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U-God is often considered by many to be the Ringo Starr of the Wu-Tang Clan, usually playing a supporting role for the legendary group, and not having as much of an impact with his solo albums as his fellow Clan members.  I think he has gotten better at his craft over the years, finding the most effective ways to use his limited vocal range, and I think with this album he delivered his best solo project since 1999’s Golden Arms Redemption.  The production sounds closer to that classic Wu-Tang sound than his more recent albums, and it’s better suited for his deep, precise vocal delivery (probably due to RZA executive-producing this project).

As for the actual rapping on here, U-God shows that he has definitely stepped his pen game up on some songs, but there are others where he rhymes a little too simple for my taste.  He has gotten better at writing hooks though.  The main downfall here is with such a consistently deep-sounding voice, U-God needs a lot of guest features to bring some variety to the vocal range, and while the guests (Jackpot, GZA, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Elzhi, Styles P) all delivered, I felt like he could’ve used more of them.  Overall this album features some good street bangers and car thumpers that are typical for U-God, but we also get to hear him touch on his legacy after hitting that twenty-year milestone with the Wu-Tang Clan (check out my concert review from last week).

My Joint:

My Grade (based on how well I connected to it, no disrespect if your experience was different): C+

Come back to my blog tomorrow to see which album or mixtape came in at #29 on my countdown!