Recipe, The
Cooking up all sorts of gangsta grooves and other rap goodies, Mack 10 offers upThe Recipe. Without taking this food metaphor too far,The Recipeis rather like a buffet--Mack 10 works with different artists and producers on practically every song and, as a result, the quality can be uneven. Musically, there are few surprises on the album, though Mack 10's gangsta-izing of the familiar "Heartbeat" sample for his duet with Snoop Dogg on "LBC and the ING" is flavorful enough, as is the sugar-sweet pop of "You Ain't Seen Nothin'" (which features Jermaine Dupri and Foxy Brown). Despite cameos by Big Pun and Fat Joe, this is still an album made for those yelling, "Westside till I die!"The Recipeneither embarrasses nor elevates the reality-rap world.--Oliver Wang