History In the Making

Some consider JR Writer to be the lyrical wonder of the Diplomats crew, and there's plenty of evidence why on History in the Making, an album overstuffed in the usual Dipset fashion but ultimately a rewarding effort. Sounding much like his mentor Cam'ron, Writer opens the album with the hypnotic and hungry anthem "To Be a Diplomat," a quick run through the man's past with that freestyle freedom he perfected during his mixtape and rap battle past. "Grill Em," "Byrd Call," and "That's a Bet" with Paul Wall are the club cuts and highlights, keeping the album from sounding like a volume of the man's Writer's Block mixtape series. The "Moments in Love"-sampling bedroom cut "Xtasy" has chart ambition, too, but most of the album is street level and Dipset chaotic, something best represented by the word-filled wonder "Zoolander." While it may not be worthy of such an ambitious title, History in the Making brings Writer from the background to the foreground in the world of Dipset and gives every reason why he deserves it.