4 Pumps Out Of 5
Joe Budden's long awaited (by me newayz) debut album finally dropped this past week. The album was impressive but not perfect by any means. The album starts of with a short intro then jumps right into #1, which sounds like Budden's own version of the KRS-One classic. From being "#1", Budden goes on to "Pump It Up", the huge sure-hit club banger Just Blaze-laced track. Unfortunately, this song is seemingly the highlight of the entire album. "Pusha Man" (Nucca) follows and introduces us to a new producer, White Boy, who laces 12 of 17 joints on the album. "U Ain't Gotta Go Home" reminds the ladies that they gotta get the ... up outta here. "Walk With Me" is a slower track, not mushy-slow, just slow-flow-slow you know? Budden then collabos with Lil Mo on the mushy-slow track "She Wanna Know". Budden shows his artistic and vulnerable side on the deep track "Survivor". Following up is what I believe will be his next single, the Just Blaze-produced track, "FIRE" with Busta Rhymes. I hope Budden's version of "Fire" has more success than Busta's did (Sorry Busta). Budden follows up a hot song with a powder-puff FLOP "Ma Ma Ma". This song literally made my ears bleed, just listen to it and you'll agree. Another slow-flow track follows, "Calm Down", is another more personal track about Budden "calming" his lifestyle and making himself a success. Then it's onto another club banger, "Focus". This track is amazing, from first bass kick to last, great beat by White Boy. The lyrically inclined track "Give Me Reason", although produced by Just Bleezy, just doesn't "Give Me Reason" to want to listen to this track again...ever. "Stand Up Nucca" is an interesting track about being real and spotting real. It introduces a creed "RRR - Real Recognize Real", meaning don't mistake the fakers acting hard for the real. Budden gets huge props for originality on "10 Mins". The track is actually 10 minutes long! No filler, all tight lyrics for 10 MINUTES! The album concludes with 2 *BONUS* tracks (what exactly are BONUS tracks newayz?). "Real Life In Rap" indulges in the same ole "Don't get shot for something you're not" mentality. A song the album could certainly do without is "Porn Star". If you're looking for lyrics in this song, I feel sorry for you. Count how many times Budden says "...", then "...", and finally "sex". Perhaps Budden is a part time mathematician, maybe not. Overall the album is bananas. It has it's weak points, but perhaps those are just growing pains. Cop it now!
Believe the Hype!
For those who don't know...Joe Budden has actually been out for sometime now. His story of how he got in the game is an average rap novel...just look at 50 Cent or Fabolous.What surprises me about this album is what Def Jam has invested into Joe. There was so much high expectation of Joe Budden, that Def Jam put him in their signature video game,"Def Jam Vendetta". Might not seem like much but to place him in a game with such high pioneers of the game like DMX, Method Man, and Scarface gives you an idea of what level Def Jam has placed Joe.
This is the album of the summer hands down...unless 50 or Jay-Z come out with somethin' then this album can't be stopped on Sound Scan. So put down the "2 Fast 2 Furious Sndtrk" and give Joe Budden a spin over this summer.
My personal favorite songs are: "Ma Ma Ma feat. 112","Pump it Up","Walk With Me","Fire feat. Busta Rhymes", "#1", and "Give Me a Reason".....I also like "10 Mins." which is really 10 minutes long.
The majority of this album is produced by White Boy. Don't know who he is but he is in the end of the "Pump it Up" video on the 2nd segment on the song called "Focus". His production on "Calm Down" should show you that this white kid has some soul and Just Blaze can sit on the bench for a few minutes.
Overall...One of the best albums of the summer of 2003. Finally we have a CD that can compete with 50 Cent's and possibly giving my 50 Cent CD a break before....well...it breaks!(no pun intended) With all that said get this album and enter what is "Joe Budden". Enjoy! Peace!
Tight Album
First of all stop hatin on Joe Budden just cuz he's beefin with She-Unit and The Game. Joe's tight as is this album. Here's my favorite tracks:
Pump It Up- First single. Blazing beat and goofy lyrics.
#1- A good story of Hip-Hop. One of my favorites.
Fire- Second single featuring Busta Rhymes. Hot beat and rhymes.
Calm Down- A good song about him and his mother. Nice beat
10 Min.- My favorite song. It's really 10 minutes long and it never bores you for the most part.
Walk With Me- Sounds like Joe's askin y'all 2 walk with him as he discovers secrets about his life.
Focus- Not one of my favorite beats, but it's still hot.
Real Life In Rap- A good song about Hip-Hop fakes("only time u been behind bars is servin a drink").
Porno Star- Hilarious(and dirty) song that prolly features the most cuz words on the whole album.
Basically, the reason I didn't give this album 5 stars is cuz there is some filler and some songs that sound like other songs. But overall Joe's impressed me and I'm definitely buying his next album.
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Under-rated this album was dissed
Joe Budden was supposadly a former king of all these dumb mix tapes and he was als a battle rapper.His First song Bump it up I remind you I was not a FAN of but most of the raps on here are pretty tight he has a nice flow on some ocations and has some mainstream type beats on here.One of the best mainstream releases of 2003 is my Final word as hot as some in the Source say.
Lyrics 9/10 Production 8/10 X Factor 9/10 Classic 8/10 Me 9/10
Overall=43/50 This album gets a very high 4 Mics
Also recommended-Freeway,Young Gunz,and Obie Trice
2 stars for 2 songs
joe budden disses g unit. lloyd banks outsells him in one day tells the story really joe budden is dropped by def jam lol lol
Believe the hype--Budden, who sat in Def Jam purgatory for three years, ain't your average Joe MC. Like 50 Cent before him, Budden makes the thorny transition from New York underground mix-tape legend to aboveground Billboard chart-ready emcee--especially on tracks such as the club-friendly, Just Blaze-produced "Pump It Up" and the 2002 club hit "Focus." Yet, the most compelling songs here are the ones that aren't as hyper or glitzy, but that border on autobiographical. On "Walk with Me," Budden cleverly outlines a day in his life, moving from tales of past drug addictions to his current status as Def Jam's star recruit. Joe Budden is one of those rare releases that might appeal to both purist heads and Top 20 droids. "Fire," which guests Busta Rhymes, and "#1," which artfully stitches together samples from three popular KRS-One tunes, should satisfy both sides of the "keep it real" argument. Minus some of the overindulgent lyrical mack-ons ("Ma Ma Ma"), this record is near flawless by new millennium rap standards. --Dalton Higgins
