Customer Reviews

The Solution

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

 

 

I like Beanie Mac(some of you might not even know that name) for a lot of reasons:

-He's unique with his style. There are people who are samilar but none bring the intensity of Beans.
-He is reminiscent of Scarface and Ice-Cube in the sense of aggressive and powerful speech and rawness brought of pain and endurance
-His lyrics are so illustrative and compelling
-There is no rapper quite like him and probably never will be.

My favorite is his 1st major album the Truth. Although this one will be right up there in second place. It starts off with powerful tracks like "All of the Above," "Bout That," "You ain't Ready." The most powerful and invoking of his pieces I believe is the title "Dear Self!" This is a song which can easily be expanded into a motion picture of animated music video. It sooo amazingly reflective of the facets and paradoxes within so many of the young men of Philly. Beanie Sigel is one of the uncrowned kings of Philly.

Beanie Sigel returns to the mainstream after bubbling on the underground with a few independent albums since his 2005 release The B.Coming. He's re-signed with Roc-a-fella, he's made amends with a lot of his former crew, and blessed us with another major label contribution with The Solution. He starts off the album with the rawness of "All Of The Above" featuring R&B crooner R. Kelly with production by the super-hot team The Runners (who are best known for "Hustlin'" by rapper Rick Ross.) Cool And Dre drop a nice beat for Beanie on "Bout That," while Styles P trades verses B. Mack on the hard-hitting "You Ain't Ready For Me." Beans summons up some mainstream reggae flava from Rock City for a little 'head nod' music on "Go Low." Jay-Z makes his presence known on the song "Gutted," but Beanie holds his own. Philly's Own sounds a little misplaced on the lackluster Rockwilder-produced "Pass The Patron" featuring Peedi Peedi (he'll forever be Peedi Crakk to me), Diddy, and Ghostface Killah. He gives a lot of different hood tales on the songs "I'm In," "H.H.E.H.," and "What They Gonna Say To Me." He stretches his experimental muscle for the rock-infused, Ozzy Osbourne-assisted "Judgment Day," a track that has the potential to please the rap-rock fan base. Mac and Brad reunite as Scarface gives yet another rare lyrical donation for "Bridge" featuring rising R&B superstar Raheem Devaughn. "Dear Self" is a conversation Beans has with himself, first pointing out all the wrongs he's done throughout his life, and then pointing out that his conscience has been there the whole time and walked in the very same shoes while everything went down. "Prayer" featuring Raheem Devaughn is the album closer and is Beanie's way of acknowledging his wrongs and hoping his God forgives him for his shortcomings. The Solution definitely has a lot of classic Beanie Sigel throughout, with a couple tracks falling short on the Mac meter. Nevertheless, any current or former fan shouldn't have too many problems with The Solution.

A little over 2 and a half years sine his last album, the Broad Street Bully returns with his 4th solo (not to mention his 2 "Public Enemy" Mixtapes) and once again he doesn't disappoint. He drops his usual raw street lyrics and deep dark tales that he does so well. With 13 songs on here, I'd say 2 are ok, the other 11 are good, with a few being real good, no classics though. Of the 13 songs, guests are on 8 (but only 1 State Prop member and Hova drops in for the Roc - as well as a nice collabo with Styles, Ghostface drops in as well and his usual tight track with Scarface), rapping on 4 of the 8 and doing th ehooks on 4 others. Production is nice. Dre & Vidal do 4 songs, Reefa does 2, and The Runners, Cool & Dre, Dame Grease, Eric Hudson, Rockwilder, Chad "Wes" Hamilton, and Don Cheegro all do 1 song. A nice albumf rom one of the rawest in the rap game.

#1 - 8.5 (f/ R. Kelly)
#2 - 8.5 (f/ Dre)
#3 - 8 (f/ Styles -- the 2 go back and forth like Jadakiss & Styles often do -- also on Styles' "Super Gangster Extraordinary Gentleman")
#4 - 8.5 (f/ R. City -- good beat)
#5 - 7 (f/ Jay-Z)
#6 - 7.5 (f/ Ghostface Killah, Peedi Crakk & Puff Daddy)
#7 - 9 (nice beat)
#8 - 9 (a nice relaxing beat)
#9 - 8.5
#10- 8 (has a rock beat)
#11 - 8 (f/ Scarface & Raheem DeVaughn)
#12 - 8.5 (deeper song with Beans conversating with himself)
#13 - 8 (f/ Raheem DeVaughn - another deeper one)

Dwight Grant -- b. 3/6/74 -- Philadelphia, PA
Check all my reviews

Yo, I just bought that new Mack and I may be a little extreme but I'm a ROC Alumni from the Reasonable Doubt days of the 90's. I'm glad that Beans just dropped the new album and i'm knockin' it right now in the Car, on the Computer, it's nice. Support real artist man. Beans is as real as it gets. He is on the level of "when it comes out, I have to cop it no matter what" like Face, Jay, Dre, Common, etc. A definite buy. Peace from the midwest! 1

