Customer Reviews

Source Presents: Hip Hop Hits 7

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

 

 

....but stick around for Missy's Work It, St Lunatik's Uhhhr Force Ones (it's hilarious), Luda, Snoop w/ Pharrell, and the much maligned Benzino(with Mario)--I never heard that cut til I got the CD. I am not a Lil Kim fan, but her Jump Off fits well with the rest of the cuts on the CD. Get it because you like sound, whether it's so-called 'old' or so-called 'new'. Music doesn't get old: you always hear something new or something you didn't notice in a tune.

1.Ludacris"Act A Fool" A- Truly not the best Luda could offer, but an awesome dance track with an insane beat.

2.Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell and Uncle Charlie Wilson"Beautiful" B Ok, I guess Pharell didn't totally ruin the song, but he made it much worse.

3.2Pac feat. Anthony Hamilton"Thugz Mansion" A+ Anything with 2 Pac is awesome.

4.Nelly feat. Murphy Lee,Ali and Kyjuan"Air Force Ones" D- All Nelly does is talk about his shoes. Very annoying too. Also, a bit overrated.

5.Lil'Kim feat. Mr.Cheeks"The Jump Off" B+ Good track, but Magic Stick blows it to hell.

6.Fabolous feat. Lil'Mo and Mike Shorey"Can't Let You Go" A- A nice, soothing, and underrated track.

7.Benzino feat. Mario Winians"Rock The Party" F Benzino? On a rap CD? Not gonna work.

8.DMX"Where The Hood At" C- Not a very good track, especially for DMX.

9.Bone Crusher feat. Jadakiss and Busta Rhymes"Neva Scared" F Is this a joke? It's just yelling and screaming.

10.David Banner feat. Lil'Flip"Like A Pimp" B Good, but not the best he can offer.

11.Ja Rule feat. Ashanti"Mesmerize" A- Not as good as previous Ja Rule/Ashanti songs, but it's good.

12.LL Cool J"Luv U Better" F Not only is this song annoying, but it was never a hit.

13.Panjabi MC feat. Jay-Z"Beware...(Jay-Z Remix)" D+ Just more yelling.

14.Missy Elliot"Work It"A+ A crisp classic.

15.Untouchables feat. Benzino"Untouchable" F Boring Benzino? Why is he on this CD so much? So, he's the editor for the magazine. How does he think he can rap?

Overall Grade - C- This could of been mmmmmmmuuuuuuccccchhhh better. One of the weakest of the series, but not completely terrible.

The Source Hip Hop Hits have always producec the best compilation of hits and this years doesn't dissapoint. 60 bucks to anyone who can name a better compilation of rap hits this year! I can't. Rather then spending 100's of dollars on cd's you can get all the hits for 10.99.

Songs like Air Force Ones, Beatiful, Neva Scared, The Jump Off, Work It ect have rulled the radio's and hip hop charts! This album is perfect to have as a archive of what was hot this year or to introduce a youngster to hip hop. Or just to have great music.

2 Thumbs up!

Every year since 1997,Source magazine has put out their year end compilation, Hip Hop Hits. The series has had it's ups and downs over the years but still remains entertaining. Hip Hop Hits Vol.7 is more on the positive side of the spectrum. A breakdown:
1.Ludacris"Act A Fool"A-.Ludacris is one of the best rappers out there and this track from "2 Fast 2 Furious" is just plain cool.
2.Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell and Uncle Charlie Wilson"Beautiful"B-.This is a good song, but the beat and Pharrell keep it from it's full potential.
3.2Pac feat. Anthony Hamilton"Thugz Mansion"A-.With songs like this 2Pac's legend will live forever.Very powerful and deep.
4.Nelly feat. Murphy Lee,Ali and Kyjuan"Air Force Ones"C+.This song is kinda fun,but "Hot In Herre" and "Dilemma" put it to shame.
5.Lil'Kim feat. Mr.Cheeks"The Jump Off"C.The beat overshadows everything else and Mr.Cheeks has nothing to do.Lil'Kim has had MUCH better songs.
6.Fabolous feat. Lil'Mo and Mike Shorey"Can't Let You Go"A.This song is catchy,artistic,wonderous and resounds with you.The track is one of the year's 10 best songs.
7.Benzino feat. Mario Winians"Rock The Party"B.Benzino is a co-owner of the magazine,thus he will be on every album,no matter how bad the song.This one is pretty decent entertainment.
8.DMX"Where The Hood At"B+.Not great DMX,still a good hard rap song. It's Catchy if not the same as his older works.
9.Bone Crusher feat. Jadakiss and Busta Rhymes"Neva Scared"D+.Busta and Jadakiss are very talented but this song gives them nothing to work with. It is annoying and degrating to the ears. Poorly made.
10.David Banner feat. Lil'Flip"Like A Pimp"B-. An above average rap song which is very hip and cool. Just not the best song.
11.Ja Rule feat. Ashanti"Mesmerize"B.Not in the same league as "Always On Time" but still good. Shows Ja Rule softer side, despite all the trash about him, he still rules.
12.LL Cool J"Luv U Better"A.Shows a different side of LL,I love this passionate song. One of his and the year's best.
13.Panjabi MC feat. Jay-Z"Beware...(Jay-Z Remix)"B-.A catchy and different foreign track. My doubts are attribute to the song, Jay-Z helps it alot.
14.Missy Elliot"Work It"A.I think she has just one another Grammy, great rap song, alot of meaning. Just terrific.
15.Untouchables feat. Benzino"Untouchable"C.A bonus track should be a good thing. Not a plain, boring and generic rap.

