God s Favorite - Recognized for keeping a biography of Manuel Noriega with him at all times, the then 16 year old Victor Santiago was christened after the Panamanian General who he emulated while serving time for attempted murder. In prison he met his present day cohort Capone during bible class. He became well known in the game during a time of the media frenzied east coast, west coast dispute with his verse on LA, LA the response to Tha Dogg Pound s dis record New York, New York. Later in the year Capone -N- Noreaga was signed to Tommy Boy Records and released their debut album The War Report. Five years and three albums later, N.O.R.E. made his way from the label that he claims sucks to the Godfather of rap labels Def Jam Records. Recorded in just six weeks God s Favorite is a return to focus for N.O.R.E. who says he wasn t focused when his last solo album N.O.R.E. was being recorded. The album looks to be a home run with The Neptunes, Irv Gotti, and Swizz Beats conducting about half of the album s production.The album begins in a very peculiar way with two straight intro s Hit Me Slime and God s Favorite. The third track is his single and current banger Nothing which is one of five tracks that were produced by the super producers The Neptunes. The next song Grimey isn t anything new since it was on the Violator compilation but the fire that the Queens MC spits on the blazin track and the energetic beat that The Neptunes hooked up keeps your head knockin back and forth relentlessly. Mr. CEO is dedicated to none other then the CEO who won t let him eat and handle his business in the rap game because he straight out of the hood. Irv Gotti produced Life My Life which features Ja Rule but he only does the hook. The song isn t anything spectacular and is the first song on the album that won t provide you much replay value. You know it isn t an album without the humor which is what N.O.R.E. is known for, but he does tone that down and switch gears on the track Black Clouds where N.O.R.E. displays his honesty with the people saying I admit Melvin Flynt my soul wasn t there/recorded in the studio my mind wasn t clear/. After Black Clouds the album slides into a slump with very mediocre tracks that aren t really worth the listen. The album does in fact conclude very well with one of the highpoints from the album that is the Nameanuheard Remix which features Capone, Cam Ron, Fat Joe, and Cassidy. Also the Bonus Track The Life Of A...(Gangsta) by Capone will get Capone fans eager for his solo album.N.O.R.E. s God Favorite maybe his most focused album but it seems as it was his most un prepared work to date. The consistency and replay value of this joint just isn t on it. The lack of diversity in production from The Neptunes, Irv Gotti, and Swizz Beats, and his set of producers take away from the quality of the album. The crew love that he shows towards his Thugged Out Militant doesn t assist the album very well as it seems N.O.R.E. got sluggish with the album and just threw on filler tracks which features his crew. N.O.R.E. is better off being Noreaga with his partner Capone for group albums and not solo s. The album is good for a laugh here and there but for the most part it s just N.O.R.E. talking noise for 70 minutes.2.5 outta 5.
God s Favorite - Pleather * Always 100% dog-free-guaranteed.* Designer Ty Bowers calls pleather the wild kingdom of synthetic fabrics. It can look like snakeskin [and] can be dyed any color.* As the L.A. Times says, pleather beckons to budget-conscious trendoids who want to save money and animal lives. A pair of leather pants can cost $500 or more, while pleather pants can be found for under 100 bucks.* These days, it s easy to accessorize and save lives. One quick trip to the mall (or online shopping spree), and you can score tons of great synthetic shoes, bags, belts, and more-in stylin brands like Steve Madden, Unlisted, and Mudd. Click here for a free copy of PETA s Shopping Guide to Nonleather Products. Leather* While most leather comes from cows, it can also be made from ... dogs and cats! In the Philippines and Korea, dog leather is routinely marked cow skin for export purposes. When you wear leather, you can never be sure whose skin you re in. * To make real snakeskin bags and shoes, reptiles are ripped from their jungle homes, often skinned alive, then left to suffer for hours, or even days, until they die.* Buy leather, and animals pay the price-with their lives. Production lines move too fast for slaughterhouse workers to ensure that all animals are dead before being skinned and having their legs cut off. Britney Spears-Pretty in PleatherAdd pop princess Britney Spears to the growing list of stars, including Pamela Anderson, who are singing the praises of pleather.In her Oops ... I Did It Again video, she slipped into a skin-hugging, scarlet pleather bodysuit. What Are Your Pleather Picks?What are some of your favorite animal-friendly fashions? Is it your mock Docs (leather-free Dr. Martens), your classic canvas Converse All Stars, or your pink plastic Hello Kitty purse? Tell us your top pick-we may feature them in a future issue of Grrr! What are your favorite brands of synthetic shoes, bags, belts, etc.? Here are some of ours to help you get started, but list any brands you like: Delia s, Rocket Dog, Funky Chunk, l.e.i.Where do you get your gear? At the mall, from an online shopping site (send us the Web address!), or someplace else?Even if you ve never thought about leather vs. pleather before, chances are you ve already got some fab fakes in your closet! Take a look and tell us what you find-whether it s a divine vinyl wallet or pleather shoes. If you re not sure, look for these four magic words on the label: All man-made materials.Write to: GrrrMag@peta.org.
