As a rapper consistency can a double edged sword. If you put out a great album when you first burst through the scene and have continued to do so ten to fifteen years later, that is always a plus.
With a good track record, fans will always want to buy what you’re offering. But if you have always been known to be average and have continued to offer the same type of average work, fans can become tired of the broken record. Things can get worse for you, if you’re the type to champion the lyrical and artistic growth you have gone through as it becomes a big contradiction, like the paraplegic that says he's going to kick your ass.
With Fat Joe's latest offering "Elephant in the Room," the contradiction seems to rein supreme, as the Southern rapper, aims to prove the critics wrong. After listening to this album about ten different times, here is the breakdown for Mr. Make It Rain, him self.
Lyrics 5- Over the past couple of years, whenever Joe is asked about one of his albums, or where he feels he stands when talking of the hip hop elite, he has been very fast to say that he feels like he's getting better over time.
Listening to the lyrics on this album, I would seriously have to beg to differ. With a rhyme scheme that has yet to do anything to impress or intimidate anyone, Joe continues to spit average lyrics that tend to do nothing but keep listeners from thinking his album is an instrumental CD. There are no punchlines, no metaphors, no multi's, no subliminals.
He never changes his pace over the beat, has a very limited vocabulary, and seems to run out of things to say on certain songs. His lyrics aren’t horrible, they aren’t bad either, but it’s nothing that will have you repeating his lines for days and weeks to come.
Production 8- The production is what will keep you listening to this album, with producers like, Cool & Dre, DJ Khaled, and Scott Storch as well as many others, the hits keep coming.
Most of the beats are up-tempo so there won't be too many introspective sessions while listening to Elephant in the room, as every beat gives you a club feel. If you have never heard a Fat Joe album you'll probably think he's from somewhere in the south, as most of his beats, had a southern flair to it, but believe it or not he's from New York
Songs 6- Once again Fat Joe swings and misses, there are twelve songs on this album and nine of them have a feature on them, on 6 out of those nine songs, it seems like the featured artist outshines Joe himself.
While listening to this album I fount myself more interested in listening to Wayne’s hook on Crack House than to what Joe was saying on all three verses.
If he isn’t outshined by the beats he's outshined by his features, it’s actually quite sad. He also seems to have a hard time staying on topic, songs like "The Fugitive" are a great example of that, he starts off reminiscing about cutting coke in his apartment and getting ready to flee the cops, but somewhere in the song he finds a way to start discussing his ring tone sales. To make things worse he constantly makes references to cooked crack or hustling but has no in depth story to prove his point. Songs like "My Conscience,” " I wont tell," and "You Isn’t Saying' Nothin," will help to keep this album from being a complete throw away.
Conclusion 6.5- If you have been a fat Joe fan for a while, you will get exactly what you wanted from him, just with a southern twist.
He has stayed consistent in every way possible. His lyrics are still average, his delivery is still predictable and unoriginal, and he still mentions cooked crack after every other line. If you were expecting to hear some sort of growth, then this album will be an utter disappointment as it does nothing to stimulate excitement via lyrically nor does it expand content wise.
Fat Joe seemed to be trying to prove something to his fans and critics with this album, unfortunately he probably did nothing but reinforce a lot of what they were saying. He does sound like a southern artist, he has not improved lyrically at all, and other than some pretty impressive features and some head nodding beats, Elephant in the Room is utterly average.
Fat Joe gave it his best, but after this effort he should really stop telling people that he gets better after every album, because this is just another example of him staying the same, and once again providing average music with above average expectations.
COMMENTS
Fat Joe ass don't care
How much did 50 cent pay you to write this review? 6.5 and Curtis got a 7.5? Curtis sucked he had like 3 good songs out of 21 and Fat Joe had at least 7 out of 12.
Elephant In The Sand? its Elephant In The Room. If your gonna hate on an album and not give it a chance then you should let someone else review the CD. HATER!!!!
^ fucking moron ^
The Fugitive,You Ain't Sayin Nothin,Crackhouse,Cocababy,Drop,I Won't Tell,300 Brolic,My Conscience, That White.
