Whilst he was quite convincing with his first lie about 'Reasonable Doubt' being the only album he was going to do, our scepticism after about eight more albums tells us that this is unlikely to be his last. However, maybe he just tells himself this to get a bit of motivation and focus. If this is the case, then it has worked. Whilst Jigga is unquestionably dope when he feels like it, he has made a career of being purposely patchy. On 'Moment Of Clarity' he finally admits what we all fucking knew anyway, rhyming "I dumbed down for my audience and doubled my dollars" and then "Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense, (but I did 5 Mil) I ain't been rhyming like Common since". He calls it his his 'moment of honesty', we say 'cheers, mate' in a sarcastic tone. Oh yeah, and to be honest with you, you don't want to be rhyming like Common Sense – you've already got your mum on this album, that's enough influence from Common, thank you. Nonetheless, when he's on form like this over beats by Just Blaze, Timbaland, Neptunes, Kanye West, Rick Rubin and others, we'd still take the frustrating Jigga over most of the rapping pretenders. Especially on '99 Problems' where Rick Rubin ignores the last 17 years of hip-hop and gives him the only beat he didn't give to LL in his prime. Jay-Z murders the track, as he does on just about everything on the LP. Whilst you normally have to wait every few cuts for a memorable line, he brings 'Blueprint'-like consistency to his lyrics, showing off like fuck at all opportunities - none more so than when he says "I got the hottest chick in the game, wearing my chain." The annoying fact that he's probably touching Beyonce's bottom right now aside, when he hooks back up with Kanye for 'Encore' and 'Lucifer' it's all about the music. These two are a match made in heaven and it's obvious that Kanye isn't saving all the best beats for 'The College Dropout'. Did we mention that we're feeling Kanye West? 'December 4th', the proper opener track, is dope in an overblown kind of way – not one for the clubs. The single 'Change Clothes Then Go' is like 'Frontin' part 2', however, despite this you'd have to be a miserable sod to not enjoy this in a club. Straight Lady Drugs for all the haters. The album missteps slightly with the Quik produced 'Justify My Thug'; otherwise it is short and dope – the perfect antidote to his last one. We must say the disappointment of no Premier and Ski cuts as promised in the ads, will probably slightly taint this album for most straight hip-hop fans. However, if Old Hova is going but leaves us with this, then it would take the most pointless of hip-hop critics to not give him his props. Source Fat Lace Magazine - "The magazine for ageing B-Boys". Word.