Escape Route (2009)
Album Scan
By Arik C.
Just a couple years ago, Joe Budden would be #1 on my list of MCs who needed to come out with a studio album already. He became an instant critic's fav in 2003 by doing something rap is rarely good at: club singles with art. His self-titled 2003 debut featured the Just Blaze produced hits "Pump It Up" and "Fire (Yes Yes Ya'll)", that latter of which could very well be the definitive night-out-partying jam of the decade. And "Focus" off the same album is, for my money, one of the most innovative productions this side of Dizzee Rascal. Even his sex anthem ("Pornostar") was somewhat innovative. (You have to remember, 2003 was a world before the minor Ying Yang Twins vs David Banner sex war, where the former released the painful "Wait (Whisper Song)" and David Banner hit back with the superior "Play.")
Since 2003, Joey hasn't done much. He proved you don't need to be relevant to get in a beef with 50 Cent (and this was back when 50 Cent actually won these beefs. I mean, who loses a beef with Rick Ross?) He made a digital appearance in the video game Def Jam Vendetta, he made a collection of Mood Muzik mixtapes, and he proved that you can avoid the sophomore slump if you never actually put out a second album.
There's more to it than that, sure. He tried to put out an album in '05 and failed, he switched labels, all the crazy jive-ass shit like what happened to Clipse. Okay, fine.
This all ended in 2009. He began the year with his sophomore album (The Padded Room) and is now finishing it up with a strange, limbo album. It's not quite a mass release but it isn't a mixtape. And, well, it isn't good.
Normally, being just a "prelude album" to his third studio effort, I wouldn't care so much. But he's specifically stated that this is a taste of what will be on the upcoming "The Great Escape" (which will be released February. That's right, one year between albums. I guess he's making up for lost time.)
Escape Route is unimaginative. Where his self-titled debut was clever, Escape Route is careless. I see what he was going for, he was going for epic. But instead he's got to that mock-epic level where simply sampling epic tracks make you epic on your own. Some of the production is solid, sure. To be honest, I'm surprised it took this long for someone to sample the Requiem For a Dream score. And yes, the beat is hot, only used for the intro, and is more a testament to how good that sample is than the actual beat-making skills of the producer. About three tracks really work, but that's hardly enough. It takes only a few seconds to realize that this music-as-therapy gets old real quick. We already had to deal with it with his last album. Give us a break, Joe.
But luckily we can't judge him too much. Of course this is going to be a little week, if it was good it wouldn't be a prelude, it would just be his album. So we'll let Joseph battle his demons on these preludes if he finds it necessary, so long as he's got his shit in order by February.
Best Tracks: "Intro" "Never Again" "Connect 4"
Worst Tracks: "We Outta Here" and "World Keeps Spinnin"
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