Fat Joe – Me, Myself & I
Terror Squad Entertainment (release date: 11/14/2006)
Rap

One of these days… and I hope it’s really, really soon… someone needs to explain the phenomenon of Fat Joe to me.

Over the last several weeks, the Bronx-born rapper has been all over the radio in an attempt to drum up some love for his seventh solo album. His long-term relationship with Atlantic Records came to an end earlier this year, so Joe went independent this time around.

In interviews, Joe credits this direction with helping him get back to the more grimy sound that he was putting out early in his career. Still, while acts like Diddy get criticized for building their careers on the foundation of fatter, more talented (dead) friends, Joey Crack gets a pass.

No disrespect intended, but let’s be honest: if we accept that Diddy ate off of Biggie, then Fat Joe has similarly cut open the Taun-Taun belly of Big Pun, crawled inside and stayed warm for years. Don’t believe me? Then, why is “Twinz (Deep Cover ‘98)” everyone’s favorite “Fat Joe track”?

While you ponder that, we’ll commence with the review.

Me, Myself & I clocks in at less than 50 minutes with only 12 tracks. At this point, that’s probably not a bad thing as Joe simply doesn’t have enough to say to warrant any more mic time.

He opens up with “Pendemic” that plays like a state-of-society address. It’s got a jagged, uneven beat that starts with Joe telling us how great he is, before it lumbers into a lecture on all the bad things out there: corrupt cops, the war in Iraq, starvation in Africa and Hurricane Katrina. And, I’m sure Joe is kept up at night, in between pints of Ben & Jerry’s “Chunky Monkey”, worrying about these things.

And, please… stop this Lil’ Wayne craze, already. He appears on two tracks, the drug-driven “The Profit” and the first single, “Make It Rain”. The latter is your standard Scott Storch approach on the beats and couldn’t be more mediocre if it tried. Meanwhile, Weezie lends nothing but his usual unintelligible lyricism on the former. I thought he hired a ghost-writer? Dude obviously got the week off, here.

Continuing the disappointing cameo trend, Fat Joe employs The Game for a guest spot on “Breathe and Stop”. Nu Jersey Devil lays down a minimalist beat with a hint of Bob Marley-infused island rhythm, but Game’s mailing it in and only appears on the hook.

Still, Fat Joe manages to pull things together towards the end of the album. “Jealousy” is full of the standard “me against the haters” material, but Joe kicks up his flow a notch on one of the few head-nodders here. The production catches up with Joe’s delivery on the solid “Story to Tell” as DJ Khaled’s production is almost majestic.

Unfortunately, for Fat Joe, the drug-dealing themes and subject matter are incessantly repetitive, to the point that an emotionally cloying track like “Bendicion Mami” sounds ridiculously out of place. Coke and crack might be what Joe knows best, but his stories aren’t nearly as interesting as he thinks.

Rating:

Earlier, I mentioned that I was looking forward to Jay-Z’s next album. That’s really not much of a newsflash, since he’ll certainly debut at #1 and even the brutal Wreckx-N-Effect flecked first single won’t derail the warm welcome (back) he’ll receive from rap fans who’ve surely tired of the South’s sonic illiteracy.

Which is why I don’t understand why there was an email/advertisement from his label in my inbox “reminding” me that Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come is dropping on November 21.

Will there really be rap fans strolling through Best Buy this Tuesday, minding their own business, when they come across Kingdom Come and think to themselves, “How come I ain’t heard about this?”

Still, as I scrolled down the email, I found something even more shocking:

(We) are looking for die hard JAY-Z fans to be part of his mini-concert on Jimmy Kimmel Live Wednesday, November 22nd. Jimmy Kimmel Live features celebrity guests, cutting edge performers, like JAY-Z, with plenty of surprises, panic, and general pandemonium. The best part is, JAY-Z will play anywhere from 3-5 songs for you!

- You must be at least 16 years old
- You must be available on Wednesday, November 22nd from 4:30pm – 8:30pm
- You must have a valid photo ID
- Please do not wear white, light blue, beige or logos, as they don’t come across well on camera.
- Please do not bring large handbags or knapsacks
- No cameras or recording devices

Wow. Now, I’ll admit that I’m a little rusty at the “Bootleg quality” mocking that I once wrote, but let’s give the old skills a spin, anyway…’K?

