In 2013 the New York rapper Richard "Prospect" Perez, member of the Terror Squad group with Big Pun and Fat Joe, among others, debuts with his first soloist mixtape album. Ulysse "Chaze" Genet of the Grim Team is the main producer of the tape, flanked by E-Blaze, Laurent Cohen, Lord Finesse, Anno Domini Beats, Henri Lanz aka MGI and Just Blaze. The guests are V12, Jah Yut, Franco Anthony, Tasha Denae, Quand, Nut, Young Vaughn and Young Cheech.
After a intro, the disk presents the title track: Chaze behind the keyboards with a tense, dark beat, rough bass line, cheap dusty drum, orchestral sample, chaotic rhythm, Prospect spits in shape here. Chaze and E-Blaze produce "I'm Not Holding", piano keys loop tight, scarce drum, dusted percussion, mainstream beat, Prospect spits well. There's a soulful vein in "Hold Me Down", dusty dance drum, synths that pervade the entire tune, driving bass in the background, good dance vibes, Prospect goes regular with the Queensbridge singer V-12 over this musical carpet crafted by Chaze.
Laurent Cohen produces a mainstream rhythm inspired to Swizz Beatz for "Mr. Music", weak hook samples possibly, harsh drum, rough bass, cheap production. Prospect here to create the banger for the club with one of his most mainstream flows, he sounds good, but the rhythm is generic. Since the first seconds, "Make Something Outta Nothing" is something different from the rest of the whole tape. The dirty beat is "clean" somehow. Dusty drum, roaring bass line, dirty scratches, piano keys loop, the soundscape is dark, Prospect goes better that usual with a calm style, Lord Finesse behind the keys with his great work to create a personal highlights of former Terror Squad emcee's career.
Chaze realizes a soulful beat for "Reminisce", thoughtful rapping for Prospect over this rhythm, sweet samples, piano scale loop, dense bass, light drum. The same beatmaker realizes a synths musical carpet with cheap drum for the next track, here the rapper, as well as other members of Terror Squad on their solo albums like Cuban Link and Armageddon, tries the reggae-sque banger with "Warrior", Jah Nut as guest, the tune simply doesn't work. Franco Anthony sings the chorus in "Fame", boom bap, rough bass line, cheap drum uptempo, rough piano loop, xmas bells, the rhythm is filthy, Prospect should raps fast because the rhythm is uptempo, nevertheless he doesn't seem comfortable with this messy production created by the Finnish beatmaker Henri Lanz bka MGI and he's not entirely wrong. MGI worked with Dipset's 40 Cal, JR Writer and Hell Rell, Twista, and Termanology's St. Da Squad, among others.
Chaze returns behind the keys with crazy hi-hats in "Hear What I'm Saying" and the worst beat of the tape. An harsh drum welcomes Prospect and the guest rnb singer Tasha Denae in "I Apologize", a sort of version of Big Pun's "Mama" (1998) and Cuban Link "Hey Mama" (2000) with a shower of synths. Prospect goes solo over the desolate rhythm of "We Don't Play", it sounds bad. Quan is the most important guest of the record in "I'm Gone", killing the beat of Chaze: weak harsh drum, cheap synths, dotted bass in background, shabby samples. Prospect freestyles in the next couple of songs, the rhythms aren't that good even if the latter is signed Just Blaze. The main beatmaker Chaze pulls out a organ loop for "My Religion". It makes sense. Organ. Religion. It's clear, I guess. Wack drum. Harsh, not good, downtempo, rough bass line, then eclectic piano keys loop over that organ, funky synth lines who also become triumphant for a few seconds, Prospect goes straight over this rich soundscape. It's the second best production behind that of Finesse.
Young Vaughn is guest of "We Just", rhythm totally different rather than just finished a couple of seconds ago: rusty drum, weak samples, cheap production, chaotic sounds, the beat invented by Chaze is messed up, no one can save it. "Walking Through the Night" is the last track of the mixtape, produced by Anno Domini Beats with Young Cheech as guest. The rhythm has a rough bass line, harsh drum, poor sounds, soul sample for the chorus, bad beat.
Although Prospect remained close to Fat Joe after Big Pun's death and appeared on Terror Squad's second album as a featured guest, the group's dissolution and Fat Joe's distance from himself also jeopardized his solo career. Around 2013 he signs with The 16 Chapel, label of Chaze, and publishes this effort that falls flat on the rap radar. With two and a half well-produced tracks out of eighteen, there's reason why fans continue to ignore this product, despite the author's talent.
Rating: 4/10.
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