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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Return Of The Sinister Minister, July 23, 2001
Ever since Pastor Troy released his debut album We Ready I Declare War I was nonetheless amazed at his OutKast-ish rhymes, Down South beats, but socially conscious lyricism that was unexpectedly reminiscent of the early years of the Wu-Tang Clan. By taking "Gangsta" dubs, socially conscious lyrics ad rhymes, along with a bombardment of sometimes incredibley deep subject matter, I found myself often wondering about this album. Although, I had heard the lead single off of Face Off, which seems to contain a mixture of "Gangsta" and Battle Rhymes, it still contained the same flavor and energetic rapping that Pastor Troy had used in his debut album. Although this is true, Troy has taken the liberty of adding different elements to his already dark Southern-inspired beats, as well as delving deeper into his lyrical subject matter. With this said, Face Off seems to be one of the most influential and innovating Hip-Hop albums of Pastor Troy's career. The beats found on this album take a turn to a more dark, yet incredibley up-beat and bassier sound than many South Side Hip-Hop albums. Instead of taking the Southern Bounce-laced beats of No Limit and Cash $ Money Records, or the more soulful beat stylings of OutKast, Pastor Troy seems to return with his own style and flavor which adds up for some of the best beats found in a South Side Hip-Hop album. By using darker, more demeening beats than in earlier albums, they seems to grash the concepts of his lyrics, as well as capture the flavor of the album and his socially conscious "street" vibes extremely well. With this style being used in the manner that it is, it seems to create more of a sinister sound that seems to fit quite well with the subject matter. And, although it may not sound like anything you find in tracks that reflect on trust, the streets, etc.. It actually works quite well with the usage of synthesizer effects, as well as a mixture of instrumentation and drum loops that are used to the best of their knowledge. On top of this, the bass lines are kept to the same sound and flavor as the above mentioned beat stylings. Along with this, the bass is kept to a minimum so it pays more concentration to the foreground beat stylings rather than keeping track to non-essentials. The second style isn't really a style, its basically and extension of the aforementioned style. It takes different synthesizer effects and bass lines and combines them into one sound, and by doing this, it creates more of an up-beat, but still reminiscent sound and style of the aforementioned beat method. With this said, it isn't used on many tracks (with the exception of the two tracks My N____z Is The Grind and Oh Father) it seems to broaden the horizens of the beats without loosing the initial style it created in the majority of the tracks. Along with this, these added elements to this particular beats styling seems to help the album out quite a bit by not just sticking to an original formula and using it above the limits. The beats of the album are some of the best found in a Pastor Troy album since his debut. Along with this, with these two particular stylings, it seems to help the album out quite a bit. The lyrics found on this album, too, are some of the best found in Pastor Troy's career. By creating lyrics that reflect on life, the streets, trust, etc.. They seem to create the perfect match with the beats of the album. Along with this, instead of lyricism thats mainstream for the sake of album sales, its intentionally dissed, as well as being creative with the rhymes and wordplay to an extent where every verse sound incredibley innovative. The first, and only used style found on this album, are the socially conscious form of lyricism that seems to actually have the most going for it. By creating a form of rhyming style that seems to reflect on the issues of the world, but in a way that uses more of an innovative and quite magnetic style. On top of this, it utilizes a style that seems to do quite well when put up against the dark, low-key beats. Also, with this particular style, it seems to create a sense of rhyming and lyricism that mixed with the socially conscious lyrics and rhymes, as well as using a form of battle rhyming mixed in with this particular style that, while, some may not like, it actually seems to utilize this style quite well. On top of this, it seems to take more of a laid back approach this particular style that makes it all the much more original. With this said, with this form of lyricism, it seems to create an incredibley distinct style that seems to help the album quite a bit, as well as add quite a bit of diversity in the lyrical category of Face Off. The lyrics found in this album are incredibley diverse, extremely well done, as well as quite refreshing. As for the guest artists, they seem to be the quality factor of the album. Although, there happens to be only about three of them, they actually are one of the high points of the album. With this said, they seem to have tight lyrics that reflect extremely well on Pastor Troy's style, as well as the form of lyricism that is used. With this said, namely Nature Boy and Peter The Disciple seem to be the guest artists that add quite a bit to the album. The same goes for CO-ED who also seems to add quite a bit lyrically to the album. The guest aritsts on the album seem to extremely well lyrically, as well as add the original flavor of the and not stray off to their own style and bring the album down. This albums has incredibley good lyrics, beats, guest artists, as well as taking an approach to Hip-Hop that seems to stray away from a mainstream focus, as well as keeping socially conscious rhymes, wordplay, and lyricism that seems to create a completely flawless Hip-Hop album.
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by Pastor Troy 