First off, how much longer is ABC going to keep Jimmy Kimmel Live and his one dead eye on the air? It’s been going on for years, it was a mistake from the beginning…hell, throw in a few thousand dead Americans and people would be protesting on the streets and voting out the Republicans.

And, is Kimmel’s show really described above as featuring “plenty of surprises, panic and general pandemonium”? OK, admittedly, it’s been 22 years, but I thought that was the plot from Gremlins? This show is still an awful late-night talk show, right? Whew, just checking.

By the way, the poorly-written release above sure does make it seem like everyone in attendance will have a say in which songs Jay-Z performs. And, there appears to be no caveat that they have to be his songs.

You think he’ll do “Ether”? But, only if he changes Nas’s references in the second person to the first person:

“How much of Biggie’s rhymes is gon’ come out my fat lips?”

The rest of the “invitation” is the usual rules and restrictions. “No cameras and recording devices” is only unusual because 10 years ago the contraband would’ve included laser pointers. Whatever happened to those? One minute, there were a million electric red dots on the Undertaker’s face during his dark, elongated ring intro and now…nothing.

Finally, that’s the first I’ve ever heard that “white, light blue and beige” don’t come across on camera well. Although, now that I think about it, a sea of white would be pretty bright and jarring to the eye. And, all that powder blue would only serve to remind me how much I hate that new particular color trend that every sports team seems to be switching to. (Still, it’s not teal.)

Oh, and all that beige in the audience would be like a cast reunion of NBC’s A Different World. After all this time, it just wouldn’t be the same.

The Game – Doctor’s Advocate
Geffen Records/Black Wall Street (release date: 11/14/2006)
Rap

Hard to believe that a Black man in his 30s with a mortgage, car payment and 2-year-old kid can still get excited about an album coming out.

But, there I was, fighting traffic and a sudden, unexpected San Diego drizzle to cop the latest from The Game. The entire endeavor made me an hour late for work and came with a sanctimonious lecture from the octogenarian working the counter at Target:

“I read about that album. That’s the one with the bad words, isn’t it?”

Yep, Ethel… that’s the, uh… “one”.

You won’t find much West Coast commercial love from my family here at MGF, but since Game dropped The Documentary in early ‘05, I’ve watched him do everything in his power to ensure that the left coast remains relevant.

His might be more known for his long-running beef with 50 Cent or his off-the-cuff passive-aggressive attacks on Jay-Z, but Game has kept his name out there with several solid mixtapes even as it appeared he was sabotaging his own success.

Through all the beefing, Game lost a mentor in Dr. Dre, a label in Aftermath and the undeniable, if unexplainable, success of 50 Cent’s hooks. So, what’s left?

“It’s Okay (One Blood)” was a strong first single and a harmless, but harrowing reach for radio that lets listeners know (with the help of a Junior Reid sample) that Game is ready to walk in his own shoes and out of everyone’s shadow.

Still, there’s a strong NWA vibe on some of the early cuts. “Remedy” could’ve come right off of efil4zaggiN, but is infinitely stronger lyrically. The Scott Storch assist on “Let’s Ride” plays like the natural evolution of the familiar California sound that, up to now, has been done to death.

The strongest tracks are easily the Kanye West-led effort on “Wouldn’t Get Far” and the little bit of Nate Dogg that makes “Too Much” just that much tighter. The former is a jaw-dropping assault on video hoes that names names under a ’70s sample and a terrific homage to Tupac’s “All About U” at the end. The latter is built on a strong lyrical assault that includes a great throwaway line pissing on Ken Griffey, of all people.

Unfortunately, Game can’t sustain the momentum as the second half of the album hits an uneven rut. “Ol’ English” and “One Night” just meander along aimlessly, while “Scream on Em” is just OK, but with an annoying hook. Things fall apart on the title track, which sounds like a weepy mash note from Game to Dr. Dre that begs Andre Young to take Game back into his fold. Listening to Game’s voice cracking (a style he used on a track or two on The Documentary) is just as precious as that butterfly tat he recently covered up.

