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.

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.

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.

Lil' Wayne goes kamikaze and other musings

Ever 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".



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.





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.

Signs Of Life

Maybe 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.


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.


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.


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?


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.


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.)


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.


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.


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.

Too 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.


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.


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.


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.

In These Times, Well, At Least To Me

As 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.


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.


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.