Jadakiss, Styles P, and Sheek are all established artists in the game, so now it’s time for them to take their shot at being moguls. That is what you have with No Security, D-Block’s debut album where they introduce you to: Tommy Stars, St Raw, Trav, Snyp Life, Bully, Bucky, A.P., Large Amount, T. Waters, Chary Ary, PLF, Lou Banga, S.I., Don D, and T.Y. D-Block consists of members from New York, North Carolina, Georgia, and California, so you can expect a little diversity among the group.

So Much Trouble
Sheek, Styles, & Bucky
Featuring Beanie Siegel; Produced by Vinny “King of Beatz” Idol
The album starts with a BANG with Sheek giving twitter shout outs, dissing skinny jeans, and auto tune. Beans lends a hot 16, and Styles drops his usual hotness. So far so good for D-Block.

Thrilla
Sheek, Snyp Life, Large Amount, & Tommy Stars
Produced by Toneheadz
I’m really not too thrilled with the R. Kelly sounding guy on the hook, and the song is on the corny side. I’m going to have to hit FAST FORWARD on this one.

Show Em
Don D & T.Y.
Featuring OJ Da Juiceman; Produced by Wayne Petti
These are obviously the southern members of D-Block hence the OJ collaboration. Don D and T.Y were actually pretty tight on the song; however, the weakest link on the song was OJ. If the song would have ended after they rapped…this song would be FIRE.

Get That Paper
Sheek Louch, Styles P, Jadakiss, & S.I.
Produced by Crada
This is your typical L.O.X. song…HOT! The Yonkers trio comes out the gate with a nice beat, a nice hook, and Sheek, Jada, and P give you what you want on this one. The song is smooth and this is what you want to hear from the LOX.

Get Ya Bounce On
Large Amount, A.P., & Bully
Featuring Webstar; Produced by The Twin
This song doesn’t feature either of the LOX and the track suffers because of it. The song is disposable and shouldn’t be listened to. SKIP!

From the Block
Sheek Louch, Styles P, Bully, T.Y., & Tommy Stars
Produced by Vinny “King of Beatz” Idol
This is the type of music that we like to hear from D-Block. Certain artists make better music when they stick to the script. When I check for D-Block, these are the kind of songs I want to hear.

That’s D-Block
Styles P, Bucky, Straw, Large Amount, AP, & Snyp Life
Produced by Vinny “King of Beatz” Idol
First thing that catches your attention is the production by Vinny “King of Beatz” Idol. This beat is SICK! I think Jada would have bodied this beat, but even without Jada the song is pretty tight. Styles killed it in the end. CHECK FOR IT!

Round & Round
Large Amount, A.P., Bully, & Tommy Stars
Produced by Jesus “Poobz” Fernandez
This is another track that does not feature SP, Jada, or Sheek, and you can tell. The concept is wack, (groupies) the beat is alright if you wanted to dance to it, but it just seems out of place on the album. SKIP!

Hello
Sheek Louch, Large Amount, T.Y., & Bucky
Featuring Red Cafe; Produced by Scram Jones
This is my favorite track off the album so far. T.Y. comes out the gate with Young Dro-esque lines like: “In Carolina I’m the black Pacino/orange Chevy with the white rally stripes like I drive Nemo”. SICK. The person that stood out the most to me was Red Cafe. I must say I have been sleeping on dude. This is a DOPE SONG!

Brother’s Keeper
Sheek Louch, Jadakiss, Styles P, & Bully
Produced by The Minnesota Boyz
This is classic LOX on this track; they overpower the beat with some real heartfelt lyrics. Bully didn’t fit in on the song, but with the work that the other guys put in made up for the suspect verse.

Hustler’s Prayer
Styles P, Bully, & Straw
Produced by Marcus D’ Tray
This track could have been done better, but it wasn’t. The production is pretty good, the only one that brought it was SP, but he needed some more help on the song.

