Spider Loc – West Kept Secret – The Prequel 

If Koch Records really is the graveyard that Fif claims it is, then surely he must be killing his artists, right? Despite what the boss of G-Unit has said about Koch, it’s been a savior for some of his artists, as Prodigy was able to win back some of his fans with Return of the Mac, an album produced entirely by Alchemist after the last Mobb effort, Blood Money, received mixed reviews from the duo’s hardcore fans. Now Koch is stepping in again to help out G-Unit’s West Coast representative Spider Loc, who’s dropping West Kept Secret on the same day as 50’s Curtis. 

Strangely, that’s as close to the G-Unit affiliation as Spider Loc gets, as all of his G-Unit affiliates are absent from West Kept Secret. The only features on West Kept Secret are Ice Cube, E-Note, Papa Smurf and Piper. Not that it’s necessary that his G-Unit cohorts join him on here, but you have to wonder why there’s not even a verse from Banks or Yayo. 

West Kept Secret’s single “Blutiful World” starts off with a possessed, singing, gangbanging Elmo before Loc runs through everything blue in his life, including his guns. Whether you’re in the same gang or you just really like the color blue, you’ll probably like this song. Honestly, I didn’t even realize that that many things in this world were blue or that the word “blue” and “blew” could be used in so many different ways in such a short amount of time, so I have to say that I definitely learned something here. Props to Spider Loc on this one. 

“I don’t stress how I dress ‘cause it’s tacky,” Spider Loc raps on “Big Blacc Boots.” Finally an artist that’s not shouting out the labels on the back of his shirt, because not only is that tacky, as Spider Loc says, but it’s also pretty feminine. Ice Cube sounds refreshed on “Big Blacc Boots,” but he says, “I’m one flop away from a fucking kidnapper.” Are We Done Yet just called…I guess we can expect Cube to go Gary Sinise in Ransom on us right about now. 

Spider Loc’s not a cow herder but beef seems to have a way of finding him. If it wasn’t Game, it was Yukmouth. If it wasn’t Yukmouth, it was Messy Marv. Spider Loc made a good move by not having beef be the main focus of West Kept Secret. He needs to prove that he’s more than a hired gun for G-Unit, and by putting more of a focus on songs on West Kept Secret, he’s doing just that. That’s not to say dude can’t drop a song every now and then going at somebody, but it shouldn’t be all he’s known for. 

“Sometimes” is the traditional West Coast ride out, get girls-type track that works well before “All I Know,” where Loc tells us why “they can’t do it like I do.” Then Spider Loc gives credit to 50 Cent for his business acumen and promising to “right these wrongs.” Is he breaking new ground here? No. Did you expect him to? Probably not. Keep in mind this isn’t his G-Unit album, so he’s probably saving the best of the best for that. And whether you agree or disagree that that’s the right move for him right now, that’s what he’s doing. 

What Spider Loc has also done, whether consciously or unconsciously, is put a huge amount of pressure on his G-Unit debut because he has to really blow minds on that to show why he’s G-Unit. West Kept Secret is not wack by any means, but because of Spider Loc’s rap affiliation, fans are expecting a near-perfect album. In other words, the time has come for Spider Loc to show why he’s on G-Unit. Spider Loc has served us the appetizer with West Kept Secret, but the real question is will his main course have fans ordering dessert? 

Lyrics: 3/5

Beats: 3/5

Overall: 3/5

Review by Brian Kayser