Gotta love that No Limit Record~lookin` promo
anyway let`s get it in shall we???
I hope all is well with y`all, today I will be dusting off an album that was released in the year 2000 on Columbia/ Roc-A-Fella Records by female emcee Amil titled "A.M.I.L. (All Money Is Legal)". I`m sure most of y`all slept on her solo album because well ya never knew that she dropped one.....LoL, after all there wasn`t a whole lot of promo done for it. For those of you that aren`t up on the First Lady Of The Roc a.k.a. The Dynasty`s Princess, Amil I`ll drop a lil` info` for y`all. The first time that I heard Amil rap was on the Jay-Z song "Can I Get A..." which also featured Ja Rule (doing his best 2Pac impression in the music video). After that she was featured on another Jay-Z (Jaz-O is featured as well) track titled "Jigga What, Jigga Who" rappin` the hook...
After that it was on & poppin` for her as she was officially a member of the Roc-A-Fella team, but let`s rewind just a lil` bit so we can get a better idea of Amil`s roots shall we? Before she linked up with Jay & the Roc-A-Fella crew she was actually a member of an all female rap group call Major Coins (or Coinz, I`ve seen it spelled both ways) which also included members Liz Leite & Monique. I`m not sure if they ever released anything officially, but Jay-Z who was recording his 3rd studio album "Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life" at the time (1997-1998) took some interest in the group because he was searching for a female rapper to spice up his song "Can I Get A...". Originally the spot was gon` be filled by Amil`s partner in rhyme Liz Leite, but once Jigga heard Amil freestyle he felt that she was better suited for the song. Liz Leite did make it on Jay-Z`s "Vol. 2..." album though, she`s featured on the song "It`s Like That". Shortly after Amil made her appearances on the album Major Coins disbanded, was it because of jealousy? I`m not sure, but either way once her group was done she decided to take up a solo career & join Jay-Z at Roc-A-Fella...
She began to pay her dues while being a part of the 1999 Hard Knock Life Tour & then once that was over she hit the studio & started to collab` with plenty of artists such as label mates Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek & Jay-Z as well as Mariah Carey, Solé, Tamar Braxton & LL Cool J. After working on "The Dynasty: Roc La Familia" album things were put in motion for Amil to start working on her self titled debut solo album. The album features production from L.E.S., Tone & Poke a.k.a. Trackmasters, EZ Elpee, Just Blaze, Rockwilder, Tyfife, Lofey, K-Rob, Omen & Jon-John. Guest appearances on the album include; Beyoncé, R&B singer Carl Thomas as well label mates Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel & Memphis Bleek. I believe that the album had only one single which is the Beyoncé assisted "I Got That", an independent women anthem that lets all the fellas know that some females can make it out on their own without the reliance of a man. Some of y`all listeners may recognize that the beat shares the same sample that was freaked for Biggie`s "Friend Of Mine"...
The album`s opening cut "Smile 4 Me" is a great way to spark things off, Amil`s spittin` about her personal Life struggles. It`s nice to hear her start things out on a personal level instead of say an over sexualized tip. I`ve already touched on "I Got That" so I won`t spend any more time on it except to say that I can`t really get into it. I can dig the overall message, but the song itself just isn`t all that good to me. "Get Down" is another joint that I`m not really much of a fan of, you can definitely tell that they created this one for the commercialized loving folks. "Ya`ll Dead Wrong" is a joint that has Amil letting the doubters know that she`s not to be messed with, definitely a braggadocio track. The Jay-Z assisted "Heard It All Before" makes for an entertaining listen, it`s a woman vs. man joint. Basically; a playette & a player exchanging game amongst each other, which includes plenty of lies & truth bending no doubt...
"Quarrels" features Carl Thomas on the hook, Amil spits some more deep type lyrics. I`m not much of a fan of its hook, but Amil`s rhymes aren`t too shabby at all. "Girlfriend" definitely is geared towards radio~play with it`s catchy beat & simplistic chorus. It`ll get your head nodding, but lyrically no new ground is broken. Amil basically lets ya know that she`ll snitch to ya` girl if you`re tryin` to holla at her. Talk about the ultimate cock~blockin` maneuver....LoL, the album`s title track "A.M.I.L. (All Money Is Legal)" has a nice beat backin` it, but again Amil pretty much fails to impress me with her rhymes on this one. The second Jay-Z collabo` on the album "That`s Right" isn`t nearly as DoPe as the first. It`s more of a braggin` fest with a simplistic hook & a generic beat that`s supplied by Just Blaze. Honestly it sounds like a throwaway beat that was rejected from a Ruff Ryder compilation...
"Anyday" is a DoPe track produced by K-Rob with a well placed sample that complements the rest of the song along with Amil`s deep emotional lyrics. With it`s darker sounds produced by Lofey "Raw" keeps the momentum of good tracks flowin`, sure Amillion is on that braggin` ish again but she manages to make it sound much more believable on this song. "No 1 Can Compare" may have a weak beat behind it, but Amil still manages to keep it interesting (except for the hook that is) by spittin` some heart~felt emotional lyrics over this Omen produced track. The album closes out with the bonus track "4 Da Fam", a Roc-A-Fella collabo` that features Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel & Jay-Z. It`s not too bad of a song & I can see why they added it to the end of the album. They wanted to keep the Roc`s buzz going, just in case you weren`t too impressed by Amil`s solo outing they wanted to remind you that they still have some other artists that`s sure to grab your attention. Beanie Sigel steals the show with his verse on here, my opinion of course...
