Customer Reviews

Operation Take Back Hip Hop

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

 

 

The Juice Crew. Started back in the mid 1980's, over 20 years ago, and still going strong. Members Craig G and Marley Marl team up for a new release, focused on the revival of pure hip hop in 2008. Craig G has always been seen as more of a freestyle or battle rapper than one who creates complete albums. His catalog is decent at best. Marley Marl is one of the pioneers of producing and DJing. He has produced many great, even classic, albums, from MC Shan's Down By Law, to his most recent work with former nemesis, KRS-One, Hip-Hop Lives. Back to the album, the title, "Operation Take Back Hip Hop" is a perfect fit for the theme of the record. Craig G talks mostly about the current state of hip hop; with the abundance of ring tone rappers and gimmick rappers. The actual lyrics aren't anything to write home about, but the subject matter is first class. Some may think that this subject is played out by many emcees these days, but this album tells what the others do in a special way; it's hard to explain. As mentioned before, Marley Marl handles the production. This is always a good thing for an album. He uses signature Marley Marl drum patterns and heavy sampling; it sounds terrific. Hardly a misstep with the production. On to the guests, and what a lineup here: Will Pack, Rakaa, Talib Kweli, Cormega, Sadat X, KRS-One, and Cold Heat. Everyone featured on the album drops a great verse that adds perfectly to their song. Overall, Craig G and Marley Marl have a certified banger for the summer of 2008. Better than "Hip Hop Lives", Marley Marl shows that he can still produce a great album after 20+ years. Any fan of hip hop that wants to remember the good old days should pick this album. The artists on here obviously want to see hip hop get back the recognition it received during the golden ages, and so should everybody!

Lyrics- 7.5/10
Production- 8.5/10
Guest Appearances- 8.5/10
Overall Sound- 9/10

4.19

-Shaun B.

For those of you longing for fun, creative, scientific, and statement-makling hiphop to return...IT'S HERE!

Scratching, MC's trading rhymes back and forth, science-droppin'...It's HERE!

Craig G and Marley bring back the magic and they do NOT disappoint.

Some real fun tracks and some very powerful stements made.

This is a more playful followup to Nas' Hiphop is dead.

Craig G??? Hmmm where do I start to discuss a guy that has been in the game well over 10 years....well he used to run with the Vernon Posse outta Queens...Queensbridge to be exact and he also used to run with a little click called THE JUICE CREW..which is only the GOAT hip-hop posse of all-time..(In my opinion anyway)...and he was able to shine on those posse cuts with the likes of Kool G. Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Masta Ace, MC Shan....etc..etc, so you always knew the talent to produce quality hip-hop was there....so why is his first memorable recording occurring in 2008? I don't completely have that answer, but he was a freestyle/battle MONSTER....that was where he really shined probably the most....he destroyed Supernatural in a battle(1994) which was very memorable because Supernatural at that time was known as the truth, but Craig disspelled that theory rather quickly..anyway his battles won-lost record didn't translate to well over to his recording career until NOW! He finally makes something on wax..or cd/digital format in this case that you might see as very GOOD....he returned to his roots by teaming up with Marley Marl, who blessed him on this effort with some stellar beats...cuts that stand out for me are "Quality Work" with Dilated Peoples.."Made The Change" with the phat Beatnuts sample riding underneath the beat.."We Gets It In" with Talib Kweli...."Rock Dis" with KRS-One....and "Stay In Your Lane" with Sadat X....he has some quality guests appearances here....I couldn't give it a full 5 stars because he has about 3 filler tracks on it, but this is still BANGIN hip-hop....hot beats by the LEGEND Marley Marl and Craig G finally showing that recording talent that we knew he could display....hey better late than NEVER right?? All true hip-hop heads need to have this in their collections.