There is nothing great here and overall it's a step down from the first Clue album. The female tracks with Lil' Kim and Foxy are the weakest moments. The best thing is probably 'Cream 2001' or just a remix of Jay's 'Change the Game'. Two Clue albums in a row and Nas doesn't produce the song you'd hope he would. The Intro has Diddy just sounding creepy. Then we have Mary J going acapella for 90 second which isn't the way to kick off a hip hop album in my opinion. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: Who's Next (X-Clue-Sive), Coming for You, Cream 2001, What the Beat, Change the Game (Remix), RED

The first two songs are similar. They have a nice bounce to the production by Brian Kidd and Timbaland respectfully, and the rappers ride them well. Minus the 'Intro', Swizz Beatz only produces two songs which would normally be a positive, but the production never reaches great heights at all. The DMX track, 'Friend of Mine', is the best thing here. It's not an album that is giving me much to write about. It's all passable gangsta/east coast hip hop, but nothing excels. Beats: ★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: Dirrty, They Ain't Ready, Friend of Mine

This one’s packed with solid late-’90s east coast cuts. DJ Clue and DURO co-produce roughly two-thirds of the production, but it’s the rappers who carry the weight more than the beats with everyone on this from Pun, Nas, Jay, Busta, and Redman to name a few. Drag-On opens the remix of ‘Ruff Ryders Anthem’ with a verse that feels like he’s channelling DMX, but beyond that, there isn’t much to say about this one. Overall, it’s a consistent set of street tracks that are safe, reliable, but lacking anything that really stands out. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: Ruff Ryders Anthem (Remix), It's On, Thugged Out Shit, The Professional, Cops & Robbers, Come On

A longtime Aftermath affiliate finally delivers his album, even if not under the label’s banner. The raw honesty and straight facts on ‘The Heretic’ grab attention immediately and stand as the project’s peak. ‘The Realest Shit’ follows with a classic west coast vibe, and ‘Shoot Em Up’ keeps the momentum strong. After a string of heavy, aggressive cuts, ‘Razor Blade’ offers a welcome switch-up, with Kokane and Warren G joining Bishop for a track that works well. The first half is consistently strong. On the other hand, ‘Lost’ falls flat, weighed down by Sinead White’s whiny, grating vocals. In contrast, her shorter notes shine far more on the hook of the next track, ‘Dream Big’. Unfortunately, much of what follows doesn’t reach the heights of the opening run. At 80 minutes, the album could have benefited from trimming, as the production (sounding like early 2010s Dre house beats) starts to feel repetitive. Still, the highs are undeniably high, and while the back half doesn’t quite measure up, the overall quality never drops too far. Beats: ★★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★☆ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: The Heretic, The Realest Shit, Shoot Em Up, Life or Death, Razor Blade

Swizz Beatz cannot produce whole/the majority of albums. It was never worked. He produces all bar the opener, 'Dope Money', and the R&B track, 'I'm a Ruff Ryder', that are all better than almost everything Swizz touches. The production just lets this down. Too often there is little to no progression and it just seems lazy or like it was created by an untalented producer. Thankfully these Ruff Ryder projects got better from here where Swizz doesn't handle as much of the production. Beats: ★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★☆ Best Tracks: Ryde or Die, I'm a Ruff Ryder, Some X Shit 1. Ryde or Die 73 Samples the dope 'Head Banger' by EPMD. You can't go too wrong with that but it could do more on this posse track that features six Ruff Ryders. 2. Down Bottom 54 Okay, but this gets monotonous. 3. What Ya Want 58 Again, it's okay, but it's just missing something else to make the production feel fuller. It decently toes the line between pop rap and street as Eve could often do well. 4. Jigga My Nigga 50 This is the third Swizz Beatz beat in a row, and man, it sounds so like him, and I don't mean that in a good way. Swizz could make some real cheap amateurish sounding beatz. The hook is purposely low energy too. "Jiggaaa." Nope. 5. Talkin' Money (Skit) 6. Dope Money 64 There's better energy and rapping from the LOX and beat from P. Killer Trackz, but the beat almost has no change, not even for the hook. Still though, this is one the best efforts on the boards. 7. I'm a Ruff Ryder 73 Parlé gives us some R&B and it's one of the best songs so far. This group deserved an album. 8. Bug Out 60 Samples 'Funky Worm' by the Ohio Players that has been sampled hundreds of times. The first of DMX's two solo tracks. A short one though at just over one minute in length. 9. Kiss of Death 54 Jada is spitting, but the beat and chorus isn't good enough. 10. The Hood 50 As before, the production just isn't interesting enough. 11. Platinum Plus 30 As before, but worse. God, Ma$e was fu**ing boring. He could be spitting the best bars of all time, but his voice/delivery is so flat. Again, there is almost no instrumentation changes including for the hook. 12. Buff Ryder (Skit) 13. Do That Shit 52 Eve is trying but it's the same story here too. 14. Piña Colada 60 It's great to hear more of Pun who helps this be okay. But the beat (surprise!) could be better. 15. Some X Shit 70 This track uses a loop later repurposed for DMX’s classic ‘Where the Hood At?’. It almost feels like an early demo of that song, which was ultimately elevated by the additional co-producers on the final version. DMX shifts constantly between aggression and calm, mirroring the production changes, which keeps the track from slipping into monotony.