Like That Ya’ll (remix)
Sheek Louch, Styles P, Jadakiss, A.P., Straw, & Snyp Life
Produced by Pete Rock
Don’t rub your eyes, Pete Rock produced this song. With the issue of good production out the window, all the guys have to do is bring their best rhymes to the table. They did. Of course the pups got shined on by the big dogs, but when you are rapping with some of the best to ever do it, you can’t hold your head.

*album also features three hidden cuts*

They could have substituted some of the weaker cuts to include these as actual tracks and the album would have been better.

Bottom Line:
Now that the L.O.X. have put the boys on, the question now is do they have what it takes to make them stars. I can say that they have a nice stable of artists; all of them are nice to an extent. My problem with the album is that it got boring at times, especially the songs where there were no L.O.X. members present. The new guys can rap, they just need help writing hooks and a couple of the guys have delivery problems. I’m sure their intent was to focus on the new generation, but I think they needed more of the old generation to make this a solid album.

nappyPicks: “So Much Trouble”, “Get That Paper”, “That’s D-Block”, “Hello”, & “Like That Ya’ll” (remix)

Download: D-Block – “Like That Ya’ll (remix)”

I have to give credit where credit is due. Last week I was listening to this song and my boy Slik P asked me who they was talking about in this song. I never thought that this song was aimed at anyone, but Slik being a big DMX fan informed me that they were talking about Ja Rule. WOW! After he let me in on this, the song became that much better! This is when X was killing the game, he released 2 albums in the same year and they both went over 3 million sold. X was that dude back then and spitting rhymes like this furthered his claim that he was the “best that ever did it.” Nobody has done what DMX has done; five #1 albums to start a career. If that doesn’t cement his legacy, I don’t know what will. Sit back and enjoy this installment of Song of the Week! Who knows what I will have in store for you guys on the next go round!

Download: DMX feat. The Lox – ” We Don’t Give A Fuck”

Even though Dame Grease may not have a big name like producers Timbaland or Pharrell, he definitely has a big track record. He has worked with the artists such as Nas, The Lox, Freeway, T.I., Jay-Z, N.O.R.E, Beanie Sigel, Fat Joe, Mary J. Blige, Kelis, and many more. Dame Grease also is responsible for basically producing DMX’s whole first album, It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot (Which might be one of the hardest albums ever!) as well as providing the score for movies Exit Wounds and Cradle 2 The Grave. It’s been 8 years since Dame Grease dropped his 2000 compilation Live on Lenox Ave., and a lot has changed with his new album Goon Musik. Where Dame produced every track and only rapped one track for his first compilation Live On Lenox Ave., he now raps on almost all off tracks while still holding all producing credits for the new album. Where the first album had more star power like Nas, Cam’ron, & Scarface; the new album is full of cameos from unknowns and underground rappers. Should you care? Let’s find out…

1. Goon Musik Intro
“The music you feel when you feel like busting a motherfucker’s head open.” It seems Dame is definitely taking back to the streets on this one as he describes what “Goon Musik” is on the intro while screwed voices and gun cocking sounds are in the background.

2. Lotzilla
Featuring Bigga Threat & Loose Cannons
The first song of the album reminds me of something you would hear by DipSet  (Maybe because both acts are from Harlem). Dame raps first, and while I was surprised that he voice wasn’t half bad, he rhymes leave a lot to be desired. The hook is a little tired too; “You said you rowdy, rowdy/Well look we rowdy, rowdy/Somebody’s wrecking parties/Everybody shake ya bodies”. The Godzilla noises in the background was a creative touch though.

3. 9’s Out
Featuring Meeno & Tony Wink
Hey, it’s Meeno. Remember the guy from Mase’s side group Harlem World? The one who went at Jay-Z on Dame Grease’s first compilation on a song called “I’m That Nigga”? Yea, me neither. The actual beat on this song is good though; the hard bass and pianos do the job. It’s your basic song about having to pull you guns out and not playing games in the street. Nothing really stands out in the form of lyrics though; more thug talking and drug dealing stories.

