Second studio album for Kevin "K-Solo" Madison (Hit Squad), now running out of ideas coming two years after his debut. The lyricism is decent despite the amount of themes explored and its typical grammar game here doesn't help him enough: the production, mainly done by Sam Sneed, is darker than before, but it's just decent and minimal, with some decent samples and few good beats, despite the fact that Erick Sermon, from his friends EPMD, and Pete Rock were also enrolled in the paddock with two and one beat respectively. Most of the tracks are boring, despite K-Solo keeping its aggressive and syncopated rapping style decent.
"I Can't Hold It Back" is the first and one of the best cuts of the tape: boom bap skinny, hard skinny syncopated and tight drum machine, funky hard rhythm, just as tight delivery of the rapper, here hardcore. "Letterman" is mediocre, lean rhythm, funky boom bap almost annoying, tight lean drum machine, decent flowing delivery, jazzy bridge on the chorus; it's not too far from a tune present in the debut.
"Long Live the Fugitive" features a better beat, very short track with lean slow syncopated drum and squeaky loop, precedes a lean and simple beat, K-Solo delivers smooth and slow in its fourth pick, lyrically moving on life in prison. The fifth song sees him perform in a syncopated and flowing way on a bare and simple boom bap. The production of the tape doesn't maintain its own qualitative regularity, the sixth track is composed of a tight and pounding syncopated skinny drum machine and a mediocre funky boom bap, while "The Formula (House Party)" features a similar rhythm, with a delivery of K-Solo almost spoken.
The MC tackles the theme of black-on-black violence in "Who's Killin' Who", on a simple jazzy rhythm, among the best on the LP, accompanied by a perfect, lean and vibrant drum machine and a female soul sample looped in the background: K-Solo kills the cut with light, slow, smooth, dope delivery. The next two songs don't have the same verve, despite a decent, tight male sample and a dirty, gaunt boom bap; Madison's second and final album is closed by "King of the Mountain": simple funky-jazzy beat with tight and slow drum machine, syncopated smooth delivery after letting the beat breathe.
Produced by Atlantic Records, the record hit the charts a few times before saying goodbye, marking the end of Kevin Madison's honest music career.
Highlights: "I Can't Hold It Back", "Sneak Tip", "Who's Killin' Who", "King of the Mountain".
Rating: 6/10.
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