Back Again! 2003 Album

Mr. Cheeks

Firstly, why the hell is the clean version the only one on Spotify? I never understand why this happens... Getting over this annoyance is made easier by the quality of the beginning of the album that is to a high standard. The opener samples 'Wild Flower' by Creative Source with Floetry adding in soothing vocals making for a soulful track with Cheeks rapping mostly about the state of hip hop. Then Mr. Cheeks remakes the hip hop classic 'They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)' with 'Reminisce 03'' that keeps the original artists onboard, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth. Anyone would sound great over the Reminisce instrumentation so it's a bit of a cheat code. 'Hands High' brings us more of the radio friendly danceable production that some songs on his debut had. I mentioned in my review of his debut, that there were a number of tracks that toed the line nicely between boom bap but still felt somewhat poppy, but some here, like 'Back Again' and 'Pimpalicious' step over the line for me and make the tail of the album disappointing. Before them though, 'I Apologize' and 'Crush on You' get into the R&B influenced relationship raps. Both choruses are nice with Mario Winans' 'Crush on You' making for the better pop rap song. Unfortunately the backend stops this from getting a higher rating, and as I mentioned in previous reviews of Cheeks albums, as a rapper, he doesn't do anything that makes him stand out. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★★☆ Best Tracks: Supposed To, Reminisce 03', The Hussle, Crush on You, Let's Get Wild, The Wire, Brighter 1. Supposed To 84 2. Reminisce 03' 90 3. The Hussle 79 4. Hands High 66 5. I Apologize 60 6. Crush on You 80 7. Let's Get Wild 71 8. The Wire 81 9. Back Again 54 10. Pimpalicious 50 11. Brighter 74