yinyang205's Full Review: T.O.S.: Terminate on Sight [PA] * by G-Unit
To say that G-Unit has become a sinking ship would be an understatement.
The Game has long since departed, Young Buck got his walking papers a few months ago, and outside of 50 Cent, no one else in the group has gotten much in the way of respect or fanfare. But then again, maybe that’s what Curtis Jackson wanted all along. After The Documentary, it was Game, not 50, who was in the spotlight, and in terms of respect, Buck had him beaten (remember how many artists put kid gloves on for Buck when they dissed G-Unit? Or how many left him alone entirely?). Maybe both of those guys had to go because they posed a threat to 50. Now, with only Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo left, the group has decided to press on and release the follow up to Beg For Mercy entitled Terminate on Sight. However, with 50’s declining popularity (even as much as he and the group has pushed this album in previous months), and lukewarm reception from magazines with advance releases of the album, the group may be in for a flop of an album. Is it truly bad, or is the ho-hum reception overblown?
Track Listing and Rating:
Straight Outta Southside (2 Stars)
Piano Man Feat. Young Buck (3 1/2 Stars)
Close to Me (2 1/2 Stars)
Rider Pt. 2 Feat. Young Buck (2 1/2 Stars)
Casualties of War (2 1/2 Stars)
You So Tough (2 1/2 Stars)
No Days Off (4 Stars)
T.O.S. (2 Stars)
I Like the Way She Do It Feat. Young Buck (1 Star)
Kitty Kat (2 Stars)
Party Ain’t Over Feat. Young Buck (2 1/2 Stars)
Let It Go Feat. Mavado (3 Stars)
Get Down (2 Stars)
I Don’t Wanna Talk About It (3 Stars)
Ready or Not (4 Stars)
Money Make the World Go Round (2 Stars)
The biggest problem with this album isn’t that the songs are bad, because they aren’t; they’re just perfectly average all around. Boilerplate thug lyrics, trend-hopping, and the standard single? Don’t worry, people, they’re all here. The album begins with “Straight Outta Southside,” which sounds like something you’d hear from your average New York mixtape emcee as opposed to an established hip-hop group. To their credit, all three emcees sound more animated than usual on this track, but their lyrics leave a lot to be desired. They smoke, they drank, they supposed to stop but they….oops, wrong artist. They’re hard, and they’ve got really big guns. Yes, guys, we already know that; the sad part is that they don’t even flip the material so that it sounds fresh. They’re perfectly content with reciting the standard gangsta clichés. And side note: no, Yayo, the token reference to Sean Bell doesn’t sound all that touching when you follow it up with ”F*ck the FEDS i still deal fishscale! Just one man’s humble opinion. “Close to Me” continues the trend of recycled themes, with the trio deciding to switch to being players trying to land random girls by impressing them with their cars and jewelry. Again, there’s really nothing new here, and outside of Yayo’s verse, nothing’s especially bad about the track; however, there’s nothing especially good about it, either. In a twist of irony, Terminate on Sight is a lot like Fat Joe’s The Elephant in the Room in that many of the album’s tracks are completely interchangeable with one another. If tracks like “T.O.S.,” Straight Outta Southside,” and “Let It Go,” didn’t have different producers, you’d swear you were listening to the same song.
Even the much hyped diss tracks fail to raise eyebrows. Before the album’s release, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks said in an interview that they would end some careers with this album; however, after listening, I’m hard pressed to figure out who’s career is going to end. Did Lloyd Banks think Buck’s one-line diss towards the New Orleans native on “Party Ain’t Over” would do it? Or was he referring to 50’s indirect shot at T.I. on “You So Tough?” Or maybe he was talking about Jimmy Henchman and his son since the group takes aim at them on “Casualties of War?” Sorry, but none of these tracks are “Back Down.” Hell, they aren’t even “Piggy Bank,” for that matter. Instead, they seem like forced attempts at trying to create controversy in order to push a few more units. “Casualties of War” is especially tasteless given that one of the targets is a 14 year old kid; what, having someone from Yayo’s crew slap him wasn’t good enough? And speaking of taking shots at Wayne, G-Unit plays the irony card again with the second single, “Rider Pt. 2,” as they attempt to cash in on the same auto-tuner style that Wayne struck gold with on “Lollipop.” Unfortunately, the group fails here, as both Buck and Yayo sound like they’re reading their verses while 50 and Banks stick to tired flossing and thug themes. While the tracks won’t be the worst you’ve ever heard, they definitely show a group that’s desperate to hit the jackpot again; however, their well seems to have run dry on this album.
