Poobs: Prepare For Glory

Continuing the proud tradition of putting all your peoples on once you establish your own successful rap career, New York's D-Block share the shine with their extended family, crafting this mixtape-style album featuring rhyme associates Trav, Bucky, T.Y., Straws, A.P., Poobs, Bully, Don D, and Large Amount. Produced mostly by Poobs, it is exactly what longtime fans would expect/hope for; relentlessly grimy street tales served over sparse instrumentation and rugged beats. Similar to their recent No Security release, Prepare For Glory has both slow burners and rambunctious anthems, both of which are done well, even by the more obscure members. Highlights include the hard-driving "Unstoppable," the bold bravado of "Savage," dice-shooter's party jam "456," and reflections-of-a-dealer narrative "7 Days 6 Nights." With 19 tracks of gun-clapping drug talk, not all of them are winners, and some of the non-stop criminality starts blending together towards the end, but overall, Glory is another strong effort from one of New York's most consistent crews.