Lyricist Lounge 2

Biggie is back again--freestyling like only a dead man can on the intro to this second volume culled from the archives of NYC's Lyricist Lounge. You have to wonder why hip-hop can't let the man rest in peace? Must be something to do with the papers. Same could be said of this record's transparent attempt to keep a franchise alive and help push the Rawkus label further into mainstream consciousness. Aside from the aforementioned intro and Q-Tip's "live" outro, there's precious little evidence that the Lyricist Lounge is, in actuality, a freestyle forum with a monthly live event in New York City. The pairings of established and lesser MCs are suitably uninspired: Big Noyd and Prodigy's "The Grimy Way" and Royce Da 5'9"s "Let's Grow" even sound as if they're retreading 1980s retro-synth soundtracks. And, predictably, Mos Def (Rawkus's would-be prophet and biggest seller) is all over the record. He pairs up first with Ghostface Killah (on the previously released "Ms Fat Booty" remix), then with Pharoahe Monch and Nate Dogg (on "Oh No"), and cameos on the Gang Starr remix of Macy Gray's "I've Committed Murder." It seems that the only people that really get it are Last Emperor and RZA, whose resurrected creature-feature "He Lives" performs radical psychic surgery on this comp's rotting corpse. --Chris Campion