This starts off with some bangin' songs with the 'Intro' being particularly good. The high-pitched sampling that was common in the mid '00s is a feature on the first couple of tracks. The quality slowly drops from the second to the third song, but all are worth listening to. It drops further with 'So Much More' that sounds more pop-rappy than what came before and isn't one I'll be playing again. Joe borrows from Zapp’s 'Computer Love' for the average hook - "I know you've been searchin' for someone who". Next, 'My Fofo' is a diss track directed at 50 Cent who has always deserved any hate coming his way. There are some decent lines but the beat isn't as good as it needs to be. There are better anti-50 songs like Game's many disses, Nas' 'Don't Body Urself', Ja's 'New York', to name a few. Cool & Dre produced this as well as 'New York' and it does sound quite similar. It also sounds like something was censored. At the end of the song, Joe says, "If I won't get you I will get your ......". It seems like the label cut it out. I assume it was something about his family. 'Rock Ya Body' is decent. I don't have a lot to say about it. The melody for 'Listen Baby' is nice and makes for an enjoyable contrast between the fairly bare hook and verses. At the end of the day though it's not a brilliant pop-rap song. 'Get It Poppin'' continues the pop-rap feel. Again, it's alright. It's no ''Wonderful'. Finally, we get back to some realness. 'Temptation, Pt 1' and 'Temptation, Pt 2' both bring us back to some darker beats, themes and storytelling and are the best things on this album. To move things on faster, 'I Can Do U' has another nice melody and smooth hook. The man who was everywhere in the mid '00s takes over 'So Hot'. It feels like R. Kelly featuring Fat Joe. I'm a huge fan of Kelly but this isn't one of his best. Next, the classic 'Lean Back' gets remixed. I have never loved Ma$e on the mic. He has some good bars but he just sounds as if he needs some damn caffeine. I think I prefer the original. 'Beat Novocain', the moniker of DJ Khaled back in the day, keeps the energy going of 'Lean Back' with thumpin' production. You'll be bangin' your head as soon as the drums start! Then, from bangin', we move to a song that couldn't get any softer with 'Hold You Down'. I like good, catchy pop-rap. There isn't anything great here though despite the many attempts at it. When the production is harder though, the album shines. There are a few tracks to go back to. Best Tracks: Intro, Does Anybody Know, Temptation Pt1/2, Lean Back (Remix), Beat Novocain

Much of the production on this long-long-long awaited album from Rakim is just okay, with the main problem being the soft average choruses that appear on quite a few tracks. Generally, the chorus is meant to be the catchiest part of a song but it is Rakim's verses which are most memorable. However, even on his previous two solo albums for me, the production was far from brilliant on many tracks but Rakim held the albums down, particularly on 'The 18th Letter'. He does such things on this album also and turns an average beat into a good song. It would be hard not to enjoy Rakim over a metronome though. The subject matter features brag rap, some about the state of hip hop, a couple of hood songs and a chick song or two. It would have been nice to hear a bit more about what he has been up the last ten years while he hasn't dropped anything, but nevertheless, most of the lyrics are interesting enough. I can understand people not loving this album due to the soft hooks and overall production, but overall Rakim hasn't lost his flow and I'm still enjoying it after quite a few spins. Best Tracks: How to Emcee, You and I, Won’t Be Long, Holy Are You, Satisfaction Guaranteed, Message in the Song, Still in Love.

While some the beats aren't brilliant on Rakim's solo debut released a couple of years prior to this, they drop further here. There is no absolutely brilliant song here and a lot of the beats aren't anything beyond passable. Two producers shine though. 'Real Shit'-which has a beat that sounds like something Canibus would spit over-and 'Uplift', that are produced by Ron Lawrence and The Mighty V.I.C., are among the best. As are 'Waiting for the World to End' and 'When I B on tha Mic', that have beats that you should be able to pick Premo's signature style from the first few seconds. Some good songs, but overall, if anyone other than Rakim was on this it would probably be about one star worse. Best Tracks: When I B on tha Mic, Uplift, Real Shit, Waiting for the World to End

One of the reasons I started playing this was that I read choices can be made in the game that effect the story. Some of my favourite games of late have been ones that allow the gamer to change the narrative and while that selling point isn't incorrect, the choices aren't that interesting, there are only four-after each act-and they come from the perspective of the villain, making them less meaningful. The story did lose me at times. I got the basics but I feel I missed parts, but that tends to happen with time travel tales. The levels are broken up by a live action episode with strong production values, acting and likeness to the graphical versions of the actors and settings. To the gameplay - This is a third person shooter with a bit of platforming and some slight puzzling. The puzzling is made fairly easy due to the protagonist's (Jack Joyce) time shifting abilities but you occasionally need to work out how to get to a certain height, get into a building, etc. The cover system isn't perfect but the shooting is satisfying and the shootouts are broken up well unlike some games where one can go on forever. The developers weren't stingy, Jack's abilities regenerate quickly after use and ammo is generally always plentiful. The difficult is heightened by a fair margin at the final boss, but once you work out a strategy it's more than doable. A fun TPS with some originality (although it does remind me of TimeShift) that you'll want to finish within a few sittings. Gameplay 4/5 Graphics 4/5 Sound 4/5 Difficulty 4/5 Originality 3.5/5

I generally don't love '80s and really early '90s hip hop production but here it's good enough to help this album earn a good rating. D-Nice has a commanding presence on the microphone and helps to carry some of the weaker beats with many of the topics being brag-rap. It's more consistent than I remember his follow-up, 'To tha Rescue', being but doesn't feature anything as good as the Treach assisted 'Time to Flow'. Best Tracks: Crumbs on the Table, Call Me D-Nice, It's Over, It's All About Me, And You Don't Stop