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Man vs Machine
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Man vs Machine
Current price: $18.99
![Man vs Machine](https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/3760370260233_p0_v2_s600x595.jpg)
![Man vs Machine](https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/3760370260233_p0_v2_s600x595.jpg)
Barnes and Noble
Man vs Machine
Current price: $18.99
Size: CD
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Four albums deep,
's presence on the microphone rivals that of the better MCs of the latter day. However, on
,
seems to have lost some of the edge on his lyrical blade, which once tested in underground fires more than a half-decade before he hit the mainstream in 1999. The man who brought listeners
(from his 1996 debut,
), and
(from the 1998 release
) managed to avoid the sophomore slump, but instead found the junior jinx with the disappointing 2000 release of
, even with
in his corner. While
is still in cahoots with the good
here, unfortunately
is a continuation of his lackluster spiral rather than the masterpiece that
fans thought to be inevitable when he linked up with the likes of
, and
in the Y2K. Things start off with dark zest on the cleverly worded and sinisterly composed
produced not by
, but by East Coaster
.
chimes in with lyrics for the awkward and clunky
and beats for the delightfully raunchy
and the slightly above-workaday
featuring
. Also, taking a somewhat shameful page out of
's book, producer
turns to early-'80s
(
) for inspiration on the painfully inane
Things pick up some on the
camp's retort to a
dis on the
-produced
(featuring some patented
punch lines and a G-hook from
) and the cross-continental banger
featuring Brownsville sluggers
The heartfelt ode to his mother (
) notwithstanding, after the floss and gloss of this release is peeled away, there's a lot more of
the MC caught in the machine of the
industry than there is of
the gifted man. ~ M.F. DiBella