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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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