i’m livin’ the life…

cause i’m rich off COCAINE!!!

that is THE SHIT!!!!

In my opinion, Jada’s songs are all over the place. He has added more content into his raps than before (call it the “Why” factor), but he has yet to really find himself musically. Ross has a “sound.” All the great artists have trademark sounds. Ross’ has been sculpted with the help of J.US.T.I.C.E. League and JR Rotem on the last album, and continued to the bulk of this album. Think “The Boss,” think “Magnificent,” think “Maybach Music” 1 & 2. Eminem has a sound. Nas has a sound. Jay-Z had a sound, reinvented himself, and created a new sound for himself. I’m not comparing them to Rosss (blasphemy!) but I am referencing to get my point across. T.I. has a sound. Wayne has a sound. They might make singles that get away from their base sound, but you can always count on them to bring that sound back. Kanye has a sound, Common has a sound.

This is why i feel artists like Fab, Jada, etc. never made it to the next level. They could never create their own sound. Until them, they’ll be b-list rappers. They don’t have a “core” sound, they just ride with whatever producers are hot at the moment.

Even 50 has a sound.

As for this album, I feel a lot of yall are being to harsh on Ross. This is a very important album for him and for the most part, he passed with flying colors.

He starts the album with a bunch of the leaked stuff which builds momentum through the majority of the R&B joints. The brilliant core of this album, consisting of “Mafia Music,” “Maybach 2,” “Magnificent,” “Yahcht Club,” and “Usual Suspects,” starts things off. The momentum builds through the first group of “chick” songs. “All I Really Want” being the first of these, featuring a brilliantly off-paced beat and another solid showing by the-dream. We get back to the core sounds with the superior, Avery Storm-assisted “Rich off Cocaine.” The streak continues through the next “chick” song, “Lay Back,” featuring Robin Thicke sounding very Trey Songz-ish. Did Songz not wanna get back in the studio with his “This Is The Life” collaborator? Either way, Thicke works much better on a Rick Ross song sounding like Trey Songz, than he would sounding like himself (think 50′s “Follow My Lead,” ick…). Though the song has caught major flack on this site, I even enjoyed the Foxy Brown-assisted Bonne & Clyde-themed “Murda Mami.” I’ve always felt Foxy had one of the illest voices in hip hop. Especially for a chick. And teaming up with Ross, who has one of the better voices in hip hop as well, they put together a cool sounding song without saying anything noteworthy.

Then we get to the filler. Three skippers in a row starting with “Gunplay,” featuring Gunplay, who sounds as annoying rapping as he does on his Youtube clips. We then move into “Bossy Lady,” featuring a throwaway Ne-Yo hook. The kid was on fire on R&B-fueled hip hop songs until this one teamed with his two tracks on Game’s last album make it appear he’s running on empty. Finally, we get to the god-awful “Face,” sounding much more like a Trina song featuring Rick Ross than the other way around.

But RAWSSS gets back on track with another superior track, “Valley Of Death,” perhaps his most in-depth lyrical joint on the album. The brilliant sample works perfectly with Rawss’ subject manner. DJ Toomp and T.I. step out of the box with this one, not sounding anything like a typical Toomp track. The joint also squashes any rumors of continued beef between Cliff and Ricky. “In Cold Blood” and “Cigar Music” are two more leaked tracks that most have heard, but are still dope nonetheless. Overall, this is not a classic, but I’d have to compare it pretty evenly with Tip’s Paper Trail from last year. This is good for Ricky, as that might’ve been the best hip hop album of 2008 (apologies to Q-Tip for that one)….. Okay, maybe Paper Trail was the best mainstream hip hop album of last year. Rick continues to build on himself and is now a force to be reckoned with. And for the first time in a long time, I’m very curious to see how he sells. This was a dope album from a heavily buzzed artist who hasn’t ever sold on the levels of the current trio of hip hop kings (Kanye/Tip/Wayne), and definitely not on the past of some of the past soundscan killers (50/Jay/Em).

http://www.smissbeatzpresents.com

I think 3 stars is closer to the real mark.