Shaquille O'Neal — You Can't Stop the Reign

In November 1996, a few months after joining the Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal releases two rap albums, the first is a compilation of songs taken from his two previous CDs — inside there are Fu-Schnickens, RZA, Method Man, Erick Sermon & Redman, Keith Murray, Def Jef, Ill Al Skratch and Phife Dawg, with a cover that recalls the Vampeta of the best times —, the following week he releases his third LP.

 

Music is provided by Dave Atkinson, Spyda, Chris Large, Poke and Tone (aka Trackmasters), DJ Quik, Domingo, Mobb Deep, Rodney Jerkins, Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant, I-Roc, Jammin' James Carter and Easy Mo Bee. Joining Shaq at the miq are some of hip-hop's biggest heavyweights of always: Rakim, The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and Mobb Deep, as well as Peter Gunz, Lord Tariq, Smooth B and some rnb singers.

The national Shaq adapts to the criticism and improves his technique, delivering bars with effortless style and light-hearted, fun lyrics, sadly the music just isn't that good. "Still Can't Stop the Reign" proves to be the best song on the album, thanks to two posthumous verses by Biggie Smalls and a production by the Atkinson-Spyda duo that relies on an excellent sample of Loose Ends' "You Can't Stop the Rain". Other attempts to let the sample drive the entire track don't work, because, in some cases, the drum is too thick and pounding, ending up drowning out the track: is perhaps more evident in "Legal Money" than in other tracks, where there would be a good sample from a Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye song from their collaborative disk, however, the sample remains confined in the background and even Prodigy and Havoc's performance struggles to emerge above the production chosen by Havoc.

In other cases, however, questionable commercial tracks emerge such as "Edge of Night", where Bobby Brown sings Phil Collins. Rakim, Jay-Z, Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz bring quality and quantity to the project, however, they end up in songs where the music does not seem to be an important element in the construction of the song, and that's a problem: the Trackmasters messed up "No Love Lost", placing annoying sounds that prevent the track from being among the highest moments of the album and of Shaq's musical career.

Distributed by Interscope, it received a lukewarm response from the public and the critics: the album is 70 minutes long, it should contain at least 25 minutes less and it still wouldn't be a good record. Not recommended.

Rating: 5/10.