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Name: Various
Album: "Too Gangsta For Radio"
Released: October 3rd, 2000
Category: West Coast, Gangsta
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewed By: Incognito on 10/7/00
1. Intro - A quick intro
about Snoop having a nightmare about Suge. His wife
wakes him up and she calls the penitentiary to prove
to Snoop that he's still locked down. I'm pretty sure
it's Topp Dogg imitating Snoop.
2. Friends - (Tupac)
- This is a rejuvenated Pac song remixed by Hutch of
Above the law. To me this is a very powerful track,
"Lets be friiiiiiieeeeends," the chorus straight up
booms. Tupac comes up strong with his lyrical assassin
shoutin' out Jay-Z and Dre on this one. It's a tight
opening for "Too Gangsta for Radio."
3. Gangsta Rap - (Crooked
I,Treach and Scarface) - A more up-tempo song, Crooked
I, Treach, Scarface and a uncredited Kurupt spittin'
the hook team up for a Hutch produced street anthem.
To me Treach has a tight flow in the beginnin'. Not
that much to say on this one, I'm givin' it a 3 out
of 5.
4. I Aint Fuckin' Wit
Cha - (CJ Mac) - First let me say I'm a huge Dr. Dre
fan as well as Hittman and Eminem, but I gotta be fair
on scorin' this diss track.
I got to say one thing,
who the fuck has the authority to diss the godfather
of gangsta rap, certainly not Cj Mac. He starts off
by addressing Dre on a familiar beat sayin "Remember
that nigga? It's my shit now, Aftermath killa". He calls
out Dre on being a studio gangsta, and being gay, then
he switches over to Hittman for a second sayin' the
same. At the end Mac raps "Dr. Dre killa, Hittman killa,
Eminem killa", really sending no point. I'm gonna rate
this as a 3.5 out of 5, one thang though, before you
make a diss track, find a motherfuckin' beat thats worth
spittin' on!
5. Everywhere We Go -
(Above The Law) - Above The Law needed despertly to
come back somehow, so they hooked up wit the row. At
first the track didn't mean much, but then the hook
grew on me, and then the rest of the song. The production
by Hutch is the best on the record if ya ask me, it's
a pretty funky-laid back vibe. Hutch also comes up wit
a tight verse for the second time around. In my opinion,
ATL don't fit in with Death Row, it's just not their
style, they are more Ruthless if you know what I mean.
But this track is dopper than the previous 3, so I'm
rating this a 4 out of 5.
6. Fuck Hollywood - (The
Realest) - On this track, I expected more of a thumpin'
beat, like a REAL diss song, but the beat doesn't work
out with the theme of the track. Besides that it's The
Realest's debut on the record and he displays some sick
flows, speakin' of how he could care less of Hollywood,
and the gay-ass industry kissin' bitches(so he says).
He speaks of how Magic Johnson fell off with AIDS by
bein' gay, which is ridiculous. Though overall The Realest
shines solo here with is lyrics, I'm givin' this 3 out
of 5.
7. Murda for life - (Ja
Rule) - By the looks of it Daz wrote and produced the
whole fuckin track for JaRule and his click. Why the
fuck is JaRule on this record along with Ruff Ryders?
Anyway, we'll get to them later. This is probably my
least favorite song on the album, simply because JaRule
doesn't fit in with Death Row. I think this was just
a way to sell records by The row, by using big names
like JaRule and Ruff Ryders to attract mainstream audiences.
I'm givin' this track a 1 out of 5 just because the
beat was crafted by Daz, fuck the rest.
8. In Too Deep - (Ruff
Ryders) - Same here, except this will probably get a
2 out of 5 because the beat isn't bad, I kinda like
it, but the Ruff Ryders blow.
It's just The lox, again
publicity was the key here, what do I gotta say? Death
Row sold out on this particular track. 2 out of 5.
9. Fuck Dre - (The Realest,
Swoop G, Twista and Lil C-Style) - Alright, at this
point of the album I'm gettin' a bit mad at Death Row.
First off they try to do a good job of biting the Forgot
about Dre beat, which they did a sorry job of, I dont
even want to look at the production credits on this
track. And were did they find this Twista bitch, tryin'
to be tight like eminem on the chorus, fuck his punk
ass, I bet you will never see him again on a Death Row
album. Anyway The Realest had a tight flow, but lil
C-Style choked, he couldn't flow. That fuckin' hook
is so dam annoying I just wanna choke that lil hoe Twista.
The group make references to Dre, Snoop, Eminem and
the rest of his click. "Dr. Dre been soft from the very
start, after Eazy fucked his ass he aint had no heart",
is one of the disses by Swoop G. The production is weak
as hell, I'll give this a 2.5 out of 5.
10. Thug Nature - (Tupac)
- Here's the high point of the album for me, this deep,
deep Tupac track which says a lot. This has gotten radio
play but you can forget a video. If this song got more
publicity you bet your ass it would touch the world
like Changes. I like the beat, it goes good with the
chorus, and the story Pac tells of his thug nature,
it's how he lived. I just love
this track, and I bet a lot of people do too. Straight
up, I'm giving Thug nature 5 out of 5, you heard me.
