Hip Hop/Rap Fanatics Unite!

[TSTR]

dem DJ Mustard beats tho daaaaamn

[noiseredux]

new year, old beats.



50 Cent
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
2003, Shady
50's debut is of course not a debut at all. He's had years of practice. From his unreleased Columbia debut, his Guess Who's Back? compilation as well as a slew of highly praised mixtapes with G-Unit. As such, it should be no surprise that Get Rich is a solid, well thought out major label album. And it should be considering backers Eminem and Dr. Dre. Here we've got everything needed to prove that 50's hard work has paid off. Throughout the record he remains a charismatic MC. Though he's not rapping about much more than he did on previous releases and he tends to stick to his niche of singing choruses via sticking to the melody line, he certainly does have a certain charm. He also rides the line between street level and 'rap songs your mom likes' impressively. As such it's tough to talk about this album without mentioning "In Da Club." Such a massive hit not only defines the tone of the record, but 50's entire career at this point in time. But it should be noted that this truly was 'an album' and not meant as just a vehicle for a few singles. The sequencing is great, though it does run on a bit too long especially when you get into the bonus tracks. In fairness though, those bonus tracks were meant as a nice refresher for those just catching up, or a mainstream way to grab some stray earlier street-level singles. Most of G-Unit guests here, as does Em twice, though none of them get in the way. This is 50's celebration. And though it's certainly not up to the hype it received at release, it is a consistently great record for G-Unit fans even if it does stay a bit too safely within 50's comfort zone.

[TSTR]

That is an album I should really give a proper listen to. I always thought of 50 as kind of a joke, mainly due to "In Da Club." I reckon he deserves a fair shake now that my tastes have widened.

[noiseredux]

That is an album I should really give a proper listen to. I always thought of 50 as kind of a joke, mainly due to "In Da Club." I reckon he deserves a fair shake now that my tastes have widened.

He's got good stuff and bad stuff. This is a really solid album, but I don't like it as much as G-Unit's Beg For Mercy. Maybe start there instead.

[noiseredux]

Lil Wayne
Tha Carter IV
2011, Young Money
The fourth volume in Wayne's Carter series comes after the disappointing sales of Rebirth as well as Weezy's stint locked up and his stop-gap I Am Not A Human Being in the meantime. The fact that he'd even call this album Tha Carter immediately throws on it some pretty lofty expectations. The original trilogy is arguably the most impressive works in his career thus far. So does this stack up? Well, almost. Sure the formula is here: The intro/mid-album interlude/outro that have no choruses and share the same beat like one long freestyle broken into thirds; the range of producers that are influenced by sounds outside of just Wayne's Southern birthplace. Yet something's not quite the same here. For one thing there's an overabundance of guests on Carter IV. Of course there's the usual Drake cameo ("She Will"), but there's also some surprises here like Nas, Busta Rhymes, Andre 3000, Bun B and Tech N9ne. However what's really odd is that all of those artists appear on tracks that don't even include Wayne, as if he felt more compelled to just curate the album than to actually be the star of it all. This is also the first Carter album to feel like it's standing still rather than taking a step up from the previous - ie: "6 Foot 7" is basically just "A Milli" for 2011. But having said all that, the record is still great. It's focused and satisfying. It's goes hard with tracks like "John" featuring Rick Ross (which is basically a remix of one of Ross's own songs), and introspective like on "Mirror" with Bruno Mars (which is basically Wayne's re-imagining of Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror"). The album can definitely feel a bit over-long, especially the deluxe edition's 20 tracks. But this is still one of the best releases in Wayne's post-Carter III discography. It may have disappointed longtime fans who were expecting something specific from Tha Carter series, but simply heard as "the new Lil Wayne album," it is a wonderfully successful release.

[stickem]

I'm interested in hearing the lil wayne/master p collab that's supposed to happen.

[noiseredux]

I'm interested in hearing the lil wayne/master p collab that's supposed to happen.

I know right? I read about that recently too. It seems pretty crazy right now. Dude's been on Cash Money since he was like 14. His whole career. And now the whole beef thing w/ Carter V being held up... even associating w/ Master P is kind of like a kiss off. Could be really interesting. Especially considering how "New" No Limit seems so non-consequential right now, so it's cool that Wayne would still respect them enough to mess w/ them right now.

[TSTR]

MAKE EM SAY UNNNNNNHHH

na naa na naaa

[stickem]

I'm interested in hearing the lil wayne/master p collab that's supposed to happen.

I know right? I read about that recently too. It seems pretty crazy right now. Dude's been on Cash Money since he was like 14. His whole career. And now the whole beef thing w/ Carter V being held up... even associating w/ Master P is kind of like a kiss off. Could be really interesting. Especially considering how "New" No Limit seems so non-consequential right now, so it's cool that Wayne would still respect them enough to mess w/ them right now.

I was hoping for a club banger.

[Frag Mortuus]

I'm interested in hearing the lil wayne/master p collab that's supposed to happen.

I know right? I read about that recently too. It seems pretty crazy right now. Dude's been on Cash Money since he was like 14. His whole career. And now the whole beef thing w/ Carter V being held up... even associating w/ Master P is kind of like a kiss off. Could be really interesting. Especially considering how "New" No Limit seems so non-consequential right now, so it's cool that Wayne would still respect them enough to mess w/ them right now.

I was hoping for a club banger.

I'm so bout it bout it, I might roll up in a tank!