Having spent nearly a year in jail on federal weapons charges, Beanie Sigel has returned to rap with The Solution, an album that filters stories of hustling through a dark, gritty lens, while at the same time letting listeners in on Sigel’s introspective moments, an all-too-rare occurrence in today's grill-obsessed, mainstream rap albums. The split personality of the album makes The Solution a stand-out from its competition.
A fitting opener, "All the Above" functions partly as club song and partly as celebration of Beanie's return to the game as he raps, "Mr. Beat the Case is back/ Got acquitted, stitch fitted in that gangster hat/ Now I'm back, sick with it with this gangster rap." The typical club song aspect of the track presents itself in the hook, where all the tired rap themes are present: proclaiming how hood one is, stacking paper sky high, and passing bottles of bub. R. Kelly lends his voice to the hook. He boasts, "I'm hood, I'm street/ Still standin' in the middle of the beat/ I'm a mack, I'm a thug/ I'm a pimp I does all the above." This ego-boosting (or boasting) song will surely have ballers diggin' deep into their pockets.
But Beanie Sigel gets more serious as the album progresses. Tracks like "Prayer" and "Dear Self (Can I Talk to You)," which unexpectedly samples James Blunt's "No Bravery," expose a realer side of Sigel. He throws aside the façade of his monstrous rapper's ego to address his own ignorant ways. In "Dear Self" he cautions himself, "Please come off that high chair you're sitting in/ Before you snatched from it, or strapped to it/ Ya body used as a conduit/ A thousand volts flow through you/ Ya life gone over something foolish." Meanwhile, "Prayer," offers a contemplative, albeit depressing, look into Sigel's mind. "How long I been stuck? They dreamin' at this light/ Wonderin if that's a sign how I been moving through life/ Reckless abandon, a accident just waiting to happen."
Even songs that aren't intended to be serious find Beanie invoking a powerful tone. Although "Shake It for Me," featuring Diddy, Ghostface Killah, and Peedi Peedi, might appear to be just another ode to ass-shaking females and one-night stands, the raw force and stern attitude which saturate all of Beanie's verses are enough to make listeners momentarily forget he's simply looking for a shorty to take home. With a beat built around a slow, pounding bass, as if the beat itself is readying to pounce, the song becomes an eerie reflection on dark club nights transitioning to morning-afters.
Musically, the biggest surprise is found in "The Day," which samples Black Sabbath's "War Pigs," a song originally written in protest of the Vietnam War. Beanie Sigel proves his lyrical prowess by producing a tight flow over the unlikely inspiration of metal guitar riffs. His imagination takes hold as he awakes from a dream fearful his judgment day has come. He explains, "I'm a Muslim by nature, a gangster by circumstance." He sees Biggie and Tupac, both of whom are mentioned several times throughout the album, and offers interpolations of their lyrics to show his utmost respect for them.
The Solution presents a self-aware yet still troubled Beanie Sigel. It's refreshing to hear a rap album that's lyrically serious, though at times a bit depressing. However, a good amount of melodic hooks ("Go Low," featuring Rock City, uses a reggae-infused hook) and head-bobbing beats ("'Bout That (Let Me Know), "U Ain't Ready 4 Me," featuring Styles P) keep the album from feeling like it's completely driven by Sigel's regrets and failures.