Coming of Age

1	Pain in da A** Intro 0:43
2	Who's Sleeping 2:40
3	Memphis Bleek Is... 4:08
4	What You Think of That 4:40
5	M**** 4 Life 4:47
6	You're All Welcome Pain Interlude 0:37
7	Stay Alive in NYC 4:14
8	You a Thug N**** 4:14
9	N.O.W. / Da Ranjahz 4:15
10	Everybody 4:00
11	I Won't Stop / Dark Half 3:07
12	My Hood to Your Hood / Beanie Sigel 3:47
13	Why You Wanna Hate For 3:49
14	Regular Cat 5:10

Barnes & Noble

Although a product of the same Marcy projects as his Brooklyn-bred mentor, Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek is his own man. While Jay's charismatic appeal stretches from the underground to the mainstream, Bleek's M.O. remains defiantly street. His COMING OF AGE debut is filled to the rim with songs like "Regular Cat," "Stay Alive," and "Everybody," all of which detail the perils of life in the inner city. Thankfully, the album's few collaborations help bring life to the record's subject matter, which is frustratingly one-dimensional. "My Hood to Your Hood" showcases the chemistry between Bleek and labelmate Beanie Siegel, while "What U Think" is aided by a scene-stealing cameo from one Shawn Carter. Overflowing with promise, as evidenced by the bouncy "Memphis Bleek Is...," Bleek's real coming-of-age may still be a year or so away, but this album is an important first step. Elliott Wilson

All Music Guide

A collaborator on many of Jay-Z's albums (and a fellow native of Brooklyn's Marcy Projects), Memphis Bleek debuted his own solo career with the album Coming of Age, released on his mentor's Roc-A-Fella label, a subsidiary of Def Jam. Bleek's rapping style is a bit more street-level than Jay-Z's, making for a distinctive album that comes as a bit of a surprise given the large amount of samey records that often come from the same hip-hop labels. Besides the obvious cameos -- from Jay-Z, fellow Roc-A-Fella rappers Ja Rule and Beanie Sigel, plus Noreaga and Da Ranjahz -- Memphis Bleek sounds good throughout. For the spotlight single "Memphis Bleek Is...," the rapper recruited Swizz Beatz, the hottest producer in hip-hop. The move pays off, too, as the track is a solid DMX-style shouter, with the obvious catch phrase in the title. Many of the productions were recorded by Roc-A-Fella comrades, and the highlights ("What Do You Think of That," "Murda 4 Life," "You a Thug Nigga") have the same emphasis on bruising urban-funk as most Jay-Z material. Still, Coming of Age is a fine debut that shows Memphis Bleek already leaps and bounds ahead of most rappers. ~ Keith Farley, All Music Guide