Most of the times for the Song of the Week column, we either dig in the crates for a older banger, we pick song that has to do with the occasion at the time, or we give you new hot song that grabs us. Well today is not one of those days. These songs are new but to be real with you, I listened to each one and I don’t know if all will be making it to the iPod. I guess I wanted to see what our readers thought.

First up is Method Man & Redman’s new track off their upcoming Blackout 2, “City Lights” featuring UGK. I respect and like all the artists on the song but the combination just doesn’t feel right (Bun-B raps and it’s a Pimp C sample on the hook). I guess I wanted Meth & Red to take it back to the gutter like on the first Blackout…or even like they did last year with “Broken Language 2008″. I am happy they are back in the studio.

Next up is the remix of Q-Tip’s “We Fight, We Love” featuring Kanye West & Consequence. When I first heard this one I thought it was a little boring but I’m starting to coming around. If you haven’t read Saule Wright’s review of Q-Tip’s The Renaissance, you need to do so now (And I’m sure Saule is loving this remix).

Lastly is Big Kuntry King’s “I Do” featuring T.I. & Young Dro. Even though I like T.I. & Dro (And don’t mind Kuntry), I don’t like this song at all. It sounds like their trying to capture what was already done with Yung LA’s “Ain’t I”. I’ve heard jokes about Kuntry trying to get a verse before T.I. gets sentenced in a few days. If true, can you really blame him? His last album, My Turn To Eat, came out the same day as Paper Trail…and nobody cared. And where the hell is that album at Dro?

Tell us what you think.

Download: Method Man & Redman feat. UGK – “City Lights”

Download: Q-Tip feat. Kanye West & Consequence – “We Fight, We Love (remix)”

Download: Big Kuntry King feat. Young Dro & T.I. – “I Do”

Back in June of this year I brought Statik Selektah to nappyafro in the form of a Rewind Review of his debut release album Statik Selektah Presents Spell My Name Right (The Album). Being the underground Hip Hop head that I am, I was anticipating this album along with Termanology’s album Politics As Usual last month, especially after seeing the video for the song “To The Top (Stick To The Script)”. Now one month and one release later, Statik Selektah delivers his sophomore album entitled Stick 2 The Script. Immediately after reading the title you get the idea that Statik Selektah decided to stick with the same formula of boom-bap beats and lyrical assassins that he blessed us with on his debut. Some people say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, so lets see if this formula worked for Statik the second time around.

1. Stick 2 The Script (Intro)
Produced by Statik Selektah
This is your basic intro track with Statik Selektah picking up right where he left off on his debut album. Statik produces a piano driven beat letting the listeners know that he’s back for a second round and that they should be prepared for nothing less than the best.

2. To The Top (Stick 2 The Script)
Featuring Cassidy, Saigon, & Termanology; Produced by Statik Selektah
The album kicks right off in a major way with the first released single off the project. Statik Selektah delivers some great sounding production on this track for Cassidy, Saigon, and Termanology to spit some hard rhymes over. All three emcees attack the mic with force but Cassidy shows that he hasn’t lost a step with his punchline heavy verse that steals the show. Check out the Rik Cordero video for this song, it’s amazing as he directs it Reservoir Dog style. Rik Cordero is that dude!!!

3. For The City
Featuring M.O.P. & Jadakiss; Produced by Statik Selektah
Statik Selektah takes us back on this track with a hard-hitting beat equipped with the New Jack City sampled acapella. M.O.P. and Jadakiss bless this track with some nicely delivered rhymes. M.O.P. get down for the crown on this song as Jada takes a more casual approach with his verse. Statik Selektah adds some scratching at the end to complete the track.

4. Get Out The Way
Featuring Bun B & Cory Mo; Produced by Statik Selektah
On this track Statik Selektah decides to take us down to the South in Texas to hook up with the legendary Bun B and his partner Cory Mo. Statik produces a beat that somewhat fits the Texas natives, but it seems a little lacking (maybe the oriental sounds). Both emcees drop some nice verses that support the beat and make this track listenable to an extent.

5. All 2gether Now
Featuring Freeway, Peedi Crakk, & Young Chris; Produced by Statik Selektah
This is a track that a lot of people have been waiting for a while to hear. A State Property reunion track (sort of) with original members Freeway, Peedi Crack, and Young Chris. Statik Selektah delivers some menacing production on this track for the emcee to get down on. No emcee really outdoes another on this song but Freeway definitely brought some energy to the track with his flow and delivery. It was good to hear State Property back on a track together, but now we need a full reunion (where’s Beanie Mack at???)

6. Interlude
Featuring Q-Tip; Produced by Statik Selektah
This interlude track features Q-Tip doing his best Busta Rhymes impersonation as he gives a shout to Statik Selektah over a dope produced beat by Statik Selektah. With such a good beat I would have enjoyed hearing Q-Tip spit some rhymes over it but we just get a drop instead.

