Spent a couple of days in Petawawa (it's ok to laugh at the name) at a friend's house and we then drove to Borden to chill at the mall. Bought 3 albums and a movie : Common's 'Universal Mind Control (UMC)', Q-Tip's 'The Renaissance', Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (classic movie) & Shad's 'The Old Prince'. Now I gotta say I took a chance and bought Shad's album off of hearing 2-3 tracks, actually videos I saw on MuchVibe. Since it's pretty hard to find album's from Toronto artists in Montreal, I thought I would support and take a chance.
Now I never was disappointed by a Common album in the past... but UMC was a let down coz when it was said that Common was a Hip Hop sex symbol, he took it to heart and this album is a result of that (see 'Sex 4 Suga'). Q-Tip's album is pretty tight though ('Gettin' Up' is probably the feel good anthem of the year, finally a song about a positive relationship for a change). But the real surprise was Shad's album. It's the type of album the 'College Dropout' was when it first came out, a great album (lyrics, production), but simply greater because you could relate to it because it was a human being on the mic. A man that loved Jesus, sex, women, money, cars, his mom and family and was also fed up with school (not necessarily in that order). Shad has that common man appeal and is realistic in his rhymes. In a feel good way, 'The Old Prince Still Lives At Home' song is the anti-T.I. joint ('You Can Have Whatever You Like') and more relevant in these economic times, heck he even tells you he couldn't afford the whole beat! I seriously recommend it. Peace!
Check out the review on RapReviews.com, here's a snippet :
"The concept of "The Old Prince" is one that we can all relate to and understand. To sum it up, princes aren't supposed to be old because they are supposed to become kings before they become old. Applied universally, the idea is that we all want to do great things and as times passes we become impatient and begin to wonder whether our time has passed. Shad's album captures his own conflict with the idea of being an old prince."
