In my adolescence, when most people probably begin getting into music more thoroughly, Ja Rule was all over the radio. He was one of the biggest things in hip hop for a while back in the day, however, recent years haven't been as kind to the incarcerated rapper. The key to many of his hits was that while they were pop-rap, his gritty deep voice gave them some bite, and the choruses were catchy thanks to the likes of high profile artists like Ashanti, R. Kelly, and Jennifer Lopez to name a few. While well-known features are nowhere to be seen on this autobiographical concept album, 'PIL2', (that perhaps in itself demonstrates how far Ja has fallen from the heights of the late 90s/early 2000s), the girls on the hooks of the best songs here do the job well. Anita Louise particularly adds to tracks, who sings the hook on the single 'Real Life Fantasy', which led to myself somewhat anticipating this album. However, like every Ja album that came before, it is a mixed bag. Other strong songs follow the same kind of formula with strong hooks and are listed below. While the features aren't as apparent, Ja has hung onto 7 Aurelius who handles all of the production, and who was a big part of Murder Inc in the early 2000s, producing pretty much all of 'Pain Is Love' with its hits including 'Livin' It Up' and 'Always on Time'. Overall, there are some reasonable atmospheric tunes created, but there are a few, particularly 'Black Vodka' that is the first major blip on the radar. The following 'Drown' also fails to float, with the middle of the album being weaker than what came before and comes afterwards. Just when you thought it was dead, Ja hits auto-tune on 'Strange Days', that while being a bit more energetic than the aforementioned tracks, is an average one. 'To the Top' is another small improvement, but then the final three tracks may all be ones you'll want to listen to a few times, with some nice beats and introspective lyrics. All in all, after growing on me after giving this a few spins, while the mid-five tunes fall away, there are a handful of useful tracks that I've been happy to continue to play. Best Tracks: Real Life Fantasy Parachute, Pray 4 the Day, Believe *Written years back.

Firstly, don't you love the '.com' titled albums from the late '90s/early '00s when the internet was taking off? After the success of the ambitions double-disc 'R.', R. Kelly decided to write a sequel to the brilliant '12 Play'. One thing I just thought of is that for a 12 Play project, it perhaps isn't overall as sexual as it could have been with a number of different themes present with some about deeper relationship issues, and songs like 'I Wish' being on here, which was apparently originally meant to feature 2Pac. Given that Pac died years prior to this album, he must've been sitting on the song for a while. This is one of R. Kelly's better-received projects, but I find it a little slow in parts. I've never liked the production and flow of the opener or 'R&B Thug' very much. As with 'Ignition' and 'Step in the Name of Love', the kind of remix in 'I Mean (I Don't Mean It)' is so much better than 'I Don't Mean It' making the originals seem almost pointless. Although the remix isn't on this album, the same can be said for 'Fiesta', with the remix being much better. 'Like a Real Freak' isn't a favourite either. He has always been better with slow jamz and ballads and I don't like many of the more upbeat tunes on this album. 'One Me' has its positive features. I like the, [i]I'm a winner[/i] part but it doesn't build up and erupt like most of R. Kelly slower tunes. Most of the rest of the songs are brilliant that I never tire of going back to. There isn't a lot of middle ground for me here with it being close to hit or miss. As mentioned though, the rest are great and there are lots of them. 4-3.5/5. Best tracks: Strip for You, The Greatest Sex, Don't You Say No, The Greatest Sex, I Wish, A Woman's Threat, I Mean (I Don't Mean It), I Wish - Remix (To the Homies That We Lost), Feelin' on Yo' Booty, The Storm Is Over Now

Rick Ross is now five albums in and is one of the most talked-about artists in the genre for many different reasons. I've never been a fan of the man's albums, as in my opinion he has never created a cohesive project. This album doesn't put a stop to that trend. However, whether it be Hustlin', Speedin', Usual Suspects or Live Fast Die Young, he has always picked some good beats and created a few good bangin' tunes per album. In saying that though, I even think that this album is a step down in that regard as well. Fans will enjoy, but for me, he just always creates too many same-same sounding songs, and hence, too much filler throughout the disc. Best Tracks: Pirates, So Sophisticated, Ten Jesus Pieces, Triple Beam Dreams, Rich Forever

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