Customer Reviews

Divine Design

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ok this may be the weakest of all of his releases however his mic skills are always on point and Jeru is one of the best emcees to touch the mic I believe. So lyrically its a hot album. The skits are mostly whack and many of the beats need help but upon repeated listening you may find like I do that the album still bangs regardless of the negatives. Im tellin you dont sleep on Jeru and overlook the albums negatives!

Man, when I first got this, I listened to tracks 2 and 3. Man, I thought they were tight. Especially True Skillz. Man, the lyrics were on point, but since when did this ex Dirty Rotten Skoundrel never come correct on the mic. But, I was like, ok, even though Premo isn't backing him up, beats like the one on True Skillz showed a lot of promise. That beat had my head nodding. Then came about every song after that. Lyrics, still with fury, but, what happened with the beats. Those did not mesh well with Jeru and they actually wouldn't even mesh with Jay Z or MC Hammer. They were some of the worst beats I've ever heard, and I've heard plenty. I don't know what he was thinking, but man, it killed the mood that tracks two and three (true skillz) provided. My cd is scratched now and I'm not too dissapointed considering the two songs that don't play right have the worst beats. If you want to hear great lyrics over wack beats, get this. If you want all around good quality, then I'd say hold off. Sorry to Jeru, who's a legend, but this pretty bad. The reason a three is because lyrics were correct.

Hands down, lyrically this is the same Jeru. Crazy over the head esoteric lyrics, with the style that's all his. But, the beats on this one are, no doubt "LACKIN'". Whatever beef he has with DJ Premier, he better squash it fast. There's too many wack rappers (50 cent, Eminem, Lil' Jon etc.) He has the skills as demonstrated on "Logical", "Queens" and my personal favorite "Rap Wars". He should have made that track longer. But overall it's Aiight. A far cry of what I'm used to by him.

I really like this album. I listend to all of jeru's albums back to back and I think this one is just as dope. The beats are on point, the ryhmes are tight, and the delivery is crazy. all and all this is a hot album. My faorite tracks are logical,true skills, murda 1, da game, war, rap wars, queens and divine design. Try it you'll like it!

There's 2 things, in my opinion, you have to consider with a JERU album and that's his lyrical prowess and the beats to do him justice. In the 1st category im happy to say, youre NEVER let down with the god. But...beats wise this album never delivers as it should. With the exception of the tracks mentioned in the other reviews ("true skillz", "rap wars", "dirty" and in my opinion, "queens", "divine design" and "logical") the rest of the beats were WACK!!! Fortunately, JERU is talented enough to not allow the tracks to dip, which would be mission impossible to a lesser m.c., but still cant lift them enough to be memorable. Also most of the songs are under the 3min mark which is really not good enough. So to sum it up JERU comes with the same subject matter, same skillz, same intellect, same determination and style but this time with less of an impact. Such a shame there's a beef with DJ Premier cuz with his beats and these lyrics DAMN!!! Worth a listen cuz it does grow on you though.

However he should have some better beats they were somewhat lacking on the whole album,Lyrically however he kills all of the tracks and many of the good songs are because of his Lyrical abilities give Premo a call man and that will be tight.

True Skillz-War-Praise the Lord-Dirty-Rap Wars-Devine Design

Lyrics-10/10 Production-7/10 X Factor-8/10 Classic-8/10 Replay-8

Total=8 out of 10 Fingers

Read the reviews and I would have to disagree with them just got mine today. Glad that there was a "Prophet" track really missed it in the last album. Very good Underground Album. Definitly not a Wrath of the Math, but it is a 2nd best for Jeru. Hoping for a Jeru and Premier track.

The softest of all his albums I've heard thus far. Not bad, just boring and lacking the industrial loops of his other releases.

I just wanted to say that too many people have not been giving this album enough credit. The beats are no DJ Premier sound collages its true but they are effective enough, if sometimes slightly annoying. Its slicker but at the same time still sort of has a back-to-basics sound. There is diversity of sound (though often the drum samples they use are annoying). The real gem of this album is the lyrics. Jeru has a less freeflowing, more on beat style but still tongue twistingly runs circles around your mind, and managed to interweave jewels of knowledge amidst tense, compelling lyrical narratives. If you have appreciation for the lyrics of the Dirty Rotten Scoundrel and arent afraid of a challenge of dissecting them (maybe requiring multiple listens) you will enjoy this.

Jeru does not make club records. Most of the popular Hip-Hop on the radio is driven by the beats and acclaimed producers. True his producers aren't going for the flashy, catchy hook that people won't be able to get out of their heads, but I think the beats compliment Jeru well. The strength of his words and the message he's trying to get across are far more than that 99 percent of the so-called Hip-Hop kidz. Don't expect the Damaja to be something he's not and you won't be disappointed.