The Best of Mack 10

Album Review

Foe Life: The Best of Mack 10 rounds up a decade's worth of highlights from the West Coast gangsta rapper's career to date, spanning Mack 10 (1995) to Hustla's Handbook (2005). The outright hits Mack 10 enjoyed came early in his career, up until The Paper Route (2000), his first album to fall short of either platinum or gold sales status, and his first to not spawn a significant hit. Accordingly, 11 of the 19 songs on Foe Life come from Mack 10's mid- to late-'90s heyday: four from his self-titled debut, "Foe Life," "On Them Thangs," "Chicken Hawk," and "Mozi-Wozi"; two from Based on a True Story (1997), "W/S foe Life" and "Only in California"; three from The Recipe (1998), "Money's Just a Touch Away," "The Letter," and "Get Yo Ride On"; and a pair of 1996 soundtrack contributions, "Nothin' But the Cavi Hit" and "Hoo-Bangin'." The Paper Route, the turning point in Mack 10's career, is represented by three songs ("From the Streetz," "Hustle Game," "Tha Weekend"), and though none was a significant hit, all are good songs worthy of inclusion here. The oddest album in Mack 10's discography, Bang or Ball (2001), his one-off album for Cash Money Records, is represented by two songs ("Hate in Yo Eyes," an elaborate Dr. Dre/Scott Storch production; "Do the Damn Thing," like much of the album, produced by Mannie Fresh). Beyond this point, Foe Life skips past a couple independent releases (Mack 10 Presents da Hood, 2002; Ghetto, Gutter & Gangster, 2003) to Hustla's Handbook (2005), a major-label effort for Capitol that is represented by three songs ("Like This," "The Testimony," "My Chucks"). Foe Life: The Best of Mack 10 is sequenced non-chronologically, front-loading many of the best songs and thereby balancing out Mack 10's post-'90s descent. A couple glaring omissions hobble the collection somewhat, above all the absence of "Backyard Boogie" (Mack 10's highest-charting solo hit). Another absence is any of Mack 10's work with Westside Connection (a West Coast gangsta supergroup also including Ice Cube and WC), particularly the hit singles "Bow Down," "Gangstas Make the World Go Round," and "Gangsta Nation," which rank among his most popular singles.