Album Review: "Spell My Name Right" - Statik Selektah

Here is another "producer album" which has become a trend in '07 much to my liking. This one is by Statik Selektah, who is known more as a mixtape DJ (Nas, Saigon, Royce Da 5'9", etc.) than a producer. Regardless, the tracks I've heard are pretty good, and the guest roster is ridiculous, but how's the album?

1. Spell My Name Right (Intro) (Feat. DJ Premier & Termanology)

A brief dialogue by Prem about how hip hop Statik Selektah is and then Termonology drops the names of all the rappers on the album and where they rep, not unlike that old Fat Joe song. The beat actually sounds like something Premier would do, which in this and most cases is a good thing.

2. Stop, Look, & Listen (Feat. Styles P, Termanology, & Q-Tip)

This beat is surprisingly good considering its like a kazoo and a flute. Styles P raps the best.

3. Express Yourself '08 (Feat. Termanology, Talib Kweli, & Consequence)

So basically a remake of the N.W.A. classic by three guys who are the exact opposite of N.W.A. Ok for what it is i guess.

4. 6 In The Morning (Feat. Joell Ortiz, Kool G. Rap, & Sheek Louch)

A song about getting up at 6 and selling crack or something with a pretty irritating beat. None of the rappers are particularly impressive on this either.

5. What Would You Do? (Feat. Freeway & Cassidy)

This beat is tight and Freeway provides a lot of energy and then Cassidy ruins it with his cornball flow. Honestly, who wants to hear the guy best known for "I'm a Hustla" enunciate and rap about chess?

6. Make A Movie (Interlude) (Feat. DJ Khaled)

Irrelevent

7. Bam Bam (Feat. Red Cafe, Termanology, & MIMS)

A remake of "Just Hangin' Out" or that one Guerilla Black song but with really heavy bass and weird sound effects. Red Cafe might be the worst rap name I've ever heard. What does that even mean?

8. G-Shit (Showoff Mix) (Feat. Uncle Murda, Sev-One, Termanology, & Jadakiss)

This beat is smooth a fuck, maybe the best yet. I'd say that Murda's 3rd person raps are probably the best on this which isn't saying a whole lot.

9. Back Against The Wall (Feat. Royce Da 5'9", Cormega)

This one opens with these goofy horns but then the loop kicks in and its actually pretty tight. Royce and Cormega don't bring their best stuff.

10. Hardcore (So You Wanna Be) (Feat. Reks & Termanology)

I feel like if you're gonna use a Biggie voice sample its got to be a better track than this. The beat sounds like something off a T.I. album except Reks & Termanology are coherent.

11. No Mistakes Allowed (Feat. a shitload of DJs)

This I gather to be a nod to the 80's what with the repetitive loop and all the scratching. Kind of like an old posse cut or something. Not the best idea in my opinion.

12. Knockin' 'Em Out (Interlude) (Feat. Clinton Sparks)

An intro to...

13. Punch Out! (Feat. Big Shug)

This beat samples the theme from the old video game "Mike Tyson's Punch Out!" Not that this was the greatest idea to begin with, but Madlib did it already this year with some old school Atari game (and much better at that). At least he wasted it on Big Shug.

14. The Good Life (Give It Up) (Feat. Lil' Fame of M.O.P.)

So they gave Big Shug over 2 minutes to babble over some video game but Lil' Fame 1 minute with this smooth shit? A strong track but it's a shame it's just an interlude.

15. Big Dreamers (Feat. Reks)

This is probably Statik Selektah's best instrumental yet and it's pretty impressive. Reks raps about his pipe dreams of being a rap star ala every other rapper ever. Good shit.

16. No Holding Back (Feat. AZ & Cormega)

There's no holding back a stiffy listening to this shit. This alone makes the album worthwhile, but then again I'm kind of biased towards both MCs .

17. Got Me Goin' (Hip Hop) (Feat. Slum Village, & Granite State)

I don't even know who's in SV anymore nor what Granite State is at all but this is another smooth cut anyway.

18. Time To Say Goodbye (Feat. Evidence & The Alchemist)

Statik actually manages to form a pretty good beat with just drums, bass, and a voice sample kind of like 9th Wonder might do. Evidence & The Alchemist both rhyme like they always do.

19. It's Over Now (Feat. Termanology & A.G.)

This beat, unlike the past few, is actually too laid back. A.G. clearly has nothing left to say but Statik makes nice use of the Big L, "It's over now, leave the game." thing.

20. Talk To Me (Feat. Jon Hope, Reks, & Skyzoo)

This sounds like one of those Fort Minor songs that was popular for a while except with a Marvin Gaye (or at least Marvin Gaye-like) voice sample. This Reks guy is actually kinda tight, better than Termanology anyway.

21. Did What We Had To Do (Feat. KRS-One, L Da Headtoucha, Large Professor)

Another good beat from Statik to round things off. The rapping is solid overall except KRS-One is off-beat but what else is new.

Overall:

Wow. That was good! It started off sounding like some compilation mixtape what with the old school remakes but the end of the album was heat. Had the rapping been any good or had the beats lacked that sort of mixtape quality this would have contended for my album of the year.

Best Tracks: "G-Shit", "Big Dreamers", "No Holding Back"