Customer Reviews

Round One:The Album

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

 

 

Sports superstars seem to want more than to win a series or a title. They often want to have award-winning rap albums as well. Shaquille O'Neal had several subpar albums, Deion Sanders had the tacky "Must Be The Money" as well as making a few appearances on Hammer's The Funky Headhunter, and Kobe Bryant's K.O.B.E. was so bad that it was never even released.

The latest athlete to make this mistake is champion boxer Roy Jones, Jr. He appeared on MTV's FANatic back in 2000 and explained that rap really gets him going. Well, this album will get EVERYONE going...to another room. There are so many problems here, I don't even know where to start. But I'll first point out that the song titles themselves are dumb. Many of them are catchphrases nobody says any more ("You Don't Wanna Go There", "Get It, Get It", "You Damn Right"). Then there are titles like "We All We Got" that just don't make any sense. Roy also spends a great deal of time bragging about how many belts he's won.

Another problem here is the production. "Get It, Get It" is one half Casio keyboard music and the other half scratching from what sounds like Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance". And the music to "Do You Know How It Feels" sounds like his producers brought two turntables and a vibraphone. There's also "Invincible", which sounds like somebody went outside and recorded a thunderstorm.

The biggest problem overall is Roy's rapping. He is not a rapper. Repeat: HE IS NOT A RAPPER. That's especially obvious on, well, every track. He goes too far on "And Still", which actually sounds decent at the beginning, but then he bites DMX by saying things like WHAT? and COME ON! the same way X used to do it. He also says "Where my dogs at" in the second verse. And the cheesy "We All We Got" has him saying things in the chorus like "Y'all shut up and let me rock." Actually, the choruses are the worst parts of the songs. "Do You Know How It Feels" says "Do you know how it feels to get hyped up?" And at the beginning of the second verse he spits "I'm so hard to figure out." I'll agree with that.

Then there are songs with good subjects but bad lyrics. "A Real Father" pays homage to his son, but Roy proceeds with tired rhymes and a generic chorus sung by a children's choir: "I'm happy/I've got a real daddy/That's always been there for me/To care for me/For all sincerity." When you stop to think about it, that chorus doesn't even make sense. Also there are horrible relationship songs. "If You Need A Man" starts off bad by saying "What's up girl/How you feelin-feelin-feelin-feelin'?/That's cool/Yo I'm chillin-chillin-chillin-chillin'." If that's not enough to make you press STOP/EJECT, then I don't know what is. Then there's the cheatin' anthem "Unfaithful", which is a complete waste not even worth mentioning.

The guest stars apparently don't want to outshine Roy, so it doesn't sound like they even tried to do anything here. Mystikal ("Get Started"), Scarface ("Invincible"), and Dave Hollister ("That Was Then") all make lackluster contributions here...especially Scarface, who is rapping at about the same speed as old-school Busta Rhymes. (Whoever heard of Scarface EVER rapping fast, anyway?) Also, several of the tracks feature a rapper by the name of Hahz, who sounds like a Boogie Down Productions reject. His style and wordplay may be considerably worse than Roy's.

This is the sorriest 74 minutes you'll ever hear in your life. There is not one listenable track or quotable lyric to be found. This album is called Round One, but if you have any common sense, you won't stick around for round two.

We all know that Roy jones fights like no one else in the boxing world, but rapping? To me, RRJ kinda sounds like DMX. If you don't believe me, listen to tracks like "And still" or "invincible." Don't get me wrong I like his style and he holds his own as a rapper, but a original sound could have helped the album a lot.

I am highly impressed with Rjj as a rapper! He has sound lyrics, and he also has a story to tell. Some crytics say "Stick with Boxing", I say "Keep doing whatcha' doing!" Now granted, he's no Jay-Z or DMX, but then again Jay-Z and DMX aren't pound for pound boxers! Mad Luv Roy!!!

If you don't try to take it too seriously, this is an album worth listening to. This is not to say it can't be taken seriously. The musical quality of the beats is generally what you'd expect from a big label rap album, the wordplay is awesome (rhyming "Seoul, Korea" with "whole career" - how does he come up with this stuff?), and Roy has the rapping talent to back it up, something that is very important in my opinion. But I will admit it is not some fabulous work of art that will be remembered as the pinnacle of commercialized hip hop. There is however, that entertainment aspect to this album that can't be explained by its quality. If you like watching bad 80s B action movies, you know exactly what I'm talking about. What separates this album from the cinematic work of Dolph Lungren, or hitting closer to home, Macho Man Randy Savage's rap album, is that I can listen to this for it's musical value or to get a few laughs. Sure, there are some tracks I always skip, but overall it is an enjoyable listening experience.

The album is worth getting. Don't write it off just because he's an athlete. It's much better than anything Deon Sanders or Shaq can think of. He even flows better than a few of the artists out now.

I bought this cd because I've seen Roy in the ring and I thought if he brought the same intensity to his cd it would be great. While he does bring intensity, his rhyming skills are sub par. The beats to his songs are good, and he does have some nice rhymes but for the most part his flow is pretty mellow. In all reality, some of the things he says don't even rhyme! However, Roy does show potential but I just think he's to busy with boxing to care as much about the music. If you're a Roy Jones Jr. Fan buy this album. If you're a boxing(that's what the majority of these songs had to do with) fan or sports fan then by this album. However, if you're looking for an established star with good rhymes and flow look somewhere else because Roy at least with this cd doesn't deliver a knockout,HE GETS KNOCKED OUT!

I knew Roy Jones Jr. could do anything in the boxing ring, and it sounds like he can do a lot on the mic as well. Filled with hooks, this album is NOT your usual ahtlete-turned-rapper vanity project. RJJ can rap, period. And he can switch it up too, with a good flow, fast or slow.

This CD is not the best thing that I have ever heard but considering that Roy Jones is a boxer by trade I cant complain. This is a album that i am not ashamed to say that i own.

Most customers are into beats not lyrics (which seriously needs to change, it's a few artist out here that are getting looked over like NAS - in my opinion he's one of the best). So I try to pay attention to the lyrics not so much the beat. I am very pleased with the album. #16.A Real Father - is a song that women will like and get sentimental on, also numbers 2,5,6,7,10,12,14,18 are songs women will like. Now my all time favorite is #3. And Still, I can just ride to that all day and night. #4. Is a favorite also, all three versus are energetic. Everyone has there own opinion about the CD, but this is a CD that has to grow on you. I have gotten alot of feedback on it and the people I associate myself with seems to think that it is very nice and also stated that they had to listen to it a few times, but now it's a hit CD. What I think is everyone was expecting garbage because other athletes has produce trash in the past, so we didn't give him a chance because he's an athlete (that's not right), he's cool. My opinion he sounds alot better than these WATERED DOWN rappers that WE have supported and still support. He has alot of messages that needs to be heard, and NO it's not all about boxing, although most listeners would think that but their not paying attention. It's about he's life; it just so happens to deal with boxing let's remember that, that was most of his life people. So why don't everyone at least listen to it themselves and not go off of what someone writes. Alot of people may think I'm writing nonsense, but I think their writing nonsense, but that's just my opinion again! My favorite tracks are 2,3,4,6,10,12,16. Just try it out, it's not bad I recommend it highly!

Hot Tracks Big bass hita you gotta buy this album its a classic
5 stars!!!!!!!!