Nope. Royce is back, full-force, and as he says "Life Goes On". Royce has been one of my favorite rappers for a long time (seeing as I'm from Detroit, I've been following his career pretty closely), and on "Build and Destroy", Royce pulls out just about every battle-rap he's got. Royce is an exception to my choice of "conscience" rap, normally I like rap that has a positive message, but even through Royce's hard-spit street-smart rhymes, he illuminates the gritty life of the streets, and whether he means to or not, he doesn't glorify the violence. That's a big part of why I like him.
On "Build and Destroy", the production is absolutely amazing. The background melodies and beats are heavy, strong, melodic, and inspiring. They serve Royce with a different sound to work with. On "Rock City", the production didn't really flatter Royce's unusual flow. On "Build and Destroy", Royce's flow is unrentlessly aggressive, and the production reflects this, unlike "Death Is Certain", (his best album yet), which is a CD focused on self-reflection with a more sombre flow. None the less, you'll be hard pressed to find production like this on any other rap record ever recorded. Every song is different, and they're all incredible!
Royce brings a whole new meaning to battle-rap and wordplay. On "King of Detroit", Royce challenges just about every rapper out there -
"You welcome to floss/and receive a consecutive loss/all I need's a second to talk/to get my message across/out-of-towners come to Detroit with all they mens/and that's a gamble, you know the house always wins./"
"Y'all rappers want your respect?/Come get it!/"
He does just that. He throws down and earns his respect on this album. On "Life Goes On", over a track that sounds like it was produced by a Kanye West/Swizz Beats combination, he pulls out some of the best wordplay on the whole CD, i.e. -
"5'9" is back/and he's about to spit thunder and **** lightning."
Not only is the wordplay strong on this track, but the chorus is actually addictive, something that the album lacks. Without a doubt, the worst pitfall of the entire record is the repetitive, sometimes annoying hooks, but this is overshadowed by Royce's regiment of lyrical weapons.
There are too many strong tracks on this CD to really name off, but the VERY strongest would have to be "U Don't Know Me", "King of Detroit", "Life Goes On", "Take Me Away", and "Malcom X". On "U Don't Know Me", Royce spits the brutal truth, mixed with a little of his battle-rhyme sense of wit. It's a tight track.
On my personal favorite track of the CD (barely a step above "Life Goes On",) is "Take Me Away". This is much like Royce's "Death Is Certain Pt. 2 (It Hurts)" on "Death Is Certain". It's a touching, sombre song where Royce proclaims on the chorus-
"Take me away/from all the pressures of living today/come save me/I feel so alone/I don't wanna live/when you appear take my soul/just go/I wanna come home/"
He goes on to spit-
"(Sometimes I wanna cry)/Askin myself why is that when fake *****'s collide, real *****'s divide/(It should be the other way)/Dawg, I feel you/Don't let them get to you, I love you/And you know who you are/(And until we meet again)/I just hope you choose your soldiers wisely/"
The melody to this song is emotional enough to inspire some powerful feelings in your chest, and when accompanied with Royce's powerfully spit lyrics and his accompanying soulful sung hook, it comes across as a very impacting song.
Last, but not least, we come to "Malcom X", the infamous D-12 diss. Now, as I said, I'm from Detroit, so I do like D-12 and Eminem to a certain extent, I don't feel like I need to choose between Royce or them. I like them both, (though I admittedly like Royce better). I've heard Eminem disses of Royce and they haven't really done anything for me, but on "Malcom X", Royce rips D-12 to shreds, and I mean that. He mercillessly bashes on Bizarre, Proof, and Eminem, referring to the rest of the members of D-12 as just that, the other members of D-12. "Build and Destroy" came out before "Death is Certain", so Royce hadn't moved past his beef with Shady yet, and "Malcom X" is so vicious it blows me away every time I hear it. He spits-
"/You couldn't fit Bizarre's body in my shoes/"
(Referring to Proof)-"You better hope you and the white boy keep in touch/And be a good little hype-man, or your lease is up/Since Slim signed 50, I don't see your teeth as much/which is good, cause you've got a grill like a --- truck/"
(Referring to Bizarre)-"You can run or hide/I'll be on your porch with a cheese burger, trying to lure you outside/"
"/I'm about to end this quicker than Bizarre can finish a biscuit/"
These are about as mild and unimpressive as the lyrics on this song come, but since I can't put overly-vulgar lyrics online, you'll have to take my word for the fact that you have never heard a diss-song like this ever. What's so clever is that Royce has Tre Little counter-act his unforgiving position. Tre Little has a verse that tries to convince Em to call Royce up, but says that "/If anything happens to him/Something's gonna happen to you/"
"Build and Destroy" is just a sample of Royce's unflinching and unforgiving street-wise lyrics, packed with a range of different emotions and backed with mind-blowing lyrical wordplay. I strongly recommend this album. You won't be disappointed.
NOTE: If you're a Royce fan, or perhaps you're new to him, go check out "Death is Certain" and my review for that. If there are any CDs worthy of some hype, "Death is Certain" is most definitely deserving. Like I said, if you want more info on that, go check out my review.
Contrary to one of the reviewers, the production on this album was top notch. With production by Just Blaze (King of Detroit) Kanye West (Heartbeat) The Alchemist (I Won't Be, Danger) and The Neptunes (Feels Good, Make This Run) you can't complain. The production is great and as always Royce is on point with his flow and his lyrics. It'll be hard to find a better album, but try September 23rd when Royce releases his official sophmore album "Death is Certain". To conclude, Build & Destroy is a good buy, actually a must buy.
Royce returns just 4 months after his debut to drop his second album. About equal to "Rock City" and "M.I.C.". Has a few classic tracks and about 3 that are skippable, the other 17 are easily listenable. He definitely shows his lyrical skil on this one, and has a dis track aimed at Eminem & D12 too. Starts off really strong and ends strong, the middle is where the weaker tracks are. Features a few songs w/ his D-Elite (5 person) crew. Has some tight production on this one well. Recommended for fans, a good album.
#1 - 10 (classic w/ a great beat)
#2 - 9
#3 - 8.5
#4 - 8 (f/ D-Elite)
#5 - 7.5 (f/ bow tie & polar bear)
#6 - 7.5
#7 - 7.5 (raps fast on this one)
#8 - 7.5 (f/ kelis & tre little)
#9 - 6
#10 - 7
#11 - 9
#12 - 7
#13 - 7.5
#14 - 6.5
#15 - 8.5 (f/ D-Elite)
#16 - 6
#17 - 8.5
#18 - 8 (f/ Neptunes & la femme nikita)
#19 - 8
#20 - 10 (classic track f/ Tre Little - dissin' Eminem & D12)
b. Ryan Montgomery ---- Detroit, MI
check all my reviews
