One-time “Unhealthy Boy for all times,” Black Rob’s journey got here to a sudden finish on April 17, 2021, after affected by cardiac arrest following years of significant well being points (courting again to 2013 when the rapper suffered a stroke, enduring a number of subsequent strokes within the years main as much as his demise).
His 2015 launch, Real Article, was strong proof that Rob’s pen was nonetheless sharp, but it, like most of his work exterior of the Unhealthy Boy machine, slid underneath the radar—a testomony to the dreaded Unhealthy Boy curse. The album additionally lacked a few of the cohesion Rob as soon as basked in underneath the illustrious Hitmen’s helm.
However, it was by no means meant to be his swan tune; with a lot left unsaid, those that liked him most got here collectively to craft the aptly titled Life Story 2—a worthy two-disc sequel to his 2000 debut. Key gamers from his previous, together with Hitmen producers Nashiem Myrick, Carlos “6 July” Broady, one-time CRU member Yogi, and the de facto Hitmen chief D-Dot—amongst others—have reunited for this posthumous providing. Buckwild, the D.I.T.C. producer behind the rapper’s most memorable hit “Whoa,” additionally joins the stacked lineup.
Total, the mission is a loving throwback to every little thing that endeared listeners to the our bodies of labor launched through Unhealthy Boy Leisure in its heyday. For longtime BR followers, there are tons of intelligent callbacks, such because the sequel to “I Love You Child” and even a welcomed and surprisingly potent function from D-Dot’s alter ego The Mad Rapper, regardless that it wasn’t one in every of his iconic skits. For the older heads and Hip Hop nerds who have been knee-deep within the ‘90s mixtape circuit, “Come One, Come All” is a studio-quality transforming of the freestyle that Rob dropped on the third installment of Tony Contact’s formidable 50 MCs trilogy.
As with every mission primarily dealt with by The Hitmen, there are sure to be some aimless social gathering jams, just like the Kleeer-sampled “Shake It” that includes Rhea, or the dancehall-tinged “On My Personal” that includes Nakkia Gold. The Kali Ranks-featured ‘Bacardi’ and Child Capri-featured “Get It, Get It” additionally straddle the road between filler and hit; they’re not dangerous songs, however they might not demand the repeat listens that the album’s standout tracks do.
It’s clear after the primary hear of each halves of the double album that the Black Thought featured ‘Black’ stands because the album’s crown jewel. The tune, initially teased this previous summer time, comes with a beat that co-producer Nashiem Myrick informed DX in an interview dates again to the ’90s. The twinkling keys and laborious snares complement Rob’s circulation on the monitor so properly; this tune may simply relaxation amongst his most revered.
One other nice second is the Whodini-flipped “We Nonetheless Right here,” that includes the now-incarcerated MC G. Dep. Given the historical past these two shared, courting again to Rob truly bringing Dep to Unhealthy Boy in 1998, this collaboration is poignant, although considerably somber looking back. Additionally, given the considerably murky enterprise that noticed Diddy kind of abandon Rob, it’s a telling second that he may be heard screaming on the hook.
Rob had lengthy since expressed no in poor health will in anyway towards Diddy, Harve Pierre, or anybody else on the storied imprint, and this in any other case inconsequential inclusion would recommend that it was all love ultimately.
The D-Dot and Riz Delux-produced “Full Moon” is a must-listen. It’s a storytelling marvel that takes the listener by way of the rise and devastating fall of a drug-selling crew that Rob constructed and subsequently watched disintegrate—intimately worthy of its personal HBO collection.
One other massive document tucked within the second half is “Holla @ Me 1st,” a scathing tackle the (maybe undue) energy that hip-hop media can play in build up and tearing down artists, rhetorically asking why they don’t go proper to the supply. It’s a sentiment that weaves itself into the Sway Calloway skits, taken from a 2015 sit-down on Sway within the Morning, the place Rob overtly mentioned struggling a stroke—vehemently dispelling rumors suggesting he was hooked on medicine.
Regardless of being absolute masters at album sequencing underneath D-Dot’s steerage, Unhealthy Boy was a label constructed on hits. Rob’s debut stays an excellent album, but it’s not unusual for youthful or informal followers to unfairly distill his profession all the way down to his affiliation with Diddy, the hit “Whoa,” or his standout function on Diddy’s “Unhealthy Boys For Life.” He has all the time been bigger than that. As a closing exclamation level on his discography, his closest collaborators have finished an distinctive job making certain the world is left with an excellent instance of why the “PD world-touring Harlem horror” was so deeply revered in real-rap circles.
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