BUSTA RHYMES: EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENT 2 – THE WRATH OF GOD!

ALBUM REVIEW WRITTEN BY: MICHAEL GRANT – C.E.O. of RePPiN4U and UK Ambassador for Wu-Worldwide DJ Coalition

Released: October 30, 2020 – The Conglomerate/Empire

Originally written: November 4, 2020

Revised: December 21, 2020

I joined twitter in 2011. In all the years I have been on that site, I have been involved with conversation threads, long winded DMs, even explicit images, certain Hip Hop artists have followed me to which I have been star struck … but all that does not compare to that single tweet 9th Wonder posted that fateful night. I have tried to tell people but who am I? I’m just another black man in Wolverhampton who listens to nothing but Wu-Tang… or at least that’s the myth which people believe.

The story of this long awaited sequel began in 2009 after the B.O.M.B. album, and as the title suggested, that album bombed big time. Unheard of for a man like Busta Rhymes who up until that album, was incapable of creating something disappointing. Granted, the album had it’s moments (Wheel of Fortune, Kill Dem, Decision) but it was plagued and over saturated by Hip Hop’s then enemy – Autotune. Jay-Z thought enough was enough and dropped D.O.A. Death of Autotune that year from the album Blueprint 3 which happened to drop on the same day as Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II which (a little known fact) Busta was actually an Executive producer for The Chef’s sequel. Go to your CD collection – look at the inlay and see that I am not lying.

Moving into the 2010s, Hip Hop suffered a loss in Chris Lighty of Violator. Busta also lost his father, and the results from those tragedies were not good; he gained weight and was not the same man we knew and loved in the 90s to mid 2000s, he drank irresponsibly and had problems with his vocal chords/throat which were life threatening. Meanwhile musically he sporadically released several looseys, notably Twerk It featuring Nicki Minaj, the Swizz Beatz produced ‘AAAAAHHHH!’ Thank You featuring Q-Tip, and even a reunion track with Leaders of the New School entitled ‘We Home’ produced by Black Milk. Talking of reunions, Busta got The Flipmode band together and had them collaborate with his new group – The Conglomerate in an epic cypher like posse track. He practically released an unofficial EP while teasing the sequel to what many call his best album -Extinction Level Event, and the album never materialised… UNTIL NOW.

T.I.M.E.

I have heard artists say – timing is everything. Wait until the right time to release music, and Busta has timed this so perfectly and Noreaga described this album as the ‘I Told You So’ album…meaning that since 1996, Busta has been trying to make us aware and keep an open mind that the government has been planning things that will jump off from the year 2000 that will not benefit us as people, at the same time making these apocalyptic messages a double meaning – that every time he or the Flipmode Squad release a new project is like a bomb hit your ears with excitement and that energy that has kept parties rocking over time. Busta has stated on interviews that since 2009 he has recorded 868 tracks, but he has whittled them down to 21 (22 if you include The Young God Speaks) and 30 if you include the Deluxe Edition. In a world of uncertainty and increasing theories that we are in a PLANDEMIC, we here at RePPiN4U are gonna break this highly anticipated album down hosted by Chris Rock track by track. Wash your hands, 20 seconds or more, cover your face, and make space as you will need it listening to this album.

HE MUST BRING THE RUCKUS TO ALL YOU…

One thing Busta has had a knack for in his albums minus The Big Bang and B.O.M.B. are his intros. This one is as epic as they come and this is great on many levels – one, the Nottz Production is actually one Busta sat on for 22 years and once he revealed that in an interview It All Made Sense like Common (who incidentally, quietly released his new project on the same day.) They say good people move in silence… didn’t quite work out for Mr Lynn this time. This intro screams classic Flipmode production. Imagine, Anarchy, Genesis, It Ain’t Safe No More, Big Bang and B.O.M.B. never came out… that’s the idea behind this intro. Picks up where ELE1 left off, and a rare feature by Rakim over the classic Pete Rock ‘The World Is Yours’ beat is letting you know Busta is acting like this is his last album before the world is toast. Following this is the Swizz Beatz produced ‘The Purge’ which boasts those warning trumpet sounds which supposed to signal the world’s end.

