Fifth studio album by the Queens duo Capone-N-Noreaga, five years after the last LP, which was followed by the announcement of the breakup (2011) and that of the reunion of the group (2013). Production is provided by Scram Jones, Large Professor, Ayatollah, Statik Selektah, Beatz n da Hood, Hazardis Soundz, iFresh, Jahlil Beats, Mr. Authentic and SPK. Guests are Royal Flush, The LOX and Raekwon. The album is practically by Tragedy Khadafi featuring Capone-N-Noreaga, because the MC is present in nine out of fifteen songs.
Chapman raises the bar on CNN's scant lyrics, he raps better, he's focused, he's confident, he's hardcore. Noreaga sleeps, Capone sleeps, both without desire, without motivation in this braggadocio product. The rhythms of Ayatollah ("Future"), SPK ("UMAR"), Hazardis Soundz ("Gumar Oz Dubar"), Large Professor ("Pizza") and Scram Jones ("Foul 120") are saved, the others are weak and bad. "Elevate" by Hazardis Sound is a failure, it plays dance with poor electro elements, the guys can't lift the track from the commercial garbage. In the posse with LOX, Capone and Nore are tired, everyone else is better, while in "Now", they're soft on a bland Statik Selektah rhythm.
Nore seems to wake up to the rhythm of Large Professor, a quiet and honest jazzy boom bap: the MC delivers with more energy than the rest of the tape, Capone drops the level again after a pretty ridiculous hook. "Riding" is one of the worst songs, despite an unnecessary hook by Anna Shay, the rappers spit surrendered, as if they had lost something, disinterested, bored. The almost glossy "falling" rhythm of Mr. Authentic is the equivalent of Vladimir & Estragon, all the while waiting for a hardcore attack that never comes like Godot. But the worst moment is another and it's represented by "Chinese Girl", the Hopsin moment before Hopsin did that thing: this track is meaningless, the lyrics are horrific and the pop female melodic hook is a kind of mix between vaporwave and euro EDM, good as endless loops in dubstep remixes, hardly fit in a hip-hop album. Here it's not. Side note: the cover is one of the worst of the season.
Published by Thugged Out Militainment and Penalty, this is a poor record by two former rappers, their worst. 4/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment