If you don't know C-Note is a part of the Houston hip-hop crew the Botany Boys. Along with C-Note the Botany Boys consisted of Will-Lean, D-Red & BG Gator, before Gator died in 1999. The other members of The Botany Boys are Head & Big Dez. Both are locked down for now. The Botany Boys were the first group to do freestyle on the late DJ Screw's mixtapes. Though not a fan of "screwed up" versions of songs they were a change of pace from the originals. Now lets get into C-Note's latest effort Street Fame

1. Intro (Live) - $$$ - The beat on this song is tight with drums hittin off. Also the guitar in the background gives this a nice feel. C-Note raps about reppin his hood for the most part. In the second verse he talks about street life. He talks about getting respect and getting ditched if you disrespect. He also shouts out to various cities in the south. Lyrically C-Note spits above average for the most part.

2. Know What I'm Talkin bout(feat. Juvenile & Bun B) - $$$1/2 - The first verse belongs to C-Note who spits some corny @ss bullsh!t. After the chorus, Bun B comes up and spits some really hot stuff. The chorus here is pretty tight also. After Bun B C-Note picks up on this verse and spits some pretty tight bars. Juvenile surprises me and spits some really hot sh!t. The all speak about having expensive cars with dubs, clothes and b!tches...Typical Dirty South Subject matter.

3. Mr. Big Shot (ft. Hourtney & Marilyn) - $$1/2 - This song has the "Who Do you Think you are" sample. C-Note Raps about money, cars poppin tags and pimpin, typical braggadocio. He talks about blinging and he continues on to brag about rappin with a platinum microphone. The beat and the "Mr. Big Shot" chorus are the only reasons to listen to this song. The second verse on this song is aight but the other two are the essence of sh!t. In the last verse he spits "C-Note up on the scene/About the color green/'Cause my pockets, way bigger than Yao Ming".
Rocks in my ring, keep rocks in my watch/
Rocks in my piece and chain, knots in my socks/
I keep lettin money blow in the wind/
Ain't gotta keep a count on how much dough I spend/
Darling Hit the mall, shop kill ya drop/
Im a teach you how to roll with a big shot

4. Cutn Tonite - $$$$ - This beat is tight as f!ck with a bit of an Arabin flow to it, using those snake charmer flutes. C-Note spits the epiitomy of mediocracy on his first two verses. The chours is pretty lame on this track. His last verse is pretty damn tight a big improvement over the first. If it wasn't for this beat the song would be below average, but the beat seems to enhance C-Notes rhymes making it a pretty tight song overall, not to mention the tight last verse.
William Clover jeans/
Blowing clover leaves/
Got foxy in the club way overseas/
I Like them girls with they hair down to they knees/
C-Note droppin sh!t you won't believe/
Hoe drop it to the floor then back it up/
Baby girl I love it when you act up/
Later on get a room and we shack up/
Outta line in the club get smacked up/
Ya lookin for a baller a stunner/
Platinum and gold teeth, with Platinum in the hummer/
Three or Four new cribs to ball in the summer/
Let Screens fall like the rain and the thunder/

5. Wa-La (feat. Will-Lean) - $$$$$ - Tight @ss beat and more Braggadocio. C-Note puts a nice thuggish, ruggish twist on it though and rips it up lyrically esp. in the first verse. The chorus has Will-Lean sayin "Wa-La" in the background and they C-Note will say something like "when we open up yo safe" or "diamonds in ya face" Will-Lean also tears it up in his verse, with bars like "It's a jack an i'm gone/Don't act and get grown/Blocka, Blocka, 50 calibur crackin ya dome/I grab the cash and got gone/The jump in the Jag on the phone/On 610 passin the dome/Mashin' on chrome, it's on". and "It's the chemist/Im a lyrical threat/You Takin shots like 5 drinks/Im a lyrical Teck". C-Note's last verse see's him say "Wa-La" and then spits for about 8 bars, then Will-Lean does the same thing sayin' "Wa-La, Wa-La" and spittin for about 8 bars. Both of them rips this part up also making this the best song on the album in my opinion.
"Ready, willin' and able/
50G's on the pool table, Spree's like a turntable/
Steady spinning, Im steady grinnin'/
Im like them double up rocks, I keep winning/
Im out-rageous, sick flow contagious/
We indepentant, but be ball like the majors/
Crunk n!ggaz tried to snatch my chain/
So a n!gga had to snatch his brain/
Go through his hood and clap his mayn/
Thats how we play it where I'm from/
N!ggaz bustin' head with the lead where i'm from/
Uhn, Ya end up dead where i'm from/
N!gga better play it how he say it where i'm from/
Now run and tell buddy/
I leave ya block muddy/
Get the bustin wit this glock and leave ya spot bloody/
Paparazzi wanna take my picture/
Close ya eyes cause' I come to get wit ya/
N!gga i'm to get ya."

