With S. Carter basking in retirement, taking in tennis matches and sitting courtside at Knicks and Nets basketball games.. it's like who will step up on the Roc roster. The names often mentioned are Cam'ron and Beanie Sigel but way in the back are those other guys M.O.P. Yeah, remember they signed on almost two years ago? To this date no album under the Roc-A-Fella name has emerged. That's about to change as they're putting the finishing touches on Ghetto Warfare  scheduled for release.. umm, sometime this year (you know how that goes). Until then Billy Danze and Lil Fame have pulled a most unexpected move - they recorded a rock/rap record with NYC band Shiner Massive.

I can see it now.. they walk into the office to let Dame hear what they've been working on and he freaks out because it's not hip-hop. This is not what he had in mind when he signed them. It's probably why the album was released on M.O.P.'s own Family First label. more..

With S. Carter basking in retirement, taking in tennis matches and sitting courtside at Knicks and Nets basketball games.. it's like who will step up on the Roc roster. The names often mentioned are Cam'ron and Beanie Sigel but way in the back are those other guys M.O.P. Yeah, remember they signed on almost two years ago? To this date no album under the Roc-A-Fella name has emerged. That's about to change as they're putting the finishing touches on Ghetto Warfare  scheduled for release.. umm, sometime this year (you know how that goes). Until then Billy Danze and Lil Fame have pulled a most unexpected move - they recorded a rock/rap record with NYC band Shiner Massive.

I can see it now.. they walk into the office to let Dame hear what they've been working on and he freaks out because it's not hip-hop. This is not what he had in mind when he signed them. It's probably why the album was released on M.O.P.'s own Family First label.

To enjoy this album you have to hang up the belief that hip-hop is about two DJs and a microphone.. or these days, Pro Tools and a mic.. hang that on the door. Now listen to me my son.. daughter, hip-hop is passionate music. Rapping and DJing are the core elements, but when it comes down to it, if the music has soul, if it has attitude and feeling, then it's hip and you should hop on it. :P Take it back to Jigga for a minute. Way back in 1997's "Imaginary Player" he said how he would pull up bumping some ol other shit.. that's hip-hop right there. It could have been UGK or Blondie, the important thing is the unique you ain't up on this quality makes the lean much more gangsta.

I'm all of track.. the point is daring to do something different and creative while maintaining your true identity is what this game is about. With that said, this M.O.P album isn't something your gonna lean to - it's too hard for that - which happens to make it one of the better rock/rap collaborations I've heard. Even with beats and scratches, M.O.P.'s aggresiveness demands that the music have the same energy. Here they are with guitars wailing away and drums pounding, there isn't a moment that they get lost in the madness. It comes off as a perfectly natural marriage.

On the album they redo songs with nice results. "Put It In The Air" just shatters the original version. Unfortunately "Ante Up" comes off as lightweight. Other tracks that do standout are "Stand Up," "Ground Zero," "Raise Hell," "It's That Simple" and "Get The F*ck Outta Here." Basically anything that can be turned up to 11, 12, 13.. It's the best use of that 550 watt speaker rating.

I'm interested to hear the Roc endorsed album, just for comparison purposes. I truly believe that with the right marketing, this style of album would serve them better than another album of standard hip-hop. For all the love they supposedly have, no one has loved them enough to take them to the platinum level. Hmmm.. You know who would have went in this direction? Dr. Dre. He's been dying to do some head bangin rock stuff.