Upon an initial listen, it's very easy to dismiss this album as yet another shoddy collection of second-rate tracks carried by one catchy single, "Down for My N's." Upon a closer listen, however, the No Limit crew seems to have risen their standards here. The 24 tracks feature some fairly solid beats by the more competent producers on No Limit -- XL,
Ke-Noe,
Carlos Stephens -- staying true to the patented drum-machine bounce beats and synth that propelled some of the label's better past tracks. Furthermore,
C-Murder manages to integrate some moderately effective choruses into his songs, particularly the anthem chant of "Down for My N's." As good as this album is relative to the many lackluster albums released by No Limit in the late '90s, though, it still seems that
C-Murder and his crew will never grow out of the clichés they have defined for themselves. In fact, the album's title is fitting, when you consider how
C-Murder seems forever confined to thuggishness, or so it seems judging by his rhetoric: "I'm forever tru 'til I'm dead," "How a thug nigga like it girl?" "What you bout boy?," "You need a thug in yo life," "F*ck them other niggas 'cuz I'm down for my niggas," and so on. Yes, this is pretty much standard No Limit fare, but it's one of the better late-'90s releases the label churned out and thus worthwhile for fans. ~ Jason Birchmeier