Let The Truth Be Told
by Z-Ro

Z-Ro - Let the Truth Be Told is an album I suspect I would rate significantly higher weren't it for Guerilla Maab - Rise. The high level of team chemistry showcased there created an atmosphere of coziness and familiarity that is hard to be replaced, even though Z-Ro's performance here - as usual - leaves nothing to be desired, both touchingly passionate and impeccably technical. Another thing this album has going for it is variety, there's something for everyone. It begins with an exemplary display of freestyle("I rhyme so long, rhyme so strong I flex my bicep then I swoll on Get on, the motherfucking bench And when the laws hit the corner, I hit the fence They wonder where I went, they keep looking I don't give a fuck, like Tyson I keep hooking Or maybe like Lennox, I'm strong to the finish I'm like the ghetto Popeye, but I don't need spinach"). Then, there are some super fun tracks that can get any party going - pretty much every track from The Mule ("Ma thinking bout gripping ass thats why I hit it swift and fast I'm a put this log on you you gon' feel it all in your calves A gangsta so I'm raw with it I know what I'm doing Thats why she pop up at my residence trying to see what I'm doing") all the way to I'm A Soldier ("But when I say somethin homey I mean what I say I'ma murder you straight up or I can lean when I spray Z-Ro the "fuck everybody" nigga from Screwed Up Click Now I ain't gon' let you bend over to tie your shoes up bitch I'ma launch a Bernard Hopkins type of blow in your jaw That's the way I police my perimeter, Ro is the law"), but there are some serious and dark subjects developed as well, for example in 1 Night ("It'll be nice to have Emo and Jody and LL back My nigga Best and his big brother E. Roy Love Dem people ain't never comin' back But if only for one night My nigga could make a decision he shoulda made Make it where the situation turned out another way And ain't a day go by I don't wish I didn't have to miss my momma This ain't livin my nigga this just drama If only for the night when the storm'll live calmer Cause seem like they wanna give a lifetime sentence To a nigga with a pistol and a pound of marijuana") or in Help Me Please ("This is the sea of life, and I'm drownin I know I can swim, but feel like I keep sinkin down in These waters and I cain't breathe, I feel like I'm gon' blow it I can see people holdin a life jacket but they won't throw it Entertained by my struggle and they'd love to see me die Why not love to see me live instead of helpin my family cry?") or in Another Song ("It's bad enough I lost a family my luck ain't live Mama died when I was 6 and Daddy ain't have enough time To kick it with me-like I wanted him to kick it with me Now that I'm incarcarated you wanna come and visit with me But I ain't holdin no grudges Daddy I love you that's my word Even though you had me sleeping on a curb ... I wish I had another song"). The length is not a big issue, but a small trim wouldn't have been a bad idea at all, as consistency is not exactly its strongest point.