The first real song is "Ruff Ryders Anthem (remix)" by DMX featuring Styles and Jadakiss from Lox and Drag-On and Eve. The beat is exactly the same as the original. The chorus, done by Dmx, is added on top of the original chorus: "My dogs go -(Stop!), Your dogs go -(drop!) (Shut em down, open up shop!) First we had em like- (Oh-oh!) Now they like- (no-oh!) Why baby? (that's how Ruff Ryders go!)" It's cool.. Dmx shines brighter than the others.. much brighter. Drag-On kicks the song off sounding like a Cam'rom rip off. Eve is alright, a female emcee that does not really leave a lasting impression.

Dmx steals it..Dmx has the second real song (3rd track) on the album called "It's On". This song is dope! It's got a dope beat which is a little too dancy and glammy for my taste and for Dmx but has the power to get the listener amped. Dmx has raps a catchy but cool chorus: "Well if it's on, it's on.. and if your ass keeps fronting, than your ass is gone!" This song is on the radio and is much more catchy than any song on Dmx's new album.   It's perfect for this disc and kicks the album off in a very nice way.

The next song, "Fantastic 4" features Cam'ron, Big Pun, Noreaga and Canibus. This is a dope song which features a dope line up.. Everyone does an awesome job of ripping the microphone! It's a great battle record with great beat and great lyrics. All four of these emcees on one record? How can you go wrong?

"Queensfinest" features Nas all alone.. It's good to see him back. He does a good job. This song doesn't grab me as quick as the others but there's nothing wrong with it. The next three songs all have a similar theme running through it... "sh*t"..you'll see..

"Exclusive New Sh*t" features Nature.. you may remember him from Noreaga's song called "Hed". This is a cool track that is not wack at all. Though it does not shine as bright as the others... it's not bad..

"Gangsta Sh*t" featuring Jay-Z and Ja Rule, is a smooth pimped out cool mack daddy song where Jay-Z raps the chorus: "Who wants that gangsta, gangsta sh*t? Who has that gangsta, gangsta sh*t?" I like Jay-Z.. I don't think he's one of the best rappers around but I give him credit.. This song is alright.. It's beat and piano melody is cool.. Though the chorus is catchy, it doesn't grab me like Dmx's "It's On"... Maybe because it has the "gangsta" theme..Jay-Z is very flashy.. he invented the playa image along with Biggie.. Ja Rule is thugged out like Dmx ... Leave the "Gangsta" sh*t for N.W.A. and Master P...

The final "sh*t" theme runs through a song called "Thugged Out Sh*t" featuring Memphis Bleek who got his fame from Jay-Z's "It's Alright". Here, Bleek shows his skills.. He's not a gangster nor a playa... "Who wants to hear that ol' thugged out sh*t? Who wants to hear that smoked out sh*t?" Though I think Jay-Z can flow better than Bleek, this song has a cooler chorus.

The album becomes completely dope when "It's My Thang '99" featuring EPMD, Redman & Keith Murray. It has the same beat as the original EPMD song without the bridge or the floating melody. It just grooves over "Ain't No N*gga" and that Jodeci remix... There's a more rough Erik Sermen and Parrish Smith... (remember, the original was from their first album "Strictly Business").  Redman and Keith Murray spit some dope lyrics too. Keith Murray : "We got these hoes spread out like mustard. The squad goes to war like General Custard"  Each take their turn and they go after one another.. rhyming like it was meant to be. There's no chorus or break.. They just constantly rip it.. Redman, in my opinion, as always steals the show but Keith Murray comes in a very close second. It's cool to see EPMD using the old lines from the original song ... dope!!! What makes this song even doper is that you can not get it on an EPMD album or the Def Squad album... it's only on Clue.. (That was one reason which triggered this purchase.)

The next is a skit with Mariah Carey. She's being forced by Clue to say something and she does not want to say it.. it's even more unneeded that Puffy's opening skit... duh!

"Whatever You Want" featured Flipmode Squad... and I mean everyone.. Baby sham, Lord Have Mercy, Rah-Digga, Rampage, Spliff Star, and the one and only Busta Rhymes doing the chorus: "Wiggle how you want, shake it how you want..." The beat is slow and pounds with a big thump as a horn gets down in the sample. It's a slow mack-out cool song which is more of a lyric-fest than a dance record... that's why I like it.. Flipmode never dissapoints...UGGHH! Next, comes the commercial part of the album which sucks completely...

"That's The Way" features Mase, Foxy Brown, & Fabolous Sport. It uses the dancey sample from Tom Tom Club's "Genius Of Love" which was used in Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" and recently ruffed up in Redman's "Brick City Mashing". Obviously, Mase does the chorus: "That's the way - uh-huh, uh-huh, - we like it!" It's a typical party song that's just plain dumb.. I think it was only put on to sell more records and cross over. It really damages the hardcore level...

"I Like Control" is the next commercial song with Missy Elliott, Mocha, & Nicole Wray. This is a quick and typical Missy -down south -jam... nothing special. I do like it bettter than the previous Mase song but still... just a commercial ploy to crossover and sell records...ugh!

"Bitch Be A Ho" features Jermaine Dupri and R.O.C. and I still cannot figure out why some people think JD can rhyme... This is another commercial piece of crap and it's much more silly and stupid.

"If They Want It" is the next song with Fabolous Sport again.. This song is nothing special... it does not stand out at all...

Finally, Clue takes it back to the street.. In another skit called "Pain In Da Ass", someone tells how Clue and his family can walk down the street in any borough and get respect... unneed but hey, at least it did not have a Mariah or Puffy! Now... Clue gets dope again!!!

"The Professional" featuring Mobb Deep and Big Noyd, is one of the dopest songs on the album. I've always had tremendous respect for Mobb Deep and now, they prove once again that they are back and can rip better then ever! Everything about this song is dope... the beats, lyrics, melody, chorus.. The beat is thick and cool while there is a spooky orchestra-sample for the melody. In the chorus they claim that they're "plotting". This song not only brings the album back to the street but can get you amped and in an ill state of mind... Dope!!!

"Brown Paper Bag Thoughts" features Raekwon all by himself on this one.. This is a dope song too. It's good to see Raekwon back again, especially, on a solo tip. One thing I liked about him is that you never can tell what exactly he's rapping about because he uses short phrases which do not always go together. The phrases he uses though, are cool because they reflect the hardcore street life he lives. Guns, weed, money, and illegal life come through in his rhymes... it's reality, baby! It's another dope song!

"Cops And Robbers", featuring Lord Tariq and Muggs, is another downer. It's the first song I've heard in a long time where they use the phrase "N*ggas and Sp*cs" in the chorus... I don't know.. maybe I heard "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)" too many times to think that Lord Tariq is very good or very hardcore... he's nothing following Raekwon. "Made Men" features Made Men and does not stick in my mind... I guess it was nothing special.. you never know.. I may like it but I may hate it..

The next track, "No Love" featuring M.O.P. starts off with an R&B singer!!! What??? M.O.P.!!!??? the Mash Out Posse with an R&B singer kicking it off??? What's the world coming too? Fortunately, she does not do the chorus.. M.O.P. maintains their smash-you-in-your-face-and-piss-on-your-momma style. It's a hardcore, amped power and hard hitting song which takes you back to the true street scene.

Finally, the album ends with the extremely dope "Come On" featuring the entire Boot Camp Clik. Everyone is on this joint and it's blazing!!! Everyone from Buckshot to Rock to Ruck to Tek and Steele rip the mic! It's a beautiful and hardcore way to cap the album off. Rock says: "Come on!" (in the background->) "B-C-C". It's short enough to listen to at anytime too. No emcee raps for too long. BCC has all ganged up on posse cuts like "Gangs All Here" from Heltah Skeltah's "Magnum Force" and a freestyle on Funkmaster Flex's Mix Tape Vol. !!. Both posse cuts were around seven to eight minutes long. This song is just as long as the other songs. It moves very quick and very cool.Damn, BCC are dope and it shows that Clue has incredible taste to finish his album with them...

