★★★★★
This Jay-Z protégé recorded his last album shortly before serving a year in prison on gun and drug charges?then facing trial for attempted murder (he was acquitted). It did not, as you might guess, showcase his chipper side. Beans isn't commercially challenged?that disc, like his first two, broke the Top 5?but unlike some other God-fearing, enemy-smiting gangstas, he's never shoehorned his cold-but-conflicted persona into a smash single. Enter The Solution, which leads off with the slick R...
- www.blender.com
2010-08-22
★★★★★
Following the sorta-baffling pop-rap of The Solution (2007), hip-hop's greatest curmudgeon is back--minus the glossy production and James Blunt cameos--bitching out snitches and stomping on any foliage that sprung up during his two-year absence from the game...
- www.cokemachineglow.com
2009-10-29
★★★★★
I never quite got a handle on whether Beanie Sigel really intended to become a pop sensation. On The Truth, "Everybody Wanna Be a Star" decried fame-seeking behavior all while sounding like something the second Mase record might've turned away for being too commercial. But after The B.Coming proved to be his darkest and most affecting record, The Solution had "All the Above", with R. Kelly and the Runners and speedboats and everything. You might remember it. You probably don't...
- pitchfork.com
2009-10-23
★★★★★
One is left wondering what 'The False' or 'The Lie' is now..You know how Mac come through on the club tip; and admittedly,that thug shit worked on Jay-Z. It even worked for The Rootswhen he added some "Adrenaline" to their album quite successfully.Something doesn't quite add up here though. If you had to picka Roc-a-Fella artist to listen to other than Jay-Z, Beans wouldprobably be el candidate numero uno. The problem is he's runningin the same race WITH Jay-Z...
- rapreviews.com
2009-07-21
★★★★★
Beanie Sigel is a man with a lot to say who often finds that his self-injurious behavior prevents the message from reaching the public. His legal problems are already the stuff of legend, and although they may enhance his street credibility as "The Truth" they also keep him bouncing in and out of courtrooms and keep him from "B. Coming" the huge rap star he could be. It's pretty hard to promote your album or tour when you're more worried about whether or not you'll be doing a long bid upstate...
- rapreviews.com
2009-07-21
★★★★★
Guess who's back? Beanie Mack, bitch. Don't start beefing; that's his own misogynistic description for coming back to the rap game after a year's hiatus following "The Truth." Since his debut album did more than reasonably well by SoundScan standards (700K according to the Roc website) it would only be natural to come back with another dose of his Philly raw uncut - the surprise here is that unlike most sophomore albums, the second time around is better.First, there's the production...
- rapreviews.com
2009-07-21
★★★★★
With celebrity gossip websites and TV shows being all the rage these days I'm surprised somebody hasn't launched a hip-hop only TMZ to keep track of the drama and legal problems rap stars go through. You can have that one on me - I don't have the time to launch it myself so that's free money for somebody out there. All I can do is occasionally post updates to the RapReviews Newsfeed when big shit goes down...
- rapreviews.com
2009-07-21
★★★★★
Loyal RapReviews.com readers, please help me figure this one out. Knowing that Dwight Grant b/k/a Beanie Sigel to his fans around the world has been in some legal trouble, I decided to check around online before writing this review to see what his current status is. I stumbled across this entry on the AllMusic website: "Preparing for jail, Sigel went into high gear and completed a movie, an album, and five videos to support the new album...
- rapreviews.com
2009-07-21
★★★★★
Scared straight enough to rap about being paranoid ("I Can't Go On This Way," "Feel It in the Air").
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-17