This album was released on September 14th in the year of our lord 1999. Honestly, I don’t think I’m gonna like this album. Even though I liked Return to the 36 Chambers to some extent, a lot of it was kind of difficult to stomach for me. That album is remembered as a classic, but that’s not the case with this second album of his. I really don’t know what the reception for this project was like. All I know is that the only record people ever talk about is Return to the 36 Chambers, so that’s kind of an ominous sign for this project. I doubt I’ll think it’s wack, but I’m expecting it to be a mixed bag overall. I’ve heard a couple tracks from it already, and I enjoyed both of them if I’m not mistaken, so I know this album won’t be a complete dud.

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As always, I’ll write about the songs I like before discussing the tracks I won’t be returning to. The album begins with a highlight entitled Recognize. The production on this track from The Neptunes is actually fire. I don’t really feel like Chris Rock added anything to this song, but I don’t mind him here as much as I usually do. Why do so many rappers have Chris Rock on their albums? Do people actually like hearing Chris Rock sound like a dumbass in their music? It’s never good in my opinion. Anyway, the hook from Pharrell is pretty nice too. I’m assuming the RZA wrote all the ODB bars on this album, but it’s possible that someone else also helped. The verses from ODB on this track are really dope. As always, the appeal is more in his over the top delivery than the bars themselves. There’s an uncredited feature from Raison the Zu Keeper, and he spits about 8 bars on this track, which were cool. Overall, I actually really liked this song. I think the Neptunes production is fire, and ODB sounded really great over it. The song is dope as hell to me. It’s followed by another highlight entitled I Can’t Wait. This track is even better than the opening song to me. I think the production here from Irv Gotti is fucking awesome. It’s cool to hear ODB over beats that are just as weird as he is. The hook is pretty simplistic, but it works. I like how energetic and fast paced this track is. It sounds like a coke high in the form of music. I love how wild and over the top his delivery on the hook gets towards the end of the song. I could’ve done without his use of the anti-Inuit slur at the end when he was giving shoutouts, but I’m sure he didn’t even realize it was a slur. It being out of ignorance rather than malice doesn’t make it okay though. With that said, for me personally it does make it less egregious. I think the song is dope as hell overall. The next song that I liked is Got Your Money, which is the most iconic track from this album.

It’s one of the couple songs I had already heard prior to listening to the full album. I love the cartoonish production from The Neptunes. Lyrically, the song is pretty much just about ODB being a pimp, which… I don’t even know if that’s true. I honestly think sex traffickers are the scum of the earth, but Dirt doesn’t strike me as a literal pimp. He’s using it more as a theme.

Now that you heard my charming voice
You couldn't get another nigga, coochie won't get moist
If you wanna look good and not be bummy
Girl, you better give me that money

I enjoy the song sonically more than lyrically, which is almost always the case with ODB. All the verses are pretty fun though, and the hook from Kelis is cool. I think it’s a dope track. The following track is another highlight for me entitled Rollin’ wit You. I think the production from Mr. Fingers and Irv Gotti is legitimately phenomenal, and I like how aggressively ODB rapped over it. The only gripe I have with this track is Dirt’s gratuitous use of the F word on the intro of the track. I imagine that if I was a member of the LGBT community that I’d be less forgiving, but it’s not enough to completely ruin the song for me personally. I still think this shit is fire just because the production is so good, and I like the rapping. I even like the straightforward hook here. The song is dope as hell to me. Track 7 is called You Don’t Want to Fuck with Me, and I really love the production from DL & Irv Gotti on this one. As always, ODB’s eccentric, over the top delivery sounds pretty nice on the opening verse. The sung hook is kinda trash, but in a cool way. None of the bars really stand out in an interesting way. I kinda wish ODB’s lyrics were actually funny rather than just uncouth.

I'm the cunt, breast, asshole eater
And if you let me physically eat it, it only get *burp*

I feel like ZelooperZ is the closest thing we have to a modern version of ODB at the moment. This isn’t one of my favorite tracks on the album, but I definitely do like it to some extent. It’s pretty good. The title track is the only song aside from Got Your Money that I’d heard prior to listening to the full album. I think RZA’s production on it is fire. I also think it’s one of the most traditional sounding tracks on the album; ODB’s delivery isn’t as wild as it is on a lot of the other tracks, and his flow feels more stable than usual.

I dead niggas like a dog buries a bone
You could never set me up, I raise the pain volume
Nominate me as presidential MC
My career is so intelligent, unique physique

This track has one of the most straightforward hooks as well. The song only has two verses, and both of them are kinda short, so there’s not really much to dig into here, but it’s still a cool track. I think it’s pretty good. It’s followed by Dirt Dog. I love the production on this one from Buddha Monk & RZA. The hook on this track is annoying as fuck, but I like the way Dirt sounds on the verses. Once again, some of the crude lyrics were pretty gross.

