This album was released around the time I began getting into music and enjoying hip hop more and more. 'In Da Club' would have been one of the first rap singles that I loved, and I did not dislike the others like 'P.I.M.P.' and '21 Questions' either. The wave was big for this album and 50 in general. Unlike kids who think they know it all, I lived it. Listening to the whole thing years on, those last two tracks mentioned particularly don't hold up too well and sound a bit dated, as does 'Wanksta'. The production as a whole-some of which was originally meant for Rakim's scrapped Aftermath debut-isn't brilliant. As a rapper, 50's voice has never thrilled me. Without a catchy hook his songs can often get boring, and as he does his own choruses often, here and on future projects, it adds to the same-same sound this has. He has always been the kind of rapper who needs a great beat to make a decent song. It's an okay album, but if you define a classic as being the best of the best, which is the actual definition of 'classic', this certainly isn't it. It's nowhere near. It may have blown up, I remember the buzz, but it just gets tedious too often. 3-2.5. Best Tracks: What Up Gangsta, In Da Club, Don't Push Me

This is my first experience with a M.O.P. album and after a few listens I'm tossing up between 2.5 and a 3 out of 5. There is some stuff I really enjoy like 'Forever & Always' and 'Salute a G' for example, but particularly with the harder tracks toward the end of the album, I'm not feeling the beats. Almost everything from 'Blow the Horns' to 'Rude Bastard' is quite enjoyable though and 'Salute a G' is one great banger! Best Tracks: Blow the Horns, Foundation, Street Life, Salute a G, Forever & Always

The main problem I have with this is that the production fails to differentiate enough track to track, and I just don't like it enough. He has to be one of the rappers at the top of the list, who I really rate as a rapper, but has just failed to give me much enjoyment from many of his projects because I don't like his beat selection. Also, while I value good rapping as much as the next rap fan, I generally like a chorus. I think after being underwhelmed through a number of Wu projects, that that's a problem I have with his music as well. While I grew to love 'Back Like That' after playing 'Ne-Yo's' debut non-stop, I don't find anything else to be brilliant and after giving this a number of tries, nothing has changed. Best Tracks: Shakey Dog, Back Like That, Dogs of War, Momma, Three Bricks

What can I say about this? First of all, I couldn't wait to hear 50 and Wiz on 'Hate Bein' Sober'. I've never longed for a verse from those two before, so that was a huge warning sign only a few songs into the album. It didn't get any better from there with it being a chore to get through. CK is just such a terrible lyricist and has an often incomprehensible mumbly voice. I like my fair share of ignorant hip hop, but this takes it to a whole other level. Then I'm hearing people praise the beats. It's probably hard to fairly critique these when I can't stand the voice on top of them, but at the same time, I'm not hearing anything that good, or that I haven't heard before. He is a worse Waka Flocka. I'm starting to get over this trap rap saturation. Before I go, look at the title of this album. This guy is what? 17 years old? Finally. Beats: ★★★ Bars: ★ Best Tracks: I Don't Like

I've given this a heap of tries hoping that it would grow on me, but the production is just underwhelming. Even on the best tracks, it's more Lupe's rapping that pops out than the beats. This is more apparent towards the latter stages of the album as well, where the final five songs are all nothing noteworthy. Some of the choruses are also too repetitive particularly at the beginning of the album like 'Go Go Gadget Flow' and 'The Coolest', that seem to go on and on - "The coolest nigga, what? The coolest nigga, what?" The best songs like 'Streets on Fire' are great, but the really high moments are sparse. 3-3.5 / 5 Beats: ★★☆ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★☆ Hooks: ★★☆ Best Tracks: The Coolest, Paris, Tokyo, Hip-Hop Saved My Life, Streets on Fire, Little Weapon