Customer Reviews

Street Hop

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

i think royce is underrated! he needs more promotion and really needs to do a cd with 9th wonder or premier. this cd is a very good one. royces lyrics are consistantly dope and entertaining its just sometimes the beats and hooks on here are not typical royce. that doesnt really take away from it its still a solid and above average effort! real hip hoppers go support this!

ROYCE DA 5'9
STREET HOP

I have been a fan of Royce since he first debuted and was pulling for him during his beef with former friends turned enemies Em and D-12. Since then the beef has been squashed [Royce won that hands down] and Royce has moved on to a super group called Slaughterhouse with Joel Ortiz, Joe Budden, and one of my all time favorites Crooked I [been up on him since his first appearances ever on Big C-Style's compilations back in the 90's]. Royce is one of the best lyricists ever yet is still underrated by the mainstream, which is ok because the man knows how to hold his own and is vicious on a mic.

1.GUN HARMONIZING-the first track off of the album is absolutely brilliant with two of the best M.C.'s of all time come together. Royce and fellow Slaughterhouse member Crooked I destroy this track with some vicious spit. Royce crushes the first two verses with some of the best lyrics ever on a battle tip, followed by the one and only Crooked I. Crooked is one of the greats with out a doubt and he destroys his verse over Emile's excellent production. This is absolutely one of the best songs I have ever heard.5/5

2.COUNT FOR NOTHING-Royce reunites with producer Nottz with this one right here that is straight hip hop. Nottz did his thing on the production here with some nice horns and a real hip hop feel to it. Royce kills each verse with a great flow and each verse is full of great lyrics. Another winner right here and another Royce classic with Nottz, great track.5/5

3.SOLDIER-this is once again a classic and may be one of my favorites amongst these classics. I love the production on this track because the instrumental by Frequency is every thing that is right with hip hop. It is completely original with out sounding over the top, in fact it has a great industrial feel to it. Royce of course kills it once again with a slower flow that fits the beat perfectly. Kid Vishis who I have not heard to often from what I can remember but he does his thing as well with a great verse. His KRS line is great and the hook for this song is great over the beat.5/5

4.SOMETHING 2 RIDE 2-Royce comes on a more smooth tip this time over a nice easy instrumental from the great DJ Premier. The smoothed out beat is complemented greatly by an equally smooth hook by Phonte. Royce of course flips each line smooth and matches the beat perfectly with the flow. Once again another great track that is more than worthy of this album.4/5

5.DINNER TIME-Busta Rhymes stops by on this hyped up track that Royce absolutely murks match the beat literally perfect. Quincey Tones did a great job supplying a sick beat that fits Royce's style and has some great horns. Busta Bust is up next with a great verse spitting much like Royce did match the beat and dropping some battle influenced rhymes. This track is pretty much a battle track with some great words getting flipped.4/5

6.FAR AWAY-Emile returns dropping an instrumental that screams get deeper on this and Royce does his thing of course. The hook for this is great and the auto tune influenced style screams for this to be a single. I could see a great video to this and it should be a third single or something. Another great track that is with out a doubt more than worthy of this album.5/5

7.THE WARRIORS-finally a Slaughterhouse collaboration with all four of them ripping the track to pieces. Joe Budden kicks things off first doing his thing. Joel Ortiz is next up killing the track followed by the returning great Crooked I. Crooked of course liquidates the track followed by the ever vicious Royce Da 5'9. All four kill this Streetrunner production once again after their first run, one of the best tracks.5/5

8.A BRIEF INTERMISSION-this is a pretty funny skit.

