1. Case f/ Ghostface - "Shoulda Known Better" I think that when two artists whose names rhyme with each other collaborate on a song, and one of them is a rapper, and neglects to make use of this rhyme in the song, it represents a failure on some deep level. In the liner notes there's an ad for Case's album, which is apparently titled 2502: THE CASE EXPERIENCE. WTF, he's on some Life In 1472 shit.

2. Musiq - "Justonight" It's a remix of "Forthenight" (ugh Musiq please use spaces in your song titles next time, k?) over the Herb Alpert sample from "Hypnotize", but it doesn't fit that well, although it makes his smoove voice sound kind of evil for once. I really like that "Halfcrazy" rmx over the Chambers Bros./"I Left My Wallet In El Segundo" beat, though.

3. Joe Budden - "Pop Off" New Budden/Blaze! Actually I was pretty hyped about this back in January but now meh.

4. Ashanti - "I Know" The liners credit the sample to "In Between Us" off Scarface's last album but it sounds more like "Smile" to me. Weird. Either way, more bad Inc. remakes, and she already bit a Face song for "Baby" anyway.

7. Ghostface f/ Musiq and K. Fox - "Love" Ghost sounds surprisingly good over a lush track with Musiq's harmonies (but didn't he already have a solo hit called "Love"? Dude, I know it's your Big Theme and all, but damn, does it have to be the name of every song you're on. Work on that after you find the spacebar on your keyboard). My favorite part is when he goes "love my last album, though the joint went wood". I know that's an old joke, but it always cracks me up, and I like how most rappers distance themselves from their last album if it didn't do well but Ghost don't give a fuck.

8. K. Fox - "Haven't You Heard" I really like this, I need to listen to it again.

9. Bow Wow - "Follow Me" I was really feelin' dude's last couple singles but this, not so much.

10. Comp - "Rollin'" New shit from the boy from Baltimore! It's alright, better than his track on the Cradle 2 The Grave OST anyway.

11. Solange - "Freedom" This is greuling, like Beyonce's ballads but more nu-soul sounding, but then there's this part where suddenly it sounds like the instrumental parts on Peter Gabriel's So for a couple measures out of nowhere towards the end.

14. Maze featuring Frankie Beverly - "Before I Let Go" This is one of the greatest songs of all time, and I didn't even know it by name until it was on that otherwise shitty 'old school' mix on the Paid In Full OST, so it's nice to have a version w/o Brucie B shouting all over it. The last few tracks are throwback joints like, but aside from this and some Barry White, not worth mentioning.

Labels: Comp