The fifth volume in the Source's Hip Hop Hits series compiles many of the most popular rap songs of 2001, resulting in a convenient year-end summation for the holiday season. As expected, there's a little bit of everything here: East Coast rap (DMX's "We Right Here," P. Diddy's "Bad Boy for Life," and Jadakiss' "Put Ya Hands Up"), Dirty South (Trick Daddy's "I'm a Thug," Ludacris' "Area Codes," and Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On"), pop-rap (Ja Rule and J Lo's "I'm Real," Eve and Gwen Stefani's "Let Me Blow Ya Mind," and Nelly's "Ride Wit Me"), and West Coast rap (Xzibit's "Front 2 Back"). Unfortunately, while it's no doubt hard to please everyone, a few more West Coast tracks would have been nice since Xzibit's contribution isn't really that spectacular and Snoop Dogg's appearance on a remix of OutKast's "So Fresh, So Clean" doesn't really count. Plus, you have to wonder why the Iconz's "Get F***ed Up" and Benzino's "Bang Ta Dis" are here, since they were minor hits at best. Nevertheless, you can't argue with most of the picks, particularly since the essentials -- "I'm Real," "Let Me Blow Ya Mind," and "Get Ur Freak On" -- are here. [The clean edition edits any profanity or questionable language.] ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide