M.O.P. are a rugged, aggressive, grimey duo based out of Brooklyn and Firing Squad is their 2nd album. It?s definitely a step forward for the group, especially in terms of song crafting, which is influenced somewhat by the presence of DJ Premier. Primo produces 7/15 original beats, and most of them are among the groups best songs. Billy Danze & Lil? Fame pretty much yell & scream their vocals, I hate to say it, but they are sorta discount Onyx, even though they?ve carved out their own niche. They?ve surely both been through quite a bit though, as both rappers mothers seem to have passed away during the recording of the record, and they?ve lost many more. It?s not hard to see why they don?t exactly come across as having too much regard for any human life that stands in their way. They aren?t pleasant guys, and could probably scream at people to give it up, fuck a gun. No, they like guns a lot (they are the Firing Squad after all). Danze?s verse on ?Born2Kill? is all kinds of fucked. The beats might not always be dark or menacing, but they are always hard, and MOP will make it that way no matter what. ?World Famous? (cheery Hathaway/Flack sample) and ?Dead & Gone? (dead homies ballad) shouldn?t work, and both songs teeter the corny line in different ways, but Billy Danze and Lil? Fame?s heartfelt performances, make them a welcome change of pace for an album that is overly reliant on angry declarations of violence.
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