Chesstown King's Reviews and Thoughts

  6) Tha Carter VI: It’s no secret the latest Carter album is the worst. Most of these songs are pretty mid to bad. What was he thinking on “Peanuts 2 N Elephant”? I kinda like “Cotton Candy” with 2 Chainz. “Welcome to Tha Carter” is great. I liked “Hip-Hop” which featured BigXthaPLug. “Island Holiday” and “If I Played Guitar” were very bad tho. Overall you can see why many said Wayne was washed in 2025. D+ 5)Tha Carter: I gotta admit I haven’t listened to this one that much. It’s fun to hear a pretty young Wayne here. He’s not as refined here but he’s still pretty good. I love “Bring It Back” and “Go DJ” helped put him on the map. “I Miss My Dawgs” and “Cash Money Millionaires” was good too. Overall yeah its a decent album.  B- 4)Tha Carter V: I’ve listened to this album all the way through only a few times. The album is very top heavy imo. There’s some really great songs here like “Dedicate” and “Uproar”. Weezy’s mic presence is pretty good here. I love the storytelli...

  8) Double or Nothing -78 : I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. The collaboration between Big Sean and Metro Boomin is pretty much what you’d expect. “So Good” with Kash Doll is really raunchy but it works. I don’t really have a lot to say about this project. The beats are pretty solid. great! 7)Finally Famous- 80 : Ive been really hard on this album but you know what it ain’t that bad. “I Do It” was his first big solo single. Its pretty good. It’s funny that some would clown Sean for some of his bars on this album. “I’m Quagmire, I fuck hoes, my cash flow, I giggity get it” Yeah lol. “Wait For Me” with Lupe Fiasco is good too…..and I love the Kanye assisted “Marvin & Chardonnay”. Some of these songs haven’t aged that well but hey its not a bad album by any means. 6)Twenty88-87: This is the collaboration album with his former lover Jhene AIko. For the most part I really like this album. The 2 have chemistry as they’ve collaborated on previous albums. The first...

  4) All I Have (84)- Amerie’s first album isn’t bad but its clear she hadn’t really developed her signature sound yet. I’ll admit I’ve probably listened to this one the least. The first song, “ Why Don’t We Fall in Love” is amazing. Then there’s “ Talkin’ to Me” which is really good too. “I Just Died” is really emotional too. There are some highs here but a lot of mid songs tho….Overall its a good project. 3) Touch (93)-I really like this album. It has Amerie’s huge hit “1 Thing” on it. “All I Need” is a sultry song too. Then there’s her bad girl sound on the “Touch” song. That Lil Jon beat is fire! “Not the Only One” is another highlight as Amerie confronts her lover and says she’s cheating too. You can hear the go-go uptempo sound again on “Talkin’ About”. The production as a whole is just better here than on her debut. “Rolling Down My Face” is another strong deep cut. 2) Because I Love It (96)-This was the album that really made me a fan of Amerie. It’s really stacked. “H...

Honorable Mentions: Titan Fall 2, DBZ Kakarot, Star Wars Battlefront II, Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection. 15) Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga-This has proven to be a really fun Lego Star Wars game. It has some great missions from all 9 mainline Star Wars movies. I love the voice acting actually which isn’t what you’d expect from a Lego game. The game is just a ton of fun. You can play as almost any star wars character you can think of…. 14) Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection- I’m no stranger to fighting games. I had Street Fighter V also but this collection I poured way more hours into. It’s got Street Fighter 1, many versions of 2, Alpha, and 3. It has the ability to save your progress in any point of any fight…which I gotta tell you was a real life saver! This is definitely a must have for any Street Fighter fan. 13) NBA 2k23-This is the 2k I probably played the most in recent years due to not getting a new NBA 2k till I got a ps5 (2k26). This is a great game. There’s th...

16) Vultures 2 (72)- It should be no surprise this album is the worst of the bunch. It just comes off as lazy and uninspired most of the time. The production is decent tho. “Bomb” features Yuno Miles and his daughters: North and Chicago West…..and it's really corny. “Husband” is just god awful. I don’t know what he was going for with that one! “Fried” is pretty dope tho….and you can see the potential of “530”. 15) Donda 2 (75) - I haven’t had a lot of time to sit with this one. It’s not that bad tho…in fact it’s kind of average. I really like “City of God” which features Alicia Keys and Five Foreign. Sure lyrically its not great but the production again isn’t bad. Ultimately I feel like this has little to do with the first Donda album…. 14) 808s and Heartbreak (83) - You may be shocked to see this still near the bottom of his discography. While I bumped the score up a little from last time, I still feel 808’s isn’t all that. I love “Heartless” as it’s probably the best song. “Love...

