The Solution (Beanie Sigel album)

The Solution
Studio album by
Beanie Sigel
ReleasedDecember 11, 2007
GenreHip-hop
Length50:20
Label
Producer
Beanie Sigel chronology
The B. Coming
(2005) 		The Solution
(2007) 		The Broad Street Bully
(2009)
Singles from The Solution
  1. "All the Above"
    Released: October 29, 2007

The Solution is the fourth studio album by Philadelphia rapper Beanie Sigel. It was released on December 11, 2007.[1] The album features production from Dre & Vidal, Reefa, and The Runners, among others. Guest appearances include Jay-Z, Ozzy Osbourne, R. Kelly, Ghostface Killah, and other notable musicians.[2]

Background

The Solution is Sigel's first album after re-signing with Roc-A-Fella Records.[3] After his 2005 album, The B. Coming, he took a one-year hiatus from music and returned to recording in 2006.[4] Speaking on the album, Beanie Sigel said:[4]

I'm an emotional guy, in a good sense. A lot of people say [my music is] depressing, but I say it's reality. At that time it was cool because I was at a depressing stage in my life with my legal issues and everything. I had a lot of songs that I felt needed to be out there. It was more conscious than depressing. But this album is just me listening to what's out there and trying to go far left, away from what's going on. It's me making that hard music. This is just life experiences and things that I go through. I just try to put out good, relevant music. Not to knock what anybody else is doing, but a lot of that music don't be relevant to any type of situation.

Music

Guests

R. Kelly is featured on the first single, "All the Above",[5] while rapper Styles P is featured on "U Ain't Ready 4 Me".[2] Jay-Z makes an appearance on the track "Gutted",[2] while Diddy, Ghostface Killah, and Peedi Crakk hook up with Beanie on "Shake It For Me".[2] Scarface is also featured on the song "Rain (Bridge)" with R&B artist Raheem DeVaughn, who also appears on "Prayer".[2] Beanie Sigel jumps into unfamiliar territory by featuring an Ozzy Osbourne sample on the track "The Day" and a James Blunt sample on "Dear Self (Can I Talk To You)".[2]

Production

Production originally included producers like Scott Storch and Sha Money XL,[6] but those tracks were cut for songs produced by Eric Hudson and Chad West.[2] Production team Dre & Vidal produce five of the thirteen tracks on the album with help from up-and-coming Dirty Harry and Don Cheegro (Harry and Alex) and The Runners produce the lead single "All the Above". Reefa produces two tracks, including "Gutted", featuring Jay-Z.[2] Cool & Dre and Dame Grease each produced one track each.[2] Notably absent from The Solution is primary artist and producer Kanye West.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
DJBooth[9]
HipHopDX[10]
Los Angeles Times[11]
Okayplayer[12]
PopMatters[13]
RapReviews8.5/10[14]
Slant[15]
Pitchfork6.1/10[16]
USA Today[17]

The Solution received generally positive ratings after its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 72 based on 10 reviews.[7] Chris Gaerig of PopMatters praised the album, writing, "What Beanie Sigel lacks in sheer marketability he makes up for with a vicious flow and an ingenuity rarely seen from an artist of his caliber,"[13] while Slant's Wilson McBee called the album "another hard-boiled testament of ghetto truth-telling."[15]

Jeff Weiss, writing for The Los Angeles Times found that the album "feels unnecessarily bifurcated, with most of its first half devoted to grandiose tough-talk and limp club bangers devoted to passing the Patron. Yet on the record’s latter side, Sigel forgets his commercial aspirations to channel his attention inward, providing a rare and extremely compelling glance at his demons."[11] |Pitchfork's Tom Breihan observed that The Solution was a "deeply schizophrenic record, one that completely divorces Beanie's cocksure swagger from his introspective depth. Maybe next time around Beanie will figure out how to unleash both of those sides on the same songs, to let them build on each other and complicate things. If that happens, something tells me the Runners won't be involved."[16]

