Customer Reviews

Experience & Education

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

 

 

I'll be the first to admit, I gave up on Sadat X years upon years ago, but damn I must come be crazy. After listening to Experience & Education, I was left in a state of bewilderment. I was under the impression Sadat X's gas gage was on E (empty) - but after a couple listens to this, it's evident he just filled up.

Listen to Back to New York, God Is Back and What Did I Do. Damn, I almost want to give this 5 stars, but that should only be reserved for definite classics. However, someone with the hip-hop knowledge I surely possess, giving this 4 stars is nothing short of diamond in the rough. Get it. Dope beats, sharp lyrics, and a rejuvenated Sadat on the mic.

Of Course Of course this album was hella ill, its sadat x! Some may say only for the true heads but i disagree. Many many people can relate to this album who are discovering new things and love to hear stories.

Sadat is a great story teller and proves so not only in this album, but My favourite ever cd of all time, Sadat X. - Wild Cowboys. I cant believe not one person who reviewed this cd and even the reviewer of amazon, did not give mention to the Wild Cowboys Album. C'mon dudes! Anyone who loves Sadat has to pick up the Wildcowboys album. But, props to this one too, a Real Good listen!!! P.S Happy 4:20!!

Sadat X is one of those rappers where you know what to expect from him every time out. Usually he meets or exceeds these expectations. This time around is no different. Experience & Education is right in line with the rest of his releases -- it's dope. There are a few filler tracks, but that's to be expected with 16 tracks. Anyway, with names like Diamond D, Ge-Ology, and Minnesota lending production assistance, you know the beats are definitely on point. Lyrically, the man formerly known as Derek X delivers in his normal fashion. The topics range from relationships, sexual abuse, the posse tracks gets done, and the obligatory 5% Nation philosophies get some tread -- the 5% touch is to be expected if you're at all familiar with any Brand Nubian member. But it's done without coming off too pretentious. I loved it all.

There are a few tracks that fell under skip material in my opinion -- "Back To New York", "Come On Down (Remix)" (good production though), and "Creep" fell under this category for me. Also, toward the end of the album, the production can get a little repetitive (like on "Have A Good Life"). Outside of those minor issues, I'd say that this is a great album. Sadat X definitely does his thing.

Experience & Education is a good lp from X. Though it flew under the radars of a lot of people, the production and lyrics are strong enough to make this LP one of top releases of '05. Too bad these aren't the types of albums getting play on the radio anymore. I recommend adding this to your music library.

Standout Tracks: Ge-ology Beat feat. Gina Vegas (My Favorite), What Don't Ya? feat. Edo G., The Daily News, Creep, The Great Diamond D feat. Heltah Skeltah, Shine feat. Money Boss Players, and What Did I Do?

If you're reading this review, you're no stranger to the hip-hop community. Sadat X has never experienced solo success, however, he's certainly the heart-and-soul of Brand Nubian. Having said that, Experience & Education is nothing groundbreaking or as classic as previous Brand Nubian releases (dating back to the golden age of hip-hop), but you could make an argument this album was one of the best (and most overlooked) in 2005.

The album's highlights Back To New York, God Is Back, What Did I Do?, Ge-ology to name a few - add life into a world of hip-hop that's on the verge of death. Experience & Education is not flawless; in fact - you'll find a handful of filler tracks on this album. If you're a fan of Sadat X, past (Brand Nubian), present (Experience & Education) or future (Black October) do yourself a favor, and buy his best solo work to date.

well well well....what can i say!!!? im a BIG brand nubian fan and a general fan of a lot of the possitive late 80's early 90's hip hop.....as most REAL HIP HOP HEADS know....a time in hip hop where emcees would sit down with a pen and a pad and write counsious down to earth lyrics are slowly fading away!!!
.....FOURTUNATELY (female fun records)..knows this to and is helping to put REAL ARTISTS like BRAND NUBIANS sadat x out!!!!
.....any ways support sadat x and female fun records and buy this CD.......the beats are on point and sharp, plus ORIGINAL and sadat x's lyrics are well written and you can tell he raps about what he wants to rap about and not whats popular at the time!!! .....SOME VERY DEEP LYRICS....

all day. this is an excellent album. i wish i had known about it when it dropped as opposed to just finding out about it a few months ago by accident. it's truly sad that i find my dope albums like that more often than not these days. Billboard and the radio are worse than ever for trying to find any decent new projects from skilled artisans of the hip-hop craft like Sadat X. the only beef i have with this album is it seems some of the tracks were mis-titled when it was mastered/mass produced. without doing a track-by-track analysis, i'd have to say that there are at least 4 joints that stand out for me as true bangers:

1. Shine - simply lovely, production and lyrical content
2. God Is Back - smooth w/the ill lyrics
2. Back To New York - crazy energy w/a tight classic Sadat flow
3. Stack Up - nice use of an old school sounding loop, utter dopeness

do not be confused. this entire album is well worth listening to, let alone copping. unless you're one of those odd cats who don't dig Sadat's flow for some reason, this album is wonderfully refreshing to hear. don't front knuckleheads...

