Customer Reviews

Too Hot for T.V. [Vinyl]

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(50)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

There's much to like about Too Hot for TV. However, there's just as much, if not, more to dislike about it as well!

First, the good. Diddy must be commended for basically taking every hot spot in America and giving them shine through their respective performers. New York gets Babs and Dylan. Detroit has Sara Stokes. Philly gets E Ness. Miami gets Fred. New Orleans has Young City.
You cannot say that they didn't get decent beats to perform on. Wyclef Jean blesses them with 'Do You Know', a track that hits with the same kind of power and feel as the Destiny's Child breakout 'No No No' remix. The Bad Boy house producers Dofat and Diddy himself lace them with some sounds including their lead single 'Bad Boy This, Bad Boy That', 'Living Legends', 'Tonight' and 'I Like Your Style'.
Sara Stokes, the singer whom went from a whiny girl that couldn't sing on hip hop tracks to a woman with pipes singing hooks, shines with a voice with more power than Faith Evans, the ORIGINAL R&B singer of Bad Boy.
Ness could easily be a star out of Philly if given more time on the mic without the rest of his Band-mates interrupting the drama he builds on the mic. 'Go Steady', featuring him and Sara, could easily vault both into superstardom with its smooth R&B sound, Stokes' crystal clear voice and Ness' verse that just screams 'crossover'
Now, the bad.... I didn't mention any of the rest of Da Band because they create part of the problem that really damages a potentially great record. Babs is fine as the heavy-spitting BK chick with as much aggression as Lil' Kim on her better days! Fred is a drastically unique voice that sets him apart from most everything you hear out there. Dylan's dance hall reggae influences and ability to carry a tune add a great flavor to hooks and a breath of fresh air on tracks full of rapping.
Young City is the beginning of the death of this album. He sounds like an amateur spitting tired lyrics with a voice that has no power behind it. City, aka Chopper, reminds me very much of just about every wannabe MC around me: average voice that just sounds like he's talking, cliched lyrics, and a presence that makes him look like a boy among men!
Another MASSIVE problem I get here is with the production. No, the beats are fine. The production parts that kill it for me are their almost unbearable need to feature all of Da Band on every track. This would be fine on 5-7 minute songs, where each MC could get extended verses to build, climax, and cadence. However, with a typical song length of 3 and a half minutes, we are left with songs that give artists shorter bursts to go, with 'Do You Know' giving them only 2 bars to make a statement! For the listener, it's a feeling of 'I'm really feeling where this guys going but... wait.... they're gone!' and you lose their energy! It's a VERY annoying facet of the disc that happens all to often. I would've preferred much more with much less.
Lyrically, it's nothing that you'll see as a future Hip Hop Quotable, but it's also not something that a middle school kid conjures up thinking they're a vicious MC. Very middle of the road, with Young City having a significant;y negative impact on the lyrics. He needs to grow up and really learn to right about more than money, cars, rims, girls, drugs, and jewels!

Overall, it's not a BAD disc... but it's also not something that I'd put in heavy rotation in my iPod. It's like cough medicine; good for you in small doses, but, taken all at once, will definitely hurt you! And, pray that Diddy makes solo artists out of Ness and Sara, uses Dylan for killer hooks like a Sean Paul, gets Babs a 'lady's night'-esque killer single, and pairs Fred and Young City, as one's strengths will hide the other's weaknesses!

You have all this money and your show is run on MTV the question is with all the talent in this country with rappers who are right now nobodies but can rap why did you not pick 5 of those people and believe me there are 5 out of 5,000 that can rap.well get those 5 rappers put them over some DJ Premier beats RZA-HAVOC-DRE and let them kill it.In this instance you have some bad rappers with some truly god awful female singers that have no Talent then you make some stupid videos no tight ones all club or booty or whatever videos and you waste money on these idiots with no talent.

