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The
Bar Exam: Elephant in the Room
Artist: Fat Joe
Album # 8
Label: Terror Squad Entertainment/ Imperial Records
By L.D.Williams Jr
Breakdown
Fat Joe has been in the hip hop game for years. He
released his debut album in 1993. He is a card
carrying member of one of the greatest collection of
hip hoppers ever Diggin In The Crates also known as
D.I.T.C. He introduced the hip hop world to the
legendary Big Pun. He anchored the release of two
Terror Squad albums one of which produced the hit of
the summer of 2004 "Lean Back. In addition to his
group exploits as a solo responsible for songs like
"Bet Ya Man", "What's Luv?", "All I Need", "Get It
Poppin", "Make It Rain" and most recently "I Won't
Tell" and for some reason he still feels slighted.
It doesn't matter whether you love him, hate him or
you are somewhere in between if you do not at least
respect him for his impressive resume and lasting
fifteen years in an industry where the shelf life
for the average artist is about two albums then you
are a hater. Moving on, Fat Joe is still making
albums and his newest offering is called Elephant In
the Room let's get to it:
Fat Joe starts off the album on the right foot when
he manhandles a soulful beat that was produced by
Street Runner. He even takes time out boast: This is
way to easy though/ I am the magnifico/ Cube in his
prime but I'm more like Easy though. The next song
"Ain't Sayin' Nothin'" features production from
frequent collaborators Cool &Dre and features Plies
and Dre on the microphone. The song's sound and
presentation has single written all over it. On the
subject of singles "I Won't Tell" is on the disc
also it features D.C.'s own J. Holiday and it is
more proof of Fat Joe's ability to make songs that
are radio friendly. Cool & Dre also contribute the
song "The Crackhouse". "The Crackhouse" features Fat
Joe teaming up with Lil Wayne. Wayne is only on the
hook but he manages to grab your ear by sounding
like a crazed lunatic on the hook.
Fat Joe also manages to pair with hip hop veteran
KRS-One on the song "My Conscience". This song is a
four minute theatric battle of good and evil. The
pair show such good chemistry it would be hard to
believe that it is the first time that they have
paired together a Fat Joe album since Fat Joe's
second album when they did the song "A Bronx Tale".
Fat Joe also enlists the services of super- producer
DJ Premier on the song "That White". Fat Joe rides
the Premier beat effortlessly and showcases Fat
Joe's his strong Bronx flow.
Fat Joe does things that will satisfy most listeners
but truthfully it is not all good. The Swizz Beatz
produced "Drop" sounds like some ringtone trendy
rap. Cocababy is cut from the same cloth.
Despite these shortcomings Fat Joe adds another
solid disc to his resume. Despite how you may feel
Fat Joe's mission is to make sure that hip hop fans
see this Dumbo sized elephant in the walk in closet
and he does a fairly good job.
FINAL SCORE: 3.5/5
Tracklist:
1. The Fugitive [prod. by Street Runner]
2. Ain't Nothing (w/ Dre) [prod Cool & Dre]
3. The Crackhouse (w/ Lil Wayne) [prod. Scott Storch]
4. Coca Baby (w/ Jackie Rubio)
5. Get It For Life (w/ Pooh Bear)
6. Drop (w/ Swizz Beatz & Jackie Rubio) [Produced by
Swizz Beatz]
7. I Won't Tell (w/ J. Holiday) [Produced by Sean C.
& LV]
8. KAR (Kill All Rats) [prod. Danja Handz]
9. 300 Brolic (w/ Opera Steve) [Produced by Sean C.
& LV]
10. Preacher On A Sunday Morning (w/ Pooh Bear)
[Produced by Scott Storch]
11. Thank God For That White [prod. DJ Premier]
12. Party All The Time (w/ Diddy) [Produced by Sean
C. & LV |
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