Bottom Line:***.Not the best Hip Hop Hits, but still a worthy buy because of a number of songs.

TRACK LISTING

1. Act A Fool - Ludacris
2. Beatiful - Snoop Dogg/Pharrell/Uncle Charlie Wilson
3. Thugz Mansion - 2Pac/Anthony Hamilton
4. Air Force Ones - Nelly/Kjwuan/Ali/Murphy Lee
5. The Jump Off - Lil' Kim/Mr. Cheeks
6. Can't Let You Go - Fabolous/Lil' Mo/Mike Shorey
7. Rock The Party - Benzino/Mario Winans
8. Where The Hood At? - DMX
9. Neva Scared - Bonecrusher/Jadakiss/Busta Rhymes
10. Like A Pimp - David Banner/Lil' Flip
11. Mesmorize - Ja Rule/Ashanti
12. Luv U Better - LL Cool J
13. Beware... - Panjabi MC/Jay-Z (jay-z remix)
14. Work It - Missy Elliott
15. Untouchable - Untouchables/Benzino (bonus track)

Last year, i bought The Source Presents Hip Hop Hits Vol. 6 when it came out. When i bought it, i gave it a 5-star review for having what i said to be "a perfect mix of hits", i take those words back now that i have heard Hip Hop Hits 7. In all of the HHH's collections, there is nothing current. True, the are all "hits", but none of them are up to date with the current music scene. Looking at the tracklisting for HHH7, you would think it should've been released earlier this year, maybe then it would have been able to sell, now it's very outdated and i'm sure it won't sell much at all.

The Source has a way of putting together the most overplayed songs on hip-hop radio. The fact is that the album is boring. It begins with the Ludacris single, "Act A Fool", from the soundtrack of 2 Fast 2 Furious. This might be a good adddition for the ones who did not purchase 2F2F, but for the others who heard it a million times on radio and TV, it's not worth it. Luda's current (chart-topping) hit "Stand Up" would've been a much better addition ("Act A Fool" didn't make it past the top 40 on the charts).

The same thing happens over and over again with tracks by Snoop Dogg ("Beatiful"), Missy Elliott ("Work It") and Ja Rule ("Mesmorize"), these songs are all very very overplayed and have been on several other hits collections before this one. Most of the songs on this album are "hits", but for others like Lil' Kim's "The Jump Off" and David Banner's "Like A Pimp" (that only reached positions over the 40 mark on pop radio charts), they are nothing but fillers in the album.

One of my biggest problems with the HHH collections is the fact that Benzino always has to include himself. I stomached the remix of "Bootee" from last year's HHH6 since it had guest spots from Fabolous and G-Dep, but this time around is unforgivable. Benzino adds his own "Rock The Party", which was NEVER a hit and not even close to being one. He also adds himself on the bonus track "Untouchable" which i had never heard previous to hearing HHH7. Doing this is nothing more than trying to shine the spotlight on himself knowing that no one likes his albums.

The last thing i have to say about HHH7 is that it is complete garbage. It is not current, nor is it even full of "hits". It is nothing more than an attempt at milking as much money out of you as possible. If it were a true, current, "hip hop hits" collection for today's urban market, then it would feature such current hits such as the previously mentioned "Stand Up" by Ludacris, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" by Young Gunz or even "Holidae Inn" by Chingy.

I'm sorry, but i see no reason why this album should even recieve 1 star from me or anyone else. This "hits" collection needs to shape up or never put out another volume of HHH's again (at least one without Benzino).

Good hiphop cd. All the good songs are on here expect for 50 cent's.this cd has not left my cd player in a week. quite hatin.

