Mannati is fresh on the block after an almost 6 year hiatus. The Professional 3 is packed with a host of very familiar faces from the 90’s, like Mobb Deep and M.O.P., but it fails to recreate the magical brilliance of his first two major released installations.Lil’ Wayne is his usual fast-spitting lyrically clever self on “Clear Da Scene.” He is joined by Rick Ross and newcomer, Desert Storm affiliate, Ransom who throws out lines like, “don’t try to play me out / homie I pull that 80 out / fade you out / put what you was thinking on ya lady blouse.” The synth heavy beat has a thick drum that will push any car system to the limit. Immediately following, “F*ck Off,” is one of the best songs on the album. Jeezy and Juelz spice up the track with the arrogant youthfulness rap’s been missing. This beat was sprinkled with a sped-up sample pulled straight from the Dipset archives. Equally outstanding, Fabolous pulls out his big guns on “Big Boss.” He may just be the best lyricist of this decade. The soul-sampled track paints such a vivid picture it’s breathtaking.Regrettably, Clue opens the album with his Queens brethren Nas. The less than average freestyle is entitled “War,” and no, not the “War” from Nas’ last album back in 2004. This new trend of Nas recycling beats and song titles is losing its shiny luster. Did Nas forget? Not to mention this track is only a 1 minute and 57 seconds, yet, Clue manages to end it by looping the overly dramatic beat for 40 long seconds. Why? Did Clue really put this tape together? Was Nas’ position as number 1 on the track listing the President of Def Jam’s decision?To add insult to a festering injury, Houston natives Paul Wall and Mike Jones are rather monotonous with their verses on the slow chopped and screwed track “Grill & Women.” Bun B was a refreshing addition on the third verse but his throwaway rhyme was unsuccessful in restoring the track. The very unoriginal rendition “I Really Wanna Know You” rips to shred’s the 1991 Jodeci song “Come And Talk To Me” and is just more of what Clue fans don’t want to hear.
Another thing, when exactly did Remy and Fat Joe do this “You Don’t Really Wanna” song? The very repetitive vintage hip-hop throwback beat which seems like it was created in 1997, talked about non-existent things like “The Cherry Lounge” and “The Terror Squad.” Were we supposed to pretend as if their very public feud over the course of the past year didn’t exist? Why don’t we just replace it with a track by Snoop and Suge Knight, or Lil’ Wayne and Gilly, or Bush and Osama!!!???
The album’s saving grace would have been Jadakiss’ “Ugly” if it hadn’t been a whopping 8 months old.
On a whole, the music and production is very dated. It is almost as if some of these tracks were collecting dust somewhere and Clue is attempting a hopeless revival. We have come to expect these kinds of releases from Def Jam this quarter, but not at the expense of disappointing loyal fans. This album is just simply not finished.
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Another thing, when exactly did Remy and Fat Joe do this “You Don’t Really Wanna” song? The very repetitive vintage hip-hop throwback beat which seems like it was created in 1997, talked about non-existent things like “The Cherry Lounge” and “The Terror Squad.” Were we supposed to pretend as if their very public feud over the course of the past year didn’t exist? Why don’t we just replace it with a track by Snoop and Suge Knight, or Lil’ Wayne and Gilly, or Bush and Osama!!!???
The album’s saving grace would have been Jadakiss’ “Ugly” if it hadn’t been a whopping 8 months old.
On a whole, the music and production is very dated. It is almost as if some of these tracks were collecting dust somewhere and Clue is attempting a hopeless revival. We have come to expect these kinds of releases from Def Jam this quarter, but not at the expense of disappointing loyal fans. This album is just simply not finished.
- By Joi Rogers
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