Tony Yayo "Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon"

Posted on 08.30.2005

Tony Yayo
Album : Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon
Release Date : Aug 30, 2005
Label : Interscope Records

I have to admit...I used to be a big G-Unit fan, especially during it’s early days. I loved them even when everybody was complaining that all they ever heard at the club or from passing cars or on the radio was "In The Club" or any other 50 Cent song from Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album. And when Beg For Mercy came out, it was almost admirable for me that they included Tony Yayo in the artwork despite his being locked up at the time. It was even a big deal for me when Yayo emerged on stage at the Hot 97 Summer Jam fresh from his stint in prison. Besides 50, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck have had great exposure and retail sales for their solo albums.

And when word got out that Yayo was dropping his album this summer, there was a little anticipation on how well his album would stand up to his fellow Guerilla Unit counterparts. After hearing Thoughts of A Predicate Felon, maybe somebody should have thought about not even putting out an album that is almost as bad as 50 Cent’s Massacre.

Where do I start? How about the silly song titles that Yayo probably thought were perfectly fine. I mean, these are supposed to be thoughts of a predicate felon, right? If you proclaim to be this hardcore gangsta or hardened criminal, why in the world would you have a song called "Tattle Teller" on your album? Didn’t that end in 2nd grade? I mean, you have songs like the G-Unit collabo "We Don’t Give A F*ck" and "Live By The Gun," but then you have a song called "Tattle Teller" like you about to run to the teacher or something.

Or how about all the singing on this album? When have you known a "predicate felon" to come out of jail and start singing? Lyfe Jennings is a great example of a singer from the pen, but he ain’t trying to be a hardcore rapper and LL Cool J at the same time like Tony Yayo is. Yayo sings the melody of Suzanne Vega’s "Tom’s Diner" (you know....the Duh Duh Deh Duh song) on "G-Sh*t", sings Gregory Abbott’s song "Shake You Down" on his debut single "So Seductive", and he sings New Edition’s "Mr. Telephone Man" on "Eastside Westside" as if he should have been Bobby Brown’s replacement and not Johnny Gill.

Last but certainly not least is the horrendous production on this album. No thought was put into the beats used on this substandard project. The song "It Is What It Is" has a beat that sounds like the Atari game "Pitfall" when the character is swinging across the vines. "Love My Style" sounds like a reject song from Massacre considering it sounds like it could be used for a black version of the movie Psycho. And I can’t begin to tell you how ridiculous the G-Unit-assisted "I Know You Don’t Love Me" sounds. The quality sounds like it came straight from a demo tape from 2001 or something.

The only songs worth listening to are "Curious" with Joe (although Yayo gives us a sample of his exquisite singing on here too), the signature production of Eminem on "Drama Setter" featuring Eminem and Obie Trice, and "Project Princess" with Jagged Edge. With 2 of 3 good songs featuring R&B (neither of them with G-Unit’s own Olivia by the way), it’s a wonder if Yayo can even manage a song by himself! But no matter how you add it up, 3 okay songs out of 17 tracks doesn’t make for a good album under any circumstances. Tony Yayo may want to solicit some better production and lyrics from somebody that can make him sound like he actually made it into high school. Charles L.

Tracklisting :
1. Intro
2. Homicide
3. It Is What It Is
4. Tattle Teller
5. So Seductive
6. Eastside Westside
7. Drama Setter
8. We Don’t Give A F***
9. Pimpin
10. Curious
11. I’m So High
12. Love My Style
13. Project Princess
14. G-S***
15. I Know You Don’t Love Me
16. Dear Suzie
17. Live By The Gun