The Firm - The Album (1997)

With a cast list lengthy enough to compete with that of a small movie, The Album is an auditory trip into the lives of a handful of nefarious individuals living a gangster lifestyle, however unconvincing. Major players on this project include Nas ("Escobar"), Foxy Brown, AZ (Sosa), and Nature, although tracks are peppered with additional and less popular MCs such as Prettyboy ("Firm All Stars"), Wizard ("Untouchable"), Canibus ("Desperados"), Noreaga ("I'm Leaving"), and Half-a-Mil ("Throw Your Guns"). Dr. Dre and the Trackmasters share equal billing as supervising producers. Dre's production is atypically diverse from track to track and lacks any samples or arrangements reminiscent of his work with N.W.A., Snoop Dogg, or his own solo projects. This diversity may be the result of the collaboration with Chris "The Glove" Taylor on the production tasks for five of the six tracks for which Dre is responsible. The teamwork production of the Trackmasters is orchestrated by Poke & Tone, Curt Gowdy, L.E.S. and provides the instrumentation for the remaining seven of 13 songs. Overshadowed by lewd profanity, violence, and limited scope of content, The Album fails to make a favorable or unique impression among contemporary releases.~The Album Review by Qa'id Jacobs