The album starts strong with the cinematic, Buckwild produced “Intro” where Sheek gets at those dudes putting out candy-coated shit.  “I told ya’ll to walk wit me, dropped something sick on it/and I ain’t put no one but my muthafuckin click on it/no R&B, I ain’t have no muthafuckin chick on it/these other ni**** songs, jail ni**** beat they dick on it.” Sheek then rocks on the punishing “Street Music,” where he informs challengers that “the hood is mine.”

   Moving along, Sheek again proves his worth overtop another unique backdrop courtesy of Havoc.  Combining gun-cocking high-hats and double-time drums, “45 Minutes to Broadway” finds Sheek in top-notch form.  And the mixtape staple “Kiss Your Ass Goodbye Remix” featuring Fabulous, Beanie Sigel and T.I. and the lava-hot “Devine” featuring J-Hood both slam like Onyx in ’94.

    But the record unfortunately begins to lose steam with the bland hook on “Run Up” featuring Styles P and the failed crossover attempt of “One Name” featuring Carl Thomas.  Also disappointing is the high-profile collabos with Ghostface (“Movie N*****) and Redman (“Get Up, Stand Up”).  Both songs are decent, but seem nothing more than an obliged guest shot and lack cohesiveness between the artists.  Though Sheek has again proved he is a raw spitter, the album doesn’t really break any new ground or bring you closer to understanding who Sean Jacobs really is.

   But After Taxes is far from a sub-par record.  Filled with Sheek’s patented punch-line filled lyrics and passionate delivery, Louchion music is definitely worth checking out.

     Preview begins with “Rep Ya Set,” a teeth chattering aural exam provided by producer Levelz.   Here, Grafh’s rough past shows in his aggressive delivery and sets the tone for the rest of the LP. Grafh further displays his menacing flow on “Get Shot Boy,” where he warns chumps that he ain’t the one to be played with. But the jewel of the album has to be “I Ain’t Playin’” featuring Stat Quo.  Over a menacing synth lick, both artists get their rhyme on, but it’s Shady Records upcoming talent that really shines, flowing over the beat effortlessly (“still grain grippin, lane switchin, never trickin, raw spittin, wig splittin, corner dippin, track rippin, skrilla flippin, me slippin?, ya’ll trippin”).

     One attribute that sets Grafh apart from fellow up-and-coming rappers is his unique flow.  Throughout the album he displays this, at times rhyming double-time (regardless of BPM), while on other tracks his delivery is sharp and precise.  Though his wordplay at times gets lost in his delivery, their are numerous quotables to be found on Preview.  On “Get It”, Grafh nimbly shuffles over Scram Jones’ hyped-up drums, rhyming “It’s fucked up that I’m the guy that kids idolize/around here the bad guy wins and the idol dies/But it’s good cause I’m the bad guy, so I’ll survive.”

    In totality, Preview is just what it is meant to be; a lead into Grafh’s official debut, which should wet the appetites of Grafh fans and expose himself to Hip-Hop lovers previously unaware of his lyrical prowess.

    Starting with “Call the Ambulance,” the stop-and-go synth beat is littered with today’s standard “I’ll fuck you up” rhymes and continues with “Bang Ya Hammerz” and “Durte Muzik.”  However, the gun lovin’ rhymes on “Mr. Smif-N-Wessun Man” work because of their originality.  Though gun rhymes have been done to death, DMP flip the script and describe stories of how they’re chosen firearms always jam up on’em (“Mr. Smif-n-Wessun man/is something wrong with my nine/when I cock that fucker back, boy/I get a click, every time”). Guests Petey Pablo and Krumbsnatcha come through to help the cause and show Nottz’ production talents some much needed abuse, and the rolling thumps of “OHH!!!” bring the DMP spitters outta there shell for some dirty south shouts.  But overall, redeeming value is low.

    Though the beats aren’t knockin’ all the way through, there’s more than enough boom-bap for the Durte Muzik clan to kick it to. If they had just created some more meaningful material, this could’ve been a solid listen all the way through.

Recently though, Littles has had a falling out with the Mobb, in particular Prodigy, and he explains to HipHopSite what happened and why he feels P is just a “cupcake.”  In addition, Littles breaks down what’s to come for Best of the Block Entertainment and why 2005′ is his year.  So strap yourselves in, this ain’t for the weak.

HipHopSite: Who or what inspired you to rhyme?

Littles: I would have to say, definitely Tupac.

HHS: For those that don’t know you, can you give them a rundown of Littles?  What you have accomplished thus far.

Littles: Littles is the first person to ever do a CD and DVD entitled “The Feeding.”  Littles is an ex-felon slash new Queensbridge generation.  Littles is the only person to ever book a major artist in thirty different cities and twenty-one different events without having to pay management or any booking agency a coin.  Littles has managed Mobb Deep, Senior Vice President of their record label.  Littles has his own distribution company set up, that’s how I push my own music.  I’ve been in over forty different magazines and that’s been done on my own.  So basically I’m self sufficient and self-made company and artist all in one.

