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Charity Starts at Home
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Charity Starts at Home Image
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 7 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 18 Ratings

  • Summary: The latest album for the rapper who also is a member of Little Brother and The Foreign Exchange features guest appearances by 9th Wonder, Big K.R.I.T., Evidence, Elzhi, and Pharoahe Monch.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. The A.V. Club
    Oct 11, 2011
    91
    With his gloriously grown-up solo debut, one of the smartest, most incisive lyricists alive proves it's possible to grow older in hip-hop while retaining your dignity.
  2. HipHopDX
    Oct 11, 2011
    90
    With its substantial subject matter, solid production and tightly-woven sequencing, Charity Starts At Home does exactly what a solo debut should: showcases the artist's skill set and personality all at once.
  3. Okayplayer
    Oct 11, 2011
    88
    This is sophisticated music for the adult soul.
  4. XXL
    Oct 11, 2011
    80
    Undeniably, Charity Starts At Home reminds why the rapper has been a darling of the underground for years.
  5. The Wire
    Jul 26, 2018
    80
    No News Is Good News is a grown up rap album by a grown up rapper that still manages to be utterly thrilling. [Aug 2018, p.69]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. AllMusic
    Jan 18, 2012
    80
    A well-balanced marriage of all of Phonte's musical inclinations.
  7. RapReviews.com
    Oct 11, 2011
    75
    This is an overall above average album that needed a little more of something--a little more 9th Wonder, a little more swagger, a little more about the world of today--and possibly just a little less angst.

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Labarron
    Oct 24, 2011
    10
    Good, Classic Album. It takes me back to the little brother days. Love the way he raps and sings. Eternally, The Good Fight, To Be Yours, andGood, Classic Album. It takes me back to the little brother days. Love the way he raps and sings. Eternally, The Good Fight, To Be Yours, and We Go Off are my favorite tracks of the album.… Expand
  2. tylerminor2011
    Jan 7, 2012
    9
    This is a great album. The production is solid. The lyrics are solid. The only complaint I have with it is that Phonte doesn't change up hisThis is a great album. The production is solid. The lyrics are solid. The only complaint I have with it is that Phonte doesn't change up his style, and the beats and his flow can be repetitive. Other than that, it is almost a perfect album.… Expand
  4. keep_yr_bias
    Feb 16, 2012
    7
    All around this was a surprisingly solid album. Phonte is a pretty good lyricist, and the production fits him very well. I certainly enjoyedAll around this was a surprisingly solid album. Phonte is a pretty good lyricist, and the production fits him very well. I certainly enjoyed the theme of the album, which is very down to earth, blue collar type album. For the most part Phonte is your everyday dude, and that in itself is refreshing. It's far from perfect though. The album has it's fair share of contradictions, particularly in his lyrics. On one song he can be rapping about how he wants a simple life or being honest, settling down, and finding true love, and the other claiming that men cheat because they have to (as if it were genetic), and that his woman is a ball and chain. The only bad stretch of this album is the middle 3 or 4 tracks, and some of those are flat out terrible. One of the tracks is maybe the cheesiest cornball R&B songs I've ever heard. I really wish that Phonte would have done away with all of the R&B songs he has on this album. It's a shame, because on tracks like, "We Go Off" feat. Pharoahe Monch, Phonte shows just how great of rapper he can be.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Best Album of 2011

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