Rating: NNN
The Beauty Of Independence is a solid if unspectacular return to form for G-Unit six years after the East Coast collective released their last album. This time they have a new member and a massive chip on their shoulder as they return to a rap industry that’s been drastically altered since label strife and personal problems shelved the group in 2008.
Overall, second-stringers Tony Yayo and Kidd Kidd shine brightest. The latter tries out a variety of approaches, his best a snarling and scornful delivery on Digital Scale. Yayo, meanwhile, is most successful on Dead A Pussy Nigga, bending his flow into something atypically playful.
Still, the album’s peak comes from G-Unit overlord 50 Cent on Changes, which features the emcee’s trademark singsong rhymes on the hook and an impassioned verse where he recounts the dissolution of his long-time relationship with Interscope. The song harkens back to one of 50’s best songs, Many Men, and shows the kind of emotional complexity we haven’t seen from him in a while.
Top track: Changes
