tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-123204600485915992024-03-08T15:32:51.252-08:00Bang Bang Skeet SkeetDismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-12196502976289476752009-10-13T10:13:00.000-07:002009-10-13T10:36:42.482-07:00Riches To RagsOne of the more underdiscussed developments of the recent rap scene is the fact that Big Boi, one half of arguably the best duo in rap history (I'd also accept Gang Starr, EPMD, M.O.P., or Run-DMC) has been essentially reduced to rubble. This is in no way an indictment of his rhyming ability, just the company he keeps on records and the fact that his album is still stuck in purgatory. Sir Luscious Leftfoot has been on the shelf for at least 2 years now and it obviously isn't a quality issue, just about every leaked snippet has been top-shelf. For one reason or another, the TIs must not feel like a solo album from the more conventional rapper in OutKast is a good investment.<br /><br /><br /><br />And now, it seems like Big Boi has resorted to the trap-rap cameo circuit in order to gain some sort of "buzz", that magical word that connotates the number of teenagers who think you're, like, totally the shit, dude. Sadly, this is where Gucci Mane seems to have come into play. Daddy Fatsacks has done at least two collabos with Gucci, not to mention Gorilla Zoe & DJ Khaled. Gucci is starting to become a star in his own right, but it seems a little bit ridiculous that a man who had his own role in crafting several classic albums and has contributed his own fair share of scorching 16s would be reduced to permanent Scottie Pippen status in his own city.<br /><br /><br /><br />Sure, Andre had his own bizarre run where he cameo'ed on remixes for Walk It Out & Throw Some D's, but he spent a good portion of the Unk song telling dudes to buy smaller shirts, better cars and to stop generally being such a nuisance. Big Boi is recruiting Gucci to attempt to jump start his curiously stalled solo album, and rapping on remixes with Da Juiceman to boot. Whatever happened to people actually remembering that someone is actually a good rapper and just being excited for an album of new music from him? Dude has already dropped collabs with 3K & Mary J, what more do people want? Andre could put out a 30 second freestyle over the Make Da Trap Say Aye instrumental and the Internets would all trip over themselves to play fantasy A&R for his solo. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Long story short, if Shine Blockas doesn't get his album in stores, I don't know what will. It is about as good as you could ever envision a collab between two such different artists turning out. Big Boi brings Gucci into his style of songmaking and the result almost comes off as the bumpkin cousin to International Players' Anthem. One can only hope the song and the album get the proper push needed to see daylight in retail form.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-36873575975343680772009-10-05T17:52:00.000-07:002009-10-05T19:25:41.471-07:00MTV's Hottest MCs List: Bang Bang EditionOnce again, MTV decided to rank the rap game's hottest MCs and once again the blogosphere has erupted with criticisms of the list. And for once, they have a point. Without further ado, we will parse through MTV's choices and show where wrongs should be righted.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />#10 MTV's choice: Fabolous Bang Bang Skeet Skeet's: Jadakiss<br />Fab certainly should have been in Top 15 consideration, but to put him on is to completely forget the year that Jadakiss has had. The Last Kiss far outperformed Loso's Way and Jada has been on a tear in the cameo/mixtape circuit. With appearances on records for everyone, including Busta Rhymes, Red Cafe, Capone-N-Noreaga, Cam'ron, G-Unit, French Montana and Raekwon, 'Kiss has solidifed his spot as the go-to NY guest 16 spitter.<br /><br /><br /><br />#9 MTV's choice: 50 Cent Bang Bang Skeet Skeet's: Young Jeezy<br />While 50 has dropped 2 quality mixtapes, he hasn't dropped an album in 2 years, and his various attempts at a hit single have fizzled. Jeezy dropped one stellar tape (Trappin' Ain't Dead) and has murdered the cameo circuit, lending his raspy tales to Jadakiss, Birdman, Drake, Lil' Boosie, Jamie Foxx, Jay-Z, Maino and Rick Ross. Talk about a diversified portfolio. Mr. 17.5 also rode the residual buzz for The Recession, dropping online videos and issuing a Jay-Z remix for "My President Is Black". Jeezy also struck a blow against his rivals Gucci Mane & OJ Da Juiceman with the scathing "24, 23" diss.<br /><br /><br /><br />#8 MTV's choice: Raekwon Bang Bang Skeet Skeet's: Rick Ross<br />MTV including Ross in its Top 5, and omitting Eminem & T.I. from its list are probably the most asinine aspects of it, but who can be certain? If this list had been made a few months ago, Bawse might have cracked the top 5, but now, no cigar. As it is, Ross has had quite a run, making an album that may possibly crack the year's top 10 and flooding the underground with occasionally impressive freestyles and remixes. Deeper Than Rap was the rare album that nearly lived up to the unbelieveable hype. While Ross didn't fare too well in his war of words with 50, the public perceived Deeper Than Rap a success, despite the fact that it sold about half as much as Trilla and a third of Port Of Miami. With the release of the highly enjoyable double disc White Sand mixtape and the upcoming Triple C's album, Bawse might just be able to rise up this list yet, but for now, its #8 for the Bawseman.<br /><br /><br /><br />#7 MTV's choice: Young Jeezy Bang Bang Skeet Skeet's: Lil' Wayne<br />Jeezy was a tad high on MTV's list, but Wayne was astonishingly overrated. A #2 spot for a guy who hasn't released an album in almost a year and a half and has spent a good chunk of this calendar year either singing or half-assing the few raps he's bothered to record, way to go, MTV. That being said, Wayne derserves a spot on this list because he's managed to maintain a presence on the marketplace through his work with Young Money (read: Drake) and the few people still calling him for a cameo verse. Most of the same calls he would have gotten last year have since gone to Gucci. He's also accidentally breathed some life into the female MC game by bringing out Nicki Minaj, who is god-awful. She's been dangerously close to getting her own post, "Itty Bitty Piggy" nearly being the song to make me pull the trigger. If someone can explain her appeal to me in a way that has nothing to do with her T&A, I'm all ears.<br /><br /><br /><br />#6 MTV's choice: Gucci Mane Bang Bang Skeet Skeet's: Gucci Mane<br />Finally my opinion and MTV's intersect. Gucci derserves to be slotted ahead of the fray, but not in with the superduperstars. With countless mixtape hits and guest slots for Black Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, Lil' Wayne, Busta Rhymes, Cam'ron, Ludacris, Mario, Nelly, Soulja Boy and Wale, Gucci was damn near inescapable this year. (Believe me, I tried.) He also followed in Lil' Wayne's footsteps and unleashed a horrible protege & clique on the world with this OJ Da Juiceman character and these Brick Squad fools. Waka Flocka Flame? Really? As I've always maintained with Gucci, he's not half terrible and does have a penchant for the catchy refrain, but will his style ever translate into good albums and a real (non-ironic) following? I'm very doubtful that will he will ever be much more than he is now, a flavor of the moment.<br /><br /><br /><br />#5 MTV's choice: Rick Ross Bang Bang Skeet Skeet's: Kanye West<br />It seems appropriate to slot Kanye here, being that he hasn't dropped an honest to goodness rap album since Curtis has, but has managed to maintain a certain buzz level through producing and ripping any guest 16s that come his way. Just ask Jay-Z, Clipse, The Dream, Jamie Foxx, Rick Ross, Keri Hilson, Q-Tip or Kid Cudi. He also manages to stay in the conversation, real album or no real album. 808s & Heartbreaks, despite being not all that great, managed to scan almost 2 million copies and spawn several radio hits. The beat for "Say You Will" also made its rounds on the mixtapes, with Drake & Big Sean both blessing the track with some of their finer lyrics.<br /><br /><br /><br />#4 MTV's choice: Kanye West Bang Bang Skeet Skeet's: Drake<br />Very tenatively do I place Drake here. But, getting co-signs from Eminem, Jay-Z, Lil' Wayne, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, and everyone else who matters helps the process. It doesn't hurt that So Far Gone has several moments worthy of the hype, and even more impressively, is on track to scan at least 200,000 legitimate copies. Low numbers for an album release, yes, but for a mixtape that has been Zshared & Sharebeed to death for almost a year now, extremely impressive. As for whether the kid can rhyme, sure he can, but is he worthy of the hype bestowed upon him? Not really. All he's done is distill the qualities people like best about Eminem, Kanye West, and Lil' Wayne and streamline them for mainstream audiences. When you're taking from three of the most mainstream rappers going and still watering it down even more, that's quite an accomplishment. But, by using Eminem's willingness to go into his own self doubts, in tandem with a rhyme style/flow that goes back & forth between being a descendant of Kanye & Wayne, he will certainly be cashing large record label & Hollywood royalty checks for years to come.<br /><br /><br /><br />#3 MTV's choice: Drake Bang Bang Skeet Skeet's: T.I.<br />I guess T.I. being in jail is MTV's excuse for not including him. By squeezing out Tip & Em, they made room for Raekwon & Fabolous, two guys who made the best album they possibly could this year, but are in no way hot or relevant in a national sense. Possibly Fabolous, due to his tendency to show up on at least a few R&B remixes a month. T.I. could have had a case for the top spot if not for his incarceration and subsequent failure to put out the Paper Trail reissue. Though it was released in the tail end of 2008, many of the songs played well into 2009. T.I. also kept his name hot doing guest verses for Mary J. Blige, Bobby Ray, Jamie Foxx, Ludacris, Rick Ross and Young Dro. If his last stint in the pokey was any indicator, Tip will come back with a vengenance.<br /><br /><br /><br />#2 MTV's choice: Lil' Wayne Bang Bang Skeet Skeet's: Eminem<br />This entry corrects two of MTV's biggest mistakes, the overrank of Wayne and the omittance of Marshall. Not only did Em drop a quality album just a few months ago, but he has also been hard at work on a follow-up, due to drop later this year. He also took time out to give Mariah a lyrical beatdown for her depiction of him in the "Obsessed" video and gave Alchemist a classic freestyle to use for his Chemical Warfare album. With the news that Em got some Just Blaze beats in addition to his usual stash of Dre tracks for Relapse 2, anticipation is at an all time high. Not many rappers can claim fans want a whole new album from them just months after they dropped their last one.<br /><br /><br />#1 MTV's choice: Jay-Z Bang Bang Skeet Skeet's: Jay-Z<br />This is a slam dunk choice, given the time in which this poll is being released. Of course Jay is the hottest out right now. If this poll is done in March or even July, Jay might not even crack the top 5. With The Blueprint 3 (massive post comparing and contrasting it with OB4CL2 coming soon, almost halfway done) solidifying his place at the top of the food chain, the only question left is what next for Jay? He has been quoted as saying his next album will be an experimental effort, which is necessary, but how will he experiment? If my gut feeling is right and the album turns out to be Hov doing his best Grizzly Bear or MGMT rendition, it could be dope or it could be the worst thing rap's ever seen.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So there you have it, a fairly unbiased view of the actual hottest MCs out. You can also make an argument for Fabolous, Kid Cudi, 50 Cent, Raekwon, Cam'ron, Wale, Ghostface Killah, Lil' Boosie, Plies, or the MC of your choosing, but who do you bump? If a #11 had to be chosen, I suppose it would be 50, but that's more to do with what he's done than what he's about to do.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-4045977778389531222009-10-02T14:29:00.000-07:002009-10-03T18:35:18.198-07:00Jody Breeze Vs. Young Jeezy?And in this week's installment of people going at the throats of people they used to be cool with, we have Jody Breeze & Young Jeezy. Each used to be in the fairly decent Boyz N Da Hood and it could be argued that they each displayed the same level of talent on the lone album Jeezy recorded with the group. Be honest, no one remembers Duke & Gee, and at one point Breeze was one of the south's top up-and-comers right alongside of Jeezy. While The Snowman has become a household name (in Southern households and any household with teenagers), Breeze languished on Jazze Pha's vanity label, releasing several quality singles, but still with no solo to show for it.