Debut album for Darnel Robinson, birth name of the Oakland rapper Dru Down (The Regime). The MC comes up with generic braggadocio and g-ish themes combined with Oaktown scene-specific topics, including pimping and sex, spit over the Ant Banks production: the beatmaker provides the beats for the entire record, leaving some rhythms to Robin Duhe, Keenan Foster and Gino Blacknell.
The musical choice is made up of boom bap funky, lean slow drum and some good samples, with g-funk vibes. Part of this project is made up of pop rap and commercial cuts to climb the charts even with some singles: the curious part is that Ant Banks places his best rhythms for filler cuts. The opening track has a sung intro and a southern sound, there's a good dark sample, but the beat is hip house.
The next track has a southern edge, so "Pimp of the Year" boasts a good rapper performance, taut and dark lines in the background, and a cheap and shoddy boom bap. Gino Blacknell offers a slightly better beat for "Ice Cream Man", after Dru Down delivers alongside Luniz. "Weak Move" has one of the best Ant Banks beats on the record, great funky production with sci-fi vibes and a slow drum, Dru Down completes the work with a smooth delivery. After this fifth track, the album begins to decline in quality: the next joint has ballad vibes, despite a fresh boom bap, while track seven is a commercial track.
The following choices have average rhythms and average lyrics, with Luniz trying to spice up the tape every now and then: after some economic boom baps, the last two tracks cover a distance of 12 minutes and are useless, the first one is a song of love with funky smooth rhythm, and simple feminine soulful hook, the latter being the final thanks on cheap beat.
Honest gangsta record from the Bay Area: there are no bangers, classics, or particular low points. The album sees the debut of Luniz, present in 1/4 of the disc.
Rating: 6/10.
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