Young Gunz (Young Chris and Neef) made their initial impression as members of Beanie Sigel’s State Property click.  While they have been appearing on various Roc-A-Fella projects over the last few years (including Jay-Z’s Blueprint 2), Young Gunz have not been a “priority” at Roc-A-Fella, which the title of their debut, Tough Luv, conveniently hints at, but as the duo laments on “Future Of The Roc” there only concerned with the present “We got now/we don’t care who got next.”

While Freeway and Beanie Sigel lyrically pistol whip listeners over beats that are just as striking, Neef and Chris adhere to a more smoothed out approach, as they slick talk (Neef quips “I get a kick out of the bitch like Jet Li” on “Parade” f/Freeway) there way over more soulful nods; some of which have already found a comfortable crossover niche; exemplified by the radio-friendly grooves of “No Better Love” w/ Rell, “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (Remix)”, and the emotive “Life We Chose” w/ Denim. 

While the Roc’s A-Team (Kanye West & Just Blaze) production mainstays take a siesta for the most part; Just Blaze does make his presence felt with “Tough Luv” and the raw “Friday Night”.  Neef & Chris primarily relay on a batch of relative unknowns to handle the majority of their production duties.  And with Jay-Z and his A&R staff becoming synonymous for breaking up-and-coming producers that trend once again rings true here in the form of Chad Hamilton.  After cutting his teeth by contributing five tracks on State Property’s The Chain Gang Vol.II, Hamilton really shines here, as he weaves in accessible samples that display the pop-sensibilities (“No Better Love” and “Grown Man”) necessary to cash R&B checks and proves to be just as apt at creating more menacing nods as well; check the trill keyboards of “North Of Death”.  However, if Hamilton truly aspires to become the next Roc-A-Fella find, he’ll need to ease up on the cheese factor as his corny attempt at flipping Hall & Oates “Rich Girl” backfires miserably with “Girlz” w/ Juelz Santana.

With R&B choruses and guests spots aplenty, it’s apparent that Neef & Chris are readily adhering to the their labels “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” script; but at least the major players are up to the task, as Cam’ron infuses some needed energy on “Look In Your Eyes” and Jay-Z drops not one, but two verses over Scott Storch’s manic piano stabs on “Never Take Me Alive”.

While Neef & Chris may not possess the intangibles of some of their more established label-mates, they do deliver a diverse LP that proves it’s better to have Tough Luv than no love at all!