EVERYTHING REMAINS RAW

‘Strap Yourself Down’ screams classic 1996 Busta going crazy in his car along with Spliff Star, before switching to a J Dilla beat halfway. Am I hinting for him to a short intro video in the near future?

This is straight violence in the name of T’Challa. One can argue that today’s young generation are familiar with doing certain dance moves and not the ruckus the older generation are accustomed to when it comes to tracks like Onyx’s Slam, Pharoahe Monch’s Simon Says or Noreaga’s Superthug or near enough anything from M.O.P. who only lend their famous ad libs here. Those disappointed by the lack of verses by the Mash Out Posse should not worry too much. Do not be surprised if a remix is on the way… you heard Call The Ambulance right?

‘Outta My Mind’ is a street dance/New Jack Swing homage which is begging for Tik Tok challenges to happen, Maybe triggering a remake of the film You’ve Got Served or even House Party.

THE SONG OF SALVATION

Again, pretend that The Big Bang and B.O.M.B. never existed. Busta carries on tradition by including a track of the same name as the album’s title which usually appears at this stage of the album’s sequence. This time he enlists Minister Louis Farrakhan to further set the stage. Not often this man appears on an album which shows the magnitude of this albums importance given the time we are in. One can argue that Busta could have had this as a separate skit following in to the track so certain listeners can skip it but I think that is blasphemy when dealing with Minister Louis Farrakhan delivering an epic speech over such a dramatic backdrop, to me that makes it impossible to ignore.

Word is bond baby, tell me how you look so smashing?

The way Ol’ Dirty Bastard appears in this track ‘Slow Flow’, is as if to the unknowing, he was still here with us. By this point, the listener has figured out that these are misleading features, but rather their names are credited so that their respective families can eat, and you cannot fault Busta for that.

THANK YOU

In the 30 years of A Tribe Called Quest and their connections with Busta, The Abstract & The Dragon may have delivered their finest moment to date. Hip Hop/RnB trainspotters will recognise the Focus produced beat from Marsha Ambrosius – Start, Finish…

…and before they know it they are sent on a smooth zoning out journey which nicely flows into ‘Boomp’! Which is again classic Flipmode DJ Scratchator with rhymes reminiscent of When Disaster Strikes vibes. Then Hip Hop makes history as Busta and DJ Premier team up for the first time (on an album that is…) ‘True Indeed’ this is one of the many album highlights, only that it is too short which is a bit of a kick in the teeth… Premo’s partner in Prhyme would have been great on this… was the speed dial not working this time?

Apparently not, because this might be the most controversial track on the album. Master Fard Muhammad demonstrates Busta’s appreciation of the 5% nation… but even with fantastic Hi Tek/Terrace Martin production, was Rick Ross the right choice? Was Lord Jamar not available? Even with the mutual connection of Rah Digga? Regardless of what you think of Rosay, he fit that beat sonically. Busta once explained in an interview that the Rosay he wanted was that found on Tears of Joy from the Teflon Don album to set the vibe.

PARTY IS GOIN ON OVER HERE

You know Busta cannot be Busta without his trademark party sounds and continuing to show how versatile he is. the futuristic sounds of the Anderson Paak assisted ‘Yuuuu’ should keep DJs occupied without having to draw for the tried and tested party classics, however if The Source gave this album 5 mics and went backwards, this is where the album may lose at least half of a mic.. if heads think that the album should be streamlined down, the next track should be one of the candidates to be omitted…it might be skippable to the more boom bap audience but ‘Oh No’ is such a great track as far as street dancing choreography.

Finally The Don & The Boss featuring Vybz Kartel could have done with a more dancehall riddim behind it considering Busta has become more and more dancehall orientated over the last 10 years. Personally his previous Vybz assisted tracks (Wine & Go Down, Girlfriend) may have been better suited to the album than this, but couldn’t be selected for the album perhaps due to contractual obligations to when he was signed to YMCMB.