7. Church
Featuring Termanology; Produced by Statik Selektah
Statik Selektah hooks up a soulful vibe on this track as his production lays the backdrop for Termanology to spit his signature rhymes over. Fresh off his debut album release, Termanology shows you why he’s one of the best upcoming rappers in the industry today. I swear Termanology has some crazy punchlines (“Shorty opened her legs, it smelled like Chinatown”)…wow for real?!!!??.

8. Talkin’ Bout You (Ladies)
Featuring Skyzoo, Joell Ortiz, & Talib Kweli; Produced by Statik Selektah
I thought the previous track was soulful, but this one completely blows it out of the water. Statik Selektah borrows a page from 9th Wonder (I heard 9th use the same sample on one of his beats a while back) and produces a soul filled beat for the Brooklyn Connection (Skyzoo, Joell Ortiz, and Talib Kweli) to talk about the ladies on. This is a real soulful track that you can just sit back and groove to while thinking about the ladies.

9. On The Marquee
Featuring Little Brother, Joe Scudda, & Chaundon; Produced by Statik Selektah
From NY we take it down to NC as Statik Selektah hooks up with Little Brother, Joe Scudda, and Chaudon. Statik Selektah really has a soul vibe going as he produces yet another soul filled beat for these emcees to drop lyrics on. This beat sounds like a perfect fit for Little Brother as Phonte does some great singing on the chorus. How could you not enjoy music like this…we need more of this in Hip Hop seriously!!!

10. Mr. Popularity
Featuring Consequence; Produced by Statik Selektah
Talk about a dark, menacing beat, Statik Selektah produces an ominous one for Consequence to deliver some great rhymes over. This song is the 2nd single off the album and it’s a good choice, as Consequence speaks much about 2Pac and his death as well as the lifestyle of somebody popular.

11. Interlude
Featuring The Madd Rapper
On this interlude track we see the return of The Madd Rapper as he tries to give a drop for Statik Selektah on his album but can’t quite seem to get his name right (“Frantic Inspector”…”Inspector Gadget”…”Static Cling”). I guess Madd Rapper should have listened to the debut album and learned how to spell his name right as well as say it right. Funny shit on this interlude.

12. This Is It (Showoff Remix)
Featuring D-Dot, Redman, & Black Rob; Produced by Statik Selektah
Statik Selektah delivers some very nice production on this track that sees D-Dot, Redman, and Black Rob spitting some rhymes over it. Redman sounds real hungry on this track spitting some good rhymes and it’s good to hear Black Rob back in the mix of things.

13. So Good (Live From The Bar)
Featuring Naledge, Reks, & CL Smooth; Produced by Statik Selektah
Statik Selektah comes right back on this track with some lively production equipped with the horns as Naledge, Reks, and CL Smooth all get down on the track. Reks and CL Smooth deliver some really good rhymes on the track, but Naledge steals the show with his free flowing verse. As always it was good to hear a Hip-Hop legend like CL Smooth dropping some rhymes.

14. Streets Of M.A.
Featuring Masspike Miles, Termanology, Reks, Slaine, & More; Produced by Statik Selektah
This is Statik Selektah’s track dedicated to his home Massachusetts along with the rappers that rep MA as well. Statik Selektah produces an average beat on this track with each emcee spitting a nice verse, but I don’t really think the singing on the chorus fits well with the song.

15. Sounds Of The Street (Interlude)
Featuring JFK; Produced by Statik Selektah
Statik Selektah produces an interesting sounding beat on this interlude track by building the beat off various sounds heard on the street. It’s a pretty unique beat in it’s own right as JFK spits a short verse about not only being a rapper in the game, but also a fan of the game.

16. Destined To Shine
Featuring Torae, Sha Stimuli, & Jon Hope; Produced by Statik Selektah
This track comes on with a bang as Statik Selektah produces a very epic sounding beat that nicely accompanies the rhymes from Torae, Sha Stimuli, and Jon Hope. Each emcee spits lines about being destined to shine and patiently waiting for that time to arrive.

17. Cali Nights
Featuring Glasses Malone, Mistah Fab, & Novel; Produced by Statik Selektah
Statik has taken us from the East Coast to the South and now we travel across country to the West Coast for a stop in Cali. The beat produced by Statik Selektah on this track is such a smooth track that it’s easy to see why the Cali emcees fit so well over it. Glasses Malone and Mistah Fab drop some good rhymes over the track while Novel makes it complete with his singing on the chorus.

