Seven years after releasing his debut EP under Tommy Boy, released while Big Noyd was in prison and released without any promotion, the Queensbridge rapper (acquitted of murder charges after winning his court case) is back to release something, his first studio album. Production is handled mainly by The Alchemist and Havoc, other beats are signed by Noyd Inc., Emile, Sebb and Steve Sola. Mobb Deep are the main guests on the project along with Infamous Mobb, Chinky, Shamika Rodriguez, Shakim, PMD and V12.
Gloomy intro by Alchemist, then Havoc with a very good disturbing dark jazzy boom bap in "Watch Out" with those gloomy keyboards. The Alchemist returns, with a triumphal, cheerful, tight and essential jazzy attempt, Noyd delivers decently without excess. Prodigy arrives in "Something For All That" with a dazzling, rough, tight and sharp delivery to help Noyd and his essential and cheerful jazzy rhythm. Havoc directs most of the production, offering his classic Mobbdeepian production for Noyd: dark and hysterical, violent jazzy beat in "We Gangsta", where Noyd delivers hurriedly, almost in freestyle with a syncopated and somber hook. After the interlude, Havoc realizes a quite mid musical carpet for "All 4 the Luv of the Dough" featuring Prodigy, and a sad and skeletal jazzy rhythm for "Invincible": it presents a production similar to the previous one, average style by Infamous Mobb while Rapper Noyd always delivers well, but is unable to drop bangers.
The rhythms that Alchemist provides on Big Noyd's second album are highly influenced by Havoc, resulting in a faded copy of those productions and not the best that the artist can bring out. Even in the second part of the record, when Havoc leaves the place behind the keyboards and several different beatmakers access it, it feels his influence: these songs have all essential and tight jazzy rhythms, tight, Noyd doesn't change his formula and still churns out tracks of more than sufficient level but with low replay value. PMD exalts himself in "Going Right At 'Em", showing himself in shape with a driving delivery together with an excellent Noyd on a tight, essential, very tense and dope jazzy rhythm.
"That Fire" and "The Kid Is Nice" have different beats, but both weak, the first spotted by synths in the background and based on a quite bare clapping, the second directed to the club while remaining jazzy. It was also right that Noyd should try it just for the sake of it. Here he seems to chase the beat with a syncopated delivery and a functional hook, not a nice attempt. The Alchemist has the task of closing the album with "N.O.Y.D.", a tense, tight and essential, very dark jazzy beat, with a soulful chipmunk sample looped in the background, good delivery by the NY emcee.
Released by Landspeed Records (then became Traffic Entertainment Group) — failed in the period in which the album was coming out, to mark once again the artistic misfortune of the rapper, if there was still any need and at this point, with the name of the boy who in zero three wasn't exactly hot anymore, nor was that of his friends Mobb Deep — distributed by Koch, the effort doesn't get a positive response in sales: despite this, the CD enters hip-hop charts in the top 50, along with the Independent (#27) and Heatseekers (#36), making it the best-selling records in his artistic career.
Seven years after his debut, Big Noyd returns from the underground [and from the prison] with his second effort, a nice hardcore rap / thug rap album directly from Queensbridge, with rare weak points (hooks), a rough flow, a lyricism founded in representing the hood, braggadocio, violence and street themes, and often tight rhythms, with Havoc & Prodigy still in shape: as a Mobb Deep fan, you'll appreciate it, there are many good moments here.
Rating: 6.5/10.
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