Big Noyd Only The Strong (Landspeed Records) Rating: NNN
Rating: NNN
Unbelievable that in 1993, Big Noyd captured the attention of hiphop fans based on a handful of verses performed with his Queensbridge colleagues Mobb Deep. Ten years later, we get Noyd’s second full-length following an uneven debut. The bad news is that the shortage of solid choruses and imaginative songs here makes for an album that doesn’t rise to great heights. The good news is that, like fellow actual gangsta Cormega, Noyd exudes a raw energy that hasn’t dissipated much since his appearances on The Infamous, and with often strong production from the likes of the Alchemist, Only The Strong manages to fend for itself in the stagnant sea of b-level New York gangsta rap.