18. Take It All Back
Featuring Reks, Ea$y Money, Royce Da 5’9”, & Paula Campbell; Produced by Statik Selektah
To finish off the album Statik Selektah produces a beat that has a reminiscing vibe to it that allows the emcees time to think back and recall. It was kind of surprising hearing Royce Da 5’9” on the track but he finds his fit and makes it work. The singing by Paula Campbell on the song is a real nice addition and a great way to end off the album.

Bottom Line:
At 18 total tracks, Statik Selektah provides the listeners with more than enough material to satisfy their listening crave for some real Hip-Hop music. In listening to the entire album you won’t really find a weak or bad track out of the bunch and after listening to Statik’s debut album Statik Selektah Presents Spell My Name Right (The Album) you can see that he has improved on some things while being able to keep the formula the same. Statik Selektah is really showing why he has become one of the best, underrated music producers in the game with the gems that he produced on this album. Like other compilation albums done by producers, he also showed that he has a knack for matching the right artists with the right track. If you haven’t heard of Statik Selektah or taken the time to listen to his debut album or various mixapes, then you should start with this album and introduce yourself to a great producer (then go back and listen to his previous releases). You won’t be disappointed by what Statik Selektah provides and hopefully you start to realize how much better underground Hip Hop is and has been for a long time.

nappyPicks: “To The Top (Stick 2 The Script)”, “On The Marquee”, “Talkin’ Bout You (Ladies)”, “Destined To Shine”, “Cali Nights”, “Take It All Back”, “This Is It (Showoff Remix)”, & “Mr. Popularity”

Download: Statik Selektah feat. Skyzoo, Joell Ortiz, & Talib Kweli – “Talkin’ Bout You (Ladies)”

It’s been over a month since I last dropped a review (Deified by Keak Da Sneak), but SBK is back in the building back at the ‘fro. Since my time away in dealing with summer hell aka Summer School, I’ve been keeping an eye up on nappyafro and an ear out on the music. Being the Hip-Hop head that I am, I’m an active listener of the underground scene far more than the commercial bullshit that’s released. I almost let this release slip by me, but thanks to a good friend that put me on to it (Props to King Jerm), I was introduced to one of my new favorite albums this year. This is a bold statement, but if I were up to me this would be a top contender for album of the year for 2008 (calm down C3 fans and Untitled/N.I.G.G.E.R. enthusiast). I’m going to explain to you very clearly why Reks has one of the best albums of ’08 in Grey Hairs for both underground and mainstream.

Grey Hairs
Produced by Blaze P
The album is announced with Reks and his son Isiah giving us a proper introduction before the nicely laced beat by Blaze P kicks in. Blaze P does this track correctly with a beat that makes you take notice and has a “Now introduction” feel to it. Reks proceeds to drop rhymes explaining the title of the album and how it applies to getting older and gaining knowledge. This is a great way to start off the album and has my attention for the rest to come.

The One
Produced by Statik Selektah
The opening statement on this song is perfectly placed, as “This is not a song for the radio”. Statik Selektah (who produces a majority of the album) does a nice job on the beat for Reks who in turn drops some vicious, hard hitting rhymes on top of it. While this song could have some commercial appeal to it, mainstream wouldn’t be ready or capable of understanding the depth of this track and Reks’ lyrics.

Say Goodnight
Produced by DJ Premier
This beat produced by the legendary DJ Premier is the first single for the album and makes a statement upon the first listen. While DJ Premier is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) producers of all-time and I’m one of his biggest fans, I must admit that this beat is not one of his best. The beat does its job though in providing a classic boom-bap backdrop for Reks to get loose on and drop some nice rhymes. This song is perfect for the current state of the rap game with the classic 90’s Hip-Hop feel that it has.

How Can It Be
Produced by Statik Selektah
I’ve heard that this is the second single for the album and it’s definitely a nice selection. Statik Selektah produces a wonderful beat with a sample filled with various synths included. Reks is able to do his thing and drop some nice lyrics within. I love the DJ Premier technique that Statik incorporates on the chorus with the scratched vocal samples.

Stages
Produced by Large Professor
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, the album is taken up another level with this track. Large Professor laces this track very nicely with a beat that compliments Reks’ rhymes. Reks does his thing in talking about the rap game in 3 different stages (past, present, and future) and how it has changed. The Nas scratched vocals on the chorus make the song that much better. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album so far.

All In One (5 Mics)
Featuring Lil’ Fame; Produced by Blaze P
This is one of the most creative songs I have heard in a while with its concept of Reks rapping the styles of 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Big Pun, and Big L. Blaze P really makes this track come alive (no pun intended) with his hectic, lively beat pounding in the background. While this is a clever track, Reks doesn’t exactly hit the mark on all of the verses representing the deceased legends of the rap game. His verses of 2Pac and Big Pun are on point and give you the spirit of hearing them actually rapping on the track. His verses of Biggie and Big L aren’t directly on and could have been done a bit better. I think this track would have been even better if he had other artists featured on it that could match the individual styles even better like Termanology for Big Pun and so on. But overall this is still a vicious track and most creative one I’ve heard since Lil Wayne’s “Dr. Carter” in terms of concept and theme.