<br /><br /><br /><br />Recently, a new Jody track surfaced. Recorded over Drake's "Uptown" instrumental, he lyrically lambastes Jeezy for a variety of offenses, but never really let the listener know exactly why he's upset. In the past few days, more than likely to synch up with the release of his new mixtape Death Of The Hoeman (hardy-har), he has actually released the timeless classic of the pointless beef that will no help no one: the 10-minute long YouTube shit-talking clip. In it, all he manages to offer for a reason for the beef is a unfriendly club encounter with Jeezy's lackeys and a time where Jeezy bad-mouthed him to Block, all stuff that seems really easily to solve if two people just addressed each other like grown men. Whats worse is that Breeze goes out of his way at the end of the clip to point out his affilation with the BMF, Big Meech in particular. I should think neither of these men would want to call any more attention to this association than necessary, especially considering Jeezy's rumored level of involvement in the day-to-day operations of BMF.<br /><br /><br /><br />Now, instead of Jeezy possibly lending Breeze a hand with his solo career with a verse or a hook (almost certainly the real reason why Breeze has made this sudden ploy for attention), they stand opposed. I'm sure nothing much more will come of this, although Jeezy usually drops a couple subliminal shots here and there on his LPs ("You're a pocketbook boy, a Louis Vuitton fag"), he isn't much for battles, outside of his bizarre & quixiotic quest to destroy Gucci Mane, who is almost a certain lock to self-destruct Boosie-style right when his album drops.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Long story short, these types of beefs never usually end well for anybody, as only the lesser known artist stands to gain from it. Hopefully, Jeezy doesn't say anything back and this dies a peaceful death. Jody Breeze is a talented rapper who can blow up without a Jeezy beef to propel him. Instead of wasting all the time and energy to record a worthless diss song over another rapper's beat, make some original music that can get you meaningful airplay. Get together with some unknown producers and try to cook up that next sound. If that's not your steez, get together with Drumma Boy, Zaytoven, and the like. But this beef is not the anwer you're looking for.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-76668084541244408572009-08-06T09:44:00.000-07:002009-08-06T10:19:54.528-07:00And Best Friends Become Strangers, PachangasIn the wake of the revelation that the late Big Pun's wife and kids are living in a shelter, and Fat Joe's subsequent response that he secured Liza Rios hundreds of thousands of dollars thru the release of Endangered Species and even wrote her a follow-up check out of pocket, it really makes the mind wonder.<br /><br /><br /><br />While I do feel for Pun's children, who haven't done anything wrong in all of this and are the only ones who have to suffer for their mother's foolishness, something has to be said for a mother who let at least $160,000 run through her hands, and that's by her estimate and the real number is surely at least twice that. We all know at least one person like this in real life, and trust me, by the time they are crying poverty to the world, they have likely been through the amount of money they are claiming "all went to bills" 2 or 3 times over. And from the looks of her on that video on WSHH, she clearly hasn't skipped any meals, so its hard to believe she's in any discernible financial dungeon. For her to feel like Fat Joe has some level of responsibility is valid to some extent, but clearly not the extent that she seems to believe.<br /><br /><br /><br />Big Pun has been lionized in rap, and rightfully so, the man was one of arguably the top 10-15 MCs ever to pick up a microphone. But, in death, we seem to blow certain things in proportion in our minds. Capital Punishment sold in the neighborhood of 1.5 million copies, but this was when album budgets were absolutely ridiculous and I'm sure that Wyclef, Joe, Noreaga, Busta, and the like did not come cheap. Likewise for the all-star cast on the beats. Yeeah Baby barely went gold and due to Pun's death, did not receive all that much promotion beyond the first couple of singles. And the aforementioned Endangered Species barely made a dent at all and surely cost a fortune to make.<br /><br /><br />So, it seems inherently stupid for Mrs. Rios to believe that she should be set for life off her deceased husband having sold 2 million and something records in his lifetime. I'm sure the two of them had a quite bit of fun with the money while it lasted, and she should resign herself to reality and go get a 9 to 5. But, I'm sure some of you will say, what about all the other widows who live off their husband's musical catalog? This is where Liza Rios' selfish attitude really burned her. Instead of rushing to put out a DVD where he's pistol whipping her, she should have been ensuring that no one ever found out this ugly side of Pun. That is, since you're intending to eat and eat and eat off him for life.<br /><br /><br />Many deceased artists continue to produce cash for their next of kin in the afterlife, but this isn't with album sales money, that dries up for the most part, especially since rap albums in the '90s cost a mint to make and with the ginormous advances artists were receiving, many barely recouped on them. And with hardly anyone even buying new albums these days, its doubtful that Pun's catalog moves even 2-3K a year. Artists usually continue to make money with licensing deals, for movies, TV shows, commercials, etc. This is where it was in poor taste to release that DVD. While I'm sure Big and 'Pac had their dark sides, their mothers/wives/mistresses/side pieces have for the most part sung their praises, which has allowed to gravy train to keep rolling. By painting Pun as a vicious wife-beater on that DVD and again on E!'s special on hip-hop wives, mainstream media will never use his music for anything of consequence because of the negative connotation he has to a lot of people. The 700-pound Spanish dude who smashed his wife's face with a gun butt is a lot less appealing than say, the charismatic thug with the Napoleon complex or the less fat Brooklyn rhyme slinger with radio hits for days. Big L is probably more positively remembered by mainstream audiences at this stage than Pun is.<br /><br /><br /><br />Let us not forget that Pun had maybe 2 or 3 legitimate crossover hits by the time he passed. And only one that any casual fan of rap will remember. Long story short, get a job, Liza Rios. Your time to cash in would have been not taking two quick checks to paint him as an abusive animal. Although I'm far from one of Fat Joe's most enthusiastic supporters, the man has a point here. After someone lets hundreds of thousands run through their hands with nothing to show for it, why would you continue to give this person money? I feel for the children here, but if their mother is this financially irresponsible, short of moving them into your own home, there is not much that can be done to help them here, as their primary caretaker is too self-absorbed to realize what she has done to them by refusing to move on from the idea that Pun's music should have been enough to ensure her a lifetime of laziness.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-73340883287522837992009-08-04T13:04:00.000-07:002009-08-04T13:38:39.223-07:00Sometimes The Rap Game Reminds Me Of The Crack GameToday has seen a bit of a mini-controversy, as one of the few West Coast newcomers to achieve a somewhat national buzz, Nipsey Hussle, released his third mixtape. Instead of just coming up off a ZShare link, however, most links on the de rigeur just had an imeem playlist and a link where to legally purchase. Interesting strategy, although it seems to have backfired in some way, as links to download the mixtape were in circulation within hours. But, this whole brouhaha does raise some very intriguing questions.<br /><br /><br /><br />How long before record companies finally stop having their artists flooding the marketplace with free material? Yes, the mixtape fusillade strategy worked for Lil' Wayne & 50 Cent, but that's because they built a massive fanbase and had even their mixtape songs circulate onto the radio. When, in Nipsey's case, the third mixtape has songs that he is intending on including on his debut album, it is understandable why an artist can feel the need to be financially compensated. Since the mixtape/illegal downloading era started, one of the most common complaints about major-label releases is the fact that the 3-4 hottest street singles/biggest top 40 songs have already been out for months beforehand. Or, that their mixtapes are simply a better listen than their album (Asher Roth, any 50 post-GRODT, Nas). Could it be that Nipsey, realizing this, simply tried to hedge his bets by making a few dollars before he was cursed with one of those inevitable fates? Or was it his management team? Another intriguing subplot in all of this.<br /><br /><br /><br />Will this change promotional strategies leading up to album releases? Undoubtedly so. The TIs have to be taking notice to the fact that almost every big recent chart-topper, outside of The Carter III, did not have a big-name tape trotted out beforehand. Eminem, T.I., Kanye, Jay-Z, et al. have eschewed that method, and the few that still adhere to this level of promotion, such as Nas, 50 Cent, Ludacris or Jadakiss, seem relegated to the B-list.<br /><br /><br /><br />Will new artists continue to flood the market with pre-release material? Probably not. Between Wale, Kid Cudi, Drake, and the like, none of them seem too set of allowing fans to have a full discography on them before their first official set hits stores. Cudi has only released one tape, and Drake has only released one that circulated all that far. I believe this bodes well for them as the fans that they do have will truly be anticipating their debuts. I just don't think any of them have as many as the TIs think they do. If the suburban white kid with a top 10 pop smash can't get people excited, what chance do any of these guys, outside of possibly Drake, have?<br /><br /><br />Who could possibly the next artist to try to get people to pay for a mixtape? My money is on Gucci Mane, and it won't be Gucci himself. With his buzz being as high as it could ever be, the time is now for them to capitalize, only Gucci himself doesn't seem too interested, having not even named the album yet, let alone done any discernible work on it. When he has his next inevitable skid bid, I see his label putting expensive beats on his mixtape joints, selling it as an album, and laughing all the way to the bank.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Between all of this and the recent report that Mariah Carey's next album will include a 34-page mini magazine filled with ads and product placement, it seems that record companies and artists have both begun to realize that the album sales well has run pretty dry. I have a feeling that by year's end, things will look drastically different. But, as always, true talent will begin to rise, as there will be less and less money to be had for the creatively deficient.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-86697283346129026452009-07-23T15:35:00.000-07:002009-07-29T16:34:07.612-07:00No Pancakes, Just A Cup Of SyrupWith the rap scene at the moment being particularly stagnant and not having a whole lot of new material to listen to, lately its been a fun mission seeking out new artists and records and re-finding old albums and mixtapes I've enjoyed in the past. These endeavors have often led me into Gucci/OJ territory. I've attempted to avoid those two for most of their existence, save for the occasional Gucci single. When they began guesting on several A-listers' singles, either by themselves or as a duo, I slowly began to attempt to decipher them. While I have drawn a line in the sand towards OJ's ignorant drivel (thank god Cam got ahold of "Make Da Trap Say Aye" and showed his no-flowing ass how to ride the track), Gucci keeps showing glimmers of hope that he can become the rapper many already (foolishly) believe he can be. He has somehow graduated into a guest-spot assassin, usurping Lil' Wayne as the most ubiquitous Southern artist on mainstream/club records.<br /><br /><br /><br />And as much as I don't want to admit it, he wrecked his 16s on various high-profile collabs, something Wayne never seemed to be able to do. When Wayne went on his bizarre streak of completely flubbing his slots on Graduation, American Gangster, Paper Trail, The Carnival II, every Rick Ross album to date, et al., it kept him from truly achieving top-flight status in people's minds. Meanwhile, Gucci has merked guest 16s for everyone to Black Eyed Peas to Mariah Carey to Wayne himself. However, with all the being said, he is still vastly overrated and a direct product of people being desperate for new superstars. Which in understandable, considering the rap industry hasn't minted any new megastars since Kanye West & 50 Cent. Lil' Wayne & T.I. don't count, they've been milling around down there since the '90s and were in a proper position to capitalize on the Southern boom that brought platinum plaques to everyone from Mike Jones to Chamillionaire.