Hip Hop/Rap Fanatics Unite!

[Luke]

Not hip hop

Just pay the sample fee you fucking ass clown.

As an artist, composer, and writer of music ( and even as a writer and comedian)...I get it. Only so many notes. But this is so not hip hop.

[stickem]

i didn't think the 2 sounded close enough to warrant a lawsuit. that's kinda ridiculous. tribute song, yes. copied,no.

[J T]

SNL's spoof of Iggy Azalea was hilarious!

http://www.stereogum.com/1785886/watch- ... how/video/

[Luke]

Kanye dances to the Rugrats theme:



Well, not really...but oh so funny.

[IrishNinja]

Bronson and Kendrick bout to drop close to each other...i'm gon eat! everything off Mr Wonderful has been fantastic so far, wish it'd see a vinyl release but ah well

[Razzmatazz]

Anybody listened to the Fashawn album?

Also, while "Christian Hip Hop" is quite niche, I recommend checking Eshon Burgundy's "The Fear of God". It didn't convert me, but it's a very nice listen despite the occasional biblical references. A bit like listening to Killah Priest's nice brother, over hard commercial beats.

[noiseredux]

G-Unit
Terminate On Sight
2008, G-Unit
One thing that G-Unit is great at is avoiding disaster. Somehow they remain a group that is always on the verge of self-destruction, and yet delivers something better than they should be able to. Their second proper album, Terminate On Sight is a great example of this. Sure Tony Yayo was back in the fold, but the group was effectively reduced to a trio as Young Buck left the group before this record hit the store shelves. Though he is present here on a handful of tracks, he's now listed as a "feature" rather than a member of the Unit. Sort of a kick in the teeth. There was also the fact that 50 was starting to really slip from relevance around this period - having lost his own bet that he'd outsell Kanye West's Graduation a year prior. But that's the funny thing, G-Unit always manages to surprise. Maybe here it's because they had little to lose. It seemed like nobody was listening anyway. "Straight Outta Southside" is a brutal re-imagining of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton." It's an awesome tribute and great way to start this album up. And actually much of the first half of the record is head-noddingly consistent. Heck, "Rider Pt. 2" even manages to make autotune sound good - although Pete Rock can generally make anything sound phenomenal. Things drag a bit later when you get to some of those weird G-Unit instrumentals that sound like somebody who has never played an instrument was given said instrument and asked to hit the same note four times. But in fairness, the missteps here are pretty few and far between. Sure there's not many absolute standouts, but to say that a record that should have been a disaster is "good," is still meant as a compliment.


Lil Wayne
Lights Out
2000, Cash Money Records
Lil Wayne's second album is much like his first. Actually it's too much like his first. Way too much of the same. Just like on his debut, Lights Out basically sounds like a Cash Money compilation rather than a solo album. And though it starts off strong enough with "Get Off The Corner" and "On The Grind," it quickly drops off into sub-par beats and monotonous rhymes. There's really no focus here, and the result sounds like a collection of outtakes from The Block Is Hot (or well, any other Cash Money release at the time). What makes it even further difficult to swallow is its runtime - clocking in at 75 minutes makes the album feel like the end is never in sight.


Lil Wayne
500 Degreez
2002, Cash Money Records
The jump from Lights Out to 500 Degreez is impressive. Here on his third solo album, Weezy finally takes control. This is the first record with his name on the cover that actually sounds like it's a solo album rather than a group effort that features him. Perhaps it's his newfound confidence as a rapper, or his much improved skills that made Birdman decide to get out of the way. Perhaps this level of focus is why Mannie Fresh gave Wayne a stack of solid beats for 500 Degreez rather than the batch of throwaways he got on his last album. But to say how this all came together is pretty chicken and egg. The bottomline is that this is the first Lil Wayne album to really show his potential. Tracks like "Gangstas And Pimps" and "Young'n Blues" show a more emotional side of Wayne that just barely was hinted at on previous records. He's also rapping here at impressive level - feeling comfortable over a bass sample that's been used by Eric B & Rakim, 2Pac and Junior Mafia on "Way Of LIfe." It's not a perfect album - the Petey Pablo guestshot feels oddly out of place and those radio DJ skits are brutally annoying - but it is a consistently great album.


Lil Wayne
Tha Carter II
2006, Cash Money Records
It was a long road, but the journey was fascinating. Upon hearing Wayne's early solo albums it could have been safe to assume that he'd never even get to fellow Hot Boy, Juvenile's level of acclaim. But half a decade later Wayne would hone his craft through extensive practice via his series of SQ mixtapes and his interesting in looking beyond just the sounds of the South or the in-house production work of Mannie Fresh. Wayne was intent on breaking out of the small world that was the Cash Money Millionaire camp. The result of all that hard work is Wayne's first bonafied classic. "So many doubt cuz I come from the South but when I open up my mouth only bullets come out," he raps on "Shooter," a duet with Robin Thicke. It might as well be the album's thesis. Wayne had already blown up down South with Tha Carter, but on its sequel he had the rest of the country - and the world itself - to conquer. Opener "The Mob" is five and a half minutes of pure verse. It's a stunning way to open the record as an introduction to the intensity that will be coming. And there's plenty to come: "Money On My Mind" reinvisions Junior Mafia as syrup-sippers; "Fireman" uses synths that literally sound like fire engines; "Mo Fire" has a dub reggae influence; "The Best Rapper Alive" samples fucking Iron Maiden; "Lock And Load" features ex-Death Row cult-hero Kurupt; and "Receipt" is a soulful vulnerable story of a relationship where Weezy says "it's kind of hard saying this shit to your face so I do it over snares and bass," which feels like his own take on Jay-Z's "Song Cry." This is a brilliant record that (along with Dedication 2) serves as the transitional period where Wayne went from Southern fav to world wide superstar. But what's most important to remember is that this transitional period was him at his most incredible. If you're only going to hear one Lil Wayne album, this should definitely be it.



The Roots
From The Ground Up
1994, Talkin' Loud
Many fans don't seem to realize that The Roots' first major label release was actually this EP from 1994 that was only released in Europe. While the group were gearing up to tour Europe they needed something to sell at shows. Organix would sound too dated compared to the current sound they had perfected on the road, and Do You Want More was not quite ready yet, so they came up with this collection that would preview some tracks from the forthcoming LP while also tossing in a couple of exclusives. Four tracks ("Distortion To Static," "Mellow My Man," "Dat Scat," and "Do You Want More") would end up on the full length album, while "It's Coming" and "Worldwide (London Groove)," would be the sole reasons to hunt this one down. Both tracks are totally worth hearing. "It's Coming" has a nice bouncy upbeat instrumental that segues into a spacey chorus. "Worldwide" is a super long posse cut that features a rare verse by Questlove as well as a wicked verse by MC Ni who has only a couple of stray singles to her name. Hardcore fans will find this EP a must-own, while casual fans will find too much of it redundant.

[noiseredux]

awesome local find today:

Akinyele - Put It In Your Mouth
Black Moon - Total Eclipse
Boot Camp Clik - The Chosen Few
50 Cent - The Lost Tape
MF Doom - MM.. Food + DVD
MF Doom - Operation Doomsday (2CD deluxe)
Necro - Die!
NWA - Straight Outta Compton (20th anniversary ed)
Questionmark Asylum - The Album
RA The Rugged man - Legendary Classics + DVD
=$45

[oxymoron]

[Nyukki]

Careful no one sows your A*hole shut and keeps feeding you, and feeding you, and feeding you....