The album`s opening cut "Smile 4 Me" is a great way to spark things off, Amil`s spittin` about her personal Life struggles. It`s nice to hear her start things out on a personal level instead of say an over sexualized tip. I`ve already touched on "I Got That" so I won`t spend any more time on it except to say that I can`t really get into it. I can dig the overall message, but the song itself just isn`t all that good to me. "Get Down" is another joint that I`m not really much of a fan of, you can definitely tell that they created this one for the commercialized loving folks. "Ya`ll Dead Wrong" is a joint that has Amil letting the doubters know that she`s not to be messed with, definitely a braggadocio track. The Jay-Z assisted "Heard It All Before" makes for an entertaining listen, it`s a woman vs. man joint. Basically; a playette & a player exchanging game amongst each other, which includes plenty of lies & truth bending no doubt...
"Quarrels" features Carl Thomas on the hook, Amil spits some more deep type lyrics. I`m not much of a fan of its hook, but Amil`s rhymes aren`t too shabby at all. "Girlfriend" definitely is geared towards radio~play with it`s catchy beat & simplistic chorus. It`ll get your head nodding, but lyrically no new ground is broken. Amil basically lets ya know that she`ll snitch to ya` girl if you`re tryin` to holla at her. Talk about the ultimate cock~blockin` maneuver....LoL, the album`s title track "A.M.I.L. (All Money Is Legal)" has a nice beat backin` it, but again Amil pretty much fails to impress me with her rhymes on this one. The second Jay-Z collabo` on the album "That`s Right" isn`t nearly as DoPe as the first. It`s more of a braggin` fest with a simplistic hook & a generic beat that`s supplied by Just Blaze. Honestly it sounds like a throwaway beat that was rejected from a Ruff Ryder compilation...
"Anyday" is a DoPe track produced by K-Rob with a well placed sample that complements the rest of the song along with Amil`s deep emotional lyrics. With it`s darker sounds produced by Lofey "Raw" keeps the momentum of good tracks flowin`, sure Amillion is on that braggin` ish again but she manages to make it sound much more believable on this song. "No 1 Can Compare" may have a weak beat behind it, but Amil still manages to keep it interesting (except for the hook that is) by spittin` some heart~felt emotional lyrics over this Omen produced track. The album closes out with the bonus track "4 Da Fam", a Roc-A-Fella collabo` that features Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel & Jay-Z. It`s not too bad of a song & I can see why they added it to the end of the album. They wanted to keep the Roc`s buzz going, just in case you weren`t too impressed by Amil`s solo outing they wanted to remind you that they still have some other artists that`s sure to grab your attention. Beanie Sigel steals the show with his verse on here, my opinion of course...
One thing that you may notice is that Amil definitely shines the most when she gets a little more personal on the mic & leaves the sex rhymes & braggin` ish alone. Sure at times she can pull of the X~rated raps & the braggadocio type stuff, but most times it`s just meh to me. She has a nice distinct voice that could`ve helped her standout amongst the rest of the women emcees out there, but its not being used right when she`s sounding like Kim or Foxy. It may seem like I`m being a lil` harsh with my opinion of the album, but hey it is what it is! I like what I like & when I don`t like something I`ve got to let it be known. This album may appeal more to other peeps, but overall I was really only DiGG`n about half of it. Standout joints for me are; "Smile 4 Me", "Heard It All Before", "Anyday", "Raw" & "4 Da Fam". "No 1 Can Compare" isn`t that bad of a tune either...
Now for those of you that are curious as to what happened to her after the album, from what I have read she just started to lose interest in the Rap game. She stopped caring about recording music & was more focused on taking care of her son. So with no love left for rappin` she didn`t leave her label any other choice but to drop her. She now lives in North Carolina, (who knows maybe someday I`ll bump into her.....LoL) fourteen years later though she`s still working on music & is actually putting together a mixtape titled "A Moment In Life", it may be out now I`m not sure though. She was interviewed by billboard back in March & said that it was gon` come out late Spring early Summer, so it should be released but y`all know how release dates change. You can peep the billboard interview here if you interested. So there ya have it y`all, go `head & peep the album...
Label: Columbia Records/ Roc-A-Fella Records
Released: 2000
1. Smile 4 Me
2. I Got That {ft. Beyoncé}
3. Get Down
4. Ya`ll Dead Wrong
5. Heard It All {ft. Jay-Z}
6. Quarrels {ft. Carl Thomas}
7. Girlfriend
8. All Money Is Legal (A.M.I.L.)
9. That`s Right {ft. Jay-Z}
10. Anyday
11. Raw
12. No 1 Can Compare
13. 4 Da Fam [Bonus Track] {ft. Beanie Sigel, Jay-Z & Memphis Bleek}
Here`s another interview that Amil did with HipHopDX.com back in 2007 if you`re interested in reading it...
N`JoY...