While most of the tracks on the album are the equivalent of water, there’s only one outright horrible song on the album, and that’s the first single, “I Like the Way She Do It.” Evidently listeners weren’t feeling it, either, as it only peaked at #95 on the Billboard Hot 100, and who could blame them? Street Radio shamelessly tries to jack the style that Apex used to make “I Get Money” the banger that it was, complete with the techno-tinged bassline and minimalist production. Unfortunately, the beat sounds like Southern crunk gone horribly wrong; the trio—with Young Buck in tow this time—doesn’t do anything to salvage the song, either, as 50 mushmouths his way through his opening verse and Buck and Banks phone in theirs. However, the biggest offender on this track is undoubtedly Tony Yayo, who decides that he’s somehow on par with the Jay-Zs of the hip-hop game in his verse:
” I need a dollar for every time that my heart beat (bass)
Now how much is that
I can breath on a track and make money, (breathes)
Now how much is that
I’m getting money baby, my truck a Lamborghini
I’m in Ali-Bebe, where the girls are freaky
Haters wanna be me, hoes glad to see me
Ma I love it when you lie & say my eyes are dreamy…”
This, from the same man who unabashedly pimps himself as 50 Cent’s tax write off.
A few tracks do manage to stand out above the mediocrity, however. “Piano Man” manages to work primarily due to a good synth-laden beat backed by lush piano keys courtesy of The Bizzness; it doesn’t hurt that Lloyd Banks and Young Buck step it up in the lyrics department, with the former actually sounding enthusiastic about rapping and latter managing to inject enough swagger and wit into his brag rap to get over. “No Days Off” is another standout track, as it features the best production job of the album; complete with dark piano keys and a tight bassline, Dual Output manages to outdo more seasoned veterans like Swizz Beatz and Don Cannon with their production. As for the emcees, all three turn in good performances, making the subject matter (being on the grind as a gangsta/killer) seem fresh; hell, even a weak line like “If I fall off, I rebound quick like Greg Oden is forgivable here, though that’s mainly due to the beat. The final standout track, “Ready or Not,” would sound at home on any classic NY album from the mid 90s. Jake One comes through big time with a gritty and dark beat complete with sparse piano keys and heavy drums, and Yayo’s and Banks’ verses about hustling and being hard manage to sound convincing here, with Banks showing why he used to be regarded as one of the best young emcees during his mixtape days. These tracks are good enough to stand on their own, and are worthy of multiple listens; however, the good is far outweighed by the bad when the entire album is taken into account.
It doesn’t help that the production for this album is lackluster, as well. Look through the liner notes, and you’ll notice that Dr. Dre doesn’t produce a single beat on the entire album. Neither does Eminem. What about past 50/G-Unit contributors like Hi-Tek, Mike Elizondo, and JR Totem? None of them are anywhere to be found. Instead, guys like Swizz Beatz (who lends one beat to G-Unit’s cause) and Rick Rock are as A-List as this album gets as far as producers go, not a good thing if you’re of the “so long as the beats bang” camp. The lack of star power shows early and often, too; take the opener for instance, which tries so hard to emulate the sound that NWA made popular in the late 80s. The foreboding horn combined with the hard-hitting drum kicks seem like a good combination for a good beat, but instead, it just plods on for 2 and a half minutes without pulling the listener in. Other tracks like “Close to Me” rock beats that aren’t bad, but are painfully below the standards that previous G-Unit albums have set in terms of production. It’s not offensive or obnoxious, but simply boring, with the synth-laden sound that most club tracks currently feature. Even tracks that try to be ambitious come up short; take the title track for instance. It’s got a nice drum pattern backed by some equally good computer sound effects, so what’s the problem? The loop’s too short, and goes from sounding nice to being grating after a few listens. Ty Fyffe’s done some good work in the past ("4 Da Fam," "2000 B.C."); it’s a shame he couldn’t bring a better beat here. With all these missteps behind the boards, one has to ask one question: with 50’s reach and ability to grab A-list producers (hell, he’s got one in-house), he honestly thought that having a hodge-podge of no-names would be a good idea? Guys like Master P were able to find relative unknowns to produce solid beats, but if this album is any indication, 50 may not have that same talent.
In the end, I can’t really say that this album surpassed or failed to meet my expectations; in fact, Terminate on Sight is exactly what I expected it to be: a group on the defensive trying to recapture the spark that made them pop culture icons just a few short years ago. 50 puts his formula to work again, but with each passing album, the returns he sees are only diminishing. The club jams he was once known for? Nowhere to be found on the album. The scathing diss tracks? Weak, and uninspired. Even the once loyal G-Unit fanbase seems to be turning on the group, as the album has sold a mere 32,000 copies thus far (with Tha Carter III—an album that was released two weeks ago—still managing to beat it out in terms of this week’s sales). Given this, why won’t 50 change the gameplan? The more he refuses to do so, the more he only serves to confirm that there was never anything that great about him to begin with. However, so long as he’s got Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks in tow (with the latter being perfectly content with being on lyrical atuo-pilot now that he’s got his money), he’ll always look like the standout member.
Just like he wanted all along.
Final Rating: 2 Stars
Standout Tracks: No Days Off, Let It Go, Ready or Not
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