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Want to make a hit record? Here’s the formula: Get a hot beat and come up with a catchy hook. That’s it. It’s that simple. Seriously. At least that’s all the Terror Squad — Fat Joe, Remy Ma, Prospect, Armageddon and Tony Sunshine — did with “Lean Back,” the summer’s hottest anthem. The lyrics of the song are secondary, even if they’re bitten from the likes of Ice Cube, Biggie and Jay-Z (yes, Remy’s “chain reaction” line was first uttered by Jigga). As for the rest of the album, the beats still reign, but tales of drug-running and death threats to those who interfere with the Squad’s success, along with subliminal disses of Jay-Z, grow tiresome. Aside from the hit single, the only shining moment on the album is “Bring ‘Em Back,” in which lost verses from late rappers Big Pun and Big L are placed over a Lord Finese-produced beat. Pun and L’s 1998 verses outshine everything on this sad True Story.