Still, the album finishes with a flourish as Snoop Dogg and Xzibit bring their A-game on “California Vacation”, Daz n’ Kurupt do what they do best on “Bang”, Jamie Foxx holds things together on “Around the World” and Nas kills it on the nine-minute “Why You Hate the Game”.

Rumors abound that Dr. Dre did, in fact, ghost-produce several tracks and I could hear the logic in that argument. Much like Documentary there really aren’t any bad beats from beginning to end, while the few that don’t work aren’t overtly awful.

Game manages to tone down the name-dropping here, while showing signs of maturation on the mic. All of the “Dre ain’t give me a track” lines get old after awhile and Doctor’s Advocate isn’t the grand slam that Game’s been calling, but considering all of the drama he’s been through (and created for himself) over the last 20-some months, it still lives up to the hype.

Even if it’s his own.

Rating:

So, I’m talking to the guy who used to write “Nick’a Please” back when I used to write The Bootleg. And, somehow…someway…we got on the subject of upcoming albums.

Now, you could probably count the number of albums that he and I have purchased this year on one hand, thanks to our mutual Connecticut-to-California “burn n’ turn” CD exchange program. I’d go into more detail, but if Mathan Erhardt found out that I didn’t pay for Lupe Fiasco’s debut…well, let’s not go there.

Anyways, Nick and I are in agreement that the last two months of 2006 could, in essence, save the year. In this quagmire of crunk, hyphy and its related sonic claptrap, the next six weeks feature a high profile return to the mic, a one-man war against the sophomore jinx and a few set-in-their-ways superstars who just might release a sleeper hit.

The Game – Doctor’s Advocate
Release Date: November 14

His 2005 debut, The Documentary, was solid but far from a classic. Still, the potential for greatness wasn’t as far out of reach as you might think. He endured a well-publicized split with 50 Cent, then kept at it long after the public had moved on. The end results included a rift with his mentor, Dr. Dre as Game saw his Doctor’s Advocate album farmed out to Interscope’s smaller subsidiary, Geffen Records.

The Game continues to make ridiculous public comments (such as suggesting that he’ll outsell Jay-Z this month) which have eroded much of the public sentiment he had in his corner at this time last year. Still, with the success of his “One Blood” single and the slow burn he’s created with less publicized, but tight-azz tracks such as “Hate the Game”, it’s possible that the West Coast just might be back.

Snoop Dogg – Tha Blue Carpet Treatment
Release Date: November 21

If I didn’t know better, I’d guess it was 1993 all over again. Snoop has an album about to drop…then, runs afoul of five-o. Despite the criminal coincidence, no one expects this Snoop Dogg album to do Doggystyle numbers. The first single featured a decent enough Pharrell beat on “Vato”, but the Black-and-Brown unity theme came off as petty pandering.

Ah, but Snoop’s always got a few ready-made singles up his sleeve and the duet with R. Kelly (“That’s That Sh*t”) has been getting crazy airplay. There are also anywhere from two to four Dr. Dre produced tracks on here, depending on how the final listing plays out, so perhaps he can ride the “B Please” Express (strong second single rescues sales from failed first single) all the way to platinum status. Again.

Jay-Z – Kingdom Come
Release Date: November 21

Can we all agree that the horrible…and I mean (in Bill Walton voice) horrible first single “Show Me What You Got” never, ever happened? Cool? Cool. Since that Just Blaze abomination dropped, subsequent singles have made their way online and on satellite radio to much more favorable reviews. Indeed, the abbreviated goodness on cuts like “30 Something” and “Oh My God” actually have me anticipating a Jigga release for the first time…well, ever.

Wait. Before you send me your hate mail, just know that I’m not one of the 200 million rap fans who now claim they copped “Reasonable Doubt” the first day it was out and “knew” it was a classic even back then. The retroactive attraction for that album is a story for another day. Admittedly, I was hyped up for “The Blueprint” but its release date fell on a day when…something else was occupying my time. As for The Black Album, I hated the “Change Clothes” single and bought it when it dropped just so I didn’t miss out on something special. I sure called that one right, says Aaron, sarcastically.