9.NEW MONEY-Streetrunner returns on this very East coast style track that feels like it is straight of the NYC. Of course Royce flows perfectly over this East/NY influenced track with some great verses. Pretty much Royce letting all know what the deal is while flipping the metaphors. A classic with out a doubt and could have a cool video for it if he took a trip to NY and shot it, great hip hop single.5/5

10.SHAKE THIS-the first single off of the album [may be second] is much like the last a East coast influenced sounding track that is straight hip hop for sure, that old school feel. This is pretty much his story told through the rhymes, you may even know what he is talking about a points. DJ Premier laced Royce with a classic right here as he talks about his jail sentence, one of the best songs he has ever done.5/5

11.GANGSTA-Trick Trick appears along side Royce on this one spitting that Detroit stuff over a Raff Mosses production. The hook is cool and Royce kills his verses easily one again lyrics spew from his mouth with ease. Trick Trick just talks over this one giving an intro and outro. Still this is a good more hardcore track, nice addition to the album.4/5

12.MINEZ IN THIZ-D Porter who some may know from another very popular group in rap not only guests on this one but supplies a very different beat to this one. The beat continues that more hardcore sound but this one is really raw and underground sounding. Royce drops more battle raps over this one warning others about what is in the house. The final verse is by Mr. Porter himself and he kills it with a new style on the album, great track.4/5

13.STREET HOP 2010-pretty much the title track of the album with Royce spitting non stop with a nice stop and pause flow. I like his style on this one as he sounds really cocky, of course he has every right to be since he is a great lyricist. This has a cool underground sound that feels like something straight out of the D. Nottz really brought something nice to the table on this one and killed it.4.5/5

14.THING FOR YOUR GIRLFRIEND-D Porter has returned on this one to drop a nice smooth slow joint that is perfect for radio. K Young features on this one and does a marvelous job on both the hook and a smooth verse. With some clean up in the editing room this could have been a nice single, Royce kinda goes into mainstream mode with his verses and lyrics but his style fits it. I wonder if Nick will get mad at Royce for the MC refrence.4/5

15.ON THE RUN-Emile is back and dropping some more heat for Royce on this excellent track. The beat is real soulful and the hook matches it perfectly and adds to the atmosphere of the song. Royce of course kills this track in storyteller mode and spits some meaningful heat, all while on the run and shooting it out with cops.5/5

16.MURDER- Frequency is the producer on this one and drops a nice old school feeling track for Royce to get down on. Royce is once again in storyteller mode and tells a great street tale. This is another great track that is more than worthy on being on this excellent album.4.5/5

17.BAD BOY-I can see Diddy all kinds of upset he didn't do this one here, great track. The beat from Streetrunner is straight heat sounding like the perfect backdrop for Royce and Jungle Rock Jr. This is a great track from the excellent hard beat to the great hook, great track. Royce switches up his voice a little for this one and it fits it perfectly, excellent ttrack.5/5

18.PART OF ME-the other single from the album and it is a wise choice with a great story being told. Royce tells the story of a girl meeting some dude and what happens with that, great story a lot can relate to, at least the picking up each other part. Carlos Broady produced this track and did a great job, I love the instruments in this one. This has got to be one of the best songs I have ever heard in my life, seriously the story in this one is crazy. Royce tells the story just like a real narrator seeming like he is just there to tell the story and nothing more, it feels like a movie. The video for this is great and the story is excellent and has an insanely scary ending.5/5

19.HOOD LUV-the last song on the album features Slaughterhouse member Joel Ortiz and Texas legend Bun B. These are three of the best in the game and they each do their thing on this one with Royce doing it first. DJ Premier returns to drop another excellent meaningful instrumental, great track. Bun B is up next and of course does his thing talking about what getting love from where you are from is like. Up next is Joel and like the last two tells what is like where he is from and what he does. This is an excellent end to the album, a great album.5/5

This is one of Royce's best albums thus far and that is saying something because he is one of the best. To those who have yet to hear this artist then I suggest you get up on him quick because he really is one of the best ever.