Next 2 Me
Produced by DC The Midi Alien
DC The Midi Alien, who used to frequently collaborate with Termanology, provides a nice beat to Reks for this track. The pulsating beat in the background fits well with Reks’ lyrics as he talks about how many rappers in the industry don’t have enough skills to stand next to him and be compared to him as an emcee. This is an average track at best and it brings down the intensity level of the album following the previous track.

Money On The Ave
Featuring Skyzoo; Produced by Soul Theory
This soulful based track, produced by Soul Theory, provides a nice mood to the rhymes spit by Reks and Skyzoo. They both tell about how artists are no longer making money in the music industry and how the real money is being made on the block and on the corner selling drugs. This song is great for the truth and reality that is presented in the lyrics.

Black Cream (The Negro Epidemic)
Featuring Big Shug; Produced by Statik Seletkah
This is a concept track as it’s best with Reks speaking more truth from inside of the booth. The cleverly titled track “Black Cream” talks about how Blacks are carelessly spending their money and how money is the epidemic facing African-Americans. The chorus on this song is superb and speaks just as well as the rhymes in the verse (“From chains to whips, to chains and whips/Hopped off the slave ships and into fly kicks”). This song is presented in a similar vein of the tracks on Nas’ recently released Untitled/N.I.G.G.E.R. album. These are the type of songs that need to be released more often as they truly speak on many of the issues and problems that Blacks are facing in America. (Check out Black In America on CNN, it’s some real talk for your ears. It’s a shame though that we see a show speaking on the problems facing Blacks in America on CNN, but not on a Black network like BET…WTF is really going on!? I guess 106 & Park and Hell Date are more important and pay the bills. That’s fucked up!)

Love Sweet Misery
Produced by Statik Seletkah
Statik Seletkah channels the same vibe that he had on the previous song in producing another gloomy sampled beat that fits nicely with Reks. I never realized how nice of a producer Statik Selektah really is. He’s gotta be one of the best upcoming producers in the game especially on the underground scene. Reks does a nice job in giving his explanation of love and how it’s somehow connected to misery in most cases.

Rise
Produced by Statik Selektah
This is another nicely produced beat by Statik Selektah, who provides another mild mood beat for Reks to drop some furious rhymes on top of. Reks really shows why he’s one of the nicest upcoming emcees in the game today in talking about rising above the obstacles and oppositions that we face in life. Reks really makes listeners take notice with lines like “Bumped into shorty bopping down the ave nearly half my size/Chain dangling Jesus piece, but eyes that lack understanding to the reason he rise/Rather rose on the third, stopped him for a word to guide”. It lyrics like that which really make you stop and think.

Telescopes
Featuring Jon Hope & Lucky Dice; Produced by Statik Selektah
Damn, Statik Selektah keeps on supplying this heat on this album and drops his best beat on this song. This somber song is perfect with Reks and Jon Hope dropping rhymes about having hope and viewing like through telescope eyes to see farther and more than just what is in front of you in life. This song is something that could be played on radio and make the charts, but mainstream wouldn’t accept a great song of this caliber with such a strong message. It really sucks, but it’s reality that something has to be changed about that cause we need more songs like this to be heard instead of the newest track about money, cash, cars, clothes, and hoes. This is another one of my favorite songs on this album, matter of fact it’s my favorite track.

Day 2
Produced by Statik Seletkah
Once again Statik Seletkah provides a great beat for Reks to drop some intelligent and meaningful lyrics on. With this track Reks talks about relationships in how the first day might be bad, but the second day presents the opportunity for it to get better. Reks does a nice job in not presenting this track like a typical relationship/love song and going against the grain in terms of the topic.

Premonition
Featuring Termanology & Consequence; Produced by Statik Selektah
Wow, Statik is the man coming through with yet another nice track for this song. The mellow mood of the beat really compliments the verses from Reks, Consequence, and Termanology. They all do a great job in rhyming about starting your life over again from scratch and doing things differently the second time around. This is a nice track in regards to the theme of life reflection.

My Life
Featuring Paula Campbell; Produced by Blaze P
This time around it’s Blaze P who come back to bless Reks with a nicely produced piano driven beat. This is another life reflection type track from Reks with him talking about trying to figure out his life paired with a nice chorus sung by Paula Campbell. This track fits perfectly with mood of the previous few tracks.

