Customer Reviews

Under Construction Part II

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

U can't fade tim and magoo, every beat is fresh and every ryhme is smooth. It's worth buying, don't be cheap and download. Gather some change and "cop that sh*t" ;). I've only had the c.d. for a couple hours, but some good tracks are.... well.. all of them... especially the second half of the c.d.

I have no problem with Magoo because he is no worse than Missy, who I can't stand. I am still playing this sometimes in my car because it is so damn entertaining. "Don't Make Me Take It There" and "Hold On" are very solid songs, and this is one of those albums you can listen to the whole way through without skipping any tracks because none of the songs are horribly whack. Nice beats as well. You should definitely buy this if you are a mainstream rap lover. If you into underground ish like I am, there is still something to get out of this album.

Timbo is still doin it with his dope beats....
songs to listen to....track 3w/bubba sparxx, track 6- don't make me take it there is by far my favorite because of the music flow and how he carries with the lyrics, indian flute- really flows/great song, hold cutz-u just have to feel the lyrics

This CD is by far one of the best CDs that I have bumped on my system. The lyrics are great, the beats, are smooth, the album was just flat out put together with a masterful touch. Timbaland & Magoo are just flat out great. I recommend this CD for anyone that is a fan of Hip Hop.

Now I been readin some of these reviews and I have to disagree with most of them. I think this the best album to date that Tim & Magoo have dropped. I have been a Tim fan since day one and this album is on point. I do agree that the beats are different, but how boring would it be for Tim to stay the same over all these years. Different does not mean bad, I love all the beats on this albums. And what surprised me the most was the lyrics cause I'm feelin them totally. Now if you have been followin Tim & Magoo all these years you would know that the lyrical content of thier album was the weak point, but not on this one. I can't say enough how I'm feelin this album, I even have people who have never really be a fan out there buyin the album cause they like it. And I hope Don't make me take it there is a single off the album cause that is the realist I have ever heard Tim come off on a track, and the thing about it is everything he say's is true. Also another notable song on the album is "hold on" feat. Wyclef, I could listen to that song all day.

I will break this review down into three parts:

Timbaland: Without question one of hip hop's top three producers(along with Dr. Dre and DJ Premier, sorry Neptunes fans). The man is a genius; his production is so wimsical and diverse. Just check his resume; he has done wonders for the careers of Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Tweet and the late great Aaliyah. There are a number of super talented MC's our there(Ras Kass, Canibus, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, etc) and up and coming ones that would KILL to work with the guy. Which brings me to......

Magoo. There are three things a person will as themselves during their tenure on God's earth:
1. What is the meaning of life?
2. Will I ever find love?
3. WHY IN THE HELL IS TIMBALAND WORKING WITH MAGOO?
I will say this over and over again, this guy CANNOT rap! Is he a good friend of Tim's/ Is that why he's associated with him? It boggles the mind.

And now the album. The music, well at least the beats, are nothing short of excellent. This would be a hot album; MINUS Magoo. I would "Cop That Disc", but I don't buy crap, so I'll pass.

On this CD Timbaland does what he do best, he and Magoo are making a well deserved comeback cause it's been a long time since they left us. I recommend this CD to anyone who is a fan of either Missy or Timbaland.

This is an extremely entertaining album. The production stylings of Timbaland are rhythmical, textured, and very influential. Listening to this on a subwoofer-equipped stereo system reveals some serious juicy tones. The long list of guest appearances features such artists as Missy Elliott, Bubba Sparxxx, Sebastian, Raje Shwari, Wyclef Jean, and Beenie Man. The flows are funky and compliment Timbaland's deeply rhythmical production style. This album makes you want to dance, sprinkled with tracks that would make any club bump. The various bhangra and dance hall influenced tracks add even more character to this great piece of work.

