How is there not a thread on this already?
Rising Down:
The Pow Wow
n/a- skit
Rising Down [feat. Mos Def + Styles P]
5/5- craaazy song, all three mcs are on point ,but thought takes it with lines like " the greenhouse gases and the earth spinnin off its axis, got mother nature doin backflips"
Get Busy [feat. Dice Raw + Peedi Peedi]
4/5- Dope song, but Peedi Crakk drags it down a little bit. Why do the roots let him on their albums? Raw comes pretty hard though. " half dead, never felt more alive, get reborn, remove the gold coins from my eyes"
@15
n/a- skit
75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)
4.5/5- Just Black Thought spitting fire for 75 bars. This is a straight up battle rap. "I'm in the field with a shield and a spear nigga, i'm in your girl with her heels in the air nigga" haha
Becoming Unwritten
n/a- skit
Criminal [feat. Truck North + Saigon]
5/5- This song grew on me a lot. It isn't like the roots sound at all and has a weird hook, but all three mcs tear shit up on it. I had never heard of Truck North before, but he had a good verse. But the highlight of the song is when Saigon comes out of nowhere and drops the craziest verse of 2008 so far. He just goes nuts. "Puttin emphasis on hittin my nemesis in high percentages, crooked ass cops is the reason for my belligerence"
I Will Not Apologize [feat. Porn + Dice Raw]
2.5/5- first weak song of the album. Not really feeling the beat, and everybody sounds kind of lazy on it.
I Can't Help It [feat. Malik B., Porn, Mercedes Martinez + Dice Raw]
4/5- Beat has a little too much going on, but it's still nice. This is Malik B.'s first appearance on the album, and he comes hard. Porn has a surprisingly good verse too. "Riq you know we pull a freak with the flow, talk is cheap that's why we speak with the dough"
Singing Man [feat. Porn, Truck North + Dice Raw]
2/5- I really just do not like this song. It's a real weird song with no memorable lines.
Unwritten [feat. Mercedes Martinez]
n/a- I dont even consider this a song
Lost Desire [feat. Malik B. + Talib Kweli]
4/5- Great song. All three have nice verses, but Kweli has the most clever lines. "Paying homage to homocide, praying to the dollar sign"
The Show [feat. Common + Dice Raw]
5/5- My favorite song off the album. Beat reminds me of "Hip-Hop" by Dead Prez a bit. This song has Black Thought's best lines on the album. "Uh, and I'm still the one, am i a poet or a prophet or a stone to build upon, and whats the reason i still perform, feeding my children on how im gonna hustle from dusk to dawn"
Rising Up [feat. Chrisette Michelle + Wale]
4/5- Good way to end the album. has a lighter feel than the other songs. i love the hook on this shit. i was kinda underwhelmed by wale's verse, he can do way better. "Im from the number one place on the map, the generational gap, with yet another sensational track"
As an album, 4/5. One of the best of 08 so far.
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