4. Connecticut Kush
Featuring Max B & Messiah
Speaking of DipSet earlier, ex- DipSet member Max B drops by on this track. Of course he provides his trademark hook singing. While the beat, lyrics, hook and is not the worst, I wish they would venture out more with the lyrics; if you gonna kill 20 niggas by the forth track, at least be creative with it. This is especially true when a song is supposed to be about smoking weed. I also will note that Dame Grese had the best verse here.

5. Gangsta’s Fairytale
Featuring Bigga Threat & Tony Wink
The hook on this one is garbage! “It’s just my gangsta’s fairytale/Ladi, ladi, ladi, ladi, ladi, ladi, lock block/Badi, badi, badi, badi, badi, badi, badi, pop pop!…” SKIP!

6. Bout To Ride
Featuring E. Snaps
At first, when I heard E. Snaps talking, I thought it was Drag-On; he actually raps a little different though. This song is another victim of a weak hook. Of course the song is about being down when the beef hits. Even though so far I not liking this album, I will say Dame does a good job of placing sound effects on a lot of these tracks (For example, he has crowd riot noises on this one in the background).

7. The Tombs
Weird interlude about tombs. The beats sounds like something DMX would wrecked in his early days though.

8. Hustla Dog
Featuring Mysterious & Bigga Threat
The song starts out with a clip from the movie Ghost Rider. It also kept my attention cause I had Mysterious on the track, you know, the big girl who almost made it into the end on Puffy’s first season of Making The Band? Yea, that girl. I’m happy to hear she’s still doing her thing. Besides that the song actually kept my attention with a nice beat and a good hook. It‘s basically talking about working hard in the streets; it’s what I call a New York “crunk” song. Not saying that it tries to be Southern, just that I see New York getting hype over this one in the club.

9. Goon Luv
Featuring Fosho, Tony Wink, & Tanya T6
For somebody who made a beat for a songs like “Feds Takin’ Pictures” & “Niggaz Done Started Something”, Dame Grease came with his “Z” game on this one. It tries to be the ladies/radio song of the album, but it’s just sad. SKIP!

10. Coke Talk
Featuring E. Nast
Guess what this song is about? One clue: It’s not about a soft drink. Grease changes his cadence on this one (Kinda like DMX did on “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem”). The beat gets redundant and even though the song is called “Coke Talk”, it’s really no different than a lot of song already heard on this album.

11. Lenox Ave Boys
Featuring Meeno, Messiah, & E. Snaps
Even though Grease is talented on the boards, its here that I realize that after hearing most of this album, the beats sound a lot alike. This particular song does nothing to stand out; nobody spits anything with style or creativity to make you take notice.

12. Picture Me
Featuring Meeno & Sixx Tray
Why did Tupac ever utter the words; “Picture Me Rolling”. Now almost every thug rapper tries get their Pac on and repeats those words. It still surprises me how some of the album’s beats are third rate though…like this one for instance.

13. Get Yo Hand Out My Pocket
Featuring Tony Wink & Messiah
When the first guy started rapping (Don’t ask me who; I can’t tell anymore), I didn’t know if he was rapping or talking. The beat is not bad, I just don’t know if it’s the best beat to rap over. I kinda liked the hook though.

Bottom Line:
While I respect what Dame Grease has done in his career as a producer and I understand that this album was to strengthen his label Vacant Lot, I’d be lying if I said he didn’t drop a disappointment with Goon Musik. Even though the album could be looked at as homage to early 90’s New York street-inflected Hip-Hop acts like Mobb Deep and Wu-Tang Clan, it doesn’t do that kind of music well. It’s doesn’t do “street-ready” anthems creatively or even different from what you might have already a thousand times before. But why would a talented producer such as Dame Grease drop a compilation that has beats that are lacking? Maybe he was too busy worrying about his rhymes and delivery instead his producing. All in all, Goon Musik is not my kind of music.

Download: Dame Grease feat. Mysterious & Bigga Threat – “Hustla Dog”