What seems strange to me is how did a mix-tape DJ get a production deal. Sure, he knows what sounds good to most people (attesting to his superior sales), but does not mean he is going to be able to produce, and on most of these tracks he fulfills this. Taking a leaf out of the Puff "I-can-make-a-million-being-green-recycling-sh*t" Daddy, he has employed a host of samples, but what smacks of laziness (or wackness?) is using samples that have been used too many times already. We get the jiggy dancefloor friendly "That's The Way" with Mase, an ever more Lil-Kim sounding Foxy Brown plus newcomer Fabulous Sport. This is the catchy kinda track you may expect built upon the foundations of - shock! horror! - yet another "Genius of Love" sample. Now, if you want to sample this do it like Redman! The hook is even off Kool & the Gang! Other jiggy sensations appear with another sample heavy track, this time Missy & Mocha rhyming and Nicole providing the sing-along hook on "I Like Control". This is a departure from their usual pastures of Timbaland beats, and will do well as dance floor fodder or on radio playlists, but why is Missy talking bout others talking bout they skills (?) and money???

Clue's Desort Storm clique get a spot with Fabulous Sport attempting to make a name on "If They Want It", but do we really need another Mase? "Bitch Be A Ho" pairs wanna be emcee Jermaine Dupri and R.O.C. on a track that smacks of JD although produced by Clue and right hand man Duro. These take care of the party tunes, although catchy are very unoriginal, but this disease is not limited to these tracks, where it is almost acceptable these days. The sampling wouldn't be a problem if done well, but when used without any alterations or improvements, what is the point? And if using a track that doesn't even fit the emcee it can lead to bad situations. Ask Raekwon who is given just an average track. Since when should an emcee of his undoubted calibre be made to look bad this way? Also, we get M.O.P. on a track with R&B!!! Damn! It uses yet another played out sample, the only thing good about it is the presence of this hardcore pair.

Still we get some ok and some good moments. Boot Camp Clik get together on "Come On', and Mobb Deep plus Noyd bring it on "The Professional". "It's My Thang '99" revisits the classic, this time with the Def Squad in tow, and who can resist Redman's silliness? Nas comes through on "Queensfinest" over a simple piano loop. There are tracks that promised much but failed to deliver. "Fantastic 4" does indeed have a potentially good line up with Cam'Ron, Big Pun, Noreaga and Canibus, but only top-league cameo king Canibus truly rips it up. We get other okay-ish tracks from the self-titled joint by Made Men, and the lead off single "Thugged Out Sh*t" loses out on the beat. It's ok but nothing special, just like "Ruff Ryders Anthem (Remix)" which rolls out Drag-On (aka Camr-on?) and Eve who ain't really saying anything. It's left to DMX, Jadakiss and Styles to save it, but it wasn't too hot in the first place.

Label head honcho Jay Z flexes his vocals effectively, showing and proving that he's nice on the mic, but then we get DMX impersonator Ja-Rule undoing all the good work on "Gangsta Sh*t". Hell, Clue coulda made a tape outta the good sh*t and mixed out before Ja-Rule hit the scene!

Then we have Nature on "Exclusive - New Sh*t", Clue's catch-all phrase, embodied on wax, but what is this ? I seem to hear shades of the Lost Boyz' "Beasts From The East" beat. And Nature doesn't exactly extricate himself from the mess, and nor does DMX on "It's On" which sounds kinda like it contains similar samples to those used on Cam'ron's "Horse and Carriage (remix)". As You will probably have guessed, this sample-reliance is also the albums downfall. Someone shoul'dve pointed out that you can't make a tight track rhyming over an old instrumental (well rarely), and it definitely doesn't work in the majority here. There are some gems, but these are scarce, and I think the attempt to cover everything from the underground to the party atmosphere will leave those genres fans hating the other tracks.