Album/Mixtape Reviews

28

Dj Khaled- Victory (Album Review)

Following the formula of his previous three studio albums, "Victory" is chalked full of the hottest rappers (FAR FROM THE BEST) out today. Usually DJ Khaled is  one of the most annoying DJ's ever, as he must love to hear himself talk gibberish over tracks. Thankfully his role is very limited as he only speaks a few times on the album giving you a chance to actually listen to the actual songs without being bothered. Unfortunately though you might not even want to waste your time  listening to the album The Intro starts off with DJ Khaled speaking about what the word "Victory" means to him.The intro has Diddy & Busta Rhymes labeled on, but in reality it's just old things they said on the Notorious BIG track , "Victory" .(Oh how clever....) "All We Do Is Win" starts out promising after a catchy hook and good Ludacris verse, but it falls apart after that with a horrible Rick Ross verse ( his voice sounds different) ,and an even worst verse from Snopp Dogg that makes you appreciate the Rick Ross verse you just heard. "Put Your Hands Up" is basically the same thing as the last song  just without a good verse. "Fed Up" is the lead song off the album and features appearances from Usher, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Drake, and Lil Wayne.This is probably the second best song on the album overall as Drake overshadows everyone on the track. "Victory" is the BEST song on the album as Nas and John Legend do the best they can to save this LP. Pretty much after the "Victory" song the album isn't worth even listening to, unless you absolutely feel the need to. It's hard to pick out the worst song out of the next remaining bunch of songs, so I'll give a brief rundown of each. "Ball" features Jim Jones and the hook just consists of the word "ball" enough said. "Rockin All My Chains On" has a decent verse from Bun B ,a typical Birdman verse, and a Soulja Boy verse were he doesn't even rhyme at the end. "Killing Me" did just what the title said it would, between the hook for "Ball" and this one it's hard to tell which is the worst one. I'm pretty sure Busta Rhymes didn't rhyme either ,but it was hard to tell cause he kept making noises like he had turrets syndrome. "Bringing Real Rap Back" features a rapper named Rum (who I never heard of before) complaining about ring-tone rappers and being offended by the state of the game right now. To bad the song sounds like it should be a dance song ,and Rum sounds like Hurricane Chris with the lyrics to match (The "A Bay Bay" guy). "Bring The Money Out" features three rappers I forgot rapped, (Nelly, Lil Boosie ,and Ace Hood) and after listening to that song I'll continue to not remember they still do."On My Way" has about 10 rappers who I have no clue who they are and picking who had the best verse on that track is equivalent to if I was asked if I'd rather burn to death or drown. The last song " Rep My City" features Pitbull and a singer named Jarvis, and it's surprisingly pretty good. (or better than the shit I've been listening to the last 35 mins) "Victory" in the end feels more like a huge loss than anything you should really be bragging about. Despite about 3 or 4 songs this album should not even be downloaded unless you have a huge amount of space on your computer to waste. I need to go listen to some Slaughterhouse to get the bad taste this album left in my mouth. 1 shot out of 5.

0

Freeway & Jake One - The Stimulus Package (Album Review)

Before I start to review this album, I must confess that I'm not a huge Freeway fan. In fact I never actually listened to a full Freeway album before this one. I have heard very positive things about this album, so I decided to give it a listen. It's important to note that the album is STRICTLY produced by Jake One, handling all of the LP's 15 tracks.  Jake One has done production for big names in Hip-Hop such as G-Unit, De La Soul, and MF Doom, it's clear that after one listen of the album he is a genius when it comes to beatmaking. Jake One's beats to The Stimulus Package can be compared to the soul-sampled production that we saw Kanye West supply Jay-Z for the Blueprint. Most of the intro of the album has Freeway not spitting, as he just wants people to admire the beat . Beanie Sigel also makes a cameo on the intro as him and Freeway trade bars with one another. The next two tracks ( "Throw Your Hands Up" ," One Foot In") has Freeway declaring the Dynasty is still alive, along with him searching for life after the Roc. ("Never Gonna Change") Has Freeway telling a story about life on the streets, while he displays his more difficult flow on the album. He switches it up constantly to match the fast to slow drum pattern. ("One Thing") is my personal favorite track on the album. It features a show stealer performance from Raekwon (who may or may not have taken a shot at Joe Budden) as they rap about fake people . ("The Product") has Free comparing himself to drugs as a personification of how "The whole world is hooked on him". Though that topic is kinda played out, he keeps it refreshing rapping on a mellow beat that is the real addiction to the song. The album isn't without flaws as the song with Birdman (I guess Lil' Wayne was out of his budget), ("Follow My Moves") Bun B, (Sho' Nuff) and Latoya Williams (Freekin' The Beat) don't really feel like they have place in this album. ("She Makes Me Feel Alright" and "Know What I Mean") are also lackluster tracks that have little to no replay value as well. The Last three songs on the album are perhaps Freeway at his best as he really puts his heart and soul into those tracks. ("Money") tells the story of the trials and tribulations of chasing money, along with Mr. Porter who handles the hook and Omilio Sparks who lends a verse. It is definitely a standout track on the album. ("Free People")  the deepest song on the album as Freeway does a lot of soul searching on the track. The outro of the album is Freeway's version of Eminem's Stan, as he's rapping as his fans who send him letters to keep him motivated to continue rapping. Freeway doesn't have mind-blowing lyrics that will have you pressing the rewind button over and over, however what he has is honesty. As I stated before I wasn't a Freeway fan before I listened to the album, but I became one after listening to it. I'll be sure to buy download his other albums now. As I encourage you to go out and buy download this album too! 4 Shots out of 5