Commercial performance

The Solution opened and peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard 200 with first week sales of 49,000 units.[18] It marked Sigel's first album to miss the chart's top ten.[19] The album also reached number three on Billboard's Top Rap Albums and number seven on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[20][21] By November 2009, the album had sold 346,000 copies domestically.[22]

Track listing

The Solution track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."All the Above" (featuring R. Kelly)
The Runners4:14
2."'Bout That (Let Me Know)"
Cool & Dre3:31
3."U Ain't Ready 4 Me" (featuring Styles P)
Dame Grease3:18
4."Go Low" (featuring R. City)
Hudson4:30
5."Gutted" (featuring Jay-Z)
Reefa4:07
6."Shake It for Me" (featuring Diddy, Ghostface Killah, and Peedi Peedi)
Rockwilder3:33
7."I'm In"
Chad "Wes" Hamilton3:12
8."H.H.E.H."
3:57
9."What They Gonna Say to Me"
Dre & Vidal3:43
10."The Day" (featuring Ozzy Osbourne)
  • Dre & Vidal
  • Don Cheegro[a]
  • Dirty Harry[a]
3:35
11."Rain (Bridge)" (featuring Scarface and Raheem DeVaughn)
Reefa5:37
12."Dear Self (Can I Talk to You)" (featuring James Blunt)
Dre & Vidal3:18
13."Prayer" (featuring Raheem DeVaughn)
  • Grant
  • Harris
  • Davis
  • DeVaughn
Dre & Vidal3:45
Total length:50:20

Notes

  • ^[a] denotes co-producer(s)

Sample credits

Charts

References

  1. ^ Beanie Sigel Drops The Solution on December 11 XXL. (October 23, 2007). Accessed November 21, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i William E. Ketchum III (November 21, 2007). Beanie Sigel Talks Album, Tracklist. HipHopDX. Accessed November 21, 2007.
  3. ^ Shake (May 22, 2007). Beanie Sigel Backs Jay-Z, Still With Rocafella HipHopDX. Accessed November 21, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Bill Heinzelman (April 23, 2007). Beanie Sigel Streets On Lock Archived 2010-03-29 at the Wayback Machine XXL. Accessed November 21, 2007.
  5. ^ Andres Tardio (August 9, 2007). Beanie Sigel Recruites R. Kelly for New Album. HipHopDX. Accessed November 21, 2007.
  6. ^ Beanie Sigel The Solution Preview XXL. (April 23, 2007). Accessed November 21, 2007.
  7. ^ a b "The Solution Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  8. ^ "The Solution - Beanie Sigel : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  9. ^ "Beanie Sigel, The Solution Review". Djbooth.net. Archived from the original on December 30, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  10. ^ Udoh, Meka (December 18, 2007). "Beanie Sigel – The Solution". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on September 6, 2025. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  11. ^ a b Weiss, Jeff (December 18, 2007). "If you think it's hip, think again". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  12. ^ Blunt, Mel (September 1, 2008). "Beanie Sigel, The Solution". Okayplayer. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  13. ^ a b Gaerig, Chris (February 18, 2008). "Beanie Sigel: The Solution". PopMatters. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  14. ^ Juon, Steve (December 18, 2007). "Beanie Sigel :: The Solution :: Roc-A-Fella Records". Rapreviews.com. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  15. ^ a b McBee, Wilson (December 16, 2007). "Review: Beanie Sigel, The Solution". Slant Magazine. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  16. ^ a b Breihan, Tom (December 7, 2007). "Beanie Sigel: The Solution | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  17. ^ Jones, Steve (December 10, 2007). "If you think it's hip, think again". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 18, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  18. ^ Gallo, Phil (December 19, 2007). "'Noel' brings good cheer to charts". Variety. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  19. ^ a b "Beanie Sigel Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  20. ^ a b "Beanie Sigel Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Beanie Sigel Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  22. ^ Erwin, Jack (November 17, 2009). "XXL Presents Def Jam's Entire Rap Discography". XXL (119). Harris Publications: 70–72. ISSN 1093-0647.
  23. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2008". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
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