Posts in the Roundup Category
By it, I'm talking about my first semester of graduate school. Time to party for a month and then blast off to Los Angeles for the summer--but first, a bit of a roundup!
This new track by Maino, "Hi Hater," is exactly what I needed to end the semester. This song has potential: can you imagine a club of people doing the yet-to-be-formulated, synchronized "Hi Hater" dance? Picture a lot of waving and sarcastic smiles.
Kanye's Glow in the Dark tour has been going exceptionally well: between forgetting where he's performing and storming offstage due to crippling technical difficulties, Ye has taken time to lash out at those critics that have suggested the tour was (gasp!) a little bit of a letdown:
Yo, anybody that's not a fan; don't come to my show. For what?! To try and throw ya'll two cents in? Ya'll rated my album shitty and now ya'll come to the show and give it a B+. What's a B+ mean? I'm an extremist. It's either pass or fail! A+ or F-! You know what, fuck you and the whole fucking staff!!!
That's just the beginning of a poorly punctuated rant directed at Entertainment Weekly's Chris Willman. Apparently, Kanye is upset about this review, written after the opening night, which paints hip-hop's man of the moment as an uncompromising egoist:
For his headlining chunk of the Glow in the Dark Tour, Kanye West also takes fans on a galactic voyage, folding his hits into a wacked-out space opera that's the ultimate ego trip. Normally, that'd be an insult, but with West, who's made an art form out of dramatizing both humility and hubris, it's mission accomplished.
I'll cosign that statement, and if Kanye can't wrap his head around it, well that's his problem. Willman isn't saying anything we don't already know, and certainly nothing Kanye hasn't beat his fans over the head with hundreds of times. In album after self-aggrandizing album, Ye has lifted himself beyond genius to a point where expects all of us to think he is infallible. This cat honestly has a hubris great enough to make Caligula blush.
Eskay, Peter Rosenberg and Shake have all weighed in (generally positively) on Kanye's recent explosion. (And speaking of Kanye, he has a nice new track out with Young Jeezy, "Put On." I'm feelin' this joint, and not just because Jeezy proclaims that he "works for NASA.")
Other news: RZA's cover art for Digi Snax is dope! (Tracklist and tour info at 2dopeboyz.)
Swizz Beats is rapping (again), and it's still mediocre. Within the first few seconds of this song, Swizzy tells listeners that if they want to find him, "all you gotta do is Google 'where the cash at?'" Well, I took him to task on that one, and in fact, the great Google machine led me not to Swizz Beats, but to Lil Wayne. Even your favorite search engine knows what's up, haters!
This photo of Game and Suge Knight is intense. I'd love to hear some more backstory on these two dudes.
Welcome to the Winner's Circle, Curren$y's newest mixtape effort is available for your listening pleasure. I haven't bumped it yet, and if it turns out to suck shit, this is the last post Curren$y is going to see on Whatever's Good. I've liked the kid since hearing him rap with Wayne, but after his last mix, I feel like he's lost a lot of steam.
New Soulja Boy and Collipark, "She Gotta Donk." Is it embarrassing that I really enjoy all of Soulja Boy's videos? Even though a lot of Collipark's beats are derivative, the videos end up being entertaining: witness the HandiCam chase scene about halfway through the video. Soulja Boy is aieet with me.
Lil Wayne's been busy the past few days, too. First, there's "California Love" featuring Tyga, then there's Bun B and Weezy with "Damn I'm Cold." Finally, Wayne dropped a verse on the most recent DJ Khaled/Runners/Akon mega-track, "Out Here Grindin'." These three tracks have seemed to swing the mainsteam blogger's opinion of Wayne back to the positive side. There's also this "Not Guilty" freestyle, and the (rumored) Carter III tracklist. (Update: there's also two other Weezy tracks floating around the net today: "Me and My Drank" and "Haters"; say what you want, Wayne puts in work.)
One of my favorite rappers from ATL, Bohagon, has dropped a new track in preparation for a forthcoming album. I absolutely love this guy, and highly recommend the mixtape he did with Don Cannon a few summers back.
If you don't know about Santogold yet, you best read this Pitchfork review.
