Big Noyd – Queens Chronicle [2010]
Written by Big D
Other than the hardcore east coast rap heads, primarily ones from the boroughs of New York, Big Noyd isn’t very well known. Most fans will remember him from his appearances on mid-90s Mobb Deep records, spitting verses over classics like “Give Up The Goods (Just Step)”, “Give It Up” and “Streets Raised Me”. His solo albums were all decent albums that failed to make a splash. Music has changed a lot since the mid 90s though. In 2010, Noyd returned to hip hop with his new album Queens Chronicle, and it seems in Noyd’s eyes; the more things change, the more they stay the same.
It’s not that Queens Chronicle is a bad album because it’s certainly not. Big Noyd has managed to retain that darker late 90s sound a decade later, and that’s fine. It’s his niche; what he does best. Queens Chronicle sounds like a less-impressive version of Cormega’s True Meaning, retaining that authentic Queens poetic essense over heavy melancholic instrumentation. Noyd himself sounds like a slightly higher-pitched version of Killah Priest, and manages to find a comfortable middle ground between basic emceeing and methodical rhyming. Noyd is an above average rapper at best, but there are flashes of excellence throughout the record where he’s at his best. Besides all of that, you can tell Noyd respects the culture and his peers/mentors as he loads the album with vocal samples from Nas, Jay-Z, Big, and other empire state legends.
Queens Chronicle is a great showcase of Big Noyd’s versatility as an artist, not just in terms of topics, but also with flow experimentation and breath control. “Queensbridge Thuggin” is your typical aggressive, nihilistic hood-rap; Scarface reference and all. If I wasn’t such a fan of the style, I’d probably call it “slightly played out”. “Where My G’z” is a slower tempo retrospective about Noyd’s introduction into the hard life and what sparked his interest: “I remember the first time I saw a sawed-off shotty // wanted to go to a party and murk somebody”. Both songs feature female singer Lyadede providing background vocals (I don’t know her either). “QB Duo” is another rugged track, but loses points because it slightly treads into thug-pop territory and comes off lethargic rhymewise; but the beautiful violin instrumental is a pro.
Remember those moments of excellence I mentioned earlier? Well “The Rules” is definitely one of them. This is one of those cuts where everything comes together sublimely; well-written cautionary tales about street loyalty over epic trumpets and a sped-up soul sample that works. Noyd’s proclamation that “Your Beef is My Beef, even when the slugs fly” makes this legit sound like a leftover from The Realness. When “Dreams” kicks in and you hear the bashing drums which segue into a smooth violin and key blend give it that mafioso feel. “Pokerface” is a little more pugnacious and energetic; both with the pounding key chords and Noyd’s hostile rhymes. THIS one sounds like a leftover from The Massacre. “New York Lights” is the last truly great cut on the record, which doesn’t tread into thug-pop, it IS bonafied thug-pop, but it’s a banger without question. Even though Noyd sounds like a protege of 50 Cent here, it still retains a bit of that grit while obviously acting as the radio-friendly tune on the record. Still, I can’t hate, the trumpets vibrate perfectly over Noyd’s confident swag. It’s hot.
There are other moments where eh…….. quite frankly the album bottoms out. I mentioned how “New York Lights” is an effective commercial cut, but there’s a few on here that are simply debris. But before I get to those, I do want to say that “Money Time” IS another G-Unit-sounding record that’s pretty decent, so Noyd proves twice he can do it. But anyways, “Get It Done” is downright awful and the worst song on the record. The beat sounds like it was scraped out of Master P’s taint. The God Ali has a line where he states “I get it did like a hairdo”. Seriously? And you dare have the word “God” in your name? Noyd can’t do club songs and should never try; regardless of who he can grab for an appearance. As for “Testify”, I can’t even get past the first hook and when I did I found nothing but staleness. Then there’s “Kilo Rap”, which would be complete filth if it wasn’t for a reputable performance from Termanology (one of my current favorites). Ghetto and Noyd redefine the term simplistic here and put me to sleep.
There are parts of Queens Chronicle that remind me of the mid-90s golden age of hip hop where New York’s rap scene was coming with banger after banger. Noyd rehashes a number of techniques from those days, but that doesn’t really make the record anything more than just ok. Make no mistake, there are a handful of great songs on Queens Chronicle, but there’s also a few times when you sit there and go “why am I listening to this?”. Honestly, unless you are a super-hardcore fan of Noyd of the Queens-style of hip-hop from the late 90s; this is probably not worth your time (even though I do suggest everybody download “The Rules” and “Dreamin” at the very least). Nothing personal, but Big Noyd will never been seen as anything more than Mobb Deep’s barnacle (On a side note; the Mobb is nowhere to be found on the record, probably due to their G-Unit ties) and while he is a dedicated rhymer, he’s nothing past being just good.
Maybe he should call himself Memphis Noyd.
Nah… I wouldn’t want to insult him like THAT!
3 Stars