ALL HOT SONGS!!
folk they sayin he be trying to be south and he does he be on every south track spittin them same old ass crappy ass dirty ass gymsock rhymes
"the fuck is everbody so mad at the south for
learn how to switch ya style up and go south paw"
to bad for fat like whoa he sucked anyway.
I think dey mean Elephant in the Room(dey kept puttin Elephant in the sand or mayb he's jus dissin Fat Hoe)
yea i caught dat
"With Fat Joe's latest offering "Elephant in the sand," the contradiction seems to rein supreme,"
hmm simple ass editors hahah
If u ask me, it was better than Curtis...**waits for ambush from evil Unit stans**
curtis was ass fareal, im ashamed 2 say i aint heard joeys shit yet, but i bet it is better den 50s wack shit.
Fith may not be da best but dispite all these ill feelings for him, he making bank
good, informative review, props my nigga.
Smh...
Nice review man...
Southern Rapper Huh??? Doubt It. I Would Neva Accept Him To Rep My Region For Me But Yall Can Have Soulja Boy, Joc, And Tha Rest These Fucc Niggaz Not Doin Shyt For Me Area. Anyway Though. Fat Boy Stucc On That Ringtones Shyt. Can't Even Pump Out A Real Situation Of Him Pushin Them Roccs. Wut A Shame. Anyway Though. South?? Fat Joe??? Hell Naw!!! SOUTH Luda,Playa Fly,All Star,T.I.(Not Really A Fan) Bun B, Chamillionaire. Yes Sir !!! SCREAM AT ME,1..
PAPOOSE! PAPOOOSE! PAPOOSE!
That's kinda Gay
he need to stop talking about those ring tone sales, that was lil wayne sales, on every ringtone it was the hook not his verse, so that don't count. he did abandon N.Y and moved to Miami he the south problem they don't like him in new york anymore, just like they don't like 50 to much.
No Wonder over 80% of the people don't like neither rapper, especially 5-0 who's always been terrible and a known liar, ever since he came into the mainstream based on false information (His shot 9 times was defintely false).
nigga the south don't like fat joe either. at least when are big name artists drop they sell....Indie or Major
He does sound like a southern artist, he has not improved lyrically at all,....
you mother fucker stop hatin on the south you bitch
AGREE!!!
i currently stay up north.but i was born and raise in da south(birmingham,alabama).so for him to rep da south dat shit is crazy.rep where you from which is the bronx!HE WANTS TO BE FROM DA SOUTH SO BAD!CAUSE WE ARE DA SHIT!
commence trashing
Na Bo Trilla Was Trash!!
lol lol
theres a couple songs that are decent but i must agree with this review, props
joe has always been an average artist, he has never been able to support himself with his own album. Can you imagine a Fat Joe Album with no features? Thats scary The best thing to happen to this cat always turns sour; Big Pun, Remy Ma! Dude is over and 50 killed him on every mixed tape hes ever addressed him on!!! " You turn on ya television and see me on the screen, you dose off you fat fuck you'll se me in your dreams!"
yo, this album wasnt that bad man, but thr lyrical contet is pretty disappointing, cuz he kinda wandering all over the place on tracks and then sometimes saying the same thing twice lol.........................but......."Dop" ft. Swizz Beatz was banging, "That White" was pretty dope (pun intended lol), "coca baby" was a banging track but woulda been better if it was jsut the girl lmao..........as fro Trilla, wasnt feeling that much either....."boss" was hard, "luxury tax" was only good cuz of wayne's verse, "speedin" was hot cuz of kells, "this is the life" ft. trey songz is propper, "all I have in this world" is a banger, Mannie fresh still got it.............as for which one is better, I rather not comment lol
I say both of those albums were trashed. Im not on fifty or fat joes side but both of them did sell out quite a bit and thats tha shit that happens when u makin money. There aint nothin else to talk about in their songs so they just talk about how good and how better they are than us regular people. Personally i think joe just need to hang it up, i mean he doesn't have nothin else to prove. Anybody can make great beats and put a hook together to sound nice, but people don't care to hear actual lyrics nowdays.
