Let's jump right up in this bitch. Tell me hearing Raekwon go in on "Bring It Back" doesn't get you amped? Then you got Inspectah Deck with that liquid flow....ahhh man. The Wu sound hungry like it was 1993. "Success" with Jay and Nas was cool. I never bothered downloading "American Gangsta", I might have been the only one. I do however think Nas ate Jay Z alive on this one. Whether he would admit it or not Jay Z's swag is getting old and tired...break out the prune juice and wheat germ. "Best friends want to be enemies like that's what's in"...dope ass line from Nas right there about the state of hip hop. I'm not really a big Freeway fan but "Paper Gangsta" is a dope track. I like how they flipped the beat and bars wise Free was focused...or should I say his voice didn't annoy as much. I'm diggin' the energy on "Celebrate"...that's what Ghostface brings to this game people; that raw, unadulterated focused MIC energy. Cats try to spit with feeling these days but Ghost takes it to that next level. You know what it is with Joell Ortiz? He needs dope beats...bottom line. He can write his ass off but right now his joints hit 50/50 cause if the beat isn't proper the lyrics are lost. "Lil Fun" was cool but the marriage between bars and beat was short lived. It was good to hear “Starve The Ghetto” remix again with Laz and S.A.S. Laz spit that realness on here; “I’d die to see my daughter survive.” If you get a second chance listen to “Stop, Look, Listen” off Statik Selektah’s album. Styles P, Termanology, and Q-Tip hold down the bars but it’s that beat and hook that make it what it is. This is that track to reflect on and he brought that out of each MC featured on here. Knowledge was dropped to say the least. Don’t hate…Jimbo Jones and Max B sound dope on some Pete Rock shit. “How We Roll” sounds like ’93, I can dig it. UG beats the shit out of you with “Actin Up”…that straight head nod. One more joint before we end these highlights: AZ and Jimi Kendrix on “Lifes On The Line”. Man, if this hook doesn’t move you and AZ’s bars don’t make you rewind it’s a wrap for you.

Take a look around at you favorite mixtape spot or mixtape website. See how many DJs are truly reppin’ for the east coast…not many. That’s where Rhude comes into play, with that consistent product. You may get a couple D-Block, G-Unit, Dipset joints but the real power is in the tracks that surround and support those cuts. This Vol is no different. Ghostface def set the bar real high as far as MCs hosting a mixtape. He sounded a little frustrated by the game but a lot of what he was saying about the music was true…and necessary. (11/8/07)