Cappadonna — The Pillage 2

Ninth studio album for Cappadonna (Wu-Tang Clan), comes a year and a half after his previous album. The entire production is made by Raw Talent Productions, while three rhythms are signed by Felony Music, a beatmaker affiliated with Ras Kass.

The disk is open by "Let's Get Free", good boom bap heavy and hardcore, raw and decent delivery; the first guest, Hashous Clay, is present. "4 Leaf Cover" is one of the best cuts of the project: heavy soulful jazzy boom bap, sample from "Flowers" (1976) by Emotions. The mixing comes to Cappadonna's rescue: the mixing doesn't exist. Yeah. And this is the key: with no mixing, the soul sample is so heavy and raw that it overwhelms and completely hinders the rapper's delivery, a wonderful track comes out with a guy mumbling something in the background under the sample. The rhythmic beat goes alone, while the hook is composed exclusively of the sample, splendid. The following track has a bouncy, digitized dark boom bap, while Jay Rush is the host of "Black Woman," another soulful, light, jazzy beat with a decent delivery of Cappa. The next two pieces are among the worst in the tape: the first one has a very badly thought-out rhythm, gaunt and pounding boom bap, with a poor hook in clapping, while the other one has a poor synthesized production, here the rapper delivers subdued following the wake of the boom bap and providing a lame hook, with an R&B post-hook.

Track number seven has a good soulful background, while "Hip-Hop Never Died" is a posse with his brother Lounge Mode, the grandson of Gil Scott-Heron (Mr. Cheeks) and Skillz, on an annoying beat and tight sample. Track nine has one of the worst productions, due to a bouncy, cheap, poor, annoying, synthesized beat. For a reason I don't really understand, the last five songs boast slightly better beats. "Raven Hair" has a heavy jazzy boom bap, but a bad hook, "Tell the Truth" boasts Jay Rush and Lazy Bone, the unskilled brother of the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, pulling out a few bars on an alternative boom bap, with rnb-soul hook; Lazy Bone leaves Cappadonna in place with a clean and quick flow, simply superior to him. "Story of My Chance" has a reggae hook, jazzy boom bap pounding, average delivery. "We Forever" has one of the best beats on this record, heavy, quick jazzy boom bap, hardcore Cappadonna try to follow the beat, decent guests, decent functional hook. "That Gallo Flow" is the latest choice of the album: alternative, eclectic jazzy boom bap, decent drum, mediocre hardcore delivery by the rapper, in the only hookless track of the edition.

Album of over 53 minutes, 14 tracks: everything here screams "mediocrity". Few pieces are really decent, the lyrics are still not something the guy really knows how to write, technically is average.

Rating: 4/10.