Politics as Usual
By Termanology
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Track listing
Show track credits
- 1 It's Time
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producer
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- 2 Watch How It Go Down
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producer
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- 3 Respect My Walk
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producer
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- 4 Hood Shit
- feat. Prodigy
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producer
- 5 Float
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producer
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- 6 Please Don't Go
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producer
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- 7 How We Rock
- feat. Bun B
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producer
- 8 Drugs Crime Gorillaz
- feat. Sheek Louch & Freeway
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producer
- 9 In the Streets
- 10 So Amazing
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producer
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- 11 Sorry I Lied to You
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producer
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- 12 We Killin' Ourselves
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producer
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- 13 The Chosen (Resurrecting the Game)
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producer
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Rate/Catalog
Catalog
Set listening
Review
To rate, slide your finger across the stars from left to right.
6 Reviews
-
1 It's Time
-
2
Watch How It Go Down
-
3
Respect My Walk
-
4
Hood Shit
-
5
Float
-
6
Please Don't Go
-
7
How We Rock
-
8
Drugs Crime Gorillaz
-
9
In the Streets
-
10
So Amazing
-
11
Sorry I Lied to You
-
12
We Killin' Ourselves
-
13
The Chosen (Resurrecting the Game)
Preemo also produces Puerto Rican rapper Termanology's new single, "Watch How It Go Down," and puts the boy in a remix of Christina Aguilera's own hit that he produced, "Back in the Day". "Watch How It Go Down" puts the spotlight on Carrillo, on whose figure numerous expectations are starting to be generated. For Termanology's debut album the list of producers is made up of a list of names that is described as stellar, it's far-fetched for an underground artist: the aforementioned DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, Buckwild, Havoc, Hi-Tek, Large Professor, Nottz, Pete Rock and The Alchemist. There are so many masterpiece albums behind these names that it's hard to keep count. Guests are Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Bun B of UGK, Lil' Fame of MOP, Sheek Louch of The LOX and Freeway of State Property.
The opening song has a good beat that ends after just forty seconds and turns out to be the only one from Easy Mo Bee, who is therefore here only for the name, because the rapper doesn't use this rhythm to build a track. The album continues quite well with an easy winner. Termanology relies on the DJ Premier-produced single that he released two years earlier, "Watch How It Go Down", which thanks to Preemo's magic is still fresh: the beat is originally intended for Blaq Poet and also features a verse from The Alchemist, however, the producer born in Beverly Hills feels he didn't nail the beat and this remains unused by Premier until Statik Selektah listen to it and decides to buy it from Preem to pass it on to Termanology.
Lawrence's emcee struggles to break out of the shadowy mixtape circuit spitting out a single socio-conscious political verse for four minutes composed of some of his most inspired lyrics on a sensational production by Premier. "Respect My Walk" is one of the worst beats of the great career of one of the best producers in hip-hop like Buckwild. The rhythm is bad, the loop is bad, those strings are really annoying, this is clearly a discard by him, Term tries hard but can't save the track. "Hood Shit" is almost worse than the previous one from a musical point of view and the signature on the beat is by Alchemist. Another waste. Prodigy delivers with a mood that almost seems as if he's at first elated at rapping over an Alchemist beat, but then he was disappointed after hearing the production itself.
"Float" isn't the worst beat Nottz has come up with, but he's very far from the top. Nottz is also the only beatmaker to place two beats in a row on this record, also producing the following cut, "Please Don't Go": the track is nailed to the floor by a vocoder-sung hook in a commercial attempt realized by Termanology, totally useless and non-essential in the economy of the album. Bun B joins Term in "How We Rock", the second beat created by DJ Premier: the half of Gang Starr creates a mesmerizing beat, while the Lawrence rapper trades bars alongside half of UGK. Honest cut. Nottz surprisingly returns behind the keyboards for the third (and final) time on four tracks: it's strange to rely so much on the Norfolk producer when you have so many bigger heavyweights at the boards.
