The game just isn’t the same anymore. Longtime Mobb Deep associate Big Noyd is one artist that knows this well. Gone are the days of Big Apple dominance that Noyd’s career was cultivated in, as veterans like Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep and Nas have to prove their relevance to a whole new generation.
With a little help from the southern-leaning single Money Talk, Big Noyd looks to bring NY back to a high level of respectability while also stepping up artistically with Illustrious.
Snitches is a potent opener, which continues Noyd’s tradition of New York reality talk. However this time around he has a newly found vigor, spitting “Hard to see through the smoke screens, where dope fiends lean and thugs scheming/who real, which n****s be singing, na mean.”
The almost hypnotic soul of Things Done Changed is the ultimate back-in-the-day jam, as Noyd looks at Hip Hop’s past with reverence and observes how the landscape has changed; “Infamous came out, but look rap is wack now/the fans that used to bump to it, half of them doing crack now.”
Sadly there are no cameos from Noyd’s longtime cohorts Mobb Deep this time around, which is interesting considering that they have lent their talents to his past solo releases; in fact, their history of recorded collaborations dates back to Mobb’s 1993 debut Juvenile Hell.
Luckily some of the void left is filled by NY’s current knight in shining armor Joell Ortiz on the blockbusting Alchemist-crafted Ghetto. This track is truly heavy.
While hard-hitting affairs like the electric guitar-infused Heartless and the frenetic Posted On The Block are welcome additions, efforts such as the obviously ‘Dirty South’ targeting lead single Money Talk detract from the overall sound and feeling that is established throughout.
The limp Nowhere Else To Hide doesn’t fair much better, sounding like an NY rendition of the Mike Jones single Mr. Jones.
It would be difficult for many artists to live up to an album title as lofty as Illustrious, a fate which Big Noyd suffers here. The New York gutter talk made so popular over a decade ago begins to wear thin in 2008, particularly when it is repeated ad nauseam.
Luckily Noyd shows enough progression as an artist that this is a mostly enjoyable (if repetitive) collection. If he can demonstrate more restraint as far as his favourite subject matter is concerned and is a little pickier with his beat selection, Noyd could well be on his way to releasing a landmark album. Until then, Illustrious is a nice trip down NY memory lane.
Available Through Noyd Inc/Koch Records
