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

While I don't rate what I've heard from Ja too highly, nor do I rate him as a brilliant rapper, the hate seems over the top in some sections. Nonetheless, the pop-rap singles from Ja Rule would get better from here with me not feeling 3 of the 4 singles, 'Between Me and You', 'Put It on Me' and 'I Cry' much. None of the harder songs though are that bad, with a good run of three of them being featured around the middle of the album. The production does the job and as much as Ja Rule is probably known better as a pop rapper, his deep gritty voice-kind of like DMX-sounds good over gangster rap beats. Best Tracks: 6 Feet Underground, Love Me Hate Me, Die, Extasy

"Boy, I'm going to drink you like milk". That and many other cheesy disses are just some of the fun you can have playing this game. You play one on one b-ball where the aim is to shoot, dodge, block or steal at the exact right time to get a video of a successful shot or defensive moment, rather than a failure. Many of the FMV cutscenes are so bad, they're good, but the gameplay pretty much lacks anything worthy, apart from the originality and novelty value of what it is.