Customer Reviews

Redemption 4

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Ruff Ryders return with "Redemption, Vol 4" (2005). The years have gone by, and the crew has had its ups and downs but remains strong. The Lox, who have all dropped solid solo albums in recent years, start the album off strong backed by a banging beat on "Ruff Ryders 4 Life". The next track "If It's Beef" has Jadakiss collabing with some of the Ruff Ryders up and comers Flashy, Infa.Red and Kartoon. Drag-On & Choclate Ty deliver another banger with "Knock Knock". Cross, Styles and Infared team up with reggae artists Snypah & Bunny Wailer for "Ghetto Children". Noreaga & Pirate bring "Dame Reggaeton", then Scarlett, Kartoon and Aja provide the laidback "What Ryders Do". Flashy drops some very real lyrics on "Stay Down" while Akon provides a heartfelt chorus. My favourite banger on this release is easily "Get Wild", DMX, Jada, Kartoon and Flashy rip up this cut. It's good to see X at it, looking forward to his upcoming sixth album. "Aim For the Head" has Cassidy, J-Hood and Jin collabing, I prefer the original unreleased version with Game. Jada hooks up with Flashy, Infa.Red and Flashy again for the thugged out "Keep the Gunz Cocked (If It's Beef... Remix). Two more average tracks follow then female singer LT closes off the album with "So Serious", my first impression when I heard this one was this track seems out of place, don't mind it though. What you notice listening to this is that this release is more a display of Ruff Ryders new artists then it is of its established ones. Eve's presence is missed, DMX makes one appearance (guess he is saving it for the album), while the Lox appear on a couple of tracks. This new generation of Ruff Ryders has some potential but will have to do more if they want to become recognized in a flooded Hip-Hop scene. Overall "Redemption, Vol 4" is a decent release which I recommend to Ruff Ryder fans. If your like me though you will be looking out for DMX's next album "Here We Go Again".

Sweet album not great especially LT's song its a nice song but it totally throws off the flow of the album. I definitally reccomend getting this album. Its one of those albums u blast while driving.

My Fav's :

9. Stay Down
11. Blood in the Streets
15. Keep the Gunz Cocked

My Dislikes:

16. Dale Poppi Dale
18. So Serious

After 3 RR albums in that many years, they're finally back after a 3 and a hlaf year break with another 3.5 star compilation (like their last one, Volume 1 was a 4 star and Vol 2 barely a 4 star). Quite a new roster then in '98, still have the big guns - DMX, Jadakiss, Styles, Sheek, and the decent Drag-On and Cross & Infa Red even though they never really got the recognition they were there since the early days (no more Parle or Eve). They added Jin (who's a great mc), Aja & Scarlett (2 females nowhere near Eve's caliber, Pirate (a latino who raps in spanish -- not my cup of tea), Kartoon (an ok mc from California) and Flashy (a JErsey mc who shows some promise to me). Of the 17 songs on here, like the others some are great others just plain suck. 1 classic, 1 almost classic, 7 good ones, 1 ok songs, 7 bad or horrible ones. Production is good and bad. Mr. Devine, Swizz Beats, & Neo all do 2 songs. SPK & Kyze, Akon, Scott Storch, Jelly Roll, Elite, Green Lantern and 5 other I never heard of all do 1 song. A good album to have for fans of the Double RR and get a good look at their newcomers, but no better then the last 3.