Tupac Shakur – Pac’s Life
Release Date: November 21

In the interest of full disclosure, I must point out that I haven’t heard one song off of this umpteenth posthumous Pac release. M’man Nick’a, who has limited his Tupac albums to the first few hundred Makaveli mixtapes, insists that the cuts he’s heard from Pac’s Life aren’t bad at all. That, in itself, is a pretty strong endorsement considering the Eminem-produced Loyal to the Game is still eating away at the inside of our ears like those insects from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

I’ll admit that I’m still not all that enamored with the guest list of C-level talent, such as T.I., Chamillionaire, Young Buck and Ashanti. But, the production should be solid with LT Hutton and Sha Money XL on the boards. And, besides…the real highlight of any Pac CD these days is the 200 word essay that Afeni Shakur pens in the liner notes. Who will she compare her son to this time? Martin Luther King? Barack Obama? Amistad?

The Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
Release Date: November 28

XXL Magazine has already anointed this one with their equivalent of a “5 mic” rating. The oft-delayed LP has already contributed a pair of singles into heavy radio rotation. “Wamp Wamp” features Slim Thug and an absolutely ridiculous beat. That’s a good thing, BTW. It’s not often you’ll see a Black man in a four-door sedan mouthing the words to a hip hop hook, but Aaron Cameron is Exhibits A, J and C. I was already loving the clever “Mr. Me Too” joint, as well. Oddly enough, Pharrell gets some mic work on this one and the single is far and away better than anything that was on Skateboard P’s solo release.

Shady Records – Eminem Presents The Re-Up
Release Date: December 5

Originally conceived as a street mixtape to spotlight some of the lesser known artists on the Shady Records roster, Re-Up is picking up some buzz in its own right. “You Don’t Know” is the first single and 50 Cent n’ Slim Shady just kill it on this one. The beat sounds better than most of the recently produced work from Eminem and newcomer Ca$his holds his own. Dr. Dre and The Alchemist also lend their beat making skills to the album, which seems poised to establish life after Eminem.

Ghostface – More Fish
Release Date: December 12

Before Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor came along, I was all ready to anoint Ghostface’s Fishscale as my album of the year. When I gave the album a 9 (out of 10) our super-secret staff forums fell all over themselves in an attempt to denounce the score as affront to…I dunno…all the good albums that have come out in ‘06? Anyways, More Fish looks like it’s following the Fishscale formula as confirmed tracks include the follow-up to the excellent “Shakey Dog” cut and “Charlie Brown” which is already one of my all time favorite Ghostface joints.

Nas – Hip Hop Is Dead
Release Date: December 19

I was one of the lone voices of dissent when Nas dropped the bloated and unfocused Streets’ Disciple back in 2004. As if taking on a female persona on a few songs and hiring the guy who was the voice of the “I’m Just a Bill” Schoolhouse Rock cartoon (allegedly Nas’s father) on a few other cuts made for good listening. It didn’t.

But, Hip Hop is Dead is shaping up to be Mr. Jones’ most compelling work in years. Kanye West, Scott Storch and Dr. Dre on the beats? Sold. Guest spots from The Game, Snoop Dogg and former archenemy Jay-Z? Works for me. It’ll be interesting to hear which tracks make the final cut as there’s a conspiracy theory afoot alleging that Jay-Z may attempt to sabotage his subordinate’s record sales by holding back the best material.

Conspiracies…uneasy allies…and dropping $80 in six weeks at Best Buy.

Hip hop ain’t dead yet.

Janet Jackson – 20 Y.O.
Virgin (release date: 9/26/2006)
Pop-R&B

1986 was a difficult time for America.

Moviegoers wept at the passing of longtime Autobots leader Optimus Prime, as fans of The Transformers uneasily welcomed the Rodimus Prime era. McDonald’s introduced the McDLT in an ill-fated attempt at fast food segregation (you must click that link) that was eventually overturned by the benevolent Mayor McCheese. Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship in a feat that gave false hoops hopes to awkward white boys and freckly bruthas, everywhere.

But, all was not lost.

Janet Jackson dropped her classic Control LP in 1986, as well.

Hard to believe that an album of just nine tracks, checking in at under 40 minutes of music could possibly be something of a sonic flashpoint in history, but there ya go. In the 20 years since, Janet Jackson remained in the paparazzi spotlight as she’s successfully reinvented herself from cuddly child actor to ’80s glam.

And, then into a 1990s sex kitten, before Poetic Justice ensured that quotation marks would surround the word “actor” on her resume, forevermore.

By the time that decade was done, Miss Janet had settled into something of a bland and predictable persona. She might acknowledge her brother Michael’s existence for a few months and appear on one of his tracks, but, for the most part, she was content to make the same songs over and over again.

Then, at the Super Bowl, her boobie got exposed, Justin Timberlake hung her out to dry (hey, maybe he is Black, after all!) and the red states turned on her. To paraphrase the late Andre the Giant, “…20 years is a long time.”

20 Y.O. was a far more fascinating ride before it was ever released. The notion that Janet’s boyfriend/C.H.U.D Jermaine Dupri could “save” her career was laughable in that after such a long career, Janet should know that she’ll never do (fill in 20-something pop star) numbers, anymore. Nor should she have to.

But, there was Janet at the front of a Virgin Records media blitz, trying to convince white America that she’s really quite harmless (most notably in an interview with Oprah), while simultaneously trying to win over Black America by showing off her (still) nasty side (she goes to strip clubs and is down with threesomes, apparently) in an interview with King Magazine.

After all that noise, is it any wonder that 20 Y.O. falls flat?

Khia, easily the ugliest and most untalented of the current crop of female rappers lends nothing but a failed attempt at risqué on “So Excited” The production is scratch-heavy and decent (as most of Dupri’s work is) but Janet is pretty much on auto-pilot between the “breathless” delivery and manufactured coos thrown in.

Janet channels Gwen Stefani at her most annoying on “Show Me”, as she spells out the song title for those of you didn’t finish first grade. We’re only two songs in at this point and Janet sounds more like someone doing a solid impression of her.

“This Body” is a pretty good grind-her-on-the-dance-floor effort, with a guitar foundation and a break from the paint-by-numbers formula. “Daybreak” and “Enjoy” are energetic and faintly reminiscent of the 1993 Janet Jackson, easily the best creative period of her musical career.

That’s what makes it so frustrating when she dials up the raunchy goodness on “Take Care”. Hey, I like listening to women tell me they masturbate as much as the next guy, but c’mon. To my dad, she’ll always be “Penny” on Good Times. Even worse are the trite musical clichés that she dredges up on “With U”, where she stops in the middle of the cut to “talk real” to the audience. Speaking of clichés, there’s Nelly on “Call on Me” which fails in every way to capture (steal?) the chemistry between Nelly and Kelly Rowland on “Dilemma”.

There’s no way that 20 Y.O. could live up to its hype and, sure enough, it didn’t. Poor first week sales essentially forced Dupri out of his executive position at Virgin and left Janet’s career at the crossroads. This is an uneven, mostly mediocre album, but at times it makes you realize why you fell in love with Janet Jackson in the first place.

Rating:

Tupac Shakur – The Complete Live Performances
Eagle Rock Entertainment (release date: 10/31/2006)
Rap

As the tenth anniversary of Tupac Shakur’s death came and went, there was surprisingly little fanfare. Either the rap industry has moved on or the usual posthumous suspects—such as Afeni Shakur and Suge Knight—are all tuckered out from a decade of plundering the man’s memory and material.

Eagle Rock Entertainment has put together a two-disc DVD featuring what’s believed to be Tupac Shakur’s first live performance as a Death Row Records artist, as well as his last live concert before his death in September 1996. The latter show was previously released last year as the single set, Live at the House of Blues and is easily the better of the two events.

Eagle Rock gives this nearly decade-old live show (from July 4, 1996) a new spit shine, with sound that’s almost album quality. The bass line from “Ambitionz Az a Ridah” still thumps your walls. Tupac’s set opens things up and his Outlawz posse go into nine of their cuts with gusto. “Hit ‘Em Up” will never lose its poisonous shock value and everyone takes time to go after their enemies at the time (Bad Boy Records, Nas, etc.) Snoop and Tha Dogg Pound are out next, and just kill their set with a raucous crowd and over a dozen classics “Gin & Juice”, “Murder Was the Case”, “Tha Shiznit” mixed in.