“I’m TELLING you bruh …and NO, I’m not on the album. I don’t need to be on an album to recognize good music,” he said. “I’m a fan/student/lover of music first.” (9th Wonder, July 9, 2018)

So the question remains – was 9th Wonder’s arm twisted? Was it playing on his mind? It had to be. It would have played on mine. Listening to an album 2 years in advance and not being apart of it… ‘Best I Can ‘ featuring Rapsody is another great album highlight. What is so great about this song is that it is a complete switch up from your usual ‘Bills Bills Bills, No Scrubs, All in My Grill’ type of track.. this is showing accountability and being humble on the part of the female as the 2020 lyricist of the year tells the story of admitting she gave her child’s father a hard time at every turn. Egos are checked at the door here. Such a refreshing change. Kudos to Rapsody. I have seen too many of my close brothers experience the unfair treatment from their partners as regards to their children. It was long overdue it was addressed.

Who would have thought Busta & Mariah would come together again and create what sounds like Part 2 to ‘I Know What You Want? That’s a nice touch. Again – for every skip heads may do on this, the ladies will hit the rewind button in retaliation. I wouldn’t put it past the pair to drop a visual to this also.

TIL IT’S GONE

We are used to Busta being so animated and out of order, but it’s not often we see this side of him in ‘Deep Thought’ as he reflects in the losses of Chris Lighty and his father, he spits an interesting few bars over the amplified sample of Eric B & Rakim’s in the Ghetto:

We ain’t screaming “Violator” like we used to
You ask me what’s on my mind, baby, well I’ma serve you
There ain’t no statue of limitation when it comes to murder
You ever heard a n!&&@ like me stay on top of sh!t
Won’t let it rest ’til we get to the bottom of it
Yeah, and they know who I’m talking to
Because they Busta Rhymes fans, but probably not after this song is through…

I can say this, after this album is through Busta will gain 10x more fans… Chris Lighty has joined the many unsolved mysteries of murdered figures in Hip Hop, and the way Busta explained it on Noreaga’s Drink Champs, he may as well call up Ice-T and Olivia Benson.

If you are still in touch with ‘Pop Music’, name this as a candidate for Christmas #1 because ‘Look Over Your Shoulder’ featuring Kendrick Lamar has that vibe about it although it has nothing to do with the festive season. The fascinating part about this is that this was actually leaked a couple of years ago on the internet and people are acting like this is brand new which makes me question the rest of the tracks on this project, now we have an idea of when these tracks may have been recorded during the 11-year time frame. the question remains – wasn’t this K-Dot’s track to begin with?

Since Busta & Mary J Blige didn’t exactly impress dancefloors in 2001 with ‘There’s Only One’ from the Genesis album, they thought they would go with a different approach with ‘You’ll Never Find Another Me’ and they are quite right. Ever since Verzuz started as a result of the quarantine, no one has stepped up (at time of this review) to test the pair in a 20 track for track contest.

Ever since George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, a thousand songs addressing Police Brutality and Black Lives Matter have emotionally hit us but not like ‘Freedom?’ featuring Nikki Grier….

F**k is we doin’? Where we goin’ wrong?
That a twelve year old gotta sing this type of sh!t up in his songs
Gotta pick up his pops and his moms
The youngin’ braver than a lot of these n!&&@$ that’s armed…

Busta continues his assault on the ignorant or rather, those who think they feel the black man’s pain…

In the bathroom, you wash your faces with us
You ain’t ready for tradin’ places with us…

It’s teary eye music at it’s finest…

What this world is comin’ to…Can you see, What’s in store for you…

Finally in the album’s closing moments. Busta addresses certain artists doing things in visuals which causes people’s eyebrows to raise and warning their children not to blindly follow their favourite artist. Yes it hurts like hell when people put down your rhyming heroes like that.

