Beanie Sigel-This Time

Artist: Beanie Sigel

Album: This Time

Label: Ruffhouse

Producers: Cardiak, Certifyd Music, Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie, Chad “West” Hamilton, others

 

It’s apparent that Beanie Sigel can rhyme and tell a gritty hood story. If there is a list of storytelling rappers, Beans will fit right in with the greats of Nas, Game, Biggie, The LOX, Ghostface, Raekwon and Tupac. The former Roc-A-Fella artist is now fully an established veteran rapper that keeps hitting us with many of his jewels. Beans finally dropped the album “This Time” on the resurrected Ruffhouse records, staying independent before serving his two year bid. The Broad street bully from North Philly will bring the eleven track heat and the sick wordplay to stay relevant in the game.

            There are some strong tracks on this album. Undoubtedly, Beans does not miss a step on the radio friendly track “Expensive Taste”. Other tracks hit hard such as “Kush Dreaming” and of course straight owned the “Bang Bang Youth” featuring Junior Reid where he painted a perfect picture of the hood: “I survive cold summers, hot winters/No slumber, no hot dinners/Pockets could not get thinner…on an edge/Searching for a lock to pick inner/Feeling like a pigeon, pecking for bread around park benches/Surviving in the dark trenches.”. The track gets deeper with lyrical content such as. "Daytime shootouts, nighttime cookouts / Teddy bears where a nigga got took out / These young niggas run around the ghetto lost / Hanging with three broke niggas, you be the fourth / Fuckin’ with these young bucks, don’t suggest it / Who you was, what you do, don’t impress ‘em / …Like father, like son, they both got an eight / But shorty’s is a weapon, his pops’ is a section / The back room where his two brothers slept in, innocence expected / His pop bangin’ in that vein, and his mom on that cane.” Again, the Broad Street Bully can paint a perfect picture with a thousand words on the street life. He catches wreck over the D-Dot produced “That’s All I Know” while Akon sounds perfectly on the hook.

            However, the album suffers with lackluster production that makes listening to his slick wordplay very difficult. “The Reunion” featuring State Property doesn’t bring too much spark like the previous tracks during the Roc-A-Fella days but only Beans and Freeway carry the track while Sparks was left in the dark. Within the album the constant Biggie and Jay-Z reminiscing can be burdensome which leaves the album out of place.

            Despite the hit or miss production and a rushed sounded project, this album is not a disappointment. The lyrics however, exceeded production that makes the album forgettable and a mismatch. It’s quite clear that production selection can make an impact on an album just like lyrical disposition. This Time is a little more innovative than “The Solution” but not in the stellar league such as “The Truth” and “The B-Coming”.

            Strong Tracks: “Expensive Taste”, “Bang Bang Youth”, “Kush Dreaming, “That’s All I Know”

            Weak Tracks: “Sigel Is What They Call Me”, “The Reunion”

            Rating:out of