It's been a long winding road for the small-town, now Halifax-based rapper known as Classified. After nearly ten years of making rap music, and 8 albums later, his Trial & Error has paid off with his best album to date.

For many, getting laid off from a good-paying job is something to worry about. For Classified, it was just the break he'd been awaiting when it happened to him about a year ago. Since then he's been able live off unemployment and fully focus on both the production and business aspects of Trial & Error. The album already has two videos released, a third in the works for 'Gossip' and has been described by Classified to be 15x better than any of his previous albums. This might sound like an exaggeration given the quality of his previous work, but after a couple listens, the significant improvements in his old skool meets mainstream production left me willing to vouch for 10 times better.

Classified chose to use far more vocal samples in Trial & Error than ever before seen in his previous works. This lends itself well to several tracks as Classified provides the verses and chooses samples for the chorus ('On Tha Brink', 'Confused Confrontations'). As usual, he provides crisp clear delivery tackling a handful of topics and pokes fun at his unjust comparisons to Eminem on 'This Is For'. However, the lyrical content only shows moderate improvement, as his last emotionally charged album Union Dues discussed deep topics such as industry politics.

'Confused Confrontation' is my favorite song as it Classified delves deep with a nice concept track. Like a thriller novel, it will leave you wondering until the very end, at which point you realize Classified's best friend, turned worst enemy, is actually just an interesting look at the two sides of his conscious. 'Heavy Artillery' is the second single from the album and is another favorite. It's an upbeat banger bound to climb the club charts as Rocky Ninja's dancehall vocals make for a picture perfect chorus. 'It's Sickening' has a nice Cam'ron 'Hey Ma' type feel as Classified joins forces with his brother Mic B to discuss the joys and pains of their love of weed. Bonshah's opening verse on 'Like It's Criminal' further establishes himself as one of Halifax's finest, as he joins Classified and established cohorts J-Bru and Spesh K on the impressive song. 'Just The Way It Is' shows Classified is able to cypher with big rhyme writers like the featured Eternia, DL Incognito and Maestro.

Trial & Error is Classified's best work thus far. With two videos out for this album and another on the way for 'Gossip', Classified is as poised and ready as he'll ever be for mainstream success. Fortunately for him, he's also got a great album and track record backing him up.

For more information on Classified, check out www.classifiedlive.net.

Click here to buy the album!