| Artist : |
Various |
|
| Album : |
Escape From Death Row |
| Year Of Release : |
1999 |
| Reviewer : Nima |
|
This album, released in 1999, was basically created by ex-Deathrow Inmates, who wanted to get together and bring this project to life, and of course to introduce new talent to the Rap Game. The head of the project was Big Low Life, the CEO of Low Life Records, supported by Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, Big C-Style, RBX, Soopafly, Tray Deee & Bad Azz. The album was released on Low Life Records. I will do a track by track review and will try to get into some details.
1. Low Life Intro - The intro, a little speech by Low Life and supported with RnB vocals from Costie Payne. He basically introduced Low Life Records to the world. The word Unity is dominant and this shows how this record was put together with love, it
wasn't something that they had to do, they wanted to do it themselves. Nice Intro, no need to rate it though.
2. Back On The Smash - This Blaqthoven produced track is a perfect way to start the album. It features Kurupt, Tray Deee and a new artist called Q.
Kurupt starts off this track with a dope verse over this BANGING beat. This is a really dope
Kurupt verse, I wish he would still rap like this. His flow is aggressive, which makes it even better. He does the chorus himself. Then he continues the track himself by
starting the second verse. Then, female rapper Q joins the track and lays down a furious verse. Her voice
isn't all that but its alright. After this, Tray Deee spits some knowledge.
Check This Out Big Low Life, I Been Remembered As The Hardest Since I Hit The Set
To It Rugged Coz I Love It Represent The Gat
Wayniac Sayniac From That Wild Wild East
Not The Coast But The Side Of Eastside Long Beach
I Been In It Since The Jumpstreet
Same Gang That I Claim And I Bang For 21 Street.
All three artists show that they are hungry and rap from their heart. Especially Kurupt who really came dope. I
got to say something bout the beat again. Blaqthoven, who produced the majority of this album, really did great work on this beat. It fits the artists perfectly and makes you
want to listen to the rest of the album even more. Then, when you think the track is over, Young Gotti takes the mic again: Bomb Weed Smoked Out G'd Up Loc'd Out Westcoast To Smoke N Rollin Locin/Portland Oregon, LA Bound/Long Beach Style Wit A Dick In Yo Mouth. Back On The Smash, Gangstas Don't Talk We Blast, C-Walk Stomp We Blast. Actin All Hard And Bad You Good Nigga, Snatch That Niggas Chain He Aint From THe Hood Nigga. He just ends this
banging track. 5/5
3. What Cha Gonna Do - Daz Dillinger and Cognac make their first appearance on another Blaqthoven track. In the
beginning of the track, its just Cognac leaving a message on Daz's phone,
telling him to hook up and shit. Then the beat and her verse start at the same time. You
immediately notice the laid back feel of the beat and Cognac flows like a mutha on this one. And I like her voice too which is not always the case with female MC's (Legacy, Q..). Daz does the chorus: Damn You, Keep Doin What U Do, Be Yourself And Always Stay True, Keep Doin What You Do Tell Me What You
Wanna Do. Then he kicks in with his verse and its a real dope, chilling
verse, perfectly fitting the beat. He basically tells everybody to do what they really
want to do, not to change coz of somebody else and shit. Then after the chorus, Cognac and Daz drop their second verses. They
don't say anything new but they flow real well and a good chill track. Daz does some
talking during the end of the track and ends an allover dope track. 4.25/5
4. Here We Go Now - This track, performed by Daz Dillinger and Hit, From Tha LBC was later on released on Daz's Who Ride Wit Us Compilation too. Another Blaqthoven production and WOW its a dope beat!! Gangsta shit. Daz sings the chorus, and
I think he pulls it off real well. It goes Here We Go Now, And when You See Me On
The Street Doin My Thang Dont Holla My Name Loud. Then Hit starts the track.
They Call Me Hit And Im Still The Shit
Let's Do The Clown On Niggaz When I Come Around
Holdin It Down In The Cut.
