In 2006, Omar "OC" Credle releases this compilation album of sixteen tracks. The music is provided by Buckwild, Kemp, DJ Celory, DJ Ogee, DJ Premier, Organized Konfusion, Diamond D, J-Love, Showbiz & AG, John McGann and Mark Pearson. The guests are Chubb Rock, Jeru the Damaja, Organized Konfusion, DITC, Big L, Diamond D, Jay-Z, Da Ranjahz, Ja Shawn and Sadat X.
The atmosphere of the record is dark, gloomy, tense, heavy, sometimes disturbing as well as underground towards the end of listening, touched by scattered jazzy elements, OC delivers here inspired, here powerful, here not inspired, here banal, and his claim to be the King of New York it's not credible and never'll be.
The hooks don't help him, often badly executed. Some tracks are actually already present elsewhere, it's a mixed collection of songs take by his studio albums, remixed ("Word...Life", "Get Yours", "Emotions"), never released ("Ozone", "Stronjay"), stolen (the Premier classic "Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers" here's present as "Crooklyn 2") or new ones ("The Inventor" and the joint venture with Sadat X, "Yes Sir"). "Snakes" will be released in following EPs as "Brothers Are Fake".
Despite the bad premises, there are positive notes. "Half Good, Half Sinner" has an excellent relentless beat produced by Buck, over this jazzy, polished, clean, confident boom bap where the emcee delivers light-hearted with a stuttering flow, but the production's born precisely to correct this delivery defect; poor-spoken chorus, OC can afford it. "Stronjay" original version is better than the one put on "Jewelz", even the hook sounds good on this boom bap jazzy-soul, Credle is smooth and decisive, determined over this beat.
In the whole disk there's not a banger, so it's hard to find a interesting tune here: OC makes the remix of "Word...Life" & "Emotions" in the classic glossy and turning them back into a new light, more alive and pure. "Word Life (Remix)" is beautiful boom bap jazzy underground, purely New York underground of early nineties, heavy, skeletal, brilliantly produced, almost better than the version provided by Buckwild in the rapper's debut album, OC flies over this beat. "Emotions (Remix)" has an excellent soulful remix of one of the best tracks present in the midst of the mediocrity of "Smoke and Mirrors"; excellent soulful hook by Ja Shawn, good delivery by the main rapper.
Released by Next Mill Entertainment and Mushine Inc., isn't an essential listening in OC discography.
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