Compilation released by Big Noyd in 2003, shortly after the release of his first studio album, "Only the Strong". The production is done almost entirely by Havoc. Mobb Deep are the main guests on the album, along with Infamous Mobb, Chinky, 50 Cent, Rakim, Nas, Cormega, Bars N Hooks.
After a short intro, the first of these 28 cuts is appropriately "Recognize & Realize", the first single in Big Noyd's career, also included on his 1996 debut EP "Episodes of a Hustla". Dark boom bap realized by Havoc, skeletal, somber, tense rhythm with soulful sample looped in the background around the chorus accompanied by a sensational bridge. Excellent production, here Big Noyd delivers a solid verse with a velvet flow, Prodigy kills this soundscape. The next track should have been the main single of his first effort, "Usual Suspect": skeletal boom bap invented by Havoc, dystopian background, dry filthy midtempo drum, splendid bass line, dirty strings in loop. Silky rapping by Big Noyd with a functional chorus, then in the finale Prodigy appears uncredited and spits some bars before the tune fades away and his contribution is cut.
Skit, then the album welcomes a classic again, "Give Up the Goods" directly from Mobb Deep's "The Infamous" (1995): heavenly rhythm created by Havoc, excellent boom bap light, soft, essential, perfect. Don P flows at his finest here along with Rapper Noyd, that starts strongly with his iconic opening, despite his verse weakens towards the end. Havoc in the third stanza, then Prodigy closes after a bridge. Gorgeous cut. The sixth choice presents the first musical carpet provided by someone other than Havoc, there's The Alchemist behind the keyboards for "Shoot 'Em Up", one of the first choices from "Only the Strong": triumphal, cheerful, tight and minimal jazzy production, with male soul sample looped tight in background, the main rapper delivers with a discreet style over this decent beat.
"Air It Out" is borrowed again from the first LP released by Noyd in 2003: Havoc designs a jazzy, tight, tense, somber rhythm, skeletal boom bap to support the rapping of Noyd. The emcee from Queensbridge drops three verses along with the chorus provided by Havoc himself. "Downfall" is a loosie or something, maybe an unreleased track: skinny and bouncy rhythm, minimal scarce drum downtempo, production uncredited. Sample from "Really Wanna See You" by Invisible Man's Band. The rapper goes quite well over this simple rhythm for a couple of minutes. "That's Me" is a track released in 2001. Boom bap skeletal, tense and dark in Mobb Deep style, the production is uncredited by only Havoc or The Alchemist could have produced something like this: the bass is as powerful as if it was still on "The Infamous", drum uptempo, it's almost a dance drum, obsessive sample, good rapping by Big Noyd, Prodigy kills the beat.
In the choice number ten Big Noyd goes solo with a good style over a rhytmic boom bap, skinny, tight, rough, underground: mid bass line, crazy charleston, metallic drum, tight samples, the track doesn't go down in history. "Where Do We Go from Here" is a splendid loosie, released in 1997. This is the original version. Among the most beautiful soundscape ever by Havoc. Phone message skit, the track opens with a dilated piano key, magnetic synthesizer, fantastic sweet strings, dirty drum machine, midtempo, dusty, exceptional, galactic bass line, heavy, deep, powerful. Production tense, dark, tight, intense, magnificent. Dope beat. Soul hook by Chinky to launch the track, Big Noyd with a silky, smoothness, effortless, excellent flow, Mobb Deep are credited as guests but limit themselves to a spoken Interlude in the middle of the track. Refrain by Chinky, Noyd closes with a second verse, this is one of his best cuts and is incredibly hidden in his discography. The remix released the following year in 1998 is also splendid, with the addition of a contribution from Tragedy Khadafi, affiliated with Capone-N-Noreaga.
"Don't Get Blam" is another unreleased track in Noyd's catalog: rhythmic production from un uncredited producer, skeletal drum uptempo, sample looped too tight, border-disturbing, functional chorus, hardcore delivery by the main rapper, but the pieces isn't well-made. The next choice is "Noyd Gangsta" to not be confused with "We Gangsta": deep lick of electric guitar that pervades the entire track, uptempo dry drum machine, tight, skeletal beat, syncopated delivery by Noyd. The title track of this compilation is amazing. Excellent bleak soundscape, Mobb Deep '96. Gloomy piano keys, deep, powerful, thick, dotted bass line, skeletal, filthy uptempo drum, worrying mood, beautiful. Big Noyd runs like velvet over this beat, splendid flow, this goes among his finest tracks ever. The fifteen track is the title track of Rapper Noyd's debut EP. This is another gem courtesy of Havoc. Vinyl crackle sound, skeletal, dusty, midtempo drum machine, phat bass line, synths. The soundscape is perfect, cheerful, tense and scary at the same time. Noyd kills the cut, Bandana P is limited to a repeated hook. Classic.
"Shit That He Said" is extracted from "Violator: The Album" (1999), compilation by Violator Records: rhythmic beat provided by Havoc, thick bass line, metallic drum, cheerful production. Functional chorus executed by the Mobb Deep half, three stanzas rapped by Big Noyd in a track that is similar to a "Air It Out" for his structure, with Havoc that performs the chorus and Noyd that spits hardcore for several minutes and three verses. The track isn't bad, but isn't memorable. The next cut is "Grimy Way", extracted from another compilation, "Lyricist Lounge 2", released by Rawkus Records: The Alchemist behind the keyboards for this beat, and is a great liquid solution. Deep and solid bass line, strings in background, filthy midtempo drum machine, tense and tight rhythm, somber and dark mood, the beat is a pearl. Successful chorus provided by Prodigy, rapping hardcore and effortless by Big Noyd. The track has almost the identical structure of the previous one, with three verses in rapping by the Queensbridge emcee and a chorus of the Mobb Deep half. Great track, appropriately inserted after the other, of which it appears to be a first cousin.