El-P remixed Kidz in the Hall's "Drivin' Down The Block" (which is #6 on MTV's TRL right now); DMX got arrested in AZ; Spank Rock is on a new track; Nas and The Roots covered Urb Magazine; David Banner tells the story of "The Fight"; and Sean Price & Buckshot teamed up with Kidz in the Hall for "The Pledge." Shit's poppin' off this week, huh?
Finally, hipster-hop backlash has made it to YouTube: bear witness to Tight Pants Wearin' Ass Nigga. (And if you're still following the whole Mazzi-Cool Kids-Jay Electronica thing, dude says "the experiment" is over. Whatever)
I've been busy and the hip-hop world hasn't paused to allow me a breath. The haters, fakers and music-makers just never seem to sleep--unfortunately for me, rest is a requirement. Regardless, I can still pull together an end-of-the-semester roundup.
First and foremost, the cops who killed Sean Bell have been acquitted. I'm not the only one calling bullshit on this: rappers from David Banner to Immortal Technique and The Game have sounded off. Shake at 2dopeboyz has a great list of everything that's been put down on wax since the verdict came in. I echo his sentiments, and would like to ask everyone the same question he poses in the post title: will we do more than talk?
Rick Ross is the most ridiculous rapper in the game; bear witness this recent clip of the bearded grizzly man literally burning money. Oh, and he's shirtless, which seems to be a trend of late. Let's hope it continues.
Esco recently sat down with KING magazine and chopped it up about his legacy, his fans, and the standards he's held up to.
Do your longtime fans have unrealistic standards for you? I like to hear somebody else say it, ’cause I know I’m not crazy. Yeah, man, I got the craziest, most hard-core fans in the game, and I love them, man. I’m human and I show you that. I wear that on my sleeve. I’m honest to a fault most of the time. And if they hear you being honest about one thing, they think that’s all you are. Then you might touch on something else, and it’s, “Hey, what’s going on?” And they don’t really know. It’s like, I’m here recording, giving you guys a piece of me. I’m giving motherfuckers little bits and pieces of me.
As a Nas stan myself, I have to say that he typically lives up to my standards, and though some of his releases in the early 2000's were lukewarm, he never failed. Nas is still on top of the game and the trendsetter that everyone is looking to in the wake of Hov's increasing irrelevance. Props to eskay for the link. Also, checkout part 2 of the interview.
On the mixtape side of things, Crooked I & Jay-Z, "Reserved for the Bosses" dropped. If you're sleeping on Crooked I you're missing one hell of a show. As shake points out, Crooked I just won the Best West Coast Mixtape Artist award at the 11th Annual Mixtape Awards, and has been dropping mixtapes left and right. Gotta love an artist who ain't afraid to work.
Peep this: Lil Kim's Bentley gets repossessed, on video. Enjoy the schadenfreude.
Finally, it looks like hipster rap has become the crux of some beef. Mazzi of Soul Purpose put together a track dissing both Jay Electronica and the Cool Kids. I know, what's the big deal, right? I suppose it is best described as a hipster-hop backlash from the underground, where some acts are just salivating for a slice of commercial success. In the words of Mazzi:
The Cool Kids (Hipster Hop heroes aswell)?! Where do I begin?! Aside from their 1/2 ass rhymes, & “I’m trying too hard” subject matter, it’s quite obvious that they have GIMMICK written all over them! They took a golden cherished era, put it through a ringer, warped it, twisted it, & call it their own?! They had the nerve to say they were original! Ninja PLEASE! They not even flippin’ it right! They woulda’ been herbs back in the day (as they are now)! First Chuck Inglish is from Chicago…then Detroit… Which one is it bro??? Those tite jeans on that other dude gotta go too!
Ouch. Thanks to Miss Info for the, ahem, info. I have to say I'm not surprised at this. It was only a matter of time before someone came out and got on the hipster rappers for some little quibble--as every MC knows, if you aren't getting enough publicity, start some beef over anything, even ankle hugging jeans. It works for both the Cool Kids and Mazzi simultaneously. If enough people get on this bandwagon, I think we'll see hipster rap separated as a real, independent subgenre of hip-hop itself. Obviously, some people within the rap industry see acts like Mickey Factz and the Cool Kids as different enough to be lumped together for a diss--if enough main players cosign this, "hipster-hop" might emerge, no matter how distasteful the title happens to be.