Consider Extinction Level Event 2 as an amplified version of Nas’ The Lost Tapes. By that I mean a lot of these tracks were made for the album and heads knew about ELE2 for a long time and nearly became a ‘Detox’, or ‘The Cure’, or even a ‘Next Friday’… but Bussa Buss has sequenced this together beautifully. The perfect blend of nostalgia, party records and science and that great Flipmode seasoning from every album gone before (e.g. Strap Yourself Down/The Coming, Boomp!/When Disaster Strikes, Czar, Where I Belong/It Ain’t Safe No More…) tasting like that good Saturday soup, and even if some of these tracks are years old they sound fresh from the oven. Busta has been so overwhelmed by the love and the response he decided to release an deluxe version of the album only days later with another eight tracks including the Eminem assisted Jump around assault of ‘Calm Down’, further claiming the theory of the making of this album (I actually played this track on the very first RePPiN4U HIP HOP SHOW back in 2014). In the deluxe version of this album, Busta answers the downsides and gives the fans what they want.  The tracks worth mentioning are the Flipmode Squad assisted ‘Follow The Wave’ which serves as an appetizer of what’s to come in 2021 and the inevitable Czar Remix featuring M.O.P. who had to bring their aggressive bars over the soon to be mosh pit classic and introducing a young MC in CJ who holds his own with the veterans, but if Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath if God is the Blueprint of what the Flipmode Squad album will be like when it drops next year… we could see Du Dudley Wentworth get another box again…

@ssholes are like opinions, everybody gotta have one

Finally to those who do not think this album is as great as has been made out… YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. When one such as 9th Wonder makes a statement like that and is incapable of producing mediocre music and putting artists on the map such as Rapsody and Skyzoo… who are WE to argue?

 

 

A TRIBE CALLED QUEST: We Got It From Here…Thank You For Your Service

RELEASED: NOVEMBER 11, 2016, Epic Records/Sony Music

Review by Michael Grant, C.E.O. of RePPiN4U

On this day, we are celebrating  5 years of promoting great music and gaining respect and credibility from fans and artists. To this I could say “We Got It From Here…Thank You For Your Service”. But we gonna keep going. Trap music? Mumble Rap? Freestyling from smart phones, WE DON’T DO THAT OVER HERE!

So as a celebration, I decided to review this album, which is a celebration of iconic Hip Hop pioneers A Tribe Called Quest, when you mention the words Hip Hop, these are the guys that instantly come into people’s minds who define it and are mentioned in the same sentence with groups such as Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakim, Wu-Tang Clan, De La Soul.

March 22, 2016 was a horrible day to wake up to. Checking your social media has become one of the regular things to do in the morning with brushing your teeth and changing your brief. The loss of Phife Dawg rocked Hip Hop to its foundation and is up there with the losses of Big Pun, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and J Dilla, talking of which, was the first thing on my mind when I heard the news. I remembered Phife’s track ‘Dear Dilla’ which I consider very underrated and slept on. The lyrics in that, looking at it now made me think ‘whoa’… did Phife kinda know he was going? Almost like he dedicated the song to himself?

“Hold tight, this ain’t the last time I see you
Due time, that’s my word, I’mma see you
Frontin’ ass rappers now here stealin’ intros
Posin’ like they hard when we know they all see through…” 

While Hip Hop was in mourning for the longest since Sean Price, A Tribe Called Quest reconciled and secretly recorded a comeback album on the back of their recent reunion tour, and two weeks before the allotted release date, they dropped the bomb on us. Yes, half of admitted to be skeptical after the blemish that was ‘The Love Movement’, the rest of us were praising the most high that in the midst of this ‘mumble rap’ era, an album would come along to take us away from all that and take us back to the days of Midnight Mauraders. This is their first album after 18 years, and their ‘true’ final album. Have they gone out in a bang? Or will The Love Movement be the last image that fans will be forced to remember through the ages?

As you hit play on your iTunes (or in my case, CD which I highly recommend you do) you are instantly reminded of why you love ATCQ in the first place. ‘The Space Program’ does just that. You are glad that throughout the history, they finally made something happen here.

‘We The People’ is insanely amazing. The art of the Hip Hop anthem has not been forgotten… when this drop in a party or in a car – THAT’S A WRAP. What’s better, it could not have come at a better time in Trump’s America with Q-Tip’s tongue in cheek humor with the hook, while Phife brings a scathing verse.

The niceness continues will ‘Whateva Will Be’. So far J Dilla is up there smiling and thinking -‘my boys have done it again’ with the Nairobi Sister’s Promised Land sample, where the subject matter of social injustice and Trump’s America continue.

It’s from here now that ATCQ begin to diverse their music whilst keeping it them. A collaboration with Elton John would be the last thing on hip hop heads minds, but when you have been in the game as long as these guys, your exploration of music will branch out. Here a returning Bussa Bus appears in  a ‘Solid Wall Of Sound’ in his outta order Jamaican persona, it makes for a very interesting track for listeners to absorb a bit more than the first three tracks previous. It serves as a great intro  however to ‘Dis Generation’ where we see the whole tribe minus Consequence going line for line. Their diverse direction starts to ring the ears of Andre 3000 who comes through in ‘Kids’, blending in nicely like he’s part of the tribe too. The way he and Q-Tip describe the way we want our kids to believe something when in reality it’s harder to explain the harsh facts.

In ‘Melatonin’, Q-Tip goes for dolo while Abbey Smith provide extra vocals. great track but I strongly advise NOT to use the drug as it’s design is to help people who have trouble sleeping, and this is a project that 7 tracks in, should NOT be slept on.

I like the fact that ATCQ have maintained some nostalgic elements, like in ‘Enough!!’ The classic instruments used in ‘Bonita Applebum’ are brought back here to continue to please their long time fans and attract new fans in the process. This is one of those tracks that will become a favourite in the long-term after several listens. I also like te fact that ATCQ treated the project as if it was released some 20,25 years ago by including a ‘Side A’ and a ‘Side B’ in the project. Consequence kicks the B Side off with ‘Mobius’, but it’s Busta Rhymes who runs away with this one, channelling his inner Woo-Hah!! into the track! Very interesting how the rest of the tribe stand back and let these two go in, making it sound like ATCQ 2.0.

Just as Bussa Bus tore up Mobius, Phife Dawg puts mumble rappers on blast in ‘Black Spasmodic’: “Trash rap the dead, pu$$y kill the chirping/No more f**k boys, sit down, sh!t can only get worse/And how do you touch mic with flows uncertain?
Speak game dry, boy, that flow ain’t workin’/Folks throwin’ items, them vex and cursin’
F**k made me wanna see these n!&&@$ in person?” Consider it the preparations for the ‘Killing Season’, which brings Talib Kweli and Kanye West into the mix, who thankfully for you hip hop purists has been relegated to just the hook. Also it’s great how they showcased Jarobi & Consequence here.

“Have you ever loved somebody?
Way before you got to dream?
No more crying, he’s in sunshine
He’s alright now, see his wings…”

Another track I consider a growing gem outside the obvious favourites is this one right here – ‘Lost Somebody’, where their expressions for their loss in Phife Dawg becomes very moving.

Even though ATCQ have moved forwards with their music, they decide to try ‘Movin Backwards’ one time and bring Anderson Paak with them. Here Jarobi throws shots at Fetty Wap and all the trap lords, leading by example set by Phife. Then Kendrick chimes in for a memorable, Source Hip Hop Quotable quality verse in Conrad Tokyo while Phife expresses his disdain for the presidential election. Imagine if he actually saw the results in the physical.

‘Ego’ sees Q-Tip going for dolo once again, bringing more nostalgic sounds into it provided by musician Jack White. Great to see him use the wordplay and break down various forms of Ego, even onto himself: “Ego make you violent or govern like a tyrant/Or switch a dictionary’s word from vibrant to vivrant/Fool the thirsty people, selling tap water in bottles/Fooled a girl with NYU scholarship and now she models
Ego has no ending, has people pretending/Religious zealots get jealous ’cause guys want their defending…”

Finally, ‘The Donald’. Which is a unique tribute to Phife which features the Trini Gladiator in his own ode. Salute the man known as Don Juice.

…And Phife Dawg is still not dun! His final solo album will be touching down in our stores sometime next year and that will be even more anticipated than ever now. Let’s keep it 100 – when his first solo dropped, not many of us noticed, all eyes were still on Q-Tip.

