I never really heard Que The Kid before popping in this album in my system. I know he’s a New York rapper with ties to the south.
1. Where I’m Supposed To Be
The album starts off with a real tight cut titled ”Where I’m Supposed To Be”. A sample is used over a hard hitting beat Que The Kid uses an east coast style with a lil down south crunk built into it. It works out real well. The tight beat combined with the hot spit by Que makes this a real tight track.
2. Shoot To Kill Me
“Shoot To Kill Me” is an other banger. The beat’s real tight and Que is spitting some hot shit over it. The hook, with Que The Kid going “Don’t shoot to shoot, shoot to f*cking kill me”, is real tight. The two first tracks on the album have definitely left me wanting to hear more.
3. Ain’t Gonna Like Me feat. Mac Sug
Que The Kid goes crunk on this one. Like I said before, Que’s got an east coast style with some dirty south flavour. It’s real obvious on this track as the beat’s pretty crunk and east coast rhymes and flow is mixed with a crunk hook. I never heard it mixed like this before, but it sounds real good.
4. The Issue Is Trust
“The Issue Is Trust” is about street life and how everyone’s trying to be a gangster and hate nowadays. Everybody’s switching sides. The issue, according to Que, is trust. The beat’s kind of laid back and Que’s flow is on point. You sometimes hear lyrics with no meaning whatsoever – that’s not the case on this album.
5. Listen Carefully
“Listen Carefully” is an other one of those Kayne West-sounding beats with a speeded up sample in the background. Que The Kid is trying to teach you something as he asks you to listen carefully. Even though Que is a young dude, he seems to have some wisdom. A tight flow over a pretty tight beat makes this track solid.
6. Hard At Work
Even though this is not a reggaeton track, the production kind of reminds me of one. The beat is fresh and has a guitar and some other stuff over it. As he has on every track of the album, Que comes out tight. Solid cut.
7. I Speak For You
“I Speak For You” has a beat that reminds me of “If I Ruled The World” with Nas, with the piano and all. For you who didn’t hear the Nas track… well it’s a flattering comparison. Go listen to it. Que’s talking about how he’s a man of the people and speak for you. It’s a real cool track.
8. Let It Go
So far, I’ve liked all tracks on the album. This is probably the exception. “Let It Go” has a darker and slower beat that I’m not really feeling. Que The Kid’s not coming out wack or anything, but I’m just not feeling the track as a whole. It’s not my cup of tea.
9. It’s On (In The Streets)
Que The Kid “came from the streets, and remain in the streets”. The clean beat with a guitar over it isn’t impressive itself, but the way Que comes on over it makes this a real tight track.
10. Heavy Burdens
Some people have heavy burdens, and I guess Que The Kid is one of them. The beat is cool but what makes the song is the story-telling rap. Each verse is a story about a new person. I like story-telling rap, so that’s a plus in my book.
11. Yeah Yeah
“Yeah Yeah” is a party banger. Once again Que brings out some of the crunk he’s got in him. Mixed with the east coast flavour, the result is great. I could see this cut being played at clubs etc.
12. Get Shot
“Get Shot” is an other party track. However, the result is not as good as on “Yeah Yeah”. The beat on this song is actually pretty wack. Lyrically, it’s an other one of those “I’m gonna ***** you up” songs everyone make.
13. I Bang Bang
“I Bang Bang” is… a Banger. The beat sounds kind of familiar to me, but it could just be that I’ve been bumping the song a few times now. Even though there are other real tight tracks, this could be the best song of the album. Enough said, really… check it out.
14. Respect Me
A man needs to be respected, no matter size, colour or whatever. The main message in this song is that Que demands his respect. He delivers the message over a pretty dark and repetitive beat. The song’s cool, but after a few bangers I’m a little spoiled.
15. Voice Of The People
“Voice Of The People” is one of those tracks with a speeded up sample in the backround. It works out great! Que delivers an other banger. Just like on “I Speak For You”, Que The Kid explains that he’s the voice of the people. To me, a rapper being the voice of the people is pretty important. When rappers lose touch of their believes and stop speaking on the things they spoke on when coming up, they usually fall off. Either way, this is a banger.
16. I’m A Hustler feat. Mac Sug
An other Mac Sug feature on the album. Mac Sug’s from Tennessee and sounds like it. When he goes on the track, you can hear that grimy dirty south shit most of us like. A real nice way to finish of the album.
Que The Kid has really impressed me with this album. There aren’t really any wack songs on it, even though I wasn’t feeling one or two of the beats. I was afraid this would be one of those albums you throw away after one listen, but that’s not the case at all. Que’s original east coast style with a down south flavour mixes up real good, and with the production being tight as well the album is clearly above an average rating. Compared to the other albums I’ve heard this year, this is probably in the top 5 or even top 3. I rate this album 4 out of 5.