The artist refers to Jesus as his “Best Friend.” “Intro” declares, “It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in people.” But . . .
Nearly every track glorifies ungodly behavior. Crass descriptions of casual sex plague five raps. “Journey Through the Life” even brags, “The fantasies I have for women are unholy.” Puffy endorses smoking marijuana (“Pain,” “Real N-ggas”) and selling it (“Reverse”).He mixes drinking and driving on “Do You Like It, Do You Want It.” Other abused substances include rum and cocaine. Malicious threats and gritty street violence invade ten tracks with lyrics such as, “I kill for a hobby,” “I dream of bodies in streams of blood” and “Blew his brains out ’cause witnesses we don’t need.” When asked on “P.S. 112” why children love Puff Daddy, a little girl explains, “Because he’s a hit-makin’, money-havin’, Bentley-drivin’, muthaf—in’ pimp.” Obscenities and racial slurs are scattered throughout.
Guests Lil’ Kim, Redman, R. Kelly, Jay-Z and Bizzy Bone join Sean “Puffy” Combs on this reckless ode to urban decay. As for Puff Daddy’s Christian faith, Entertainment Weekly‘s Tom Sinclair was appropriately dumbfounded by the rapper’s hypocrisy. He wrote, “Far be it from me to belittle another man’s spiritual beliefs. But in the context of Forever–a record filled with talk about guns, violence, and retribution–such attempts to stake the moral high ground seem glaringly specious.” We agree.
