ALBUM EXAMFat JoeThe Elephant in the Room

Fat Joe has been overlooked in many conversations concerning the current Cadre of Elite Emcees. He steps up to the plate for his eighth major at bat with his album “The Elephant in the Room.” Fat Joe plays a big game, has a couple hits and rips through flows like an elephant would do peanuts, but there is only a mouse-size helping of hits capable of making this release fly off shelves. The ladies may appreciate the Swizzbeatz-produced track, Drop, while the fans that are really into rap music should make “My Conscience” featuring Krs-One and K.A.R required listening. “I Won’t Tell” featuring J. holiday is the only homerun on the album and carries the album because of the space between hit records. Outside of the singles, the album portion of “The Elephant in the Room” goes over like a well rehearsed and delivered freestyle tape. If you are a Fat Joe fan, you can plan to get exactly what you expect from this release. All others may want to get on itunes and get the tracks mentioned above.

Grade: C. Mostly for presentation and lack of cohesiveness

• Leroy Mikell