UG Rap Community

Zitat von Gimel “Young Guru” Keaton
“I was reading a lot of bullshit online—fake track lists, features and producers we don’t even know…I don’t know what’s gonna make it until I actually master it. There’s no rapper features on here. The only other feature on here, in terms of vocalists, is Beyoncé.”

lol, habe sogar gestern irgendwo gelesen, daß Usher drauf sein soll

also ich mag ne-yo, der hat so n hammer lied, mit schnee im video, wie hieß das? das war top

"So Sick"

Ok here's my thoughts on the album. Please bare in mind that I've only heard the album through once and my opinion isn't final. Might be a grower and also the system we listened to it on was very bass heavy so I didn't catch all of the lyrics so here's just a first impression.

01. Prelude (Prod. Ghettobot) - Big song. Simple yet addictive beat. Jay gives his reasons for coming back. Some nice wordplay. Good start to album. 4/5

02. Oh My God (Prod. Just Blaze) - When this kicked off I was really into it. Sounded very Hovi Baby, but it lost my attention by the end of the song. Needs more listens to give proper opinion. Jay doesn't spit about anything in particular. 3/5

03. Kingdom Come (Prod. Just Blaze) - Y'all know the deal already. 3/5

04. Show Me What You Got (Prod. Just Blaze) - Same again. 3/5

05. Lost One (Feat. Chrissette Michelle) (Prod. Dr. Dre) - Again you've heard this. Received confirmation that this will be the second single. 1st verse is for Dame & Biggs, 2nd verse is for Beyonce and the 3rd verse is for his deceased nephew. Christte Michelle is some new chick signed to Def Jam and is in the mould of like a Jill Scott (according to the Def Jam rep). 4/5

06. Do You Wanna Ride (Feat. John Legend) (Prod. Kanye West) - This is meant to be a letter to an incarcerated friend though apart from some talking at the beginning (“I dunno how to write a letter, sh*t I don’t even write rhymes”) I couldn't hear it myself. Mainly it's just Jay bragging about his business ventures. Beat is cool but nothing mind-blowing. John Legend on the hook. 3/5

07. 30 Something (Prod. Dr.Dre) - Jay's trying to say that being 30 is the new 20. Not very convincing. Nice verse at the end where he makes comparisons between a young person’s view and an old person’s and one of the lines is "you respect the one that got shot, I respect the shooter." Drums are exactly the same as Lost One. 2/5

08. I Made It (Prod. Dr.Dre) - Dedicated to his mother. Not as heartfelt or emotional as a Dear Mama or Hey Mama. Beat sounds more like Just Blaze with the African drums and sample. Very un-Dre-ish. 2/5

09. Anything (Feat. Usher & Pharrell) (Prod. The Neptunes) - Horrible track. Weird beat. Strip club song. Jay has a fast flow. Not much else to say. 1/5

10. Hollywood (Feat. Beyonce) (Prod. Scyience) - Track detailing the ups and downs of fame. Cheesy hook (written by Ne-Yo) which sounds very much like it should be in a Broadway/ West End musical or something. Funky beat (horns) like the usual BJ collabos, but weak in my opinion. 2/5

11. Trouble (Prod. Dr.Dre) – East coast beat from Dre, doesn’t sound like him ‘till the piano kicks in. I can’t really remember what Jay was talking about on this. It didn’t really capture my attention (on this listen). 2/5

12. Dig A Hole (Feat. Sterling Simms) (Prod. Swizz Beatz) – This is like a combination of Dirt Off Your Shoulder (in terms of the beat) and Threat (in terms of lyrics), but just not as good. Hard beat from Swizz, Jay spitting his “I’ll dead your career” lyrics. Sterling Simms is a new singer signed to Def Jam. 3/5

13. Minority Report (Feat. Ne-Yo) (Prod. Dr. Dre) – Thank fu*k for this track. This is a song about Hurricane Katrina and after the previous 7 weak tracks that came before it I was looking for something to save the album. This could possibly be it. The track begins and ends with clips from news reports from Katrina. Dre provides a big, deep, dark, booming beat for Jay who spits about the media coverage of the victims of Katrina (hence the title Minority Report). He explains how he saw helicopters swooping to get the scoop, but they couldn’t scoop up the victims, and also how he felt helpless during the tragedy. The only issue I had with this track was that Jay only spits 1 verse (albeit, 1 long verse) before Ne-Yo takes over what I assumed was the hook but turns out to be the outro. 4/5

14. Beach Chair (Feat. Chris Martin) (Prod. Chris Martin) – I was expecting a sombre outro to the album, especially when I found out the track was featuring and produced by Chris Martin, but there was definitely an air of menace to this song (which I liked). At first I was a little thrown by the sound, but by the end of the song I was hooked. Dre supplied some loud arse banging drums for this, which just adds to the mood and Martins haunting vocals fit in perfectly (though I couldn’t tell if it was just one line looped). Jay spits about his business ventures (again!) and how life is like one big beach chair, good performance. 4/5

Overall: 3/5

So there you have it. Again let me reiterate I don’t wanna get carried away after just one listen. Cos some of the tracks may be better (or worse) on multiple listens so I’ve tried to stay pretty neutral with my comments. Other info I received was that Timbo came in towards the end of the project for a few days but nothing made the final cut. Primo was never involved due to schedule difficulties. 4 of the tracks (Prelude, Oh My God, I Made It and Anything) were completed two weeks ago whilst on tour in Australia and I did get the feeling that this was a rushed project."