Customer Reviews

Life Story

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The first thing I thought when I had finished listening to this album was, "damn, he's never going to get the recognition he deserves being on the Bad Boy label". The only people really listening to, and buying this album, are the suburban kiddies who heard the song "Whoa" on their favorite "hip-hop" radio station. What most people and real hip-hop heads don't hear is Rob's ability to weave an intricate and emotional story through his songs. Whether it's about his rough childhood in "Life Story", or about a fantastic battle between gangsters in "Lookin At Us", it's all a very vivid picture thanks to his structure and delivery. The only reason this album doesn't get a four-star rating is because Puff Daddy found a way to muck up a near hip-hop classic, not only by speaking on several tracks, but by forcing certain subject matters. "PD World Tour"? For God's sake...
All in all, a VERY paletable offering from the Bad Boy camp--about the only one to come from around that way since the passing of the REAL G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time)
R.I.P. Big

For all of you who thought bad boy was gone, your wrong. Need we forget that while we were bumpin' 112's anywhere and Faith Evan's that Puffy produced them? But anyway, Rob is a tight MC, part meth, part big. He can take marginal beats (like on down the line joint and pd world tour)and turn out a pretty good song. While doing my initial preview of the album, these song sounded bad, but after a complete listen thye were pretty tight. Give him a tight beat (muscle game, br, life story) and the result is incredible. I wish there wasn't so many guest mc's, cause rob doesn't need them. He usually embarasses them. I personally have no problem with (got both albums), but don't make the mistake of not buying life story cause he produced it. You might think it's alright in the begining, but trust me, it'll grow on u quick.

Black Rob's album might be the best hip-hop album to come along in along time from the East. The lyrics are on point and Puffy's Hitmen crew lay the perfect backdrop. Don't playa hate and not buy this album because it's a puffy project, because it's not. It's 100% Black Rob and 100% pure hip-hop. Whoa is only a small sample of the hot songs on this album, deffintely not close to the best cut. If you think Beanie Sigel is good, you will love this. Didn't give it 5 stars just because I think only albums such as Illmatic, the Chronic, and the Imfamous should garner that title. And as this album is phat, it's deffinitley not hip-hop changing as those, but close to it. You'll be bumping this album deep into the summer.

Over the past year, in my opinion, Bad Boy has hardly had any accomplishments: The LOX went to the Ruff Ryders camp, Mase retired, and Puffy released an album. Despite these and other troubles, Bad Boy has finally released another classic album, "Life Story" by Black Rob. After listening to this album, you'll think to yourself that maybe, just, maybe Bad Boy has a future. The CD begins with the powerful title track, that has BR explaining how times were hard and that he thanks his mother for what she tried to do to make them easier. From then on you will here nothing but bangin' joints for the rest of the CD. "Lookin At Us w/ Cee-Lo of The Goodie Mob, "Espacio w/Lil' Kim, the outdated "Can I Live" w/The LOX. The song has Jadakiss giving Puffy props about puttin' the LOX down and showing them the right ways to make money. (What's wrong with that picture?) Other highlights include "Jasmine" w/ Carl Thomas, "You Don't Know Me w/ Joe Hooker and the current single and best song on the album, "Whoa!". After 2 listens of "Life Story" you'll see that Black Rob is a storyteller and the way he crafts his stories are comparable to the Notorious one himself. Move On Black Rob Move On!

This is the best release from Bad Boy since Biggie's Life After Death. The Source gave this album mad love and it was well deserved! That is one of the reasons why I picked this album up, and that song WHOA!

The only bad song on here is Down The Line Joint, and thats because Puffy, Mark Curry, and G-Dep have bad verses. Black Rob did a good job on that song but it wasnt enought to save it. The only other downfall was all of the interludes, the only i liked was the Cop Skit... kinda funny

Black Rob does great on every track. There wasnt a single verse on the album from Rob that I wasnt feelin. Some of the stand out tracks on the album were WHOA!, everyone has heard that song. Lookin At Us feat. Cee-Lo is one of my favorites, they both rip it on that track. Espacio feat Lil Kim and G-Dep was another good one along with You Dont Know Me. The BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM is Can I Live feat. the Lox; everyone rips it on that track! THUG STORY which was sampled from a Slick Rick song was also hot. and then Spanish Fly feat J LO.

Every song on the album except one is worth listening to. Black Rob did a great job on his debut and its a shame he hasnt got the credit for such a good album. I havent heard anything about him in a long time so hopefully he's getting ready to drop another album.