I've always liked Beanie Sigel since The Truth and I felt that he has shown improvement over the years. Now since Im the first review for this album let me walk you through the whole thing. The album starts off with the first single All The Above feat R Kelly. Its a good track but Beanie's first verse does sound kind of forced. Bout That(Let Me Know) is a flossy track that actually works because of the tight beat from Cool And Dre and Beanie's vivid delivery. U Aint Ready 4 Me feat Styles P is sick! They both deliver some dope verses over a gritty sounding beat that reminds of you of soldiers marching. Go Low feat Rock City is next to follow as Beanie ripped the track to bits and pieces while R.City provides a climatic raggae-inspired hook. Gutted feat Jay-z is questionable. Beanie's rhymes on there wasnt bad but the production is kind of corny and Jay-z drops a K-Fed style clunker that goes "Your salary is like celery/We eatin over here n*****/ you're like salad to me"(HUH?). Shake It For Me(feat Diddy Ghostface & Peedi Peedi) is actually good club record that might do damage in the clubs and Diddy is relegated to the hook(thank god). And why does Puffy sound like he's imitating Akon on the hook?. I'm In, which nicely samples Luther Vandross's Make Me A Believer reminds me of Scarface's F***Faces. Its a smooth sounding player record that gets a pass from me. The jazz-inspired H.H.E.H. is an average joint. What They Gonna Say To Me, which samples Jay-z's What They Gonna Do is pretty dope. Beanie rhymes were on point and the beat wasnt bad. The rock-inspired The Day is cool and Beanie pulled it off quite well. Beanie and Scarface prove to be a great combination and Rain(Bridge)which also features Raheem Devaughn is no exception. Beanie has a pretty deep conversation with himself on Dear Self(Can I Talk To You) which samples No Bravery by James Blount. The last track, The Prayer(which also features Raheem Devaughn) might be hard for some people to swallow. While the track is not bad, Beanie does sound like he's doing his best Scarface impression(think Scarface on Smile For Me)on that track. In short, The Solution is a pretty good album. It has its flaws but this album might be Beanie's best work to date(my humble opinion). His rhymes were pretty sharp, the production was great and the guest appearances did a good job also. I'd recommend it. Standout Tracks: BOUT THAT(LET ME KNOW), U AINT READY 4 ME, GO LOW, WHAT THEY GONNA SAY TO ME, THE DAY, RAIN(BRIDGE) and DEAR SELF(CAN I TALK TO YOU).

I think this album is going to be comparable to Jay-z's Vol. 2. If you're not familiar with Vol. 2, it was Jay-z's most commercial album but it got the most publicity out of all his albums. After that album he was very well known throughout the Hip-hop industry and was ranked very highly among emcees. I think that is the same goal Sigel has on this album. The first song "All the Above" is a club hit, then next few songs are commercial then you have a softer style song about a female that caught his eye at a mall, then from that point untill then end of the album it's the Sigel we remembered form the Truth, Reason, and B. Coming. This definitely cannot compare to the B. Coming but it's still a good album. His lyrics have actually improved. But his content has not. We're used to hearing about Beanz in prison. Locked up in 23&1, you wont hear a lot about that on this album. Although this sounds like a negative review, I did like the CD enough to purchase it and I listen to it daily. I love the cross genre work he's done with Ozzy and James Blunt, although they weren't new verses from either of the 2 artists. I wasn't a fan of the song with Styles P and for some reason it's also on the Styles P album. I recommend it if you're wondering weather to buy it or not.

I was introduced to Beanie Sigel when I heard him on the track "Reservoir Dogs", which was a track that was featured on Jay-Z's Vol. 2, Hard Knock Life. The track was a collaboration that featured Jay-Z, Sauce Money, Beanie Sigel and The LOX (Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek Louch). Not even a month later, I heard Beanie Sigel on another track entitled "Crew Love", that was featured on Belly. The track featured Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek on the verses and Jay-Z on the hook. I was a fan of "Reservoir Dogs" and "Crew Love", so when Beanie released his solo debut in the year 2000 entitled The Truth, I decided to purchase it. Beanie's debut may not have been an all around classic but there were enough tracks on the CD to have the CD in your collection. My favorite tracks were the title track, which was one of Kanye West's first production credits, "Who Want What" w/Memphis Bleek, "What Your Life Like", "Mac & Brad" w/Scarface and "Die". Later that same year, Beanie Sigel, along with Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek released The Dynasty: Roc La Familia 2000. Beanie had alot of memorable verses on the CD especially on "This Can't Be Life", which was another Kanye West production that also featured Jay-Z and Scarface on the track. Beanie released his 2nd solo disc The Reason in 2001. "The Reason" wasn't as good as "The Truth" but there were still alot of nice tracks on there like "Think It's A Game" w/Jay-Z, Freeway & Young Chris, "Nothing Like It", "Still Got Love For You" w/Jay-Z & Rell, "What Your Life Like 2" and the 1st single "Beanie...Sigel is the name that they gave me". In 2002, Beanie Sigel, along with Freeway, Young Gunz and Oschino & Sparks released State Property. The CD was sparked by the 1st single, "Roc Da Mic", which featured Beanie & Freeway and the CD also served as a platform for the lesser known members of Rocafella at that time.