For "Drugs, Crime & Gorillaz" Nottz's rhythm is still not good, but Termanology decides to steal the flow clearly from Eminem, while delivering bars alongside Sheek Louch and Freeway, who deliver with more energy than the lead rapper. Hi-Tek signs the beat of "In the Streets": the production tries to be triumphant without success, ending up disappointing, here too the guest Lil Fame surpasses the host Term. DJ Premier produces his third song in "So Amazing", which maintains the same formula as his recent hits such as those for AZ's singles ("The Come Up", "The Format") and was born as a fresh natural banger, however, Termanology manages to turn it into a generic track on his album in which he pays homage to the greats.
A fluid production from Large Professor follows for track number eleven, in which Term delivers slower on an electric piano that adds nothing to the record. "We Killin' Ourselves" boasts Pete Rock behind the keyboards: the drum doesn't live up to that name either and the loop is unmemorable, while the rapper spits socio-conscious lines with a soporific style over a beat that sounds like one of Pete Rock's outtakes. The album is closed by a production managed by Havoc and is a negligible beat, unfortunately.
Termanology's solo debut studio album. The guy's talented, he's got a decent flow, he has honest technique, good wordplay, his lyrics are ok and he's supported by excellent rappers on the mic and by some of the best producers of the period. All the ingredients are there to have a classic album, one of the best records of the 2000s. It's just like a cake but, (un)predictably, something goes wrong.
The rapper doesn't know which direction to take, whether to make another mixtape for an underground audience or aim for the mainstream with a commercial album: a bland, dull and inoffensive record comes out, where the emcee shows little of his talent, he shows he doesn't have the skills and the personality to carry an album alone for three quarters of an hour and to stand out from the competition, being knocked down by his own average lyrics that deal with generic backpack rapper themes (weed, women, street, bravado, socio-conscious excerpts, battle rap) which he delivers effortlessly using a generic, weak and lackluster rapping style most of the time, when he isn't copying one of the greats he says he takes inspiration from (all the Brooklyn rappers you know, half the ones from Queens, and not least Eminem, of course), believing himself to be the heir to almost all those artists of the nineties and the savior of the rap game in 2008.
Prodigy, Bun B, Freeway, Sheek Louch and Lil' Fame don't disappoint, although none of their appearances stick in the memory or rank among the best in their catalogues. The producers involved in this effort offer the author a set of beats that, rather than being in the B series, are in the C series relegation zone, playing a crucial part in the failure of the project.
Released by Nature Sounds and his own ST Records, this should be the album that launches him into the mainstream as one of the best rappers on the East Coast, and instead it becomes a double-edged sword, hiding him away indefinitely in the underground circuit and in that of the mixtapes from which he had struggled to get out after years. The album gets critical approval and is pushed by local newspapers ("The Phoenix" from Boston gives the album a perfect score), remaining far from the charts. Overall, it's a disappointing album from your generic (battle) rapper, soon forgotten by fans and labeled as a "Illmatic formula that didn't work" album.
Rating: 5/10.
Published
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Looking at the producer list and seeing that Termanology is a quite good rapper I thought this could be a huge album. It isn't...
But a good album nonetheless. To be precise the best Rap Album of 2008
But a good album nonetheless. To be precise the best Rap Album of 2008
Published
After years of building hype and countless mixtapes, Puerto Rican Termanology is finally here with his album Politics As Usual. Released through east coast label Nature Sounds. The signs are great, but is he going to live up to the hype?
After the Easy Mo Bee produced intro Termanology kicks it off with 'Watch How It Go Down'. A track that has been around for a couple of years now, but it has Termanology going of for four minutes without any interuptions. Apparently it took him a month to write the song, too make sure it would be a banger. It really is a great song and shows what Termanology is capable of. After the album takes a bit of dip though. 'Respect My Walk' is a simple brag-track, which is still decent, but the Prodigy assisted 'Hood Shit' isn't interesting at all with Termanology trying to sound way to tough on some semi-gangsta shit. Next up are two absolute garbage tracks. 'Float' is a track about smoking which isn't really entertain and 'Please Don't Go' is a wack track about relationship issues. I love tracks about the topic, but at least make it good. The hook was godawful and Term doesn't exactly shine either. On 'How We Rock' he tries to tell us how good he is, but he isn't convincing anyone while he gets murked by Bun B. After it's two more tracks in street mode (with Lil' Fame killing it), before he gets on another bragging track and a second love track. 'We Killin Ourselves' has some potential with some storytelling, but I really wasn't feeling the delivey, hook and lyrics. I really have troubles listening to Termanology. Dude has such a generic delivery and voice. It's on some generic east coast shit and he has zero personality. Which is a big problem with his lyrical content. If you are going to brag your ass off (which he does 90% of the time) or get on some street shit, you gotta sound convincing and he just doesn't pull it off. The only one convinced is Termanology himself. Every once in a while he comes up with a nice line though, but I did hear enough lines which were pretty much uncreative or headscratchingly weak. It's a struggle to stay entertained by him.
