At 46 y/o, Eric Murray aka Billy Danze of MOP makes one of the longest-running debuts in rap, making his first studio album after a 30-year career. The album is entirely produced by beatmaker TooBusy, while Lil Fame, Method Man, Havoc, Daz Dillinger and Cormega collaborate on rapping.
Energetic intro, then boom bap midtempo, pounding and slow drum, good samples to support Billy Danze's slow and energetic rapping. "Gotham" boasts a jazzy production with strings in the background and hard slow pounding drum machine: Danze's hardcore smoothness inspired delivery, then comes Method Man with a dirty, raw and relaxed flow, effortless and smooth, annihilating the cut. The third choice features a relaxed rhythm, light boom bap with classic samples and downtempo drum, the rapper offers bars with a relaxed calm and flowing style. Following another relaxed beat with good samples and pounding drum, Billy Danze brings out some hardcore flow. "Damn" is a choice with rnb-ragga vibes, thanks to guests Boogie & Frontline Live, on a simple production. Track number six has a simple rhythm with dry, hard guitar and drum riffs, the MOP rapper performs hardcore. Havoc is the guest of "One to Grow": simple boom bap, distant light and slow drum, wailing female sample, inspired delivery of Danzenie, hardcore and smooth, Mobb Deep's MC is also good with a calmer style.
DJ Premier delivers a few spoken lines and is credited as a guest in the next choice, where TooBusy creates a solid soundscape with thumping dry drum and male soul samples in the background for the hook. There's room for a couple of moments of the MOP duo with Lil' Fame lighting up a skit and igniting "That Time": jazzy boom bap, good samples, slow pounding drum machine, Danze opens the song with power, it closes Fame, both energetic, hardcore, flowing, great track. The rapper maintains a smooth hardcore style even in the following track, on a good jazzy rhythm with a tight and slow drum and honest samples, including guitar pinches and female melodic extracts. Daz Dillinger is featured of "Respect Some Shit", a simple musical carpet with dry drum machine and a good delivery from the performers, even if, in my opinion, the cut isn't one of the best of this edition. The following song is also the last one: boom bap with slow and pounding hard drum, dark samples, melodic chorus, good slow and smooth delivery by Cormega, who assists a good Billy Danze rapping.
13 tracks, about 37 minutes of listening. The production of TooBusy is quite solid, the tape suffers from a slightly less strong section than the others in the central part, in any case, it's always a pleasure to listen to Billy Danze on good level boom bap rhythms and the guests contribute to making this listening enjoyable and fluid. Among the many strong moments, probably "Gotham" and "That Time" are the ones that manage to stand out more easily.
Rating: 7.2/10.
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