Mack 10 Albums (9)
What The Critics Say
Two of Mack 10's best efforts bookend Hustla's Handbook, a frustratingly overstuffed and spotty effort that dilutes its personality with filler that goes nowhere. With his homeboy Nate Dogg, Mack 10 kills with the opening "Like This," a track that's classic West Coast balling with a bit of David Banner crushing. Counting "Ride Out" with Chingy as a bonus track, the proper closer, "Livin Just to Ball," is far and away the highlight of the album, arguably a Top Five song in the G-funker's catalog. The rapper vividly reminisces about back in the day over Fredwreck Nassar's roller-skating jam on a track that sounds like it should be closing a much more purposeful album. The problem is that the rest of the B-list set of producers here offer either forgettable or derivative beats in a wide range of styles, some that just don't fit. You're four tracks in before "Done Shot" coats the lyrics with the kind of sticky G-funk Mack 10 is most comfortable with, and while the slick productions that sound like Jay-Z's discards are trying, it's the concessions the album makes to Dirty South crunk that are really misguided. "Don't Hate Me" is worthy, and the both the spiritual "The Testimony" and the sneaker-worshipping "My Chucks" are arguments Mack 10 isn't limited to gangsta material, but too much redundant thugging just supports this argument, bloating the album into something unnecessarily unwieldy. The West Coast faithful should check it for the towering highlights while casual fans can catch these bangers on the next hits collection. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Ghetto, Gutter & Gangster'
Release Date 7/22/2003
Tracks 21
Label Ark 21
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What The Critics Say
Following his first release for Cash Money Records, West Coast rap legend Mack 10 steps into the role of executive on Presents da Hood. The album features Cali rappers K Mac, Deviossi, Skoop, Cousteau, and Techniec, all of whom are part of Mack's Hoo Bangin' roster. Other rappers who make appearances include Lil Jon, Ice Cube, the Cash Money Millionaires, and more. Among the album's many songs, the anthemic "L.A. fo Ya" stands out, as does "Hittin Switches." With all the guests, Mack doesn't give himself as much time on the mic as you might expect. It's therefore best to view Presents da Hood as a stopgap posse spotlight rather than a traditional solo album. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It wasn't easy being a West Coast gangsta rapper at the end of the '90s. Mack 10 will tell you that. Between 1995 and 1997, around the time "Foe Life" and "Backyard Boogie" were blowing up and Mack was putting it down for Cali with Ice Cube and WC on the Westside Connection album, everything was great -- Mack was on top of the game. But his career simmered out -- like nearly every other West Coast rapper's career -- following the Death Row empire's demise. Suddenly, around 1999/2000, the rap community seemed to view Mack with indifference. His Paper Route album (2000) was his least successful and his record deal with Priority had gone sour. Then, along came Cash Money Records, looking to extend its empire from the South to the West Coast -- much like No Limit had done unsuccessfully with Snoop Dogg a few years earlier. The resulting album, Bang or Ball, features Mack rapping alongside the Cash Money Millionaires over Mannie Fresh productions. It's somewhat of a strange pairing -- West Coast gangsta rap and the Dirty South. The synthesis works surprisingly well -- certainly better than Snoop's No Limit collaborations. Mack sounds comfortable dropping rhymes over Fresh's beats and sounds at home alongside the Big Tymers, in particular, rapping about the usual gangsta topics: sex, cars, drugs, money, player haters, boasting, and so on. "Hate in Yo Eyes," a Dr. Dre and Scott Storch track that interpolates "Stayin' Alive" for the hook, really helps Bang or Ball. It's one of Dre and Storch's better efforts and really starts the album off with plenty of club-ready energy. "Connected for Life," featuring Ice Cube, WC, and Butch Cassidy, is another obvious highlight. But the abundance of Fresh productions doesn't help Bang or Ball. Most of the in-house Cash Money producer's beats are great -- not really West Coast and definitely not Dirty South, but instead somewhere between the two. However, a few more outside productions like the Dre track would bring some more diversity to this album. And that's really what's lacking here. By the time you hit the halfway mark, the album begins to sound a bit monotonous. Still, Bang or Ball is an engaging listen, especially the first time through. Even by the time this album came out in 2001, there hadn't been many collaborations between the West Coast and the South, and surely none this ambitious and this high-profile. Give both Mack and the Cash Money Millionaires credit for taking a chance. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Mack 10 scales back his collaborative impulse on The Paper Route, the follow-up to The Recipe (1998), an album on which every song but one was a collaboration. The Paper Route is still laden with guest features, but at least there are a handful of solo performances (four out of 11 songs), so that Mack 10 doesn't seem like a guest on his own album. One of those solo performances, the album-opening "From tha Streetz," is a highlight, with an interpolation of Whodini's "Funky Beat" for its hook. Another, "Hustle Game," is also a highlight, driven by a laid-back Easy Mo Bee production. As usual, Ice Cube shows up on a couple songs, "Nobody" and "Tha Weekend"; both are standouts, but the former is especially noteworthy, for it also features Timbaland, who produced it. Other noteworthy guest features include "Tight to Def" (which features T-Boz of TLC) and "Pimp or Die" (Too Short), while on the other hand, the overabundance of features for Techniec (five in total) is a detriment to the overall album, which -- like The Recipe, though not to such an extent -- is hobbled by too many collaborations and not enough Mack 10. Nonetheless, if you don't mind skipping over a track here and there, or if you don't mind sitting through some dull guest features, The Paper Route is a worthwhile listen for fans of West Coast gangsta rap, for the album has impressive moments. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
'Hoo-Bangin': The Mix Tape, Vol. 1'
Release Date 8/24/1999
Tracks 17
Label Priority
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What The Critics Say
It became commonplace during the mid- to late '90s for rappers to litter their albums with a small nation's worth of guest stars, both for commercial purposes and for all-important sonic variety. At its worst, this tactic can lead to albums where the ostensible star ends up sounding like a guest at their own party. But at its best, the more-the-merrier formula can result in stellar albums like Mack 10's The Recipe, an unambitious but enormously satisfying slice of pop-savvy late-'90s gangsta rap that features a slew of the hottest names in hip-hop, from Eazy E to Master P to ODB and many, many more. Mack 10 got his big break from mentor/gangsta rap pioneer Ice Cube, who not surprisingly lends his gruff presence to two of the album's standout tracks: "Should I Stay or Should I Go," a borderline sacrilegious but effective reworking of the Clash classic, and "Ghetto Horror Show," a similarly cheesy but enjoyable slice of gangsta rap gothic featuring a scene-stealing turn by the underrated Jayo Felony. Snoop Dogg trades verses with the laconic but authoritative Mack 10 on another of the album's highlights, "LBC and the ING," driven by a familiar but undeniably infectious sample of "Heartbeat," one of the greatest and most-used loops in the history of hip-hop. "Money's Just a Touch Away," the album's Gerald Levert-assisted first single, is a too-slick attempt at radio-friendly crossover success, but Mack 10's sole solo showcase, "The Letter," is a surprisingly eloquent and well-reasoned defense of gangsta rap. The Recipe probably won't convert many non-believers, but for fans of straightforward, late-'90s gangsta rap, it's about as good as it gets. ~ Nathan Rabin, All Music Guide
'Based on a True Story'
Release Date 9/16/1997
Tracks 16
Label Priority
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What The Critics Say
When Mack 10 returned in 1997 with his second album, Based on a True Story, the West Coast gangsta movement had began to simmer in the aftermath of Death Row's dissolution, 2Pac's death, Too Short's retirement, Dr. Dre's confusion, and Ice Cube's move to Hollywood. Mack gladly fills the void with a spirited album that's proudly Cali and proudly gangsta, and he brings along a few select guests -- Cube, Snoop, and producer Ant Banks -- who further rally the remaining West Coast fan base. Perhaps most importantly, though, Mack maintains a lighthearted attitude here that emphasizes good times and sunny, loping G-funk rhythms rather than the sort of menacing, hardest-of-the-hardcore one that so many of his West Coast peers had turned toward in the post-2Pac era. This lighthearted attitude is evident throughout, particularly on the album's highlights: the early-album party-starter "Backyard Boogie," the Ant Banks-laced E-40 duet "Can't Stop," and the Snoop-Cube-Mack team-up "Only in California." Mack furthermore throws in a trio of especially fun interpolations: "Mack 10, Mack 10" (U.T.F.O.'s "Roxanne, Roxanne"), "Inglewood Swingin'" (Kool & the Gang's "Hollywood Swinging"), and "Dopeman" (N.W.A.'s "Dopeman"). Amid all of these standouts, Mack throws in a few skits and guests along with some fine if unexceptional filler, keeping the album overall quite lean at just under 50 minutes. Based on a True Story is one of the best West Coast gangsta rap albums of 1997, an otherwise lackluster year for the style. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Over a G-funk backdrop complete with deep bass and whining synths, Mack 10 dishes out a multitude of gangsta lyrics on his self-titled debut. Mack 10 comes alive when his mentor, Ice Cube, appears on "West Side Slaughter House," adding fire and rage to an album that elsewhere could benefit from more passion. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