A part of me doesn’t want A Tribe Called Quest to end even though they can say they have on a great note. A part of me wants Consequence and Busta to become official and be ATCQ 2.0. They have successfully erased the lasting image The Love Movement had and crafted an album we never saw coming and were given just 2 weeks notice to prepare. 2016 has been a surprise year for the Native Tongues, when just a few months prior, De La Soul blessed us with new music too. Special mention to Busta Rhymes who really went in with this project, making both Dilla and Phife proud, an reminding us of how versatile he really is. While I personally would give the Album Of The Year award to Common, ATCQ is also worth deserving because of the story behind it.

TAKE A BOW GUYS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

DR. DRE – Compton: A Soundtrack

WRITTEN BY MARK MCAULEY

Co-written by Michael Grant (Editor)

It was like the new Terminator Genisys film, the hip hop world was tangling with the squabbling between Drake & Meek Mill, and Action Bronson put on blast by Ghostface Killah for breaking the unwritten hip hop commandment, when suddenly – BOOOOOOOOOM!!! Dr. Dre drops the bomb in his new soundtrack-album and the hip hop world has divided, they either love it or hate it.

This is Dr.Dre’s final project, so one of hip hop’s pioneers has to go out with a bang. After 16 years of trial and error, doubts creeping within his fans, Dr Dre ultimately shelved Detox. André Young is a perfectionist, and with that, gives himself high expectations which in effect has his fans in high expectations.

Inspired by the film ‘Straight Outta Compton’, the Doctor has crafted 16 tracks, with a plethora of legendary artists combined with the newest cats in the game.

1. Intro – Movie type entrance and brief but powerful tribute to Compton and past troubles.
2. Talk About It (feat. King Mez & Justus)

3/5. Not a favorite on the album but I can see why it opened the album due to its fast pacing, the hook is a bit of a throw off but Dre’s verse about still having that fire and motivation still was admirable.
3. Genocide (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Marsha Ambrosius, Candice Pillay)

3.5/5. Much stronger track than the previous, unconventional sounding Dre beat but well suited to the artists on the track, Candice’s verse was only thing that dragged this song down, Kendrick’s feature was very strong as he rep’s Compton and his rise as an artist, this song shows the brutality and bleakness going on in Compton, I can see people enjoying this one slightly more than me.
4. It’s All on Me (feat. Justus & BJ the Chicago Kid)

4/5. The most down tempo song on the album, As Dre dives into his past for a minute and speaks on his first time meeting Snoop Dogg, Suge Knight and he speaks on when he wasn’t as rich as he is now, I really think if they used BJ The Chicago Kid more effectively and Nate Dogg was still here to jump on this one instead of JustUS, then this song could have pushed this one up more.
5. All in a Day’s Work (feat. Marsha Ambrosius & Anderson Paak)

4.5/5. The Anderson Paak might throw off a Hip-Hop head on first listen but for me he impresses highly on here and I can hear his passion, As Dre talks about how he was always about his grind and making history despite his surroundings and how that reality star fame ain’t for him and he references Jay Z “Can’t Knock The Hustle” as he knocks that hollywood fame cursing the game.
6. Darkside/Gone (feat. King Mez, Kendrick Lamar, Marsha Ambrosius)

4/5. Solid track with a more down tempo side to it , this track is split in 2 parts from a different perspective, on “Darkside” King Mez speaks on still been stuck in the gangster lifestyle despite not been one, Dre And Kendrick come correct speaking on staying real and not letting change happen despite what people say or whatever controversy they bring. Marsha Ambrosius is great on the hook and I love the piano over the beat. Eazy-E also appears in the way of sampling and its nice touch.
7. Loose Cannons (feat. Xzibit & Cold 187um) 3.5/5.

This song is a little too chaotic for me but I still enjoy it on the whole, aggressive track with a lot of imagery on it, Xzibit comes correct with a standout verse. Eminem would have taken this track up a notch if he was on it, seemed fitting for his style.
8. Issues (feat. Anderson Paak & Ice Cube) 3.5/5.

The production was not really my style, Was nice to hear Cube again as he speaks on how you better respect his rep, Dre sounds great on here tho and has the strongest verse, Dem Jointz brings this track down with his modern and auto tune sounding hook, solid track besides a little flaws.