That's all for today. Back to stressing over the last week of the semester. On the bright side, I'll be spending my summer in Los Angeles, just in time for L.A.X. Sweet.
It's once again the time of year for us all to come together and raise awareness for planetary problems without actually doing anything to fix them. This Earth Day I'll be participating in an event that will illustrate to the local community just how much of the city will be underwater should the sea level rise one meter--I'm sure everyone will take it to heart.
On the brighter side of things, this Earth Day weekend includes another holiday which isn't about Greens celebrating, but celebrating the green--I know where I'll be this Sunday afternoon!
Oh yeah, and there's rap music to talk about.
Despite all of his federal troubles, T.I. made the blogs with a new track, "Hunt Em Down" which was subsequently removed from share sites due to copyright issues. Clifford is saying its an old track that was shelved, and won't be on the forthcoming Paper Trail. Of course, you can still snag it off DJ Teknicks' If You Buyin' We Sellin' mixtape. Also, there's this interview.
In Weezy news (and there's a lot of it), "Big Spender," a Nicki Minaj track featuring Lil Wayne (first heard on The Come Up DVD) dropped, the Carter III cover came out to boos from across the blogosphere, and then a week later Rolling Stone named Wayne the best MC of 2008--an honor which also brought out the boos. If you're looking for a Lil Wayne related laugh, have a listen to Cassidy over "A Milli"--it's a total joke. Way to expose yourself doggie.
The most underrated MC out of Alabama, Rich Boy, has dropped his newest mix, Bigger Than The Mayor. I honestly haven't spun it yet, but from the feedback I'm getting it's hot. Check the interview at DJ Booth and then cop the mix.
Ice Cube and Game covered XXL this month, and the cover art is nice. Big up to the West Coast. Let's hope these two are cooking some good albums--judging by the first singles ("Big Dreams" and "Gangster Rap Made Me Do It"), Los Angeles looks to be coming hard this summer.
Wiz Khalifa is freestyling, DMX is inciting riots at his shows, Vanilla Ice is getting arrested and Stat Quo is dropping awful tracks. If that's not crazy enough for you, Bill Cosby has a rap album coming soon.
In hipster rap news, the Cool Kids were caught on tape performing a remix to "Black Mags", and recently dropped a new track, "Oscar". Also, the Knux respond to hipster rap allegations. Yawn.
R. Kelly has a new hairstyle. I don't care what any of the haters say, I love this guy.
From the albums-that-will-never-see-the-light-of-day department, Just Blaze said something about Saigon's project. I didn't bother to read it, but you can click the link if you want (just to be clear, I'm not reading any more on that album unless it's a fucking release date).
The best video of the week goes to (I can't believe I'm saying this), Speedknot Mobstaz and Twista with "Money To Blow". In close second is a video that I never thought would actually be made, Three Six Mafia and DJ Unk's, "I'd Rather." Academy Award winners, indeed. Take that every other rap artist. (Since I'm giving out awards for videos of the week, Playaz Circle and Phonte get the bronze medal for "Paper Chaser").
And last but not least, Akon is a complete fraud. Surprise, surprise.
It's Saturday and there's basketball on TV--not that I actually have much time to watch it. I'll be pumping a keg at the Monterey Institute's annual "International Bazaar." If you're in the hood, come through and I'll pour you a cup. If not, there's plenty of nonsense in the raposphere to keep you occupied.
First off, Busta Rhymes has apparently already outshined your favorite rapper, and says so on the cover of his latest mixtape. I can't disagree with dude--The Coming is probably the most underrated rap classic ever, and puts Busta up there with B.I.G. and the other greats (yeah, I said it). For more Busta fun, peep this nasty video from MissInfo that finds Bus-a-Bus lecturing fans on what respect means. What an animal.
If you missed it, 2dopeboyz had the best April Fools prank in the hip-hop world. After you peep it, peep the wedding announcement.
