Jedi Mind Tricks - Violence Begets Violence (2011)

Built up of Jus Allah and Vinnie Paz, the duo retu- WAIT, YOU GUYS FUCKING GOT RID OF STOUPE?! THE FUCKING -EXPERT- AT PRODUCING YOUR SONGS?! THE GUY WHO COULD MAKE BANGERS, GORGEOUS ATMOSPHERES, AND EVEN BOTH AT THE SAME TIME?! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. WHY?! THAT'S LIKE THE MISFITS WITHOUT GLENN DANZI- oh my stars

So to further reiterate: Yes, they shafted Stoupe for reasons I don't fucking know. Yes, I know that they said they were "tired of waiting" but that's still no reason to shaft a guy who's responsible for pretty much 80% of your entire sound, because it'd be like "my cruise to Costa Rica isn't until next summer.. Better swim over there myself!!" and I'm not gonna sit here like "it's not Jedi Mind Tricks without him" even though it's REALLY tempting to, because we still have 2/3rd of the classic line-up here, and really, that's how every single one of JMT's albums were from 2000-2006.. But one of those ended up being "Legacy of Blood" so I don't know how much I can rely on that for quality-standard before listening. Anyway, for the most part, the producers on this album for the most part don't even try to sound like Stoupe, which is for the best because he has such a unique and untouchable style, to the point where "Willing a Destruction Onto Humanity", a track that is obviously trying to replicate Stoupe's magic touch, feels so hollow and unfinished. There's really only one track I could hear on here and be convinced it -was- a Stoupe beat, and that's "Design in Malic (feat. Young Zee & Pacewon)" and guess what? IT FUCKING BANGS. THIS SONG IS AMAZING!! IT WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO KILL PEOPLE AND CONVERT TO A CERTAIN OTHER RELIGION FOR LIKE A DAY!!

Remember all those times you thought to yourself "Yeah these Stoupe beats are great and all but I really wanna hear Jus Allah and Vinnie Paz rap over reggae, complete with a cheesy reggae hook"? Come on, you know you did, but it's here in the form of "Chalice (feat. Chip Fu)" and while we're at it, why does "Carnival of Souls (feat. Demoz)" have a heavy metal guitar riff in there? Stoupe would've never done that shit. However, the beats generally range from "okay" to "good", but when it comes to Jedi Mind Tricks, that's disappointing. However, viewing the album strictly for what it is, it's certainly (in small doses) enjoyable hard-hitting hip-hop, but not many of the tracks stand out in a positive way, and the chemistry between Jus Allah and Vinnie Paz is a bit odd, and not without their flaws on their own.

Jus Allah's rapping is slower and more more guttural at times than before, which means if you go from "Violent By Design" to this, you're gonna be pretty fuckin' surprised. He's still doing that "I", "I am", "I like", etc, shit where he just lists off a grocery list of his violent fantasies and how he's such a terrible human-being, and while he undoubtedly still has the most interesting verses on the album lyrically, he also has some real fuckin' clunkers too. Sure, he has the badass line of "I live in close-quarters, bodies everywhere, it's an episode of Hoarders" but he later raps "But why spend cash on snacks and SunChips when I can spend a stack on gats and gun clips?" on "Weapon of Unholy Wrath", which, yeah, I get what he was saying, but here's the thing: YOU'RE FUCKING RAPPING ABOUT SUNCHIPS. Vinnie Paz often outshines him, which is a first for a Jedi Mind Tricks album in my opinion, but he's still doing that same old "battle-rap an invisible enemy" and "keep one rhyme scheme an entire verse" shit, which, don't get me wrong, is impressive because the dude certainly knows how to rhyme some fuckin' words, but at this point in the discography, it feels like I've heard the verses a million times over and that 90% of them are completely and perfectly interchangeable with most of the shit he puts out.

Pop in this album and say to yourself "Fuck yeah, this is REAL rap, not like that brainless mainstream shit!! FUCK LIL WAYNE" while Vinnie Paz and Jus Allah deliver the hook on "Weapon of Unholy Wrath" of "One's for more liquor, two's for more liquor, honestly, it's my everything, I adore liquor. One's for trees, two's for more trees, honestly, it's my everything, I love trees." and I -KNOW- they're talking about weed, but can you imagine Jus Allah (since he's the guy who says the bit about the trees) being an angry motherfucker but an avid tree-hugger?! "I AM GOING TO FIND A TREE TO HUG, I AM GOING TO PEE ON A BUG, I LIKE TO SEE PICS OF PUGS, I ROLL WITH A CLIQUE OF THUGS"

No, that wasn't an actual Jus Allah verse, but I probably had you convinced for a second.

6/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!