As promising as the production line up is, it really doesn't live up to it's premise. DJ Premier kicks it off good with 'Watch How It Go Down' which is the first of three Primo beats. Unfortunately the other two show why Premier isn't as relevant these days. DITC producer Buckwild also chimes in with one track, which has got me worried for his upcomming solo project. Let's hope he is keeping the hot shit for himself. Nottz has three beats for the album, but all of 'em are pretty much an embarresment for the man. 'Drugs Crime Gorillaz' wasn't that bad, but it's not going to redeem him for complete ass tracks like 'Float' and 'Please Don't Go'. The Alchemist does 'Hood Shit', but it's far from his best, though not broken. Large Professor gets in on 'Sorry I Lied To You', which is something you wouldn't really expect from Extra P with a nice moody joint, which is one of the better beats on the album. Hi-Tek gets the credit for the best beat though, on 'In The Streets'. Soul brother number 1, Pete Rock, comes along with a nice one, before Havoc closes the album. Even when the production isn't really broken Termanology just lacks the ability to save a beat or make it sound good. Apart from the Nottz beats there aren't complete throwaways, but there is very little which will have you jump out of your seat.
When I first heard 'Watch How It Go Down' I thought this might be really talented artist, after listening to some mixtapes I was getting doubts and this effort really didn't convince me of Termanology's talent. Seems like 'Watch How It Go Down' was just a flash in the pan.
After the Easy Mo Bee produced intro Termanology kicks it off with 'Watch How It Go Down'. A track that has been around for a couple of years now, but it has Termanology going of for four minutes without any interuptions. Apparently it took him a month to write the song, too make sure it would be a banger. It really is a great song and shows what Termanology is capable of. After the album takes a bit of dip though. 'Respect My Walk' is a simple brag-track, which is still decent, but the Prodigy assisted 'Hood Shit' isn't interesting at all with Termanology trying to sound way to tough on some semi-gangsta shit. Next up are two absolute garbage tracks. 'Float' is a track about smoking which isn't really entertain and 'Please Don't Go' is a wack track about relationship issues. I love tracks about the topic, but at least make it good. The hook was godawful and Term doesn't exactly shine either. On 'How We Rock' he tries to tell us how good he is, but he isn't convincing anyone while he gets murked by Bun B. After it's two more tracks in street mode (with Lil' Fame killing it), before he gets on another bragging track and a second love track. 'We Killin Ourselves' has some potential with some storytelling, but I really wasn't feeling the delivey, hook and lyrics. I really have troubles listening to Termanology. Dude has such a generic delivery and voice. It's on some generic east coast shit and he has zero personality. Which is a big problem with his lyrical content. If you are going to brag your ass off (which he does 90% of the time) or get on some street shit, you gotta sound convincing and he just doesn't pull it off. The only one convinced is Termanology himself. Every once in a while he comes up with a nice line though, but I did hear enough lines which were pretty much uncreative or headscratchingly weak. It's a struggle to stay entertained by him.
As promising as the production line up is, it really doesn't live up to it's premise. DJ Premier kicks it off good with 'Watch How It Go Down' which is the first of three Primo beats. Unfortunately the other two show why Premier isn't as relevant these days. DITC producer Buckwild also chimes in with one track, which has got me worried for his upcomming solo project. Let's hope he is keeping the hot shit for himself. Nottz has three beats for the album, but all of 'em are pretty much an embarresment for the man. 'Drugs Crime Gorillaz' wasn't that bad, but it's not going to redeem him for complete ass tracks like 'Float' and 'Please Don't Go'. The Alchemist does 'Hood Shit', but it's far from his best, though not broken. Large Professor gets in on 'Sorry I Lied To You', which is something you wouldn't really expect from Extra P with a nice moody joint, which is one of the better beats on the album. Hi-Tek gets the credit for the best beat though, on 'In The Streets'. Soul brother number 1, Pete Rock, comes along with a nice one, before Havoc closes the album. Even when the production isn't really broken Termanology just lacks the ability to save a beat or make it sound good. Apart from the Nottz beats there aren't complete throwaways, but there is very little which will have you jump out of your seat.
