Track4Track Album Review: Chino XL - RICANstruction: The Black Rosary Disc2

Disc 1 - http://www.funkvolumeforums.com/t4967-track4track-album-review-chino-xl-ricanstruction-the-black-rosary-disc1

RICANsctruction continued, Disc 2 -

21. Black Rosary 8am - Intro track for the 2nd Disc. Like the title says, Black Rosary 8am delivers the feel of awakening. The light, melodic piano trails into this half of the album comfortably. Chino speaks about how he wishes to be religiously cleansed, accepted by God and hoping to be freed from the 'Devil's grip'. It settles the listener in.


22. Closer To God - The intro was about transitioning from an evil mindset onto a greater one, so 'Closer To God' is an appropriate track name. The track has an awesome beat that sounds almost like a Wu-Tang time machine. It has some scratches and dope vocal samples. Chino flows nice over the slow paced beat. He opens up with a lyrical punch. This piece has some seriously ridiculous word-play. There are a few triple-entendres and some of the most clever puns on the album.


23. Little Man - Little man opens up with an excerpt from an Obama speech on violence. This track has a beat similar to the last. It's is a rap about a young boy, age 14, who was bullied in school. I won't give away much about the story because it has some good shock value that I'd hate to spoil. I can speak on Chino's delivery positively on this track. I really liked his vocal tone and flow. He captured the vibe nicely with the depression in his voice. It sounded plain and lifeless, perfect for 'Little Man'. This was an interesting topic for this album. It maybe a reflection on Chino's past, maybe something for kids to relate to. Either way, this is a great song.


24. Figure It Out - The instrumental carries a lot more energy than the previous tracks, however, Chino doesn't come with his usual aggression on a beat like this. The hook is a little annoying but the song as a whole is great. Chino brings a lyrical train with this one again. There are quite a few hilarious quotable bars. I'll point out that his flow on the second verse is just nasty. The full song consists of him flowing a lot better than we're used to. The verbiage is mostly him talking about the longevity of his career and that other rappers that want to top him "still aint' figured it out'.


25. Xross Your Heart Ft. Bun B - This is a pretty old track that I got from a UGK discography years ago. It would be the song that got me to check out Chino XL for the first time. The song carries a serious west coast feel and with the Texas New York vocal style, it gives the track a real swing. Xross Your Heart has an instrumental that sounds a lot like 'Dr. Dre - The Watcher'. The first verse is an average (standard) Bun - B verse. The hook is pretty nice, it's done by Bun B. There is only one verse each and Chino's verse is mostly edgy rap about murder, but it's a lot better than Bun's. Despite the song have two average verses and lacking substance and lyricism, Xross Your Heart is a good track thanks to the beat and hook. I really like this song, even though it's carried by production.


26. Buried In Vocabulary Ft. Horseshoe Gang - The highlight of this track was definitely the features. Since I'd never heard of Horseshoe Gang, I decided to do my research because this was a powerful track. I was pretty impressed with the verses they spit on Buried In Vocabulary, but when I checked out their own stuff, I wasn't particularly blown away. It could have been because they had cheap production value and Chino's clearly got some pretty top-notch equipment or, because they'd all saved their best verses for a feature like this. Either way, Horseshoe Gang is definitely a group I'll be keeping up with to look for improvement and I hope to see them make moves in the game. This feature was definitely a step for them. As for Chino, who had the final verse, he literally buried this entire song in vocabulary. He used the track title wisely and spit some of his most impeccable lines in this track. It made him look a lot better up against the features too. Every aspect of Chino was on in this one. This is a track that you are allowed to talk about how good you are at rapping because that's what the track implies. From flow to lyrics and every aspect of them, Chino murdered this. The beat had a heavy sound with a looped guitar chord and a crash every 4 bars to keep the energy.


27. Missing You 8pm - This interlude brings that smooth, sun-setting, jazzy vibe. Like '8am', it perfectly transitioned us to the latter end of this album. Chino has a great ear for track order. It's a track where he's talking to his girl(possible ex) over the phone, about a time he went out to eat with a few fellow rappers. Common was talking to the guys and said something about how he doesn't want to compete with other rappers and it really got to Chino.


28. Crazy Love - Keeping up with that late-night feel, Crazy Love is a track about a girl (maybe the one from the interlude). I am very biased towards beats like this so I really felt this song. I probably over analyzed it but this song was one of my favorites on the album. Unlike Sleep In Scarlet - this track was about a girl he actually loves (crazily clearly) so I was able to actually listen to this without constantly hating on the concept. He brings a really comfortable story about what sounds like his wifey. The amount of punchlines is impressive for how well he kept on topic. The beat has that classic Jay-Z type swing. It's a piano loop mixed with vocal loops that were stretched out with synth and a simple boom clap. The hook is Chino adding a few words to a little more of the vocal sample. Lyrically he tells the tale of falling for this girl up until they make their child. I really appreciated the effort he put into the track for this person. Most people keep it cute and simple when creating music for a girl because let's face it, women will eat anything that was made for them up. This girl must really get music, this is a deep track with tons of substance. Another thing about this track is that I recognized the sample, it's a throw back from L.T.D and it's interestingly done. Any fan of classic funk and soul should check them out. They're like if you mixed the O'Jays with EW&F.


