable'. The label wanted 'You Rock My World' and obviously got their wish. In retrospect, you could say that the label got that one right, but that would be about it. They missed the boat not giving songs like 'Butterflies' a proper release as a single and pushing anything else. While HIStory was an album with perhaps the most input from Jackson, producing and writing a number of songs himself, this album probably has the most outside influence. '2000 Watts', 'Cry', 'Whatever Happens', 'Butterflies', 'Break of Dawn', 'You Rock My World' seem to basically have been given to MJ to just sing and tweak. Overall, there isn't a top 10 MJ song here, although it's one of the best, if not the best top 10s of an artist. There is very little filler, and I think MJ fans will find enough to enjoy on this disc. Best Tracks: You Rock My World, Butterflies, Unbreakable, Break of Dawn, Speechless, Don't Walk Away, Whatever Happens

'Last of the Mohicans' is a terrible opener. The following 'Wonderful' is a classic pop-rap tune, and probably Ja's best in my opinion, largely thanks to the legend that is R. Kelly. 'What's My Name' is another mess. While 'Wonderful' is one of Ja's best pop-rap tracks, 'New York' is one of his better hardcore singles which is connected to the 50 Cent beef. From there, 'The Manual', 'Get It Started' and 'Caught Up' are passable generic pop-rap songs. Elsewhere, 'Gun Talk' and ''Bout My Business' are reasonable gangster rap songs. And it ends with an eight-minute introspective song from Ja. After unfortunately losing the 50 beef (Ja>50), and releasing this album, Ja hasn't and probably never will be a mainstream rapper. This is one of his worst projects. If you've heard the singles you aren't missing much. Best Tracks: Wonderful, New York, Gun Talk, 'Bout, My Business

Having gone through all of Ja's albums now, if you hate pop-rap, then 'Venni Vetti Vecci' is the one to get, if not, then I'd recommend this one. 'Livin' It Up' and 'Always on Time' among others are some of his catchiest songs and there are fewer average songs than his other albums. It does definitely drop off though in the second half though. Best Tracks: Livin' It Up, Always on Time, So Much Pain