Big Noyd, Episodes of a Hustla (1996)

By all accounts, this is a darn good album that got very little marketing and is short. I am guessing Noyd just didn't have enough material, so he filled a 39 minute album with an intro, two interludes and remaking 2 of the songs over. On top of that, most of the songs have guest appearances supplying even more filler. It's a bonafide album with 6 songs, 8 in total if you count the remix and remake (part I and part II). What's left has tight production with equally tight beats, thanks in full to the Mobb Deep (all tracks produced by Havoc). Noyd's lyrics are on point and exactly what you'd expect from the Mobb's background cat, they're aggressive and hyper.

All the songs are head boppers but All Pro featuring Ty Nitty, Twin and Prodigy is the headliner! On it, Prodigy wrecks a serious verse saying "The chronicles of a criminal cat who hold gat/ and bust back at trash ass cats who scratch/ leaves big holes, like bitches with their legs spread hot/ ready for action, now peep my whole plot/ Unveil and reveal, hazardous skill, trained assassains of this rap danger field/ I feel ya'll niggas ain't really keeping it real/ use that ice grill like a sheild, nigga you meal/ for my vultures, who swoop down, attack your court/ found laying in the streets of New York/ now sleep walk/ for that shit you did, should have never have did/ now you boxed in, sentenced to a lifetime bid/ nigga, Noyd and P shine bright like, jewelry/ silver and gold exclusively/ terrorize and multiply/ shot up your spot up, you just ain't what you used to be/ after these fists of NY struck you D/ now you see a whole new light and new leaf/ searching for an exit, trying to retreat the street/ waving white flags, no dangers, dead meat/ we only truce when your heart cease, peace!" I listened to this song infinitely in 1996 and it was certainly my vote for rap verse of the year.

On Recognize and Realize (Part II), to an uptempo Havoc track Noyd spits "The trife life, I'm living famous/ busting shots live it's dangerous/ in midnight, we do it right in broad daylight/ the trifle life, living rough, wearing handcuffs like bracelets/ 25 to life, he faced it/ got on the run and got wasted/ mad agony having me more vexed/ got me pulling out techs on opposite sex/ the cream got me fiend/ from massive vill schemes, like doing drive-bys in stretch limosines." Add to that another knocker from Prodigy on this song, you have to wonder what's happened to P of late?

Believe it or not, this album would rate alot higher if it was longer, and not so because of more filler. Of course, if it was longer with similarly strong content, it would be a classic but not to Noyd's merit but to the credit of Mobb Deep.

Rating: 7 Gold Teefs
Buy or Copy: Not worth the price of admission seeing as how it's less than 40 minutes including interludes and filler. Download or copy it, I'm sure Noyd isn't collecting any royalties off of this lost release.