The following should probably be filed under "misguided revolutionary fetishism": Rhymefest is saying that his new album will be based on Che Guevara's life. I thought all the Che nonsense died with Rage Against the Machine back in the mid-1990s. All the people who love his iconic stencil-face and flowing hair seem to have no idea what he's actually about. There's so many other revolutionaries who were much more down than Che, but hey, whatever. If you're going to rep him all I ask is that you do your homework.
There's not one but two new State Property tracks over at Fader; "Oceans Seven" is the better of the bunch, but both flow great. This is what I want to hear more of. Rappers: make music similar to this.
Props again to Crate Kings for putting me on to a nice DJ Toomp interview--you know Toomp, he's the man who put together a shitload of synth-heavy summer hits about 2 years ago. Definitely worth a quick read.
Pitchfork reviews Webbie's Savage Life 2. "Fitting for an album that documents a perhaps unwilling crawl to maturity, Savage Life 2 succeeds when it sticks to the specific, discrete, and (relatively) adult." Man, Pitchfork is so ridiculous. Gotta love it.
Polow Da Don may as well be called "Polow Da Shameless". Thanks to 2dopeboyz for this little expose. As they say, "Polow lost." I'll cosign that.
New Wale track, "Conclusion" off his upcoming Mixtape About Nothing. I'm still on Wale's bandwagon but I'm going to need more to keep hyping him.
I can't leave you without new Weezy info: check out "Let's Pray," perhaps the most asinine track Weezy's done in a week. It's getting panned across the blogosphere, and probably rightly so. But as I always say, if you can get the haters mad, you must be doing something right.
Other bits and pieces: Saigon in XXL, RZA seeking openers on CraigsList, Wiz Khalifa performs "Say Yeah," and some screens from Bun B and Sean Kingston's new vid, "That's Gangsta."
That's all I've got. I'll leave you with one parting shot: when rolling around this weekend on 26's and sipping purple drank in the club, ask yourself, "What am I doing to help curb carbon emissions?" Now that's gangsta.
The blogs are full of hater-fodder this week. You're gonna love it.
Leading off is the full version (albeit clean) of Lil Wayne's newest Carter III track, "A Millie." This shit is absolutely fire. Fools who have been hating on his subpar guest spots need to keep in mind that Weezy has just been playing around--The Carter III isn't a joke. Get ready. Other new tracks floating around are "Done It" and "I". Apparently there's also a new mix, The Drought is Over 5, but I ain't located it yet. Hook me up.
... and speaking of dope new tracks, get a load of Big Boi, Andre 3000 and Raekwon on "Royal Flush". This track is obviously the cure for your work week. Blaze one and take a trip back to the mid-90s with me--I'm loving this shit.
One of my favorite Stones Throw artists, Guilty Simpson, has a a new video, "Get Riches" making its way around the better educated blogs out there. Guilty is the man, I been loving him for years and the forthcoming disc, Ode to the Ghetto isn't to be missed.
Your Favorite Blog is reporting on what they call a "Soulja Boy assassination attempt." Man, get the fuck outta here! The kid (a 12-year-old) threw a rock at Soulja Boy's bus, it's not like this was some premeditated coup.
Game made the cover of Mass Appeal and it's dope. He's starting up the hype machine for this summer's L.A.X. (which may go head-to-head with Carter III). Check out "Big Dreams" to see what's going on in the studio with the West Coast's most blooded. (And the remix with Ya Boy.)
Bun B is also on his grind for II Trill, showing up in a FADER TV interview and on the cover of XLR8R. It's aieet, but can't compare to the time Fader chopped it up with Rick Ross.
If you didn't already know, Fat Joe lost. Other big losers of the week: DMX inks a movie deal and Suge Knight is doing the reality TV tip. Can't make it up.
It's still hyphy in the bay, as Lil Jon and E-40 prove on the new "Turf Drop." Plenty of yelling, thizzing and shaking-dreadlocks to go around.
Saigon comes out of hiding for an interview, but to be honest I don't really give a fuck--I want the album. He blew the buzz that his Clinton Sparks mixtape generated--is there any way his album will live up to the hype? Other unsung stars interviewed: Wiz Khalifa at DJ Booth.
Finally, RIP Eazy-E. It's been a while, but depending on which blog you ask, Eric's been dead for 13 years, or wait--was that 11 years? It's true, there are few fact-checkers employed in the raposphere.
