Everyone always talks about bringing New York back with his or her album; the only thing is New York hasn’t gone anywhere. It would be pretty impossible for a city that holds 8,000,000 people to just up and disappear into thin air.

So for the New York MC’s that have a little more sense, they’re not trying to bring something back that never left, they’re just trying to make sure the Empire State is still relevant, and that’s where New York veteran and Mobb Deep affiliate Big Noyd comes into play.

After making his solo debut with Episodes Of A Hustla back in 1996, his career hit a snag in the road, and he didn’t officially release another album until 2003, with Only The Strong. What followed after that was another under-the-radar release in 2005 with On The Grind. But now it looks like his fourth up at bat will bring him just as much recognition as his first.

Upon hearing Illustrious you’ll notice the absence of Havoc from The Mobb and Alchemist on production, and that ‘Lil Fame of M.O.P. has taken over the executive producer reigns instead. Even though this is a new avenue for Noyd, he still sounds comfortable with the new format.

The album starts off “Snitches”, an ode to the worse kind of person you can encounter on the streets. After he shares his views on people of that nature, he moves onto “Posted On The Block” (produced by ‘Lil Fame). Over a dirty drum roll and blaring horns, Noyd expresses himself with lines like: “You heard man/don’t ever f**k with my dough/cause that be the reason for me to have to empty the 4 (n***a).”

“Back Up In This Bitch” is another Fizzy Womack production (‘Lil Fame), and it meshes well with Noyd dropping lines like: “The Empire State annihilate/n***as who’s violatin’/toast semi’s, and n***as drown Henny with no chase/f**k jake/we drive drunk with no plates/we let that thing go/ya gun stay on safe.”

Prodigy couldn’t be part of the album physically, but he still joins in via voice sample on “Ghetto”, where Joell Ortiz joins in with a verse of his own. One of the standout tracks on the album is “No Where Else To Hide.” With a well-placed voice sample of a woman informing you that there’s no where else to hide, Noyd lets you know that: “I’m not dumb/I roll with a big gun/and I’ll spit heat at you/faster than Big Pun.”

Songs like “Money Talk”, “Heartless”, “Things Done Changed” (feat. Kira), and “It’s A Wrap” help to further compliment the album, while songs like “Trying To Make It Out” (feat. 40 Glocc and B.A.M.) and “The Paper” (feat. Jay Rush) could’ve used a little more grooming. But in the end, it’s another solid effort from one of NYC’s finest, as Noyd proves that sometimes, change is good.