In the long running beef between the Shady and Murder Inc. camps, the Shady records artists responded on this mixtape released shortly after Ja Rule released the track “Loose Change”.
1. Intro
Just an introduction of Green Lantern to the Shady Records staff. Many samples, Shady and old school shit mixed together nicely.
2. The Conspiracy Freestyle – Eminem
A freestyle by Em responding to Benzino. An unbelievable flow over the beat. Nice little JMJ tribute in there too. Straight heat with many devastating blows. He mocks the Source with sarcasm of how he is ruining rap. “We ain’t trying to ruin rap, we’re just trying to weed it out”
3. Ja Rule Freestyle
A skit radio interlude mocking Ja Rule and the Source. Gives a clip of Ja Rule’s diss to Eminem where he calls himself the “Rap Jimmy Hoffa” but if he calls 50 a snitch, why compare himself to one of the most famous snitches ever?
4. Bump Heads – Eminem, 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks
the beat to this track is just *****ing amazing. 50 Cent lays down a tight chorus right off the start. Em spits first and delivers blows that should have destroyed Ja’s confidence. “That X got him thinking he was DMX, then he switched to Pac, now he’s trying to be him next”, “you don’t really want to step inside no mic booth, you know the whiteboy will bite you”. Banks comes in with the hook to the track which is off the chains. Yayo’s verse is lyrically ill as hell with more blows to Ja and Irv. Lloyd Banks delivers with unmatched skill. One of the tightest tracks to drop in a long time.
5. Ja Rule Freestyle
Why they would put this on the release? Possibly to rob the money Ja could get by releasing it, or more to show how pathetic Loose Change was? Yelling out California, calling Em a nigga, spelling Murder wrong, recycling Tha Realest raps are why this is just bunk, he does flow nice but as a battle track it doesn’t cut it. It ends off with the infamous quote of Ja Rule saying he is 2Pac returned.
6. Hail Mary -Eminem, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes
First off, why people can’t understand the concept of this track is beyond me but here it is: Ja Rule thinks he is 2Pac and idolizes him as shown by the quote leading into the track. By redoing Hail Mary, it hits Ja where it hurts. Once the concept is understood, it is a nice track, of course it’s nothing like the original. Em flips the lines nicely to hurt Ja, 50 uses “Against All Odds” which is a mistake, he should have flipped it more, but it’s eerie how closely he mimicks Pac’s flow. Busta delivers a pretty sad verse but you can forgive the guy, he’s never been a battle rapper.
7. Doe Ray Me – Eminem, D12, Obie Trice
Em gets Hailie in this as a response to Ja Rule cutting her. Em just gives the chorus to the track but it’s catchy as hell. The beats are off the chains. D12 shows how lyrically skilled they actually are and they gives verses that just rip on Murder Inc. Obie Trice gives a killer appearance about Ja acting like he’s 2Pac. This track is another bonified hit.
8. Tony Yayo Freestyle C73
Yayo gives a freestyle over the phone from Riker’s Island acapella style. He gives some good disses to the Murder Inc roster and shouts out Eminem and the staff from jail. A nice freestyle. Free Yayo.
9. We All Die One Day – Eminem, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Obie Trice
The beat to this track is *****ing unbelievably hard. How they can let production like this slide onto mixtapes is unbelievable to think what they are keeping behind. This track is off the hook, the chorus is catchy as *****. Obie starts is off with a tight rap with a killer flow. Banks and Yayo deliver unbelievably, then Eminem steps in with some of his lyrically illest shit in a long time. Killer track.
10. 2 Gunz Up – Jadakiss, Sheek, Styles P, J Hood
The Lox reunite on this to give. The chorus is pretty annoying but the verses and production is tight as *****. The track is hard but the army theme needs to go. Besides that the track is crazy tight.
11. Keep Talkin – Eminem, D12
Em and D12 get back on a track together and deliver a tight track. The chorus by Em is nice, the production doesn’t fail one bit. D12 drop lyrically ill verses. Excellent track.
