Soulja Slim - Give It 2 'Em Raw

Soulja Slim...Most Underated No Limit Soldier!

Soulja Slim was by far one of the best rappers to come out of Louisiana, period. To me Soulja Slim is a legend, and on Give It 2 'Em Raw he is on another level. Beats By the Pound were at the apex of the career at the time this CD was being made, and the CD greatly benefits from it. I like to tell people that Soulja Slim was like B.G. with a way better flow, he's a little more street than lyrical but his verses are seamless. Like most No Limit releases it's a feature heavy disc but there are standout performances by, of all people - Full Blooded on "Me and My Cousin". Also the song "N.L. Party" is by far my vote for greatest No Limit Collaboration, it's 4:51 long and features 14 other No Limit Soldiers. Stand out tracks are "From What I Was Told", "What's Up What's Happening", "Wootay", and "You Ain't Never Seen". If you're looking for a Soulja Slim CD you gotta pick this up, and if you want a classic No Limit CD I would strongly consider this one. No Limit Records ruled the world in 1998, and this is one of the reasons why. November 30, 2007

R.I.P. Soulja Slim

This is one of the ist cds that turned me on to rap!!! I haves bought this album 3 times, I lost it the 1st 2 times but i am gonna keep a close eye on it this time. Soulja comes out the gate fireing on all cylinders, he's hungry and it's his debut album. Great featurings, (Master P, Snoop Dog, MAC, Mr. Magic Silk the Shocker etc. Just buy it that's all I got to say. BANGN SON! August 16, 2007

Slim's debut is his best album - R.I.P

The years is 1998 and No Limit is the sound of the south pumping out 2-3 cd's a month and Soulja Slim's time came. As far as quality, like most of the No Limit albums I have (about 20), its a 4 star album, probably in the upper half of the labels albums that I own. Packed with songs and label mates as guests,(like all No Limit albums of the time), Slim delivers 20 songs for you. Guests are on 15 of the 20 songs so you don't get a ton of Slim. 3 songs I skip, 4-7 are ok, the rest are good - a few being real good. Production is nice like most of the No Limit albums that the Beats By the Pound Crew do. Carlos Stephens and KLC each do 6 songs, Craig B does 4 songs, Mo B Dick & O'Dell each do 2 songs and DJ Darryl does 1 song.

#1 - 9 (nice beat)
#2 - 8.5 (f/ Master P, Silkk the Shocker, O'Dell -- nice beat)
#3 - 8 (f/ O'Dell)
#4 - 7.5 (f/ Snoop Dogg)
#5 - 6.5
#6 - 8 (f/ Master P & Trinity -- dedicated to their moms)
#7 - 7 (f/ Big Ed (R.I.P.), Mr Serv-On)
#8 - 7.5 (f/ full Blooded)
#9 - 7.5 (f/ Mia X)
#10 - 8 (f/ Master P)
#11 - 5 (f/ Mia X)
#12 - 8.5 (f/ C-Murder & Mac -- nice beat)
#13 - 8.5 (f/ master P -- nice beat)
#14 - 4.5
#15 - 4 (f/ Mystikal & Trinity)
#16 - 8 (he raps real fast)
#17 - 8.5 (nice beat)
#18 - 7 (f/ Steady Mobbin)
#19 - 8 (f/ Fiend, Full Blooded, Silkk the Shocker)
#20 - 7 (f/ about 16 No Limit rappers)

James Trapp -- b. 9/9/77 d. 11/26/03 -- New Orleans, LA
check all my reviews May 11, 2007

A few notches above the average for No Limit

No Limit albums are like baseball cards. They're mostly interchangeable, but once you buy your first, a funny urge to collect them all wells up in the back of your skull. Of course, music as pure product has it's own issues. I wouldn't bother reviewing most of the No Limit output from the late nineties, simply because I doubt I could string enough words together to make it worthwhile. "Give It To 'Em Raw" stands a bit above it's peers. Sure, Beats By The Pound handles full album production, and yes, the booklet is filled with advertisements for upcoming discs. It has a standard Pen & Pixel cover, and the usual filler that clogged all rap albums at the time is present. The difference is Soulja Slim buried some gems here amongst the rubble, and even if Southern rap doesn't appeal to you, this is one record from below the Mason-Dixon Line that might be worth a spin or two.

"You Got It (II)" has those really whiny synths that Dr. Dre used to great effect on "Efil4Zaggin". Now, BBTP isn't Dre by any stretch, but they manage to conjure the same hazy menace. In fact, the thickness of Slim's accent, the fact that most of us Yanks won't be able to catch every word he says, makes it all the more unsettling. Another standout is "Anything", with Slim and Mia X trading sex rhymes over a dark bass-and-synth driven beat. "Law Brekaz" is downright claustrophobic, and Slim's paranoia about being robbed or killed is so palpable it could ride shogtun with "My Mind's Playing Tricks on Me". Sadly, paranoia is occasionally justified, as Slim was murdered just a few years after "Give It To 'Em Raw" dropped. It's hard to keep that out of your mind even on the lighter tracks, like the Parliament derivative "No Limit Party". No less than sixteen emcees (and that's being kind to some of these cats) tear through eight bars apiece in about five minutes. Works perfect as a closer.

There is a lot of midi-sounding junk. Most of the lyrics outside the highlighted tracks tend toward the "streets are dangerous/stay strapped/dealing/using/I'm negative because of my screwed up childhood" variety. Public Enemy or Main Source this isn't. However, I'd gladly take negative mental baggage over mindless boasting of material goods (Baby, I'm looking atchoo) any day. $20 bucks for a used disc is ridiculous, so try rooting around at your friendly neighborhood flea markets. RIP Soulja Slim. Thanks for the music. January 16, 2007

one of best no limit cds

one of the tighter no limit cds from its era, soulja slim was one of the best rappers master p ever signed up there with c murder,silkk,mac,and mr.serv on,this cd is one to pick up, check out the following songs, after you listen to these i think you either will agree, or buy the album. 1.from what i was told, 2.street life,7.head buster,8.me and my cousin,12.imagine,14.wootay,18.hustlin is a habit,20. n.l. party, street life is the best song on the cd though October 17, 2005

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