When I first heard 'Watch How It Go Down' I thought this might be really talented artist, after listening to some mixtapes I was getting doubts and this effort really didn't convince me of Termanology's talent. Seems like 'Watch How It Go Down' was just a flash in the pan.
Published
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At least Premier can still throw down something useful.
A bit disappointed in Term.. thought he had more to say. Still a rapper with great potential.
A bit disappointed in Term.. thought he had more to say. Still a rapper with great potential.
Published
13 songs, 3 beats from DJ Premier, 3 beats from Nottz, 1 beat from Pete Rock, 1 beat from Large Professor, 1 beat from Havoc, 1 beat from Hi-Tek, 1 beat from Buckwild, 1 beat from The Alchemist, 1 beat from Easy Mo Bee. Lookin at that you'd think you were gettin' the best produced album since "2001" or some shit. Well, prepare to be let down. The three Preme tracks are by far the best joints on here. Buckwild drops a jazzy heater on "Respect My Walk". Large Pro and Pete Rock drop a couple nice ones with "Sorry I Lied to You" and "We Killin Ourselves". None of the other beats are bad, they just aren't spectacular (except Nottz, "Float" and "Please Don't Go" are ass). Oh yeah, Termanology's on here, too.
Lyrics: 3.5
Beats: 3.5
Choice tracks:
"Watch How It Go Down"
"So Amazing"
"How We Rock"
"Respect My Walk"
"We Killin Ourselves"
"Sorry I Lied to You"
"Hood Shit"
On the fence:
"The Chosen (Resurrecting the Game)"
"Drugs Crime Gorillaz"
"In the Streets"
Skip:
"Please Don't Go"
"Float"
Lyrics: 3.5
Beats: 3.5
Choice tracks:
"Watch How It Go Down"
"So Amazing"
"How We Rock"
"Respect My Walk"
"We Killin Ourselves"
"Sorry I Lied to You"
"Hood Shit"
On the fence:
"The Chosen (Resurrecting the Game)"
"Drugs Crime Gorillaz"
"In the Streets"
Skip:
"Please Don't Go"
"Float"
Published
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Catalog
2 Feb 2024
19 Jan 2024
16 Dec 2023
-
1 It's Time
-
2
Watch How It Go Down
-
3
Respect My Walk
-
4
Hood Shit
-
5
Float
-
6
Please Don't Go
-
7
How We Rock
-
8
Drugs Crime Gorillaz
-
9
In the Streets
-
10
So Amazing
-
11
Sorry I Lied to You
-
12
We Killin' Ourselves
-
13
The Chosen (Resurrecting the Game)
9 Dec 2023
26 Nov 2023
20 Sep 2023
20 Jun 2023
-
1 It's Time
-
2
Watch How It Go Down
-
3
Respect My Walk
-
4
Hood Shit
-
5
Float
-
6
Please Don't Go
-
7
How We Rock
-
8
Drugs Crime Gorillaz
-
9
In the Streets
-
10
So Amazing
-
11
Sorry I Lied to You
-
12
We Killin' Ourselves
-
13
The Chosen (Resurrecting the Game)
6 Jun 2023
5 May 2023
10 Jan 2023
-
1
It's Time
-
2
Watch How It Go Down
-
3
Respect My Walk
-
4
Hood Shit
-
5
Float
-
6
Please Don't Go
-
7
How We Rock
-
8
Drugs Crime Gorillaz
-
9
In the Streets
-
10
So Amazing
-
11
Sorry I Lied to You
-
12
We Killin' Ourselves
-
13
The Chosen (Resurrecting the Game)
28 Oct 2022
20 Oct 2022
14 Oct 2022
24 Aug 2022
12 May 2022
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