In a sense, really never was a genuine member of . He was several years older than and , and had already recorded with the old-school crew several years before finally hooking up with his younger mates. And even the mostly collective-minded featured a couple solo joints. Based on the sophomore outing, it is pretty clear that 's carefree verbal play, completely unencumbered by ideology, tempered the more in-your-face manifestation of 's radical politics since which, as thrillingly polemical as it could be, was also rather severe and uncompromising, even apocalyptic, in its outlook, and therefore off-putting at times. Likewise, based on this debut solo album, it's clear that created precisely the right context in which 's self-reflexive braggadocio could flourish without wearing thin because , as much fun as it is, has little in the way of substance. As a result, the record never becomes more than a pleasing divertissement. Minus any counterweights who can "drop the science," , like some sort of , proved to be interested mostly in self-puffery, partying, and playing the ladies. While the persona is entertaining as far as it goes, it doesn't have a lot of mileage in it unless you have a high tolerance for tall tales about stunts and blunts. The artist himself had a good time satirizing this penchant at the beginning of the classic from , but seems to have lost sight of some of the possibilities for self-parody here. Having said that, the album really does have a lot to offer, including the irresistible one-two punch of the deep-fried and the delightfully lazy whipped off with when they were at their funkiest. The production (most of it by the artist himself) is universally excellent, and is, without a doubt, one of the cleverest, most cheekily complex MCs to ever pick up a microphone. Just bring your incredulity and sense of humor -- the lower the brow the better -- and is a real hoot. ~ Stanton Swihart