HHS: You’ve been doing the independent thing for a while now, do you have any plans of linking up with a major to do a joint venture in the future?

Littles: That’s definitely a direction that I’m going.  I’m looking for a good deal, it’s not going to be a regular artist deal.  I’m looking for a good situation where I can stay independent and do my thing.  I’m looking for fortune, not so much the fame.

HHS: Killa Black (Havoc’s brother) was your partner back in the day.  Is that how you got affiliated with Mobb Deep?

Littles: No, that’s not how I got affiliated.  Me, Killa Black and Havoc grew up together.  Prodigy didn’t come into the picture until we were teenagers.  We grew up in the playpen together–me, Havoc and his brother [Killa Black].  His mother is like my mother and my mother is like their mother.  So that’s how far I go back with Havoc.

HHS: Unfortunately Killa Black took his own life.  I read somewhere that you said it was because of Havoc and P.  Why?

Littles: Well, that’s the way they worded it.  The whole thing is that when we (Killa Black and I)grew up we used to basically fund them.  Like give them money for photo shoots and studio time.  Then I went to prison and Killa Black was still home and they would go on tour and just leave him behind.  They’d take like ten or fifteen people with them and leave him behind.  And growing up in the projects in Queensbridge it’s not as easy as it may sound.  Their is no outlets of income other than robbin’, sellin’ and stealin’, so it’s rough growing up.  Then you have a brother who finally gets a shot at life through his own music.  And this was Havoc’s career, we weren’t banking on them making it. This is what they established for themselves, ya know?  So they’d go in stores and buy fifteen or sixteen leather jackets for everybody and nothing for him. Killa Black was catching a lot of homicides, but at the same time he was the most respectful person.  If your mother was to meet him and if she heard stories about him, she wouldn’t even believe it.  He was very respectful.  But he was catching homicides, just stuck in the hood.  So when he came home from the last homicide that he had he didn’t wanna live the streets anymore.  He was Muslim.  But he couldn’t get a job and he didn’t really have an outlet to succeed in any other kind of way.  And then to turnon the TV. and see your brother and not have a quarter in your pocket, he
just couldn’t take it and committed suicide.

HHS:  Prodigy wanted out of Infamous Records.  Is that why you left the company?

Littles: Actually Prodigy wanted out of everything.  He wanted out of Mobb Deep, he wanted out of Infamous Records and he basically wanted to do his own thing.  And that’s what made me flip out.  Also, they made me Senior Vice President and wouldn’t allow me to sign and put out artists like Infamous Mobb, Chinky, Noyd and other cats I would find on the road.  I saw no future for the label and when their album flopped (“Amerika’s Nightmare) their confidence soured for the worse.

HHS: Why do you think Infamous Records has failed to have much success after all this time?

Littles:  I think Infamous Records never became anything and will never become anything because you have two individuals that own the company that don’t relate to each other the right way and are only concerned with themselves and are not business orientated.  When you drop a album and you go platinum and you have a chance to build your own record company, you have to find talent or get someone that can find talent.  You don’t only bank on yourself doing shows and dropping albums, you gotta pull other stuff through the door and bring that to the table and live off of that also.  That’s something they just don’t know how to do.

HHS: As far as the Alchemist situation goes, can you expound on that?

Littles: I’m going to tell you something that idiots do in business.  In business, when you’re in the game fifteen years and your name and brand has been solidified, you never, ever, let someone new come in and produce for you, do beats for you, write rhymes for you and have no affiliation to you dealing with paperwork.  And that’s what Alchemist did.  They allowed Alchemist to come in and make a hit here, a hit there–Mobb Deep blew Alchemist up.  Then he started making beats for other people and now he’s bigger than they are.  I’m sure Alchemist has more money than both of them put together.

So what happens is, Prodigy sees Alchemist as his last ticket.  His last shot to prove himself and maybe make the kind of money that he should have.  So what does he do?  Alchemist gets beat up, his chain taken by some individuals that I grew up with.  I don’t stop it or put my two cents in. Alchemist is pissed off, he tell Prodigy he’s not fucking with him anymore  So Prodigy falls back on everybody for a month.  No one can reach him. Then I get a two-way page from him that states he’s tired of this Mobb Deep shit and he should’ve left when Loud folded and he doesn’t want to be apart of anything anymore. He says he’s pissed about the Alchemist situation and he’s rolling with him.

