Customer Reviews

Independent's Day

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For starters i feel this cd is more beat driven than in the past. In this case i don't mind because he still brings his heavy delivery and doesn't let the beat overshadow his lyrical talent.
The intro is boring, it goes with the cd title, but brings nothing to the cd.

I OWE YOU - I could listen to this song several times repeditively and be satified. Lyrics and Beat flow together with perfection. He also speaks about his passion which is felt by the listener. He brings it on this one 5/5.

RIDE - I don't personally like guest apperances in most cases. The chourus is decent, but this whole song feels like it was thrown together; the beat is ify, and guests are average 2/5.

WET MY WHISTLE - this is one of those songs you listen to when your alone you don't drive around bumpin this song, but i think the song is pretty nice. Not the most creative song but everything can't be ground braking. I didn't even realize it was Sara Stokes, she sounds like a veteran R&B artist on this one. I'm not a fan of Da Band, but that never crossed my mind 4/5.

POLITICS - some love it some hate it. I enjoy this one the beat is on the sort of one the rock side but its soft enough to flow with royce's voice on this one. Cee lo is the guest on this one he does a decent job i think he could've brought alittle more and the chourus is average at best, but each verse is what steals the show 3.5/5.

LOOKING AT MY DOG - The chourus doesn't seem all that creative, but i couldn't get it out of my head after one listen. I was reciting the lyrics that same night. I knew i would like this song just from the first few seconds of the beat on this song. Yo Gotti appeares on this one he doesn't do anything special to add to the level of listening ability to this one. When the second verse came i was glad 5' 9" came to save the day. I usually fast foward past Gotti, then the song is very intruging, i might be streching this one but ill give it 4/5.

RIGHT BACK - I have hardley listened to this one so i'll skip it ?/? just like i do when i play it in my cd player. Not a big skit guy either.

BLOW THAT - again love it or hate it i like this one to a degree. I just like that it is a change up to alot of other songs i hear daily 3/5. CHIPS ON PISTONS - maybe this one will grow on me. The beat is decent but I just don't feel the rest of whats going on in this one 2/5.

F*CK MY BRAINS OUT - Don't understand this one 1/5.

INDEPENDENCE DAY - Ok classical royce nice backround beat I feel this all around wish he would've brought more effort as is shown in this one. The only gripe i have is the chourus can be repeditive and somewhat boring 4/5.

MEETING OF THE BOSSES - The beat rides out for 15 seconds to star. I personally wouldn't mind just an instrumental on this song, but royce brings the fire on this one. The chourus is on point and so are the lyrics 5/5 best song here.

PARANOIA - This song is entertaining basically telling a story nice change up works well here and the chourus is nice 4/5.

LAY IT DOWN - I like the beat this song is totally different from anything else it was definetely unexpected i'm diggin' royce's verse again I'm not too into the guest but in this one they don't subtract from the song this song just makes you wanna get rep your hood or start dancin' 4/5.

YEAH - Perfect closing song another classic Royce song good beat "get it...Yeah nickel aint goin nowhere....yeah!" ect 4.?/5

One review said "Strongly recommend to any fan of rap music, whether underground, commercial, gangster, or more conscious" and i definetly agree there......

I am a huge Royce da 5 9 fan and this album is really good and worth the money. He sounds different on this album it is not like his old album maybe because he has different guest on here that no body heard of but that does not hurt the album. I like every song on here except the ones where he talks about girls because i get tired of hearing that. Buy this album

Anyone with an ear to the street in the Detroit Rap Scene surely knows that the crown for best Motor City MC has been bestowed upon Royce for quite some time . . . Eminem, easily the city's most commercially succesful and famous rap artist, even proclaims Royce's municipal MC royalty on the original version of "Renegade", which would later become a track on "The Blueprint" where Jay-Z's lyrics replaced Royce's.
Well, after industry/underground drama with hip-hop heavyweights and discrepancies with various labels, Royce, much like Cuban Link, soon discovered that he would have to go the way of independent labels too do things his way.
That brings us to "Indepedent's Day", Royce's inagural LP on his M.I.C. imprint. Abandoning the super-producers he employed on previous efforts and (sadly) devoid of any instantly-classic Bad & Evil collobarations (with Eminem), this album is strictly indepedent, with a short list of in-house producers and all guest appearances falling under one of the following categories: M.I.C. affiliates, other independent artists and Cee-Lo, from the acclaimed, now defunct Goodie Mobb.

Lyrically, Royce easily outshines all of his guests (although Juan holds his own considerably like he did on "Dope" from the M.I.C.) and keeps spittin flame with the uncanny consistency fans have come to expect from Mr. Montgomery. While this album took the best of both worlds from his two previous commercial LP's, being the hardness from "Death Is Certain" and commercial appeal from "Rock City" without being too monotonal like either, it lacked the adrenaline his outstanding "M.I.C. Mixtape" brought and is lacking any classic tracks, a la "Boom" or classic collabos, a la any Bad & Evil tracks (Nuttin to Do, Rock City, Scary Movies, Renegades). And where is D-Elite?

