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1. INTRO
This is a pretty good intro, on the level of some of Shawn Carter's album prefaces, but any and all references to Avril Lavigne in a rap song should be verboten.
2. #1
I honestly can't remember anything about this song, and I just heard it.
3. PUMP IT UP
As I wrote in the past, producer Just Blaze first gave this beat to Jay-Z for The Black Album, and Shawn declined, so it ended up going to the first runner-up. Joey tries his best to turn this track into a radio-friendly jam, but it just never took off around my way (although it was a minor hit elsewhere), even though he deliberately dumbed his lyrics down for mass appeal. However, because of that dumbing-down, I didn't really like this song, either. I suppose there is no winning here.
4. PUSHA MAN
The contrived hook almost ruins a perfectly serviceable song, even though the White Boy instrumental is very dull to listen to. Sigh...
5. U AIN'T GOTTA GO HOME (FEAT DJ CLUE)
This song sounds like a fucking mess, and the fact that DJ Clue appears makes it that much worse. Pass.
6. WALK WITH ME
I first heard this song after beating Def Jam: Fight For NY, and I remember thinking that it sounded good over the closing credits. Taken out of that context, this shit is still really good. Joey describes his paranoia in a pretty effective manner, and the instrumental is perfect for walking with your thoughts in a downpour. You may want to take an umbrella, though. Hey, it's your health.
7. SHE WANNA KNOW (FEAT LIL' MO)
The fuck is this shit?
8. SURVIVOR
My God, I was fucking bored to death. I suppose it doesn't really help that I was also bitten by the undead mailman while listening to Joe Budden. Hopefully my zombie self can finish the write-up before my mind deterioracsfcnsdklcfnkcvneneivn
9. FIRE (FEAT BUSTA RHYMES)
A Just Blaze-created pseudo-club banger that, to my knowledge, never banged in any clubs around my way, but is still way better than “Pump It Up”. I was pretty surprised to hear this song pop up in a house party scene in Lindsay Lohan's Mean Girls, but I'm sure Def Jam payed a pretty penny for that product placement. There's a remix that features fellow Jersey resident Redman spitting a lark of a hook: the re-do is completely useless, since apparently Reggie couldn't find the time to actually write a verse. Stick with this version instead. Oh, and Busta Rhymes is on here, too.
10. MA MA MA (FEAT 112)
Meh.
11. CALM DOWN
I hated the hook, but lyrically, this song is fascinating. The beat sounds a tad bit too energetic for anyone to actually calm down, though.
12. FOCUS
Over an unorthodox White Boy beat, Joey spits random shit, but sounds good doing so. Everything about this track screams “album track”; it's one of those gems that you tend to find only after letting the disc play from the beginning. (And yes, I'm aware that a small part of this song appeared at the end of the “Pump It Up” video and made its debut appearance on mixtapes. I still stand by my statement.)
13. GIVE ME REASON
This Just Blaze beat is godawful for Joey, since it forces him to spit in an insipid fashion in order to match it. Groan...
14.STAND UP N---A
Although Joey didn't actually spell out the word “n---a” in the traditional manner, that is still clearly the word he wanted to associate with, so that's why I edited the title. The one long verse is really good, and the beat accompanies it pretty well, since it reminds me of a 1980s cop buddy flick, but the coda at the end is fucking terrible.
15. 10 MINS
Usually I believe that there is no reason for a song ten minutes in length to ever appear on any rapper's proper album (mixtape remixes, no matter how boring and unnecessary, are exempt from this rule): the Wu-Tang Clan has nine members, and they never made a song that was ten minutes long. “10 Mins” does not change my mind. Joey's rhymes are actually decent (and the fact that he wastes the first minute of the song by chatting and otherwise not rapping is a plus for my attention span), but the beat is not engaging enough to captivate any audience for any length of time, although to producer Lofey's credit, the instrumental at least tries to engage, switching itself up frequently.
The following are considered to be Joe Budden bonus tracks.
16. REAL LIFE IN RAP
Joey takes the popular route of calling out studio gangsters (rappers who in no way have ever come close to living the life they rhyme about) and spins it in a pretty funny way. The beat straddles the fine line between decent and corny, but with the topic at hand, it works regardless. The hook is predictably awful, but this is still a hip hop album we're talking about.
17. PORNO STAR
I wouldn't be surprised to find out that this vapid track was forced onto Joey by the label, in an effort to reach as wide of an audience as possible. This is a terrible way to end an album. Even a pretentious outro shouting out God (for making this all possible!), your mother, your weed carrying crew, and random rappers who you may admire but still had nothing to do with the creation of the album, would have been more appealing than this shit.
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July 27th, 2009Uncategorized