All I'd heard of Chino prior to this was his most recent album, the 2012 'Ricanstruction: The Black Rosary'. I wrote a very brief review citing the rapping as unimpressive. Either he fell off from this or there was something wrong with me seven years ago, because the rapping is fire to say the least. He goes heavy on the punchlines with bars being full of similes. He pulls no punches with them either, taking shots at everyone, feeling somewhat like Eminem before he blew up. The beats are kind of dark, boom bap and give the album a theme. They aren't great, and I probably wouldn't want an instrumental version of this, but they more than do the job and there are some nice touches over the 16 tracks. There is some gangsta rap, some brag rap, as mentioned, Chino taking shots at everyone and also moments where he raps about the challenges of being mixed race on songs like 'What Am I?'. We see that being common with Logic these days. Beats: ★★★☆ Bars: ★★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: No Complex, Partner to Swing, What Am I?, Many Different Ways, Rise

As a rapper The Game ain't the best lyricist and doesn't have the best skills on the mic. We also all know that these days he starts beef with other artists to get attention (much like 50 Cent has done his whole career). This album is a perfect example of that; "I never take shots at legends. That's just something I don't do" - The Game talking about Jay-Z on track 11 'The Documentary' with who if you have been paying attention this year he has been chanting "F*** Jay-Z" at his concerts. Despite this hypocrisy, I enjoy his music, his beat selection and I have since I acquired this album back in '05. This was probably the last thing 50 and Dre had an involvement in of any note that really works for me. 50 does get too much credit for this album though from anti-Game/pro-50 people. 'Westside Story' would've been fine if anyone was on the hook, like Snoop is on the remix and no doubt fits the concept of the song better being as he's from the west. And personally, I have never loved 'Hate It or Love It' and 'How We Do' with there being a handful of better songs throughout the album. There is plenty of great stuff like the tracks mentioned below and only two tracks I look to skip in 'Church For Thugs' and 'No More Fun & Games' which still ain't horrible but to me sound a bit overproduced. It drops off a degree for me in the second half of the album with tracks like 'Special' and 'Runnin'' being the main offenders. They are still good but don't match the beginning of the album like 'Dreams', 'The Documentary' and so on. Overall, it's an album I come back to often years on, and it's always enjoyable to play. It's only really a few tracks mainly from 12-17 which let it down a bit. The production is great though with many of the biggest producers providing beats, and while lyrically Game ain't with the greats, he has presence and charisma on the mic. I think the fact that this album is around the 3.5-4/5 mark and is from a polarising figure in a polarising genre says something about its quality. Beats: ★★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★★★ Best Tracks: Westside Story, Dreams, Higher, Don't Need Your Love, Put You on The Game, Start From Scratch, The Documentary, We Ain't, Like Father, Like Son

A take on Biggie's Duets, an excellent remix mixtape by DJ Cinema and DJ Mello and easily the best of many 2pac ones I've heard. Everything works from the beats matching the flow of the rappers to the good verses from Nas to Rakim to The Game and so on that you'll be able to recognise. Some of the beats used that I can recognise from the top of my head are Eminem's 'When I'm Gone' on 'Dear Mama Part II', Game's 'Don't Need Your Love' on 'Games We Play' and The Isley Brothers 'Between The Sheets' on 'Comin' on Strong'. Best Tracks: Juice, I Never Change, The Answer, Games We Play, Black Cotton.

It kind of surprises me that this doesn't have a better rep. While it took a bit of time to grow on me, there is very little here I don't find to be pretty damn good. The young black male, Pac, spits some great conscious/political lyrics, and the beats, while not brilliant, all work quite well. Sample heavy/radio friendly production like 'Rebel of the Underground', original dark tracks like 'Soulja's Story', and rawer beats like 'Trapped' offer a mixture in the production. While future albums such as 'Me Against the World' would surpass this, and Pac would become a bigger than Jesus figure in the world of rap, this is a good place to begin if you haven't checked out 2pac's discography as of yet. Underrated. Beats: ★★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★★ Best Tracks: Trapped, Soulja's Story, I Don't Give a Fuck, If My Homie Calls, Brenda's Got a Baby, Part Time Mutha

This begins well with the singles being etched in my brain from many years ago. Two of the first three songs reminds you how good Scott Storch was. While 'Baby Boy' doesn't match the quality of the first two songs, 'Hip Hop Star' is forgettable and the first real problem. From there it gets less hip hop influenced and more towards general contemporary R&B ballads. 'Be With You' that borrows heavily from Bootsy Collins''I'd Rather Be With You' and 'Me, Myself and I' are good songs. 'Yes' goes nowhere. 'Signs' production and the way she sings is fine but the astrology lyrical BS makes it hard to take seriously. I hope she doesn't really believe it. It happens again, but with fewer astrology references in 'Gift From Virgo'. 'Speechless' is another slow one but feels a 'lil more vibey and musically interesting with some nice vocals. To end the album, 'Daddy' gets Freudian, - "I want my husband to be like my daddy..." The build-up and music is good but lyrically I find it odd. A front-loaded album with the four singles featured within the first six songs and there is nothing after 'Speechless' worth checking for. Beats: ★★☆ Vocals/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: Crazy in Love, Naughty Girl, Me, Myself and I