Lyrics 3/10 Production 5/10 X Factor 1/10 Classic 1/10 Me 1/10
Overall=11/50 This one gets a 22% This is seriosly terrible

Honestly, I thought that the CD was going to be WACK. In actuality it turned out to be very impressive for a DEBUT. The MC's and the songstress had nice beats to rhyme over, but some of the lyrics were lackluster. The spin-off CD which took us through two seasons of Making of the Band on MTV turned out AVERAGE results. None of the tracks on Too Hot for TV goes out on a limb, but there's plenty of songs that'll have your head noddin'. Highlights include the oh-so sexy "I Like Your Style", "Living Legends", the Wyclef produced "Do You Know", and the solo by Sara ft. Ness which is entitled "Go Steady". "Hold Me Down" is also a song worth listening to eventhough it doesn't have a hook. Babs definitely spit on this track and she's showing the world why Diddy asked her to come back to the show. Last but not least on my list of tracks is the song "Tonight". It's definitely a club banger.

Although I've given praise to the CD, there are definitely reasons as to why the CD isn't a five. I gave Babs her props for shinning on "Hold Me Down," but some of her lyrics became redundant on other songs as she talked about blowing smoke, haze, etc. Chooper aka Young City kinda' put me in the mind of the Hot Boyz with his tired lyrics about drugs, women, cars, and blingin'. Sara and Dylan were not featured enough on the CD. If you ask me they were short changed. Dylan was one of the hottest people on the entire CD when he was featured. His ability to carry a tune and his reggae flow definitely brought flavor to every song that he was able to get a word in on.

As stated above, the CD does have more than one single. It isn't a hip hop classic, but it'll definitley leave you feeling satisfied.

Didn't the Osbourne's teach us anything? Record labels don't seem to have realized yet that people's desire to watch people fight, swear and yell every week has no correlation to their taste for music. However, since Making the Band was completely based around creating a music group, and in the second season, creating a record, this album is more inevitable than Kelly Osbourne's debut. Da Band received rave reviews for their MTV reality series making the band. On the show, they often looked horrible, fought, cried, yelled or were humiliated. The group, put together by P. Diddy, spent the second season creating an album. On the show, they were portrayed, probably not unrealistically, working hard and endlessly on the CD. However, this only makes the outcome seem more sad and pathetic. It's hard to imagine how anyone, with cameras being stuck in their face and millions of dollars worth of pressure riding on their could make a fantastic CD with people they hardly know. P Diddy envisioned the group as the next fugees but on this cd they sound much more like the new Otwon. The cd lacks grit, spunk or interesting production. The main problems with the CD are the group's lack of unity and direction. With I singer, Sara Stokes, I female rapper, Babs, and four male rappers, Young City, Freddrick, Ness and Dylan, the tracks are often over stuffed and confusing. Nobody gets enough time to really perform. The members individually do have talent. The most striking is Babs, whose tomboyish spunk, whiny voice and thumping flow are incredible. Young City has a unique southern drawl and his personality, which made him the star of the show, makes brief and well appreciated appearances in his raps. Freddrick has a gritty, scratchy voice and a fast flow. However, over uninteresting, dragging beats none of them can reach a high point. The songs switch back and forth between hip-hop (stick up, they know) and sing song pop (my life, the horrendous l like your style and do you know). The singer of the group, Sara Stokes, doesn't have the voice or strength of Mariah or Whitney and she is often asked on the album to belt out like these two. This results in mostly soft whines and whimpers although she doesn't let out an extremely strong performance on the dismal do you know. However, on her solo song, Go Steady, she creates the albums best song. She moans groans and tweets her way through the song and turns the floating, boring beat into a stammering masterpiece. However, other than this, there is nothing special about the group or the album. Perhaps with more time allotted to each person, better production and less corny topics the group could become something great. It's hard to imagine them creating anything worse than this.

