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Beanie Sigel - The SolutionAlbum Review by:
John Burnett
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
 The Broad Street Bully keeps one foot in the booth and the other in the streets, which could eventually be his downfall. You would think narrowly escaping a murder charge would be enough for him to distance himself from his violent past. It wasn’t. Early 2006, Beanie Sigel was back in court for a dispute that led to a broken eye socket for the victim. With Beans going in and out of jail, sporadically, he’s never been able to fully manifest the potential he’s shown glimmers of on his albums. Now on his fourth album, The Solution, Beans has the opportunity to prove he’s the rightful heir to the Roc-A-Fella dynasty and not a bust like Jay’s initial protégé.
The Solution is a mixed bag of successful and ineffectual experiments for Beans. The successes turn out really well for Sigel while the botched attempts crash and burn. Producer, Chad West, cooks up some suave soul on the two-step inducing, Big Poppa tribute, “I’m In.” Beans captures Big’s humorous wit and colorful story-telling perfectly, but maintains his own persona with gritty lines like: “you know the rules/a whore gets none/hard dick and bubble gum…and I just chewed my last stick is where I’m comin’ from.” It’s not your typical Sigel track, but he succeeds in pulling it off. On the other hand, “All of the Above” featuring R. Kelly reeks of a contrived formula that begs for crossover success. Not to mention they recruited hit-makers du jour, The Runners, on the production tip which solidifies the above-stated. It’s forgivable when the jazzy “Hustlas, Haze and Highways” graces your ears. Dre & Vidal infuse the track with a busy brass section and light piano keystrokes bringing the BPMs to a dragging pace to make room for Sigel’s crawling flow. He also offers his commentary on “young/other rappers” slinging another tight jean, Bathing Ape subliminal. Then there’s “Pass the Patron” featuring Diddy, Ghostface Killah and Peedi Crakk, which wears the same formulaic stench as “All of the Above” providing some of Sigel’s laziest rhymes on the LP. Lines like “[she] in love with stripping like T-Pain/every week-end to the club, like Lisa Raye/making niggas make it rain like Lil Wayne” quickly turn this track into an unmemorable effort. The most impressive experiment comes in Beans unlikely pairing with folk singer, James Blunt, on “Dear Self.” Sigel wages war on himself condemning his own misdoings, while his other half responds back candidly calling him a hypocrite; a nice make-over on a concept that’s been rehashed several times (this year).
Early Sigel fans shouldn’t fret either. There’s enough hard-body (hardcore) gun and shank bravado to satisfy the illest of thugs including a really dope, rapid fire, back and forth feature with Styles P on “You Ain’t Ready.” On the first listen, The Solution doesn’t sound good at all but it grows on you with each listen. Each track is very distinct. The good tracks are really good and vice versa. The forced club tracks are the only thing holding this album back from being a superior album. Even with its missteps, The Solution is a worthwhile listen.
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