Customer Reviews

Me Myself & I

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

 

 

I had never listened to a Fat Joe album. My best friend kept saying it's hot. I always thought Fat Joe was commercial. Well, he ssuprised me with this one. It's gutta from start to finish. If you want something with heavy beat to ride to, this won't disappoint you. Not 5 mics, but it's still hot.

I'm not a large fan of Fat Joe. I'm hardly even a moderate fan of Joey Crack's style. Even when he was Fat Joe da Gangsta, and releasing DITC-laced tracks like "Flow Joe" back in the day, Fat Joe never really stood out much as an emcee. It took the incredible talent of his protege, Big Pun, to put Fat Joe on the map, and it's no surprise that Joe's best album, Don Cartagena, was released while Pun was running the game.

Pre-Pun, and post-Pun times haven't been very good to Joe. Some people blame the lack of Fat Joe's musical quality after Cartagena as a result of him being devestated by Pun's death. While that is a reasonable assumption, let us not forget that Joe wasn't releasing any groundbreaking albums before he ran with Pun either. I'm not accusing Fat Joe of having Pun ghostwrite for him on Don Cartagena, but it's obvious that Pun brought out the best in Joey Crack, resulting in a nearly classic album.

This is, in my honest opinion, the best Fat Joe album behind Don Cartagena. While it is far from classic, it is an above-average, and highly focused release from an emcee I'd nearly given up on long ago. Joe isn't making any musical, and lyrical movements, and he's hardly changed his subject matter in between albums; this is still a very commercial album from Fat Joe. However, his swords have gotten sharper, his beats are hotter, as well as more diverse, and when it comes to actual delivery, this maybe the pinnacle for Joe.

Only three tracks feature guest appearances, with two of them being Lil' Wayne, and the other being Game; the rest of this album is all Joe. Joe hasn't carried this much of the workload since his debut album, but the lack of posse cuts actually add to the overall quality of this release. Joe is in the forefront, as he should be on his own album. I'm also glad he chose two of the more gifted mainstream emcees for guest appearances, instead of enlisting whoever's hot at the moment.

You won't find any provocative lyricism here, and you won't find any production that shakes the foundation of hip-hop; what you will find is a highly satisfying album from Fat Joe, who, while clearly being far from one of the best cats in the game, still manages to release an album with no filler. Definitely enough to feed his hardcore fanbase, and quite a healthy meal for those of us who aren't exactly crazy about Crack. Recommended.

Im sorry but Fat Joe ruined what could have been his best work to date with corny commercial filler. The good news: Damn, Think About It and Story To Tell are the type of songs Fat Joe should have been making all along because he actually spit some dope bars on those tracks. No Drama(Clap & Revolve) has a sick beat provided by The Runners but Joe's rhymes were mediocre on that track. The same thing can be said about Hard Not To Kill. Bendicion Mami is a touching tribute to his mother and is one of the better songs. Unfortunately it goes downhill from there. The bad news: Pandemic wasnt bad lyrically but the beat is insanely corny. Lil Wayne makes two appearances on here(Make It Rain and The Profit). Make It Rain is easily the worst song on the album and that is the wackest beat that Scott Storch has ever produced. The Profit is flat out boring while Lil Wayne spouts brilliant lines like "even the sun shines on dog s***". Jealousy, She's My Mama and Breathe And Stop feat The Game are incredibly boring. Breathe And Stop not only butchers a sample of Bob Marley's War, it also has Fat Joe taking a swipe at 50 but the song is bland that you could care less. Bottom Line: Me, Myself and I is better than Fat Joe's previous works but it's just as forgettable as his previous works. If Fat Joe would have shaved it down to lets say 6 songs this might have been a dope EP and his best work to date. But he put too much filler in here and this album suffers because of that. Oh well Joey, back to the drawing board. Standouts: DAMN, NO DRAMA, THINK ABOUT IT, BENDICION MAMI and STORY TO TELL.

Fat Joe's (A.K.A. Jose Antonio Cartagena) seventh solo album is "Me, Myself and I". Those familiar with his work may have noticed the album cover is similar to one of better releases his third album "Don Cartagena". The Bronx MC keep's this release short at twelve track's, and this album has three guest appearances which come from The Game, Lil Wayne and H-Mob. Production comes from Street Runner, LV, The Runner's DJ Khaled, Nu Jerzey Devil & Scott Scorch. The Runner's provide some of the best production on "No Drama" (Clap And Revolve) a grimy sounding cut. Lyrically Fat Joe is his usual braggy less then entertaining self for most of this album. His lyrics are as egotistical as his album titles. My problem with Fat Joe resides in the fact that he never puts any of his people on, instead following the same formula time after time. The Terror Squad is a crew full of talented MC's (even with the loss of Cuban Link and Triple Seis) and singer Tony Sunshine has a lot of potential - all of them get put on the back burner each year for a less then impressive Fat Joe album. Two of this album's closing track deserve some praise - Fat Joe's dedication to his Mom on "Bendicion Mama" and the follow up cut "Story To Tell" are decent. Buyer Beware, satisfaction not guaranteed.

This album is perfectly titled because he is probably the only one who is feeling it. Besides this album cover resembling Don Cartegena(his best album!) and the title ripped from an old De La Soul classic, Fat Joe doesnt give you anything you spectacular. No its not worser than All Or nothing but its still bad. He does have some dope tracks which are DAMN(all his songs should sound like this so why dont they?) NO DRAMA(sick beat, mediocre lyrics), BENDICION MAMI(great tribute to his mom), THINK ABOUT IT HARD NOT TO KILL and STORY TO TELL but his album is weighed down heavily by these rusty anchors. Filler: Make It Rain and She's My Momma and Jealousy is bubblegum rap at its worst and Im still trying to figure out how Make It Rain became an anthem out here in South Florida. The song is bootycrack plus that has to be the worst beat Scott Storch has made! Pendemic needs to be redone. The Profit is better than Make It Rain but is that saying much? Breathe And Stop, which poorly samples Bob Marley's War is so dull I had to punch my self in the balls just to stay awake! And isnt that the dullest hook you've ever heard provided by The Game? Bottom Line: While this album is not worser than his previous work it is still forgettable like his previous albums. Joe raps decent on certain tracks(Damn, Think About It) and some of the beats are tight. You dont get the full package with Joe on this one and that why it will fall on deaf ears(all the pop albums he made notwithstanding). Fat Joe at his best: Jealous Ones Envy and Don Cartegena. Fat Joe at his worst: All Or Nothing, J.O.S.E., Represent(back when he was called Fat Joe De Gangsta),Loyalty and Me Myself and I. Thats five bad albums that Joe has made throughout his career. I think its about time for Fat Joe to hang it up.

Joseph "Fat Joe" Cartagena is back once again with his 7th album to try to capture a throne he lost long time ago. Joe has always been a strong MC, but the problem was the contuinity on his albums. He sold well with pop-rap singles like "What's Love" with Ashanti "Hold You Down" with JLO, "Crush Tonight" with Ginuwine and "All I Need" the last two from up and coming producers Cool & Dre. But his albums never sold that well, atleast not recently. The single "Lean Back" became a huge hit, although the single version didn't even appear on his last album "All or Nothing" only a mediocre remix. However, that it became a big hit itself was a success cause apart from many other of his past hits, "Lean Back" with Terror Squad was more hardcore and it proved that Fat Joe still could come up with tougher songs that could sell without going mainstream. This album called "Me, Myself and I" is a back to back album which is completely non-commercial and almost guest free and deal with more hardcore-rap, something that Fat Joe hasn't been doing for a while and hence, lost respect from some of his peers. "Pendemic" the lead off is surprisingly good, here Fat Joe pay respect to hero's like the late Big Pun and Notorious B.I.G but also makes a reference to Joe Pesci in "Casino". Two interesting guests appear here though, Lil, Wayne on "The Profit" and Scott Storch produced "Make it Rain" and The Game on "Breathe and Stop", not surprising they both are feuding with 50 Cent?. Storch also produces "Think About It" which got a grandiose sound. On "Bendicion Mami" and old skool Michael Jackson song is sampled, best song however is the closer "Story To Tell" that is a honest testimony with minimalistic production. This album is good but it's not for the casual fan who expects another "What's Love", here we'll find Mr Cartagena going back to his roots and at the same time paying tribute to hip hop influents and his latin herirage. The guests that appear here are far from commerical but at the same time no one steals the show from Joe this time around. He's always in focus and it feels like his project all the way. There's also only 12 songs which makes this album slim and short of fillers. However, It's not far the casual fan and while he's non-commercial it feels a little bit un-interesting at times. But respect rewarded for trying something new and original. This is perhaps his best album in a while (as a concept) even if few songs stick out. 3'5 stars, for the hardcore fan, not for pop-rap fans.

as for as production this album is one of the best this year by far and his lyrics are tight as well . people dont give joe much credit, this album has to be a top ten of the year

i think he should stop now this is really bad, and since when could purto ricians say the N word?

This album is a complete album from start to finish. He still spits real rap. I just wish he didn't make his singles so commercial b/c it makes him seem like a commercial rapper. Like chingy, or diddy or someone.

Who cares that Fat Joe did ONE song with Paris Hilton?? So did Jadakiss, but does that make him or any other artists wack? NO! Fat Joe really delivered with this album, and I was surprised by how good it was. Definatly a HUGE improvement since last album. Pick this one up now along with Game's album!

TOP TRACKS:
Breathe & Stop
No Drama (Clap And Revolve)
The Pendemic
Make It Rain
Damn