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The
Bar Exam: Illustrious
Artist: Big Noyd
Album Title: Illustrious
Album #:3
Label: Noyd Inc/ Koch Records
By L.D.Williams Jr
Breakdown
Big Noyd made his first appearance on wax in 1993
alongside Mobb Deep on their debut album Juvenile
Hell. He raised eyebrows in 1995 on Mobb Deep's
second album The Infamous with his verse on the song
"Give Up the Goods". A year later he released his
debut album, Episodes of A Hustla while incarcerated
he had little control over the album. In 2003, he
returned with Only the Strong and Landspeed Records
folded amid legal troubles. After two mass
distributed mixtapes On the Grind and The Stickup
Kid Big Noyd has founded his own label Noyd Inc,
reached out to Lil Fame to executive produce his
album and has partnered with Koch to distribute his
latest effort Illustrious.
The opening song is produced by Sebb and it is
called "Snitches". Snitches showcases Big Noyd in
his comfort zone, the song has the typical
Queens-bridge sound that he and his Mobb Deep
brethren made so popular in the mid 1990s. " Posted
on the Block" is an offering from the executive
producer Lil Fame. This song is a very strong effort
that will make you hit the rewind button more than
once. "So Much Trouble" is a song produced by Price
and Machavelli and it does not sound like a typical
Big Noyd record. Just because it does not sound like
a typical Noyd record does not mean it is not a good
record because it is. The presentation is a little
bit different but Noyd manages to travel outside of
his normal zone and still make a good song. "Trying
to Make It Out" is a slower song but it is a welcome
change.
Big Noyd is at his strongest when he is making
hyper-aggressive street music or constructing
narratives. Big Noyd really hits his stride when he
pairs with Joell Ortiz on the Ric Rude produced
"Ghetto".
Big Noyd provides plenty of strong music on
Illustrious but this album is not a perfect. "Money
Talk" has the sound of a single but it is not a good
one and frankly takes away from other good songs
that are on the album. "Nowhere to Hide" is in a
very similar boat as "Money Talks". "Rags to Riches"
is good production by Lil Fame and good lyrics by
Big Noyd unfortunately the two good entities did not
make an especially good pairing on this particular
track.
Despite these stutter steps Illustrious is a solid
project. Big Noyd does a good job of finding balance
on this album. He appeases his fans that remember
him from the early 90s and early 2000s but he also
has an updated sound that is good enough to attract
new fans as well.
FINAL SCORE: 3/5
Tracklist:
1. Snitches
2. Posted On The Block
3. So Much Trouble (w/ Serani)
4. Heartless
5. Money Talk
6. Things Done Changed (w/ Kira)
7. Back Up In This Bitch
8. The Paper (w/ Jay Rush)
9. Ghetto (w/ Joell Ortiz)
10. It's A Wrap (w/ Ric Rude)
11. Trying to Make It Out (w/ 40 Glocc & B.A.M.)
12. No Where Else To Hide
13. Rags To Riches
14. Get It Poppin
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