JDOWN VALMONT'S thoughts on PASTOR TROY'S FACE OFF

"So what did i find in my high school yearbook today?

Pastor Troy's CD Face Off. So I'm going to give it a listen and tell you how I feel.

Got damn, this mother fucker Pastor Troy used to be the truth. What happened to you Pastor? I used to ride the bus two hours across town with my Memorex CD player bumping Jay-Z's Blueprint, Outkast's Stankonia, and Pastor Troy's Face Off. I remember I took the CD to Louisiana and I was leaving Wendy's with my cousins and we were all eating Double Stacks in the whip and I gave Travis my Pastor Troy CD like, "you guys HAVE to listen to this, this is that Georgia shit". And it was a big deal because "No More Play in GA" was a Georgia song dissing a Louisiana artist (Master P) and niggas fucked with it!!!

They were like, "well..this that shit right here".

I'm pretty sure No More Play in GA is banned in all clubs below the Tennessee River. Instant Mosh Pit.

The way you utilized military style snare drum patterns with such effectiveness. You developed the blueprint for the adlib style that Waka Flocka utilized for Flockaveli (replace the UHHHH HUHHHHS with FLOCKAs, and the CHEAS! with BOWS!).

The story telling on Frame Me. The way the hook is layered "You gonna frame me?!? I'm gon KILL you!". The spirit in that beat - the energy. It isn't just a crunk song. You can throw Kast on that, you can throw Snoop on that, BIG on that.

That's a hip hop record man.

The negative space on I'm Made. The swagger. The way he's able to say, OK, I can do the crunk, the hype, now I'm going to put some swag in this shit and show you how much I got. Mind you this was before we had this swag shit.

The sentimental effect on Can You Stand the Game is just classic. It's the southern equivalent of Jay-Z's "Song Cry". (Jay-Z would later reference this album on his song "Threat" from the Black Album with the lines "Like, castor oil, I Castor Troy you / Change your face or the bullets change all that for you" - which went WAY over most niggas head's but I knew the first time I heard it. I was like "ohhhh shitttt". He was referencing Pastor Troy's album FACE OFF - more specifically the intro to "No More Play in GA" where all of the bullets start firing. Most people still don't know what they fuck Hov is talking about half the time. Guess that's why he is making so much money off fucking Decoded.

The flow on Eternal Yard Dash is incredible. No other way to spin it.

If you every have the chance to come to Atlanta and go to a club, request some pastor troy. Request Vica Versa. Something magical happens. You will instantlly tell the real from the pretenders. The niggas who have really lived it from the niggas who just talked about it. People will go into a trance. Grown ass men. Women. Everybody will start screaming every word like they are going through their own personal prayer. White Kids. Black Kids. Thugs. Preps. This was our shit. The song builds, and builds, and people eventually lose their mind in a fucking explosion of energy at the climax of the record... "If this was vica versa, I'd be an angel, cause I'm a devil....a down south georgia rebel...A WHOLE NOTHER FUCKING LEVEL...." and if the DJ is any fucking good they'll cut the record off right there because if it goes any further something might get broken.

Oh Father is insanity. When it drops it could be mistaken for a Three Six Mafia record. But Troy comes in dropping knowledge. I love records like this. These public confessional reocrds. Those records that are conversations with god. Those are the records that people say are "Pac"-like. There aren't enough artists doing records like this these days. It's amazing because people don't realize that these are the records that connect the most with people! it doesn't matter if you are male or female, black or white, religous or not! this is one of those BIG "Ready To Die" type records. one of those Jay-Z "Regrets" type records. FEEL MY PAIN shit. we've all been down. we've all been there. these are the lighter records. when you perform this shit tell mother fuckers to take out their lights, sing along, dim the lights. spit your soul. connect. live. love. life. RAP. music. got damnnnn this my shit.

god i love hip hop."