The other performance is from Suge Knight’s infamous and short-lived Club 662 in Las Vegas. While the picture and sound are decent, the actual Tupac set is actually just a “sneak peak” at a few tracks of his seminal All Eyez on Me album. Pac drops a few verses, hands the mic over The Outlawz (or a horribly flat n’ unsweetened Nate Dogg) and that’s it. At times, there are so many dudes on the mic that it might remind the listener of Steve Harvey’s famous “40 rappers, 40 mics” riff.

Buyer beware…on both discs, Tupac is essentially the opening act, while Tha Dogg Pound (Daz & Kurupt) are the main event on disc one, while Snoop Dogg is the real show on disc two. Newer fans of Tupac might be surprised to know that it was Snoop, not Pac, who ruled the West Coast at the time.

There are a few production hiccups during breaks in the show where the right music isn’t cued up and the camera stays on to capture every elongated lull. And, under the “unintentional comedy” banner is the crowd reaction to the new material Pac and Snoop tried to debut. Everyone sits on their hands during “Doggfather” and “Tattoo Tears” just waiting to hear something they once again recognize.

“Bonus Features” include five of Tupac’s music videos from the Death Row days. There’s also an odd freestyle from Kurupt and Jayo Felony in which a chunk of the audio isn’t even captured. The “bonus” highlight is the guest commentary from Treach of Naughty by Nature, uh…”fame”. He only sticks around for the Tupac set on the first disc and drops gems like “This is what hunger is… (long, long pause) … All Eyez on Me changed the face of rap.” Think Tim McCarver, but with a better grasp of the obvious.

Still, this DVD is better than it has any right to be. This is, quite simply, a slice of time when everything seemed right on the west coast and the eventual, almost immediate end seemed like it would never arrive.

Rating:

Diddy – Press Play
Bad Boy Entertainment (release date: 10/17/2006)
Rap/dance

OK… I’ve got just one goal in mind as I approach this review.

With all my being, I will not be the 1,000th critic to make the obvious “Press Play? More like Press Fast Forward!” joke.

Hell, truth be told, I’ve even grown to accept Puff P. Diddy Just Diddy Daddy over the years. He gets sh*t over his rampant sampling from those that don’t understand the origins of rap. He gets equal amounts of manure from those that do know rap, with regards to his “shiny suit-ification” of the genre in the late ’90s.

At the end of the day, Diddy is a mediocre rapper and above average producer, which basically makes him a dancing Dr. Dre. Plus, as David Spade has showed us, it’s not easy being an entertainer of limited talent who rides the decomposed coattails of his dead fat friend.

Press Play is the hyped-to-the-heavens fourth LP from Sean Combs. And, heaven help us, it debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts.

Let’s cut right to the bone… this is a terrible album. It’s an absolute embarrassment on every level and this is coming from a guy who actually enjoyed Diddy’s (admittedly overstuffed) The Saga Continues… CD in 2001.

Criticizing Diddy’s lyrical skill is easier than preschool, but for God’s sake:

“…I bang like Chitty-Chitty…” -from “The Future”.

“Let me be your tour guide
I’m your burger / You my fries…” -from “Diddy Rock”.

And, those are just two examples from the most excruciating 80 minutes of audio in recent hip hop history.

The guest list is long and alluring, but Diddy’s production keeps Christina Aguilera’s vocal chords in check on “Tell Me”. Later, Brandy seems to be satirizing her own syrupy style on “Thought You Said”, which sounds an awful lot like the 10th or 11th “love letter to Jennifer” concept.

Other cameos include Jaime Foxx (“Partners for Life”), Mary J. Blige (“Making It Hard”) and Keyshia Cole (“Last Night”), but everything is dull, formulaic and, most disappointing of all… no fun.