Moral of the story? Ode to the Ghetto, Carter III, L.A.X. and II Trill are on the way. Summer's looking beautiful, and this week's round of hip-hop singles are banging. Let's hope things are on an upswing, because the latter half of 2008 was garbage, son.
So that's that. It's Friday, and hopefully wherever you're at the skies are clear and Spring has come. I'll sign off by leaving you with this thought: Whatever's Good is the most text-heavy hip-hop blog on the Internet. Bet that.
The sun is shining and my bracket is still looking good. The nice thing about living in the west is that you can wake up late without missing any hoops action--unfortunately, without a television, I was stuck at a neighborhood sports bar. So much for simple living.
Hip-hop related madness going on this week: 50 Cent attends Fat Joe's "funeral." I caught this little flick last night on the tail end of a bender, but Curtis was clearly more loopy than I: the tears--and intro--are just so over the top, I can hardly believe he did it. I fucking love it. Plus, 50's commentary on Elephant in the Room is pretty much entirely on point. Joe lost, and will keep losing. His best bet is to shut up and and be a G-Unit punching bag until Curtis & Co. get bored.
Dizze Rascal dropped a video for "Where Da G's," featuring Bun B. Too bad it's about 10 months too late. Maths + English been out now for a good while, I'm wishing the UK kid could have hit us with the video back when he dropped the record. Wonder if this has anything to do with the forthcoming II Trill? (Answer: yes, obviously. Bun B also did the AOL 16 bars bit a few days ago.)
Lil Wayne is everywhere online this month. Gearing up for The Carter III, no advances! There's a Tim Westwood freestyle and interview, a bit of UK heckling, and snippets of another new Carter III track, "A Millie." There's also this Semtex TV interview (also here and here and here). Judging by all this, I'd say that he's finally going to get a studio album out. I can't wait.
Del is also out and about, freestyling and generally staying active in support of The Eleventh Hour--his first album in about seven years or so.
If dough is what you got, a broke Scott Storch is selling his yacht. It's probably a dud of a boat anyway.
Panda Toes has a glowing review of David Banner at SXSW. I was lucky enough to see dude tear it up once a few years back, and I can attest: he's phenomenal on stage, and if you have a chance, check him out. His studio work has dropped off lately, but he's a natural performer. As Panda Toes gushes, he put on the "most mind-numbingly awesome set in the history of music." That's saying a lot.
The Tanya Morgan is a Rap Group mixtape has dropped. I have yet to bump it, so lemme know what's good.
And with that, it's back to the madness. Go K-State. Midwest represent.
Guess who's performing in Monterey this week? Can you say: beeeyotch!? That's right, short dog will be in town. Nothing like seeing a Bay Area legend on his own turf. I know I'll be in the house--after all, it is spring break and I have nothing to do but see shows.
One of my favorite artists, J-Zone, has a short article up entitled "5 Things That Killed Hip-Hop." I suggest you peep it. J-Zone is one of the funniest dudes in the game, and his second album, Pimps Don't Pay Taxes was an absolute masterpiece. If you don't know, seriously just go and buy it. Props to Crate Kings for the hookup.
Baltimore stand up: The Wire may be over, but hip-hop in Murderland USA is just starting. Pitchfork reviews Food For Animal's new disc, Belly, and has mostly good things to say. Definitely worth peeping. '"Shhhy" will make you lose it like a 14-year-old at a Rage Against the Machine show. ' Also in new in Baltimore hip-hop is Darkroom f. Ogun, "Money Talk." Their disc, Hamsterdam: The Album drops May 27th! Shit is hot.
There's R. Kelly and Ne-yo beef. No, really: there's R. Kelly and Ne-Yo beef. Get 'em, Kels!
Akrobatik and Chuck D did a song together. They're both pretty cool.
