T.O.S. (Terminate On Sight) [PA] - G-Unit

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Lacking inspiration
Lyrics	Mediocre
Quality and consistency of tracks	One hit and lots of B-sides
Value for Money	Poor

Advantages:	Young Buck's verses
Disadvantages:	Generally poor

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

“T.O.S” (Terminate On Sight) was the second album from the New York-based Rap crew G-Unit. It sees that 50 Cent leads Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo as Young Buck had been kicked out of the group shortly before its 2008 release (jest as The Game was with their debut). In spite of this, due to the fact tha tit was recorded some time earlier, the Memphis rapper Young Buck appears at various places during the record to take you back to their 2003 debut, whilst crediting him as a ‘featured’ artist.

1. “Straight Outta Southside” (Intro)

2. “Piano Man”

After an N.W.A-inspired introduction, you see that we move towards the material which fits in much more with expectations of their own music with Ron Browz replaced by Tha Biznizz on the beats. Unfortunately the start things in a manner which is bound to put some off as they put out their worst rapper (Yayo first), but it appears to improve as we progress with Banks before the strongest, Young Buck lays down some hard rhymes as 50 takes on the role of the hook man.

**Four Stars**

3. “Close To Me”

This one finds the three current members of the crew dropping some pretty fly raps on top of spacey beats which appear to be directed towards the clubs, and in spite of the fact I don’t really enjoy stuff from this duo, it makes for something quite nice to the ear and you can’t just dismiss it for the musician behind it.

**Four Stars**

4. “Rider” (Part 2)

Rick Rock gets on the beats for this And it finds some pretty exciting work as 50 tries out things a bit differently with an auto-tuned hook in the style which reflects the kinds of trends which were popular a the time. Ironically Buck references what would happen should he be dropped by 50’s label on this diss track directed towards Fat Joe.

**Four Stars**

5. “Casualties Of War”

Initially I thought that this could have some sort of reference to Eric B. & Rakim (based upon the fact that the title of this was used by a tune off their final album. However I found that in fact it was the typical Gangsta Rap work from them which really didn’t do anything that interesting at all. It is a plain and offers little.

**Two Stars**

6. “You So Tough”

Ky Miller is on the beats of this one, just as on the tune prior to it, but you find that there are no real changes in the manner in which the rappers go about things with some very straight-forward gun raps. With average beats on it, I couldn’t really get into it and the raps did little to improve upon this to get me engaged.

**Two Stars**

7. “No Days Off”

You see that here 50 is the one who leads the gang as they do more of the same sorts of things which you have heard in the tune just before it. The only real difference is the hints of Mafioso Rap being put into it, but I wouldn’t say that that is enough to really impress anyone. I can’t see how anyone can stay engaged with so many similar tunes for so long.

**Two Stars**

8. “T.O.S.”

The eponymous track from the album sees them taking on beats from Ty Fyffe for a bit of a change to things, but it appeared that nothing really changed to the way they brought their rhymes with the content largely staying on the same themes and staying with the plain production. It as funny to here Banks trying his hardest with his intense flow, but what is said completely undermines this.

**Two Stars**

9. “I Like The Way She Do It”

This was one of the most popular tracks from the album and one which I simply couldn’t resist getting down to as you see them getting back towards the club raps where they are backed by some of the biggest beats you get from the whole thing. However the rhymes are amongst the worst you will here on any modern album.

**Three Stars**

10. “Kitty Kat”

The predictable material comes back here as for this one you have a track which has them doing things in a manner which you expect to get based on everything else you find in their material. The production frequently changes from one style to another and I felt that this kept listeners engaged to a degree,. But the rhymes couldn’t hold it together.

**One Star**

11. “Party Ain’t Over”

Buck is seen to be a part of this one, and I felt that this brought an improvement to the material as a result as they choose to be backed by heavy beats which force you to bounce along to their work. Yayo embarrasses himself just as ever but the others make for something pretty decent to bring back the quality to the album.

**Four Stars**

12. “Let It Go”

With the Dancehall singer Mavado featured and Don Cannon, you would expect big things to come from this one, but I really didn’t’ thing that this mix of talent made for anything that appealing a all. It just fell apart with so many things going on at once forcing it to become overcomplicated and ultimately another flop.

**Two Stars**

13. “Get Down”

Here you have largely the same case as what you got just before it as the banger-producing Swizz Beatz delivers one of the most lifeless composition he is capable of and it means that everything else which comes subsequently is of the same low standard as a straight reflection of what as been seen repeatedly here.

**Two Stars**

14. “I Don’t Wanna Talk About It”

Here you find that as we edge towards the end of the album you see that 50 simply couldn’t resist moving towards the more commercial side of things and so this s just what you get form the whole things with the whole way in which it is made all directed towards this more mainstream style, and I didn’t really think it had much of a place here.

**Two Stars**

15. “Ready Or Not”

This one has tem moving back towards the Gangsta Rap and I felt that by putting it directly after the tune which was there makes it seems even more fake than it apparently is. It is a poor tune and clearly one of the worst you get from this album from the 2008 G-Unit line-up.

**One Star**

16. “Money Makes The World Go Round”

Ending things here you have Ron Browz, who was behind the opening cut, is the one who ends things here too, and based upon the fact that he was behind some of the biggest East Coast club bangers of 2008 and 2009, i was extremely surprised to find that here he comes with a cold and unappealing tune here. It is just as bad as the one before it, and represents what this album was generally about.

**One Star**

Although there re a couple of big tunes on the album, this record is one which I expected to find from them as they come with lots of lifeless Gangsta Rap about absolutely nothing you can take seriously. The only real high points come when Young Buck is made a part of things, but with so few appearances he hasn’t got what is needed to really boost it in any way.