Ah, but don’t think we can’t pick a worst track here. “Special Feeling” is ripped right from a 1985 New Edition outtake on the production side, while Diddy’s (ahem) “flow” flops around like a fish fresh out of water.

So, it’s not all awful. Nas forced Diddy to raise his game just so the latter can keep up on “Everything I Love”. But, one redeemable song simply isn’t enough to save Press Play. Diddy does have talent, so perhaps it’s possible that he meant to miss the target by this much.

After all, anyone can go out on top, but going out on the bottom is really an accomplishment.

Rating:

Xzibit – Full Circle
Koch Records (release date: 10/17/2006)
Rap

The musical rise and fall of Xzibit makes the title of this, his sixth studio album, more appropriate than you might think. After dropping a pair of underground, if slightly overrated “classics” in the late ’90s, X was put on 1999’s “B Please” single from Snoop Dogg and his fame took off from there. Creatively, Xzibit peaked with the release of 2000’s The Restless LP, before coming back to earth with a pair of poorly-received albums in 2002 and 2004.

Absent of any major label backing and with a budding film and TV career in the works, it’s not like Xzibit really needs the music industry, anymore. But, he’s back… and, for everyone’s sake, the hope here is that X considers the circle to be complete.

There are actually a few things to genuinely like here on the surface. Full Circle is an independent release and, as such, the feel of the album lacks the superficial polish and over-production that hurt the last few Xzibit efforts. Keith Shocklee, of all people, gets an executive producer credit (is he on sabbatical from his Circuit City cashier gig?) Oh, and the liner notes actually contain the album’s lyrics.

Yep… we’re reaching here.

The music is more “miss” than “hit”, but still… “Invade My Space” starts out as a soulful, piano-sweetened intro, but then segues into an aggressive, kick-the-door-down sound. Later, X is joined by West Coast acts Daz Dillinger and The Game for “On Bail”. The beat has the stink of that Down South sound (despite being produced by Cali’s Felli Fell) but all three carry their load, admirably… especially Game, who seems to be following a scaled-down version of Jay-Z’s “kill ‘em with kick ass cameos” approach, in anticipation of his own album dropping later this year.

“Poppin’ Off” dredges up DJ Quik and the corpse of King T for some misogynistic mayhem. The terrible production sounds like a hundred rubber bands being strummed with a random drum clap thrown in for good measure, though. And, speaking of the old, that’s Kurupt and Too Short on “Movin’ in Your Chucks”… an effort that is the verbal definition of a shrug.

The obligatory generic club cut from Rick Rock (“Concentrate”) might move a few booties on the dance floor, but never strays from its boring formula. On the other hand, there are a few tracks here that are far from “boring”.

“Black & Brown” is another in a long line of recent rap songs preaching unity between the Blacks and the Mexicans. Credit to X for recalling his own recent beatdown at the hands of a Hispanic, uh, “urban youth group”, but the overall theme seems to be that the two races should come together to fight the real enemy. Three guesses what color “he” is.

Oh, and everyone must find a way to hear anti-police anthem “Ram Part Division”. It’s so hilariously awful that it almost doubles back and becomes a good listen. Full circle, if you will.

Rating:

Method Man – 4:21…The Day After
Def Jam (release date: 8/29/2006)
Hip Hop

We’re entering some entirely new territory within the rap industry. Artists who spoke with the vibrancy and vitriol that represented the last Black renaissance of the early ’90s are still in the game. However, their original audience has grown up, while the current rap demographic would rather drown themselves deep in the dirty south quicksand sound.

Lost in all the righteous indignation over New York’s perceived loss of heat within hip hop is the fact that the same rappers who were on top of the world in 1994 are now in their mid-30s… still capable of lyrical credibility, but the time to establish themselves as something they’re not has long since passed.

Take Method Man, for instance. My position on him hasn’t changed much during his nearly-15-year commercial existence. In a nutshell… if you want a hot guest spot, Meth is the truth. However, if you want a hot album… you need to look elsewhere.

Ah, don’t look at me like that. 1994’s Tical was rushed and uneven, yet still went platinum. ’98s Judgment Day was more about skits and guests, than any musical evolution from Meth. And, finally, the less said about the long-delayed, should’ve-never-seen-the-light-of-day Prequel album, the better.