Take a brief pause and check the list of Timbaland's work in 2003: Missy Elliott's "Work It" won a Grammy, her mumbo-jumbo staccato funk of "Gossip Folks" was nominated, and her "Pass That Dutch" caught year-end critics eyes, with "This is Not a Test!" placing 9th on Spin's top 40 albums of the year. Elsewhere, Tim produced Justin Timberlake's grammy-winning "Cry Me A River," Lil' Kim's reintroduction to fame, "The Jump Off," Bubba Sparxxx's sophomore hit "Deliverance," Alicia Key's futuristic blues-funk jam, "Heartburn," and the best beat on Jay-Z's victory lap final album ("Dirt Off Your Shoulder"). And aside from being all over the radio and all over the Grammys, he made an album, "Under Construction, pt. II." Unfortunately, Tim gave away his best beats, which really makes the rap and R&B world colorful, but his solo efforts sounds almost a whole decade behind what he's capable of.

First of all, the lyrical content over Tim's beats have always fit those beats; Missy Elliott's foul-mouthed spit over the sexed-up "Work It" beat is perfect, Ludacris's high-speed talk about bling completes "Rollout," and Bubba Sparxxx's country-fried rollicking goes hand-in-hand with the futuristic country funk of "Deliverance." However, "Under Construction, pt II" is overrun with commonplace lyrics about sex and haters, two topics as common as "hello" in today's rap world. But even with these topics, Tim is usually able to produce sick, innovative beats to make all speak interesting. Missy's "Lick Shots" is a perfect example of this; an intimidating Spanish guitar rides underneath Missy's over-accented slurring. But "Don't Make Me Take It There" is an ordinary beat with ordinary lyrics. The same error occurs in all the sex tracks. Lyrical content forgotten, though, Tim gives some unforgettable beats on this album.

"Leavin'" is the kind of simple beat that built the framework for Missy's "This is Not a Test!," with friction alarms, the water-fades straight from the end of "Get Ur Freak On," and sly bongos all over. "Can We Do It Again," despite an annoying sampled laugh, sounds like looped horse hooves made funky by some speeding up and sporadic guitar plucks and riffs. "Cop That Sh*t" features a jungle-funk flute line backed by kitchen-sink percussion, with probably the album's cleverest rhymes, dropped not surprisingly by Missy Elliott. Another great beat and the album's second best song is "Shenanigans," which is built around stop-`n-go drums and various sonic sounds, including beeps that fall like rain, disc jockey static, electronica funk keyboards, and the second best rhymes on the album from the accented Bubba Sparxxx. "Hold Cutz" sounds like Cake on downers; with "Hey"s, plucked strings, and computer-programmed bass, it provides a great backdrop only to be abused by the Snoop-Dogg wannabe Magoo. Other mentionable beats include "Throwback," an electronic brass horn beat with raven crows and rhythmic trills and beeps, "N 2 Da Music," a climb-up guitar rhythm featuring a wild cymbal, muted spoons, and harmonies, and "That Sh*t Ain't Gonna Work," a fade-in fade-out effect jam with an innovative chorus full of weak metal guitars and backup singers crooning like crows. While many of these beats are unquestionably futuristic, Tim's uncharacteristic repetitiveness should hold no spot on this album.

The previously mentioned "Can We Do It Again" reuses the ultrasound high squeaks from Missy's "Work It," and "Naughty Eyes II" sounds like a more complex rehashing of the beat from "One Minute Man." "Hold On" is a weak string-based tribute to Aaliyah that sounds outdated in the company of futuristic Timbaland ballads like "Take Away," and both "I Got Luv 4 Ya" and "Naughty Eyes" sound routine; the latter bested by anything from Sean Paul, the former weak in comparison to modern slow R&B like Luther Vandross or, more recently, Eamon.

Timbaland is by far the best producer in today's hip-hop and R&B world (how the Neptunes beat him for the Grammy with that title is undecipherable), but when he has to make a whole album in one genre, he sounds a little normal and humdrum. Yes, "Under Construction, pt. II" is a great album in comparison to today's hip-hop, but it is nothing in comparison to Timbo's hotter work, like any Missy album or Bubba Sparxxx album. Some songs are great, others need work. Maybe, and hopefully, Timbaland's solo career is still under construction.

Im a big fan of Hip Hop, and undoubtedly Timbaland is the craziest beat maker in the industry. This CD proves it, all the songs are hot. Besides the radio-played INDIAN FLUTE, it includes THROWBACK, HOLD CUTZ, and my personal favorite LEAVIN. I mean those are just the songs that got me so far, but there is more.... So Just buy it, forget abot your urge to be cheap, but the cd !