Legal Drug Money

the take

When I first listened to this album some years ago, I came to the conclusion that the first half really clears the second half. Listening to it again recently, that's still the case, but there are actually some hidden gems on the backhalf. It’s hard to top "Jeep, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz", "Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless", and the hood classic "Renee", though. The project as a whole is still good, though, as the Lost Boyz describe their view on their lives in their neighborhood while remaining somewhat optimistic on their lives changing for the better. Sometimes, they did so over hard-hitting beats; sometimes over production that makes you want to dance ("Get Up"). In hindsight, this could be considered a typical East Coast hip-hop album circa 1995-1996, meaning that it doesn't do too much to completely sonically deviate from everything else at the time. However, the strong singles, as well as a couple deep cuts more than makes up for it.