In its early years, street mixtape is still art in New York, and it's under this lens that Rakeem "Rock Marciano" Myer's first tape should be seen. It's different from the rest of the tapes and you can immediately notice it from the cover: it pays homage to Tank Man aka Unknown Protester or Unknown Rebel, the boy who in June 1989, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, decided to stand in front of Type-59 tanks. The album, is more of a collaborative effort by UN than a solo project by Rock: it was born as a promotional mixtape in view of the group's debut album, born in 2001 and composed of Roc Marciano, Mike Raw, Dino Brave and Laku.
The production is mainly carried out by Roc Marciano himself and by D.O.A., together with Mike Raw, Nottz and Pete Rock. The content of the tape revolves around gangster, crime, violence, streets, pimping and brag topics. With 16 tracks, 3 skits and around 49 minutes of listening, effort is very safe. Music is light and dark boom bap, often jazz and minimal, Dino Brave and Mike Raw sound a little bland and generic, while Roc Marci shows flashes of talent scattered here and there and often challenges the rhythm in grueling one-on-one, boasting a good voice and competent, raw and dirty flow. Overall, it's an honest tape, but that The UN's album is better and Roc Marciano's debut is even better.
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