Friday, December 24, 2010
ALBUM REVIEW: T.I./ NO MERCY/ GRAND HUSTLE/ ATLANTIC/ RATING: 4/5
2010 saw T.I. released from a year-and-a-day-prison-sentence early this year, only to see him sent back to prison for an additional 11 months for violating his probation on September 1st. The parole violation was yet another setback for the self-proclaimed "King of the South", but what about the music? Originally entitled King Uncaged, when the title was annouced last summer, TIP, had to do a quick title change to reflect his current situation. Finally, the much-delayed- No Mercy will be T.I.'s next shot on his road to redemption. Surprisingly, No Mercy is rather upbeat for a man who has seen more dark days than light ones. TIP only touches on his jail- time on tracks like the album's title track featuring The-Dream, the Christina Aguilea- featured "Castle Walls", and the Neptunes-produced-Chris Brown-assisted lead single "Get Back Up". The latter, finds the King coming clean, with lines like: " I admit, yeah, I done some dumb shit/ Disappointed everybody I know/ Try not to hold that against me though/ My road to redemption has no GPS/ So guess the time must be invested/ For this to be manifested." While most songs gravitate towards the clubs (i.e. "Strip" featuring Young Dro and Trey Songz and "Poppin Bottles" with Drake). T.I. is at his best when he's not jumping on furniture in VIP and takes a more retrospective route. The church organ-filled "How Life Changed" features Scarface and the orginal Queen of Hip Hop soul, Mitchelle'l, and is one of the album's strongest cuts. On "That's All She Wrote" (arguably the best song on the album) finds TIP reuniting with Eminem, as the two MC's go on a rampage and deliver some compelling verses. No Mercy at times can feel rushed, due to the time contraint when it was constructed, and it doesn't have the pizazz of his last effort Paper Trail (considered by some to be his best work next to Urban Legend), but the album does have many bright spots and is entertaining throughout, because of T.I.'s undeiable talent. Let's just hope TIP has learned from his past mistakes, so the next time around, his path towards redemption is a smoother one.
Friday, December 17, 2010
ALBUM REVIEW: LLOYD BANKS/ THE HUNGER FOR MORE 2/ G-UNIT / EMI/ RATING: 4/5
Lloyd Banks is no stranger to success. Back in 2004, he released his debut album, The Hunger For More, that racked up a million in sales and added another platinum plaque to G-Unit's then-already impressive run. Though Lloyd Banks instant success made the Punch Line King a legit mention among the game's top MC's, the recognition did little to overshadow his mentor, 50 Cent. Also Banks' sophomore effort, Rotten Apple recieved underwhelming attention, and Interscope Records dropped him a few years later. Now, determined to stand outside of 50' s shadow, Blue Hefner returns with his third disc, The Hunger For More 2, the sequel to his stellar debut. Rejuvenated and refocused--the hunger is felt on the Tony Yayo-assisted "Take 'Em To War". Banks comes out firing, spitting on the hook, "Fuck talkin'/ Let's take 'em to war/ Drama after drama/ Til they layin on the floor/ What the fuck do you take me for?/ Eye for an eye/ Time to even up the score/ I rather be not here than hungry/ I'm sick when I'm not near my money/ They want me to lose/ But I'ma win/ I made it there before/ And I'ma make it there again". Unlike his mentor, Banks has extended an olive branch to artist who were once targets or associated with many of 50's battles. Case and point, Styles P (of the Lox) pops up on "Unexplainable", Juelz Santana (of Diplomats) is featured on the album's first single, "Beamer,Benz or Bentley", former Murder Inc. crooner Lloyd, lends his vocal chops to the radio friendly "Any Girl", and Kanye West can be heard on the album's posse cut "Start It Up". The latter also features Swizz Beatz, Ryan Leslie, and Fabolous. Banks is backed by relatively unknown producers, who deliver the perfect back drop to match Lloyd Banks' aggressive bars. The good thing about HFM2 is that 50's presence is almost nonexsistent (he only appears on the hook to "Big Payback (P's and Q's)") this was done intentionally to showcase Banks as his own artist. The bad thing about Banks latest disc, is the bloated guest list, but the good thing about this is that Banks holds his own, and never really gets outshined on his own song. HFM2 is above all else, a solid comeback from one of the game's best.
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