not god s favirote but one of mine - this album is bumpin the beats are tight as hell (swizz and neptunes).N.O delivers the thugged out presence but the best songon here is the last one with the capone solo get this shit
God s Favorite 3.5 star album - The last time I heard, NORE was supposed to have an album from Rocafella called `One Fan A Day , but judgin by the lastest issue of XXL, he s not apart of the ROC, or Carter Administration like they re callin it now. As for this 2002album though, is was a solid release complete w/ ALL of NORE s charisma, and some pretty heavy beats. He was never a supreme lyricist, but people have never hated in the way he flips his words, pretty much in the same boat as Cam Ron-except with NORE s slightly high tone, you never wanna put yourself o sleep. This album is full of headnodders, including the hit singleNothin, one of the best Neptune beats on Grimey, along w/ two other Neptune joints of Head Bussa and Full Mode. One songs people might hate on though is Love Ya Moms w/ Capone, Mus-N-Maze, Gold, & Complexions. Overall it s meant to be a dedication songs, but lyrically it s still hard enough to NOT be mistakin for any P. Diddy type stuff. I think Banned from the Club w/ Mus-N-Maze was on some other NORE cd, but I m not mad at it for bein on here. The only downside to this album was that it starts off w/ TWO skits, and some songs (Wanna Be Like Him w/ Mashonda, Live My Life w/ Ja Rule, Consider This w/ Kelis) could have been left off the album, cause they re pretty much crappy filly material. Hopefully NORE will be able to find a decent label to hook up with, cause he s able to put out good radio songs while not sacrificing any street cred.
3rd solo is his worst -- but still decent - After 3 years since his last solo, about 6 months of push back dates (leading to the fact I heard half the album before it came out), and a move to Def Jam, this was supposed to be his best album and best selling (his other 2 solo s went gold (and I d give them 4.5 stars) as did both his group albums with Capone which I d give both 5 stars, and of them 4 albums), I d have to say this is his worst yet, barely getting 4 stars. Of the 16 songs (1 is a Capone solo) 1 is almost a classic, 3 I skip, 1 is ok, the others are good. Guests are on every song (about half just do the hooks) so you don t get a lot of NOREs wild eccentric rapping style. Production is not the best, and bad on a few songs that brings the quality down a little. Neptunes did 5 songs, Swizz Beats & NPK each did 3 songs, EZ Elpee, Irv Gotti, L.E.S., Yogi, Kyze all do 1 song. A good album to have for his fans but far rfrom his best work.#3 - 8 (f/ neptunes)#4 - 9 (f/ Neptunes -- this was out over a year before the album came out)#5 - 6 (f/ DWNLZY -- annoying beat & hook)#6 - 8 (f/ Maze, Musolini, Capone)#7 - 9 (f/ Akinyele, Heather Hunter -- dirty song)#8 - 9 (f/ Ja Rule -- nice beat)#9 - 8 (f/ Neptunes)#10 - 9.5 (deep song about their moms -- f/ Capone, Maze, Musolini, Complexsion)#11 - 8 (f/ neptunes)#12 - 5.5 (f/ Mashonda)#13 - 8.5 (f/ complexsion)#14 - 8.5 (f/ final chapter)#15 - 8.5 (f/ musolini)#16 - 6 (f/ kelis)#17 - 8 (f/ Cam ron, Cassidy, Fat Joe, Capone)#19 - 7.5 (capone f/ Chinky -- no NORE)Victor Santiago -- b. Bronx, NY moved to Lefrak City, Queens, NYcheck all my reviews