The original tracks, produced by Marley, are worth checking out, but the remixes fail to enhance them in any way (the 'It's All Real Mix' removes any aggression from the beat), and the many skits fall flat. On them, Marley reflects on the rise of hip-hop, which is undeniably impressive, but then stretches the point by claiming it unites people worldwide like a universal language and has the power to prevent war... While hip-hop has certainly played a significant role in global culture, in general, all music is a language that has the ability to connect people across boundaries. This broad statement doesn't exclusively apply to hip-hop. The standout tracks here are LL Cool J’s 'Haters' and LoTU’s 'It's All Real', which has a vibe reminiscent of Mobb Deep’s production. Then Common comes with some decent jazz-rap on 'Funk S#$T'. Afterwards, with have the unknown Co-Cheez with the okay gangsta rap/boom bap, 'Time Is Money'. Remove the interludes and there are three songs that are worth playing and three that aren't. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: Haters, It's All Real 2. Haters 74 3. It's All Real 82 5. Funk S#$T 70 7. Time Is Money 60 9. Funk S#$T ("E.Q" Natural Vibe Remix) 50 11. It's All Real (Muro's Rekindled Mix) 51

What the hell are people smoking? I can understand enjoying this movie, but an average rating of 3.8 in some places—on par with truly great films—is absurd. The acting is mediocre, the editing is sloppy, and the flashback scenes are nearly inaudible unless you have the hearing of an owl. The plot is anything but original, and the complete absence of law enforcement strains credibility. Worst of all, [spoiler] Richard’s sudden “realisation” that he was becoming the very monster he sought to fight felt like lazy writing and an easy way out. Those people terrorised his mentally disabled brother—he was entirely justified in his actions.

Tony D, best known to hip-hop heads for producing an instrumental strikingly similar to Naughty By Nature’s O.P.P. before O.P.P. even dropped (though Naughty’s producer insists he never heard Tony’s track), steps out from behind the boards on this one. Typically focused on production and beat tapes, Tony tries his hand at rapping here, delivering conscious bars that occasionally veer into the corny territory. He’s not winning any best-spitter awards, but his performance isn’t anything near unlistenable either. The real highlight, however, is the production—packed with sample-heavy, boom-bap beats that showcase his talent behind the boards. It's all quite likeable making this an easy album to spin. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★☆ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: Check the Elevation, Buggin' on the Line, Droppin' Funky Verses, Listen to Me Brother

I’m not familiar enough with all of these originals to say for sure whether these versions improve on them, but from what I do know, there isn’t much difference. Most of the time, it’s just other rappers added in. As he mentions in the intro and interlude, Diddy seems to think that makes him a genius of the remix. The most altered track is the closer, 'You Gets No Love', which modifies the instrumental with Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)'. The best moment here is Carl Thomas’ 'Woke Up This Morning', but that’s only because it already used Biggie’s superior 'My Downfall' instrumentation—this version just tacks Biggie onto an already solid song. The weakest track is 'So Complete', which is just dull. Diddy’s ad-libs and weak lyrics don’t help either. Take 'I Need a Girl' as an example: "At first we were friends, then became lovers (Oh) / You was more than my girl, we was like brothers (Oh) / All night we would play fight under covers." … I get what he's trying to say but it just wounds weird. Overall, I’m not a fan of the late '90s/early '00s Bad Boy sound. Very little here rises above mediocrity. If you want to hear someone who actually remixed great songs, made them sound different, and in some cases even better, check out R. Kelly’s discography. Best Tracks: Unfoolish, Notorious B.I.G., Woke Up This Morning 1 P. Diddy–Intro 2 G. Dep*– Special Delivery (Remix) 60 3 P. Diddy–I Need a Girl (Part 2) 54 4 P. Diddy–Bad Boy For Life (Remix) 63 5 P. Diddy–I Need a Girl (Part 1) 67 6 P. Diddy–The Remix Phenomenon (Interlude) 7 Ashanti–Unfoolish 68 8 112–Dance With Me (Remix) / Peaches & Cream (Remix) 60 9 Mary J. Blige– No More Drama (Remix) 61 10 P. Diddy & Cheri Dennis–So Complete (Remix) 20 11 The Notorious B.I.G.–Notorious B.I.G. (Remix) 70 12 P. Diddy–That's Crazy (Remix) 50 13 Carl Thomas–Woke Up In The Morning (Remix) 72 14 Faith Evans–You Gets No Love (Remix) 50

I checked this out for the Nas features, and they’re both among the best tracks, though on 'Thugs Calm Down', Nas brings that weak singing he leaned on too much in the late '90s. As expected from the credits, the sound is straight boom bap. 'Ain't Got a Clue' flips the same Aguaviva sample (Poetas Andaluces) used on Nas/The Firm’s 'Affirmative Action' or just uses 'Affirmative Action'. At just 35 minutes, it’s an easy listen, but it won’t blow anyone away, and unfortunately doesn't sound mixed and mastered well. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: Ain't Got a Clue, Want It, Thugs Calm Down