In terms of production, this album sufficiently proves that actual beats, and not the producers themselves (particularly their track record), can indeed make or break an album. Royce has gotten beats from most of the A-list knob-twiddlers in the past, and on almost every occasion, I wasn't feeling them (with the exception of the Premo-produced tracks). Well on "Independent's Day", the beats backing Royce serve to support his lyrics well without trying too hard. The only truly memorable beat on here comes on the goodbye track, "Yeah", with a commendable production effort also appearing on "Looking at My Dogs", although the latter beat is very reminiscent of the beat from Shyne's "The Life".
So, while this album undoubtedly shows growth from and offers more variety than Royce's previous commercial LP's, it falls considerably short of the expectations he set with his M.I.C. mixtape and the various tracks from his "Build & Destroy" compilation. However, this is the first album I have purchased since "Stillmatic" and I don't regret it because considering the (lack of) quality of "Encore" & "D12 World", this is the best thing Detroit has got going for it in the rap game right now.

I am pissed off because people are giving this cd some bad reviews why are you guys hating on Royce he is experimenting with new sounds and trying to find out different styles. Did you guys even hear the diss track he made towards Eminem And D12 on his album Lost Sessions Pt. 1 called Malcolm X he killed them on that song. Anyways buy this album it is worth every damn penny.

Finally.

Finally, Royce gets in done.

I've been waiting faithfully, since day one, for Royce to put together a CD that doesn't sound like its trying to hard to be a hit (.. ahem...Rocky City)
... or a CD that doesn't have a selection of tracks by producers that don't sound flow well on the CD (.. ahem ...all his other releases). It ruins the vibe when production is all over the place.

He's been in my Top 10 since those early Bad Meets Evil tracks, and every time he dropped an album I brought my fire extinguisher with me expecting my headphones to catch fire... but can you guess how many times I used a fire extinguisher on my headphones? Zip, zero, never, none, nada.

Make no mistake, this CD will not sell 4 million units. It will not put Royce on the "map". It will not make any blips on mainstream radars. But... heads will recognize... and that's real. The Masta Killa album was some street-level-hip-hop-classic isht... but it never splashed. BlackStar was real. The Black Eyed Peas' first album... blah blah blah you get the idea. THIS CD IS DOPE. TOO BAD HIP HOP IS AT A PLACE RIGHT NOW WHERE "INDEPENDENT'S DAY" WILL NOT GET RECOGNIZED.

Imagine how satisfied you were when you listened to Common's "Be" (yes..having Kanye helps..but damn.. "Be" was fresh regardless). The point is - THE ARTIST DELIVERED AND HIS PRODUCERS DIDN'T LET HIM DOWN.

I can still say, "Man, that Canibus CD would be dope if half of those songs didn't have corny hooks." or "Man, that Canibus CD would be fresh the other half of those songs didn't have that weak production."

But I can no longer say, "Hey.. maybe Royce just can't deliver..." cuz now I know he can. Why 4 stars? Because there is no 3.75, and I'm the type to round up. Because, this release is better than his others but not the best CD out this year. Because, this is just a taste of his potential.

He is one of hip hop's purest lyricists. He just needs the production that reflects that fact. This CD displays that... but on an independent, underground level.

Now I'm waiting for that classic...

U cant go wrong buying this cd it is really good and better than the stuff that is out right now. This guy is real and raps about real life experiences and he does not go pop like most rappers today. Support Royce Da 5' 9" cause he deserves it and put up with eminem and all his bulls**t. Buy this now please it is worth it. Peace

This album has a lot of commerical appeal. Some may consider that a positive, some a negative. Either way, there are some solid songs on this album. Be sure to check out this 5/5 songs:

Politics (My favorite)

Independent's Day

Meeting of the Bosses

I Owe You

I have followed Royce for quite some time now and I agree with what many have said, he is highly underrated. So much crap gets through into the mainstream it's a shame that Royce hasn't recieved more credit.
However reviewing this album I must say I'm just a little disappointed with it. It's got some good tracks but it feels that the majority aren't really up to standard of some of his older tracks and as a whole the album just doesn't hit like his others. And yes where the hell is Tre-Little and the rest of D-Elite? The lack of their appearence is noticable as the list of guests on this album don't quite come close to matching some of them. Especially Tre.
To be honest the whole album seems like he is trying to grow up with very mature sounding beats. Which although he always had he always had plenty of comercial sounding songs to keep the album going. This album seems like constant dark/street sounding songs. I couldn't really hear a very commercial song on the album.
It's not a bad album and Royce is still great but I just expected more.

I can honestly give this cd a 4/5 stars. Its clean. Not as dark as D.I.C. and not as mainstream as Rock City. No more shots at Em and the Aftermath, and no more saying that everyone sounds like Big & Pac while using their beats. Carlos "6 July" and Royce really mix together well. Occasionally there is a (D+) hook/chorus on a song or two but overall the good outweighs the bad. Good Work Royce & R.I.P. Blade Icewood

Honestly, after hearing 'Death Is Certain', this album doesn't even come close to how good that album was. There was more commercial, or should i say "bubble gum" rap in this album than any other he has made. It seems as if over the years, Royce has commercialized his music in a way, as to make it revolve around money, drugs, and bi*ches more than anything else. This is just my opinion. I only found a few songs on this album worth listening to...Royce should get his act together and go back to making real Hip Hop!!
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