MC Mong has released his first full-length album since 'Humanimal' in 2009. �After laying low for a while after his controversy, this rap mogul is back with the star-studded album,�'Miss Me or Diss Me.'� Let's take a look at this new album and see if you missed MC Mong or dissed him.�

TRACKLIST�

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The album starts with a sweet piano melody, the intro to "The Happiest Time of My Life."� Huh Gak was enlisted to help on this feel good song by lending his sweet vocals.� The first verse has a Puff Daddy "I'll Be Missing You" sound and later develops into a vibe similar to the�"I Love You, Oh Thank You" MC Mong era.� It's difficult not to smile along to this tune.�

The lead single, "Miss Me Or Diss Me," is the next track on the album.� It's a 180-degree shift from "The Happiest Time of My Life."� The track touches on emotions such as sadness and anger.� The lyrics are deep and heavy, allowing you to feel the burden he felt when recording this track.� In addition, Jinsil's vocals in the track add an extra dimension of darkness.

As for the music video, I think they did an amazing job visually.� While there is no story, the coloring and camera angles portray a dark mental state really well.� They emphasize the feeling of loneliness by not adding a female lead in the video for Jinsil's parts�it almost ends up sounding like voices in his head.� I thought everything from the cold snow and icicles to the flowers and nest were all super cool backdrops. �The juxtaposition of MC Mong's tough image in his sunglasses and his vulnerable eyes in other scenes work really well with the theme of the song. �

One of my favorite vocalists, Ailee, features in the next track, "Be Strong."� MC Mong's rap complements her strong vocals perfectly.� This song is oddly inspirational.� With lyrics such as, "Tomorrow will be harder, so be strong from now on," it advises the protagonist to have strength even during tough times because "the hiding sunlight will shine on you some day."�

"Be Strong," transitions into�"New York," featuring Baek Ji Young.� The track has a retro feel with trumpets, triangles, and a funky undertone beat.� It's a retro track mixed with an OST of a drama, played when the underprivileged girl holds her head up high and conquers the world (no, just me?).

"Run Away," is one of my favorite tracks off the album�aside from "Be Strong"�featuring vocalist, Lyn.� This is another track that doubles as a love song, and also parallels MC Mong's own personal struggles.� With lyrics such as, "Let's run away further, until your sickness gets better, don't hide among strange people but let's leave," it's a deep track.�

To be completely honest, MC Mong is my least favorite part of the next track, "Faulty Fan," but it's a solid track nonetheless.� I love SISTAR Hyorin's voice, especially when she hits those high notes at the climax of the song�her voice paired with Gary's rap is perfection.� This is yet another feel good inspirational song saying�"the sky is the limit" despite current hardships.

The vibe changes with "What Could I Do," a collaboration with Bumkey.� This song has a ridiculously catchy chorus and simple beat with a piano melody and finger snaps.� It's one you shrug along to when you make inevitable mistakes in life.

The next track, "Scandal," features The Channels.� This song has a funky beat that includes synthesizers, shakers, and a guitar here and there.� MC Mong mentions his lack of privacy in these lyrics.� However, he makes this into a love track, stating how he wants her to stay by his side through it all.

The intro to "0904" gives me the chills�I think there's something about her voice and the piano melody that make me expect a creepy doll to pop out at me.� Although I'm not sure why this track was included in the album� Any ideas?� "0904" is a perfect transition into "Sick to Death Pt. 2," featuring Sweden Laundry.� This upbeat heartbreak song, too, has a chilling sound as well.� MC Mong's rap matches well with Sweden Laundry's hook, though.

"Whatever" is the next track on the album, featuring Minah of Girl's Day.� The track is an upbeat love song.� MC Mong and Minah sing as a cute couple saying "whatever" to all the haters.� The song fits well with both of their bubbly personalities.�

The bubbly turns dense again with�"My Love," featuring Sung Yoo Jin.� There is a mix of heartbreak and anger in this track.� MC Mong tells his ex-lover that he's moving on and suggesting she's doing the same.� However, with Sung Yoo Jin's hook and chorus, the song suggests that the love is still there.� Her voice paired with the violin melody in the background is so beautiful and perfect.

The final track, "E.R," has the most hip-hop vibe of all the songs.� It sounds like a collaboration between One Republic and INFINITE�all this with MC Mong's strong rapping game layered over.� While the song sounds really familiar (does anyone know what song it sounds like?), I still like it.� The Channels comes through again with a solid feature.�

In retrospect, there a lot of the songs clump into my mind as sounding fairly similar--there were no unique songs that sounded groundbreaking to me. �However, I think each track is solid.� There are a ton of really cool features in this album, and MC Mong proves that he's still spitting flow.� Overall, everything except the title of this album was played safe.� However, I think it was a good album to ease MC Mong's way back into the K-pop scene.� Considering it's dominating music charts, he must have done something right!

What did you think of the album?