“I first heard of Mystikal when he guested on a track on the Busta Rhymes “Extinction Level Event” album. His speed rhymin style was pretty tight. So after hearing “Shake Ya Ass” and “Danger” on the radio I was quite surprised as it was a totally different direction to anything I’d heard from him before.” I must say I wasn’t too impressed by either of those 2 but held a hope that his album might be better.The rest of the album to be brutally honest isn’t much to shout about either, using mostly boring and redundant beats. After four records not that much has changed with Mystikal, he still remains the very fast flow that is unique and irritating at the same time, and still the same rapping subject. This fifteen tracked effort has the same monotonous bounce beats of a lot of whack hip-hop that is around today. Apparently the up and coming, Neptunes, put in some producing work on the album, specifically for the lead single, Shake Ya Ass. Many of the songs bang and sound like old No Limit albums. I can find no detail of how this album would have been different if it had been done on No Limit, except maybe the lack of the glossy album case. Which begs the question, why exactly did he leave No Limit?.
1998 – Mystikal featured with Busta on ‘Rowdy With Us’ on the “E.L.E.” album.
We all know, “Shake Ya Ass” so I don’t need to explain or describe that track any more. On “Come See About Me” he collaborates with Da Brat and newcomer Petey Pablo as well. Da Brat spits some raunchy lyrics early in the track, and I must admit this track is pretty cool. (but then I do have a soft spot for The Brat Tat Tat.) In the middle of this album there are two tracks that sport beats that are fairly inventive and original, but still not classic hip hop. “I Rock I Roll” and “Big Truck Boys” are actually produced half decently here. The whiny violins on “Big Truck Boys” and the swift scratching on “I Rock I Roll” produce a nice effect in contrast with Mystikal’s harsh vocals. The album is full of tracks that all sound very similar to each other, probably because Mystikal never varies his flow or the gun shot drum hits from his producers. So I won’t bother going into detail other than suffice to say that they have the same beat as “Shake Ya Ass” with a different tune. The last track is a reused filler track. I say this because I read somewhere that it’s the single from “The Wood Soundtrack”. “Neck Uv Da Woods” is a track where Mystikal is paired with Big Boi and Andre from Outkast. This track I admit I quite like because it moves along well and Outkast provide a much welcome contrasting rhyme style to that of the pretty monotonous Mystikal.
1999 – Ghetto Fabulous came from Mystikal after his feature with Busta.
Mystikal is satisfaction guaranteed for anyone who just wants to hear their favorite single and lyrics that express nothing about a real person or reality. But who am I to judge, I suppose people can enjoy whatever they enjoy, I’m just expressing my opinion on this album. Despite his success and record sales, he will never find a place in my prized record collection, and I doubt that of many other true hip hoppers. He has shown growth though, as he is using deeper beats and has jumped ship away from Master P, thus probably making a lot more money now on every record sold. As you probably can tell by now, I’m not the biggest Mystikal fan by any means, but if you’re a fan your gonna buy it anyway. 2000 – Mystikal brings us an album filled with….. poor tracks.
Track Listing:
- 1. Ready To Rumble
- 2. Shake Ya Ass
- 3. Jump
- 4. Danger (Been So Long)
- 5. Come See About Me
- 6. Big Truck Boys
- 7. I Rock, I Roll
- 8. U Would If U Could
- 9. Mystikal Fever
- 10. Family
- 11. Ain’t Gonna See Tomorrow
- 12. The Braids
- 13. Smoked Out
- 14. Murderer III
- 15. Neck Uv Da Woods
- 16. I’m Throwed Off
- 17. U Lookin’ For Me
- 18. Petey Pablo Snippets
Reviewed By Hip Hop Network for HipHopHotSpot.Com
