Cook, Coke, Crack! He's been in the game for a minute now, but it seems like his popularity is finally comin' back alive since Pun was 'round (thanks to the 50 beef and chillin' in Miami.) Fat Joe seems to have been granted a 2nd chance in this game, cuz seriously, when has he ever been relevant? Anyway, The Elephant In The Room it suppose to be one of his most promising works, sales-wise and quality-wise.
Now I must say, one thing that Fat Joe stays on top of is his production game. He always has a nice line-up of production on his albums, it doesn't even matter if you've heard of the producer or not. Only problem is, the lyrics hardely ever meet the calibur of the beat. He did have his bright spots on the LP though. (We're gonna leave along who-wrote-what for him in each song, you listen and determine that.) Without a doubt, his hottest song on the CD is "My Conscience" with fellow Bronx bomber KRS-One. Even though it's apparent KRS is way ahead here, he keeps up enough to keep the song from goin' into a down-ward spiral. Funny part on this song is when Fat Joe says "I'm the Greatest Of All Time" KRS responds back with "Joe, I'm the best, you must be out your fuckin' mind." Lol. I thought that was hilarious. And it's 2008, post-make-it-rain-on-them-hoes, so it's not uncommon to see Lil' Wayne n Fat Joe hook up on "Crackhouse." But it seems like Wayne can't keep up with Wayne, I mean... Fat Joe can't keep up with Wayne on this song, so it kinda loses it's flare. Joey Crack also has a cut from Dj Premier, another beat where his lyrics can't keep up with the calibur of the beat. And at the end you get to hear Fat Joe get his own New Orleans / Atlanta swag on.
Now on to the dark spots. The words "hustler" n "crack" floods this album somethin' terrible. Yea yea yea, that's all he's been about, well wtf eva, every other older rapper is showin' growth, why not him? If he switches up from the crack, he takes it to the club. Now other than his one-tracked topics, the lyrics aren't attractive at all. Even it seems like he's doin' good on the tracks, you hear another rapper rappin' for 'em basically. It even sounds like he jacked some rhymes from Big Pun's rhyme book in the 1st verse of "K.A.R." Just when you try to give 'em the benefit-of-the-doubt, and say maybe it was all him, you don't hear a trace of what your just heard in that 1st verse, even if Wayne wrote the last verse.. Nuthin' even close. Now I like the song "300 Brolic", all it is... Is Lil' Wayne, with Fat Joe's voice, I mean, plenty of people have ghostwriters, but do you hafta jack Wayne's adlibs too?
The Elephant in The Room didn't do anything special but take up space and make the room stink. No Dumbo tricks or anything of the sort. Maybe when Joey finds his own swagger and talks about other things, maybe he'll have a good album under his belt in his Post-Pun career. The beats really hold this album up.
Album Ratin' - 3.2
Worth Buyin' - Na
Fav Tracks - "Aint Sayin' Nuthin, My Conscience, That White, CrackHouse"
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