"How We Roll" RealAudio loud.com

Big Pun – Big Moon Dawg
It’s been about a year since one of the greatest MCs of New York and, evidently, the most famous Latino MC representin’ to the fullest, Big Punisher aka Big Pun (born Christopher Rios) collapsed in a New York hotel room and died at hospital. It happened on February 7th, 2000. The rapper, always known for being supersized and gigantic, weighed about 698 lbs. at that time. Big Pun became famous for his cameos with mate rapper Fat Joe, who he always called his twin brother. At once it became clear to the attentive ear that this guy possessed a lyrical gift with incessant breath control and a knock-out punch with the rhymes. His verse on "Fire Water" (featuring Wu-Tang all-star Raekwon) had enough wind to blow out an inferno yet flowed like a waterfall. In no time, mix tape heads ate him up. Funkmaster Flex featured Punisher on the Mix Tape Volume I. He did a song with B Real there, and from that moment on, success was guaranteed. In 1998, he released his first solo record called “Capital Punishment” which remained on heavy rotation because of some songs a long time. Big Pun was the Latino MC with the wickedest flow ever, and even though for example The Terror Squad’s album flopped as far as the charts were concerned, Big Pun’s song on it, “Whatcha Gon Do” , became a hit. Big Pun then began his works on a second solo album called “Yeeeah Baby”, however, he did not live long enough to see it being released – it came out about two months after his death…

Therefore, “Yeeeah Baby” was his first posthumous record – now, we’re already into the second one. “Endangered Species”, a collection of Big Pun’s greatest hits, a collection of famous collaborations, and of some yet unreleased tracks. An overview of Pun’s talent and his work. It’s going to be last big Pun record, so we check it out:

“You ain’t a killer”, a hard, dope track with some of the best, most involved raps ever that we know from “Capital Punishment”, “Twinz” (Deep Cover ’98) feat. Fat Joe from “Capital Punishment”, and “What cha gon’ do?” from the Terror Squad album form the intro of the 24 track long odyssey - solid tracks that made their marks. “How We Roll” feat. Ashanti, previously unreleased, is the first unknown track on the record and also its first single. The Irv Gotti and Tru Stylze-produced, jiggy track is made to become a hit single: on the one hand, we have that type of beat, and on the other, Ashanti gives us this really catchy hook, and Pun’s rhymes are tight as usual. After that, we come back to the solid stuff: “Still not a player” feat. Joe, probably the best known Pun track of his career, and even though we heard this about ten thousand times, it’s still dope. Word! “Off The Books” with the Beatnuts and Cuban Link brings us to “Banned from TV” from the Noreaga album “N.O.R.E.” feat. Big Pun, Cam’Ron, Nature, Styles and Jadakiss (of the L.O.X.). Swizz Beats stuff under verses of some of the best – especially Nature, Pun and Jadakiss impress. “Mamma”, track number 10, is the second unreleased joint on the album. Together with Tony Sunshine who sings once again a hook, Pun comes over a Latino-influenced Alchemist guitar production. “Brave In The Heart” featuring the Terror Squad is my personal favourite with a hard and fast beat and a catchy sample. ”John Blaze”, a track from Fat Joe’s “Don Cartagena” album featuring Big Pun, Jadakiss, Nas and Raekwon, is the next that really has to be mentioned: A tight Ski production, the rest means pure emceeing. “My World” is hasn’t been released yet either. EZ Elpee, who is responsible for the musical part, gave Pun a slow, dark and gloomy beat. Pun tells a story – you’ll recognize that he’s into that part of emceeing too. “Pina Colada” with Sheik and the Ruff Ryders has been played for several times in every club, “Top of the world (rmx)” by Brandy with Pun, Joe and Rodney Jerkins is one of those rap-remix-updates for the single of an R’n’B hit, “Livin’ La Vida Loca (rmx)” brings us even Ricky Martin, the rest of the record is known too, except the “Freestyle with Remy Martin”, short but rough, and “Wishful Thinking” by Fat Joe with Kool G Rap and B Real of Cypress Hill, a track on a dark vibe, too.

The record has got 24 tracks, 6 tracks have yet been unreleased. Not really much. The album is cool, though, because it features all the hits, all the dope cameos, and some unreleased shit on one disc. If you cop that disc, you have an overview of Pun’s talent and his work. So get it if you don’t possess his two albums and all the rest. Else, check out the “bonus material” – it’s worth it. (Emm)