At the choice number eighteen arrives one of the many loosies of the Mobb Deep, "Bump That": intro by Havoc & 50 Cent, chorus by 50 Cent who drops the first stanza with a good flow. Dusted drum, heavy and uptempo, robust bass line that lasts for a few moments in background, synth keyboards, loop of rapid strings. Big Noyd at the next verse with his regular style, then Havoc for the final verse over this tight, essential, tense, underground beat invented by Havoc himself. The track is released for this compilation and then inserted in a new compilation of Mobb Deep, "The Infamous Archives" (2007). The Mighty V.I.C. creates the musical carpet for the next track, "The Professional", that gives the title to the debut album of DJ Clue. Intro by this guy, then Prodigy with the first verse. Amazing strings, dirty and dusty drum machine, deep bass line, tense, tight boom bap, a little bit dark with a soul sample chopped and looped briefly in background. Slick rapping by Don P with a dope flow over this soundscape, chorus provided by Havoc than his verse, he spits with a dirty style, irregular, great. Last stanza reserved to Big Noyd that complete the track, he goes hardcore with a regular rapping. The tune is almost excellent.
The piece number twenty is "Hoodlum", title track of the homonymous movie soundtrack and a single by Mobb Deep that hit the charts. The beat is credited to Mobb Deep. Ethereal piano keys, splendid bass line, obsessive loop, the drum falls uptempo, dry, skeletal, it's a Mobb Deep rhythm, there's the sign of Havoc here. His the first voice your hear in this cut, cause the Queens artist boasts the inaugural verse in the track and drops bars with a calm style, regular, effortless, after leaving the beat breathe. Prodigy continues without a hook on the wave of his fella, smoothness rapping, it's a perfect musical carpet for Mobb Deep. Chorus, then Big Noyd that enters hardcore e spits a battle. The cut would be a classic anyway, but suddenly comes Rakim, the God MC closes the track with a fourth stanza and his magnetic dope flow, annihilating the rhythm with a dominant flawless performance.
"Give It Up Fast" is another tune realized by Mobb Deep, in this case for their third studio album "Hell on Earth" (1996). Skeletal hard drum uptempo, splendid strings, bass line in background, somber and tense mood. Havoc behind the keyboards for this classic cut. Opening verse by Nas, smoothness, silky, dope rapping over this boom bap. Functional chorus provided by Havoc, his verse with a great style, then Big Noyd, he drops the next verse with energy, inspired, in shape. The original cut also features Prodigy's fourth verse, which for whatever reason is cut here along with Noyd's final words, which actually launched the Mobb Deep emcee in the track. The following choice is "Burn", actually "The Learning (Burn)", the first single from Mobb Deep's CD "Infamy" (2001). Boom bap with xmas bells in background, skeletal beat by Havoc: funky bass line, hard dry midtempo drum, acoustic guitar riff, the rhythm seems to have Neptunes/Timbaland influences. It's destined to radio in every case. In the original track, Havoc has the first verse and Prodigy has the last: Big Noyd cut both and keeps the hook sung by Vita, a singer stolen by Jay-Z' Murder Inc., and drop his verse over this controversial musical carpet.
"Queens" is pretty interesting. The original cut is "Killa Queens", realized by Infamous Mobb for their debut album "Special Edition": synth keyboards keys in loop, skinny drum machine, deep and tense bass line, hypnotizing beat realized by The Alchemist. The cut of Infamous Mobb boasts Big Noyd and Prodigy as guests to spit along with the members of the group Ty Nitty and Twin Gambino. Here, Big Noyd cut all the other contributions and release a cut of one minute over this tight dark music. The next choice is "Listen Up": Noyd takes his verse from the track with Bars N Hooks over a tense, tight, gloomy rhythm, effortless flow over this jazzy beat with vinyl crackle. "Perfect Plot" in 2007 ends up on the Mobb Deep compilation, it's their cut. Hook by Havoc, verses by Prodigy, Big Noyd and Havoc, long hook by Prodigy before the definitive one by Havoc that closes the cut after over four minutes. Hypnotizing piano keys, dry drum midtempo dusty skeletal, soft bass line, velvety delivery by Bandana P, the hook by Havoc is recited almost in spoken, calm, it makes a bit of contrast on the track. The rhythm is dark, tense, dystopian. Big Noyd also plays well on this precious rhythm by Havoc, fantastic.
"The Saga" boasts Cormega along with Noyd on the mic. Robust bass line deep, skinny drum machine, sweet violins, splendid beat uncredited. The contribution of Big Noyd seems more a freestyle that a real verse from somewhere, same speech form Mega. Neither the rhythm nor the lyrics are from the original cut of the Queens emcee from his debut album "The Realness" (2002). The penultime choice is "Claim to Be": splendid strings, phat bass line, dusty midtempo drum, boom bap jazzy, quality work of The Alchemist. Over this wonderful soundscape, Big Noyd offers bars along with Mobb Deep, Bars N Hooks. The last track of the disk is "Double Shots", inserted in a Mobb Deep mixtape released in 2003: SC behind the keyboards, skinny drum, robust bass line, amazing strings, the beat is exquisite. Despite what credits says, Noyd cut both Mobb Deep verses and keeps his own, rapping with a effortless style over this rhythmic beat, the record is closed by Havoc with the first line taken from the original chorus.
J-Love musically sews the canvas that unites this compilation of 28 tracks and about 80 minutes of listening, there are some of the best tracks in the career of Big Noyd, often accompanied by Mobb Deep in his artistic journey: the cuts where Prodigy isn't present and those not produced by Havoc can be counted on the fingers. Self-released through his own label, this is an interesting showcase of Big Noyd's talent.
Rating 8.3/10.
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