Customer Reviews

Northstar

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

 

 

While my musical tastes have drifted a little bit so im not as concentrated on rap as i used to be, i have been listening to some underground Wu-Tang stuff lately. i got the Popa Wu album "Visions of the Tenth Chamber" and the soundtrack to the movie "Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai", both good albums with some hot tracks from the Wu underground. One of my favorite artists from those compilations was Northstar, a West Coast duo who was on some tight songs on those albums. When I came across this album on Amazon, I knew I wanted to try it out. Luckily, I got a good price on it. I popped it in my CD player and was a little bit suprised. It was a little more commercial then I've heard them before, but still good.

"Luv Allah" is a good first song, with a nice beat and some good rhymes. "We Got It" is a materialistic song, different then what I've heard before. "Red Rum" is a great song, West Coast style, with good guest rhyming from Shacronz. Don and a reggae hook. "Crazy" is a celebration of going wild, with an R&B hook and some nice rhymes. I don't necassarily like the beat on "See Me", but on "64", the RZA drops a cool, dark beat, and it's a real good song. "So So Serious" isn't too great, but "Duckie" is a good song with some nice storytelling. "Ballin" is OK, but I really like "Destiny", with more good storytelling and a nice R&B chorus from Kinetic. "Black Knights of the Northstar", featuring Doc Doom and Midnight is definately one of my favorites, with great lyrics over a top-notch beat. It was on Popa Wu's "Visions From The Tenth Chamber" but under the name "Simply Ludicrous".

Overall, I was suprised by the commercial sound on some of the songs, and some of the more West Coast feel, and while I have heard them drop some nice songs, some of the songs on this aren't that great. A pretty good CD, but not the Wu's best. I did however, like a lot of it, so I'd recomend it to someone, just don't be suprised if all of it doesn't sound like classic Wu.

Northstar is one unit from Wu Family,
My very first time to heard about this group is from the "Wu Tang Killa Bees The Swarm" album!
[ok, that Cd cover is bad but that cd is a pure wu tang joint, go get it too if you haven't.]
But their song is not too standout, not so catch my ears.

Anyway, I got this album after it released for a while.
Because I don't have so much interest on it,
but once I listen to it in record store....
I think "God!!! I gotta have it!"
I haven't hesitate a second and go purchase it.

Sh*t, and I have listen to the whole thing about 4~5 times that day I got it!

Executive Produced by RZA is one of the selling point of this album, no doubt baby!
All rap fans got love for RZA,
And I'm very glad that Rza produce 4 songs in here,
I feel surprise!!!
Instead he just produce one song and label it's Executive Produce by RZA!

1.Luv Allah - Produce by a producer that I never heard,
Armand Van Helden, but once I heard this song, I'll remember this guy, The beats is as old wu tang as it gets! AMAZING!!!
A Modern sounds of Martial Art Wu Tang beats! nuff say, 5/5

2.We Got It - This one is very nice too! Great sound sample, bangin' beats, You don't have to skip it! 5/5

4.Red Rum - Produce by RZA, but it just a drum machice plus a little noise, it's doesn't boring at all, but not good enough and it lack of a nice sound sample! 3.5/5

6.Crazy - This one is nice! 4/5

7.Nuttin' - Wow! another song produce by Armand Van Helden, and he did a tight job again! 4.5/5

9.See Me - Produce by RZA, But got no Wu Tang feeling in it, I guess it's the sound of Bobby Digital huh?
Ok, very electric/techno sounding beats, I feel it's weird first but now feeling better! 4/5

10.64 - This one sounds more normal, quite good but I think RZA can did better job than this. 3.5/5

11.So So Serious - Wow! another tight fast tempo song!!! 4/5

12.Duckie - This one remind me the sound of "The W" of Wu Tang a lot!!! Keep sampling a woman voice, mid tempo beats, very nice one! 4.5/5

13.Ballin' - Good song! 4/5

14.Destiny - Luckily, RZA did a AMAZING job in here, to rejoiced me a lot..... No doubt baby, 5 stars! 5/5

15.Black Knights of the Northstar - Last Song, Very Wu Sounding beats! Like something from The W and Iron Flag era! 4.5/5

Northstar is a great artists,
2 nice rappers with ton of never-heard-guest-appear,
with TIGHT PRODUCTION!
If featuring some members from the clan, it should be CRAZY!
But anyway, THIS IS A GREAT ALBUM!
I'm sure it give you more than you expect!!!
Get it now!