#1 - 9 (Jadakiss, Styles, Sheeek )
#2 - 9.5 (Jadakiss, Infa Red, Kartoon, Flashy -- nice beat)
#3 - 7.5 (Chocolate Ty f/ Drag-On)
#4 - 6 (party beat -- Infa Red & Cross f/ Swizz Beatz)
#5 - 8 (Infa Red, Cross, Styles, Snypah, Bunny Wailer)
#7 - 4 (Pirate f/ Noreaga & Gypsy Lisette -- mostly in spanish --- only gets a 4 for NORE's verse)
#8 - 3 (Scarlett O' Harlem f/ Aja Smith & Kartoon)
#9 - 8 (Flashy f/ Akon -- slower deeper song about struggling)
#10 - 10 (CLASSIC -- DMX, Jadakiss, Kartoon, Flashy -- great beat)
#11 - 5 (Kartoon)
#12 - 2 (Aja SMith)
#13 - 8.5 (Cassidy, Jin, Jae Hood, Swizz Beats)
#14 - 8 (Drag-On -- good beat)
#15 - 9 (Jadakiss, Infa Red, Kartoon, Flashy)
#16 - 1 (Pirate -- in spanish again)
#17 - 8.5 (Flashy -- goes for 4 and a half minutes no break)
#18 - 1 (LT -- R&B song)

check all my reviews
Ruff Ryders!!!!

DMX -- Earl Simmons -- b. 12/18/70 -- b. Baltimore, MD moved to Yonkers, NY
Jadakiss -- Jason Phillips --- b. 5/22/75 -- Yonkers, NY
Styles -- David Styles -- b. 1974 -- b. Corona Queens, NY moved to Yonkers, NY
Sheek -- Sean Jacobs -- b. around 1975 -------- Yonkers, NY
Drag-On -- Mel Smalls -- b. around 1979 -- Bronx, NY
Swizz Beats -- Kaseem Dean --- New York, NY
Jin -- Jin A. -- b. 6/4/82 -- Miami, FL
Cross -- Sean Martin -- New York, NY
Infa Red -- Shandell Green -- b. 1978 -- Harlem, NY
Flashy -- F. Neal -- New Jersey
Kartoon -- T. Franklin -- California
Aja Smith, Scarlett O' Harlem
Pirate -- A. Cintron

Dont know why some people were giving this album bad reviews it is really good and i am glad i bought it. This is the second best behind number 2 in my opinion and i know some people r not going to think so. I like all the songs except the r&b songs but the rest r good. I recommend that u buy this only if u like ruff ryder compilation album but in my it is worth the money.

IMO, I thought it was a pretty good Ruff Ryders album. It's clear that Ruff Ryders are nowhere near the popularity it once had in the late 90's-early 00. What surprised me was that Jin was on this album(track 13 to be exact). I know he left Ruff Ryders a few months back, made the freestyle song "I Quit," then came back and changed his stage name to The Emcee. Anyway, good album.

To tell you the truth, I didn't even know this album had come out. There was NO publicity! But I ran across it at my record store and bought it after listening to samples of each of the tracks! I love it! Don't listen to ANYONE who speaks negative comments about this record (in bad english I may add). Each track offers something different and special. I DO love the beats and some of the lyrics are really deep. Songs like "Get Wild" are more party oriented. But songs such as "Stay Down", and 100 bars of crack have amazing lyrics (I know those are two very different tracks). I even love the last song "so serious" by Ruff Ryders' new artist LT. It's really a great song, and anyone hating on it is just scared to be open about other types of music. That song would be great as a remix w/Styles or Flashy on it as well. I also love the track Jin is on, although he is such a genious, and I truly wish he had one song all to himself on this record. It's just great to hear Jada, styles, DMX, Jin, and S. Beats all come together on the same album. In conclusion, I highly recommend you buy this album, it is worth every penny!!!!

The year is 1999 and you are the newest sound to the hip-hop industry. Everybody is looking for the newest breed of urban street poets to break onto the scene. The rap world is now embracing everybody from everywhere with open arms to fill the void left from the demise of two of the greatest rappers alive. Enter DMX, Eve, The Lox, and the fresh sounds of Swizz Beatz to make everything in the East Coast (and hip-hop in general) right again. They have the hottest production, the newest sounds...it's almost miraculous on how this one sound would dominate the close of the century. Fast forward to today, and most of these very same Ruff Ryders and their music are as reliable as their condom counterparts of the same name.