The only reason I put this at 2 stars is because they put my man Luda on the disc. If it wasn't for him, I'd have this CD in the trash... oh wait, I own the 2Fast2Furious Soundtrack, Hip Hop Hits IS in the trash. Don't waste your money, this CD sucks.

1.Act a fool-from 2 fast 2 Furious 7/10
2.Beautiful-Pretty good actually 8/10
4.Air Force Ones-Okay good party beat 7/10
5.The Jump off-Where is Renee 4/10
6. Can't let you go-Sucks 4/10
7.Rock the Paty-he never raps 3/10
8.Where the hood at-Not here 2/10
9.Like a Pimp-like not your no underground legend You Suck 2/10
10.Neva Scared-Busta as of Late 4/10
11.Mesmerize-Come on Ja 3/10
12.Luv u Better-like 9/10
14.Work it-Hate Missy 2/10
15.Untouchable Benzino is very touchabble 1/10

Overall 56/150 37.33% wich is 1.5 Mics *^

This is not the best "The Source Hits" compilation, but it is not the worst, either. Just had a couple filler tracks.

1. Ludacris - Act A Fool - The cut from the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack. 9/10
2. Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell - Beautiful - all right collabo; I thought "Drop It Like It's Hot" and "Let's Get Blown" were much better though. Also on Snoop Dogg's "Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Boss". 7/10
3. 2Pac feat. Anthony Hamilton - Thugz Mansion - great song, even better than the version with Nas. Also on 2Pac's "Better Dayz". 10/10
4. Nelly - Air Force Ones - a rap song about shoes; very catchy. Also on "Nellyville". 9/10
5. Lil' Kim feat. Mr. Cheeks - The Jump Off - another Neptunes-produced track on an album of The Source. Also on Lil' Kim's "La Bella Mafia". 9/10
6. Fabolous feat. Mike Shorey and Lil' Mo - Can't Let You Go - don't like Fabolous so I skip this song. Also on "Street Dreams". 2/10
7. Ray Benzino feat. Mario Winans - Rock The Party - don't like either of the artists, but this is a decent song. Also on Benzino's "Redemption". 8/10
8. DMX - Where the Hood At - great song, and it's too bad he retired. There is one extra verse in the song for those who only saw the version on MTV. Also on "Grand Champ". 10/10
9. Bone Crusher feat. Jadakiss, Cam'ron and Busta Rhymes - Never Scared (Remix) - great song; hotter than the normal version, where I only liked T.I.'s part. Also on Bone Crusher's "Attenchun". 9/10
10. David Banner feat. Lil' Flip - Like A Pimp - this song introduced David Banner to the world and helped spark the career of Lil' Flip. Also on David Banner's "Mississippi: The Album". 10/10
11. Ja Rule feat. Ashanti - Mesmerize - I could care less about this song. Also on Ja Rule's "The Last Temptation". 3/10
12. LL Cool J - Luv U Better - bangin joint; made a hot return that year. Also on "10". 10/10
13. Panjabi MC feat. Jay-Z - Beware (Remix) - this song is so bad that the remix does not even save it. 3.5/10
14. Missy Elliott - Work It - this song gets annoying after awhile. Also on "Under Construction". 1/10
15. Untouchables feat. Ray Benzino - Untouchable - another filler track to conclude the album; I listen to "Luv U Better" and then stop playing it. 2/10

This album could have used better songs than the ones that I gave low ratings to. Examples being:

1. Joe Budden - Pump It Up
2. Xzibit - Multiply (feat. Nate Dogg)
3. Jay-Z - Change Clothes
4. Cam'ron feat Juelz Santana - Hey Ma
5. Trick Daddy feat. Big Boi of Outkast - In Da Wind

For a while, the Source's yearly cd's have been alright, including their best effort (1998's disc). But since then, they have been in decline. Usually releasing the best rap of their year, this one pulls songs from as early as august 2002 (ll cool j- luv u better) and a handful of tracks from late 2002 (sept-nov.) including: 2pac- thugz mansion, benzino- rock the party, nelly- air force 1's (from nelly's cd released in june 2002). I know Benzino couldn't land eminem, obie trice, or 50 Cent, but neither of those 3 had a song deserving to be called tops of 2003 in the first place. Missing from this are radio regulars "Shake Ya' Tailfeather","Get Low", and "Pump it Up" as well as deserving turns from Gangstarr, Freddie Foxxx, Keith Murray, T.I., and others. Do yourself a favor and just burn your own "best of..." cd so u can use this money to buy something more worthwhile like the new Black Moon- Total Eclipse LP or the slept on Nappy Roots- Wooden Leather.