Overall, I was pleased with the album because it had exclusive cuts from some of my favorite artists. In some ways, this album is like Pete Rock's "Soul Survivor". Every cut has a guest, most of the tracks (if not all) are produced by Clue, there's a commercial part in the middle, and it has a little R&B. DJ Clue does not rap though on any tracks nor does he scratch other lyrics from other records on any of the albums. where Pete Rock raps on every one of his songs and uses plenty of scratches.  DJ Clue has more of an obvious eye on artists which are popular on Hot 97. (After all, he works there). Some say this is a mix tape... well, there are not freestyles.. Some may think that the "It's My Thang '99" is like freestyle but it's no where near the short freestyles on Funkmaster Flex's mix tapes. Clue makes his own album and sets himself apart.. His thing is that he has the exclusive cuts that you cannot find anywhere else from the hottest artists. There is not one wack beat on the album except for the commercial stuff like Jermaine Dupri and the Mase/Foxy Brown song. The beats aren't bad it's just not original at all. Using the same beat only works on "Ruff Ryder's Anthem (remix)" and "It's My Thang ' 99".. It does not work on "That's The Way"... The lyrics range in quality because of the different artists. Overall, artists like Redman, Keith Murray, Buckshot, Rock, Ruck, Dmx, Nas, Raekwon, Mobb Deep, Canibus, and Noreaga blow everyone else away. Mase, Foxy Brown, & Jermaine Dupri are typical and dissapointing.  For the most part, there are more good lyricists than bad ones since there are more dope songs than wack ones. Clue did an outstanding job of producing. Of course, he had some help by DJ Scratch and some others. Most of the beats are dope and thick. Unfortunately, there are not many scratches and slices of lyrics from other songs but there are some normal scratches. Dj Clue does promote the record over the songs too much. He says stuff like "New Dmx!" over the new Dmx song... like we didn't know! Getting the top names and have them all on one record is quite an accomplishment..  The originality and creativity lacks in some places and shines in others. It's simple and boring on the very stupid "That's They Way" and "Bitch Be Ho" while the originality and creativity shines on "The Professional" and  "Come On". Even Dmx, who's not known for his intellect, kicks some intelligent yet still easy to remember rhymes on "It's On". The contstant  self promotion of Clue becomes annoying and overdone.. Funk Flex has done that plenty of times before. It funny with Flex but annoying with Clue. Overall, there's more dope flavor on the album than commercialized stupidity but as whole, there's nothing ground breaking about the LP..  The album flows nice. Though there is the commercial chunk in the middle (like Pete Rock's album), one song flows nicely into the next bringing a new surprise each time. This compilation never gets boring because the songs aren't too long and there is a nice variety of guests. The streets and the reality of the street-wise rhymes give this the good hardcore rating though the blatent commercial segments in the middle weaken the hardcore level. Most of the songs express the hardships of the reality of living on the streets. Gangstaz, thugs, guns, money and sex fill the lyrics but Mase just wants you to dance to a beat which you've heard millions of times before. Overall, the disc kicks off and ends in the hardcore streets while taking a little detour in the middle. DJ Clue put out a quality product filled with never heard before jams which are dope. Unlike Flex, he doesn't simply scratch over popular songs which you heard before.. These are all brand new songs! He's one luck son of a bitch for having so many guests! As a DJ, producer, and record maker, he's a professional... all you hardcore hip-hop heads better get a clue!
Beats: 8/10,
Lyrics: 8/10,
Originality/Creativity: 5/10,
Production: 8/10,
Album Flow: 8.5/10,
Harcore Rating: 8/10,
[ Overall Rating: 7.6 / 10 ]