<br /><br /><br /><br />Now, the race seems to be on between Gucci Mane & Drake as to who can capitalize on their otherwordly buzz the quickest. How Gucci doesn't have an official record in stores by now is mind boggling. Why bother with the whole rigamarole of putting out a ladies' single and a street single? Gucci is at his sporadically entertaining best when he is given either supreme trunk rattlers, a la Fatboi & Drumma Boy, or spacey keyboard blips provided by Zaytoven. Lock him in the studio with these guys, a few other select producers who stick to that script and none of the B-listers he normally lets run his songs into the ground. I can't guarantee a classic, but from listening to Back To The Traphouse, its evident he has real songwriting ability and can actually provide his own hooks. Allow him possibly a few guest apperances from proven 16-bar killers like Fabolous, Ludacris, or Wayne and leave Mya, Shawnna, Nicki Minaj, Waka Flocka, OJ, and all the other marginally talented sexpots and weed-carriers and have him make basically a Wilt Chamberlain tape on steroids.<br /><br /><br />This aforementioned scneario obviously will never take place, as the record label keeps hoping the Big Boi/Juelz collab will take off and probably has a Keri Hilson/Jazmine Sullivanesque collab on tap that will also flop around like a dying fish, and Gucci will be pushed back. Hopefully, I'm wrong because right now Gucci reminds me of a baseball player, someone like Dave Kingman. A lot of home runs, but a hell of a lot of strikeouts, too. Gucci needs to stop swinging for the fences every time, realize his strengths like his nemesis Jeezy, and stick to them.<br /><br /><br /><br />As for the other kid, Drake, he's probably screwed at this point. He should have been quickly signed and had an album pushed out while "Best I Ever Had" was bubbling. Now, he will be competing against that song and most likely losing in the public eye. Look at Maino, his album didn't come out until "Hi Hater" had already been out for almost a year. Despite a well-crafted concept album and a couple of fairly decent crossover singles, his album was released to little to no fanfare. The longer they wait, the more the initial buzz dies down. We will just have to wait and see what happens when Thank Me Later drops.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-11728265419174542282009-07-20T17:40:00.000-07:002009-07-20T18:08:25.052-07:00The Evidence Of AbsenceIn lieu of crowning the "official" summer jam of 2009, as most sites or blogs are known to do by mid-July, a whole bunch of random thoughts instead. And yes, it is because there is no real contender for jam of the summer, if only because Birthday Sex, Best I Ever Had, and Every Girl have all been out since Timbs & North Face weather.....and we're off:<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />How does an absolute no-talent like Ace Hood get a second album out already if we're all agreeing that his association with Khaled has nothing to do with it? I've sat down and given each of his albums an honest listen and the same thing happened each time, I was left with a collection of solid beats, occasionally great guest appearances (Jazmine Sullivan on "Champion", T-Pain on "Cash Flow"), and no real idea of who Ace Hood actually is. He can flow his ass off, for sure, but on closer inspection his lyrics have no real meaning. He's basically a homeless Southern man's version of Game, at this point, and we'll get to him in a minute.<br /><br /><br /><br />With Forever King/War Angel mirroring the buzz for Return Of The Body Snatchers/Sabrina's Baby Boy, people seem to be very quick to proclaim the supposed greatness of Before I Self Destruct. Curtis only had a handful of moments where 50 even approached his past heights, and I fail to see how it will be different this go-round. I'd much rather hear Relapse 2 at this stage. I predict 50 rolling out yet another single for the ladies that fizzles around like a damp firecracker, followed by a ridiculous publicity stunt in the weeks leading up to BISD's release.<br /><br /><br /><br />Memo to The Game: Jay-Z said he ain't talking about you, what about that could your mentally unstable ass possibly interpret as a diss? And then to swagger jack Max B for your C-grade diss? The Game has truly reached the point where nothing he does can shock me anymore.<br /><br /><br /><br />Loso's Way was shockingly competent. Fabolous actually remembered to make songs men could enjoy. Pachanga & Lullaby are easily two of the better album tracks Mr. Jackson has ever managed to make. The irony is that this album will barely fare better in the marketplace than Maino's did. A shame, really, because Maino's album was a pleasant surprise and the same goes for Fab.<br /><br /><br /><br />It is a crying shame about Max B. Granted, most of his 16s were indecipherable gibberish and his hooks were sung about as off-key as possible, but he brought a certain joie de vivre that New York rap has been missing since their evident refusal to listen to anyone who dropped their first album after Biggie died.<br /><br /><br /><br />And on that note, I'm out 3 solid albums for your listening pleasure: Mos Def-The Ecstatic, Currensy-This Ain't No Mixtape, Twista-Category F5Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-49679493771597787902009-07-13T13:54:00.001-07:002009-07-29T16:36:38.842-07:00It's Called Child Support, Not Baby Mama SupportIt's time for one of those random thoughts about this and that posts, starting with the revelation that Nas only sees fit to give Kelis $5,000 a month for child support during their divorce proceedings. 60K a year may not be enough in the land where bossy milkshakes get caught out there bringing all the boys to the yard, but in real life, this is more than adequate. I'm not usually one to comment on gossip on this blog, after a long while of hearing these outlandish child support cases levied towards ball players and athletes, enough is enough. This comes on the heels of the truly ridiculous T.I. case, where that wonderful woman claimed she needed over 10K a month, being that it truly wasn't fair that T.I. had a nicer house than she did. Ladies, its called gainful employment, try it. Spreading your legs in hopes that the next chart-topping rapper or NBA lottery pick just so happens to forget to wrap it up and you can use the resulting bundle of joy as a defacto lottery ticket won't cut it, and judges need to stop rewarding these women with such generous settlements. The last time I checked, Pampers and Similac were not all that expensive. In a country where families live on 30K, awarding unemployed sperm recepticles with 3 or 4 times that for managing to get a more talented person to knock them up seems remiss, but maybe that's just me.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And now I'm back off my soapbox........Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-35674689191485038682009-06-17T15:01:00.000-07:002009-07-29T16:47:04.604-07:00As The Dust SettlesA few weeks have gone by since the onslaught of new albums from Eminem, Cam'ron, Meth/Red, Busta, Quik/Kurupt, DJ Drama, etc. We've seen album-quality mixtapes from The Cool Kids, Young Jeezy, and 50 Cent (War Angel is the first time I've heard 50 spit like he gave a damn in at least a year). All of which has left the rap game in a very interesting position. Eminem has reaffirmed his position, dropping the mostly excellent Relapse. Cam'ron dropped an album much better than Jim Jones', and nobody cared. Which is a shame, Crime Pays reminds me of most Cam'ron albums, and they usually improve upon further listening. When I first skimmed through it, nothing much grabbed me. Now, I can almost make it through the entire disc with only a handful of skips. Plus, you have to appreciate anyone who can reference Coming To America, Guy Fisher, and Boyz N The Hood and still have it come off sounding fresh.<br /><br /><br />None of the new albums were particular standouts, although I will say that Method sounded like he cared on most of Blackout 2, and same goes for Quik on their collabo. Kurupt and Redman must have found the same strain of weed that Method did after Tical dropped, because they both seemed like they were phoning it in big-time on major portions of the twin Bla(qk)outs. Quik/Kurupt could have been much better, had Kurupt even shown up and Quik had spent a little less time perusing his world music collection.<br /><br /><br />Busta's album was an atrocity, especially coming off the underrated Big Bang. Busta needs to stop chasing trends and realize that he's a leader in the game. 20 years deep and doing multiple Ron Browz collabs is not a good look. Neither is doing joints with Estelle that seem to be trying to be Flo Rida. Blessed was obviously the album that needed to come out, as just about all of the leaked music sounded proper and Busta has a discography of solid top-to-bottom albums.<br /><br /><br />All of this is why the coming months are crucial. After the TIs dropped a succession of albums that must have seemed like surefire winners and seeing numbers no different from Asher Roth's, it seems they are finally ready to usher in a new generation, with releases from Wale, Kid Cudi, The Cool Kids and Maino on the horizon. Gucci Mane and Drake seem to have grabbed everyone's attention, with Gucci preparing to drop this summer and Drake being engaged in a bidding war that has supposedly reached $2 million.<br /><br /><br />Further clearing the way for fresh faces is Lil' Wayne's failure to prove to the TIs that its a good idea for him to drop a rock album. Spoiler alert: it isn't. Why Lil' Wayne, someone who has to have unreleased tracks for eons doesn't go the Plies route and just relentlessly release rap albums every 6-8 months is a head scrather. He could mine this unlikely time period that has allowed him to take the Best Rapper crown with the mainstream/pop crowd and get as much as he can while he can. Then, when mainstream rap inevitably picks its next "Best Rapper", you go ahead and drop your rock album, similar to how pop music stars drop country albums when their time in the spotlight is over. There has to be an audience for a hip-hop Darius Rucker, especially in the south, where anything seems to go.<br /><br /><br />And before people below the Mason/Dixon take offense, I want you to tell me why OJ Da Juiceman is getting such love down there. Several honest attempts to listen to him have left me befuddled as to how he's getting magazine covers and collab calls from R. Kelly & Jadakiss. Its no wonder why Jadakiss is now pushing a Who's Real Remix with all of the old Ruff Ryders, even DMX. OJ only seems to have one flow, as there is no difference in how he raps from one track to another. He raps in a mushmouthed nonsyllabic flow which makes it hard for anyone to understand anything coming out of his mouth.<br /><br /><br />While I do understand that some rappers have limited subject matter, he literally sticks to the same exact subjects every song (gettin' money, trap this, bricks that). It almost feels like a sick joke that the TIs are playing to see how low the mainstream consumer is willing to go. Gucci isn't very much far higher up on that same ladder, but he at least is pretending (let's not kid ourselves, the man is a son of teachers and college educated) to be as buffoonish as he is. OJ seems to be a part of a joke that he isn't even in on.<br /><br /><br />While I don't particularly hate Gucci Mane, part of me doesn't want him to succeed in any kind of big way. Gucci himself is okay in limited doses and has a knack for catchy refrains and good guest 16s that should serve him well. But, didn't we play this game already two years ago with Back To The Traphouse? He had done some time, been through the whole Jeezy kerfluffle and was supposedly a street legend in Atlanta. He got The Game, Ludacris, Pimp C, Rich Boy, Shawnna, and Lil' Kim all on the next album and still nobody cared. I don't see what makes anyone think it would be any different this time. And my personal reason for not wanting me to see him blow is because that means we would be subjected to even more OJ. Hopefully, Yo Gotti can come in and steal some of this GoochJuuman hype and propel himself to national stardom.<br /><br /><br />This brings us to Drake, Wale, Kid Cudi, etc. With Jay-Z, Kanye West, 50 Cent, and Eminem looming in the fall (If you think Dr. Dre drops before he sees what Relapse 2 and Before I Self Destruct do critically and commercially, you're an idiot), it seems like now would be a good time as any to launch a successful new career. For all these labels know, Best I Ever Had and Day N Nite could be the biggest hits these guys ever have. These labels need to strike while the iron is hot and get albums out for these guys. After all, these last few years have taught us that the rap audience has an extremely short attention span.