As rappers like Snoop Dogg, Mos Def and Nas have begun to dabble in production, plenty of producers – among them, Alchemist and Nottz have started touching the microphone. Harlem’s Ron Browz proved to be one of the most jarring, as he went from producing bass-thumping singles for Nas and Big L in the early ’00s, to basically becoming a straw that broke the camel’s back for Auto-Tune with his own songs, “Jumping (Out The Window)” and “Arab Money” 
. While he may have largely pushed Auto-Tune to the side on his new album, Browz shows that without the studio crutch, his rhymes offer very little. As the public finally gets a taste of Ron’s debut album, Etherlibrium, one has to stop and wonder how bad his shelved major label album EtherBoy had to have been to never see the light of day if something this mediocre is released.
From the break, Browz struggles to exhibit any concrete skills at emceeing, and unfortunately this trend continues throughout the album until the very last track. His flow is never impressive, what he’s rhyming about isn’t insightful, and there really isn’t much positive to say about what he’s attempting.
One of his biggest mistakes on Etherlibrium is failing to live up to not only a satisfactory level of emceeing, but a disappointing production performance as well. Most producers-turned-emcees can at least get one of the two correct, but many of the beats on Etherlibrium end up dull and uninspired. He boldly takes samples that have been notably and widely used, and instead of turning them into something creative and up to the standards of their predecessors, he turns them into tracks that are difficult to even listen to. Evidence of this lies in “Wishing On A Star” featuring Maino, Fred Da Godson, and Malaika Russell, taking the Earl Klugh sample used for 2Pac’s “Pain,” and flipping it the same exact way but with a few different enhancements and a far softer hook. Maino and Fred’s support does help, as several of the high profile guests raise the low bar for lyrical skills on this effort. Later in the album, Browz has the audacity to try to rap over Large Professor‘s classic Illmatic “Halftime” instrumental, which any Hip Hop head will know is a disaster less than two seconds into listening to the song. Why re-do something if no justice can be done to the original?
A song such as “Wanna Be You” are the album’s bottom. Listeners will may understand the 2009 Auto-Tune run when Browz’ natural singing voice is brought to the record. It’s bad enough to make a listener wonder if the track is simply a joke with a punchline that they don’t understand. In fact, the few instances where Browz does decide to turn on the vocoder end up being among the album’s better offerings.
It’s quite disappointing to see someone who helped create the dramatic “The Last Real Nigga Alive” or notable diss track “Ether” actually end up ethering himself on his own material. Etherlibrium ends up being not just another, but an extreme case of a producer who should focus on nothing but producing. “Don’t Breathe It” may be the only reason to even try to give Etherlibrium a listen, as he actually exhibits a successful attempt at some word play when he spits, “Just for the record, man, I used to stand on the corner with the record man / I was smart that’s why I never got a record, man / So when the fiends asked I said you can get my work from the record, man.” One or two tracks may save an EP, but it will leave this full-length debut collecting digital dust on iTunes’ shelves.
“Just for the record, man, I used to stand on the corner with the record man / I was smart that’s why I never got a record, man / So when the fiends asked I said you can get my work from the record, man.â€
That’s fucking terrible, man. What are you talking about?
“You suck.” – Stewie Griffin
Ron Browse sucked then he sucks now. All of his works sux balls. He is a wack dude.
hahaha you hiphopdx dick sucker! so you saying ether from nas sucked? because he was the one who produced that track so go back to your moms basement and stfu.
the lady that did this review “amanda bassa” got one thig fucked up. large professor did not produce half time it was a pete rock track!! how long have you been doin this kind of work lady?
Large Pro DID produce Halftime. You’re probably thinking The World Is Yours.
FAIL
Halftime was Extra P, you have just failed at knowledge of the greatest hip hop album of all time.
your wrong buddy. Large Pro did do that joint
Large P did the joint on Halftime
I found this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halftime_%28song%29
this shit is kinda weak . maybe 1 or 2 ok songs and thats it folks . pass
This is the worst album ever, actually ron browz is worse than souljahboy and oj da juiceman. Its unfortunate that the man who produced 50 cents’ ‘i’ll whip your head boy’ can do such a mediocre and below standard album,i knew from the moment i heard ‘arab money’ that this guy was a joke, if this album moves 10 000 units in its first week then i will know that ron browz bought his own album…This album is garbage, i recommend that a standards body be formed in hiphop that helps get rid of such junk, garbage and rubbish.
He’s pretty shitty but i wouldn’t say he’s worse that solja boy and oj the juice man. Those two sound like inbred retards that tripped and fell in a pile of horse shit on the farm
Lmmfao!
1.5 xs, pretty corny flows. 2 or 3 beats are actually pretty sick
This is like one of those lame late 90’s albums that some dude would drop trying to sound like Puffy…very glittery, but no real rhyme skills. This dude either needs to hire a ghost writer or stick to making beats because he can’t do both.
aw cmon man! im riding with ether boy when he’s swaggin and auto tuing, this aint right
This is the worst title for an album ever.
his wack period. i think that his beats kinda ruined some of big l’s big picture.and still ridin off ether.
I don’t understand why people compare producers who rap with MCs. Aside from Kanye and RZA, there isn’t a single producer who can do justice on the microphone for an entire album. Everybody else has their shit written for them. My opinion is that if you take this album for what it is, it isn’t bad. It’s not great, but it’s not as bad as this critic is making it out to be. Just like most hip-hop albums that are released nowadays, it’s the music that catches us first. It’s an added bonus if there are dope lyrics. In this case, Browz substitutes lyrics for swag over dope beats — something this critic forgets to mention. The album is sonically very dope. That should not be overlooked — especially considering this album is the product of a producer-turned-rapper. I mean honestly, considering his rapping history, who had high lyrical expectations for Browz? Let’s not act like The Alchemist or Pete Rock or Black Milk or Pharrell are lyrical innovators when rapping. With the right promotion Etherlibrium could spawn at least two hits. This album’s critic might need to broaden his hip-hop horizons to properly put this LP in perspective before panning it.
It’s pretty pathetic that a producer could ride out his whole career off of one song.
One poorly produced song, in my opinion.
Matter of fact, I’ve never heard a Ron Browz production I’ve actually liked.