Customer Reviews

Restless

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Trae is dope. While most people that look at the Houston rap scene merely see Mike Jones and Paul Wall flossing on the outside, few of them look beneath the surface, and dig underground to find some of hip-hop's most compelling artists. Cats like Z-Ro and K-Rino have long been known as two of Houston's best kept secrets, but perhaps surprassing them is the former's cousin, Trae. In terms of voice and cadence, there is actually very little difference between both Z-Ro and Trae; Trae's voice is slightly deeper than Z-Ro's Barry White-smooth delivery. What puts Trae on a slightly higher scale than Z-Ro, in my opionion, is the fact that Trae is able to cater to both types of hip-hop fans; the ones who make up the core of Z-Ro's fanbase, and focus on pure lyricism, and the ones who buy Dro and Joc albums based off of beats alone. Trae's introspective cuts are amazing; some of the most entrancing stories you'll hear from any emcee. He also serves up a number of bangers that'll have your trunk rattling from side to side.

Armed with stellar production, and an amazing sense of rhythm, Trae comes into this release with a melancholic intro that sets the tone for the majority of the album. Real Talk is an amazing track featuring Trae getting his Bone Thugs on, showing that the South isn't nearly as slow as their detractors believe; in fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of the Mid-west spitting as fast as Trae does on this track. Meanwhile, one of the three singles from the album, In The Hood, is up next; featuring a beat similar to that of Joc's It's Goin' Down, Yung Joc and Big Pokey both guest on this track. While most maybe turned off by Joc's guest appearance, he manages to hold his own with the two Houston veterans, and In The Hood only boosts the expectations for the rest of this album.

Those expectations are continuously met throughout. With absolutely nothing falling under skip category, Trae gets So Gangsta with Bun B, before becoming Restless as he hooks up with the Outlawz' own Young Noble. There are many guest appearances found throughout the album, yet none of them are capable of taking the spotlight from Trae; he manages to shine on each and every track, no matter how talented his guest is, as he rightfully should; this is his show, after all. Featuring a diverse cast that ranges from UGK(on seperate tracks) and Three Six Mafia to Paul Wall and Jim Jones, Trae uses each guest spot effectively, bringing out the best in each of them, and amplifying the quality of this release.

Trae's Restless is a rare breed of album; one that can be banged in the whip, and in the headphones, equally effective in both scenarios. Trae's diverse nature as an artist is one rarely seen by underground emcees, and it's amazingly shocking to think that Trae still hasn't blow up as significantly as he should. It can be argued that Rap-A-Lot doesn't know how to promote artists properly(just look at Devin The Dude's new release), but it'd be worthless to blame anyone on Trae's obscurity; whether he stays a cult favorite or not is of no importance. What is important is that Trae was able to release one of the best hip-hop albums in recent memory, providing a release that is sure to only grow better with age. Support Trae, and purchase Restless.

Trae's latest album is "Restless" (2006) a seventeen-track release. I have listened to Trae on collaborations with Z-Ro but this is the first album of his that I have come across. Repping Houston Trae provides a solid release, which is laced with impressive production and has numerous guest appearances. Trae remains the star of the show. Trae rips up "Real Talk" rhyming with a fast flow. One of my favourite tracks on this album is the title cut "Restless", Trae and Young Noble of the Outlawz deliver an excellent collaboration. Trae shines again when delivering "The Truth" with Billy Cook and then provides the powerful "Song Cry". The later cut is off the hook, Trae puts made heart into this cut while taking his audience through his life. Trae delivers excellent on point lyrics rhyming with a lot of hunger on these tracks. Trae sings on the laidback "Quit Calling Me" while telling a lady to leave him be. Another exceptional track is "No Help", cousins Trae and Z-Ro deliver a memorable joint, about riding solo and not needing anyone to make it. The highlight of this track for me is the chorus. Trae brings some more variety to the album by enlisting R & B singer Mya for "Matter of Time", Trae rhymes with confidence while Mya delivers a strong chorus. Southern catz may enjoy the bangers more then myself, what I really liked about this release though is Trae's genuine introspective cuts. Like Z-Ro he remains slept on. I am impressed by this release; Trae delivers quality music making "Restless" an album worth looking into.

I love all that Trae put out, but have to say this is one of his best yet. If you love this you will love Devin the Dude's new title Smoke Sessions Vol. 1

This album was so raw and so far exceeded my expectations that I had to submit my first-ever review to Amazon (been reading reviews here for years). This album is bumpin' from beginning to end, and Trae's lyrical performance is solid if not excellent for the entire course of the CD. Like I said, I never write reviews, but seeing that dude is probably gonna be underrepresented on here I just wanted to show him some love for 15 bux well spent.