Royce is hella ILL on every track! He is far above what everyone likes or whats hot in rap/hip-hop right now!

this album is fire in the exception of 2 or 3 songs, the rest is 5 mikes. go support people stop hating on D

"Street Hop" is definetly no "Death Is Certain"...but that's good. Let me explain. Royce Da 5'9"'s second "Death Is Certain", was very personal and introspective, mainly due to his personal and professional woes (feuding with Eminem and D12), beefs in the streets, etc. "DIC" is a classic album because it had a consistent theme of morbidness, insecurity and seriousness. However, Royce ahs been there, done that and naturally wants to do something new. The concept behind "Street Hop", is an album of songs that are hardcore in nature while at the same time exhibiting skilled lyricism and creativity. DJ Premier executive produced the LP, and as an executive producer he served as a legendary ear for what is good and bad snd sequenced the tracks. Now I have read several reviews of this CD, and have pointed out that the album would have been better if the 19 tracks would have been trimmed to 14-15 songs. However, the perceived filler material is bearable considering the bad songs on other high-profile rap releases of 2009. Royce has been working on this album for 3 years and has delayed its release for many reasons: devote time recording with his brothers-n-arms Slaughterhouse (Dope LP) a must-have if you don't have it, his imprisonment for DUI and ghostwriting duties for a rapping CEO. Let's get to the music.

I'm going in random order.

"Dinner Time"-Royce Da 5'9"'s lyricism doesn't shine any brighter on this album than this track. The Source should include one of his two verses from this song for "Hip-Hop Quotable". Royce sounds most like Eminem with the intensity of his voice, and rhythmic rhyme cadence. If you heard Eminem's verse from "Forever", you will have chills going down your spine when you hear how similar and unique they sound considering they used to rhyme together in a group called "Bad Meets Evil". This only reminds me why there is no other rapper Em has rhymed with that can match him line for line other than Royce. 50 Cent is good, but he aint Royce. Em get Royce in the studio asap. Especially when y'all both live in Michigan.

"Far Away"-the next track is just as ill. At the beginning, Royce starts the song singing (has a decent voice)like a r&b singer giving the impression this would be sappy and soft, but Royce interupts the track to rhyme for real. It's a short track clocking at 2 minutes and 55 seconds, but the song is ironic. Smooth r&b groove with hardcore lyrics. Peep what he says about Juelz Santana and Naughty By Nature.

"Count For Nothing"-Is classic Royce. Boastful, and funny. This should be a single. It's radio-friendly enough to appease radio-programmers and lyrical enough to satisfy the streets and backpackers.

There's too many tracks on this CD to review every song, but this is Best Rap Album Of The Year. I love "Relapse"-Eminem, "OB4CL2"-Raekwon, "Smoke N Mirros" by B-Real, "Survival Skills"-KRS-1 and Buckshot, "Deeper Than Rap"-Rick Ross, "Wizard of Poetry"-Ghostface and "BP3"-Jay-Z AND many more, but in a year when Hip-Hop has seen its best year for rap music in a long time, no album in my opinion was as enteraining and thought-provoking than "Street Hop" and I challenge anyone who says different.

I wasn't really expecting this album to be anything great, just a nice 4 star album from Royce. Boy, was I wrong. I got this one sitting over 4.5 stars (I've played it around 14 times). To me, this is Royce's best lyrical album to date; no wasted verses at all. The story telling tracks are all on point, and songs like Soldier, New Money, Mine In Thiz, and Street Hop 2010 are some of the best lyrical displays of the year. The production is easily in the top 5 of the year (though I thought 6 July would have more than 1 track). Emile, Frequency, and STREETRUNNER, are really showing me why they are a few of the best in the game right now. Not to mention, the three Primo tracks are some of his best in recent years. The guests all bring their A game, too. Crooked I (as always) drops an insane verse on Gun Harmonizing, Busta comes more than correct on Dinner Time, Phonte's singing is great on the Primo track, Something 2 Ride 2, and even Kid Vishis shows up on Solider. The skit in the middle of the album is pretty annoying, and some might find Thing For Your Girlfriend to be a bit corny, but no other song is short of great. If you haven't heard this yet, I highly recommend checking it out. My personal album of the year so far.

Standouts include: Gun Harmonizing (third in line), Count For Nothing, Soldier, Something 2 Ride 2, Dinner Time, Far Away (second favorite), New Money (personal favorite), Mine In Thiz, Shake This, Street Hop 2010, On The Run, Murder, Part OF Me, and Hood Love.