He got a real nice flow and im feeling his rapping. He really flows good and
I'd like to hear an album by him coz he got mad talent. After the chorus, Daz spits some fire on his own verse. He flows like always, and it sounds tight as fuck. In my opinion, this is an awesome verse but Hits was on the same level. Hit lays down another verse and its even better than his first one. Low Life does some
talking in the end of the track, just shouts out all the Low Life's and thanks them for the help to make this project happen. Nice track, tight raps and dope beat. 4.5/5
5. Do Your Thing - This is Crooked I's first appearance, and Hit is featured again. The hook is handled by Ric. This time, the beat is provided by Wayne-D, who did a great job. It's a hard hitting beat, but the melody still smoothes it a bit down. Crooked I spits the first verse. As usual, he breaks it down with fast raps and dope wordplay. A tight verse and crooked I fits the track real good. The chorus is
nothing special. Hit then spits some shit that makes you really fiend for more stuff by this cat. At some point, he mixes his rappin wit a lil bit of
singing and it sounds dope. Then, he just spits another verse and WOW some REAL heat!! His flow is awesome and he flips the words as if he was an OG in this game. Can't believe he
hasn't been signed to a major label. Crooked I and Hit really ripped the mic and were more than worthy of
rapping over this dope hard beat. 4.75./5
6. Uh-Oh - Now most people heard crooked I on this track for the first time. And its
probably my favorite Crooked I track ever. This amazing beat, laced by Tim Nitz is
just so dope. The beat got an unbelievable energy in itself. I just love the melody of this track. This live orchestra
playing.. just WOW. Crooked I starts his first verse and immediately
flows and rips the mic to shreds. He raps like a mutha and cant be stopped. He's just so dope.
Bein The Ghetto Represetin If I Am
Im Guaranteed To Slam When I Drops That Woopty Wopbam
Somebody Stop Me From Poppin I Be Goddamn
Im At The Khop Shop Gettin My Drop Top Slammed
Im Hotter Than Im Skilly
Grabbin The Mic To Kill It Kill It The Village Wit The Illest Lyrics
I Fill This On My Skill List
The Realest Accent That I Posses
Its Crooked I Takin Over The West Yes.
He literally rips the mic. His energy is incredible. The chorus is off the
meat-rack too! Its The C R Double Uh O Uh O K E D. He continues with the second verse the same way he finished the first one. Not many MC's could
step to this. It seems as if he could continue to flow for hours. This is the track that really made me feel crooked I. 5/5
7. Now That Im Older - Young Life & Lil C Style Perform This Track, along with Hit from Tha LBC
doing the Bridge. This is another Blaqthoven produced cut. The beat is as usual a dope one+, with a nice feel to it. Blaqthoven really did a
amazing job on this album. The chorus is sang by them together. Young Life starts the track with fast
rapping and a dope flow. Im feeling his voice too. Lil C Style then does his verse and IMO its not his best verse, but
definitely dope. But he has been better. Then Hit does the Bridge and
I got to say its DOPE. After that, both Young Life & C Style drop another, doper second verse. Overall a dope track, although the chorus can get on your nerves after a while. 4/5
8. We're Gonna Party - Once again, Blaqthoven laced a beat. This time its Silva Satin and Ruff Dogg
rapping and Blaqtoven himself does the hook. The beat has got a relaxed feel to it and the chorus is dope. Ruff Dogg starts the track with a nice verse. His voice is special, but its tight. His flow is damn good and
that's why his rapping doesn't sound irritating. Silva Satin then takes the mic and lays down a real laid back verse.
In An Oridnary Fashion Flashin Mashin For Paper
In The Mist Of Money Makers PLaya Haters and Fakers
We Gon Keep It G When We Come Together
Makin Dollas Poppin Collas Multiplyin Cheddar Forever.
