Elements > Album Review

Royce da 5`9 - Death is certain

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Suffice:
Royce Da 5’9” – In case you don’t know, Royce is an MC from Detroit whose name has always been associated with Eminem. Being former best friends, they recorded many tracks together, and Royce was even on Em’s first album, but then 50 cent came into the picture and Eminem broke off his ties with Royce. Royce is signed to Koch records.

Royce 5’9” Discography –
Rock City
Rock City (V2.0)
Build & Destroy (Compilation  of new and unreleased work)
Death is Certain (the topic of this review)

Rock city was a good CD, but it leaked, and royce had to update it to form Version 2.0, which was better, but it still wasn’t appealing enough for the masses to buy his music. It had lots of big name producers (DJ Premier, Neptunes, etc.) doing the beats, but the singles were poorly chosen and the album flopped. However, the album had 2 of my favorite Royce songs, “Boom”, and “Life”. Then Royce made the “build and destroy” 2CD, later made into a single CD compilation of brand new and old, unreleased work. The album was good, but didn’t sell because it was an independent release. Now, with his second official 2004 LP, Royce brings us “Death is Certain”, a 15 track gem.

1.   Intro - You just hear a door screeching, the good news is it’s only 12 seconds long.
2.   Regardless – The beat is slow with some guitars and some piano keys in the back. Royce starts with an alternating start to Em’s “Lose Yourself” – “my arms are heavy, knees weak, palms are sweaty, nigg*z wanna see me dead alredy…” The song is basically an introduction to Royce’s place in Hip-hop today. The beat is good, but not the best of the album. Lots more to come. 9/10
3.   Throwback – This is just a dope track. The beat is very fast with violins. Royce raps about how dope he is, and how he’ll embarrass you if you step up to him. Royce reps his city and the whole track is basically braggadocio. The only complaint I have about this is that the girl singing in some parts of the song gets annoying after a while. 9/10
4.   What I know – This song has really soft, xylophone sounding keys, but hard claps, and sounds really good. The lyricism is really nice. It’s a more serious song in which Royce basically talks about random thoughts and beliefs that he has. 9/10
5.   I Promise – Royce starts rapping right away, and the beat again features a hard clap, with some violins and a softer bass. It’s a real good beat. This song is serious and the chorus I just excellent – “If you just let me in the game, if you should bless me enough to let me reign, I will contain you, I promise, I will support my family/you, I promise, I will pray every day…” Any idiot could figure out that Royce is talking about god here, and if it you haven’t heard “king of kings,” it explains why Royce is a religious person. He just pours his emotions out and tells his troubles. The only drawback here is that he diverges from the theme at times. 9.5/10
6.   Call me never – A pretty funny skit with some an answering machine. DJ premier leaves the last message and tells Royce he has a new beat for him.
7.   Hip-Hop – a pretty typical DJ Premier beat, but not as good as “My Friend” or “Boom” from Royce’s debut. Lyrically, this track is fire. He starts off with talking about his relationship to Primo and then goes on with some great punchlines and metaphors. I don’t wanna spoil it, you gotta hear it youself. The only thing I don’ like here is this little bell throughout the song, but I got used to it. 9.5/10
8.   Gangsta – This song has sort of a beat you would hear in an old Clint Eastwood western flick. It’s a good beat, and the song is basically braggadocio. It’s just a little monotonous and not memorable. Plus, Royce isn’t a gangsta. Definitely  my least favorite track on the album, but it’s still not too bad. 7.5/10
9.   T.O.D.A.Y. – I heard the beat is taken from some old Beanie Sigel song, but it’s still a great beat. It features a great piano loop, hard drums, and a shaker, Royce is real calm here. The lyrics are just incredible. He talks about his self doubts and questions his own role in hip hop. It’s not something you’d bump in your car. The chorus has great singing. This is the first flawless track so far. 10/10
