2004, 2005, and 2006 brought about some really decent rap albums, but there are some that released that I personally feel never quite got the attention they deserved.
In 2004, one of my favorite emcees dropped his sophomore album, Kiss of Death.
This album had the usual suspects on production and cameo spots, DJ Green Lantern, The Alchemist, The Neptunes, Swizz Beatz, Sheek Louch, and Styles P. Anthony Hamilton, Nate Dogg, DJ Quik, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, and Eminem made appearances along with Mariah Carey.
Tracklist/Review
1.Intro--Not music.
2.What You So Mad At??--Would make for a nice radio hit, decent beat.
3.Shine--Snoop kills it, Quik provides comic relief and Kiss does his thing.
4.Bring You Down--A nice entry.
5.Time's Up--Nate Dogg with the killer hook, and the best Scott Storch beat ever, first single.
6.Why?--Anthony Hamilton cameo, decent conscious track.
7.U Make Me Wanna--I enjoy Mariah Carey sounding like a choo-choo train on this one.
8.Hot(Skit)--Jadakiss singing "I Wanna Be Your Man", probably by Zapp&Rogers.
9.Hot Sauce To Go--I always love a Pharrell song.
10.Real Hip-Hop--Surprisingly doesn't sound like a Swizz, beat.
11.Shoot Outs--No, not Soulja Boy. Classic D-Block material.
12.Still Feel Me--Not my favorite track, but still pretty good.
13.By Your Side--I like the sample.
14.Gettin' It In--This is the part of the album I usually zone out or skip.
15.Air It Out--Zzz.
16.Welcome To D-Block--Eminem shits on it.
17.Kiss Of Death--Excellent.
18.I'm Going Back--So-so.
I copped this album around the same time The B.Coming and Be came out, so forgive me if the review wasn't as in depth as you would like it to be.
2005 saw the release of that real tall dude who opened up Mike Jones' "Still Tippin' ". Yeah, Slim Thug. Slim has got to be like my 25th favorite rapper. He raps well, sometimes you can tell he didn't put enough time into the rhyme. Sometimes it's grand, sometimes it's cheeks. His album titled, Already Platinum didn't refer to how the album was going to sell, but it meant he was living the lifestyle of a Platinum artist prior to rapping professionally.
Since he was signed on Pharrell and Chad's Star Trak label, the majority of the production was handled by The Neptunes. Other big named producers provided tracks too, like, Cool & Dre, Jazze Pha and Sha Money XL, who usually only does G-Unit beats.
Tracklist/Review
1.The Intro--Decent way to start an album.
2.Like A Boss--His first single, I didn't really feel it.
3.3 Kings--With T.I. and Bun B, you cannot go wrong. Nice beat.
4.Diamonds--Chopped and Screwed garbage. I prefer the remix with Mannie Fresh and Young Jeezy.
5.Boyz N Blue--Introducing his Boss Hog Outlawz. They aight.
6.I Ain't Heard Of That--Another Bun B track. I dig the remix with Hov, it never made the album...
7.Click Clack--This track proves Slim IS a rapper and Pusha T of Clipse is the iller half.
8.Everybody Loves A Pimp--You get the total package when you work with Phizzle Phizzle.
9.Already Platinum--The first verse I ever heard from Pharrell, love the beat.
10.Ashy To Classy--A nice tale of Slim's life story. Beautiful.
11.The Interview--The sample is retarded nice and his flowing is top notch.
12.Playa You Don't Know--I don't.
13.Miss Mary--Listen, really.
14.Incredbile Feelig--Stuntman's favorite song off the album.
15.This Is My Life--He can be REAL.
16.Dedicate--Good way to end it all.
I feel this is the most slept on album of my generation. Why is that? Because we still judge books by their covers. Sure, his first single was WACK, but is that a good enough reason to sleep on the album? I just think his single choices were poor.
Tracklist/Review
1.Can I Have It Like That?--With Gwen Stefani, I have no idea what he was thinking. His lyrics were mediocre on a decent beat.
2.How Does It Feel?--This sucked me into the album. The beat is too nice and his flow is insane.
3.Raspy Shit--A gimmick track, I think he would've sold records if this was a single.
4.Best Friend--I dig the classic Neptunes sound on this one, and the premise.
5.You Can Do It Too--Easily, MY favorite song on the album, slow and real.
6.Keep It Playa--With Slim on his side, this track is just a track to me.
7.That Girl--A single I don't believe he put out last.
8.Angel--Not my favorite vocals from the boy.
9.Young Girl/I Really Like You--I like both songs, but I'd prefer if they were separate, I like Young Girl much better, Hov always kills it.
10.Take It Off(Dim The Lights)--Dece'
11.Stay With Me--Once again, Pusha T's help was enlisted. Where is Malice?
12.Baby--It's got Nelly on it, so I've read.
13. Our Father--Tryna be religious and whatnot, now I see why this album caught no attention.
14.Number One--I loved this song, should've been his first single for real.
15.Skateboard P Presents:Show You How To Hustle--I like the first verse and the chorus with some chick named, Lauren.If you know Lupe's "Hi-Defintion", he borrows a line from this song.
16.(Japan Bonus Track)Swagger International--It wasn't on my copy....Never heard it.
He handled all the production himself. It was probably done just to show he could do it...I dunno. It's still a decent album, a lot better than the majority of songs found on N*E*R*D albums.
P.E.A.C.E
