Leonard Grant aka Uncle Murda has been in the underground circuit for a few years, when in 2007 DJ Green Lantern convinces Jay-Z to sign him for Roc-A-Fella, a label that Grant leaves without being able to release any effort, together with Def Jam, following the departure of Carter, limiting himself to a few hosted in the albums of the label.
Then he goes back to the underground. After signing with the Def Jam / Roc-A-Fella of hip-hop's greatest entrepreneur, he returns to spitting bars into the underground. It would have been a bullet for everyone and most wouldn't have made it. Have you heard the new single from Young Chris? No? Me neither. Leonard Grant, however, has already taken a bullet, at the end of January 2008, while he's in a car in Brooklyn. He comes out alive, somehow. Eight years, a dozen projects and singles later, Uncle Murda is relaunched thanks to a mixtape with Maino that gets a great reception from the underground audience: "Yellow Tape: King Kong & Godzilla". Uncle Murda returns to appear on the mainstream from the window that 50 Cent rents him, the boy thanks him with a mixtape and publishes the first chapter of "Don't Come Outside" under his real name.
Three years later, here's the sequel, which critics haven't completely fully understood, while it seems that mainstream audiences have easily ignored it. The lyricism of this effort isn't even in the first two hundred hip-hop albums of this season, but what does it matter, after all the guy has never focused his records too much on the lyrics, he delivers his gangsta lines tightly and puts a lot of emphasis on his own few strong points without exaggeration or trivial errors, unlike most of his colleagues. There are trap and East Coast rhythms together, as in the first volume Que Banz is the main guest of the album, but unlike the first volume, the G-Unit isn't among the labels of the tape.
An extravagant trap beat opens this tape, followed by "What I Mean Is", female soul sample looped in the background, East Coast jazzy boom bap, perfect drum, generic but smooth and acceptable delivery. Tory Lanez offers a lazy hook on the third track's dark beat trap (with great piano), but Uncle Murda doesn't sound inspired here. The album begins to show signs of life when Que Banz arrives on a dark and tense trap rhythm, with a slow and generic piano. In the next two cuts, Uncle Murda is one of the first artists to put LOX and Griselda on the same tracks. "Freedom" features Jadakiss and Benny the Butcher with Que Banz to spit bars on a dark beat, jazzy vibes, elegant piano in the background, gloomy trap rhythm, good first verse by Uncle Murda, decent acceptable delivery smooth, decent quick flowing verse of Que Banz; Jadakiss dominates the cut with a velvety flow, delivery clearly superior to the previous ones, effortlessly, closes Benny slicing the beat with a smooth, dope delivery.
"He Did That Shit" sees Conway & Styles P as guests: simple jazzy boom bap, Grant's light-hearted intro, he opens the tune with a simple, slow and smooth delivery, Conway comes with his flowing dope flow, closes Styles P with the his lethal, smooth, slow, technically raw style. The rest of the record may not come close to the height of the previous choices; however, the production is simple, trap jazzy, with some decent jazzy elements like piano keys looped in the background, and the Uncle Murda delivery is acceptable. "Blame Us" has a typical East Coast jazzy boom bap, commercial slow syncopated delivery, dope female soulful sample looped in the background along with an elegant piano, simple hook by Aviator Keyz, closes the good delivery of Que Banz: I would like to say that he rip the song, but he doesn't do it, he limits himself to his homework and delivers tired, frayed, cumbersome, not smooth. Dave East takes the "Hold Up" joint, while Uncle Murda closes the tape by delivering hardcore over a trap beat with jazzy vibes, the track would be an easy banger if it weren't for the too-long chorus.
Highlights: "What I Mean Is", "We Outside", "Freedom", "He Did That Shit", "Blame Us", "It Hit Different".
Rating: 6.5/10.
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