producers:p.k., swizz beatz, timbaland, dj premier

guests: kasino, eve, swizz beatz, drag-on

Hated. Very hated. Rightfully hated. But at the same time: successful. Getting props from people you wouldn't expect. The Lox. No longer Bad Boys. Boasting about them being the streets. Them being called hardcore. Two qualities we can by no means allow to be used for them. The Lox. Platinum. The Lox: wack? Underrated? Overrated? What, what?

After the 'supposed to be ironic', corny, self dissing intro, "Fuck You" jumps in and takes the center stage. The beat, a horrible Swizz Beatz something. But Jadakiss makes sure from the first line on, why so many respect this cat, he spits: "yo, everybody's a snake / that's why I try to keep the grass cut / so I can see 'em when they coming". With the rest of the track being mostly bragging and babbling, we might as well progress to the next cut, without noting, that "Fuck You" is pretty much a 'one two, go spit' track, as the hook is only at the beginning and the end and the verses being the meat in this burger, as each cat straight up follows the other one. "Can I Live" featuring Kasino, then contains a more acceptable Swizz beat, that's still nowhere near his good cuts. 'Kiss, Styles and Sheek are on some threatening ish, but they are hiding behind big guns, so are not that intimidating. On the fast forward tip, "Breathe Easy" can be skipped without hesitation. Same goes for "Felony Niggas" a Styles solo cut, with another surprisingly weak Swizz production. The Lox then go for the obligatory energy track, but on their "Wild Out", they fail to repeat the irresistible movers they already were able to add to their track record. The chorus has no connection to the track itself, but there's a Styles quotable in here, as he goes "you hate a nigga, go and kill him while he taking a shit / so, when the cops come and get him he'll be making 'em sick / so, they could feel how I feel / I had a probable cause". Jadakiss boasts "who really the best rapper since B.I.G. ain't here / y'all know the answer to that when Kiss ain't here" on his solo offering "Blood Pressure". And DJ Premier is mutilated on "Recognize", and although his beat isn't one of his better ones, this suddenly makes you think of hip hop. Suddenly The Lox flow. Suddenly this sounds nice. And suddenly we start to agree when Styles kicks "two is better than one / there's three of The Lox".

Swizz tries hard to follow this track, with a beat that gets as emotional as a keyboard allows you to get. Styles again gets the shine, dropping thoughtful rhymes: "I used to puff dimes / and think the law was cold / back then when my mom played my father's role / now I'm a man, running with a gun in the vest / it feel good with my son on my chest / I wanna quit, but I'm one of the best / fuck around I might run to the west / lay low and get blunted to death". Compared to that, the weakest cat on the mic, Sheek comes off ignorant, while 'Kiss is babbling. "Scream L.O.X." is on some bubble gum type vibe, that's pretty much a track to forget about, if there wouldn't be a 'Kiss who spits "you don't gotta like me / I show up to your wedding / rocking a white tee / your wife like 'oohh-wee' / and if I dance wit her / then I got a chance with her / but I ain't gonna do her / I'ma wait till after the honeymoon to screw her". It's somewhat scary that Swizz described the work for this album as 'his futuristic style', cause it's weak, if not wack. "U Told Me" (feat. Eve) can only be considered a tid bit interesting, but it's mostly just some 'aaaw, puke'. But that's harsh. But it's also Timbaland that did the beat to the well known "Ryde Or Die, Bitch". This skirt chaser tune is a nice little tune for the happier days. Now Sheek also gets his solo track, and he ridicules himself, actually recording lines like "I can talk about guns / go out smack some nuns / then flip and do a song with country music and shit". He's saying a lot of rubbish, even too much to mention here, so all that shall be said is: Next. Then again, "If You Know", feat. Swizz Beatz, Drag-On and Eve isn't really a good track to listen to either. So let's check out the last cut on here "We Are The Streets". The beat is almost bearable, maybe even nice after you have been brainwashed by playing it a few hundred times.

Okay, the review got a little harsh at the end. But The Lox deserves it. See, if these cats would sit down, and would consider every line they are about to spit, they have to go and say 'yo, wait a minute, that's crap I'm saying here'. There's no way, they can seriously think that every line on here is the best they can come up with. Nope. And we know that for a fact. Cause every now and then, there's a little sparkling treat hidden in there for you. A line, a thought that just gives you a reason why to even listen to this. These cats could do better. They've done better. And why exactly they are the streets is a big ass questionmark in itself. However, we are not going to diss them. We are just sending them back, like a mean parent that knows, that the kid could do better with the homework, but it's just rushing it, to be able to go out and play. Nope, not today, fella. You better sit your ass down and start from scratch. Then you can go outside and play on the streets, run with scissors, or whatever the heck you wanna do.