Hot Joints

Kiss Presents: Hot Joints

"Yes it's yet another R'n'B/Urban/Hip Hop compilation - (woohoo!!!).

So what makes "Hot Joints" special / unique? Considering its from the same people who brought us the very recent 'Mobo Presents Urban Beats 2003 - and contains NINE of the same songs - it doesn't really differentiate.

Having said that 'Hot Joints' has got a much stronger hip hop/rap presence, plus its got a few BIG exclusives in the form 50 Cent's 'In Da Club' and Eminem's 'Business'. It also contains a few tracks from the vaults including the ODB's/Neptunes stone cold classic 'Got Your Money', Dre/Snoops seminal 'Still Dre', and a token 2Pac track in the form 'Thugz Mansion'. (Why no 'California Love' instead?).

The opening 10 acts of the double 40 track CD comprise some of commercial raps elite. 50 Cent, Eminem, Jay-Z, DMX, Obie Trice etc is a stellar line-up. Unfortunately some of the tracks already having had such massive radio/club play have become slightly grating. 'In Da Club', 'Hot In Herre', 'X Gon' Give It To Ya', taken out of this context, and played in a few months time will still sound amazing. In the way 'Got your Money' now sounds SOOOO GOOD, but was almost killed by being overplayed at the time.

So similarly, the two number one singles that open disc two - Fatman Scoops 'Be Faithful' and Blu Cantrell & Sean Paul's 'Breathe' have lost their freshness, and possibly could have done with having remix versions instead. So 2 Play's cover of Kevin Little's hit 'Turn Me On' is a nice touch.

Personally because of the over familiarity of most of the tracks, it's the Black Eye's Peas - A Tribe Called Quest meets Grease sounding - 'Joints and Jams' together with Truth Hurts R.Kelly penned 'The Truth' and Dizzee Rascals 'I Luv You' that get the best reaction. But that probably isn't the point. If you are after some of the most recent MASSIVE 'Hot Joints' this will be the CD for you.

Just scanning the track list sees so many appealing tracks; Jay-Z's 'Excuse Me Miss', Snoop Dogg & Pharell's 'Beautiful', Sean Paul's 'Shake It' and Lumidee's 'Never Leave You' are worth owning in their own right. If a CD single is 4 quid then there's at least fifteen truly great singles included. So call it £60 quids worth of singles and that still leaves another 25 tracks (a quarter of these are pure filler though).

In terms of value for money 'Hot Shots' is superb and if you've got a mate with poor taste in music this could be a very good starting point for them." - Toby Austin

The track listing for the CD is:

CD1
1    50 Cent - In Da Club
2    Eminem - Business
3    Jay-Z - Excuse Me Miss
4    DMX - X Gon Give it To Ya
5    Obie Trice feat. Eminem - Drips
6    Joe Budden - Pump It Up
7    Ludacris - Act A Fool
8    Nelly feat. Dani Stevenson - Hot In Here
9    Sean Paul - Shake It
10    Cam'ron feat. Juelz Santana - Hey Ma
11    Ms Dynamite - Dy-Na-Mi-Tee
12    Truth Hurts - The Truth
13    Wayne Wonder - No Letting Go
14    LL Cool J feat. Amerie - Paradise
15    Inspectah Deck - The Movement
16    Eve - Satisfaction
17    Bubba Sparxxx - Disappear
18    2 Pac feat. Anthony Hamilton - Thugz Mansion
19    Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg - Still Dre

CD2
1    Fatman Scoop - Be Faithful
2    Blu Cantrell feat. Sean Paul - Breath
3    2 Play feat. Raghav & Jucxi D - Turn Me On
4    Lumidee - Never Leave You (Uh Ooh, Un Oooh!)
5    Black Eyed Peas - Joints & Jams
6    Snoop Dogg & Pharrel - Beautiful
7    Jay-Z feat. Beyonce - 03' Bonnie & Clyde
8    Dizzee Rascal - I Luv You
9    Ol Dirty Bastard - Got Your Money
10    So Solid Crew & The Reelists - Broken Silence
11    B2K - Girlfriend
12    Mis-Teeq - Can't Get IT Back
13    Terri Walker - Ching Ching (Lovin' You Still)
14    Wayne Wonder - Bounce Along
15    Lisa Maffia - In Love
16    Amy Winehouse - October Song
17    Iceberg Slimm v Urban Lady - Reminisce With Me
18    Spooks - Faster Than You Know
19    Bon Garcon - Thug Love
20    Big Brovaz - Favourite Things

KISS PRESENTS: HOT JOINTS WAS RELEASED ON 24th November 2003