The good thing in this album till now is that the beats fit the raps real well. After that, Ruff Dogg has another verse and lays it down correctly again. Nice track 4/5
9. Rollin Wit Low Life - This is the ultimate Low Life track, featuring non other than Bad Azz, Young Life & Hit From The LBC. The Hook is handled again by Blaqthoven, who produced the track again. Again a dope beat, with a relaxed smooth
feeling to it. Bad Azz starts it off and spits a tight verse. Although
its not his best verse because he raps pretty slow, he still comes off nice. IMO Bad Azz is best when he raps fast. Young Life then drops his verse. Like on the other track, his flow is correct and he has nice lyrics. Then comes the chorus again and im ready for Hit to do his thing. He is
definitely the best one on the track. He flows and raps nice and his lyrics are good. But
I still got the feeling that the tracks are getting slightly weaker now. I Hope
I'll be proved wrong. Nice track but nobody really SHINED on here. 3.75/5
10. Life - This one, again produced by Blaqthoven, is with female MC Q and the hook is handled by Young Life and Silva Satin. The beat has got a futuristic feel to it, like
something you would hear from Fred Wreck. It goes off beat and sounds real dope. The chorus is really
annoying though, i don't feel it at all. Q then starts the track. Like I said,
I don't feel her voice. But I can't front on her flow and her delivery. But I'm not
feeling the chorus at all and this brings down the track for me. But Q gets dope throughout the track and she raps real fast
during her second verse and damn wow she gets tighter. Her message basically is that if she would give a damn what people say, she
wouldn't make it in this world. She got some dope wordplay and lyrics in this track and this makes the track dope. 4/5
11. Hittin Fo' - We have got the first appearance of Soopa Doopa Fly who collaborates with Hit From Tha LBC. The beat is awesome, a funky beat produced by Soopafly himself. I love this beat. Some real funky shit. Hit starts the track and rips the mic with his dope delivery. He is real dope on this track. The chorus is off the heezy too! Im
feeling this. This is a party type track. A fast beat and the rappers fit the beat good. Hit does the second verse too and damn this dude is H-O-T!! His flow is unfadable and he raps like a muthafucka! Dope dope dope shit right here. Now
I want to hear what Soopa has to say. Wow he starts the verse. DAMN he's so good he raps at his best!! His flow is
amazing and he drops some gangsta pimp lyrics. His verse is pretty short but its
HOT. I love this track. 4.75/5
12. Dance Wit Me - Another Q Solo, with the hook handled by Ebony-E & Toni Hill. To be honest
I don't feel this Daz an Soopafly beat. I know their potential and its far from their best. Q raps pretty fast again but her flow lacks at times in this track. But its good to hear the energy she puts into her rap. Like the Lady Of Rage, you can see that the lyrics come from heart. But
I don't know what it is.. I just don't feel Q too much. Its most probably her voice,
but I cant front on her delivery so I got to give this track a 3.25/5
13. They May Fuck Wit U - This is my anticipated Solo track by Soopafly. He produced it himself. And the
firkin beat is off the meat-rack! Wow a BANGING beat that makes you bob your head. Soopafly raps like he always does, gangsta lyrics and pimp style. Damn you
got to love this. He just flows so good on this track. Only thing that could be better would be if he'd come off a little more
aggressive to fit the beat a bit better, like he did on Hell Yeah (produced by Daz Dillinger). Soopafly
doesn't send any special message or kick some deep knowledge, its just a pure gangsta track, like are used from the pimp of the crew. Im S Double O Pimp For The P A For The Ass I Slap FL For Fuck Loosin, I Chose Y Coz I Get High, Niggaz Fuck Wit Me And Watch Me Stick My Verbal Abuse, Ridin Thru Then We Burn It For You. Anyway a dope track and Soopafly lays it down Pimp style. 4.5/5
14. Flip Side - The last track of this album features Ex-DR Inmate RBX and new artist Silva Satin. Blaqthoven produced this cut. The beat is pretty dark, RBX style but is still good to bounce. Silva Satin starts the track and lays down his third verse on this album. And its a
banging one. He sounds aggressive, makes it pretty hard for RBX to step up on his level. RBX does the second verse. He starts a little bit
slower, but his flow is dope as fuck. Then he speeds up and it gets even tighter. After the chorus,
I was waiting for Silva to take the mic but RBX doesn't stop! He lays down another verse! Its as good as the previous ones, or even better. As usual on RBX tracks, he talks at the end. Again, the beat and raps fit together real good and a dope track comes out of it. 4.5/5
This album, was again a goldmine for new talent. The big names in the rap game wanted to send out a positive message with this album. The booklet itself showed that to the fullest. In there, rappers just left their message, like Kurupt ("Make a profit in Rap and stay out of Jail") or Daz ("Put a Mic in your hand, not a gun. Stay out of prison"), Tray Deee ("If anyone knows, I do. Thirteen years is a long time. If music is your ticket out of jail then take it"). The thank you list is the biggest one i've ever seen for an album. And this shows with how much love this was put together. To the ratings. This album has two undeniable classics, Back On The Smash and Crooked I's masterpiece, Uh Oh. Two or Three tracks arent all that but its all above
average. That's why I give this album a 4.25/5 rating. I recommend everybody to check this out coz its
definitely worth it.
4.25/5
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