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Production – 4.8/5 * Engineering – 5/5 * Overall – 5/5
Justina brings a completely new style all her own to every beat she sings on. Her unique blend of rap and soulful singing is sure to impress anyone who listens. Honestly, it’s the best $16 I’ve spent. To get it while it lasts, go here! KEY: ****************************************************************************************************
TRACK LIST 1. “As One” This song is one of very few ballad-type songs that Justina does. This song is very good production wise, and arrangement is truly inspiring. The synth and violin arrangement creates a soft tension to start the song off and resolve in a nice dance beat fueled by Justina’s amazing vocal arrangements in the lead, pre chorus, and add libs throughout. The echo effects are my true favorite, and they’re used brilliantly in the song’s chorus and close. I personally would’ve backed off slightly on the autotune simply because she DOESN”T need it! Written originally exclusively for a Conquer Entertainment Breast Cancer Awareness song competition in 2010, this song won the competition (completely wiping out her competition), and Justina was featured on NBC to perform it. This song is definitely a classic in my book! 2. “Boyfriend” From the first few words, I knew this was one of Justina’s “amateur” songs. Amateur in the sense that I think the writing could have been much stronger. However, it is still a good song. I love the cheesy – but- catchy chorus and soft 80’s vibe of the beat. It really sounds like the video would feature a disco ball, some fog lamps, and an appearance by the Bee Gees. This probably would’ve been a hit in 1983, but wouldn’t stand a chance on today’s radio scene (then again, what would these days??). This isn’t my favorite track, but it’s not bad for the teenybopper type. 3. “Broken” 4. “Go Head” This song is a HIT! I love her style, flow, energy and the topic she talks about is very common in women’s life – guy meets girl, messes with girls heart, girl breaks up with boy, boy comes crawling back – repeat. The chorus gets stuck in my head for hours, and each verse is packed full of tough Justina love mixed with a zany, uptempo breakbeat. The cowbell definitely makes this song much more dancable (MORE COWBELL! – I couldn’t help myself)! An ingenious song all around, this is sure to have every listener wanting to hear it again! I LOVE the start of this song! The beat really draws you in with it’s drill like snare and light claps. The vocal effects are also very cool. This is a very Philly style beat. So, of course, I would like it! I especially enjoyed the sound effects in the background – a whistle, collective “la’s”, and the nice vocal pattern switch up going into the second verse. I could definitely picture this song being played in Philly’s hottest clubs . Appropriate enough, since the song is about partying and dancing with whoever (in a sense). A good Justina song indeed. The beat and vocal pattern changes are awesome! 6. “Hard 2 The Body” This is what I like to call an “instant classic”! This is the type of song people find themselves singing the chorus alone in the shower, getting dressed, going to work, at work…ALL THE TIME! Not to mention, Justina’s rapping style in this song is one for the record books! She can easily go up against the Kanye’s, Eminem’s, and Niki’s of the world…and easily defeat them. This song is proof. Plain and simple. In fact, I can hear a ton of artists remixing this song to death for the catchy beat alone. I also like the fact that this song isn’t heavily arranged vocally -its the complete opposite! Just a straight forward beat, catchy hook, and Justina rapping. If you want hardcore rap done right, give this song a listen! 7. “I Don’t Care” I would’ve changed the intro a bit to display Justina’s amazing vocal range and ability – to add that dynamic flow her music seems to encompass. Other than that, this song flows very well and offers a new mix of Uptempo Soul/R&B mixed with a energetic freestyle in the bridge and a Hip hop/Pop beat. I am a fan of vocal samples in the background, and it is very tastefully used here. The vocal arrangements are strong, well placed, and add a “soul” flare to the song. Her freestyle in the bridge is simply SICK! One of my favorite raps of hers hands down; this one holds the flavor of Eminem with a Beyonce-esque statement to club guys who are just dumb when it comes to women. 