cop this too while you're at it...Black October

Sadat X is one of those rappers where you know what to expect from him every time out. Usually he meets or exceeds these expectations. This time around is no different. Experience & Education is right in line with the rest of his releases -- it's dope. There are a few filler tracks, but that's to be expected with 16 tracks. Anyway, with names like Diamond D, Ge-Ology, and Minnesota lending production assistance, you know the beats are definitely on point. Lyrically, the man formerly known as Derek X delivers in his normal fashion. The topics range from relationships, sexual abuse, the posse tracks gets done, and the obligatory 5% Nation philosophies get some tread -- the 5% touch is to be expected if you're at all familiar with any Brand Nubian member. But it's done without coming off too pretentious. I loved it all.

There are a few tracks that fell under skip material in my opinion -- "Back To New York", "Come On Down (Remix)" (good production though), and "Creep" fell under this category for me. Also, toward the end of the album, the production can get a little repetitive (like on "Have A Good Life"). Outside of those minor issues, I'd say that this is a great album. Sadat X definitely does his thing.

Experience & Education is a good lp from X. Though it flew under the radars of a lot of people, the production and lyrics are strong enough to make this LP one of top releases of '05. Too bad these aren't the types of albums getting play on the radio anymore. I recommend adding this to your music library.

Standout Tracks: Ge-ology Beat feat. Gina Vegas (My Favorite), What Don't Ya? feat. Edo G., The Daily News, Creep, The Great Diamond D feat. Heltah Skeltah, Shine feat. Money Boss Players, and What Did I Do?

Probably the best solo joint from the Legendary MC, SADAT X. From the title track to the end you will not get tired of hearing his unique, one-of-a-kind wordplay. Oh yeah...the beats. Ridiculous!!! Its hard to match such phenomenal production. I couldn't be happier. Experience & Education should be in every HIP HOP HEAD's collection. Peace!

Anybody that knows anything about hiphop in the last 15years has heard of Sadat X. Firstly as part of Brand Nubian (with Lord Jamar+Grand Puba) then as a solo artist that appeared dropping hot 16's on numereous other artists projects. He has 1 of the most original deliveries+sounds on the planet. He has a way of flowing over a track, not necessarily rhyming each line but still engage the listener and entertain everytime. As the title suggests the Experience he has gone through in the industry gives him plenty of subject matter to play with, all of which is backed up with the Education side where he brings it all together with his intelligent wordplay. I thought the only thing that let him down slightly on his last solo album at times was the production side of things. However this time round the sound is much more mature, more jazzy and seems much more free for Sadat to rock on. With underground prominent producers such as DJ Spinna, Geology and Diamond D along with a pletora of newcomers it gives Sadat the perfect springboard to articulate his rhymes. The album starts perfectly with probably the strongest cut here "god is back" (spinna) where Sadat rips it. Then theres some real jazzy moments next with Kleph Dollaz produced "what did i do?" and "the daily news". Then theres the dark grimey "back to new york" where (8off)Aguilar pops up on the background vocals. 1 of 3 of his background vocal appearances. Then theres "come on down"(remix) feat.Money Boss Players which is dark+rugged where the 3 mc's flow effortlessly over the excellent production. "The Great Diamond D" (diamond produces, no suprises) is up next and its a big highlight where Heltah Skeltah pop up alongside Sadat to put together an excellent track. Despite the track listing stating "(experience)..." is up next its actually "help yourself" a laidback positive joint where Sadat tries to instill some knowledge on the mic. "Have a good life" is next showcasing how Sadat sees how his life has developed+gives us an insight on how it came to fruition. Then theres "experience...." feat.Edo.g where the 2 veteran mc's put down some beautiful lines. Next its the rather weak "creep" followed by the r+b tinged "ge-ology" (again no suprises that geology produced this) with some smooth r+b vocals in the chorus by Gina Vegas. Then theres the shoutout track where Sadat just shouts out his crew frustratingly over 1 of the albums best beats. Next its the weakest track in my opinion "stack up" which just sounds like a blatant attempt at the club song. Finally we got the excellent Minnesota produced "shine" feat.money boss players again and the track does exactly what the title says. The album ends with an instumental outro that brings the proceedings to an end. All in all this is the type of album to jusy relax, kick back, nod ya head+enjoy from start to finish. Some good old fashioned fun hiphop!!! Go cop it, the GOD IS BACK!!

Sadat returns with a catalog of rough selections, and adult content. Not explicit adult content, but the type of issues that mature adults should be focused upon. It's quite refreshing to see artists from the days gone by who are able to grow and develop into intelligent representers of hip-hop culture. Compare Sadat's growth to LL Cool J's, who is still prostituting himself for dollars. The difference is staggering.