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-5460910256140381322009-04-22T12:43:00.000-07:002009-07-29T16:49:20.630-07:00Dawn Of A New Era?According to hitsdailydouble, we finally have the answers to two of hip-hop biggest current questions: Would the record-buying public continue to support Rick Ross, even after exposure after exposure and his own attempts at self-sabotage and would people actually support Asher Roth, the first of the XXL Freshman 10/Internet All-Stars to have a physical copy of his album in stores? The answer to the first question is kinda, and to the second, yeah.<br /><br /><br />While Ross still was able to drop and do his usual numbers, that's not a great sign, considering that Bawse pulled every stunt known to man to get people to cop this album. Between the idiotic 50 Cent beef, his weekly self-etherings on Worldstar, his countless unintentionally comedic quotables, actually admitting to his CO past, the big budget beats & guests, for him to come out and not have actually succeeded in garnering any new fans isn't a good sign for him or gangsta rap as a whole. This is not any fault of Ross', not musically, at least. Deeper Than Rap is 2009's answer to The Documentary, an album with the best beats money can buy and as many guests as you can cram on a record. While Ross clearly has been learning to ride a track much better and is no longer simply talking over the beat, he's not saying much that makes any sense. With all the name dropping, R&B hooks, references that didn't quite hit the mark, and 50 Cent bashing, it even felt just like a Game album. And he somehow managed to omit the one song that was supposed to be on that album that I was feeling the most, Cigar Music. And he let Avery Storm ruin Rich Off Cocaine by having him croon that ridiculous refrain for which the song is named. But, having the finest beats can only carry you so far. The album did not need Ne-Yo, T-Pain, The Dream, Robin Thicke, John Legend, and any of the other R&B singers I neglected to mention. The album did not need Foxy Brown (I remember when she actually could rhyme), Trina, Gunplay, Lil' Wayne in full-on "I could care less" mode or any other of the terrible guest rappers I neglected to mention.<br /><br /><br />By comparison, Roth's more mellow, honest affair with less hoopla and big name guests must have seemed appealing to a lot of consumers. He doesn't pile on huge names, with only Keri Hilson, Cee-Lo, Busta Rhymes, and Jazze Pha helping out. It's primarily produced by his own in-house producer, whose name escapes me. Instead of farcical fairy tales, he's mostly spitting about real life experiences. However, the right intentions does not a classic album make.<br />While I did enjoy a handful of tracks off Roth's debut LP, with Lark On My Go-Kart, As I Em, Be By Myself, Lion's Roar, and Fallin' being quality work. I found myself enjoying his Greenhouse Effect mixtape far more, though. This is not because the album is trash or not enjoyable in its own right, but because without the constraints of major-label record making, it allowed the listener to get a much better feel for the type of rapper Asher is. The merits of Ross/Roth aside, this signals a new direction in rap. Perhaps major labels will stop bankrolling compilation albums of rappers like Ross, Game, etc. with all the $100,000 beats and A-listers on every other track, and start letting rappers with a new vision get their shot. Considering how monkey see, monkey do the labels are, it stands to reason that at least Kid Cudi, Drake, or maybe even Wale might drop something soon. I'd evcn settle for B.O.B. or Blu at this point.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-59781804261508727522009-01-07T11:10:00.000-08:002009-07-29T16:51:59.126-07:00The Curious Case Of Ron BrowzAs most everybody has seen themselves pushed back into some kind of 2009 TBD limbo, and the scene has gone more and more stagnant, it only seems right to commentate about the bizarre rise of Ron Browz. What makes his ascension even more puzzling is that the music he's currently dominating radio playlists with is the antithesis of the hard-rock '90s NYC rap he produced for most of his career. The man was extremely influential to the careers of many of the greats, from Nas to Big L. Now "Pop Champagne" & "Arab Money" are no "Ether" or "Ebonics", but they are moderately listenable in their own right.<br /><br /><br />But, as with everything in hip-hop that is moderately listenable, it is now being cloned for everyone with a few extra dollars. Fat Joe, Capone-N-Noreaga, even Cardan are all now dropping Ron Browz joints, complete with his off-key AutoTune wailing. To clown him for not being as good at using the plug-in as T-Pain is almost besides the point. New York's resentment towards the south has now reached the point where almost all of their artists have adopted stylistic trends from the region, without regard for hypocrisy. Fat Joe probably has more songs with Wayne than Pun at this point.<br /><br /><br />Every other region of the country constantly has new and bubbling talent about to come to the forefront, but NYC seems to want to cling to all of their stars of yesterday, while endlessly hating anyone coming up, by either comparing them to Hova or B.I.G. You would be hard-pressed to find more than just a handful of spitters from 718 you would want to listen to a full album of. Maino can't even drop an album after dropping the minor national hit "Hi Hater". Saigon's Just Blaze produced debut can't find a home. Papoose has the feeling of someone who has realized his chance to blow up has come and gone, his latest single was a poor attempt to recapture Cash Money's old formula of ending every rhyme with the same phrase, a sad departure for a man that made his name spewing 10 dollar words all over tracks. Jim Jones can't possibly drop another album worthy of the hype. Max B can't drop an album because it's not worth anyone's money to pay Jim Jones the millions he'll demand for his rights. Uncle Murda stands no chance of ever dropping an album. G-Unit seems to have hit that wall where they could drop the next "All About The Benjamins" and no one would listen or care.<br /><br /><br />Which is a shame, they still drop decent joints, with Banks' new mixtape series and 50's new album sounding much better than Curtis or The Massacre. All of this makes me think that the rap game in NY would be better served if Browz would spread some of his dirty south by way of Harlem joints around to some newcomers who could use the break. Busta Rhymes, Capone-N-Noreaga, Fat Joe, and even Jim Jones have all made valuable contributions to the world of hip-hop. But Busta & Jim still don't even have release dates, and CNN & Fat Joe won't make themselves any new friends with "Rotate" or "Winding On Me".<br /><br /><br />"Winding On Me" is truly a waste, as it has Browz' least annoying hook, a much more fully rounded beat than most of his new productions, and a 16 from Wayne that's one of the few I've heard him do in months that wasn't AutoTuned, sang, or half-assed. These songs, for whatever they are or aren't, would have been better served going into the hands of the up and comers, kids that would have been benefitted from the controversies of "Arab Money" or the Top 10 potential of "Winding On Me". For obvious business reasons, it was in Browz' best interests to pawn off his new brainchild on all of the old-guard rappers in NYC. Now that he's become a hot name, for better or worse, it would be a good thing to see some new kids get in on the trend, and possibly build a career out of it. Look at people like Plies, Rick Ross, etc. All they do is make halfway decent albums with a few trendy club joints. In 2009, I'd like to see NYC stop acting so cool, support their artists and let somebody new blow up. I'm as big a fan of Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Mobb Deep, CNN, Joe, etc. as much as anyone, but how much do these artists have left to tell us? Just some food for thought.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-24181596457198227622008-11-15T16:24:00.000-08:002009-07-29T16:54:07.874-07:00Curious ProductionAs the 4th quarter becomes increasingly less star studded, it seems the only albums we'll hear are Kanye and Luda's. I suppose this supposed "Carter 3" with all new tracks (how does this not make it "The Carter 4", someone please explain this to me) is also going to drop before Christmas, according to Kanye. After hearing Dedication 3, that doesn't even sound all that exicting. Wayne's downswing has now continued to the point where he even phones in verses on his supposed event tape. I found myself enjoying Gudda Gudda and Willie The Kid's apperances more than Wayne's sporadic AutoTuned meandering verses that clearly sound like he's high off his ass and just rambling to hear himself talk.<br /><br /><br />Jadakiss and E-40's albums have lost essentially all of their buzz. People have clearly tired of the trend of giving Akon & T-Pain each a song on your album. The label wanted to jump right into "U & Dat" before giving his core audience "Tell Me When To Go". The roll-out for The Last Kiss is baffling. Def Jam better have one of those NYC megaton-bomb joints on the level of "I Get Money" or "Lean Back" ready to go in the next three weeks or I see 'Kiss dropping with a whimper and being forgotten about within a month, much like Sheek and Styles' solo albums, post A Gangster & A Gentleman. Why no one sprung for a posse cut with Beanie Sigel & 50 Cent is also puzzling. (Although why pay either of these gentleman, when you have Ne-Yo for free labor) It's not like either of them have any reason not to do it. Beans' chances of releasing another solo album are slim to none, and it seems like we'll have to hope Scarface wasn't lying when he said he was only going to do joint albums with people like Beans, Ice Cube, Nas, Jay-Z, etc.<br /><br /><br />I figure 50's next move will inevitably be the collabo with someone he used to "beef" with. If he can't drop in December, who can? Which is a shame, because "Get Up" isn't half bad and the album seems as if it'll be free of attempts to woo the ladies. Either way, I'm sure a reunion with The Game can't be too far off, or dare I say, Ja Rule?<br /><br /><br />No disrespect to Plies, but all these developments make Theater Of The Mind and Emeritus two of the last LPs of the year I'm even remotely excited to listen to. Theater Of The Mind is of particular interest, just for the simple fact that it counts DJ Premier among its producers. And that Jay-Z & Nas appear on a track together, though not the Premier one. It's a symptom of the sad state of hip-hop that it takes Southern rappers and Christina Aguilera for the guy to get regular work. Ironically, one of his best recent major-label beats also to a southern artist, Cee-Lo, for "Evening News". With all of the horrific beats now used on many East Coast albums, it's shocking no one ever thinks to give Premier a call. Nas should really have given up whatever reason he has for not working with him by now. Anyone who would choose Polow over Premo (he's becoming a real pain in the ass, he even talks all over tracks he hasn't even produced) just simply has been raised on the wrong kind of hip-hop.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-75732492180760316702008-10-31T15:04:00.000-07:002008-10-31T15:58:39.548-07:00Lil' Wayne goes kamikaze and other musingsEver since his "coronation", it seems Weezy Wee's on a mission to destroy his stardom before it even settles in. Between the god-awful "Mrs. Officer" video, the lip piercing, and suspect award show apperances, it seems he's re-examining the great idea of baiting Jay-Z. Why you would come strapped to your performance with Hova is beyond me. And then when you're on the same bill the next night and Hova was giving you the silent treatment, you start rapping his lyrics. After his subliminal powerbomb on T.I.'s "Watch What You Say To Me", it seemed like Wayne had given up on attempting to lure Hova into a battle. Although I'd still love to know what Jay-Z's reaction was to Wayne's spitting, "You old ass rappers need to stay on tour, you're like 44, I got a 44, I'm only 24, I could murk you and come out when I'm 44".<br /><br /><br /><br />So Fabolous is doing a Carlito's Way concept album? Really? I guess the not-good album streak can officially be run to five. He might have a decent album if you cherry picked all four he's done, but I'm not even sure about that.<br /><br /><br /><br />When will Yo Gotti get his big chance? After hearing him tear down "Get Silly" and "Cash Flow", not to mention his past show stealing appearances on the Gangsta Grillz album and Lil' Scrappy's G-Unit/BME album, it seems like he could hang with just about any of the other young guns of the south. If Yung Joc can get two big-deal major-label looks, Gotti needs one.