Dear WIDEAwake : Ultimate Deathrow Boxset

[RedMagic213]

Im from South Africa, so i just got my delivery of the Box Set, so excuse being a bit delay. WIDEAwake...you are destroying a legacy of one of the most influencial gangsta rap labels that ever existed. It may just be a pay cheque to you, but by destroying the brand you are just going to screw yourself over in the long run.

1) I have the entire Deathrow Catalogue so I wont even listen to Disc 1. Your target market are probably people like myself that already have most of the album, and also the various Greatest Hits so every track on disc 1 is already in our collection in various formats.

2) One of the reasons why Deathrow albums did well was because the tracks banged !! Mixed and mastered well. The end product was quality. Slip in an original copy of Doggfood in your ride and listen to Riding,Slippin and Sliding. Clarity !! Or even 21 Jumpstreet on Murder was the case, smooth as hell. On the WIDEAwake releases ie. Snoop Doggy Dogg Lost Sessions and this box set, the quality is absolute garbage. It sounds as if you just put together some mp3's on a disc. Ive heard clearer bootlegs. For people like myself, I invest in harcopies cos i want to hear that cd quality print banging the hell outta my subs n tweeters. Why should I buy WIDEAwake material if i can just bootleg and get the same quality?

3) Releasing an album with flaws is just totally disrespectfull to consumers. Listen to your version of Natural Born Killers on the album. The track is obviously played at the wrong bpm. Dr Dre's voice sounds like its chopped n screwed. Its torture listening to this version.

4) This box set was labelled the "Ultimate" deathrow boxset. One would expect to hear the cream of the vault. You could never tell me that from all the Crooked I tracks, those were the best 2 you had. Wheres the Eastwood, NINA etc tracks on disc 3. Disc 3 should have been a second dynasty disc, but you through in older deathrow release Deathrow material to fill up spots !!

5) The T Shirt idea is dope, but y the creasy material??? to you know any urban dresser that wear gay ass crinkle cuts??

To summaries, this was a total waste of money. I will not support any WiDEAwake releases in future. The money you saved on mastering and mixing is gonna cost you in future in terms of terrible albums sales.

And this is a warning....leave 2pac's legacy alone !!!!! I always wanted to have the 2pac OG's, but if its released by WIDEAwake in this discusting quality, i rather not hear it at all !!!!!!!!!!!!

[fabtoxicp]

 
man, u complain way, way too much.. sure the releases isn't 100percent, BUT STILL it's better than NOTHING
dammit. not even the t-shrt is aight? 

be happy, u cant get all the perfect candy-pieces in the basket, in life..

[RedMagic213]

did you buy a copy of this? if you happy thats cool, but i spent my money on this. I had albums that werent so hot before and never complained. My main issue is the sound quality...even if the songs are not hot, bad sound quality is like robbery.

and its not better than nothing...i would rather have not bought this and had my $50 in my pocket.

[michaelraymccoy]

you make some good points....i didnt buy it...nothing really new i wanted on it

[Blasphemy]

take your complaints over to there forum. lol Dub won't give a shit if u feel u got fucked over. IMO it was a ifish release. The Jewell and Danny Boy were some dope shit, and the Crooked I stuff was alright. Overall a weak release but the variety imo gives it a fresh feel.

Edit: Then again, maybe I'm not bad cause I wasn't buying it after I got a hold of The Lost Sessions (Which I didn't buy either). Try before U buy has never had greater ground when it comes 2 this Wideawake bullshit. They put out a dope ass dpg album, properly mixed, I'd have 2 buy it cause its worth being in the collection.The lost Sessions was just a piece of shit. lol Only good thing on this box set was Variety so instead of 1 huge fail of a artist, it had multiple ones.

Oh well lol like I said, if u want 2 send em a message go to there forum. They even stated they fucked up on the box sets NBK. but likely they'll just delete your post/ban your account. Only thing u can do is not support the release unless its truly dope.

[JohnnyL]

Im from South Africa, so i just got my delivery of the Box Set, so excuse being a bit delay. WIDEAwake...you are destroying a legacy of one of the most influencial gangsta rap labels that ever existed. It may just be a pay cheque to you, but by destroying the brand you are just going to screw yourself over in the long run.

1) I have the entire Deathrow Catalogue so I wont even listen to Disc 1. Your target market are probably people like myself that already have most of the album, and also the various Greatest Hits so every track on disc 1 is already in our collection in various formats.

2) One of the reasons why Deathrow albums did well was because the tracks banged !! Mixed and mastered well. The end product was quality. Slip in an original copy of Doggfood in your ride and listen to Riding,Slippin and Sliding. Clarity !! Or even 21 Jumpstreet on Murder was the case, smooth as hell. On the WIDEAwake releases ie. Snoop Doggy Dogg Lost Sessions and this box set, the quality is absolute garbage. It sounds as if you just put together some mp3's on a disc. Ive heard clearer bootlegs. For people like myself, I invest in harcopies cos i want to hear that cd quality print banging the hell outta my subs n tweeters. Why should I buy WIDEAwake material if i can just bootleg and get the same quality?

3) Releasing an album with flaws is just totally disrespectfull to consumers. Listen to your version of Natural Born Killers on the album. The track is obviously played at the wrong bpm. Dr Dre's voice sounds like its chopped n screwed. Its torture listening to this version.

4) This box set was labelled the "Ultimate" deathrow boxset. One would expect to hear the cream of the vault. You could never tell me that from all the Crooked I tracks, those were the best 2 you had. Wheres the Eastwood, NINA etc tracks on disc 3. Disc 3 should have been a second dynasty disc, but you through in older deathrow release Deathrow material to fill up spots !!

