Puff Daddy & The Family - No Way Out

 you guys are crazy
in its day, this was a ground-breaking hip hop album. its damn-near a classic now and most likely will be by the time his days are done April 7, 2008

 Not bad, but leaves more to be desired
Well, it was good. Victory and All About the Benjamins are classic songs. I'll Be Missing You might qualify as classic too actually, I mean, that song defines a tribute to BIG so... Some other decent songs spread throughout the album, but nothing else I can think of that was really ill. Can't Nobody Hold Me Down was cool, but maybe cause that was one of the first rap songs I ever heard and I always liked it, so it has a little more relevance to me I guess. It kinda sucks though that Puffy took the Rocky music, Been Around the World, I'll be Watching You and The Message and did literally almost NOTHING to the music. Maybe he sped up or slowed down the tempos a little and changed some drums naturally, but ummm... that's about it. All the hits on this album were remakes. I gotta take off points for that. Diddy aint an artist, he's an entertainer, but he's no true artist. He's a decent producer, but he works with the Hitmen for all his stuff, and he doesn't write his own lyrics, someone else always does it for him. He must make all of his money off publishing and other business ventures cause his music's never been that great. Anyway, I digress. If you can get it for like 10 bucks or somethin, then I guess I'd recommend it, but it's not really essential. I still think the best songs on here are Victory and All About the Benjamins. I can't hate it, but I don't love it. March 3, 2008

 Puffy's Best Release
I'm not a Puff fan but this album was on point. Have you ever had an album that reminds you of someone? My cousin was killed when this album dropped and every time I play it, it takes me back to August 1997 with all the drama surrounding. This album was my release. It keeps my cousins memory alive. Almost every track on this album was tight. Puff hasn't come close to anything like this since but this joint was tight.

Geo July 31, 2007

 Hell Up in Harlem
I've been accused in the past of being disrespectful to the rap genre and its artists. Excuse me for being a black person who's tired of seeing blacks disgrace themselves for the sake of a dollar. No, I don't like Ludacris or Snoop Dogg and other men who make millions for saying 100 times worse things about black women than what Don Imus got fired for. But, I can be open minded, and I can enjoy some hip hop. No Way Out was a hot album released back in 1997 during a time when rap music still had some things going for it. It was originally titled Hell Up in Harlem, but was changed after Notorius BIG's death. Yes, P.Diddy at the time was a sampling fool, but he was a talented sampler. And this music is very entertaining. P.Diddy is not an admirable person in my book, but this album and other albums he produced in the 90s shows he knew a thing or two about entertaining. What happened in the 21st century, though?

There is no modern day rap song like It's All About the Benjamins. I bought this album on tape back in '97 and loaned it to someone who is not interested in returning it, so I had to get the cd. I could have lived without it if not mainly for ...Benjamins and the fact I could get it used here for a penny. I was disappointed, however, to realize the word "He/brews" had been edited out in my copy despite it being the adult version. What is up with this? Since when is "stack chips like He/brews" an off limits phrase? It's an uncensored rap album. Nothing should be edited.

Highlights: It's All About the Benjamins, I Love You Baby, I'll Be Missing You(despite it being shorter than the radio version), Victory, Been Around the World, Can't Nobody Hold Me Down, and Do You Know.
June 13, 2007

 Cool Jiggy Hip Hop
Back in 1997, Puff Daddy & the Bad Boy Camp Owned the radio. While this album was no nowhere near as good in the lyrics department as say Nas or Jeru The Damja it wans't meant to be. This CD is a party CD staright out and while songs like Is This The End and If I Should Die Tonight have deeper meaning the majoirty of the singles like Been Around The World, Can't Nobody Hold Me Down and Don't Stop are just plain fun. I love New York HIP HOP but every now then it's cool to have some fun and this album is just that. December 14, 2006

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