8. “I Said, He Said” This is another song displaying the “soft side” to Justina. Even though the beat isn’t much, what Justina’s saying is. She perfectly depicts the “after breakup” feeling in my opinion. When it’s all said and done, sometimes, it just doesn’t work out – and that’s when you put this song on! The production is “fun” for a love song, incorporating vocal echos and cool panning effects in the beginning, a cool jazz guitar chord pattern in the background, “space” type sounds here and there, and a nice guitar solo in the middle of the song. I’m not sure if this song is written from personal experience, but it definitely speaks to the heart broken people in the world perfectly 🙂 9. “Let’s Experiment” Showing off the “trance” side of Justina, this is a clever trance-hop beat that should be in rotation at Euro clubs AS I TYPE! Filled with a lovely pulse kick, and trance synth and percussion, and echo effects that are melodic and well arranged, this song is sure to get at least your head bobbing. The Vogue-like clap break is GENIUS and adds a special signature to the song. Her vocals are infectious and remind me of the early Sade records, and brings a whole new style to herself as an artist. She truly is an artist in every sense of the word and this song is a good display of that. I could see this being big overseas and taking over their club scene in a heartbeat. If dance is you’re thing, definitely check this song out! 10. “My Reputation” Getting back to her soul vocal style, this song production takes me back to 1950 era when blues and soul was booming and this was playing on the radio. At least it should’ve been. This song is a great display of the many sides of Justina – from straight hip hop to trance to big band pop demonstrated here. An insanely catchy, poppy track, this is the flavor of Amy Winehouse (without the coke) and the lyrics of a renegade. 11. “Perfect One” This is another rare ballad from Justina where she strongly sings of her lost love. It’s not clear if the guy’s actually dead or not, but it leaves a mystery to her songwriting in this one. I love the deep “rock with it” type beat on this track, and the echoes and panning are used and placed appropriately. The strings add a nice touch to the Cali-type style beat, and Justina’s vocal ranges are phenomenal! I also love the random freestyle that perfectly rounds out the bridge and song. A good song to rock or fall asleep to. Lovely production and songwriting on this one! 12. “Runnin’ Back” I love the soft strings and hint of a rock feel at the start of this one, matched with a powerful drum n bass type groove. The last of the ballads for this record, Justina delivers a great song that matches the “spaciness” of “Let’s Experiment” in terms of synth arrangement, with drastically different drums; more of a hip hop style as opposed to straight trance. Another great display of her vocal abilities, Justina belts out each note with power. This song isn’t as strong in terms of lyrics, but the vocal effects (slight autotune mixed with a nice echo/delay) make the words almost not even matter just because it sounds so cool! 13. “Set Me Off” This song starts off with heavy kick and vocal arrangement; grabbing my attention instantly. I love the clap used in this one and how everything in the beat revolves around the kick drum. It makes for a GREAT dance/club song. Justina’s flow is so versatile, it can go with any beat. Nothing different here – a hot freestyle over a hip hop club beat. The lyrics combine a common topic – guys trying to get girls at clubs – in a not so common way (with Justina’s lyrical style & hip hop groove behind it). For the hip hop diva in all of us, this song is for you! 14. “Turn It Up” What do you get when you have a hot pop club banga paired with Justina’s unique style? An instant CLASSIC! This song could easily go up against the addictive pop singles of Britney Spears, Keysha, and GaGa saturating the radio nowadays. The thump of the bass drum and the superb trance synth combined with Justina’s awesome, original lyrical style and voice makes this song powerful and SUPER addictive to listen to! The chorus instructs you to TURN IT UP and reminds me of the catchy, energetic songs all over the radio right now. Put this in rotation and it’ll TAKE OVER! 15. “Welcome To The Game” Starting off, this song captures you with it’s deep bass, and snare rolls. Justina’s vocal draws you in more, and then….some random rapper comes in. His style is amateur at best, and he’s not saying anything to make my ears perk, but Justina (thankfully) saves the day with a short verse; bringing the song back into a better flow Then, the random rapper guy comes back. His second verse was better, but still nothing special or as original as his song counterpart. If he wasn’t in the song, or substituted for a Justina freestyle (which at this point I’m sure would be 20 times hotter than his), then this song would get a better rating. Everything else is great – the production, vocal arrangement, Justina’s singing, – but the random rapper guy completely threw me off and made me lose interest. 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(2 tapes = Meh)
(3 tapes = Good)
(4 tapes = Really Good)
(5 tapes = Awesome)