Cry Baby
Produced by Statik Seletkah
This next song keeps that mood going along with Statik Seletkah providing yet another soulful background for Reks to spit his lyrics over. This song has the same vibe of Jay-Z’s “Song Cry” as Reks speaks about his mother giving birth to him at the age of 17 and the things she had to go through at such a young age. He also talks about his life as a child in growing up in a poor environment and the things surrounding him. Reks does a nice job of the interpolation of 2Pac’s song “Brenda’s Got A Baby” in the chorus that really sums up the song and makes it full circle.

Long While
Produced by 1914
This song, provided with a beat produced by 1914, sees Reks talking about meeting up with those he hasn’t seen in a long while and maintain relationships with the real people in his life. This is a nice song of Reks doing some reminiscing about his past experiences with friends.

Big Dreamers (Lawtown Remix)
Featuring Termanology & Krumb Snatcha; Produced by Statik Seletkah
This is a remix of the “Big Dreamers” track that is featured on Statik Selektah’s previously released album entitled Spell My Name Right: The Album. This is the B-Side of the “Say Goodbye” single. While I wasn’t too keen of this track on that album and thought it was no more than average, I’m feeling this remix better than the original. With new verses from Reks and Termanology, and the additional of Krumb Snatcha on the track, it makes this song that much better this time around than the first listen. All of the emcees on this track do a nice job in talking about having dreams and doing everything you can to make those dreams become reality.

Isiah
Produced by Demobeatz
This is Reks’ song in dedication to his song Isiah, which sees him talking about how his son and how he’s doing everything now to make sure his son lives a better life than he did. The beat produced by Demobeatz with the acoustic guitar and horns perfectly fits the tone and rhymes of Reks, and enables him to speak meaningfully and get his message across.

Pray For Me
Produced by Statik Seletkah
This song features production by Statik Seletkah, and while all of his beats on this album have been on point, I find this one to be average and a bit dragging. The beat gives this song a finale feel to it similar to Jay-Z’s “Hova Song (Outro)” that sees Reks just speaking his mind and clearly not caring what anybody has to say about it. He talks about his view on the current state of Hip-Hop and how things need to go back to the way they used to be with great music. The scratched vocal sample of Jay-Z’s verse from “Dead Presidents II” is a nice addition to the song.

Bottom Line:
While not many Hip-Hop listeners outside of the underground scene really know about Reks as an artist, I think this is the album to change all of that completely. Through the 20 tracks on this album, there is not a skip or filler track to be found throughout and is truly a complete listen all the way through. That is one sign of a great album when you don’t have to skip through tracks and can listen to the album from beginning to end. Not too many albums that I have listened to this year have that claim (including Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III), so that fact alone makes this one of the best albums that has been released this year. If listeners and critics in regards to the mainstream don’t proclaim this as the Best Album of 2008, then this has to be the Best Album of 2008 in terms of underground releases. This album proves the point that many of the releases in the underground scene of Hip-Hop exceed most of the commercial/mainstream releases both in terms of lyricism and production values. Sadly, that fact hasn’t been recognized and this album and many others like it praised by the underground but ridiculed by mainstream will go underrated. This is one of the few albums that I have been referred to give a listen to and end up really like it. Again, major props to King Jerm in referring me to this album because with out it I probably would have missed hearing this album or heard about years later. Go out and cop this album seriously, it’s a true example of the real music that is missed in Hip-Hop today that needs to be brought back to the light.

nappyPicks: “Stages”, “Telescopes”, “Cry Baby”, “Day 2”, “Premonition”, ‘Say Goodnight”, “Black Cream (The Negro Epidemic)”, “All In One (5 Mics)”…JUST COP THE ALBUM!!!

Download: Reks feat. Bug Shug – “Black Cream (The Negro Epidemic)”

I told y’all that I was gonna pick back up where I left off and I’m back once again with yet another Rewind Review for your reading pleasure. This time I coming to you with a mixtape DJ album, since that’s currently a highly debated topic right now with Lil’ Wayne’s recent comments towards them. Statik Selektah (not “Static Selector”, hence the album’s title), who is a highly recognized DJ within the mixtape circuit released an album based off his “Spell My Name Right” mixtape series, similar to what DJ Drama did with Gangsta Grillz: The Album. As you might expect with these type of DJ albums, they usually are filled with collaborations on every track from various artists that the DJ has worked with in the past and done work for. Many times these albums are usually hits and misses, so let’s see how Statik’s album does in comparison to the compilations/albums that have been released before.

Spell My Name Right Intro
Featuring DJ Premier & Termanology; Produced by Statik Selektah
This intro track features DJ Premier setting the mood for the album to come and giving it that sort of mixtape feel, especially if you have listened to a DJ Premier mixtape before or heard his radio show (Live From HeadQCourterz) on Sirius satellite radio. Statik produces a nice beat for this initial track, which features fellow Boston native Termanology lacing the rhymes. Nothing really special about this track, just hearing Termanology rhyming out the name of all of the artists featured on the album.

