With thirteen years in, contract discrepancies, two group albums, and two solo albums, Sheek Louch is back with his tri-fecta, Silverback Gorilla. The big man from The LOX can easily be considered a finalist for most improved rapper, as his trademark freestyle flow just seems to be getting better and better. After the intro, the album kicks off with “Think We Got A Problem” (feat. The Game and Bun B). East meets West meets South—as they all come together with their own brand of lyricism. Sheek: “I think we gotta problem, but homie he all talk/he ain’t gonna pop a balloon with a pitch fork.” Not to be out done, everybody’s favorite name-dropper, The Game: “Think we gotta a problem, Sheek know I’m hot/Kiss and Styles should make me a member of The LOX.” And rounding out the rear, (no homo) Bun B: “You can duck, dive, and dodge, but it won’t do didley squat/but leave you with a leaky liver, and both your kidneys shot.” On “Keep Pushin’” (feat. Mike Smith) Sheek talks about the good times mixed in with the bad.

“D-Block/Dipset” features….you guessed it! Dipset and D-Block. Jim Jones and Hell Rell represent Dipset, while Styles and Jad akiss complete the 5-man act. Styles is on “hook detail,” and the rest is as followed. Sheek: “I got no patience, and I hate waiting/see my homie in the rear/say hello to Satin.” Jim Jones: “They don’t do it like we do/pull up to the ‘hood, but the roof is all see through.” Hell Rell: “Half a million off of dope, and I’m still in the ‘hood fella/n*ggas respect me like Uncle Paulie in Good Fellas/and whoever you get your coke from, I’m their supplier/homie I watch The Wire/n*gga you wear The Wire.” Jadakiss: “Listen cock suckas I got bullets for each of you/if nothing else ‘least I know my dreams is reachable/dope money to rap money, still on the same route/I ain’t missed a game since TiVO came out.” Get your lighters in the air for “We At War.” Sampling Capleton’s voice from his Reggae classic “Danger Zone” Sheek lets it be known that it’s not safe outside. “Scrap To This” can be considered an oxy-moron because the title doesn’t match the production. Sheek’s lyrics are too hard for the loveable soft-sounding beat.

On “Don’t Be Them” Sheek addresses the issue of everybody trying to be everybody else, when they should be happy to just be themselves. It’s a LOX affair on “Gettin’ Stronger” with the trio in full form over the Soul-G production. Unk ‘walks’ in on “We Comin.’” Over a beat that resembles Southern fight music, Sheek and Unk join forces and match wits.

A ghost, an elephant, and a gorilla are all in attendance for “Rubber Grip” (AKA Styles, Fat Joe, and Sheek). As Sheek continues to be generous on his album, he lets Fat Joe join in with lines like, “Goddamn I love my rubber grip/I jerk off of this sh*t, I guess I’m f*ckin’ sick.” One of the stand out tracks is “2 Turntables & A Mic.” Over the unique sounding production, Sheek gets slick with lines like, “I’m a B-Boy standing in my B-Boy stance/but I don’t break dance, ever since One More Chance/I’m a fly mo-f*cka/I do it big like that Bed-Stuy mo-f*cka.”

Sheek’s Silverback Gorilla is another strong effort from the man that doesn’t get the same amount of recognition that his brethren do. The only thing wrong with the project is that he has too many features than needed (Fat Joe, Styles twice, Jadakiss twice, The Game, Bun B, Jim Jones, Hell Rell, Unk and Bully). One would think that coming from a group setting, especially a 3-man group—a person might spoil himself a lot more and back down on some of the features. But when Sheek does go for self, he proves that he can hold his own with songs like “That’s A Soldier,” “We Spray Crowds,” and “Mic Check,” while songs like “Go Hoodlums” could’ve used a little bit more tweaking. But in the end, the person that was thought of as the odd man out can now be thought of as solid contributor to hardcore East Coast Hip-Hop.