While Beanie Sigel was doing a year and a day in jail, he would release what I feel is his best solo CD with The B.Coming. Beanie's 3rd CD was led by the 1st single, "Feel It In The Air", which was produced by Heavy D., yes that Heavy D. and "Don't Stop", which was produced by The Neptunes and featured Snoop Dogg on the hook. Beanie had a lot of introspective tracks on the CD and he still had time to talk about the infamous "purple stuff" on "Purple Rain" w/Bun B from UGK and scandalous and disloyal females on the Just Blaze banger "Bread & Butter", which also featured Grand Puba and Sadat X from Brand Nubian.

In December of 2007, Beanie Sigel released his 4th CD entitled "The Solution". The CD starts out with the 1st single which is produced by The Runners entitled "All The Above". R Kelly is featured on the hook and the track ends up being a decent lead single. Cool & Dre stop by to produce "'Bout That (Let Me Know)". The track is decent but compared to other Beanie CDs and past collaborations, the song doesn't do too much for me. Dre's "money, cars, cash, clothes, baby girl if you 'bout that ish let me know" doesn't help things either. Dame Grease steps in to produce the banger "U Ain't Ready 4 Me" which features Styles P. Reviewer "G $ "Z-Wad" sums it up best as he states how 1) Styles and Beanie go back and forth on the track like Styles and Jada normally do and 2) the track is also featured on Styles P's Super Gangster Extraordinary Gentleman [Explicit]. "U Ain't Ready 4 Me" is nothing that will be considered groundbreaking, but if you like the street style that Beanie usually brings to the table, then this will be one of your favorite tracks on "The Solution". "Go Low" follows the same format as well. Beanie Sigel is at his best when he is letting us know how things go down in the streets and when he is telling us those introspective tales about his ups and downs. R City gives the track some reggae flavor and this track should atleast be in your Top 5. "Gutted" is clearly the all time worst Beanie Sigel and Jay-Z collaboration as they talk about fellas that are trying to perpetrate and act like they are important in the game and in the real world when in reality they are nothing but ordinary joes who are fakin' the funk. This may be the worst Jay-Z verse that I have ever heard. I am not sure why Beanie would attempt to make a club anthem but that's the purpose of "Shake It For Me". First of all he puts together the oddest crew that I have ever seen for a collaboration: Diddy, Peedi Peedi and Ghostface Killah. Ghost has a nice verse, but on this track, that doesn't mean too much. I also like Rocwilder's production but Diddy sounding like Pharrell singing and Peedi Peedi's verse ruin anything good about this track. "I'm In" starts off as a clever tale that Beanie tells about meeting a woman in a department store. However, he completely jacks Scarface's concept and verse on the track "F____ Faces" to compose his 1st verse. Chad "Wes" Hamiltion cleverly uses Luther Vandross' "Make Me A Believer" track as a sample and this actually is a nice track in the end. "H.H.E.H." is a nice, laid back track that allows Beanie to flow in a slower pace. It's a nice change of pace compared to the rest of the CD. "What They Gonna Say To Me" is another decent track as well. Jay-Z ends up on the hook and his contribution to this track is alot better than whatever he was coasting to on "Gutted". "The Day" reminds me of "Wanted (On The Run)" which featured Cam'ron from "The B.Coming" because of the rock and roll sample that is used throughout the track. "Rain (Bridge)" puts Beanie in a place where he is rapping about his infamous introspective tales and also features Scarface. Anytime Beanie and Scarface collaborate it ends up being a memorable track. Raheem DeVaughn also does a nice job with the vocals as well. This track is definitely my favorite track on the CD. Beanie goes back and forth between the good and bad Beanie as he raps about having a conversation with himself on "Dear Self (Can I Talk To You)". This track also features the best production of Andre & Vidal on "The Solution". They ended up producing 4 tracks on "The Solution". Raheem DeVaughn joins Beanie once again on "Prayer". Although, it's another introspective track it sounds too much like a Scarface track instead of a Beanie Sigel track.

Overall, I feel that "The Solution" is a decent release. It just doesn't live up to the past CDs and collaborations that Beanie Sigel has brought to the table before. If you own Beanie's previous releases, then you should add "The Solution" to your collection, but don't expect a classic CD. I would rate this CD more in the 3.5 star range than rate it in the 4 or 4.5 star range. I personally feel that anyone rating this above 4 stars is just happy to see Beanie release a CD instead of actually listening to the material.

James' Top 5

1) Rain (Bridge) w/Scarface & Raheem DeVaughn
2) Dear Self (Can I Talk To You)
3) I'm In
4) U Ain't Ready 4 Me w/Styles P.
5) Go Low w/R. City

Honorable Mention:

All The Above w/R Kelly
H.H.E.H.
What They Gonna Say To Me
The Day