There's some more new AZ tracks off Undeniable, "Go Getta" and "No Superstar." I'm so ready for this thing to leak, and speaking of forthcoming albums, Nah Right has an updated II Trill tracklist. People are hyping this thing, but Bun B just isn't much of a solo artist--the fact is, his best joints are when he shows up as a feature, or when he's on a duo with the Pimp. Let's hope he breaks his slump with this CD. (And while we're on UGK, check out The Big Bun B Post over at Nah Right)
Tony Silver obit in the NY Times. From the article: "New York’s lavish, brilliantly colored graffiti was a kind of urban heraldry that from the 1970s onward symbolized the city to the rest of the world. It leapt boldly from spray cans onto walls, bridges and — in what practitioners considered their crowning glory — the outsides of subway cars. Some observers saw it as a dazzling form of public expression, others as an unsightly public nuisance." Probably should put a little more emphasis on that "unsightly nuisance" part. Style Wars is 90 percent of the reason people came to recognize graf as being legitimate in-and-of itself. Prior to that--and even still today--people are unwilling to acknowledge it. Medium often trumps message, fools.
UK Grime is on the come-up, yet again, as Fader takes time-out to interview Dexplicit--but will it the scene ever gain legitimacy with American rap audiences? I sure hope so, but really doubt it. Even Dizzee has barely crossed over, and he did a track with UGK.
"Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It (Remix), with Nas and Scarface. Just, wow.
The haters are out in force on Lil Weezy, with a spoof condom ad. Peep it for laughs, but if you're interested in rap music, peep Wayne performing in Europe and then listen to a snippet of his new single, Lollipop, which starts--almost immediately--with a "no homo." This song is hilarious.
Other shit that dropped this week: RA The Rugged Man's American Low Life mixtape, a new RZA single off Digi Snax, and a Bun B & Lupe fiasco track.
Finally, Jayceon is out of jail. Burn one for me, homie. Nothing like an 8 day bid, heh.
... And no, I'm not touching the G-Unit/Fat Joe nonsense. It's ridiculous and I'm sure both camps are happy as fuck that the blogs are dancing all around it. How many posts has Nah Right and IllRoots put up on it this week? It's such a joke. So much hype, and all over some mediocre rappers. Sometimes the hip-hop blogs are no better than gossip columns. Star Magazine? US Weekly, anyone? Where's the music at? Real talk.
(If you're looking for the mix that drops today, though, I will link you to it. Elephant in the Sand is worth peeping just for the cover art)
School is upon me, but the end of the week holds Living Legends live in Santa Cruz and Immortal Technique in San Fran.
Re-Up Gang interviewed over at OnSmash, and new audio, "You Ain't A Killer," at FADER. Peter Rosenberg also got an exclusive. The Clipse and company are stepping up lately, 2008 looking lovely. (Also on the Re-Up blog.)
Nah Right is keeping the dead prez/Evergreen College story alive with a new video from the Hip-Hop Congress. Additional info here and at XXL. It looks like the Hip-Hop Congress is dropping a fundraiser CD for the Thurston County Sheriff's Office. Not sure what to make of that one, but I'm not buying it. Ironically enough, dead prez will be on the comp. Never thought I'd see the day stic and M-1 signed off on fundraiser for the cops.
... Out of nowhere come Redman and Method Man with a brand new track. "Broken Language 2008" is definitely decent, and--I'm hoping--a signal for a future album. Been missing these two together for a minute.
Miss Info covers Juvenile's recent tragedy, which has made the mainstream media as well. I wonder what the talking heads will have to say about rap and gun violence. I'm sure it wont be pretty.
Weezy haters everywhere are latching onto some alleged Aliyah biting. Meh, whatever. Weezy's catalog speaks for itself, this kind of shit proves nothing. Jay-Z bit, Em bit. Everyone bit. There's just not enough words anyway, real talk.
Game goes to jail. Not the first time homie has been taken in on camera, peep the classic scene in Stop Snitchin', Stop Lyin' if you ain't know.
Panda Toes has Dude 'N Nem vs. Wiz Khalifa vs. Alice Deejay and also some new Justice, "D.V.N.O."
Del the Funkee Homosapien is ready to drop the Eleventh Hour (been working on it for too long), and some more audio has come out. Props to illRoots.
Finally, your favorite hipster rappers go at it, verse for verse: Naledge vs. Mickey Factz.
Only two more days left in February, snitches. Winter will soon be over for those of you not blessed with a slice of the Pacific Ocean to call home--but hey, look on the bright-side my snowbound, frozen friends: the less time spent outside the more time for things like, um, reading blogs.
