iHipHop Admin
When you come from a talented family, it can be hard at times to draw attention to your own movement, just because the focus will primarily be on the family members that people deem more important.
So when that happens, a slight knocking on the door probably won’t get you the awareness that you’re looking for; you’re going to bust the door off the hinges and aggressively introduce yourself.
That’s a formula that The LOX’s Sheek Louch has followed to the letter, and continues this philosophy with his Extinction (Last Of A Dying Breed) mixtape.
Compiled of eight songs that didn’t make his Silverback Gorilla album, the entire project is hardcore East Coast Hip-Hop personified starting with the piano and horn loops that accompany ‘Can’t Stop.’
In it, he talks about his success as well as his partners in rhyme, “Me and my comrades/now that we all dads/a couple of nice pads/got rid of them straight fags.”
‘It’s Your World‘ is one of the better-produced songs on the project, and Sheek Louch’s no frills flow fits right in. He reprises ‘Get Money’ featuring Jadakiss from his second album After Taxes, but keeps it “as is” with no changes. One of the standout tracks on the CD is ‘Gimme A Light’ featuring S.I. The song itself is Sheek’s version of a boy meets girls story with material like, “You ain’t just a big butt, and a little waist/long hair, nice smile, and a pretty face/you a sexy little mama, and you know your place/and that’s right next to me, you gonna win the race.”
His soft side doesn’t last for long, because he comes right back with ‘Sucka 4 Luv,’ and manages to mention his view on the diamond trade, “Big jewelry, I don’t know if it’s conflict free/I ain’t ask/I just threw down a couple of G’s.” The album ends with more East Coast solidification with songs like, ‘Stop Frontin,’’ the descriptive tale of ‘Put Work In,’ and ‘Til It’s Gone’ featuring Bucky and Snipe Life—while ‘Get Yah Ass Up’ featuring Bully and AP drags along and slows the album down.
Sheek Louch might not win any lyricist of the year awards, but he can hold his head up high knowing that his style is all his own, as he shows more improvement each time he decides to put a project out. Being affiliated with MC’s the caliber of Jadakiss and Styles P, most people think that Sheek Louch would probably use that more to his advantage, but he opts to go it alone by not using that as his crutch—and that’s the main reason why he’s become one of the most respected rappers the Big Apple has to.
Rating: 3.5