11. Death Rizzo - (Crooked
I) - Crooked I can spit fire, makin' the instrumental
on this track seem worthless(which it is). Seriously
though, he got game, no question Death Row has something
here. "Foe the Row it's nuttin' to bang, fuckin' ya
gang, thuggin' the same, lovin' the game you catch a
slug in ya brain''. He comes of tight lyriclly, definitely
4/5 on this blazer.
12. Projects - (Swoop
G,Keita Rock and Juice) - Some newcomers along with
Swoop G here; Keita Rock and Juice, personally I've
never herd of them before. To start off, the beat is
typical west coast, nothing innovative. The chorus is
tight with the talk box in the background. I like Swoop
G on this track, the others are a different story. Overall
I give this 3, out of 5.
13. Gangsta'd Out - (K-9)
- This track starts off with a harsh Eminem diss about
him being a "Nigger lover" to Dre and NWA. Pretty fuckin
stupid in my opinion. I just wanna say that this song
is too happy to be "gangsta'd out", with the hook sounding
like a ghetto Annie chorus or somethin'. The beat is
worth 2 cents, and K-9 has no lyrical skill. This is
gettin' 1.5/5.
14. Give it up for Compton
- (Dre'sta) - This track is the one and only tight anthem
on the record with Dre'sta paying homage to his roots;
Compton, California. It's a tight ass beat, and Dre'sta
comes off strong trying to make people remember who
he was. This song also has a catchy chorus that is a
definite west coast party banger for all cribs. I gotta
give this track 4.5/5, it's the shiznit.
15. Real Type Gangsta
- (Mac-Shawn) - A quick insert starts of this song,
but forget that. Mac-Shawn is off the hook on this track,
but it's the only appearance for him on Too Gangsta
For Radio. The beat is orchestrated by a well known
bay area producer, Ant banks. Mac-Shawn has a physcotic
flow, rippin' shit up about The Source Awards incident
and other thangs on his mind. He's got a tight solo
along with Crooked I on this record, too bad he only
makes one appearance. 4/5 soundz suitable.
16. The Coff - (G.P.)
- I don't know a thing about this G.P. character, he's
got the weakest flow on this album and the weakest beat
too. This track doesn't mean shit to me so I'm givin'
it 1/5.
17. This Is The Thanks
You Get - (The Relatives and Nuttz) - A bloods dedication
to Daz starts things off on this diss track, what else
is new. Some no names are callin' out Dre, Xzibit, Mack
10, and even NWA biting off the "Hello" hook, "Oh you
the niggaz that started this gangsta shit, well this
the muthafuckin' thanks you get". Another typical ws
beat, I'll give this 3.5/5 because off some lyrical
skills presented.
18. Too Gangsta - (Dre'sta
and Young Hoggs) - This Dre'sta track isn't bangin'
like "Give it up for Compton", it seems like it's a
wannabe theme song for TGFR. The Young Hoggs ride along
with Dre'sta here showcasing mediocre lyrics. I'm rating
this a 3 out of 5.
19. Outro - A simple
closing from Death Row here, saying that this was only
a test. We'll soon see.
When I first heard about an upcoming compilation from
Death Row in April I didn't expect it to be released
at all. At that time the row had just delayed Snoop's
greatest hits album numerous times. Though surprisingly
enough after acouple of delays (Sept. 19, 26) the row
dropped there controversial record "Too Gangsta for
Radio". It's the first Death Row album since Chronic
2000, about a year and a half ago. For me, Chronic 2000
was better, better production and artists. Though I
still like this record, don't get me wrong here. I think
what was missing on this record was Topp Dogg, were
did he go? A lot of heads wanted to see him. Also more
of Mac-Shawn and Crooked I, cause on the songs they
did rap on they blew up, especially solo. The production
was also very up and down, they lost Quik, Soopafly
and Daz since C2K, and the best beats came from Big
Hutch and Ant Banks, the rest of the instrumentals were
basically nothing new to the game. A big mistake was
bringin' in some east coast cats like JaRule and The
Ruff Ryders they just dont flow with them, I think it
was a way for heads to buy the album by putting them
on the record. This was also a big diss record, about
6 or 7 of the tracks on the album were directed towards
Dre, Snoop, Hittman, Eminem, and the rest of that click.
That's what pissed me off a bit, these cats made Death
Row especially Dr. Dre who brought the row to stardom
by bringing gangsta rap to the mainstream with his production/rapping
skills. I also feel that the row wont get anywhere by
dissin' there counterparts, I'll say this now, Death
Row Records will never again see the success they did
when Dre,Snoop and Pac was rollin' with them. Death
Row's effort to make a mark on hip hop in 2000 wont
be a big one, but this album has it's bangin' tracks
. Out of 10 dubs, I'm giving' this a 7.5, because of
sick tracks like Thug Nature, Give it up for Compton,
Friends and Death Rizzo. Production was a little better
than I expected, though I've definatley heard better.
Also a lot of no name, no game cats tried to spit but
couldn't. We'll just have to wait to see about Dead
Man Walking, and what Death Row has instore for the
future. - Incognito
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