Miss Info has the hookup on Weezy busting a move in Newark. Predictably fuzzy, shaky footage shot from the audience, but impressive nonetheless; even in ultra-low-resolution, Weezy's grin is apparent, looking something like the Cheshire Cat. Dude must really be enjoying himself. See also: Lil Wayne pays a visit to his alma mater, and DJ Storm & Lil Wayne - Drank Epidemic Vol 12.3.
OnSmash gets stic.man of dead prez to speak out about the Evergreen College incident (Previously). Stic seems pretty laid back during the interview, and gives props where due: "What I want to say about Evergreen State is that they definitely got some heart up there." Real talk.
Nah Right has been picking on Prodigy of late, but I can't say that eskay was off in posting this list, culled from P's own blog. There's not much better than when rappers blog! Might make for a good section here at WG. Kanye, I'm looking at you and your incessant posting about lame architecture. Spend some money.
Fuck yeah, bitches, AZ is back. New album, Undeniable, drops April 1st and should be bangin'. Singles are "Life on the Line" and "The Hardest". Dude's last album was a top five pick (The Format) that I still bump in the regular. If you slept, go cop it already.
Wale did a track with Bun B that made the blog rounds briefly before kid's recorld label cracked down. If you really want to hear it though, it shouldn't be too hard to find "Go Mode" somewhere on the old internets. Information wants to be free, haters.
The leftovers: Maxim reviews Nigger sans an official copy; URB interviews Kids in the Hall; and Wiz Khalifa drops a free over "Dey Know."
Lastly, a new track found its way to my inbox last night: The Camp f. Slaine - Little Story. Shit bumps and will be on the Camp's debut album, The Campaign, dropping April 1st.
Update: Fresh from Miss Info, celebrity gossip: Lil Wayne back with Nivea.
Update Part 2: KRS-One and Buckshot are teaming up for a new album on Duck Down Records. Three tracks have already been recorded, and Buckshot's calling the collabo a "conflosation, even when KRS ONE is flowing he's having a conversation with his audience."
Last Update: I swear, this is the final update on this roundup--I couldn't resist posting it. Princess of Crime Mob on a new track, "Pretty Rave Girl." Props to FADER for this. I've been a fan of everything that Crime Mob has done since they were in fucking high school. Though Diamond has been grabbing all the headlines lately (and rightly so), this one from Princess is on some different shit. As FADER says, Princess rapping on some "slight-screwed pre-teen trance" makes for a good listen.
I'm home now.
Entertainment Weekly has a track-by-track breakdown of The Roots' forthcoming album, Rising Down. Oxymorons aside, they make it sound like a winner, though it is unfortunate to hear there's a Fall Out Boy collabo on the disc.
Fresh shit via PandaToes: a DJ Hostility remix of Flo-Rida's "Get Low" (zShare). A bit of electronic flavor for all you vocoder fetishists out there.
There's a Cool Kids freestyle from London making its way around the rap-o-sphere (getting crowded in here, isn't it?). I actually haven't even listened to it yet, but the Cool Kids are our darlings. We are blogs. We love the Cool Kids. Respect our taste 'n' shit.
Props to Crate Kings for the pointer to a dope Alchemist interview. Crate Kings might be the only hip-hop blog that actually does anything original. Respect where respect is due.
Judging by this track, I'm going to say that Timbaland fell off (or at least should stick to producing Justin Timberlake tracks), and Flo-Rida is all hype. Like honestly, what the fuck is Timberland doing in this video? ...When you're wearing headphones and laugh out loud at something, you know it's ridiculous.
And since we're looking at On Smash shit, are they for real noting that Swizz Beats is a legendary hip-hop producer? I'm perplexed. Last I checked his best work was with Ruff Ryders circa 1997. I'm not surprised his face doesn't show up in this video.
Honestly, Sound Off is the most ridiculous hip-hop blog ever. See today's topic: Looking for a Soulja Girl?" They also recently reported that Lil Wayne may be ghostwriting some of Dre's Detox. I don't buy it.
Rosenberg's got some nice Dilla and Big L tribtue mixes. 4 discs, to be exact. RIP.
