In 2001 the duo of Goldie Loc, Tray Deee and Snoop Dogg released their second album as The Eastsidaz. The Long Beach, California trio came to bring what would become their final album together, due in part to the fact that Snoop Dogg wished to move on to other projects and Tray Deee was sent to prison for 12 years soon after and so “Duces ‘n Trayz: The Old Fashioned Way” would mark the end of a time when a distinctive West Coast sound would have a prominence in the Hip Hop world.
1. “Intro”
2. “I Luv It”
They get things lively with a DJ Battlecat-produced two-stepper that gives it a distinctive late nineties-to-early ‘00s West coast sound that takes heavily from the sounds of G-Funk from earlier on during the former decade but has things updated to hit in with the new developments in what they are capable of delivering by this point. Kokane of Above The Law comes to assist on this one too for a banger of a jam, in addition to Snoop taking on the role of Snoopy Collins (Bootsy Collins) and Sir Snoop (Sir Nose D’Voidoffunk) for a throwback P-Funk affair done in the DPGC-Funk way.
**Five Stars**
3. “Eastside Ridaz”
Hi-Tek takes control of the beats here and shows how the Ohio sound appears to really fit in with the way that things go down on this one, and I felt that it was the perfect way to set things off here as you find that it gives them the chance to calm things down a little as they move away from the club end of things and recruit the West Coast’s most prominent hook man in Nate Dogg, who does his typical stuff and suits it al perfectly as they represent the east of Cali as no others have been able to.
**Five Stars**
4. “Crip Hop”
This track is a pretty big one and a recoridng that acts as a theme for the Crip street gang as you find that here we get one where Battlecat goes out to do nothing but bring that raw material that represents
them well and gives them the chance to rhyme about all this true and blue. All three have a heavy presence on the recording and it seems to make for one that fits in with all that they are about and had done since their debut the year prior to this.
**Four Stars**
5. “I Don’t Know”
LaToiya Williams gives a little extra something with this one as she brings some soothing R&B vocals on this one as they lower the pace with this one and perform a track that has them changing up the direction of the music quite significantly. However I have to say that I couldn’t really connect with it as much as I was able to on other jams on the album and so although I enjoyed some of its elements, I wasn’t feeling it all.
**Three Stars**
6. “Welcome 2 Tha House”
Here we get a track that is directly right for those into the low-rider scene, which the West coast is particularly well-known for it and so here you get some of the most hardcore slaps being used with this one to come out with a track that takes things back to the days before Hip Hop even had a prominence in West Coast culture and the Funk sounds from this area and as far away as Ohio ruled.
**Five Stars**
7. “Friends”
The Alchemist is seen to take over on this one and I felt that in spite of the fact that I tend to like what he comes out with, on this occasion it really wasn’t the case at all as he comes out with something very generic and with stuff that’s so lifeless the rappers don’t really have anything to really go on and so it doesn’t really appear to go anywhere at all and pulls things down significantly for them.
**One Star**
8. “Gang Bang 4 Real”
They seem to bring things back quite a bit with this one as they come out with a track that has the two lesser-known rappers in the trio showing how they are able to come out with some pretty fly rhymes and one that show how they are still able to find original ways around it with it written in a style that has them incorporating the written language of the Crip gang into their rhymes to show how they are doing it fully to the end.
**Three Stars**
9. “I Pledge Allegiance”
The club atmosphere is brought back with this one as Fredwreck comes with the production and comes in with a little something that takes minimally from “The Message” from Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five for a joint that is able to recover the material for them and have them come out with something that lives up to the sorts of expectations that came of the first jams on the record.
**Five Stars**
10. “Now Is The Time”
Here you get a rather heavy joint and one that I felt kept things on the same sort of level that was seen on the track prior to this one where we appear to be kept in the same sort of place with the music where it is about that grooving stuff the Gs out on the West Coast (and doesn’t really give any room for others that can’t fully embrace this kind of thing). Meech Mills is behind it and does a fairly good job of it.
**Five Stars**
11. “Cool”
On this one Hi-Tek provides beats that are purely in the Mid-West style and something that I wouldn’t have immediately placed on this side of the US. However I have to say that I enjoyed what I got from it as they bring through a soothing track that has them holding back on the rapping for a short while in order to just feel where they are for a moment and just do a tune that is in the distinctly-laid-back West Coast style as a little breather.
**Three Stars**
12. “Dogghouse In Your Mouth”
You get a crowded set on this one as the likes of Suga Free, Kurupt (of Tha Dogg Pound), RBX amongst many others all come to show a little love and do what they are known for with this one as they get their funky on and give you another chance to get loose with it. It isn’t quite as impactful as what we have come to expect from them, but this “More Bounce To The Ounce” rap remix is a nice one.
**Four Stars**
13. “Connected”
There is a clear East Coast feel coming through on the beats in this one in spite of the fact that it is an LA name behind the production, but it becomes obvious why as you discover The Alchemist brings it and does so as he has to give some room for the guests of Mobb Deep to feel welcome here as they show that there is love between the coasts by uniting two acts that were key in the East Coast-West Coast beef.
**Four Stars**
14. “Mac Bible Chapter 2: Verse 20-21” (Lude)
15. “Break A Bitch Til I Die”
Jelly Roll gets on this one and brings out a smooth little one that has Snoop Dogg taking the lead in the rhyming and he ensures that he goes out to throw down in a way that we had come to expect by this point. I felt that it was another opportunity for him to show how his apparent effortless flows are able to completely out-do anything that the other two have done and are able to drive out this time around.
**Four Stars**
16. “Sticky Fingers”
Rick Rock makes an appearance on this one as he takes the leading role where the beats are concerned. However, when you consider that he’s mainly about his club bangers, what you get from this really isn’t much worth caring about whatsoever and it does very little to add to the album and sounds like nothing more than fill errand a complete waste of what Rick Rock is capable of bringing for this act.
**Two Stars**
17. “There Comes A Time”
As we get towards the late stages of what is another lengthy release from the act, we find that there is more desperation coming out with material that we really don’t want to here and a Gangsta Rap album that had them beginning with nothing but “Crip, Crip, Crip” chants as they do one dedicated to their mothers and go off on some emotive stuff that can’t really connect with a listener who wasn’t expecting it.
**Two Stars**
18. “Late Night”
They go off with a little more of the general Gangsta Rap that doesn’t particularly have that much going on with it and so it doesn’t really add that much more to the album and simply drags things out when you would have thought that they would have brought the album to and end by this point. Snoop isn’t found on this short one and as he really the one all came to see, it leaves you wanting more.
**Two Stars**
19. “So Low”
They finally give the listeners a reason to enjoy this album again as they move back towards some of the late eighties to early eighties P-Funk sounds that leads to the most impressive displays and livens things right up again to force you to get your boogie on once more when you would have thought that we were past all that with a track about their mothers, fillers and such leading up to it to hold it back.
**Five Stars**
20. “Everywhere I Go”
The album is brought to a close with this one as we get a sudden change at a time when you really would have thought we were past all that, however with Swizz Beatz on the beats he finds the time to force out a little more on the thing. I wouldn’t say that it is as impressive as other Swizzy-produced tunes, but it does show you just a little more at the end of what they didn’t know would be their final record.
**Four Stars**
When compared to their debut, this really isn’t a very good album from Tha Eastsidaz. It is highly inconsistent and plagued with fillers which take away from all the successes that came with a debut that contained more tracks, but kept nothing but the flyest jams in to keep you interested throughout.
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