Stop, Look, Listen
Featuring Styles P, Termanology, & Q-Tip; Produced by Statik Selektah
The intro leads nicely into the second track, which also happens to be the single off the album. Statik laces this track with some very nice production that is handled well by the collaborative efforts of Styles P, Termanology, and Q-Tip. Styles P does his thing and drops a solid verse, as well as Termanology as he displays why he’s one of the nicest upcoming emcees and was featured in The Source’s “Unsigned Hype” article a while back. It’s a pleasure to hear Q-Tip spitting some lines on the track as well as I haven’t heard much from him in a minute.

Express Yourself ‘08
Featuring Termanology, Talib Kweli, & Consequence; Produced by Statik Selektah
This track is Statik Selektah’s attempt to recreate N.W.A.’s classic track “Express Yourself” from their Straight Outta Compton album released in 1989. It’s been about 20 years since the release of that track and I can say that it still holds the crown and this track doesn’t really come close to the magic of the original. Don’t get me wrong though cause Statik hooked up the beat on this one quite nicely and the three emcees each do their thing respectively, but this can’t compare to N.W.A.’s original version. As you can see this is Termanology’s third straight featured song and you should get used to it cause he’s on quite a bit more tracks being one of Statik’s homeboys. Out of the three emcees on this track, I’d have to say that Talib Kweli spit the best verse and even though Consequence is a good rapper, it’s difficult to understand what he’s saying at times.

6 In The Morning
Featuring Joell Ortiz, Kool G Rap, & Sheek Louch; Produced by Statik Selektah
Immediately at the outset of this track you feel a sudden change of energy and things slow down at bit. The production on this track from Statik is somewhat average and starts to get boring really quickly. The artists featured on this track don’t really do much to improve on the lackluster beat and aren’t really saying much other than how they are on their grind and up at 6 in the morning on the block putting work in. This track is a skip for me.

What Would You Do!?
Featuring Freeway & Cassidy; Produced by Statik Selektah
This track features some much better production from Statik with a soulful sounding sampled beat provided for the team of Freeway and Cassidy to attack. I know that this is something that a lot of people expected never to see in Philly natives Freeway and Cassidy collaborating on a track together seeing as how they had beef in the past and Cass got in that ass during their classic battle (yes I think Cassidy murdered Freeway in their battle). They both spit some nice rhymes on this track, even though Freeway’s overly aggressive delivery feeling out of place at times and Cassidy’s dull sounding delivery make his rhyming sound boring. This is a good track nonetheless bringing together two good young emcees that once had problems with each other. All these rappers that have “beef” with each other need to take note of this.

Make A Movie (Interlude)
Featuring DJ Khaled; Produced by Statik Selektah
This interlude track was definitely not needed on this album, especially one from DJ Khaled who is really saying nothing at all. I don’t know what a lot of people see or like in Khaled, but he’s definitely not doing much in my book. Skip this track without a doubt. “LLLLIIISSSSSTTTTEEEENNNN!!!!!” (Shut the fuck up with that shit man, damn!)

Bam Bam
Featuring Red Café, Termanology, & Mims; Produced by Statik Selektah
This sample, which was also used for Guerilla Black’s single “Compton”, has been used enough and didn’t need to be used again for this track. Guerilla Black’s version was good and listenable, but this version is kind of boring. The production is good, but the featured artists on this track aren’t really saying much of anything. Red Café is nice in his own terms, but didn’t really bring it to the table this time. Termanology (back again) sounds just average in his rhyming and is kind of starting to sound the same on every track mainly because he uses the same rhyme pattern/scheme and vocal tone on a majority of them. When it comes to Mims I don’t even know why he was included on this track, let alone the album. He probably has the weakest verse on this track, but it’s no surprise though cause after his little “This Is Why I’m Hot” fame he isn’t anywhere to be found now (Ha!). This track is listenable, but not one of my favorites on the album.

G Shit (Showoff Mix)
Featuring Uncle Murda, Sev-One, Termanology, & Jadakiss; Produced by Statik Selektah
Statik did his thing in a major way with the production on this track as it brings back some energy to the album. With four artists featured on this track, they all tell about that “G Shit” and what being gangsta is all about. Uncle Murda sounds the most convincing after listening to his verse, especially in knowing his background and artist persona. Jadakiss fills the void in this track nicely and really makes it complete with his verse at the end (nice to hear him back on the scene).

Back Against The Wall
Featuring Cormega & Royce Da 5’9”; Produced by Statik Selektah
This track features some nice production work from Statik with Royce Da 5’9” and Cormega laying down some rhymes. Royce comes out with a bang in dropping the initial verse, but Cormega is just average with his lyrics. This track is good for what it is, but nothing really spectacular or amazing.

