For album itself -> After an intro in long-known manner first follows a sort of second, this time musical, Intro quasi as a slow match. The first real song "Life in California" - quasi Cubes response to Jay Z's "New York" - is also rather quiet and is featured by Jayo and toilet. It follows with "She couldnt make ..." the worst in my eyes musical song of the album. What the producer thought gepiepe in which partly annoying synth me does not open up, eventually - how in the positive evaluation of the songs of some of the estimated reviewer's Kollengen can also be seen - but that is a matter of taste. Musically remains the direction of the next song similar to that song even if something better comes across before finally going with "Yall know how I am," the tracks musically more in the expected direction. "Too West Coast" is then in my eyes already the first real highlight on the album, phat beat and 3 MCs in a giving mood - a dream. After sometimes a bit bumpy start, the album takes the music finally ride on. "No Country for Young Man", "Hood Robbin '," Your Money or Your Life "or" Fat Cat "are really successful pieces in my eyes and evaluate the overall impression of the album again to clear. All in all, thanks to the very successful second half of an above-average Hip Hop album, albeit for Ice Cube standards not quite as well as hoped or expected - indeed the standards depend stop but from the performer. The lyrics I have kept in my review back deliberately, hey it's an ice cube album, what can you say there more?
My conclusion: Solid 4 star. In the end, the album - especially some songs in the first half - weaker than the two published after his Hollywood exile, which I rated 5 stars. Even though the album in my eyes in the back of really good will, 5 stars would be at this point probably overkill, beat-technically - albeit mostly kept a little quieter - other known publications from this year but miles ahead.
