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BEANIE SIGEL ALBUM REVIEW: THE B. COMING

"Roc[-A-Fella] won't work without Jay? S***!...[as if] Beanie ain't here...like [State Property] ain't here..." - Beanie Sigel, "One Shot Deal".

I hate to break the news to Beanie Sigel but Jay-Z retiring from Roc-A-Fella records is akin to Jordan retiring from the Chicago Bulls - NO MORE DOMINATION OF THE GAME for his former team for years to come. Beanie Sigel is adamant when he claims the ROC won't fall and is eager to prove so with the release of his 3rd album called B. COMING. But when you lose an artist the caliber of Jay-Z there will be a void that can't be filled. And so of course once Jay-Z did retire the results have been similar to when Shaq left the Lakers this season - DISASTROUS!. What's left is one great artist in Cam'Ron (Kobe), one sidekick in Kanye West (Lamar Odom) and a whole bunch of bench players like Beanie, Memphis Bleek, Freeway, Young Chris, M.O.P. and N.O.R.E. (Medvedenko, Chucky Atkins, Devin George, etc..). It gets worse though. Most people don't associate Cam'Ron the artist with Roc-A-Fella Records. They associate Killa Cam with his own crew he carries on his back called Dipset who themselves now probably have a bigger following than what the Roc used to have. And second in stature is Kanye West who is not even from the East Coast so most people don't relate him to Roc-A-Fella either. In fact his style is so non-threatening that he really just has his own identity. So who are we left with to carry on the legacy of Roc-A-Fella records? No one really unless you want to count the late O.D.B. or their newest signee N.O.R.E. aka Noreaga (Whose time has probably come and gone). With Jay-Z retiring you realize the impact he had on the record label and on his label mates record sales. Of course Beanie Sigel is hard headed. Having the most gangsta rep at Roc-A-fella he is determined to persevere. Remember that when Jay-Z was doing his summer tour with 50 Cent last year Beanie was behind bars on an attempted murder charge after a shooting incident that occurred at a night club down South. But he beat the rap and is back at us and seems to genuinely want his newest record to make waves as he enlists the help of numerous star artists. But can he survive the after-shock the Roc is feeling after their best and legendary artist Jay-Z retired? This author says HELL NO!

DEFINITION OF A GREAT SONG - A song that inspires you to listen to it over and over again either due to incredible musical production or mind-blowing lyrics or both. This album starts out nice enough with a GREAT song in "Feel It In The Air" which is like the hiphop version of the Phil Collins song of similar name. The mood, chorus and music all flow together perfectly. But once you get past that you'll have to strain your ears to find any other great songs on here.

DEFINITION OF A SOLID SONG - A song that is borderline great that is good enough to want to listen to it again and that will rarely get the "skip button" treatment on your CD player. There is a handful of solid songs on this album mostly due to the superb collaborations Beanie does. Cam'Ron shines on "Wanted [On The Run]", Redman entertains on "One Shot Deal", Freeway and Young Chris reflect on "I Can't Go On This Way", and Mary J Blige carries the song "Lord Have Mercy". Interestingly enough though the best out of this bunch is "Look At Me Now" where Beanie shows his skills solo style and spits some personable lyrics that you really feel.

DEFINITION OF A FILLER SONG - A song that is borderline wack that is just good enough to not be considered wack but in which you won't really want to listen to after the first or second listen. LOT OF FILLER SONGS ON THIS ALBUM! Amazingly not even Snoop Dogg, Bun B, and Jay-Z can save the songs "Don't Stop", "Purple Rain", and "It's On". A true waste indeed. Then he has a slew of "sensitive thug" type songs in "Oh Daddy" and "Change". I know about y'all but I'm sick of this sensitive thug crud. You can't be a real playa nor gangsta if you're going around telling chics you love them and expressing to the public how some girl broke your heart and played you for your loot or how emotionally vulnerable you feel. I wish I could eliminate all these type songs but chics love them and commercial rap lovers love them so almost all national artists today will have this crud on their album. Heck even Mobb Deep at one point caved into the pressure and released that stupid love song on their 4th album.

DEFINITION OF A WACK SONG - A song that makes you CRINGE when you listen to it and makes your stomach turn. Yeah this album got some wack songs too. Most notably "Bread & Butter" and "Gotta Have It". Not even Brand Nubians and Twista could save those songs. Again a waste of collaborations with great artists. Now if you're keeping track you'll realize that for every solid song on this album it is counteracted with either a filler song or a wack song. That ladies and gentleman makes this album a disappointment at best and NOT WORTH BUYING. Do yourself a favor and download "In the Air", "Wanted (On the Run)", and "Look at Me Now" for free and call it a day. Sometimes I honestly wonder how a once reputable artist like Beanie Sigel can actually sit in the recording studio and make a totally wack song that he knows will kill his credibility. Jay-Z please come back!

Benz0
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