  4) Till the Casket Drops (88 )-A lot of people don’t like this album but it’s honestly pretty good. The production is pretty damn good, and the bars are good too. Clipse have seemed better on the mic tho lyrically. “Popular Demand” with Cam’ron is fire. I think “Kinda Like a Big Deal” with a prime Kanye West is the best song however. I like the feel of the club track “Eyes on Me” featuring Keri Hilson. Keri sounds kinda odd on this song tho. The album closer “Life Change” is great too. There are a few songs that are kinda average tho here. Favorite Song: Kind of Like a Big Deal. 3) Lord WIllin’(93) - I kinda grew up with this album. The 2 Virginia brothers did the state proud with this album. The album gets off to a great start with songs like “Young Boy”, “Virginia”, “Cot Damn” and the anthemic “Grindin’”. “Ma I Don’t Love Her” featuring Faith Evans is the song for the ladies. The production outshines the lyrics by a little bit. However this is a pretty well balanced album. A...

 Doja Cat has been one of my favorite rapper/singers of the past few years. Let's see which albums are the best from her. 5) Amala (88)- Doja’s first album is honestly pretty damn good. You can tell she was still refining her sound tho on this. The last 3 songs “Juicy”, “Tia Tamera”, and “Mooo” are so good. “Candy” is another banger. The album is really well balanced being pretty much good in all areas but not really great in any tho. Favorite Track: Mooo. 4) Scarlet (90)- Believe it or not, this was an album I was on the fence about getting. I’m glad I got it. This is a rap heavy album but there’s still plenty of singing here and there. “Demons” and “F**k the GIrls” are Doja at her roughest. “Attention” was a great single. “Agora Hills” is a nice cute track. The monster single “Paint the Town Red” is the best track however. This album wa a big departure for her, but for the most part it paid off. Fav. Track Paint the Town Red. 3) Vie (92)- This was Doja returning to her pop roots,...

 This is my list. All these albums are relatively 98-100 rated. I do have some personal bias here. If you don't see an album you think should have made the list just comment. Honorable Mentions Nas-Stillmatic Jay Z- Reasonable Doubt The Notorious B.I.G.- Life After Death Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Ice Cube- Amerikka’s Most Wanted Kendrick Lamar- To Pimp A Butterfly  Eminem- The Marshall Mathers LP 2 10) Outkast-Stankonia- This was the album really propelled Outkast to superstardom. Sure it’s a little weird at points but it really is an impressive album from Big Boi and Andre 3000. The production is really solid. I love the first song “Gasoline Dreams”. “Ms. Jackson” is one of those all-time great rap songs. You also have “So Fresh, So Clean” and the super hype “B.O.B.” There some other good songs too like “We Luv Deez Hoez” and “I’ll Call Before I Come”. It feels good to have a dirty south album on this list. Underrated Track Pick: Gasoline Dreams. 9) 2Pac- Me Against the...

Nicki is the greatest female rapper of all time. My opinion on some of these albums have changed since I reviewed them. Lets get it! 7)Pink Friday Roman Reloaded (80)- Even though this is the lowest rated album it sounded really good in its time. You basically have the first half which is rap heavy, and the second half which is mostly pop….or as I’ve heard “Nicki Gaga” LOL. The first 3 songs “Roman Holiday” , “Come on a Cone”, and “I am Your leader” are really good. I really like “Champion” too, which features Nas, Drake, and Young Jeezy. “Right By My Side” with Chris Brown tho is my favorite. “Starships” is the best of the pop songs.  6) Pink Friday Roman Reloaded The Re-Up (84)-While only at 7 songs this was a good short set of songs. “Up In Flames” Is fire and one of Nicki’s best lyrical showcases. “High School” with Lil Wayne is smooth as hell. “I’m Legit” with Ciara is great, and “The Boys” with Cassie is even better. 5) Pink Friday 2 (89)-I don’t find myself going back to thi...

  I absolutely love dinosaurs so I felt it was time to make this blog post ranking the movies of this series!   7) Jurassic Park 3 (7.5) : This was the first JP movie I saw in theaters as a kid. It’s a good movie but perhaps too short. It starts really slow…but when things pick up, they pick up. The Spinosaurus makes its debut with great intensity. Sam Neil’s character when asked if it’s a T-Rex says, “It sounds bigger”. It takes out a T-Rex with minimal difficulty…and basically stalks our cast throughout the movie. The raptors are pretty menacing here…but they only stalk our cast because dude took a Raptor egg. I found the scene with the Pterodactyls to be really good. Ultimately it’s a good movie but against the others it just leaves a bit to be desired. 6) Jurassic World Rebirth (8) -The latest movie. I’ve only seen it twice….first time was in theaters. Man this movie is really really tense. We are introduced to mutant dinosaurs here. Before I get into that I’ve got to talk...

Songs graded on Lyrics, Beat, and Replay ability each category out of 5.   13) I Thought About KillIng You: Ye (2.33)                    It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that this intro is Kanye’s worst intro track. Sure it fits in with the album’s theme…but there’s just not a whole lot I like here. The lyrics aren’t all that, but the beat is ok. The album does get better after that tho. 12) Selah: Jesus is King (2.5) I really like Kanye’s energy on this track. The way the song progresses is really cool too. The “halleluiah” chants are dope. Sure its not one of his better intro songs but its pretty damn good. The end of the song is pure Kanye lol. 11) To the World: Cruel Summer (2.83) People seem to forget or crap on this album but I have always really liked it. R.Kelly’s hook is infectious. I love Kanye’s funny bars too like “Mitt Romney don’t pay no Tax” LOL. The beat is pretty standard t...