I'm off to bed. And I can tell you that Peter B'S is a shitty bar, no matter what anyone tells you. Also, Midwest haters suckit: the west coast is 60 degrees and earthquake free!
Update: forgot to include this new track, Chicago Falcon, by Wale. Stumbled across it at SOHH. It's alright.
I'm sleepy as fuck. Though I've been hitting the books hard for the past few weeks, it doesn't mean that I've neglected hip-hop--rather, I've just neglected to post about it. Indeed, there is shit going down.
Let's start with the dumbest thing I've seen this week, yes, it's Kanye West at the Grammys getting clowned on by the producers. "You gonna play music on me?" Man, how big is this guy's ego? Seriously, I've had enough of him. Graduation was alright, with a few hot tracks, but "greatest musician in the world?" Smh at this one. Humility missed this one.
Weezy been indicted and Game gets 60 days. Not a good week for my boys.
Lupe Fiasco has something to say about racism. Personally I just think he should keep his mouth shut. After managing to slander Tribe, dude needs to fall back, and by fall back I mean never release another album. Real talk.
There's a mixtape floating around out there of the samples used in Nas' classic, Illmatic. I hear he has another classic due out soon, and if you haven't seen it yet, you better peep the newest "commercial" for Nigger.
Get a load of the cover for the forthcoming Kids in the Hall album that we're salivating over.
The Cool Kids have some real talk for Ghostface, who recently slammed fans with a YouTube video admonishing them for not buying Big Doe Rehab. I guess the Pitchfork Award wasn't enough for him, then? As the Cool Kids say, "Artists that wanna protect their music or [say] don’t bootleg or don’t download, what are you gonna do? It’s like trying to stop everybody from doing drugs. You gonna tell somebody to not smoke weed?"
That's all I got for now. Time to sleep to the sound of barking sea lions.
Thursday morning for you suckas in the east, that is. Missing the sunshine much? I'm happy to report it's warm on the Best Coast; and now I got the crack.
You're not going to believe this, but I finally found a new Jay-Z song that I actually enjoy; Timbo on the decks, pretty bangin' but a bit derivative. Rumor has it this is from the upcoming Blueprint 3. Yes, 3.
And since were in a Timbaland mood today, he's got a jam out with Flo-rida that is really garbage. The chorus is the most asinine thing I've heard in weeks--and I hang around a bunch of goons, so that's saying something. Maybe the juice has gone to his head?
Oh, did I mention there's a new Weezy remix out, with Mary J? Indeed, there is. Take a deep breath.
There's also a gem of a posse song that just dropped from D-12, "We Deep". I don't see why they still let Bizarre rap though, and yet somehow I enjoy his flow, but mostly out of pity. It's sort of like humoring one's little cousin. Best line? It's the anchor: "My gun's like my dick, I spent years playin' with it."
Kanye West is obsessed with early-1980s hacker culture. Seriously. That's where all this fashion is coming from.
From the same mixtape that brought you the Jay-Z/Timbo joint, here's Fabolus over one of my favorite beats of all time, "Hey Papi." This knocks, but try playing Jay-Z's verse at the end to see what's really good. Some real Nutty Professor 2 shit.
I'm only including this link because I'm completely fucking confused as to why it's on Nah Right. B.O.B., a nobody out of ATL, with Amy Winehouse on the hook. What's the story here?
I bet you've never heard Rockwilder rap before. "I'm comatose, she gon make me overdose," says Icadon, also on the track, who then proceeds with some heavy laptop-rap. Man, between this, "Ayo Technology", Kanye West's fashion and Kia Shine's "Tech Game," I'm seriously saying l33tsp33k will soon find it's way into rap music. Somehow, someway, I'm calling it. "I'm not a man, I am a robot!"
Pandatoes has a live Diplo New Years Eve set posted. Get it while it's hot.
Finally, I'm not going to leave you without the hookup on that new DJ Clue. What, with the Jay-Z track and Fab freestyle, it's gotta be hot, am I correct? Dester Storm Radio 8 (I am Legend Edition). "I Am Legend Edition"? Man, I love NY mixtape DJs. While southern DJs are addicted to gunshot samples, NY cats can't help but appending the name of a contemporary film to their latest mix. Sort of dates it, I suppose.