This a Ol' Dirty Bastard production, let off shots
Be hot like a fart from a bitch's twat

There’s only one verse on this track, so the song feels pretty short as a result even though it’s just over three minutes. I like the track overall, but it’s not really a highlight for me. The production is my favorite aspect of the song. It’s cool though. Track 11 is called Good Morning Heartache. The beat from Flavahood Productions is really nice, and the vocals from Lil Mo sound fantastic to me. ODB’s vocals are a bit more toned down, so the way he’s harmonizing with her is way more tolerable than one would expect. It’s still pretty goofy sounding, but not in a really bad way. There’s no rapping here, so Lil Mo is really the star of the show. It kinda just sounds like a Soul song from her with ad-libs from ODB. I think it’s really goddamn dope. The penultimate track is entitled All in Together Now, and it’s definitely another highlight for me. I think True Master’s production is pretty nice, and the hook from ODB is dope. The verse is nice too; I liked the pro-black lyricism.

Who's the Five Percent of the planet Earth?
Tell em Poppa Wu, well it sure ain't Poppa Smurf
Got to check your blood, take you to church
Ministers down with the nerds
Ever since birth
White man always trying to take the Black man's turf
Black man built America

This is one of the few tracks for which I have no complaints. I think it’s dope as hell. Those are all the tracks that I enjoy, so now I’ll discuss the ones I don’t care for. The first one is called Cold Blooded. It’s a cover of the song Cold Blooded by Rick James, which I personally am not really a fan of. However, if I had to listen to this song, I would definitely go with the Rick James version. This kinda just sounds like someone’s drunk homeless uncle singing one of his favorite songs. I do like the production from The Neptunes, but aside from that it sounds kinda terrible to me. The singing is really bad. It sounds more like a joke than a song I would genuinely listen to. Maybe if I was really stoned out of my mind I would be able to enjoy it to some extent, but the sober version of me thinks it’s really wack. Track 6 is called Gettin’ High, and it’s performed by a bunch of members of Brooklyn Zu; ODB is completely absent. The beat from Buddha Monk is solid I suppose. It just kinda sounds like what I’d hear if I went to YouTube and searched “Wu-Tang type beat.” The hook from Raison the Zu Keeper is fine, and the opening verse from 12 O’Clock is cool I guess. La the Darkman’s verse was fine, and I guess Shorty Shitstain was okay. Honestly, nothing about this song stands out in an especially bad way, but it’s just so average that I don’t really have a strong opinion on it. It’s not something I’d ever listen to again. I think it’s mediocre. Track 10 is called I Want Pussy. I kind of assumed from the title that I wouldn’t be feelin’ this song. I think it has one of the best beats on the album though; RZA did a great job with this one. The singing from ODB is actually pretty funny too. However, I feel like if I was a woman I would be terrified of ODB just because he’s so gross and perverted at the same time. That’s always been a pretty scary combination of traits to me. The song feels kinda like an interlude since it’s so short, and there’s not really a lot of rapping here. Most of the song is just Dirty singing “i WaNt PuSsY fOr FrEe!” I mean, I kinda relate, but it’s not exactly something I enjoy listening to. The production is nice though. I don’t think it’s a bad song, but it doesn’t have replay value for me. I think it’s just okay. The final song is entitled Cracker Jack. From what I understand, this was a hidden track on physical versions of the album. I think the production from RZA is nice, but I actually really dislike the rapping from ODB. I just find the lyricism really gross, and not in a cool way. It’s just unpleasant to listen to.

You wanna kneel and suck dick?
I'ma keep your throat sore
Bitch, you got herpes in your ass
Every time you fuck a nigga, he dies fast
And you won't last
The pussy break down from a rash
It's hard for you to walk ‘cause you stuck up in your ass

This track sounds like a leftover to me. I’m not tryna hear about ODB having a girl’s tongue in his ass. This is one of the nastiest songs on the album. I think it’s wack.

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^{This album is actually a lot better than I thought it’d be. I genuinely like this about as much as I liked ODB’s first album. Part of me doesn’t really get why some of my acquaintances dislike it so much, but then on the other hand I do kinda get it because it’s pretty different from the first one. This album sounds way less dirty than Return to the 36 Chambers. It sounds much more polished. RZA kinda took a step back from the production and let Irv Gotti & The Neptunes handle a lot of it. A lot of these tracks also feel kinda thrown together as well. I feel like that was also the case with his first album though, so I don’t know. I enjoyed it for the most part. I feel like this one has more highlights, but the first album is more consistent. If I had to choose one over the other I’d probably go with Return to the 36 Chambers just because it’s the more iconic project, but this was pretty good too. I fuck with it.}

Favorite Song: Rollin’ wit You
Least Favorite Song: Cold Blooded

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