12. Synopsis – Obie Trice
The feel of the tape slows down with this track but the production is ill and Obie flows over the beat flawlessly. Hopefully they touch the track up and put it on Cheers. The track is tight.
13. 8 Miles – Obie Trice
Again Obie flows with dominance over the production of this beat. His lyrics are pretty tight. Like the last track you hope that he delivers shit like this on his debut album this summer.
14. Conspiracy Theory – P Diddy, Fat Joe
The production on this is undeniably tight. The verses are nice on this shit. A good track for sure, the flows go nicely over the beats. Lantern flips and scratches nicely on this shit. Pretty good.
15. Guntalk – Notorious BIG, Cam’ron
Big’s famous verse from the freestyle he and 2Pac did years back in New York. After some initial mixing by Lantern the track starts and doesn’t disappoint one bit. The verse by BIG is already a classic so you know it’s tight. The beat doesn’t mix too well with the verse but it isn’t horrible.
16. Party Over Here – Rah Digga, Lloyd Banks
Banks shows on this he isn’t confined to a gangster style of track, he can deliver party tracks too. His verse is tight and Digga comes tight over the beat as well, showing why she’s one of the illest female rappers in the game right now.
17. Magic Stick – Lil Kim ft. 50 Cent
This track is already a hit but they flip it and put it over Dre’s “***** You” beat and it’s almost way better than the original. 50 shows why he’s perfect with Aftermath, because he flows crazy tight over Dre production. Good track, Kim’s part is over a 50 Cent beat and it works nicely too.
18. What Goes Around – 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks
A funky start to the track with some old 70’s sampling before the beat flips up and Banks steps in and flows nice over the production of this. This track should also one day be released on a full length solo album because it’s off the chains.
19. P.I.M.P Remix – 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg
This track is already well known too, it’s a tight remix of 50’s P.I.M.P featuring who else but Snoop on the pimp shit. This shit is tight and makes you wonder why they ever had to make a remix, they should have just got Snoop on it to start with.
20. Jay Z Freestyle
Hova freestyles over 50’s “If I Can’t”, and once again it’s flawless. If they ever make a remix of the track they need to put this verse on it because Jigga has the perfect style of the track.
21. Wrong – Kon Artist, Kuniva
The freestyle is over Freeway’s “Free” and to be honest, I think the D12 artists kill the beat better than Freeway did himself. The verses are mad tight and they have the perfect flow over the production.
22. Suck My Dick – Kon Artist
The beat is a little slower for the album and it’s almost too loud over the vocals. The freestyle itself isn’t bad and the track is still average or more. It has some good lines too. “I wish Benzino got AIDS instead of Eazy E”
23. HOM Freestyle
Now this shit is ill. The production is tight, I can’t pinpoint where it’s from but the vocals go nice over the beat without a doubt. Nice freestyle.
24. F.T. Freestyle
Another good track. The lyrics are actually pretty deep for a freestyle. The production is nice. It’s a good track to sit back and chill to when you want to think, shit that usually doesn’t happen with a freestyle. Nice.
25. Patiently Waiting Live – 50 Cent, Eminem
Just a live performance of 50’s “Patiently Waiting” performed at State Theatre in Detroit. The track is and always has been ill. They sound dope live, so if you ever want to see them live, you can tell they won’t disappoint. Also includes one of my favourite lines off 50’s album. “You shouldn’t throw stones if you live in a glass house/ and if you got a glass jaw you should watch your mouth/ cause I’ll break your face/” – hahaha.
Although this is a mixtape, I’m not sure if it’s just a slow year in rap but it’s already the best album released this year. The freestyles are flawless. The beats are off the hook. The purpose of lyrically tearing apart Murder Inc was accomplished. They showcased Shady Records and why they are running the rap game right now. They did everything a perfect mixtape would.
Album Rating: 4/5
Mixtape Rating: 5/5