<br /><br /><br /><br />I still don't know what to think of "Arab Money" or "Pop Champagne", but the latter has been in rotation since it first dropped, sans Dipset.<br /><br /><br /><br />When is Max B going to explain this supposed paperwork that gives him some sort of convuluted above the law status? Of all the many middling second-level rappers that populate NYC these days (Jae Millz, Red Cafe, etc.), he seems like one of the most likely candidates to break through. It's very apparent he helped Jim Jones craft "We Fly High". I defy anyone to come up with another Jones hook that was that catchy that he actually wrote himself. I give Jimmy credit, though, for managing to release 3 albums despite the fact that he has alternating man-crushes on Hova and Dame Dash. They've even had eminently listenable portions. Diary Of A Summer might have even qualified for 3 mics. But, I'd be 10 times more excited for a Max B solo album than I ever could be for a Jim Jones.<br /><br /><br /><br />Memo to Eminem & Dr. Dre: What are you two waiting for? The top 5 rap songs in the country are "Mrs. Officer", "Whatever You Like", "Live Your Life", "My Life", and "Swagga Like Us", which means all of the top songs right now either rap to females or involve Wayne and T.I. in some way. What better time for them to drop? I'm as much into T.I., Lil' Wayne, T-Pain, etc. as the next guy, but something needs to shake up this stagnant scene. Lest you think this is just a top-of-the charts trend, take a look at the next five on the charts. "I Know What Them Girls Like", "Got Money, "Please Excuse My Hands", "Ride", "Get Up"........with the exception of the new 50 song (coincidence?), the next 5 are all either songs for women or Wayne concoctions. A look even further down the charts finds Mike Jones/T-Pain, Bow Wow/Soulja Boy collabos ready to attack our ears, not to mention Unk and V.I.C. ready to pounce again. Just drop the albums already before people really turn on you. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />If any of you haven't peeped Q-Tip's The Renaissance, Statik Selektah's Stick 2 The Script and the Coldplay/Jay-Z Viva La Hova mix, you're doing your ears a major disservice.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-29289399478771471652008-10-01T12:55:00.000-07:002009-07-29T17:00:00.144-07:00Signs Of LifeMaybe I'm only speaking for myself, but 2008 has definitely been a bounceback year for rap as a whole. Following years of southern domination that culminated in a bizarre year-long mass media marathon of gargling Lil' Wayne's ball sweat and no less of a publication than Time Magazine declaring that he was, indeed, the best rapper alive. While I'm far from a hater of Wayne, the sheer idea that he was the best the game had to offer seems to have woken up many, which become one of the best things that could have ever happened to the game.<br /><br /><br />For my money, The Recession & Paper Trail were more solid pieces of work than Tha Carter III. Even the mostly dissapointing LAX was more kin of Tha Carter III. Paper Trail has the unmistakeable quality of a man's passionate desire to express his exasperation through music. It doesn't hurt when Toomp, Swizz, Drumma Boy, Kanye, Just Blaze, Danja, et al. are providing the backdrop, but it also doesn't hurt to hear an album of someone simply speaking honestly about their experiences. In a climate where people are pretty much dancing into the industry off their criminal backgrounds and gang associations, it's refreshing to hear someone speak about the downside of that lifestyle with such vigor and personal reference.<br /><br /><br />The Recession, on the other hand succeeded because Jeezy did something most rappers in his position are scared to do, admit he's paricularly good at creating one certain type of music and sticking to that formula for an entire album. A major reason why many major-label albums fail to make much of an impact these days is that they decide to simply assemble the hottest producers and guest artists, making a hodgepodge of high profile collabos that seem to decide when or if these things even come out or not. With a few exceptions, most classics are remembered because they stuck to one motif, lyrically and sonically.<br /><br /><br />That isn't to say creativity is thrown out the window, but to say that many classic albums are built on one producer, or a couple creating a soundbed that stays consistent throughout, with the same MC or crew of MCs laying the rhymes. Many modern rappers are constantly hemmed into this formula and I can't help but wonder what might have become of some of the casualties and also-rans had they been allowed to create music without worrying about catering to the materialistic female audience. Seriously, how many songs have been in the past 5 years about telling girls how much designer whatnot you're gonna buy them? Who actually listens to that shit, if not younger, mostly white chicks?<br /><br /><br />Cassidy surely would have benefitted from this more than just anyone. After an uneven but promising debut album buoyed by the radio success of "Hotel" & "Can't Get No Better", two mainstream but not entirely untolerable singles, he's seen his trajectory hit the point where I'd be shocked to see him release his 4th album anywhere besides Koch, and I'd be even more shocked to his Clipse-Neptunesesque relationship with Swizz Beatz continue. Which may be for the best, anyhow. Cass needs to drop the pretense that he's Hova or B.I.G., pull a Jeezy and just make an album of straight up brag rap. I'm not predicting a classic or even a good album, but it can't be much worse than B.A.R.S.<br /><br /><br />Fabolous is an even more obvious candidate for someone who just needs to make one decent, honest album. Real Talk and Ghetto Fabolous are the best albums from his catalog and even those aren't anything to write home about. Those are just the albums where he raps to chicks the least. I can't help but think someone needs to lock him in the studio with Buckwild, Premo and Kanye and see if they can't squeeze something out of him other than his account statements and tales of bedding women of all races. He has the potential to be remembered as one of the finer spitters of his generation, but one doesn't make such lists off DJ Clue freestyles and ocassionally searing guest verses (best verse on Tha Carter III, arguably one of the best verses on Lord Willin', Hi Hater (Remix), Paper Touchin' (Remix), etc.)<br /><br /><br />Rap nerd moment: So we're evidently not gonna ever discuss that one of the most talked-about tracks on the supposed biggest album of the year is nothing but a mixtape leftover with Fabolous left on, Cassidy taken off, and Wayne & Juelz tacked back on? Or that "Dr. Carter" was meant for Jay-Z? Or that "Comfortable" was out for almost a year before the album dropped? That "3 Peat" is nothing but a mediocre re-tread of "I'm Me"? I'm not denying that Tha Carter III obviously had superior moments, but as a whole, it just didn't feel right. Here we are, 3 months after it dropped, and I'm hard pressed to find more than a handful of tracks that I'm still playing.<br /><br /><br />As much as I enjoyed some of Tha Carter III, its impact on popular culture is very reminiscent of Hollywood. It smacks of people attempting to praise something lukewarm excessively as a means to make amends for not paying attention before, much how some receive an Oscar, almost as a make-up by the Academy for not recognizing them for a much better performance. Tha Carter III is Wayne's The Departed, while Tha Carter II, Dedication 2, and Da Drought 3 are more akin to Goodfellas and Casino. Now T.I. has his moment in the sun, moving 550K in his first week, which you stat geeks might note as being half of Weezy, but is also almost triple The Game, and nearly doubles Jeezy.<br /><br /><br />Soon, we gear up for a star-studded fourth quarter, with Dr. Dre's Detox, Jay-Z's Blueprint 3, Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak, Ludacris' Theater Of The Mind, Jadakiss' Kiss My Ass, 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct, Scarface's Emeritus, and what the hell? We'll throw Rick Ross' Deeper Than Rap & Plies' The Realest in there for good measure. Theater Of The Mind & Emeritus already sound like winners from their leaked tracks, but the others sound spotty. Hov seems to be ready to come with it, as "Jockin' Jay-Z" and a "Swagger Like Us (Remix)" featuring Jeezy, Nas, and Dre 3K have me sold. 808's seems like it might very well suck, but I guess that's why we listen to the albums. Maybe I'll actually want to hear Kanye express his inner anguish through the majesty of AutoTune. My hope is that 50 wasn't lying on the "50 For President" freestyle and him, Em, and Dre really are all together making music and that he's about to "push the re-start button". By January, the modern view of the rap game will be all cleared up, as following the year of Jeezy, Weezy, and Tip (quoting Sickamore, the modern day Jay-Z, Big, and Nas), with the dropping of Kanye (arguably tied with Weezy as the biggest artist of the modern generation), Jay-Z (arguable G.O.A.T.), 50 Cent (the last major superstar of the big record sales era) and Dr. Dre (it's all been said before). I, for one, will have my popcorn ready.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-55675666587569024362008-08-26T17:58:00.000-07:002009-07-29T17:01:33.098-07:00Too Much Of A Good Thing?To paraphrase an old "SNL" sketch, who are the ad wizards behind the campaign for Paper Trail? Damn near half the thing has leaked already. How a Jay-Z/Kanye West/Lil' Wayne posse cut that also happened to be the first song Kanye produced since his mother's passing and included a timely MIA chop for the refrain wasn't under lock and key is beyond my comprehension.<br /><br /><br />As anyone who follows rap closely and remembers the days when one single was dropped to promote an album and that was all you heard until the LP came out, it has to make you almost wish we could return to the good old days. The Recession isn't available in its entire form as of yet, but at least 10 tracks already are. How can you enjoy any of these albums as much as the ones from the past if you've already heard half of them by the way you sit and have a proper listen. I can remember going to the store on the strength of someone's name alone.<br /><br /><br />Now, we've reached some kind of bizarre impasse where people wonder if Jay-Z needs to even bother dropping new material anymore, simply because the younger generation has been weaned on commercial rap artists' short regins at the top. Newer "top selling" artists like Lil' Wayne, Plies, Rick Ross, 50 Cent, and the like have gotten people used to hearing something new from them at least once a week and the public has little patience for people who wait a long time in between albums and aren't considerate enough to make a bunch of free music in the meantime. Either way you feel about it, tracks like "Swagger Like Us" & "My President Is Black" would have packed a lot more punch if people hadn't heard them so far in advance. I can recall when posse cuts and collabos were the songs that surprised you on the album after you had already heard 2, maybe 3 choice cuts from the artist.<br /><br /><br />The industry, always looking for some new sort of gimmick to keep people interested in buying rap albums that are increasingly worse in quality and easier to download, should try a new one..........make sure your shit doesn't leak. I'm sure it's easier said than done, but if a label, like say, Interscope, put all their muscle behind making sure, say a new artist like Wale, rather than Em or Dre didn't leak, who's to say they couldn't. Just a random theory.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-56979983648955828352008-07-14T15:24:00.000-07:002009-07-29T17:04:04.696-07:00In These Times, Well, At Least To MeAs 106 & Park flickers on the TV, and I chuckle at Yung Berg's latest trifle, it occurs to me that for as much as I laugh at whatever's on 106 & Park, G-Unit & Nelly would probably kill for any sort of that success. Nelly is what, 6 singles deep now? 7, if you count the Ashanti/Akon video or whatever they're about to drop. If rapping over K-Ci & JoJo's "All My Life", doing a song with Pimp C (RIP), a pop collaboration with the red-hot Fergie (don't know why she's so popular) & Polow Da Don, a sneaker anthem with JD & the lovely Ciara & and a 4 minute E-40, Too Short, Spice 1 tribute don't get him any spins, I don't understand who's putting up the greenbacks for the Usher collaboration that leaked a few days ago, unceremoniously. It's things like these that show how fickle rap stardom really is.