Nostalgia certainly fuels my perception of the third Ryde Or Die series, an album that I received shortly after its first release on December 18, 2001 for Christmas.
While contributions from DMX, Eve, Jadakiss, Styles P, Sheek Louch, and several off-roster players such as Petey Pablo and Ludacris were featured in the project, Drag-On once again solidified as an outstanding player. Drag made his presence felt in blistering fashion on “Street Team” alongside newcomers Infa-Red and Cross, a dark street banger that holds up particularly well today.
With a sinister instrumental up-tempo of P. Killer Tracks, all three emcees take turns to compete for the highlight verse, a healthy competition that plays with a knife-fight’s intensity. “Got a full pound clip, putting your ass under the ground with a thunderous sound,” Cross rapes in the frenzied opening verse.
Next spits his rhyming partner Infa-Red, living up with a bout of laid-back threat to his namesake. “Got bullets going through your stomach Then come your head out, I’m Infa-red,” he says, before passing the microphone to Drag-On. “It’s not going to be a copping on my block if I don’t get any profit from this shit, do you get my drift?” he opens, before proving why many have left him the title of the strongest flow in the Double-R camp. Maybe a more obscure gem, but one worth visiting over and over again.