Hardcore (So You Wanna Be)
Featuring Reks & Termanology; Produced by Statik Selektah
Once again Statik comes with some nice production on the beat for this track. The lyrics on this song are provided by Reks and…you guess it Termanology (for his 6th feature). Reks and Termanology both provide some average lyrics on this track, but they could have been better to match up to the nice beat that Statik provided.

No Mistakes Allowed
Featured Doug E. Fresh, Tony Touch, Scram Jones, DP-One, DJ GI-JOE, DJ Revolution, & Esoteric; Produced by Statik Selektah
Damn, it’s nice to hear Doug E. Fresh on the intro of this track with some classic beatboxing from the man himself. This track has a lot of features on it and they all do their thing whether it’s spitting rhymes or scratching on the chorus. This is nice for hearing the many talents displayed on one track. Just sit back and enjoy this track for what it is and nothing more.

Interlude
Featuring Clinton Sparks; Produced by Statik Selektah
If Statik Selektah was going to have just one interlude on this album, it definitely should have been this one. Skip that DJ Khaled interlude heard earlier in the album, Clinton Sparks is speaking some truth on this interlude. He’s talking about how the rap game nowadays is filled with so many DJs who have no creativity and how it’s oversaturated with so much wackness. CHURCH!!!

Punch Out
Featuring Big Shug; Produced by Statik Selektah
When I first played this track I immediately was on the floor laughing. I could believe that Statik sampled the classic Mike Tyson Punch-Out game for NES (the best boxing game of all-time by the way). That was some funny and creative production by Statik, but my laughter turned to dislike after hearing Big Shug rhyming over it. I really dislike Shug’s voice and only think it sounds good over dark, gritty sounding tracks like “The Militia” or something produced by DJ Premier. Other than for getting a good laugh and bringing back some old memories about Mike Tyson Punch-Out, this track is pretty much a skip for me. I had to go hook up my NES and play some Mike Tyson Punch-Out after listening to this track (I hate fighting Mike Tyson in the final bout though, he cheats like a muh’fucker!!!)

The Good Life (Give It Up)
Featuring M.O.P.; Produced by Statik Selektah
This has to be one of the smoothest produced tracks by Statik on the entire album, and surprisingly M.O.P. fit well rhyming over it. Usually M.O.P. sound their best of harder sounding beats, but they put it down lyrically on this track. I just wish that this track was longer than it is at only 1:06. I would have loved to hear more of this track, guess I just have to keep it on repeat for a while.

Big Dreamers
Featuring Reks; Produced by Statik Selektah
Another track with some good production from Statik, which really fits well with Reks’ rhymes and the song’s topic. This is a pretty good track featuring Reks with him talking about his dreams and goals for achieving what he sets to in life and the struggles along the way.

No Holding Back
Featuring AZ & Cormega; Produced by Statik Selektah
This next track features some average production from Statik. It’s a good beat, but it starts to wear on you after a while of listening to it. Plus, featured guests AZ and Cormega don’t really do much to keep me interested in the song. They both spit some rhymes that are just average and don’t really catch my attention throughout the song. This song would be a skip for me.

Got Me Goin’ (Hip Hop)
Featuring Slum Village & Granite State; Produced by Statik Selektah
After a song with average production from Statik, he comes back with that good shit on this track with a nicely composed beat. What makes this song even better is the feature of Slum Village on the track. They sound really comfortable over the beat and drop some nice lyrics as well. Granite State does a decent job with their rhymes, but Slum Village really steals the show on this one.

Time To Say Goodbye
Featuring Evidence & The Alchemist; Produced by Statik Selektah
Out of all of the tracks on this album, this track sounds the most fitting to its featured guests. The production from Statik sounds like something that could have been produced by either Evidence or Alchemist. That really makes it even better for the two artists to drop some nice rhymes over it. Despite that, neither Evidence nor Alchemist really spit anything that’s worth taking note of. The beat is really what shines out on the track.

It’s Over Now
Featuring Termanology & A.G.; Produced by Statik Selektah
As stated earlier about the track “The Good Life (Give It Up)” in the smoothness of its production, this has to be the other smoothest produced track on the album. If Termanology was to only be featured on one track throughout this entire album, this was the one for him. I think this is his best spit verse out of all of the other tracks he’s featured on. A.G. spits some nice rhymes to complement Termanology with the rhyming, but he doesn’t outdo him by any means. This is a great track to just listen and chill out to, especially in the production from Statik.

