Despite his longtime association with Jay-Z, the best and most popular rapper alive during the early 2000s, Memphis Bleek nonetheless continually struggled to overcome his protTgT reputation and break through on his own, and his third album, M.A.D.E., again falls a bit short of that mark. Even so, it's a marked improvement for Bleek, a definite step forward and a sure showcase of his growing maturity. His first two albums, Coming of Age (1999) and Understanding (2000), had their moments, ...   [ read more ]

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For his second album, Jay-Z protTgT Memphis Bleek makes small strides forward from his debut album, Coming of Age. Yet like Coming of Age, the tracks on The Understanding may be a level above those of most rap but still aren't in the same category as those of Jay-Z or the other superstars from New York's hardcore school of rap: Nas, Ja Rule, Mobb Deep, and Raekwon. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

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A collaborator on many of Jay-Z's albums (and a fellow native of Brooklyn's Marcy Projects), Memphis Bleek debuted his own solo career with the album Coming of Age, released on his mentor's Roc-A-Fella label, a subsidiary of Def Jam. Bleek's rapping style is a bit more street-level than Jay-Z's, making for a distinctive album that comes as a bit of a surprise given the large amount of samey records that often come from the same hip-hop labels. Besides the obvious cameos -- from {$Ja...   [ read more ]

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