Lyrics- 10/10
Production- 10/10
Guest Spots- 9.5/10
Overall Sound- 9.5/10

Rating: 4.875

Been a huge 5'9 fan since City but and I'm one of the few in my area (MD) that knows what actually good rap or rather hip hop is. While everyone is sweating both Wayne and Jay who I think are the MOST OVERRATED rappers ever. I've stuck with Royce throughout the drought of good rap. Alot of rappers have come and gone and some are still doing the same stuff they did years ago but yet people are still praising them for whatever reason. And then there are ones that are straight up racist like Kanye but people still listen to him. Don't believe me, go listen to any of his albums or just look at how he degrades anybody that isn't of his genre. Then there are those that deliberately put down Jesus and GOD in their lyrics but again people are to oblivious to seeing this or just don't care. This is why the music industry is terrible and why I don't listen to radio, unless it's classic rock or something that doesn't sound like absolute C-Rap. People are just so easily manipulated and misguided listening to she males like GooGooGaga and whatever other pop BS is out there like BEYAWNCE.....anyways, I pretty much don't listen to anything that doesn't have actual guitars, bass and drums with actually lyrics to relate to which pretty much declares my disgust for the music industry since there are so many ACTUAL artists (5'9 being one of them) that don't get the recognition they deserve. I'm pretty sure now that the Bad Meets Evil Sequel album is out even though it's referred to as an EP. Anything that has more than 8 songs are it is and actual album, if you hear otherwise, it's wrong plain and simple. When I heard this was coming out, I was ecstatic cause finally one of the very few rappers I've been looking forward to hearing is dropping another album. I can say now that my expectations were to high. I say that cause just about every other one that came out before those were really good to the point of almost being great, not to mention both Bar Exam mixtapes were very very good. I haven't listened to The Bar Exam 3 but I'm pretty sure it's alot better than this. I can dare say that all his mixtapes/compilation albums are as good if not better than his actual albums. I don't know what it is but it seems that he was saving his best lyrics and style for the Bad Meets Evil album. Maybe it could be looked at the same way for his mixtapes cds. There are maybe 5 or 6 songs total I like on this. It's not his best work and not even a good one which should be since he's put out so many really good ones out in the past. Heck even The Album which came out before this was alot better. Still nothing can come close to his Bad Meets Evil stuff from before and now. The best song which which is one of his best that features another rapper is Dinner Time with Busta. Now he's had ALOT of different rappers he has featuring in one song or another on all his stuff and as mentioned the BME when I feel he's at his best. Although he and Em are as good as the other when they are together, I can say that his one song with Busta is great. His timing and just the song makes up for most of the stuff that isn't on here. This along with the last 5 are fine examples of how this should have sounded like in the first place. It's just alittle upsetting to know that Royce IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN WHAT IS ON HERE. One last thing I can say is that his next album comes out in August which already has a song with Em called Writer's Block which already sounds better than most of this album. He's going to the exposure he should with the BME Sequel and maybe just maybe it could be what he needed to make his next one Success Is Certain twice or even 3x better than this. I HIGHLY recommend you wait for that before picking this up.

The only thing i can say is that Royce has finally become a true MC. He found his voice after a couple of months in jail and his made a truly good album. There are songs that aren't as good as others but, there are some good hits. If you followed Royce during the whole mixtape scene then you'll like this album

Overall it's a good CD but please listen to me and do not buy the actual CD. Download the songs each for a dollar here because if you get the actual CD then every song sounds like its being played out of a tin can. Someone obviously messed up the final mix of this CD but if u download the songs from here they sound perfect so I'm not sure what happened... Overall it's a real decent CD I just can't believe there hasn't been a formal apology from Royce in regards to the quality of the CD. I actually bought a second one from a different store because I thought I had gotten a faulty disc.

I was happy with this album. Royce the 5'9" is rapping harder then I ever heard him before. He has always bragged about being such a great rapper but I never really saw it before. This time he impressed me and is showing that potential now. He is better lyrically than in the past. The production is good. There are definitely a handful of great songs on here and really everything else is pretty descent. If you liked Royce the 5'9" at all before, get this one cus this is him at his best.