6. Street Fame Skit 1 (feat. Jk) - N/A - Jk tellin you about n!ggaz that he know...Next track.

7. Paid N!gga - $$$$ - This starts out with a piano playing and some light bass dropping in the background. Also alternation from left to right are violin string being plucked. C-Note comes in really low then increasing his voice sayin "turn my mic up turn my mic up". He tells of how he is a made n!ggaz and he got no time for busta's or b!tches. He spits about clothing stating "Burberry Jags, Burberry Rags/Four-Four Mag, make my Burberry sag". He also just talks about simply trying to make money, even though this song sound like it is full of Braggadocio...which it is, it is also just about flat out making dough. In the last verse he speeds up his flow and spits some sh!t about making money on the streets.
"Kicking like Shinobi/
N!ggaz say they know me/
I be ballin' like i'm playin next to Shaq & Kobe/
N!ggaz pass the dough man/
Cause man i'm going off/
Just spent a quarter-mil on a new house/
This the new south, coming with the blue frost/
First n!gga in the hood with a blue mouth"

8. Hold it Down pt. 2(feat. Hawk & Big T) - $$$1/2 - C-Note spits some Braggadocio but he also touches on the death of BG Gator. The chorus of "Hold it Down" is hella annoying. Big T spits about his fallen soldiers also such as Pat and Screw. Hawk also speaks on the death of Fat Pat. He also reps his 33rd gangsta sayin people is shook of him and the 33rd. This beat is also tight.
"Ima ride for my n!ggas/
Get high with my n!ggas/
If n!ggas wanna die then (?) wit my n!ggas/
Im still holdin sh!t down for Screw do/
And I'm still holdin sh!t down for Pat too/
And Gator was my lil f!ckin Brother/
Though I love him like no other, there will never be another/
And this song in the streets be number one/
Better move b!tch look out here we come/...

9. Rap Game (feat. D-Reb) - $$$ - This has a carribean vibe to it, even though I don't know what instrument it is, you will know when you hear it. The beat all in all is pretty nice. Rap game is a comparison of the Rap Game and the Crack game like many other rappers have done before him namely, Jay-Z & Nas. C-Note's first verse is pretty good. In the chorus, C-Note just states that its strange that the rap game is so much like the streets. D-Reb spits a pretty mediocre verse that has it's highs and lows.

10. On The Southside (feat. Lil Flip & Errin) - $$$1/2 - Big T gives a little introduction to the track. The beat hits and is sick as sh!t. Errin who is singing on the chorus rips it to a T. C-Note goes first and spits a prety sub-par verse. After C-Note, comes Lil Flip. Lil Flip rips this joint up with some tight lyrics directed towards women, and he also talks about n!ggas who spend too much durg money on sh!t they not supposed to and when they get caught slippin it's they @ss. In the next verse though Lil Flip drops the ball is some crappy @ss braggadocio. C-Note on the other hand steps his game up spittin sh!t like "We put holes in them n!ggas brains/Just like them cleats man/...". By the way, is it me or does Lil Flip seem to always rip sh!t up on OTHER peoples songs...Just an observation.

11. Put yo Money On Me (feat. Will-Lean & Godfather) - $$$$ - This beat kind of lacks. Lyrically though Will-Lean and C-Note tear the speakers down spitting venom. Godfather kind of stinks it up though preventing this from getting a perfect score. C-Note spits about puttin your money on him because no one can take him down. Godfather raps about cats needing to put there money where they mouth is. Will-Lean spits some pure Braggadocio but with some tight metafores.
C-Note:
Put your money on me/
I Moves like a half a key/
Coming down in the J-A-G/
Represents for this S-U-C/
I know these boys wanna get to me/
But you know aint no catchin' me/
Now who wanna be next up/
Like grounds got these n!ggaz playin catch up/...
Really, Now who wanna step in the ring/
The n!ggas with the most bling, and the ching, ching/
Ding, Ding, Wrong one/
Knockin N!ggaz off they feet is the outcome/..."