<br /><br /><br />A few years ago, Nelly could do no wrong. He was selling 8 million copies an album and even was able to put out two albums on the same day and have them both do big numbers. It's crazy to think that now he's leaked half his album to a populace that either is too young to remember his popular days or just doesn't care anymore. Usher actually isn't too far from the same sort of fate. How often does an artist make an album that sells 10 million copies and then stuggle to go platinum the next go round? I'm all for the sales don't have anything to do with the quality argument, but for every Here I Stand, there's a Hell Hath No Fury. People lose interest quickly.<br /><br /><br />5 years ago, the idea that Nas would be more relevant than 50 Cent would have been laughable, what with 50 in his Get Rich Or Die Tryin' stage and Nas not far from his Street's Disciple, boring production stage. Maybe we'll get a hungry 50 on this 4th solo album coming this year, with it being his final album on his Interscope deal and with him already speaking of creating music at a Dr. Dre-like pace. It almost makes one wonder if anyone will even care by the time Dr. Dre & Eminem roll out the projects that they have been secretively working on. By all accounts, it seems that the Dre album is mostly finished, but now it's a process of getting all the marquee names on it. Much like how 2001 gave us Hittman, 6-2, and Knoc'turnal, Detox promises us people like Slim Tha Mobster & Bishop Lamont. Any knowledgeable rap fan will want the album regardless of how many Snoop & Eminem rhymes it contains. But the tall Israelites think otherwise, and now, we wait. Maybe, if Nas' album attains commerical success, we will be able to hear all these albums that are being held under wraps. Maybe Saigon finds a release date somewhere.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-14208722196799325072008-06-06T13:06:00.000-07:002008-06-06T13:50:52.671-07:00The Real Meaning Of NothingThe past week has seen the release/leak of two different projects, one which has already been discussed relentlessly and one which has flown largely under the radar. The Carter III, I will tell you right now, comes nowhere near living up to the impossible hype. That's not to say it isn't a fine inclusion in The Rapper Eater's catalog, but after 3 years, even 5, if you count the Sqad Up mixtapes that seem to be forgotten when people mentioned his seemingly overnight rise, what bizarre reference could he make that would still surprise people? The effects of his relentless output are evident as several songs feature bars already spat on countless volumes of Evil Empire mixtapes. For example, Shoot Me Down has him spitting tales of going after his mother's boyfriend with a cleaver, which would have been gripping entertainment if most hadn't already heard the same bars on World Of Fantasy off one of the last summer's Drought Is Over tapes. His interest in concepts is what keeps the album afloat, especially considering that the lyrics are no advancement and in in some spots, weaker, than those on The Carter II. Jay-Z effortlessly outdoes him on his own song, and I also found myself enjoying Juelz Santana's bars on You Ain't Nothin' much more than the latest Wayne AutoTune tomfoolery. I also found myself wondering where his Dr. Dre beats went (maybe the raps Wayne supposedly wrote him for Detox weren't up to snuff), where his Ludacris collabo disappeared to, and why he didn't put the long performed Pussy Monster Freestyle on it. <br /> However, it is one of the better albums to come out in awhile, but this more of a commentary on the lack of creativity and new product in rap music than it is on the supposedly classic quality of the album. A classic album has no tracks you don't enjoy, just tracks you enjoy the least. Lollipop is in no way a song that belongs on any classic rap album. It was a desperate ploy that at least seems to have worked enough to get the album out, but one wonders how much longer the label would have sat on it until Wayne finally issued the full out pop song that they may have been hounding him for. The toughest part about this album is that there's not much to compare it to. To place it with other southern classics doesn't even seem right. I can't imagine still listening to this in 10 years, like Aquemini or Too Hard To Shallow, or even 400 Degreez. It's just like any Lil' Wayne mixtape, it has moments where you're convinced he could stand with the all time greats and moments where it sounds like someone reciting Tha Block Is Hot on lean. I also wonder how he managed to make an entire album without Birdman chiming in once. The Carter III is perfectly acceptable by today's standards of music, but for someone who desperately wants us to mention him with all time greats, it falls far short of those lofty standards. <br /> Wale, on the other hand, has managed to quietly put out one of the more satisfying listens in recent memory. I've barely heard a whisper about his recent drop The Mixtape About Nothing, which is a shame. The tape eschews the usual beat jacking festivities except for one Roc Boys freestyle, and uses soulful production as the backdrop for Wale to talk about the state of affairs in rap and other social issues. As expected, Seinfeld snippets are played before a few tracks, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus even has an interlude. He uses Micheal Richards' racist tirade to set off a track where he speaks on racial conflict on a level that makes you wonder whether Nas should call him for a cameo as The Roots already have. His fluid style of rapping and willingness to talk about just about anything under the sun (Eddie Murphy, Cleo Lemon, Napster) makes him that much more enjoyable to listen to. He even manages to rap alongside Lil' Wayne, Bun B, Pusha T, and Black Thought and sound every bit their equal. On the heels of the enjoyable but more uneven 100 Miles & Runnin', this mixtape valuts his upcoming album near the top of the list for most awaited.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-31068662074199933902008-04-28T13:19:00.000-07:002008-04-28T14:25:20.254-07:00Sales Decline, Creativity IncreasesSome would have you believe that the sales decline in rap music means nothing but death for the art form. Comparisons to disco have sprung up almost overnight. I am not in this faction, obviously, but I can't imagine I'm the only person who hasn't noticed that many rappers are choosing a far more thoughtful path as they complete and begin new albums. Take Busta Rhymes, for instance. After making his bid for across-the-board stardom with his underrated Aftermath debut The Big Bang and seeing no increase in sales, but an increased in unwanted publicity, it seems apropos that he would return to his peaceful party vibe for the first two leaked tracks off his next release, I'm Blessed. "Lights, Camera, Action" is produced by Teddy Riley and sounds much like his work on Snoop Dogg's new album. Busta finds his groove on a slow, sensual beat and manages to pull the whole track together. I can't imagine him doing a song like this if The Big Bang had done Kanye numbers. Meanwhile, "Don't Touch Me (Throw Da Water On 'Em)", produced by Sean C & LV (Jay-Z, American Gangster) is one of the most enjoyable Busta Rhymes songs I've heard in a long time. It sounds like an advancement on his older work, in the vein of "Woo Hah" and "Dangerous". He even goes back to actually rapping quickly and impressively for the first time since Bun B's "Get Throwed (Remix)". While I haven't yet heard the entire Linkin Park collaboration first single, even if that sucks as badly as I think it's going to, I'm still more excited for this Busta Rhymes album than I ever was for The Big Bang.<br /> Another album that I'm palpably excited for would have to be Nas' Nigger. I admit that his new gimmick of giving his album the most shocking title he can fathom has already grown weary. It pains me to think what he'll come up with again if he ever manages to get this one out. After having heard his recently leaked teaser song for the new album "Be A Nigger Too", it immediately made rap fans wonder if Nas really does have the politically charged classic album he claims to have created. While I remain skeptical (what will it take to get him or Jay-Z back into the studio with DJ Premier? even Eminem was smart enough to get him for his comeback album), it seems that the album will at least have a few tracks that will function as brain food. I just wonder if Nas has finally picked some beats that are worthy of his wordy, street poet style of rhyming. Hip Hop Is Dead was a definite progression, beat wise, from Street's Disciple & God's Son. Hiring Dr. Dre & Kanye West will always help in that department. Let's just keep our fingers crossed for no Eminem production or Kelis cameos.<br /> While no one else has leaked material as provocative as these two, there are a number of upcoming albums that look to be quite good, for reasons similar to the ones listed for Busta & Nas. Jadakiss' forthcoming Kiss My Ass sounds to be a return to his old, punch line heavy New York boom bap. Alchemist is a confirmed contributor and the snippet they have leaked sounds like 'Kiss at his finest, before he started mouthing his own chopped-and-screwed hooks for Weezy videos (while rocking Famous Stars & Straps, natch) and spitting alongside Hurricane Chris, Lil' Boosie, Yung Joc, Rick Ross and anyone else with a check. Big Boi's Sir Luscious Leftfoot has every chance to be great. If that album produces even 5 songs that sound remotely like "Royal Flush", the unofficial "Skew It On The Bar-B" sequel that has been floating around the Internet, it will be a worthwhile endeavor. I'm similarly thrilled to hear what a DMX gospel album will sound like and to bend my ear to T.I. raps that have actually been written down on paper and not freestyled in the booth. And I'll be one of the first ones to listen to albums from The Cool Kids & Wale.<br /> Snoop Dogg's Ego Trippin' seems to have set a good precedent in this regard. His willingness to experiment with country and older stylings of R&B was a breath of fresh air in an era full of rap albums full of collaborations that make no sense and a list of expensive producers, rather than one cohesive sound. Hopefully, instead of getting The Runners, Polow Da Don, Drumma Boy, and Timbaland, more and more albums will come out as one whole concept instead of a paint by numbers.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-5159833849034878022008-04-02T13:36:00.000-07:002008-04-02T14:03:58.722-07:00What times we live in......Between the news that DJ Khaled will A&R the next Ludacris album, Bow Wow's sudden transformation from kiddie pop rapper to ballin' gangsta, the inexplicable popularity of "Lollipop", and Remy Ma & T.I.'s respective prison sentences, there's plenty going on to interest even the most casual fans of rap music. I'd prefer to focus on the this whole Khaled/Ludacris deal. In a word, it's reprehensible. The simple fact that a proven star would hitch his wagon to a such a fly by night property is bothersome enough. Now, mind you, I'm not a Khaled hater. "S On My Chest" & "I'm So Hood (Remix)" have gotten plenty of burn over here. I enjoy what he does with his albums, as far as putting together tracks that feature a lot of people and manage to make them sound cohesive. DJ Drama would do well to take a lesson from him whenever he manages to connive T.I. to put up the bread for "Gangsta Grillz: The Album II". But, the last time I checked, one of an A&R's primary duties on album is to pick guests and beats. I'm not an expert, but considering Khaled's track record of constantly assembling ridiculous posse cuts backed by thunderous, heavily synthezised scores, I don't like what this seems to mean for Ludacris. We seem destined for the first single of his album to be something much like "Down In The Dirty", the single he dropped for the seemingly forgotten about third volume of the Disturbing Tha Peace album series. The song itself wasn't bad, with a passable bass heavy Clinton Sparks track and fairly good 16s from Rick Ross & Bun B. But, I can remember the days when Ludacris' singles were always popular, and not necessarily formulaic. From "Southern Hospitality", "Roll Out", "Saturdays", "Area Codes", and on down. Even "Move Bitch" was the type of song that anybody could listen to and enjoy a certain aspect of. While he has already began to head down the direction of formula rap with his last album and its three singles/collabos with Pharell, Young Jeezy, and Mary J. Blige/Polow Da Don (who I will talk more about in a future post, probably as soon as his Nelly/Fergie produced collabo explodes), an album filled with Runners beats, and cameos from T-Pain is not what I or persumably anyone else wants in a Ludacris album. Here's hoping that Ludacris is wise and limits the Khaled contributions to a minimum. Maybe we luck out and he limits Khaled to a single, or maybe just a couple of album cuts. And no T-Pain or the like.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-48805159128001322352008-03-26T17:41:00.001-07:002008-03-26T18:15:09.087-07:00Back Like I Left SomethingAfter a prolonged hiatus, some random thoughts on the latest goings-on in the rap world:<br /><br /><br /><br />Fat Joe fighting Papoose for being on Hot 97 with 50 Cent has to be the most hypocritical move I've seen in awhile. Joe was annoyed when 50 picked a fight with him for standing next to Ja Rule, so why should Papoose have to suffer for hanging out with 50? Either way, Joe's legacy in rap was forever tarnished even before this dust up. Now it's just getting ridiculous.