- reviewed by The Black Pixar

Diddy has created one of the better hip hop/dance albums of this year.

I never thought I would type that. Ever. I don't know if that means raps gone soft or if Puffy sold one of his kid's soul to the devil for some shine or maybe, just maybe your boy Diddy got good somewhere along the line? Really it's more like Diddy has a shitload of money, an impressive vision and a good case of egomania. All that put together gives us an album that is quite a bit more than the some of its parts.

It'd appear that Puff is investing all that Sean John and "All About The Benjamins Remix" money into making dope albums and thats a business plan I can full support in these fiscally uncertain times. The beats on this album are top notch, hands down. With production from the Neptunes.. more..

- reviewed by The Black Pixar

Diddy has created one of the better hip hop/dance albums of this year.

I never thought I would type that. Ever. I don't know if that means raps gone soft or if Puffy sold one of his kid's soul to the devil for some shine or maybe, just maybe your boy Diddy got good somewhere along the line? Really it's more like Diddy has a shitload of money, an impressive vision and a good case of egomania. All that put together gives us an album that is quite a bit more than the some of its parts.

It'd appear that Puff is investing all that Sean John and "All About The Benjamins Remix" money into making dope albums and thats a business plan I can full support in these fiscally uncertain times. The beats on this album are top notch, hands down. With production from the Neptunes, Just Blaze, Kanye West, Rich Harrison and Will.I.Am (what rock did this dude crawl out from under to become one of the illest producers doin it right now?) there's no way this album could be anything less than stellar. The production is kinda all over the place but in all the right ways. We Gon Make It and I Am have that "Encore"/"December 4" feel that makes you believe dudes climbed mountains and killed a dragon to get into the booth and spit for you. Hold Up samples some sad as fuck sounding chanting kids, and some low humming that makes the track feel eerily reminiscent of old old blues or negro spirituals. Come To Me, Tell Me, Wanna Move and Diddy Rock all give you the uptempo club banger feel, all of em could easily have been on the new Justin Timberlake album. Everything I Love has Kanye West essentially just remaking the beat from Common's "The Corner". Like I said, shits kinda all over the place but it works as each attempt at a different genre is done by dudes who know that genre in and out.

And did I mention the techno songs yet? More on that later.

Really what makes this album shine beyond the beats is Puff's vision. It's evident he's a pretty weird dude at this point. I dont really have to even go into the Myspace videos of him talking about his bad morning breath, taking a piss or talking about how he was the first motherfucker on Proactive and how Jessica Simpson and Lindsay Lohan are swagger jacking him. If Puff had put some of this in his rhymes he'd have the album of the year hands down. Although we dont get the Jess Simpson diss record that I know Puffy has in him, we do get some other odd choices to make us wonder exactly what kind of shit homeboy is toking on.

Puff opens the album with Testimonial which samples Tears for Fears. Tears for fucking Fears! If you dont know, Tears for Fears was an 80's band that may or may not have worn makeup on a regular basis, I can't really remember. Makeup or not this is an odd choice for sample material for sure but Puff manages to take this sample and form a song that is incredibly rousing on some I believe he can fly shit. Then there's the interludes, like Claim My Place which features Puff rambling about being somebody over some very gentle chamber music that might be a lil too feminine for Fiona Apple. And then it brakes into free jazz. There's also "Crazy Thang" where we get to hear Puff's inner thoughts as he reassures his girl that he loves her...over some cool jazz. Odd choices all around but they all work.

And then there's the techno jams. I'll put it right out there, I don't particularly care for techno. From drum and bass to house to any of the other sub genres, I don't really fucks with techno that hard. I've never fancied E or dressing like a color blind 6-year-old with a learning disability so you know that kinda makes sense. However Diddy apparently fucks with techno hard. I guess when you spend all your time hanging out with supermodels drinking Cris in Turks and Ceico some shit eventually rubs off. The last third of the album is pretty much all techno jams and even to my non rave loving ears it's not that bad. The tracks aren't ridiculously long and most have a couple changes in em to keep things interesting.

Mr. Can't Stop Won't Stop somehow managed to mine his crazy and some dope beats into an album of sexy. I don't know exactly how that works, but for Puff it has and the shit is more than entertaining.

back to the ratings..