After the amazing 'All That I Am', the next two albums from Joe weren't quite at the same level, but this one gets closer to his best. Songs like the title track, 'Priceless', 'You Dropped Your Dime', 'Another Used to Be', the R. Kelly produced and written, 'More & More' and 'Make You My Baby', are great songs. It also features the near hit and G-Unit assisted 'Ride Wit U' that some will put amongst the best. Even the weaker songs like 'Jeep' and 'Street Dreams' are still nice. Best Tracks: And Then..., More & More, Priceless, Make You My Baby, Priceless, You Dropped Your Dime, It Ain't Like That, Another Used to Be

Add this one to the list of consistent solid projects from Spice 1. The only weak moment is the second introduction of sorts, 'Criminal Activity', as the rappers' voices are weirdly altered. Maybe it's meant to make them sound unidentifiable like "Criminalz" want to be. There is nothing amazing though to make me give this a higher rating. The best thing is the soulful 'My Life'. A decent 3/5. Beats: ★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: Niggaz Like Us, My Life, What They Hittin' Fo? 1. Lockdown (Intro) N/A 2. Criminal Activity 50/100 3. Ridaz 70 4. Puttin' in Work 64 5. Niggaz Like Us 74 6. My Life 80 7. Boss Up 60 8. Doin' It Big 71 9. The Real World 54 10. Reminisce 70 11. What They Hittin' Fo? 83 12. Rollin' Wit My Folks 73

The MI films are hard to split. I watched them all in a week or two before seeing this at the cinemas making it the only one I have seen on the big screen, which would normally make it more engaging than viewing at home, but aside from the ending with the train carriages, that was amazing viewing, the other action scenes aren't very memorable compared to what has come before. The car chase in Italy with the Fiat was like a comedy scene and I haven't been a fan of the comedic elements added to the franchise. In saying that though, Benji, who I haven't liked in other movies, isn't here for as much comic relief as some of the other films making the character more bearable. Another problem I had here is how the characters finish one another's sentences when the story is being moved forward.-It seemed to happen a lot. I don't think the story is as tense as other MI films have been but it does set the scene nicely for Part 2. Finally, take a gulp of water every time a character says "key" and you'll be urinating all night.

I continue to revisit and give first listens to Spice 1 albums. This is one I had listened to before. From the jump, you can here the Ice Cube influence but also originality. I love the stutter style of rapping that Spice does on the opener which he also did on his self-titled album. I can't recall hearing that style from any other rapper. I think some of his later albums have a higher degree of higher moments, but this is a sizeable jump up from his previous album in all areas. The production is better, the songwriting is more memorable and his voice is more commanding. It finishes with a five minute track that is just Spice giving shoutouts that could've been left to the linear notes and the reggae influenced 'Smoke 'Em Like a Blunt' is the one other skip but the rest are worthy songs. A decent 3.5/5 Best Tracks: I'm the Fuckin' Murderer, Dumpin' Em in Ditches, 187 He Wrote, 380 on That Ass, RIP Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★★☆ 1. I'm the Fuckin' Murderer 96\100 2. Dumpin' Em in Ditches 88 3. Gas Chamber 74 4. 187 He Wrote 85 5. Don't Ring the Alarm (The Heist) 73 6. Clip & the Trigga 82 7. Smoke 'Em Like a Blunt 60 8. The Murda Show 84 9. 380 on That Ass 87 10. Mo' Mail 80 11. Runnin' Out Da Crackhouse 83 12. Trigga Gots No Heart 77 13. Trigga Happy 74 14. RIP 90 15. All He Wrote 40

Car porn for fans with some lovely looking automobiles to gaze at and engine-gasmic audio to match. Apart from [spoiler alert] Jann crashing and killing the spectator, nothing surprises too much, although to be fair, with these kind of movies, the plot is generally by the numbers. The racing is incredibly unrealistic as well. You can't gain seconds in one lap unless you're in an F1 car and the other racers are in a mini. It doesn't happen, yet in nearly every race that he is successful in, Jann catches up way too quickly in too short a space of time. His PTSD from the accident also gets cured too easily by Jack, his racing engineer, mid-race by playing him some music and yelling at him. At times, the movie does feel like too much of an advertisement for the game as well. I guess that is in the name though. There was some decent emotion added between Jann and his dad and being based on a true story, and fairly accurately retold at that, is a plus. The racing is fairly well shot as well and looks authentic. Any time a movie features Moby's 'God Moving Over the Face of the Waters' you can't help but like it a little more. Overall, it's a fairly generic underdog sports film, but is entertaining enough for racing enthusiasts. 2.5-3/5.