Masta Killa's third solo album, Wu-Tang Clan rapper who releases this effort six years after his sophomore. The production is handled by half a dozen different beatmakers, including Allah Mathematics, Inspectah Deck and 9th Wonder, as well as Masta Killa. Kurupt is the only guest of the edition, while Ol' Dirty Bastard is credited as guest in "Dirty Soul".
Skit, then intro. No, wait. There's a skit. Then, a light intro, cheering NY. They're two separate tracks. Simply from that, you can guess that it probably might not be Masta Killa's best record. Confirmation comes on track number three: boom bap of a dude who's credited with the name Mediate Soul, his beat is closer to g-funk than anything else out on the East Coast in the last years, the rapper spits bars with a relaxed slow delivery and makes a generic track. "R U Listening" appears as another g-funk tribute beat: it's made by Inspectah Deck, his rhythm is relaxed, and Masta Killa delivers in rapping in the same style as the previous song. PF Cuttin provides one of the best beats of the edition for "Things Just Ain't the Same": soulful, tense and sad boom bap, Masta Killa delivers with great style on one of the most catchy tracks of his career.
Then he returns deeply to the West Coast, to help him there's Kurupt, who first offers a contribution in a sort of soulful skit rnb with good samples and West Side rhythm next to the relaxing ballad, so, he's also the guest of "Cali Sun": production made by Dash, light, relaxing, g-funk, Masta Killa sounds relaxed, while Kurupt offers one of his best impression of Snoop Dogg. The record remains hostage on the West Coast: the eighth choice is another tribute to Cali, with a beat created by Koolade, light, bouncy, cheerful, g-funk. Wu-Tang's MC raps in his monotone style even in the following piece, "Food", on a cheerful, bouncy and soulful boom bap from 9th Wonder: this song is destined to be among the clear highlights of the edition, nevertheless, the rapper sounds uninspired. Skit, then perhaps the best moment of the edition arrives: "All Natural", rhythm created by Allah Mathematics that provides a light and soft musical carpet, jazzy, great work in production.
Masta Killa delivers with a smooth and calm style, at his best on this record, building a great relaxed track. However, the West Coast tribute isn't over yet: Noodles takes 2Pac's "Keep Ya Head Up" and makes an East Coast version of it, crediting himself as Jamel Irief behind the keyboards. Irief remains for the next track, "Divine Glory", cheerful and light jazzy boom bap, with a deep overbeat part towards mid-cut, Masta Killa spits bars with a calm and flowing style. Skit, then "Dirty Soul": boom bap erratic and hopping, hardcore compared to the previous songs, is an impatient rhythm created by Blackinati: Masta performs quietly, but hastily, providing a very long intro, then making a single verse, before what should be the only Wu-Tang guest MC with a posthumous rapping performance, Ol' Dirty Bastard. Instead, his contribution is limited to a phrase he repeated a couple of times used as a hook and taken from one of his songs on his 1995 debut album. The tape is closed by three-minute skit-outro.
Distributed by Nature Sounds, it's received lukewarmly by the public, while the critics break down: most of the insiders praise its content, however, the most attentive understand its serious shortcomings, its profound irregularity and lack of energy. The disc consists of 16 songs including 7 skits, for a total of about 40 minutes. Irregular, messy and lacking in solid lyricism, it's released at a time when people are waiting for "Loyalty Is Royalty", and is almost a kind of anticipation of that LP: it looks more like an extravagant mixtape than a full-fledged studio album, despite the fact that it took another five years for the long-awaited "Loyalty Is Royalty" to be released. Masta Killa's rapping style remains calm, relaxed and fluid, perhaps a little too monotonous and lacking in energy, even in his most promising lyrical moments, his style of execution without life-force makes the tracks less interesting than they could be. He distorts his typical East Coast hardcore sound and dives into a completely different landscape, making an almost entirely West Coast, g-funk and relaxed tape. He has never been the best performer in the Shaolin paddock, but here his choices sound particularly lazy and uninspired, the production never assists him, basically, and the whole record surprises in a negative way. Easily forgettable, it's the worst record in Masta Killa's discography.
Rating: 6/10.
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