Talk To Me
Featuring Jon Hope, Reks, & Skyzoo; Produced by Statik Selektah
I’m not really feeling the production on this track by Statik at all. It sounds too basic and its repetition gets annoying after the first verse (that’s never good for a beat). The idea for this track was a good one, but it just wasn’t executed well at all. The featured artists on this track are speaking a good message, but I just can’t seem to catch interest in what they’re saying particularly from the mediocre beat production.

Did What We Had To
Featuring KRS-One, Large Professor, & L Da Headtoucha; Produced by Statik Selektah
Once again the production from Statik on this beat gets repetitive far too quickly and makes it hard for really listening to the track in general. The artists on this track do a good job in taking us back in telling us what they had to do to make it in the rap game and come up in the industry. Who better than the likes of KRS-One and Large Professor to tell us about those times and their struggles to become the great legends in the game that they are today. This wasn’t a good way to end the album though with an average track.

Bottom Line:
In determining the final verdict for Statik Selektah’s Spell My Name Right album, I can say that after 21 tracks (which is too many and could have been reduced to 13 tracks for an even better album) Statik has produced a good sounding album. In produced every track on the album, Statik did his thing and put in work on the production side. He choices for featured artists could have been better and reduced at the same time. He should have been more selective in the artists that he featured on the album in keeping good emcees and declining the average/bad ones. Don’t just include rappers on your project just because you hosted one of their mixtapes or did a beat for them, which is usually the case with mixtape DJ albums. Nonetheless this is a album that will definitely be picked up by hardcore Statik Selektah fans and should be given a listen to from casual Hip-Hop listeners who don’t really follow Statik’s mixtapes or work in general. I’m sure that those fans will find some select songs off this album that they enjoy that they can purchase off iTunes if they don’t wanna cop the entire album.

nappyPicks: “Stop, Look, Listen”, “Express Yourself ‘08”, & “It’s Over Now”

Damn, I’m happy Consequence finally got to come out with an official album debut. This guy has been waiting in the wings for a minute. The first time I heard him was on A Tribe Called Quest’s album Beats, Rhymes, and Life in 1996 (I heard later that he was Q-Tip’s cousin). After that, on the commercial front, shit was quiet for Consequence (or Cons) for a few years. Cons hit the mixtape scene around 2002, and then reemerged on Kanye West’s The College Dropout (“Spaceship”) in 2004. He recorded more songs with Kanye and it was around this time that he officially signed with Kanye’s label GOOD Music. This was a great thing for Consequence; he was among John Legend and Common, and he could look for Kanye for the production. Another reason this was a good look was because Cons was not you average gangsta/thug type of rapper; just like Kanye and Common, he was spitting from the perspective of your average American black man. So after being in the game for over ten years, does Consequence’s debut album deliver?

First off, I noticed that Kanye only produced three tracks off the album. Only one of those songs is actually new. The intro of the album (“Job Song”) is funny. The beat samples “Nautilus” by Bob James (9th Wonder also used this sample for “Murray’s Revenge”) and talks about being a rapper, a known rapper, but still having to get a nine to five. The song wins because it fits into the album’s theme. “Don’t Forget ‘Em” shows Consequence at his best with Kanye providing him with a great backdrop to tell dudes that when he makes it, he won’t forget them. “Night Night” has him talking a little greasy about his knuckle game. The beat on this one is too simple and he doesn’t sound right rapping about scrapping. Cons’ obligatory “for the ladies” songs, “Pretty Little Sexy Mama” and “Feel This Way” sounds forced. John Legend is featured on the latter, but he sounds uninspired. GOOD Music label mates, Gangsta L Crisis & Really Doe make a worthy appearance on “Disperse”. The first official single (and video), “Callin’ Me”, is a club song that doesn’t do anything special and wouldn’t make me go buy the album. “Grammy Family”, “Uptown”, & “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” would of made the album better if I hadn’t heard them somewhere else first. “Grammy Family” was on DJ Khaled’s Listennn… The Album, “Uptown” was on DJ Clue’s The Professional, Pt. 3, and “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” has been on numerous mixtapes since 2004. The rest of the album is basically okay I guess. It’s kinda short; out of 15 tracks, it has 4 skits. Another problem with album is that the beats, while not bad, do start to sound redundant. If I was listening in the car, I’m sure some of the songs would run together.

Bottom Line:
Is the album bad? No; if I was Consequence, I wouldn’t be ashamed at all. Should we expect more from GOOD Music? Yes; if you call yourself “The Grammy Family” and talk about changing music, you probably should make sure each release is given proper attention. I actually hope they push this album back. I barely have heard anything about it in the press and it might end Consequence’s career due to low first week sales. This will probably end Kanye’s streak of putting out commercially successful projects too. But in the end, I guess you can be happy that Consequence might have to quit his day job…or maybe not.

nappy Picks: “Job Song”, “Don’t Forget ‘Em”, & “Disperse”