this has to be the most dissapointing and worst album i have ever bought in my life!!!!!!!!!!!
first off puffy shouldnt be producing no more cause he cant do it!!!!!!!!!!
everything he does is horrible!!!!!!!!!!!
NESS is the only good rapper here!!!!!!!!!!!!
FREDERICK the worst flow and worst rapper in the world!!!!!!!
CHOPPA he is okay but he just cant spit!!!!!!!!!!
DYLAN there is no explination for how bad he is!!!!!!!!!
BABS she is actually kinda good but still the worst female mc!!!
SARAH well i dont know much bout singers but you dont have her in a rap group puffy was tryin to make here like a nate dogg to do the hooks but it turned out to be horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NESS should break away like the lox did and find a better producer cause puffy dont know what he doin!!!!!!

bottom line DONT GET this album it really is horrible
one of the most softest album EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

go get these albums if you into rap
NAS-stillmatic, illmatic, it was written, god's son, the lost tapes
MOBB DEEP-the infamous, hell on earth, murda muzik, infamy, free agents
SHEEK LOUCH-walk witt me
JADAKISS-kiss the game goodbye
STYLES-a gangsta and a gentleman
LOX-we are the streets
CAM'RON-come home wit me, diplomatic immunity

DO NOT GET bad boy's da band's- too hot for t.v.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the Worst album ever

The sales rank on 11-28-03 of 2,107 says it all: This album is abysmal at best.

P. Diddy missed the mark with this group of wannabes who couldn't sing if P. Diddy possessed their bodies. I don't know why he'd consider this "group" talented, but he is obviously out of touch with reality.

The only one in the band who stands a chance of reaching a star is Sara; but frankly, I don't think she has the drive and determination to enhance herself to the point where people would listen.

Sorry ... from Dylan's fake Jamaican accent to Bab's horrible makeup, this band reeks.

Face it:

When an album is only a month or two old, and 47 are already selling on the New/Used List for $4.99, that pretty much says it all. Keep the $4.99. Don't waste your money on this lost venture.

There are only 2 songs on this cd that I didn't really like, which is why I rated it 4 stars. (Minus the intro/outro)
2. My Life-It's alright, something should be done w/ the chorus
3. Living Legends- one of THE BEST tracks on the cd. Dylan really shows his stuff.
4.Tonight-took me a little while to get used to this song but the 3rd time around i loved it.
5.How you like me now-another awesome song, love the beginning.
6.I Like Your Style-one of the top 3 best on the cd. the beat is off the hook.
7.What We gonna do-this song is HOOOOOTTTT. maybe tied for the best song w/ living legends.
8.Why-a little old but still sounds good. fred rips it. by far the most talented member of da band.
9.Stick Up-good song, not great.
10.Chopped Up- Chopper can carry his own. hot song.
11.bad boy this bad boy that-fun song that really shows off what fred can do.
12.do you know-not very familiar w/ the original but was very impressed with this one. everyone sounds awesome.
13.hold me down-awesome song, babs shows off her skills.
14.cheers to me mr bentley-the OTHER thumbs down song. I wonder why it's even on the record???
15.They Know-another one of the hottest songs on the cd. Chopper and Fred together=amazing
16.Go Steady-Sara surprised me. Watchin the show her voice didn't do much for me but she def. holds her own on this one.

I know most of you all seen the show Making the Band 2 on MTV. I did, I seen the disagreements, arguments, and fights. But through it all Da Band stook together in order to complete this hot album. This is my review of the album.

01. We Here (Intro) - Band members givin' shout out and how they into the band. Giving shout outs 2 the people thad didn't make it.
02. My Life - This track is dramatic, not that uplifting but not depressing but it's in the middle. I like their rhymes on this song.

