What a surprise! This retired rapper vowed that his previous album, "The Last Don", would in fact be his final release under his own record label. Master P lied. But I don't intend to judge him. The album title labels the situation cleanly: Only God can judge him. I can however, review his so-called comeback album.

I have to give credit where credit is due. Master P is an entrepreneurial genius. After starting a small record company back in 1991 with barely ten grand, he has built an empire in eight short years that far outweighs the accomplishments of any other record C.E.O. Not only is he one of the wealthiest men under the age of 40, he is "a producer (slash) rapper (slash) actor (slash) baller" to coin the lyrics of rapper CJ Mac. He does it all and that is why he is so rich. Unfortunately this has blinded him to the obvious. As a producer, he produces on average three albums per month. THREE ALBUMS PER MONTH is an enormous amount of production on his part, which is why as of late, most of his record label's albums lack in skill. They are plain old boring. He is single handedly ruining the rap game that he co-founded. "Only God Can Judge Me" is no exception. This gangsta rap album is diverse, but is full of shout outs, freestyles, glitches in lyrics, even people stumbling over lyrics while coughing. Master P needs to cut back on his No Limit Army, slow down on the releases and leave the game for awhile. Let his mind clear, spend some time on the basketball court and come back and release the most amazing piece of art he has ever imagined.

Enough with my opinions, on with the review. This album was weak. There was only one great song, that being "Ain't Nothing Changed." It enters with a piano tune, but quickly breaks it down with an upbeat No Limit Army theme feel. Other good songs are the first single "Step To Dis" which features a scratching style new to No Limit. "Life Ain't Easy" mainly draws my attention because it has the same backbeat as 2pac's great song "No More Pain". "Y'All Don't Know" has great bass. Unfortunately Master P steals Biggie's world renown chorus "Mo Money, Mo Problems" and uses it as part of the chorus in this song. "Da Ballers" features production and a lyrical exchange with producer/rapper extraordinaire Jermaine Dupri. It's got the typical JD bounce to it.

This album was weak. This album shows a lack of respect for the hip hop game on Master P's part. He is the executive producer of the near 35 albums his record label releases each year. It is especially distasteful when such a renown producer cannot do his job well on his own release. I think that it is time for Master P aka Percy Miller to retire from the world of rap and enjoy the retirement fund that he has so successfully built. I understand that he's just trying to share the wealth with those struggling to get by. However, he's saturating the market with crap and to be honest, I'm fed up!

www.brockwayent.com

(Originally posted on HipHopCanada.com)

This review was written November 23, 1999