Steve 'Flash' JuonLong time friend and retired RR contributor DJ Complejo once described Sheek Louch as “the most underrated and overlooked” member of The LOX. Jadakiss is everybody’s favorite member due to his punchlines and personality, while Styles P has more nicknames (my favorite being “The Ghost”) than the group has members and his own devoted cult following. When Sheek dropped solo albums in the 2000’s though they always hovered in the range of 6-8 out of 10. Never bad, never an all time classic, but consistently solid. Sheek might be overshadowed by his Lox brothers but he never let that stop him from making good music.
“Donnie G: Don Gorilla” was where things started to change. The dedicated Sheek fans weren’t dismayed by a crossover track like the Phonix Beats produced “Party After 2” with Jeremih crooning the hook. Every mainstream album needs a single and a music video, and since Def Jam Records was putting this one out, it really doesn’t get more mainstream than that. Now with 2025 eyes there are some things that bother me, but it has more to do with the video’s presentation of a woman for whom “no means no” when her man is buggin’, only for Sheek Louch to offer her more alcohol and get her to hang around longer. Fellas, someone should have called her a cab — or better yet drove her home and walked her to the front door to make sure she got back safely without her angry boyfriend showing up. I’m trying not to overthink this though so let’s move on.
A lot of the songs here are surprisingly mediocre by Sheek standards. “Club Jam Packed” sounds like a low rent Lil Jon production (it’s actually DJ Webstar) and boring lyrics like “Slide ’em in the club/Patron and some bub/I’m trying to be like Diddy, put some women in the tub.” (We can let him slide on Puff Daddy, we didn’t know Sean Combs was that evil in 2010.) It’s not a good sign when the famously monotone Fabolous shines more than Sheek on Red Spyda’s “Make Some Noise,” but Louch is still talking about being flashy at the club — and that’s not monotone, that’s monotonous. “Ice in the Audemars, weed in the mayo jar.” Not impressed. It’s not the only guest who upstages him though as U.G.K.’s Bun B absolutely owns him on “Ol’ Skool.”
The best sign of life from Sheek Louch on the whole album is “Dinner Guest,” when he reunited with Jadakiss and Styles P for a LOX song in all but name. Even here he’s calling himself “lyrically immaculate” but just talking about how fast his car is, how much weed he smokes and how many women like him. It’s a list of tropes for a successful rapper without actually telling a story, saying anything funny, or impressing us with clever wordplay. The team up just forces him to step up his energy a little bit to match his comrades, and that’s fine given how menacing Red Spyda’s beat is.
Going into “Donnie G: Don Gorilla” I completely agreed with Pedro’s assessment of Sheek Louch, but coming out of it I was shifted in an entirely different direction. There are 45 minutes of music here and my favorite moment was hearing Chuck D and Flavor Flav sampled in the “Rhyme Animal (Intro)” that starts the presentation. It’s a roller coaster ride from there but there are more downs than ups and the highs aren’t that thrilling when you hit them. “You don’t want to see me, I’m rap’s herpes” quips Sheek on the intro, and the poor choice of cover art implies even HE didn’t want to see himself. Despite a big budget, big guest stars, and a solid reputation in the rap game for a decade, Sheek phoned this one in.