Prodigy is a cupcake, man.  Hood dudes don’t run around with they face screwed up on national TV.  Have you ever seen Suge Knight with a ice grill on the cover of The Source magazine?  No.  His stories and reputation tell how intimidating he is. Prodigy just doesn’t know who he is.  He’s not a street person.  You can be from the suburbs and still be a guerilla.  But Prodigy man, he’s a cupcake. He was a good dude though.  This all surprised me because to me he used to have good intentions and showed so many signs of being business oriented.  But when it came down to it, how he just jumped ship surprised me.  I never thought in a million years that Littles would be doing interviews on Mobb Deep.  So actually he fooled me and I’ve known him all my life to not be a guerilla.  But I don’t judge people by how many people you beat up, shot or bullied as being real.  I consider you being real by keeping your word, how you treat other people and how you act in certain situations.  And he’s far from that.

HHS: Getting away from all that, who are you feeling today in hip-hop?

Littles: Last album I bought was the Nas album.  I haven’t bought a Nas album in a very long time but his artwork really captured me.  When I seen the cover with him playing all the twelve disciples I went and got it.  I listen to a lot of R&B, but rap I listen to Jay-Z, all the old Biggie albums, Raekwon, Ghost and Wu-Tang.  Stuff like that.

HHS: What should we look for from Littles and Best of the Block Entertainment in 2005?

Littles: It’s definitely not Prodigy and Mobb Deep.  That Prodigy shit is over with for me.  I don’t really wanna waste my breath with that.  So I got a new artist named Top Gunna.  You’re gonna get the REAL album, “The Life and Times of Littles,” and basically I’m just looking for a home to start building my catalogue on the major shelf, not just in the independent stores.

I’m getting into directing.  I spent a lot of money on cameras and equipment.  I also got this new idea called “Rap’s New Generation.”  It’s going to feature ten to fifteen artists at a time on DVD and come packaged with a magazine such as XXL. You’re going to be able to see these artists from all different regions on it.  And whatever magazine it comes with will pick one artist to do a feature on and you’ll be able to read that and then pop in the DVD and see that person.  So I got a lot of things going on.  Best of the Block is going to be around a long time.  I got my own albums and I got other artists.  If I don’t get what I want, let’s do what they want and do that until it’s time to take over and do me.

    Primarily showcasing his talent behind the boards, Scram produces every track on the album.  Leaving most of the rhyming to his counterparts, Scram still squeezes in a few 16′s on “What More Can I Say,” featuring his High Society click member Marvalous.  Over a punishing bass line and some nimble scratches, Scram rhymes “Still busy tryin’ to get these dues paid/cause like a man’s wig dude’s is gettin’ toupee’d (too paid).”  But sticking to producing becomes more sensible when up and comer Jae Millz steps up to the mic on “Born and Raised.”  Throwing rocking electric guitar licks alongside high-pitched notes, Scram provides an ample backdrop for Jae’s carnage.

    Running just over seventy-five minutes long, Scram runs into the same problem many of today’s mixtape dj’s encounter- a lot of songs aren’t worth a listen.  Compressing some of his material wouldn’t have done any harm.  But the bland freestyles from Sean Price and Jae Hood aren’t enough to ruin Scram’s talents.  The sample laden “Oughta Know”, featuring Marvalous and the reggae cover “No, No, No (remix)” featuring Jae Millz, Cam?ron and T.I. are both precursors to what’s to come from Mr. Jones.

    Overall this is a solid debut from a talented producer, dj and rapper.  With many featured guests and a display of solid unsigned talent, one must
wonder what Scram has in store for us, as with “Loose Cannons” shows he’s well on his way to becoming a driving force in the hip-hop world.

     Not one to cater to the feint of heart, Buc starts the album on a rather  grave note with “Live No More,” and continues that theme throughout
challenging even the most optimistic point of view.  With the continuous string plucks backing the sounds of deep humming akin to monks in a
monastery, Buc rhymes “I don’t know what I’m here for/serve the devil, praise the lord/one thing I know that’s for sure/I don’t wanna live no
more.”

    Receiving the majority of the production credits on the LP, producer Jay Swift provides numerous backdrops for Buc to vent his evil thoughts on. 
When the timely drums and relaxing melody for “Oh Christ” come on, Buc runs through his life stages and details his sins.  Asking for forgiveness Buc
pleads “I swear on my life I won’t do it again.”  Then on the laid back funky baseline to “Feeling,” Buc gives a glimpse into his day-to-day and  addresses a homie who stabbed him in his back, his significant other and those who hate on’em.

    Though Fifty is able to catch the listener with his distinct voice, macabre look on life and ability to produce complete songs, his flow rarely changes
and his lyrics fail to catch the ear because of the lack of inflection in his voice.  Most definitely not forcing anything, a light-hearted party joint might have helped the tone of the LP as well as give it a more rounded feel.  You have to give credit where credit is due though.  In the smaller scale rap world (smaller budgeted) the possibility of grabbing a Neptunes banger is non-existent.  Therefore the artist must work from the ground up and survive on homegrown talent alone.  Buc Fifty has done this well and proven to the world that you don’t have to stunt to be heard.