we all knew this album waznt gonna be a great one so why do we give a fuck.
rappers i always nd still think are just plain GARBERG IN MY OPINION
1.FATJOE
2.CHINGY
3.NELLY
4.MIKE JONES
5.PAUL WALL
6.RICK ROSS
7.LIL FLIP
8.SOULJA BOY
9.LIL BOSSIE OR WATEVER HIS NAME IS
10.LIL WAYNE THIS GUY IS ALL HYPE
11.ALL THOSE DOWNSOUTH DANCE MUSIC CLOWNS
I think Webbie ghost write Boosie shit, or vice versa. They sound mad similar
DJ UNK
MIMS
YOUNG JOC
D4L
TONY YAYO
FLO-RIDA
and more I can't think of right now
dont forget agout plies and snoop.
what the fuck lil wayne souldnt even be mentions in the same sentanse as soulja boi or watever hiz name is...weezy is a hot spitta ...
^^^co-sign that biased comment
album as a whole is doo doo but the track joes got with Krs One is SICK
co sign, the track with krs is a banger...u cant tell me he didnt kill the first track, 300, and thank god for that white too...i ve only been rockin the album a day have to wait and see whether the review stands true...
he only did 33k in first week,rat joes done
Joe's Independent now and who cares about 5-0 anyways, both rappers are horrible.
fat joe just sucks man 50 just shut that nigga down he is the nest ja rule
joe aint shit, jus a waste
j's for sale visit terrys.flyingcart.com
I knew the G-Unit stans wud trash da shit out of the positive comments.
fat joe has potential to be great ive heard great verses 4rm him man but he jus does enough to get by he knows how to pick beats tho
no....he HAD potential but when Pun left then shit started goin bad
i agree 100%. fat joe is not a bad rapper, its jus that he really isnt good. theres so many other ppl to listen to besides him. i didnt kno there was a such thing as a fat joe fan
FJ is forever NY...either you love us NY'ers or you hate our guts. Either way we don't give a F anyway. Crackhouse, Cocababy, I won't Tell, 300 Brolic, & My Conscience are all definite bangers.
fat joe is the shit you crazy
Fuck Fat Joe.
Needs to retire - nuthin else to say
raps about the same thing over and over, fuck retiring he needs to quit and forget he ever had a "career"
"we aim and bang watch ya slang we make em' lean back / no one would ever idolize some one showin they butt crack"
i downloaded it...then i deleted it...
=Cam=
its that wack huh. shit joe never could rhyme.
Can't front... production was hot... but Joe hasn't had a hot album since J.O.S.E...
Major points though about having so many damn feautures though...
P.S. That above wack rappers list is so rushed & not planned out... RU serious?!?! It's a biased list dude.
good fucking album by fat joe!!joey crack has been in the game for years and put out numerous classics.he has put out commercial and street bangers.he is going down as one of the best rappers in rap history.its coca baby!!!
yeah curtis waz whack!
but itz A MILLION TIMEZ BETTER THEN JOES SHIT!!
FEEL ME??
ALL THESE DUM ASS NIGGAS TLKIN BOUT JOES SHIT BEIN BETTER!!
NIGGA GIT OUTTA HERE
i dnt even pay attention 2 dis cat no more. i think da onli verse i actually like 4rm em iz his verse new york wit ja rule and em. but i aint no hater or nun, im jus sayin wat i feel
i feel u, fat joe is pretty garbage to say the least
FUCK FAT JOE. DAT NIGGA GARBAGE. ITS ALL ABOUT G UNIT.
TERMINATE ON SIGHT COMING SOON!!!
same ol same ol from this nigga
coca this and coca that....he should of gave it up after
Lean back came out becuz Make it rain was basically Lil weezy joint anyway.
"you doze off you fat fuck you see my in yo dreamz"-curtis jackson "elephant in the sand.........dead ass nigga
dis nigga be tryin to make club hits he should make songs that make u think...i like trhose kinda songs....and ya this cd waz average.....