Wax Freshlook – Fat Joe | The Dark Side Vol. 1

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by Ural Garrett

Fat Joe leaves the radio friendliness alone and spits some his best rhymes in years on The Darkside Vol.1

It seems like The Elephant in the Room and Jealous Ones Still Envy 2 suffered (commercially and critically) mainly due to Fat Joe’s attempt to top the success of Me, Myself & I‘s monstrous hit “Make It Rain.” Let’s not forget the career destroying feud with 50 Cent. It seems that even with the failures, Joey Crack seems more determined than ever because The Darkside Vol.1 is one of his best albums in years.

Fat Joe leaves the gimmicky hooks and choruses alone, allowing Crack to spit bar after bar of hard-hitting rhymes. Besides “(Ha Ha) Slow Down” featuring Young Jeezy and “If It Ain’t About Money” featuring Trey Songz, the album lacks any “pop sensibility” which is great. While The Darkside Vol.1 has its fair share of features, the album shines when it’s just Crack and the mic. The Cool & Dre produced “Valley of Death” sets the darker tone for the album. “I Am Crack” shows Joseph Cartagena successfully trying to match the magnitude of the Just Blaze production.

Killer Bar Alert
“A new connects means a few more dream, now watch a nigga flood the streets like New Orleans, blow like trumpets, snorting on the second line, fucken with that white bitch will have you on the boarder line” Kilo

If it wasn’t for the horrible DJ Infamous rip-off of MoSS’ production usage of the same sample from Ghostface Killah’s Fishscale album, “Kilo” featuring Clipse and Cam’ron had the potential to be The Darkside Vol.1’s best track. Thank goodness the Thornton brothers and Killa come through lyrically. That award for the album highlight goes to “I’m Gone” which is produced by the legendary DJ Premier.

Besides going in the history books for being recorded the day that Premier’s former Gang Starr member Guru’s death, this harkens back to the good ol’ “Golden Age” of early 90s hip-hop. “Heavenly Father” featuring Lil Wayne may be the most controversial track on the album due to Crack spitting a few bars on the death of Big Pun and the handling of his legacy by his widow.

The Darkside Vol.1 sees Fat Joe leaving behind the radio friendly tracks of “Lean Back” and “Make It Rain” in favor of a more hardcore sound which launched him into the game during the early 90s.