12. Ride With Us (feat. Juvenile) - $$$$ - This beat is f!ckin fire. C-Note comes out and spits what is agruably the worst verse on the album. I mean it is just terrible. Juvenile is on the chorus sayin "You Should Ride With Us", with C-Note in the background sayin "Come on and Ride With Us". Juvenile spits some really tight sh!t on this song. In C-notes second verse however he picks himself up and spits some sick sh!t like "Best to watch your back cause I'm comin with them soldiers/For them n!ggas that be snitching to them rollers/Get the bombin up n!ggaz, Like U.S. did Iraq/Like Bush did Hussein, and i'm comin' thats a fact/...". This song is pretty damn tight altogether
Juvenile:
"Aight I got the urge to Strike/
Something dead in the @ss/
Im in the futre y'all stay in the past/
Yeah, N!gga was broke, holdin my shoes/
Rat funky as the f!ck, food stampin it too/
Same hoes that was talkin that sh!t, done turned groupie/
I no longer have holes in my shoes, I rock Gucci/
I know you smell the colonge/
You wishin a n!gga of my calibur was takin ya home/"

13. Keep Ballin (feat. Kirby D) - $ - This is obviously a filler track, and it really, really sucks d!ck. Say No More.

14. Right or Wrong (feat. J-Real) - $$$1/2 - The beat on this track is more fittin to a straight out R&B song, but C-Note works with it. J-Real's singing on this some is phenomenal. C-Note doesn't offer any really great verses here even though the are not that bad. J-Real is the shining star on this track. His singing and the beat go togther perfectly. He has a great sound and his voice is somewhere between a K-Ci and Tevin Campbell.

15. Street Fame Skit 2 - N/A - JK Talking street sh!t that makes no sense, he just babbles on.

16. Clover G's (feat. Botany Boys & Botany Bg's) - $$$1/2 - The beat on this song is f!ckin sickenin @ss hell. The guys talks about riding around in their cars smoking weed for the most part. There is some Braggadocio. Since I don't know who the hell all of the Botany Bg's are and I can harldy tel the difference between most of them I not even gonna front and try, but each of these guys spit a tight verse and C-Note is obiouvsly the one who shines here even though D-Red spits a sick verse also.

17. Keep Talkin (feat. E-Rock & G-Ride) - $$$$ - This beat is mad f!ckin tight. C-Note goes first. C-note spits a pretty average verse making way for the chorus which is aight. E-rock just spits some sick sh!t lettin you know you will pay the ultimate consequence for f!ckin with him. After E-Rock comes G-Ride who sounds like a mix between Mystikal and Bill Cartwright. His verse isn't too bad though.
E-Rock:
"A yo i'm stuck in this sh!t, aint no way I can quit now/
I'm married to the game, this b!tch got me on lockdown/
I'm Serious dog, I don't really think you feel me/
Even if I exit out the game they still wanna kill me/(sh!t)
Eye for an eye, A tooth for a tooth/
Muthaf!cka f!ck with me, then i'll f!ck wit you/
F!ck wit ya crew, make it hard to sleep at night/
Got you, thinkin' if, Rock gonna pay a visit that night/
Mob style, Wake you up with a gun in ya mouth/
Me and a couple of other killas renegadin' ya house/
Just standing there staring at you, without sayin' sh!t/
Got you scared at f!ck, ya life in suspense/
I raise my thing on ya mouth, for sho the reaper's comin/
You been runnin all ya life but this time it's no running/
And you woulda never guessed in a million year the day that you die/
The last face that you see would be mine"

18. We don't Give a f!ck (feat. JK) - $$$ - This beat is really tight but that is all there is to this song. JK spits a pretty tight flow but lyrically his sh!t is just wack. They chorus of "We/They/He/She dont give a f!ck" Is pretty damn annoying. C-Note spits a pretty tough second verse. In the last verse, JK and C-Note go back and forth spittin some aight lyrics here and there. This is a pretty average song and the beat almost pushes it over the hump but it just isn't good enough to warrant a higher score.

Man this thing really destroyed my expectations. I was thinking this was gonna be some more dirty south trash that would get nothing more than a two star from me. Man was I wrong. This is one of the best Southern rap albums I've heard in a while. If you are a fan of C-Note or the Botany Boys you MUST have this album. Needless to say if you are a big fan of Southern rap than you need to add this to your collection. Believe me you wont be disapointed. If you don't like Dirty South rap, you may still want to give this a listen as you may actually find yourself liking this album. I know I do.

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving