Hip Hop/Rap Fanatics Unite!

[Frag Mortuus]

The Roots get better with every album. Their latest album "...and then you shoot your cousin" is amazing. Some people say it is a sell out record. However Black Thought has said it was written as a tongue in cheek record. They talk about being gangsters and objectifying women, which at first would sound completely out of character for them. But, when listening to it from the perspective of poking fun at that subject matter you realize how genius it is. The album is pretty short compared to most hip hop albums, especially when you take out the running time dedicated to the movie dialogue and instrumentals, you aren't left with much rap. But, that type of stuff is what makes me like The Roots. They are making their music how they want and screw everyone else.

But, I wish I could say the same things for Snoop Dogg. The only album of his I've ever like has been Doggy Style. He has made decent songs from time to time afterward, but he has never released a solid album since.

Great write up Noise.

[noiseredux]

The Roots get better with every album.

well, honestly I actually like Do You Want More and Illadelph more than Things Fall Apart haha. But I can see why others would flip em. They're always great though.

Their latest album "...and then you shoot your cousin" is amazing.

co-sign. I love it. It's a brilliant album, and actually it's my favorite thing they've done since The Tipping Point in 2004.

But, I wish I could say the same things for Snoop Dogg. The only album of his I've ever like has been Doggy Style.

He's hit or miss, no doubt. Mostly I think his problem is that his albums are too damn long. If he cut out some filler, he'd have a lot more albums that people would think higher of. But he's got some good stuff out there. I tend to like a lot of the weirder bits in his discography. I actually thought that the album he did w/ Wiz Khalifa a few years ago was awesome.

Great write up Noise.

Thx dood.

[Frag Mortuus]

I actually thought that the album he did w/ Wiz Khalifa a few years ago was awesome.

I honestly don't follow him at all anymore and didn't realize that album even existed. I think that would be awesome.

[IrishNinja]

this kendrick + flylo track...phew
i could use more like that! but you know, without the tags.

also, following Pinata, Gibbs is tearing it up this year as well, good freestyle on Westbrook:

and finally: every ATCQ vinyl (except Love Movement) for $65, thinking of going in on this: https://www.popmarket.com/popmarket/det ... d=31942724

[noiseredux]

Snoop Dogg - Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Bo$$ - 2002 - Doggystyle
After his stint on No Limit, Snoop returns with a celebratory album. Now I must note that I hate that he used "tha" and "da" in the same title, but all that aside, this is a pretty decent record. The major problem with this album - and ultimately with many of Snoop's albums - is that it's just too much. Clocking in at 19 tracks, it's tough to keep the momentum and quality top-notch throughout. Luckily, there's more hits than misses here. And be assured that this is a total party record. Snoop provides several party anthem throwbacks: "Stoplight" jacks Parliament's classic "Flashlight," "Ballin'" revamps The Dramatics' "Fallin'" (and features The Dramatics!), "Paper'd Up" is actually a really faithful cover of Eric B & Rakim's "Paid In Full," (which you may have seen performed in the movie Old School). But it's not all remakes, and a lot of the fresh originals are the real standouts. There's no denying just how awesome The Neptunes-produced cuts are. "From The Chuuuch To The Palace," is Snoop in top form, while "Beautiful" lets Pharrell get some crooning spotlight. These are reminders of just how great a team Snoop and The Neptunes really are. While Paid Tha Cost definitely runs on longer than it needs to, it also doesn't exactly overstay its welcome. And while many tracks are less compelling than the really excellent gems peppered throughout, nothing here is really a throwaway either. The worst material here is mostly just Snoop on autopilot, which isn't totally terrible either.

[oxymoron]

Noise, you should really work at XXL. I think you'd be damn good at it.

[noiseredux]

Noise, you should really work at XXL. I think you'd be damn good at it.

haha thanks. Though nothing I write would really qualify as a review. It's just my brief opinion. But it's been a fun way to check out or reacquaint myself with some random albums, so I'm glad anyone's reading or enjoying em.

Fun Fact: I don't even know what I'm gonna listen to or write about. I just go to my Discogs collection and hit "Random" and it picks an album for me!

[oxymoron]

Of course could always challenge Anthony Fantano for the title of "busiest music nerd". That guy annoys the hell out of me.

[noiseredux]

I love how cheap CD's are if you're patient. I generally don't spend over $4 on em. This is what arrived for me today:

2Pac - Better Dayz
Lil Wayne - Lights Out
Common - One Day It'll All Make Sense
Lil Troy - Sittin Fat Down South
The Diplomats - Diplomatic Immunity 2
50 Cent - Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
Ghostface - The Pretty Toney Album
Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
De La Soul - Buhloone Mindstate
KMD - Mr. Hood
Mos Def - The New Danger
Dangerdoom - The Mouse And The Mask
Digable Planets - The Blowout Comb
A Tribe Called Quest - Beats, Rhymes & Life

[noiseredux]

The Firm - The Album - 1997 - Aftermath
The story starts like this: Nas creates a supergroup called The Firm. He recruits Foxy Brown, AZ and Cormega. They create one incredible track on It Was Written called "Affirmative Action." Then they drop a remix of it - that's an entirely new song that's also incredible. People get excited. They hire Dr. Dre and The Trackmasters to produce their album. Some drama goes on and Cormega is replaced by the less exciting Nature. The album drops, following the huge success that was It Was Written. Then you press play. The album starts out pretty good. Opener "Firm Fiasco" is solid. "Phone Tap" is creepy (and although produced by Dre. is reminiscent of Mobb Deep). "Executive Decision" samples Whodini's "Five Minutes Of Funk." Things are going well. And then... it just kind of fizzles. The Album is mostly front-loaded. Suddenly you start to realize how many of these 19 tracks are skits. You start to wonder why Dre or The Trackmasters were needed to make so many generic sounding beats. You start to wonder why a supergroup that has Nas, Foxy and AZ would need so many guests! And then the whole things comes to an anticlimactic end. The Album is not terrible, but it is terribly underwhelming. It's a nice curio for Nas fans. And it's fun to think about what could have been.