10.   I & Me – For some reason Royce chose to take 2pac’s “Up in the studio getting blow, this is the truest sh!t I ever wrote” line from “Against All Odds” beginning. This song has an incredible beat, featuring violins and guitars, and a hard thumping clap, The drum pattern is similar to 50cent’s “in da club”. The lyrics are fire – “I do my music and speak truly, without the influence of movies, or the n*ggaz in the streets that wanna do me.” Or “I can guide myself, through the game myself, give u the chills, kill hip hop, and save myself; I learned to behave myself, people choose sides when they figure you die, I learned they take away my wealth, all these n*ggaz that used to page me everyday that I dealt with, they’re all gone, I page myself.” I’ll wont give this song a perfect because 1) it’s only 2 verses, and 2)he takes 2pac’s verse, I don’t even know why. 9.5/10
11.   Beef – some people say this is a re-make of Biggie’s “Beef” but I don’t see how that is. The beat is nothing like it, and the only thing that resembles the song is the chorus, where Royce says “what’s beef?” in the chorus. The sing has a great guitar and piano loop, but the drum loop is a little too busy here. The lyrics are cold and give u a chilling feeling. Great song, I’ll give it a 9/10.
12.   Bomb 1st – this song has a beat that resembles some of Dr.Dre’s older beats such as “murder ink” or “judgement day” that he did for 6two. I love the beat, but the song is short, only 3 minutes. Songs #10, 11, and 12 remind me of Biggie’s songs “N*ggaz bleed”, “somebody’s gotta die”, “What’s beef” (Duh!), and “Long kiss goodnight”, mainly because of the theme involved and the production. “Bomb 1st” is just a great song, that also gives u a chilling feeling. The chorus is great, featuring a Satan-like voice talking over the beat. 9.5/10
13.   Everybody Goes - This beat sounds kind of tribal, with a woman chanting in the beginning and the chorus, The song is also short, and again, it fits the same theme as the 3 previous songs, however it’s more instrospective. It’s probably the worst of the 4, but it’s still a great song. It just doesn’t stand out as much. 8.5/10
14.   Death is Certain, Pt.2 – Where is Part 1! I want it! Royce basically raps about his deceased friend, and about how hardly it hit him. GREAT LYRICS here, for example – “…while I’m saying my grace, I’ll be looking up at the sky, telling God that he’s making a mistake. You can’t take away one brother and leave the rest of the clique, Lord, please double check your list, and if you get to his name and there’s a check beside it, death comes in threes, take me next.” The beat is just incredible with fast and soft guitar and some singing by a woman. The chorus is absolutely great. Yet another masterpiece. 10/10
15.   Something’s Wrong with Him – the first thing you’ll notice about this song is the beat. It’s probably the best beat I’ve heard in the last couple years. He sums is up real nicely in the line “my wife don’t like my album, it’s way too dark for women, she’d rather listen to Joe Budden – no disrespect, but f*ck a party, now everybody like What’s wrong with you, n*gga, every song, you kill it…” I probably heard this song about 50 times already, and I’m still loving it more each time I listen to it. Royce is witty – “I’ll slap yo ass and apologize to Jesus later…” This song is a perfect 4 minutes long with 3 verses. Probably my favorite on the album. 10/10

That’s it!!! Now that you read my review, you’ll go to the store and buy this album. It’s worth every dollar you pay for it, excluding about 50cents for the skits…(Get it?) anyway, I can almost guarantee that this is the best album this year. Even if you’re just a casual rap fan, which I’m not, you’ll probably still love this just for the beats. Carlos Broady (July 6) did most of the album, and I must say that he stepped up his game infinitely since he produced some tracks on “Rock City” and “Build and Destroy”. The album Is almost perfect length, which means you won’t get bored. It’s just a great album, and best of 2003 so far.

4.75 out of 5.00 stars.
Recommended? Hell yea!  


Originally Written by Me for www.Epinions.com

I`m Wayne Brady bitch!:
Great review !

KING VerbalAssaulta:
i promise is the best track imo....tight overall album

Spinbad:
somethin wrong wit him is definintly the best track on the c.d. id giv it a 8.5/10 just cause it's a little repetitive

DAYUM:
i really need to check this out...

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