Search - Fat Joe :: All Or Nothing

Fat Joe- All or Nothing

Constant | Vancouver, BC Canada | 06/14/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Fat Joe's sixth solo album is "All Or Nothing" (2005). Looking slimmer, Fat Joe enlisted production help from the likes of Just Blaze, Cool and Dre, Swizz Beats, Scott Scorch, DJ Khaled, Streetrunner, Lil Jon, Nasty Beatmakers and Timbaland. And production is solid throughout, with some banging beats. Unfortunately Fat Joe's mostly the same MC, overly braggy, lyrically weak (recycled rhymes) and solid beats/half decent guest appearances can't save him. Fat Joe reps himself braggily on the intro claiming to be the King of New York. The next two tracks are more of the same, then one of the albums single follows "So Much More", Joe picks up his game some delivering a decent cut. "My Fofo" is a diss track directed at 50 Cent, which will provide entertainment for some people. Tracks like "Rock Your Body", "Listen Baby", "Get It Popping", are simply hurting, its painfully obvious that Joe puts weak half hearted commercial cuts like these on his album in an attempt to sell more units. After these cuts he attempts to get hardcore again on "Temptation PT 1 & 2". More played out commercial tracks follow, "Lean Back" was hot over a year ago, but the remix doesn't do anything for this reviewer now. Jennifer Lopez drops in for laidback collaboration on the albums closer "Hold You Down". Fat Joe supposedly reps his squad but doesn't put any of his people on- so called solo albums have never emerged from any of Terror Squads artists: Armageaddon, Prospect, Tony Sunshine or Remy Martin. I won't even go into the Cuban Link situation. All in all I don't think this is legacy Big Pun would of wanted. Dam I miss Pun and the days of Capital Punishment. I can see some loyal Fat Joe fans being enraged by this review, and they are about the only ones I would recommend "All Or Nothing" to.



"

I thought this was a comeback album...

Cevon A. Smith | Baltimore, MD | 06/15/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a Fat Joe fan from the early ninties. I honestly stopped liking Fat Joe just before Big Pun died. I heard the Just Blaze produced "Safe 2 Say (The Incredible)" and instantly thought that the recent beef with 50 Cent had jolted an awakening of the Fat Joe of the D.I.T.C. fame. Singles like "So Much More" and "Listen Baby" seemed to have confirmed this...but once I listened to the finished product I must say I was quite disappointed. This album fronts several lackluster pop anthems (Get It Poppin for example) and just plain awful songs (Hold You Down). For those looking for that raw NY street lyricist, wait until Nas or Jay-Z release their next albums or go underground and listen to Immortal Technique."

Fat Joe ----- All or Nothing

David Foskin | Waterford, Ireland | 01/09/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"With over ten years in the game, Fat Joe has yet to get his just due as one of the few rappers to continuously step up his master of ceremony game. He has developed the once sophomoric delivery first heard on Represent, into a more laid back cocky flow that helped him lock down last summer along Terror Squad. Now on his appropriately titled sixth album, the Boogie Down's last hope, attempts to legitimize himself within the battle of the boroughs. Unfortunately, All Or Nothing (Terror Squad/Atlantic) does not stack high enough to justify the Don's recent King Of NY claims.



On the opener "Does Anybody Know", the Bronx Bomber sets a stern tone with tales of his come up on the streets and the ambition that fueled it on a sped up vocal sample driven track. Joe goes hardest on "Safe 2 Say (The Incredible)" though. "On my waist you know I gotta keep that oven/for you gingerbread ass niggas, the heats coming/on high/ Joey Crack I/bake the cake serve you niggas humble pie". Just Blaze cooks up a heater by incorporating Chuck D's legendary "Once again it's the incredible" line from PE's "Bring The Noise" over some menacing guitar licks. In house Terror Squad production duo Cool & Dre are not to be outshined, as they hold down Joe on the albums first single "So Much More". Other highlights include the DJ Khaled produced "Beat Novacaine."



Still to this day, Joe has tasted minimal mainstream success with previous cross over smashes ("Lean Back" and "What's Love"), but has yet to lock down his spot alongside the Jay-Z's of the Rap world. On All Or Nothing, Crack tries to recreate this magic but can't effectively nail down a hit. Joe enlists the help of Nelly on the hook and super producer Scott Storch on "Get It Poppin". The potent lineup that reads so well on paper doesn't translate into the grand slam he hoped it would have been (Think about when you only appreciate a track when you hear it five years later on your local radio station's throwback hour). And addressing beef doesn't seem to be Crack's forte either as he drops the ball to "ether" down his newfound nemesis 50 Cent. "My Fo Fo" suffers from a weak hook and lack of substance.



Even most hardcore Fat Joe fans will find All Or Nothing a tad difficult to grasp. The album lacks direction, as the album sounds more like a bunch of songs put together. Fat Joe will need to bring more to the table in order to sit with the big boys."