9. Deep Water (feat. Justus & Kendrick Lamar)

4.5/5. Oh man the production is beautiful here with the Jazzy horns, This one is another passionate shout to Compton but Dre speaks on his worries for the youth, the Environment and the peer pressures that come with it, Kendrick Lamar steals the show and takes this track to the next level with his best feature on the record, he takes some shots at Drake, then gets deep and emotive when he slips into some Characterization like he does on his previous work, really does create imagery while listening to the song.
10. One Shot One Kill (feat. Snoop Dogg & Jon Connor)

4/5. Great production on this song and tempo, Snoop Dogg is on his old school sound and sounds passionate and like he has some fire in his voice as he speaks on how he deserves his respect for what he’s done in the game and how he knows how to make records, Jon Connor steals the show with the hook and his rapid fire flow.
11. Just Another Day (Featuring The Game & Asia Bryant)

3.5/5. Probably one of the best beats on the whole project, very lavish and jazzy horns again, The Game shows a lot of technical skill rapping but there’s not really much lyrical content on this one and Asia Bryant comes in sounding a lot like Rihanna, The Game fans should feel happy with this one though and be more positive about “The Documentary 2”.
12. For the Love of Money (Jill Scott & Jon Connor & Anderson Paak)

4/5. They lean on a sample of the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony of the same name, Jill Scott is beautiful on the hook and its a welcome addition to the song, Jon Connor spits more of that passionate and fast paced rapping and Dre really shows his rapping skills on this with an equally as fast pace, the finale of the song with the strings add to the quality.
13. Satisfaction (feat. King Mez, Marsha Ambrosius, Snoop Dogg)

3.5/5. Just another smooth track with nothing too special going on lyrically, some comedic bars are thrown in as they speak on the topic of Money and how materialism isn’t always as good as it is made out to be.
14. Animals (feat. Anderson Paak)

5/5. My favorite track on the album, Very deep record as Anderson Paak gets emotive, as he speaks on his people been portrayed incorrectly in the media and treated like “Animals” by the Police, The hook is beautiful but emotive as Anderson says “The police don’t come around these parts they tell me that we all a bunch of animals, The only time they wanna turn the cameras on Is when we’re f***!n’ sh!t up”, DJ Premier comes in at the end with some scratches and fun rapping, this track is perfection.
15. Medicine Man (feat. Candice Pillay, Anderson Paak, Eminem)

4.25/5. Candice sounds a lot better with just the hook, Dre raps passionate and speaks on his frustrations of the way the world is at times and the behaviour of some people, Eminem steals the show with some shock lines and more of his old style shining through on the record, good feature for sure from him.
16. Talking to My Diary

4.5/5. Straight up Hip-Hop record right here and the most personal song on the record from Dre as the song title suggests. The production on this song is beautiful and the flow is smooth as hell, definitely the right song to end the project on.

EDITOR’S THOUGHTS

At time of publishing this, I haven’t heard the album as the stream is not available in every country in apple store. Gathering from what I have heard on social media, a lot of people are disappointed with the record. I found this surprising as Dr Dre stated he wasn’t happy with creating Detox. Could it be that fans were hoping for another ‘Chronic’? The concept on this album is different to the previous two. The one similarity between this and 2001 at least, is that Dre brought in a formula of bringing back artists we know and love as contributors, while bringing in new artists on that will bring hip hop into the next few years. Fans also need to realise that this is a 50-year-old man who cannot talk about the same things he did in his NWA/Chronic days, nor can he re-create that same sound. If he did, it would sound contrived. Bottom line, the likes of Illmatic, 36 Chambers, Chronic etc will NEVER be re-created. Maybe when the film is released and sure-fire music videos come out, some of these tracks will make a lot more sense because sometimes visuals bring out the tracks a lot more. The album doesn’t really sound that bad, just that fans wanted that groundbreaking result.

Dr. Dre: THANK YOU. The Detox speculation is finally over, you are appreciated. But just because it’s his last project, doesn’t mean he’s hung up his production keyboards.