With 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Evidence Of Absence
In 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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 F5
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 F5
Monday, July 13, 2009
It's Called Child Support, Not Baby Mama Support
It'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.
And now I'm back off my soapbox........
And now I'm back off my soapbox........
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
As The Dust Settles
A 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Dawn 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The Curious Case Of Ron Browz
As 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.
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.
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.
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".
"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.
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.
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.
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".
"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.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Curious Production
As 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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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.
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