Someone has to uphold New York rap traditionalism. Why not Fat Joe? He makes a reasonably convincing case for himself as an elder statesman of the style on his 10th album, The Darkside Vol. 1, firing off no-nonsense crime rhymes over soul samples as if the ’90s never ended. His inspiration trails off slightly toward the end, but at least half of these tracks will delight purists. B+
Download These:
Kilo, a summit featuring Cam’ron and the Clipse, at youtube.com
I’m Gone, produced by DJ Premier, at youtube.com