29. Take It Back Ft. Rakka Iriscience & Roc Marciano - Steering away from aggression for style. This song keeps the same type of laid back energy going. With this classic hip-hop sound, any classic rap-head will find something they love in this track. Chino brings the opening verse with this one, ironically his verse is the best. Maybe he played on the song title to 'take his verse back' to the beginning of the track, who knows, Chino brings a lot of clever stuff like that to the table. Take It Back is all about taking us back to the past days of these rappers and hip-hop in general, which explains the throwback beat and flows. Nothing too special about the features or Chino's verse for that matter. There's some pretty cool references about the 80's and 90's, but I've heard plenty of 'back in the day' tracks that have a lot more to take from them.


30. N.I.C.E - A loud crashing sound brings us right out of chill-mode into full blown 'Chino style'. N.I.C.E is an older track. I think he released it early for a reason, it's not that good. This song has a pretty good, but predictable beat. I don't think they did a good job transitioning the mood because I was definitely enjoying hearing Chino out of his element. He really made it a point to be lyrical on this track, that was apparent to me and I felt like he may have been trying to hard. It's reliant on punchlines and gave me that feeling that Chino was barraging the listener with several words that just rhymed ("The epitome of infinity and validity of my divinity half animal activity... match my intensity mentally.") That type of rhyme-scheme has always been boring and unimpressive to me, I feel like that's the gimmick of so many unqualified rappers in the game. A lot of the times this sounds OK, but he wasn't focused enough on the rest of the track. There is more than having an auditory impression with music. I try to look deeper than how it sounds and I couldn't with this one. The lyrical content was him bragging and using puns and similes to talk about how "N.I.C.E" He his. I'd say N.I.C.E is filler, though it has a few strong bars.


31. Kings Ft. Big Pun - Speaking of Puns... Big Pun opens up Kings with a re-used verse. I don't think this verse was ever used on any official album song and with Chino being a Puerto Rican from the Bronx, the Pun verse tied right in. The first verse is a solid, typical Big Punisher verse. I've always thought he was the best Hispanic rapper with the way he mixed in his heritage and the inflection on his words was great with the New York style. Chino's verse is almost like homage to the late Pun and he uses comparisons to note some similarities in the two. The beat has a darker sound with a graveyard bell and a chord progression that feels like the grim reapers theme song. I liked this song, there was a lot of religious reference but of course with the two being Christian's there will be.


32. 90 Bars Of Intervention - 4 minutes of some of the most golden bars in rap today. There is a west coast beat and Chino rarely stops for breath. There is every element of lyricism at a top level usage in this song. I think this one is supposed to be an "Intervention" for the entire music industry. Everyone should listen to this song because he full out murders this. It's not stop word-play with Chino flowing impressively. "I can go on forever like Googling the word google."


33. The Hype Man - An actually hilarious interlude with Chino's hype man. Just a funny skit. Doesn't have much to do with the album besides comedic relief.


34. Latino's Stand Up Ft. Sick Jacken, B Real, Thirsten Howl Iii, Sunful & Kid Frost - Here's an ode to Latino culture with all Latino rappers. The beat has a Latin twist on it and there are even some verses in full Spanish. This track is important for the album for Chino to show pride in his heritage, but it's not one I'll go back and listen to, maybe because I don't even understand half the lyrics. It's a nice sounding song with lots of pretty good verses where people shout out the pioneer Hispanic rappers and the rest of their culture.


35. Gone - 'Gone' is a soft piano with a simple, thin layered beat. He starts off easy on the lyrics and tone explaining the meaning of the song. Not only is he about to be gone (ending the album), the song is about how he's gone from his old life and the people in it. He talks about things in his past that he's referred to in the album and how he got where he is in life. There is reflections on his childhood and early career. This song is a standard way to end an album, but Chino perfectly executes the method and really gets the listener to feel for him. You could show a person who's never heard him before 'Gone' and they'd probably understand Chino a lot better than if you showed them 10 other songs. The lyrics and word-play are great on this track and the slow-flow is done right. He tells the story well and wraps things up nicely.

26. Buried In Vocabulary Ft. Horseshoe Gang - The highlight of this track was definitely the features. Since I'd never heard of Horseshoe Gang, I decided to do my research because this was a powerful track. I was pretty impressed with the verses they spit on Buried In Vocabulary, but when I checked out their own stuff, I wasn't particularly blown away. It could have been because they had cheap production value and Chino's clearly got some pretty top-notch equipment or, because they'd all saved their best verses for a feature like this. Either way, Horseshoe Gang is definitely a group I'll be keeping up with to look for improvement and I hope to see them make moves in the game. This feature was definitely a step for them. As for Chino, who had the final verse, he literally buried this entire song in vocabulary. He used the track title wisely and spit some of his most impeccable lines in this track. It made him look a lot better up against the features too. Every aspect of Chino was on in this one. This is a track that you are allowed to talk about how good you are at rapping because that's what the track implies. From flow to lyrics and every aspect of them, Chino murdered this. The beat had a heavy sound with a looped guitar chord and a crash every 4 bars to keep the energy.

Exact + Chino chopped it into pieces after he murdered it then put it in a blender and drank it.