The Untold Truth (Deluxe Edition)

the take

Released at a time where all the urban kid acts were all "beefing" to be the best youth act in Black music, Illegal comes through and drop their only album right in the middle of the "war" in 1993. Jamal and Mr. Malik were barely teenagers around this time, but even with their voices perfectly resemble that, the duo made sure to let the world know that they weren't the ones to be messed with, to put it politely. Even with the starpower at their disposal with Diamond D, Lord Finesse, Erick Sermon, and Biz Markie, this album still falls short, in that it's kind of a knock-off version of Da Youngstaz's album "The Aftermath". While the production isn't too crazy, it's still good enough for the duo to craft great tracks; unfortunately Jamal and Mr. Malik's bars were mediocre at worst and just okay at best, but nothing too memorable (outside of disses to Another Bad Creation, Kris Kross, and Da Youngstaz). If the production was a bit more fine tuned, the duo probably could've lasted longer than two or three years, but it's just simply good enough.