After quite a few promising guest shots,
Bravehearts finally get the full-length treatment with
Bravehearted. Naturally,
Nas looms large. Jungle -- half of
Bravehearts with
Wiz -- is
Nas' brother, and the album drops through Ill Will. The man himself also appears on three tracks, and acquires an executive producer credit. Still, Jungle and
Wiz prove it's their show, stomping enthusiastically through a ragged, crude, and aggressive set. "B Train" sets the tone with stripped-down, distorted
Dirty Swift percussion and the call to arms "Is you a Braveheart?/To the grave y'all." Then it's time for the diabolical chimes of "Quick to Back Down," which laces
Bravehearts and
Nas' hard East Coast bravado with
Lil Jon's psycho crunk.
Jon also helms "Cash Flow," but its rote gettin'-paper proclamations aren't as resonant. The women-and-money boast can still be a successful formula, however dubious it may be. Problem is,
Bravehearts rely on it a little too much. After the lewd, yet somehow lighthearted "I Wanna," "Sensations" just sounds played out.
Bravehearted's numerous interludes are similarly uninspired. Fortunately, Jungle and
Wiz make the most of the album's stronger joints. They trade rhymes with
Nas on the title track and "Situations" (which also features
Jully Black), and reference the realism of their Queensbridge roots with the stark "Buss My Gun." The incredible "I Will" ends
Bravehearted with its dizzy, appropriately apocalyptic production. Jungle and
Wiz style the cut's chorus like a playground taunt, shading the brutal revenge fantasy with fatalistic sarcasm. It's a jarring, brutally effective end to a strong debut that, though flawed, moves
Bravehearts boldly out of
Nas' long shadow. [The album was also issued in a severely edited version.] ~ Johnny Loftus