I picked up this album today, in support of H-Town artist TRAE, and the man delivers on here. Real Talk is the 1st track after the Intro, and Trae is flowing all fast on it, very versatile reminescent of the Guerilla Maab dayz......Its 18 tracks deep, and the production is well done on here......The best tracks on this album are 'Real Talk' 'The Rain' 'Dedicated 2 U' 'The Truth' 'Swang' and 'No Help' are the highlights of this album....Definetely on of the best southern cd's out here in 06'....Trae has always rapped about pain, struggle, hardships of life, which is what he's known for, like Z-RO is.....He has a very heavy, grimey distinct voice that never gets tiring, old or anything like that....His content is very honest, no bs, no A@R's controllin this man, this man actually makes his own music, and is the meaning of TRU EXPRESSION.......

Overall on here, the cd was suprising, the 'No Help' song on here is a classic, Z-Ro and Trae rappin together on here about havin their own space and not havin anyone involved with their life....Definetly can relate to it.....Trae right now is the BEST of what the south has left to offer.....He is fully represintin DJ SCREW, the name, and the streets of Houston very well on this album.....4/5

If this isn't a 5 star album, then show me what is. From beginning to the end it goes so hard. It's got everything you need: club bangers, gangsta s&%*, and some deep stuff to mellow out to. Trae is so unique. The production is amazing. He did his thizzle on this.

To the guy who says this is Z-Ro's flow, dude, they're friends and they rap alike. So what? They came up together, nobody stole nobody's flow. Trae is amazing, get over it. This album is tiiight. 5/5 Stars.

I've heard Trae on a lot of Z-Ro's works (they're cousins) so I decided to check out this album and it's a good one. Eerily sounding almost exactly Like Z-Ro, I had to remind myself it was Trae not Z-Ro I was hearing. Like Z-Ro, he has a deep voice and tells some good stories and has deeper songs and slides into rapping very dast and even singing at times (not quite as good as Ro does). With 16 songs, you get 1 almost classic, 1 I skip, 4 ok songs, and the otehr 10 are good. Guests are heavy, on 11 of the 16 songs, (rapping on 9 and doing the hook on 2). Production is pretty good as well. Q-Stone does 8 songs, Scott Novelli does 2 songs, Mr. Lee, Mike Dean, Johnnie Jones, Young Chill, Bigg Tyme, Dom all do 1 song. a nice album for southern rap fans to have.

#2 - 8.5 (nice beat and Trae rappin REAL fast)
#3 - 5.5 (f/ Young Joc -- why he has him on the album I don't know)
#4 - 7 (f/ Lil Keke)
#5 - 8.5 (f/ Bun B)
#6 - 9 (f/ Young Noble -- deeper song)
#7 - 9.5 (f/ Shyna & Dallas -- another deeper song)
#8 - 8.5 (a dedication to his homeboyz)
#9 - 9 (f/ Billy CooK)
#10 - 9 (f/ Hawk {R.I.P.} & Pimp C -- nice beat)
#11 - 7 (sings for the first 2 mins. -- nice beat)
#12 - 8 (f/ Three-6 Mafia, Lil Boss, Paul Wall, Jayton -- about Cadillac's)
#13 - 8 (f/ Z-Ro -- nice relaxing beat)
#14 - 7
#15 - 7.5 (f/ Mya)
#16 - 8.5 (f/ Jim Jones -- nice beat)
#18 - 8.5

Frazier Thompson -- Houston, TX - b. around 1980
check all my reviews

I had only heard a little bit of Trae's music on other artists albums and then I heard about this comin out. Even though The Source had to downgrade the album by giving it 3 Mics, I bought it anyway. THIS ALBUM DESERVES MORE THAN 3 MICS!! There are some bangers on here. This is that real Texas rap sound. If you like Southern rap I highly recomend this one.

TOP TRACKS:

Swang
Pop Trunk Wave
So Gangsta
Cadilac
No Help

Trae did really good on this one, I've been waiting for it since Swang. The best songs on the album in my opinion are Real Talk, In The Hood, Screw Done Already Warned Me, So Gangsta, Restless, Swang, Cadillac, No Help, Come Around the Corner, Who Da Truth Is and Pop Trunk Wave. This is one of the few albums that you can listen to without having to change the song. Great producing and guests on the tracks. I'm a fan of Z-Ro and I think their styles aren't for everyone but it's real, not flashy and fake like almost every other rapper out there.