Big Noyd — On the Grind

Third effort with three different labels for Big Noyd, the second in three years. After seeing the million-dollar deal with Tommy Boy slip away and the much less lucrative one with Koch goes out, the boy steps down as an independent rapper and gets total control of his music. Sometimes that can be good, sometimes not so much. Havoc is still behind the keyboards for half the album, the other rhythms are provided by Ric Rude, who offers five beats, as well as Masberg and The Alchemist, the main producer of his previous CD. The guests are Mobb Deep and Infamous Mobb.

The entire record is guided by simple, tight, essential, accessible jazzy rhythms, with a determined delivery by Noyd, often regular and raw. The cuts with Prodigy deserve a listen: "Most Famous" it's a bare and simple jazzy rhythm, dark, tense and accessible with a sample soul looped tight in the background, an excellent ethereal-attempt beat, with a well-made disturbing hook whispered by GOD Pt. III of the Infamous Mobb and an excellent verse by Prodigy. "Kill Dat There" is a dark, disturbing, bleak, hookless jazzy-funky choice, Noyd delivers well, surpassed by Prodigy: nice tune obscured by a perfectible rhythm. The other tracks of the Mobb Deep seem like Havoc's B rhythms, they're not performed very well, but remain functional to the dark deliveries of the youngstaz. "Infinite Team" has a very tense rhythm, with synths, disturbing and gloomy, hysterical and very tight, it seems cheap, the three struggle on this quite shabby rhythm. "Money Rolls" is a posse with Mobb Deep, Infamous Mobb and Illa Ghee on a disturbing, simplistic and poor jazzy production, perhaps destined for the club.

The production is divided in half between Havoc and Ric Rude, with a head song between Masberg and The Alchemist. Not even on purpose does Ric Rude not guessed a single rhythm, creating simplistic, skeletal, weak beats, for the club, cheap, alternative or with a disturbing synth. Masberg creates a light, half rock, and simple rhythm in "Rush". With Havoc (and Prodigy) you see the best things (of course; even without seeing the tracklist, you understand what Havoc's soundscapes are and what the others are), but a little surprising is the alchemist to bring out the best track of the rapper's second studio album: "Louder", brilliant light, essential, tight jazzy boom bap, dope, beautiful production without the hook, excellent verse by Noyd, P takes the track with a technical flow, raw and smoothness, therefore still Noyd with a third verse sick. Pearl of the record.

The Queens rapper remains tied to criminal themes, tight rapping, and street tunes with dark vibes, realizing a hood record. Released by Monopolee Records, this thug rap effort is practically ignored by critics.

Rating: 6.7/10.