''I Need Mine'' is the third full-length

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

(fourth overall) by

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Lil' Flip Wesley Eric Weston Jr. (born March 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Lil' Flip, is an American rapper. He embarked on his musical career as a freestyle and battle rapper before earning a record deal with Suckafree Records in 1999. Lil' F ...

, released on March 27, 2007. The album features appearances from Mike Jones,

Lyfe Jennings Chester Jermaine "Lyfe" Jennings (born June 3, 1978) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and instrumentalist. He plays the guitar, bass, and piano which he integrates into his music. The ''New York Times'' referre ...

Big Pokey Milton Powell (born November 29, 1977), better known by his stage name Big Pokey, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. Pokey is associated with chopped and screwed music, and is one of the original members of the Screwed Up Click. Rap ca ...

Lil' Keke Marcus Lakee Edwards (born March 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Lil' Keke, is an American rapper and original member of the Southern hip hop collective Screwed Up Click. Biography Music career Lil' Keke gained national attention with ...

Nate Dogg Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals for a multitude of hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning the ...

, and

Mannie Fresh Byron Otto Thomas (born March 20, 1969), better known by his stage name Mannie Fresh, is an American music producer and rapper. He's best known for his productions on Cash Money Records releases, as well being half of the hip hop duo (alongside ...

, among others. It consists of 37 songs on 2 discs. The album also debuted at #15 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with 45,000 copies sold in the first week released.

Critical reception

''I Need Mine'' received generally positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. Nathan Slavik of DJBooth praised Flip for expressing different characters throughout the double album while still being able to deliver solid enough hustle skills in his delivery, concluding that "In the end, ''I Need Mine'' finds the Cloverland legend constantly flipping between his different personalities: the street soldier, the honey lovin player, and the socially conscious commentator. The true hip-hop legends manage to be all three at once (a.k.a.

Biggie Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

and

Tupac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

), and Lil’ Flip has the skills to join their ranks, he’s just more concerned with getting his first." Pedro Hernandez of ''RapReviews'' praised the album for scaling back on the humor to allow for diverse topics and sharp production, calling it "Lil' Flip's best album to date and yet it isn't. Even with the scarcity of humor on the album, if you put all the best songs on the double disc together you would have Flip's best album." Andrew Beaujon of ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen appliance, kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsion, emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender ...

'' felt that a discord was found between the production and Flip's lyrics, saying that "The beats are often dazzling, the rhymes less so. His disses in particular need a little work."

Track listing

Disc 1

Disc 2

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Lil' Flip albums Asylum Records albums Warner Records albums Albums produced by Scott Storch Albums produced by Salaam Remi Albums produced by Mannie Fresh