So, Clifford Smith is back for round four on his latest effort, 4:21…The Day After.

Meth jumps right on his critics during the intro asking why they (we?) say he’s washed up when he’s “the dirtiest thing in sight”. Fair enough… and credit where it’s due, the Scott Storch assist on “Is It Me” lays down the perfect piano-based production that work in perfect contrast to Meth’s sandpaper-voiced assault.

“Problem” is even stronger, with Meth upping the lyrical ante and by the time the next track, “Somebody Done F’d Up” finishes, the hope that this just might be the definitive Method Man LP are (comedic pause) high.

But, then, after a while, the album starts meandering down several unoriginal roads. C’mon, Meth…what the hell are you doing with Ginuwine on a corny-ass cut like “Let’s Ride”? And, why do you think repeating the same formula with Megan Rochell on “4 Ever” is worth anyone’s time?

“Got to Have It” is all about the extravagance and excess that are hip hop CD staples these days, while “Say” is backed by a strong guitar foundation and Lauryn Hill sample, the cut comes off as a bitter tantrum.

Still, there’s actually more good here than not.

The guest spots are solid up and down, with the standouts like Styles P and Fat Joe (hey, I’m shocked, too) on “Ya’Meen”, Inspectah Deck on “Everything” and, of course, Redman (“Walk On”). The production from Erick Sermon and the RZA, among others, is some of the best to ever appear on a Meth solo joint, too.

It all adds up to an effort that can almost be deemed “underrated” (at least based on the album’s sales to date). If you’re one of the many who’s written off Method Man for good, give this one a spin. He might not be “back”, but he’s better than he’s been over an entire album in a long time.

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Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor
Atlantic Records (release date: 9/19/2006)
Hip Hop

So, did y’all hear the one about the Chicago MC who turned the rap game on its ear?

Again. For, like, the third straight year.

At this rate, Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco will become bigger Chi-Town icons than Bill Wennington and B.J. Armstrong.

This is usually the part where we get into a little bit of the artist’s background, but if you’re reading this review, you probably know all the hot button discussion points surrounding Lupe Fiasco: practicing Muslim, mixtape fiend and hype, hype, hype. And, with the release of his debut album, Food & Liquor, Lupe looks to follow in the prodigious footsteps left in front of him, while blazing a new trail all his own.

“Kick, Push” just might be the riskiest first single from any genre in years. The fact that fans inside and outside of Hip Hop have embraced this metaphorical skating-as-life’s journey track proves that Lupe knows how to reach those who would otherwise not give him a second look. The lush production is only icing on the cake.

The intense personalization on “Real” lays out a vulnerability that is (sadly) too rarely heard on wax. It takes the simple rags-to-riches formula and builds on top of it with the artist’s own anxiety, which drenches every verse. “Hurt Me Soul” addresses some of the hypocrisy in Hip Hop, but instead of pointing the finger at others, Fiasco looks right at himself in assessing blame and explaining how he resolved his own conflicting ideals.

All of that doesn’t even begin to get into the borderline brilliance of “American Terrorist” and “Daydreamin’”. The latter carries a satirical, sarcastic edge that is softened by a kiss from Jill Scott on the hook.

OK, not convinced yet? There’s even a strong “love” track, which in rap is almost impossible to achieve, but Lupe does it on “Sunshine”. That one is very cleverly placed immediately after “He Say She Say”, which is about as far from love as you can get with a child torn between his warring parents.

On “The Cool”, Lupe comes back from the dead in a tale that seems influenced by Edgar Allen Poe’s more macabre material, while Jay-Z has never sounded more alive than he does in a guest spot on “Pressure”.

Pencils down, kids. This is your album of the year and it’s not even close. Food & Liquor is one of the most challenging, cerebral, complex and risk-taking albums that you’ll ever hear. The production (from Kanye West, The Neptunes and, mostly, Soundtrakk & Prolyfic) never misses and is capable of carrying the occasional weak hook.

Even the ridiculously long, three-hour Outro/Oscar speech is worth at least one listen. Hey, look…it’s five machine guns!

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