SPIN
June 2007
Link
3.5 stars
And you thought DMX was the unstable one.
"My album's crazy," boasts Kasseem Dean, a.k.a. Swizz Beatz, throughout his second solo record. While other rap/R&B producers turned performers have been disappointingly uneven lately -- Timbaland, WTF? -- One Man Band Man makes schizophrenia a virtue. Gaudy beats start and stutter on party joints like the delirious single "It's Me Bitches." Swizz turns socially conscious on the piano pep talk "Part of the Plan," assisted by Coldplay's Chris Martin. But by the chest-thumping "Bust Ya Gunz," the Beyoncé hit-maker is back to his Ruff Ryders roots. Crazy? Possibly.