03. Livng Legends - I love this song, has a Island/reggae feel to it. The song is tight.
04. Tonight - This song will be their 2nd single. I think that's a good choice for a 2nd single. Sara vocals is hot on this song. And the beat is just hot.
05. How U Like Me Know - This song is talkin' about a girlfriend or boyfriend wastin' the other person's time. I like this song also.
06. I Like Your Style - Craig Brookman & Nisan Stewart along with P. Diddy produced on this track. They also work with Missy on her song. And they produced a good beat on this track also.
07. What We Gonna Do - This song is askin' what we gonna do tonight? I like this track it is hot.
08. Why? - I can sort of relate with this track. In the chours it says "Why the devil keep on huntin' me for?" And in life the devil can make u do bad things. And have a bad effect on you.
09. Stick Up - This is basically a skit song, about a bank robbery. Gettin money.
10. Whatcha Be Doin'(Interlude)- It ask what you be doin' New Orleans.
11. Chopped Up - On this song Young City a.k.a. Chopper takes the lead on this track. I like this song. It's hot.
12. Bad Boy This, Bad Boy That - This is their 1st single off the album. I like this song. Thier verses repesents each of them on this song. And the beat,no doubt it's hot.
13. Do You Know - This song is a remake of the classic song. Produced by Wyclef Jean. I like this song. A better version of the orginal.
14. Hold Me Down - This is my most favorite song on the album. The beat is definately hot. I like Bab's verse on this song. This track sticks out 2 me.
15. Cheers To Me Mr. Bently - Mad Rapper be imitating or ad-libing Mr. Bently on this track. This is Mr. Bently's first song. He is basically talkin' about his self.
16. They Know - This is a hard core type of song. It's dramtaic. About hustling.
17. Go Steady - This is one R&B song on the album. Sara showcases her vocals on this song. She takes the lead on this song also.
18. Holla (Outro) - The band making closing shout outs on the album. They making shout out's to the places they all came from.

This was one hot album. I would reccomend to a sceptical buyer to go ahead and buy their deubut album. You will not be disappointed, belive that.

I don't have problems with artists proclaiming that they're the best...

I have problems with artists proclaiming that they're the best when they're just rookies

The one thing that makes new artists "un-appealing" is their arrogance, and this is evident for "Bad Boy's Da Band". First off, what a clever name... "Da Band". Why not "Da Group", "Da 6 People", or "Da We"? Anyway... Choppa (well actually, he changed it to "Young" because of the confusion with the other "Choppa") is a little too cocky. Fred sounds like Ja Rule on helium. Ness is stale. When Dylan talks, it literally makes me wanna punch the wall. Babs is yet another female rapper with that "I'm a thug chick" persona (although she is the only member that can somewhat rhyme) . Sarah has a sappy-pop sounding mediocre voice with minimal range. But since they have a TV show on MTV, they've gotten that exposure. So, automatically, they're considered to be hot...

... I beg to differ

Da Bands music ranges from low to medium quality standard hip-hop. "Tonight" makes me wanna shout "shut up" while "Why" just cracks me up...Their first single "Bad Boy This, Bad Boy That" is a mess of a song. First of all, the song lacks direction in subject; First Babs is talking about shes mad tough and how she fight then rob you. Then Ness is talking about how Da Band is about to "blow up". Then Young is talking about what he got. Lastly, Fred is stuttering and slurring his own words, talking about how he's a target and how everybody wants to get a piece of him. It seems like they just wrote anything, then put it all together in 10 minutes. The beat is kinda dumb sounding, and the hook is stupid: "All I hear is bad boy this, and bad boy that, bad boy will beat you down with a baseball bat". Well... if they hit as hard as they rhyme, we have nothing to worry about.

Overall, this is another money-making scheme... I think Sara says it best in the song "How You Like Me Now":

Could've done something
But you did nothing
You was just a waste of my time

This is the upmost worst musically talented music group ever put togeather in the world, the t.v. show is just as horrible as the music, puff Daddy Your Ill but you screwed up with this music group. you got a fat R&B singer fat as in wideload and a bunch of clowns that can't rhyme