Schoolly D reaches his fifth album in six years, while most veterans have never surpassed the second and not to mention that these albums often go from bad to very bad. The guy who put Philly on the map doesn't seem to fall even on his umpteenth record: of course, he's irregular, skinny, rough, repeats practically the same themes already addressed in his previous efforts, but here he's still hardcore and powerful, he performs at his best ever. Schoolly switches from Jive to Capitol Records, but sales don't increase despite the quality of the LP. He offers some political, pro-black and even gangsta cuts, spitted on a good simple and minimal funky production made by the same rapper using different layered samples: thanks to this technique, he extracts from the cylinder the best song of the disc, "King of New York", storytelling that describes the life of a drug dealer with an excellent hardcore delivery syncopated on a dark and hard rhythm vitalized by a dozen samples including Public Enemy, NWA, George Clinton, Commodores, but above all "Sucker MC's".
Rating: 6.5/10.
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