Customer Reviews

Violator: The Album

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

 

 

Various Artists - Violator: The Album (Violator, 1999)

First off, half of these people aren't even on the Violator roster, like Eightball, Mysonne (who both appear on here more than once), and the Hot Boys. A&R's must have really wanted to promote Mysonne but where is he now? (Same question for Eightball.) Also, only Lil' Wayne and B.G. appear as the Hot Boys and they only do the chorus on "Who Can I Trust" (with Cormega). A&R's were just using the "it" people of 1999 to promote their album. Also, I remember seeing the poster for this album and Missy was on there. Where is she on the album? The other songs aren't that great either: "Busta's "Bus-a-Bus Remix", Noreaga's "I Wanna F*** You", and surprisingly Mobb Deep's "Nobody Likes Me". Check the chorus by Prodigy: "Nobody likes me/Everybody hates me/So I gotta grab my gun." This was the start of Mobb Deep's downfall. Saving graces are Noyd's "S**t That He Said", Q-Tip's "Vivrant Thing", Mase, Mysonne and Eightball's "Do What Playas Do", and Beatnuts' "Beatnuts Forever". -EJR

interesting not amazing. many, many weak tracks

Aside from Q-tip, this album falls way short of my expectations. Save your money and wait for Q-tips full solo album. There is not another track on here worth listening too.

This CD has to be the best if not one of the best hip-hop compilation this year. With appearances by Q-Tip, Flipmode Squad, LL Cool J, Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Big Pun, Mobb Deep, Cam'ron, Cormega, Hot Boys, Busta Rhymes, Noreaga an many others, it is a shame if you don't buy this CD.

This album will definitely achieve platinum. I will be surprised if it don't!! It should also be nominated for the best rap album of the year.

I have been waiting for this CD to come to Singapore. I grabbed it immediately and it didn't disappoint. You know money is so hard to earn these days.

The bottom line is: "Be One Of the First To Listen To This Album. Go Buy It Now!!!".

There are only 3 solid songs in this album..So, many stars and so many dissappointment. Q-Tip is the reason why I bought this album and he is the bomb....

this is one of those albums that if you heard it back when it came out in 1999, you would have thought it was pretty decent, but the more you listen to it, the more you realize that it's at best an average album, and that's being optimistic.

*vivrant thing...it's a nice song...but get q-tip's amplified to get a better feel of it. it sticks out like a sore thumb on this album.

*whatcha come around here for...a nice flipmode song.

*the rest of the album is horrible until the late middle, the thugged out posse cut is (yawn) ok, big noyd's cut is good, then the beatnuts, cam'ron, mysonne's solo cut, busta rhymes's bus-a-bus remix, and the violators collab cut at the end are the best songs. everything else is trash. i wouldn't waste my money buying this...but i did a long time ago.

I loved this disc when it came out. It was in heavy rotation for quite a while in my car. Unlike previous reviewers my personal favorite on this album was Cru, Ohh wee.

Not as good as Violator V2.0 but still a decent compilation. Despite half the artists on here are not on the Violator roster. Overall there's 18 songs, 8-10 are good, 3-6 are ok, 4-6 are bad or horrible songs. A lot of artists are on here as well as producers (17 total, Havoc does 2 songs every other one is done by a different producer) so you get a lot of different beats and styles on the album. I'm indifferent if you should buy it, it has good songs but just as many that aren't worth listening to.

#2 - 2(Q-tip -- I hate this song)
#3 - 5 (flipmode squad)
#4 - 7.5 (noreaga & scarlett o' harlem)
#5 - 8 (LL cool J)
#6 - 9 (Franchise f/ ja rule)
#7 - 8.5 (Eightball, Big Pun {R.I.P.}, Fat Joe)
#8- 1 (HORRIBLE Song by Cru)
#9 - 8 (mysonne, mase, eightball)
#10 - 9 (Mobb Deep)
#11 - 6 (R&B type song by: Next f/ mysonne)
#12 - 9.5 (Gangsta $h!+ by: Capone, Iman thug, maze, musolini, scarlett o'harlem, final chapter & noreaga does the hook)
#13 - 8.5 (big noyd)
#14 - 6.5 (beatnuts)
#15 - 6 (cam'ron & busta rhymes)
#16 - 9.5 (mysonne)
#17 - 9 (cormega f/ lil wayne on the hook (incorrectly labeled as hot boys)
#18 - 4 (busta rhymes)
#19 - 8 (L Boogie, snoya blade, noreaga, prodigy, busta rhymes, mysonne)

Check all my reviews

When Q-Tip released "Vivrant Thing" (whatever that means) it proved to be genuinely refreshing. Still, I'm not sure if people exactly rushed to the stores to pick up the Violator compilation. This album was put together to showcase many, if not all, of the artists on the Violator label. But instead of making me hungry for the artists' albums, it makes me wonder why anyone would sign any of these people.

Because few people other than under-underground heads even knew Violator was a label, it's no surprise that many of the artists featured here won't ring a bell to most. At the end of the day, though, you'll be glad that most of these people were never heard from again. Da Franchise ("First Degree") sounds too pre-Murder-Inc with his references to murder (and the fact that Ja Rule is on the track), and Harlem World member Mysonne just has too many spots on the album. He has his own track, "The Truth", which has the chorus: "I want the truth!/I want the truth!/I want the truth!/You can't handle the truth!". And to colorfully bring in the chorus, he says: "You threaten mines?/F you!/Pardon my French." (Yep, he really said that.) Mysonne also appears with Mase and Eightball on "Do What Playas Do", which sounds like a weak extension of Mase's "The Player Way."

One of, if not the, worst songs on the album is CRU's "Ooh Wee". The chorus is wacker than wack, and sorry lyrics are in abundance, like: "At this rap thing I'm like your grandfather's father/Great" and "Where the dice?/Pick `em up/Just shake dat/Where that a**?/On the dance floor/Shake dat/Till you break dat." What?

The posse cut "Thugged Out N's" is just plain bad, and the other posse cut "Violators" comes close. The latter features L Boogie (no, not Lauryn Hill), Sonya Blade, Mysonne (AGAIN?), Noreaga, Busta Rhymes, and Prodigy. As you probably guessed, Prodigy's verse is the only one worth listening to, but really, how can any of the other people think they can survive with him around?

The only artists most people have heard of on this album usually give sad performances, and the irony is that this compilation was made right before, after, or during the time these good artists made albums that had somehow gone wrong. Noreaga's terrible "I Wanna F You" is reminiscent of his Melvin Flynt Da Hustler album (sorry to remind you of that album), while Next (what's Next even doing on here?) delivers the tired, wannabe-hardcore track "Nobody" featuring, guess who? Mysonne. And LL Cool J's "Say What" sounds like it was left off Phenomenon. Flipmode Squad's "Whatcha Come Around Here For" isn't all that bad, but it sounds just like "We Could Take It Outside", "Everybody On The Line Outside", and every other song they made.

The only completely good songs on this album are Big Noyd's "S**t That He Said", The Beatnuts' "Beatnuts Forever" and Mobb Deep's "Nobody Likes Me". And honorable mention goes to Fat Joe, Big Pun, and Eightball for "Heavy Weights", especially when Joe proclaims that his squad brings "more havoc than Prodigy." But the song loses some points for Eightball's sleepy chorus. And those four songs aren't enough to save this album.

It's not all that too me, the only song that I like is "Vivrant Thing" , now that is tight to def!!!!!! That song makes me want to get and get so hype especially in the club. But other than that I don't like it!!