Somehow, it's usually when a train of destruction gets up a full head of speed that I like to jump off and switch to another track. It's fine and well to give people the criticism they deserve, but it's another to automatically assume anything is bad before you've listened, heard, and made up your mind for yourself. Bearing that in mind, and knowing that at least four tracks could be salvaged by guest appearances from the late Notorious B.I.G., I sat down to listen to Puff Daddy (and the Family) with their album entitled _No Way Out_. Frankly, I felt like I was the one with No Way Out -- damned if I dared to like it but damned if I labelled it wack w/o hearing it. In all honesty (and risking my hip-hop credentials to say this) it's not the worst album I've ever heard. In fact, it's not really THAT bad. Sure, we all know Puff Daddy is no mic virtuoso - artists like Ras Kass and Chino XL have long since proved they are WELL more clever and wittier than producer/rappers like Sean Combs. For that reason I think Puff made two wise choices: he stuck to simplistic raps that didn't overreach his abilities, and he brought a lot of guests on the album to help rhyme on some of the songs.
The most surprising thing is that at least a couple of the songs which feature solely Puff Daddy are respectable. "Do You Know?" has smart and crisp sounding piano playing, a sung chorus which is thoughtful and not at all annoying, and a simple but well articulated message. Puffy offers the question "Do you know where your life is going?" both to himself and to the listener, and it doesn't sound forced or cliche. "Pain" is another song built on piano notes, but this one being a genuinely somber and sorrowful sound of remorse.
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