<br /><br /><br /><br />Flo Rida only selling 86,000 in his first week even with 2 hugely popular singles on the radio needs to be the final nail in the coffin for labels still attempting to build cookie cutter stars. With the way the industry is moving, rappers need to accept that they will only have a core audience and that a very select few rappers actually sell major records anymore. Shit, when 50 Cent & Jay-Z both fall short of 1.5 million, what else do you need to hear?<br /><br /><br />Lil' Wayne seems to be on a mission to destroy his career before it reaches its proper apex. We all were hoping that when The Carter 3 was ready to drop that Wayne might have retired the gimmick of singing his rhymes through the T-Pain vocoder box. Lollipop has flown in the face of that logic. If Lollipop flops, what will this mean for Wayne's career? It seems that he is betting the farm on people wanting to listen to him sing. Time will tell.<br /><br /><br /><br />Shawty Lo.......the man can't rap to save his life, but there just has to be a place for him in the rap world.<br /><br /><br /><br />Am I the only one with the sneaking suspicion that this supposedly shocking upcoming Nas album isn't nearly as good as the hype would suggest? I remember when Jay-Z supposedly kept him from dropping when American Gangster came out, and we're now heading into April with no release date in sight for N*gger. Why he won't just pick up the phone and call Premo or AZ is beyond me at this point. Even Fat Joe managed to make room for Premo in between the Plies & J. Holiday cameos.<br /><br /><br /><br />New York City needs to let a new rapper put out a damn album already. How long have Saigon, Papoose, Maino, Jae Millz, etc. all sat on the shelf? You would think maybe someone like Maino would stop shooting for stardom with Lil' Kim & Shawty Lo cameos and put out a good, hard street album on Koch. Instead, Jae Millz signs with Young Money. Ask Currensy how well that turned out for him.<br /><br /><br /><br />G-Unit has impressed me lately. Between Return Of The Body Snatchers & Elephant In The Sand, there has been noticeable signs of life from 50. The Mechanic even gave a glimmer of hope that the old 50 still lurks beneath all of the new Vitamin Water money.<br /><br /><br /><br />As much as I've critcized Red Cafe in the past, I have to admit that he has himself a real knocker in "Paper Touchin'". If the remix with 50, Jada and Fabolous gets any sort of push, he might defy every expectation I've ever had and actually release an album. I'm sure that a big single collabo with Akon is upcoming, and the success of that record will determine his outcome.<br /><br /><br /><br />This topic has been beaten into the ground, but the collapse of Dipset is one of the more depressing things I've watched as a rap fan. Between Cam'ron's career stalling out and him essentially deciding to derail Juelz Santana in the process, I don't know which is worse. For some reason, I actually believed I Can't Feel My Face would drop and that Public Enemy #1 would catapult Cam back into the consciousness of fans.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-77893059400707396652007-08-13T16:31:00.000-07:002007-08-13T17:02:02.786-07:00Everybody Wanna Be A StarAnother theory to add to my growing list of prophecies about the decline in relevance of East Coast rap is the simple fact that no one seems to come out in a group setting anymore. What happened to the days of A Tribe Called Quest, Boot Camp Clik, Wu-Tang Clan, Junior Mafia, or even G-Unit? Many simply choose to release a barrage of mixtape material in hopes of eventually spawning enough of a following to sell the customary 200,000 units. Take Gravy and Red Cafe, for instance. Both were signed to Violator Management in the early 2000s as members of a group entitled Da Franchise. Other than a few street singles and a few appearances on both volumes of the Violator compilation, the group never came to fruition and both soon set out on their own. Gravy has since descended into the abyss of the New York mixtape scene, only bubbling up to make headlines for the bizarre Hot 97 incident that left him with a bullet lodged in his posterior. Red Cafe has been kicking around for years, essentially becoming a lower grade knockoff of Fabolous, Fat Joe, and any other NYC rapper that's had mainstream success in the past 5-10 years. The state of the game in the 718 is sad enough that Saigon and Papoose, both of whom have received backing from major heavyweights in the game, have yet to put an album, although they both claim to have finished one for some time now. Papoose has since resorted to dropping a Snoop Dogg/Scott Storch collaboration in an attempt to keep his buzz alive. Meanwhile, Saigon has come with the Swizz Beatz collabo "C'mon Baby", name dropping his Entourage appearance for the umpteenth time. Once these two finally put out their albums, who does New York have left? Jadakiss? His recent appearances on remixes for Wall To Wall, Wipe Me Down, and the moronic Ay Bay Bay reek of desperation, and that's not even to mention his 2 seperate collabos with Rick Ross. Fat Joe? After making one last effort with last year's criminally underrated Me, Myself, & I LP, he seems to be content in his status as an honorary southerner and being the weakest rapper on a song that includes Birdman and Rick Ross. As much as I enjoy Dipset, Cam'ron's star has been waning for some time now, and Juelz and Jimmy's efforts aren't exactly regionally specific (blowing the whistle and flying high, indeed). What New York needs is some new blood (sit down, Mims) to revitalize the spirit of the city's rap scene. Papoose and Saigon seemed to be that fresh blood, but Papoose is following Kay Slay into the dungeon and Saigon can't make the single that will get his album into our hands (a shame, since "C'mon Baby" is one of the best songs the city has seen in the past few years). No more southern retreads, no more hopping on the remix for the latest jam below the Mason-Dixon Line, no more made up beefs to supposedly incite interest (I'm looking in your direction, Papoose & Uncle Murda), no more jacking of Biggie and Jay-Z, no more chopped and screwed hooks. Perhaps Mysonne will finally put out something worthy of attention, but at the rate we're going, it's going to take an inspired new effort from Jay-Z or Shyne coming home to get me excited about NYC rap again. Until then, I'll just have to occupy myself with whatever Weezy freestyle or mega southern remix comes my way (I see you, Andre 3000, keep schoolin' these young'ns on how it's done). But in the meantime, in between time, peep Plies' The Real Testament or Boot Camp Clik's Casaulties Of War....I'm out.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-7202725057725474082007-04-15T14:08:00.001-07:002007-04-15T14:53:15.186-07:00Weezy's Rampage ContinuesAs many of you are probably aware of, Lil' Wayne has continued his unprecendented market saturation with the recent release of his double disc mixtape opus entitled Da Drought 3. It seems to exist only to give Weezy a chance to spit on every song he didn't get a chance to, spit more bars on a few songs he already has cameoed on (It's Me Bitches, Down & Out, We Takin' Over) , and to profess his love for R&B temptress Ciara. The release of this mixtape, coupled with his recent declaration that The Carter 3 won't be out until the end of the year, leaves Wayne at an interesting crossroads. Whether or not you believe that he's made his recent lyrical improvements on his own, or whether you feel like he's still a subpar rapper, his effect on the creatively deficient world of recent hip-hop can be felt on every coast. However, it feels like Wayne may be concerned that he's already hit a ceiling and that he won't be able to continue improving at his current rate. His plan of continuing to spit on every available guest spot while not putting out an album also reeks of complacency. Take T.I. for instance. He is wisely choosing to strike while the iron's hot. King has just recently left the Billboard Top 200 and the first single off T.I. Vs. T.I.P. has already been leaked out. What's more puzzling about the pushback of Carter 3 is the fact that Wayne routinely brags about never having to touch a pad, which should make recording a breeze. The most troubling aspect of Da Drought 3 has to be the fact that Wayne clearly seems coked up and pill'ed up for most of the recordings, ending and beginning tracks with nonsense ramblings about Gummi Bears and hitting people in the head, not to mention continuing to rhyme in a faux Jamaican accent. Hopefully Kanye West's reported involvement in recording the third Carter will include getting him to stop doing that. Da Drought 3 is not without some classic Wayne quotables, however. "On top of my paper like I'm startin a heading", "You ain't satisfied til your son callin, tellin you where to leave the money in the mornin", "I don't know karate but after the brain, I kick you out", "I swim with the big, I don't have time to deal with Willy The Squid", among others. One interesting note about the mixtape is that Wayne not only adresses Gillie, but also the allegations brought up by the kiss picture of him and Birdman. He speaks on it openly, in a way that will give homophobic Weezy detractors plenty of ammunition, especially with such lines like, "I hope when we kiss, it makes you sick to your stomach" & "hell yeah, I kiss my daddy". Such personal introspection can only make his upcoming album that much better and one can only hope he continues to pursue it, possibly leaving Birdman and his peculiar relationship out of it. At any rate, Wayne just simply needs to put down the syrup, cocaine, and pills and pick up a pad and pen, because as fun as it is to hear his "spit sporadic" style on the hot beats of the moment and in limited doses on other artists' tracks, a full album of Kanye West and Scott Storch produced drugged out freestyles does not appeal to me. The scary part is that Wayne has developed a fanbase that treats even his most nonsense rhymes as gospel. He could do well to learn from Cam'ron, a skilled wordsmith who fell victim to a rabid fanbase that could see no harm in his tutti fruity louie rhymes until it was too late and he had been eclipsed in songmaking quality and stature by Jim Jones and Juelz Santana. Wayne needs to stop reading his own press clippings before a few years go by and Currensy is outselling him. More continued effort into crafting rhymes that will stand the test of time should keep him from such an inglorious fate.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-8858378321441637552007-04-10T22:12:00.000-07:002007-04-10T22:33:48.496-07:00140K is the new goldLast week, Young Buck's Buck The World album debuted with around 140,000 copies sold and much fanfare about how these sales reflected the end of G-Unit as a viable commercial force. This week, superproducer Timbaland opened up with pretty much identical numbers to Buck's, at around 140,000. I think it is safe to say that the Young Buck naysayers have been silenced. If he can sell the same amount in his first week as one of the hottest properties in music right now, not just rap, it's a fair assumption to say he won't be rapping (or stabbing people with forks) for his dinner anytime soon. It's also a sad indictment that rap fans have pretty much given up on going to the store, as I would presume many of Tim's sales came from fans of Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and Fall Out Boy, all guests on the album. While I wouldn't deem it out of the question for Shock Value to pick up steam over time and outsell Buck in the long run, it has to be considered a mild upset that such a star studded album couldn't make it over 150K in the first week of sales. In an era where Mims can't ride the #1 single in the country to much more than 75K 1st week sales and Rich Boy can't parlay his smash hit into much more than 110K to start and what looks like a finish in the 300K region, it begs the question of how much longer labels will continue to put money into the promotion of rap albums. Some signs suggest that people are tired of being pandered to and that they will pony up their hard earned dollars for an album that truly derserves it. Young Jeezy has sold almost 3 million copies of his first 2 albums during this dark period, and without ever making that crossover grab song, only relenting by allowing Akon & R. Kelly to sing hooks about selling drugs rather than crafting them himself. Ludacris and Jay-Z have maintained their streak of platinum hits and T.I. still has the highest selling non Black Eyed Peas rap album over the past year and a half. It's time for labels to stop trying to trick rap fans out of their money and start building an artist's fanbase off more than ringtones and MySpace pages. I don't buy all of the bootlegging allegations, because artists like Nickelback and Justin Timberlake are still doing monster numbers and their albums are just as easily downloaded as anyone else's. The Shady/Aftermath camp is another prime example of rappers who have built the fan's trust enough so that they can still maintain their sales. The Re-Up compilation of mostly Shady second stringers dressed up with a few verses from 50 & Shady himself is nearly platinum off one poorly promoted single. Here's hoping that the label execs stop creating paint-by-numbers affairs and start allowing their artists' real personalites to shine through. The major label machine could take a big cue from Jim Jones, who has managed to move almost 400,000 units independently, using his catchy single to bring people into his world. Casualties like Mims, Rich Boy, and Timbaland could stand to learn a lesson from Jones' relentless self promotion and creative marketing schemes. Until then, people will continue to refuse to part with their money and opt for downloading.