Redemption, Vol. 4 rightfully drops the "Ryde or Die" slogan as these Ruff Ryders have long buried themselves with horrible solo efforts and subsequent sequels to their modestly successful debut collection. Even DMX has gotten himself as obsolete as his long-time rival Ja Rule. The Lox lost their credibility as a group when they pissing and moaning about Bad Boy and practically begging to be released from their contracts to run to Ruff Ryders organization exclusively. With Redemption, Vol. 4, it's gotten to the point where nobody cares anymore...and for good reason. What used to be the newest hottest production has now found its way into the land of the lost.

Besides the occasionally blessings of Jadakiss and Styles P on the opening tracks, and the signature bark of DMX, this collection is nothing but a sorry attempt at resurrecting the non-existent career of Drag-On and the introductions of even more people as wack as him, namely Kartoon, Flashy, and countless others. They even go as far as to find a female rapper impersonating Eve to fill in as the First Lady probably knew better not to travel down the road that had long since ended. The album was not even listenable and fails miserably at trying to "redeem" any of the former glory the camp used to retain in its prime.

It was a wonderful surprise for me to pick up this album and find such a diverse eclectic group of songs. The song featuring Akon was amazing. And I especially loved how they put their pop act, LT, on this album - her song "So Serious" is beautiful, and I believe it's a song that even hard core DMX fans will enjoy. I also loved "Get Wild"- it's perfect for driving in your car w/the top down, or blasting anywhere really. This whole album is in my opinion the best Ruff Ryder Compilation album ever put out. GREAT JOB RUFF RYDERS CREW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being that this was a sort of commercial release, it crushed the competition. There are many solid tracks on here & it has alot of the elements that made the "R" so powerful but it should have been a mixtape. In fact, the mixtape was 10 times better. Few tracks stand out but lyrically it's concrete, except for the reggaeton songs and obviously the R&B track. The biggest problem with this cd is the lack of consistency, for them to make so many classic tracks together & then come out with this bull is downright insulting. Especially when you think of how everybody was anticipating their comeback they could have come way harder. One reggaeton song would of been ok but two?! Two reggae tracks! I mean, Dame Reggaeton was appropriate being with Noreaga but that Pirate dude is a clown. Here's hoping they drop the guy for their upcoming fifth album. Yes, there will be another...

This felt like a cheap attempt at a money scam and seeing the lack of publicity, I don't understand where they got it from. There are some great tracks though:
If It's Beef, Knock Knock, Blood In The Streets, Aim 4 The Head & Throw It Up are almost classics.
In my opinion, Ghetto Children, Stay Down, Get Wild, Ruff Ryders 4 Life, Keep The Gunz Cocked & 100 Bars of Crack are classic material.
I hate to have to give this album 3 stars but the remaining songs are just that bad and ruin it all.
Plus, knowing what the Ruff Ryders can do this is a bad album.

I recommend this to a die hard fan of the Ruff Ryders. Fans of street raps in general should like this too but it would be better to just download the good songs off it.

Once again, the Ruff Ryders come through with some hotness. You can't deny the fact that not having Eve here takes something away from this album but still, the Double R still has some solid up and coming talent, namely Infa Red and Cross, Kartoon, Jin and Flashy. There are still some big names on this album, though, namely DMX, Drag-On, the LOX (Styles P, Sheek Louch and Jadakiss) and the beats of the producer extrodinare, Swizz Beatz. This isn't the best effort put out by the Ruff Ryders but it's still a solid album with some memorable cuts on it including my personal favorites Ruff Ryders for Life and What They Want (Infa Red and Cross). Jin and J-Hood, along with Cassidy put out a hot cut as well. There's some good stuff going on on this album and any Ruff Ryder fan would be doing themself a favor by picking this up to hear the new talent, along with some of the established vets in the Ruff Ryders camp.