5) The T Shirt idea is dope, but y the creasy material??? to you know any urban dresser that wear gay ass crinkle cuts??

To summaries, this was a total waste of money. I will not support any WiDEAwake releases in future. The money you saved on mastering and mixing is gonna cost you in future in terms of terrible albums sales.

And this is a warning....leave 2pac's legacy alone !!!!! I always wanted to have the 2pac OG's, but if its released by WIDEAwake in this discusting quality, i rather not hear it at all !!!!!!!!!!!!

 I understand your points here, but I'm afraid it's probably going to fall on deaf ears.  If they care so little about the fans, or for that matter their own company, that they...

A. Won't even conduct any interviews with the press to let people know what's currently going on with their obviously embattled label
B. Plan on putting out a Kurupt album that's really only a new album in name only
C. And as crappy as that album is, won't even do anything to promote it

...unfortunately, I don't think there's much chance that they'll give your letter much consideration.

[Blasphemy]

JohnyL is right lol they don't even give a shit to promote there releases. Probably because if they do, more word will spread beyond the hardcore peeps, that the quality is a shitty fail. my friend is a guy all into the old shit. He hasn't heard of Crooked I or none of the Death Row releases cause he thinks its dead like everyone else. lol I mean seriously, if Death Row was putting out good releases, they could put the label back into a position of power and it would be like the old days. Oh well. Tha Rows fucked, Lara is a bitch whos stealing, the Trust Fund fags can't be trusted, and the Ladys of Death Row set sounds like its on the verge of being canceled in replace for a Kurupt ripoff, and Paynes just a fat fuck, and the mixing situation is barely seeing progression. I mean from Lost Session to NBK lol its a fucking disgrace, I could mix a better record using Movie maker. They got a gigantic studio made for that type of thing and they fail. Shit Good thing Dollar and Sense is making them  G-Funk tapes, I need my fix 4 new material some where, and at least his shit is mixed like a dre record. 

[Zeus]

Lol how the hell do you expect a wrinkle free shirt in a small box? Wash it genius, thats what i did and now its fine.

[J-FUNKTION]

i cant wear the shirt...shit floats, and that collar is way too loose..

[GangstaBoogy]

I agree. I was ecstatic when I found out they were going to release "Doggystle" but the mastering of that song was so bad that I really never listened to it.

[V2DHeart]

Poor release. They really failed due to:

1) The box set being an unjustifiable number of discs, which upped the price = low selling point for the average CD consumer ~ They should have trimmed this by removing the greatest hits CD, thus lowering the price! Including a CD of Greatest hits does nothing to highlight or market the set when people can purchase countless other Greatest Hits collections for a fraction of the price

2) Mixing - Releasing poorly mixed songs on CD is as someone put it "robbery"!!!

3) Promotion - This could have been promoted due to the large variety of artists on there. Dr Dre, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Crooked I, Ice Cube, Lady of Rage, Warren G, KC-i & JoJo, Kurupt, Too Short and so on. Huge variety, and one of those would appeal to at least one Rap/Hip Hop fan. WIDEawake should have took advantage of this. Instead they missed out. It costs money to make money, and website promotion and flash intros mean nothing if no one sees them

[U.N.T.O.U.C.H.A.B.L.E.]

maybe it would be better to go back private huh, that way there would be no more bitchin n cryin like girls on their periods...

[V2DHeart]

Some private bootleg tracks were in better quality than the WIDEawake releases - more noticeably - The Lost Sessions vol.1

[JohnnyL]

 The Ultimate Box Set is the Wideawake/Death Row Records release that I have the least problems with.  It's not a perfect release, and I could have done without the first disc of "greatest hits," but I found it to be an overall improvement over their previous two releases.  But what I do find to be very stupid is their plans for the upcoming Kurupt release.  It's pointless, it won't make money, and in my opinion, it's a sign that they're not even trying anymore. I suppose we could all cross our fingers and hope that one day the company will land in the hands of more capable persons.  But I seriously doubt that will happen.  I'm not really a person who ordinarily believes in curses.  But the constant problems that have plagued this company has started to make me think twice. 

[V2DHeart]

The Ultimate Box Set is the Wideawake/Death Row Records release that I have the least problems with.  It's not a perfect release, and I could have done without the first disc of "greatest hits," but I found it to be an overall improvement over their previous two releases.  But what I do find to be very stupid is their plans for the upcoming Kurupt release.  It's pointless, it won't make money, and in my opinion, it's a sign that they're not even trying anymore. I suppose we could all cross our fingers and hope that one day the company will land in the hands of more capable persons.  But I seriously doubt that will happen.  I'm not really a person who ordinarily believes in curses.  But the constant problems that have plagued this company has started to make me think twice.  

How come? I take it you already own ->

Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits vol.2
Very Best of Death Row
15 Years on Death Row
Death Row: The Singles Collection
Death Row: The Soundtrack collection
Fellowship of The Great
Snoop Dogg's Greatest Hits, as well as all the Ron Winters ones such as:
The Chronicle
Tha Dogg
Tha prophet best of the works
Dr Dre's Greatest Hits
Death Row presents: A Hip Hop History
Death Row - Tha Party
Snoops Death Row Dayz
Dr Dre's Death Row Dayz
2Pacs Death Row Dayz
Snoop & Dre's from Compton to Long Beach CD's as well?? Because if not, I guess the first disc in this box set is pretty ultimate if you ask me