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Jun 3, 2013Authentic is just not an album anyone should be bothering with.
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May 15, 2013Despite his years away acting, LL hasn't really lost his touch rapping. What he has lost is a sense of focus and direction.
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May 8, 2013Unfortunately, Authentic suffers the same fate as LL’s other late-career missteps: too many features and a superficial brand of R&B bog down another release from one of rap’s earliest superstars.
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May 2, 2013Authentic is ridiculous right down to the heavy-breathing interludes, which worked for Usher circa 2003.
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Apr 30, 2013Thirty years in, LL still spins taut couplets as often as he licks his lips and delivers them with nimble style.
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Apr 30, 2013Authentic not only misses the mark, it doesn't even come close.
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Apr 30, 2013LL sounds rusty and a bit under-rehearsed as he belts out his iffy punch lines and motivational anthems, but he pours his heart into the pop numbers and sounds at home during the nostalgic throwbacks.
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Apr 30, 2013Not "authentic"--amiable.
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Apr 30, 2013The beats here don't always pop, but Authentic offers plenty of lyrical pleasures across 12 rather dense tracks--less bloated than the garden-variety, 18-song hip-hop album, but with plenty of substance nonetheless.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 2 out of 11
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Mixed: 4 out of 11
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Negative: 5 out of 11
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Jan 21, 2016
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May 5, 2013