THIS CD WAS A BIG SURPRISE, I HEARD THESE CATS ON KILLA BEES THE STING AND THOUGHT THAT THEY STOOD OUT, SO I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS RELEASE. I HOW EVER DID NOT EXPECT THIS CD TO BE AS GOOD AS IT IS.
ARMAND VAN HELDEN DELIVERS 2 AMAZING BEATS AND I HOPE RZA USES HIM FOR FUTURE PROJECTS, THE REST OF THE BEATS ARE HANDLED BY RZA AND MATHEMATICS SO YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS TRULY RARE. THERE IS REALY NO SONG TO SKIP HERE EXCEPT THE SKITS. NOTEWORTHY IS TRACK 11 SO SO SERIOUS, THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST EXPLOSIVE BEATS IN A VERY LONG TIME AND IF THIS DOESNT GET YOUPUMPED NOTING WILL. TRULY WORTH GETTING.- G23 SOUTH AFRICA

On the wu tang killa bees compilation the swarm,the weakest group was called black knights of the northstar,2 of the emcees were tolerable,and 2 sucked, the really bad ones meko and christbearer decided to make a group consisting of them,what you get is a weak unit who can't pump a solid album,save your money and buy shabazz's album instead.

I ordered this only because I am collecting the whole wu-tang catalog. but basically, The production all sounds the same and overusing the helium sounding high pitch voice. even tho Rza and matahamatics have a couple productions on this. These are Sub par Wu-production. Black knights like Doc doom,and Monk were tolerable but Northstar is Terrible I dont know why RZA decided to try to expose these guys. Sounds like they did too much Ketamine and cant talk or pronounciate words. I can understand Slang and all that but I dont get WTF they are trying to say on the skits either. I Think RZA was smokin too much Dust when he put this out. I have a hard time inducting it into my Wu-catalog. Id rather sell it.

this cd has definately been one of my best buys ever, even my mates who dont have my taste in music borrow it and play it over and over again. a definate classic in my collection

First got this CD back in 2004-Great music. Remember bumpin' this on my road trip back to Cali for the holidays non-stop. Good to see RZA on the West Coast building with the talent that Christ Bearer and Meko bring to the table. Got a couple of cool skits too-you know how Cali cats gotta represent. Bangin' CD-Think most people will enjoy this disc.

If you first heard of Northstar from the "Killa Bees The Swarm Vol 1" So did I. It is actually confusing to know for sure who was in the group, because they consisted of the Black Knights. So yes, Black Knights and Northstar are two different groups. On the Swarm album they had them together as "Black Knights of the Northstar."

Now this group Northstar is a duo of just "Christ Bearer" & Meko. So know that you will not hear ( Holocaust, Dr Doom, Rugged Monk, and Crisis. They have an album called "Every Night is a Black Knight") I have heard several rumors as to why they were all broken up. I heard Warcloud/Holocaust did not get along with Remedy (Who is Jewish) because of his offensive name. Then I have heard other trash about Killarmy not getting along with all of them because of some colors and gang bang rubbish.

Christ Bearer is the one with the higher pitched voice. Meko is the one with the hard deep voice. Their lyrics are just as you would expect from west coast very inconsistent. Sometimes they can go hard and other times it sounds like some ABC rap. They do know how to rock the mic on some fresh beats though. So definitely give them a chance.

Northstar is a hip-hop duo consisting of Christ Bearer and Meko The Pharaoh. They have been on different Wu-Tang Affiliated tracks in the last decade. In 2003, they released they're debut album.

The lyrics on this album are alright, I didn't find a whole lot of diversity when it came to lyrics, but they held it down on most tracks.

The production on this album is actually pretty good. Half of the production is by RZA, and you can usually tell when you first hear the song. My favorite beats are "Luv Allah", "Crazy", "So So Serious", "Duckie", "Black Knights Of The Northstar".

Overall, I'd say that if your a Wu-Tang fan, and have heard these guys before, then its worth the check out.

My Top 5 Songs
1.Luv Allah
2.Crazy
3.Duckie
4.Black Knights Of Northstar
5.Red Rum

They remind me of the Alkaholiks, which of course is great... Northstar might not be as good, but they definitly lazed it... Rza didn't produce all the tracks, it wouldve been a little better if that was the case but this still manage to entertain.

They diss 50 Cent in one skit which is always fun...