Dont let the fact that this is a BAD BOY album keep you from buying it B/C im not a big fan of their artist's but this album is HOT!

aight i got my handz on this hot new joint from black rob. all the online reviewerz r givin it 5 stars and even the source thinkz it'z an awesome album. i open up the package pop the cd in and expect a whole great album. i was pretty much wrong.only a limited amount of hot jointz appear on tha album. there were a lot of backup rnb singaz which i didn't really enjoy hearin. there wuz some dope stuff on here tho. some tight trackz include espacio, whoa!, thug story, and br. the rest is semigood. i expected a lil more out of this album tho. evry1'z comparin it 2 biggie so i dunno what to think. biggie was a much smoother lyricist. this is still the best thing bad boy'z put out in a really long time. black rob tried but i wasn't feelin it.

This Cd is like WHOA! On the Real it is way off the charts and if you think that girl or guys are like WHOA! then you need to pick this album up.

It has proven to be a double edged sword that the release date on this album was pushed back for about two years. Some tracks do sound a bit dated, and much of the material is will probably be familiar to true hip-hop heads from soundtracks, mixtapes, etc. But when the album was completed in it's first incarnation, Black Rob had not yet added "Whoa", a future hip-hop classic, and one of the hottest records so far this year. If you're a true hip-hop enthusiest, you'll probably buy this album just to have "Whoa" in the collection. But while "Whoa" is a funky street anthem which is also commercially brilliant (the whole damn song is essentially hook), it does not really capture what Black Rob is about as an MC. In actuality, Rob is the latest in a long lineage of story tellers that includes Slick Rick, Ice Cube, and the late great Notorious one. Rob is at his best when he is dropping vividly gritty tales of ghetto existance. The title track will have you hanging on Rob's every word, just like Rick's "Children's Story" (which is re-made here) and BIG's "Warning". "Jasmine" features rob rhyming about hip-hop's latest femme fatale over and earily laid back track. But the highlight of the album is "Lookin' At Us" with Cee-lo. This cut captures both MCs at their best, and like "Whoa" is more than funky enough to break down regional barriers.

With the mass exodus of Bad Boy stars, it is a wonder how yet another superb album such as this has appeared. I saw Craig Mack leave, Biggie go, Mase retire, Shyne in big trouble and the Lox leave as well. Just don't let Black Rob disappear too! He is a lyrical genius and has his very own real style. The album hits it off perfectly with Life Story featuring Cheryl Pepsi Riley and Racquel, blasts into the monster hit Whoa! but shortly after hits a golden streak with Down the Line Joint with Puff, Mase and also Mark Curry and G-Dep (whose albums I am looking forward too) and then Espacio with Lil'Kim, You don't know me with Joe Hooker and Can I Live with former label mates the Lox. Up to this point the album is scorching hot. After this point it is still very very good with tracks like Jasmine with Carl Thomas and also Thug Story, I Love you Baby (also on Puff's No Way Out, but still a classic), Spanish Fly with Jennifer Lopez and closing out strongly with I Dare You. The first half of the album is pure excellence and the second half is not too far off that either, but the first half is stronger. Overall the best release on Bad Boy since Life After Death.

If not for Black Rob and this album, I would consider Bad Boy a completely dead label right now, comparable to Death Row (which is also being held above water by one man--Daz Dillenger). After Cream Puffy's ever-so-wack "Forever" late last year, and a series of release dates being pushed back for this album, I had begun to give up hope. Singles like "I Dare You" and "You Don't Know Me" were beginning to get very old and played out. But then Rob drops the hit track "Whoa!" and my eagerness to get this album was rejuvenated.
And when the date finally came, after months of waiting, I was not disappointed. The title track is a nice, but yet rugged joint showcasing Rob's superior lyrical abilities. "Down The Line Joint" must've been recorded quite a while ago, as it features everybody's favorite former Bad Boy Mase. But it's still a nice track. Same with "Can I Live" featuring former Bad Boys the Lox. The lyrics are very out-of-date, as Kiss spits "we can't lose, cuz Puff set us up properly." But still a good track.
"Thug Story" is a remake of Slick Rick's classic "Children's Story." Rob definitely does this one justice, unlike most remakes. And Cee-Lo stops by for a worthwhile performance on "Lookin At Us."
Rob is a great lyricist, which he shows over and over again on this album. And the production is actually very good. The only minor flaw I find in this is the old tracks, but even those are hard to look down on. If this album doesn't go platinum, when artists like Hot Boy$, Master P, and even Puff are going platinum multiple times over, there's something wrong with the hip-hop world.
Buy this album! You won't be disappointed!