Sixth studio album by N.O.R.E. aka Noreaga, who for this record changes his moniker again to P.A.P.I. Production is handled by Cookin Soul, Illa, Infa-Red, Pharrell, SPK, Pete Rock, Charlie Brown, DJ Thoro, Scram Jones, Hazardis Soundz, Large Professor and Jaleel Beats. Guest rappers are French Montana, 2 Chainz, Pusha T, Pharrell Williams, Scarface, Pete Rock, Lil Wayne, Tragedy Khadafi, Havoc, Jeremih, Large Professor, Swizz Beatz, Raekwon, Busta Rhymes, Mayday and Tech 9.
Intro by Kenny Smith, a basketball player who grew up in Lefrak, Queens, then the title track immediately arrives. Cookin Soul delivers a fantastic rhythm, boom bap jazzy midtempo, Noreaga delivers tired, tight, without energy and is still one of his best tracks ever. "Tadow" is a bit uninspired: somber boom bap made by Illa & Infa-Red aka Inf, French Montana offers an uninspired hook, then stanzas from PAPI, 2 Chainz, and Pusha T. Despite the former-Clipse MC, the cut is quite mediocre. Skit, then "The Problem": raw production of Pharrell Williams, the Neptunes guy makes a heavily synthesized boom bap, the Queens rapper seems to flow well over this hopping soundscape, while Pharrell also performs a pretty lame chorus. The whole tune is bad. SPK provides a sizzling and electrifying boom bap for "What I Had to Do": he samples "I Love My Life" from Noreaga's first album to create a great beat, the rapper delivers well, then Scarface goes to kill the track. Skit, then "Vitamins": Pete Rock puts his indelible signature on this LP with a classic production. Deep, heavy, awesome boom bap, PAPI delivers hardcore, while Pete Rock himself performs the hook.
The record keeps hopping: the rhythm created by Charlie Brown is ridiculously bad, simplistic, hopping and heavy boom bap, the rapper delivers hopping all the time. Another skit, the fourth in ten tracks. Infa-Red and Illa go back behind the keyboards to song number eleven: another simplistic, hopping musical carpet, weak hook, and PAPI's bad delivery. This production duo is a nightmare that seems to have no end: bad rhythm even for the next cut, a boom bap trap in which Lil Weezy is relegated to the hook, while Noreaga puts out a shaky delivery. The following track features Tragedy Khadafi and Havoc in the guest role: dark bouncy boom bap made by Scram Jones & DJ Thoro, Havoc performs the chorus, Tragedy & Noreaga drop bars in a song that recalls the late nineties. Charlie Brown returns to bury a record that every now and then tries to see the light of the sun: the beatmaker has already sucked before and here doesn't improve, bringing out a very poorly synthesized boom bap. Jeremih on the hook, bad, he doesn't lift the song even with a verse, forget about PAPI, he jumps worse than ever. Horrible cut, possibly the worst of the edition.
Hazardis Soundz makes the beat of the song number fifteen: boom bap jazzy splendid, the MC delivery determined and hardcore, Chris Jones & Mick Jones complete the work. Large Pro gives the last song worth listening to within this project: sensational jazzy boom bap, PAPI and Large Professor deliver inspired here, maybe it's the banger of the record. "Faces of Death" is supposed to be the super-posse track with French Montana, Swizz Beatz, Raekwon and Busta Rhymes, however, it turns out to be the most disappointing choice of the LP. Shameful beat of Jaleel Beats, Nore goes discreetly, mediocre French Montana, badly Swizz with a ridiculous style. Busta's energetic delivery and that of Chef Raekwon, who alone is better than practically all the others put together, try to save, in vain, this wretched cut. Skit, finally, Charlie Brown's last rhythm: energetic and bad boom bap, it ruins a song with Mayday & Tech N9ne.
Distributed by Victor Records, eOne and Thugged Out Militainment, the album gets a notable commercial response, entering the Billboard 200, reaching the top 15 among hip-hop records (#12 in the rap chart), but is received lukewarmly by critics. With reasons. Probably by contract, NORE aka PAPI is forced to make two weak tracks for every good one: it's difficult to explain what happened on this record, the rapper mixes good-excellent cuts with other bad songs, slipping several times in an attempt to chase the modern trends of the game, and thus proving to be a bad student of the game. He doesn't know what to do in his album, the tape is closer to a sequel to "Melvin Flynt" than to "NORE", as was the intention of the rapper. Lyrically, it's a generic and bland record, musically, however, the album is completely irregular: Cookin Soul, SPK, Pete Rock and Large Professor provide the best rhythms, while all the others flounder in the mud. There are several great moments, but if you listened to Noreaga at his best in the late nineties, you can spare yourself the trouble of this messy CD.
Highlights: "Student of the Game", "What I Had to Do", "Vitamins", "Camouflage Unicorns", "Built Pyramids".
Rating: 6.5/10.
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