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-24596900588345903752007-04-10T18:02:00.000-07:002007-04-10T19:00:31.042-07:00Gotta Spend Money To Make MoneyIn this month's issue of XXL, Fabolous referenced the fact that even though he had shot videos for his big-ticket collaborations with Pharell and Young Jeezy off his Real Talk album, the label never put them out and even had a hard time releasing his second video for "Baby". With the increasing reliance on the 2nd and 3rd singles to sell an album over time and the insistence of label bigwigs to use high profile cameos to push those singles, let's take a look at some songs that never saw the (video) light of day even though they should have, by either label convention or otherwise.<br /><br /><br /><br />Jay-Z f/ Pharell & Usher--Anything<br /><br />Granted, this may have not been Hov, Usher and Skateboard P's best foot forward, but an event album like Kingdom Come needed more strategic planning in order for it to become the hit it was destined to be. A collaboration with 2 pop darlings probably would have proven more successful than Lost Ones. Lost Ones was without a doubt the album's finest track, with Dr. Dre providing a haunting backdrop for Jay to spit about his laments towards Dame Dash and Beyonce. However, this isn't the type of stuff that finds much of a radio audience and certainly doesn't warrant Budweiser & TNT marketing moolah.<br /><br /><br />Busta Rhymes f/ Stevie Wonder-Been Through The Storm<br /><br />This song makes the list due to sheer across-the-board appeal. It has long been my opinion that The Big Bang didn't do its proper numbers due to complete bungling of the singles. The album should have been released earlier in the year, when Touch It and its remix were burning up the airwaves, before the remix video shooting tainted all of the goodwill Busta had built up. The 2nd single should have been the Dr. Dre-produced, raucous Missy Elliott collabo How We Do It Over Here (girls love Missy and they're the ones buying the albums these days). Been Through The Storm would have made a perfect selection for the 3rd single and would have tapped into the older demographic (also actual record buyers) who remembers Stevie's heyday, before he was relegated to cameos on Busta Rhymes & Snoop Dogg albums. Oh, and the song itself is one of the best Busta has ever recorded, a great storytelling song filled with remorse and regret, complemented beautifully by Stevie's chilling refrain.<br /><br /><br />Lil' Wayne-Weezy Baby<br /><br />Easily the catchiest song on The Carter II outside of Fireman, this could have been the song that catapulted Weezy F into that stratosphere of stardom reserved for a Ludacris or OutKast. Interviews revealed that this was the single Wayne wanted to go with, but that he was outvoted by Baby (the same man who led off his solo debut with a Puffy duet) and Slim. While Hustler Muzik was a great song in its own right, the choice of using it as a 2nd single is very questionable, for much the same reason that Lost Ones didn't make any sense for Jay to use in the same capacity.<br /><br /><br />Chingy f/ R. Kelly-Leave With Me<br /><br />Let it be known right now that while I am not the president of Chingy's fan club, I do find that there is an occasional place for his brand of harmless club rap (dont pretend you weren't bumping Right Thurr or Holidae Inn, we all were). And there always seems to be a demand for new R. Kelly stylings, as evidenced by the lack of damage to his career by child porn allegations. This bounce laden offering for the club would have very easily saved Chingy's faltering career. While the king of R&B is mostly responsible, that is pretty much the point. Why take the huge dent in the recording budget that must be involved in securing R. Kelly to produce and sing on a track unless you plan on utilizing it to sell your album? Powerballin' seemed full of similar follies, considering that only one single saw the light of day and passable (and presumably expensive) collaborations with Kelly, Janet Jackson, Nate Dogg, Lil' Wayne, and David Banner all sat on the shelf. Although, looking at Hoodstar's subpar performance despite single assists from JD & Tyrese, perhaps his label knew what they were doing all along.<br /><br /><br />Notorious B.I.G. f/ Jay-Z-What You Want<br /><br />Quite possibly the only song on Duets that could have been released as a single and not annoyed the shit out of me and the other 50 million rap purists/Biggie afficionados. Of course, Puffy's money grubbing ways led him to deem a Nelly and Jagged Edge collabo good enough to be the lead single and I'm sure he thought his presence on the track would make people forget that Big would have never been in the same room with a Nelly or Jazze Pha. What You Want even featured 2 B.I.G. 16s that hadn't already been beaten into the ground by every aspiring mixtape rapper and bedroom DJ in America, plus one of Jay-Z's best postretirement verses. I guess I couldn't very well expect very much from the man who cherry picked smash hits from The Lox & G. Dep's albums as they were in progress in order to advance his own career.<br /><br /><br />Pitbull-Jealoso<br /><br />One of the craziest Neptunes beats in recent memory and Pitbull (more likely TVT, considering Lil' Jon & Ying Yang's appearance on the actual 1st single Bojangles) found it a better idea to go with a tired Lil' Jon booty anthem with a refrain cribbed from an old Ying Yang Twins song. Who knows, Jealoso just may have the song that took Pitbull from Southern club sensation into full fledged superstar status. The track itself is a marvel, as Pharell completely immerses his technique in all the things that make Pitbull's style of rap great, with innovative instrumentation and a more precussion based rhythm that's tailor made for Pitbull's more musical rhyme schemes.<br /><br /><br />The Game-One Night<br /><br />Other than the energetic first shot One Blood, Game's single selection for his latest LP has been less than satisfactory. His failure at duplicating the Dr. Dre/50 Cent formula with Strip Club fell flat, and Wouldn't Get Far's attempts at creating controversy (witness the subsequent "beef" with Vida Guerra) have fallen on similarly deaf ears. One Night or even Ol' English (a monster earwig in its own right) would have been perfect for him to cultivate his west coast appeal and deliver on the tremendous growth he showed on Doctor's Advocate. One Night features one of the more ignorant catchier refrains in recent history and I'm more than certain that Game's core audience would have eaten it right up.<br /><br /><br />Young Dro f/ T.I.-My Girl<br /><br />The table had been set, with a huge first single and a namedrop of My Girl's refrain on Shoulder Lean seemed to preclude the obvious 2nd single choice. However, Grand Hustle trusted the mixtape buzz of Rubberband Banks and released it instead. Time and time again, labels trust the streets instead of realizing that more often than not, mixtape buzz does not translate into album sales (ask Cassidy, still smarting from releasing B-Boy Stance as his 2nd single with Nas and Mario collabos in the can). My Girl is far from a poppy sap story, though. The light, tropical style beat is the backdrop as Dro & Tip swap stories about their lady friends and their lady friends' lady friends. The Nitti blazer Man In The Trunk would have also been a more apt choice if Grand Hustle was so intent on a street look for the 2nd single. As it stands, Best Thang Smokin' was one of the most slept on albums of the past year and Young Dro has officially moved to the front of the new young breed of southern MCs.Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12320460048591599.post-59100073032108841012007-04-05T12:02:00.000-07:002007-04-05T12:35:16.783-07:00Plies: Stuck Off The RealnessRecently, I stumbled across a few different mixtapes from a new rapper out of Fort Meyers, Florida, who goes by the rhyming moniker of Plies. From a technical standpoint, he is one of the worst rappers to emerge from the cauldron of southern street pharmacists and deep fried d-boys. However, he conveys such a fierce energy and will to win on the microphone that I can't help but enjoy several of his songs. Think of Young Jeezy's lived-to-tell-the story credibility & lyrical simplicity mixed with David Banner's pure intensity. For a strong sample of his typical subject matter, go to datpiff.com and download 30 Days, The Truth Hurts, or 100% Real Nigga. While his rawness is still evident, plenty of determination and grit shine through. In particular, Bond Money stands out. With an atypical bouncy track, Plies spends much of the song warning enemies that he has the money to bail himself out of jail, calling everyone "fuck niggas", and falling on and off beat. He also displays 50 Cent's penchant for ending records with half a minute of superfluous shit talking. His freestyle over Lil' Wayne's "Go DJ" track, creatively named "Got My AK" is another display of Plies' raw emotion and fiery delivery. A fair warning: if someone rhyming niggas with triggas and sometimes forgetting to rhyme at all bothers you, Plies is not for you. If you want to hear the battle cry of a man who simply sounds terrified of being stuck in the poverty of Fort Meyers for the rest of his life, by all means, check out his music. Important ears have begun to perk up as well. Akon, T.I., Nitti, Pitbull, Mr. Collipark, Pretty Ricky, T-Pain, and Slip-N-Slide labelmates Trick Daddy and Trina have all either sought him out for cameos or put their own twist on his records. Meanwhile, powerful southern DJs such as DJ Drama, Greg Street, and DJ Scream have all lined up to host his latest mixtapes. Plies looked like he had the path to stardom all lined up, when his Akon collaboration "I Wanna Fuck You" began to burn up the airwaves down south and looked poised to cross over to mainstream radio. Mysteriously, a new version with Snoop Dogg appeared a few weeks later and Plies was soon forgotten. In a recent interview with Allhiphop, Plies revealed that record industry politics kept him off the version of the song that rose to the top of Billboard's Hot 100 and propelled Akon to double platinum status and Snoop to over 800,000 records sold. Industry naysayers also scuttled Plies' plan to pull an 8Ball and release a triple CD for his debut album. While 8Ball was an established member of the southern rap elite and wanted to allow new rappers to shine when he decided to release a triple CD, it is a much more audacious move for a newcomer to attempt. There was also a second attempt at cultivating a lead single for Plies, the Nitti produced banger "Got 'Em Hatin". For whatever reason (lack of promotion, perhaps?), the song never took off outside of Florida and Plies was in the hole with Slip-N-Slide for 2 high profile cameos. It seems now that luck has finally shined down on Plies with his latest attempt to break through, as the collab "Shawty" with T-Pain has begun to pick up steam. Over a Drumma Boy track that sounds like The Runners mixed with Just Blaze, Plies professes his love for his shorty in between T-Pain's crooning about beating people up for his girl. While this isn't the best showcase for Plies' talents, one can only hope this will be his springboard into the mainstream. Any debut rapper who has the guts to go places with his music and is audacious enough to attempt a triple CD debut album (quickly crushed by Slip-N-Slide, who told him not to bother because it would only count as one album off his contract, essentially reducing him to giving them 2 albums for free) is all right in my book.<br /><br /><br />Download worthy Plies tracks besides the ones mentioned:<br /><br />Chopper Zone<br />100% Real Nigga<br />A Nigga Realer Than Plies<br />I Just Want The Paper<br />Know Somethin'Dismayed & Confusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12160146528055847118noreply@blogger.com0