May 18, 2005 @ 4:05 am

Z-Ro - Let The Truth Be Told

by: Zack Cimini

After a prior nine and a half month stint in jail a few years ago, Z-Ro came out last year with the aggressive hard knock penetrating realities of living in the ghetto, with The Life of Joseph McVey. A year later he made a switch like Will Smith, diverting to a more soulful street rapper by toning down his stomps on tracks with his latest release, Let The Truth Be Told. You'll never get a track involving happiness or peace from Z-Ro, and he even apologizes for that on "Another Song." His life has been filled with heartache, from a downward slope past. His only escape has been music. The southern rapper lost his mother at the age of six and his father was rarely around, so he gives praise to the family that raised him, his Auntie and Grandma. There are few guests on the album, including Ashanti, Juvenile, Lil Flip and Paul Wall. Ashanti sings a hook on "1st Time Again." Lil Flip and Paul Wall are on the track "From the South" and the chorus is screwed up, which is starting to become a fast trend. Z-Ro has been in the rap game for a long time and is finally enjoying the recognition, which means a rising cash flow and more ice for his neck and grill. Still money can't take the pain away. On "It's A Shame," Z-Ro's goes off on what the crooked system has done to him and how he sees it everywhere he goes. "I already got one foot in the grave/ ain't **** for me to jump in/I'm also overdosing on codeine, heart barely pumpin." The Mo City Don still keeps it real, and even though his album was never meant to be a commercial success, his street rapport remains high with continuing buzz creating messages.

Article tags: Z-Ro, Let The Truth Be Told, Ashanti, Juvenile, Lil Flip, Paul Wall, Mo City Don 

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