Hip Hop/Rap Fanatics Unite!

[stickem]

Have you listened anymore?

I haven't. I've been trying to cram in albums I wanted to squeeze in before the end of the year... the new D'Angelo, Big KRIT, Rick Ross' Hood Billionnaire, etc...

constant Three 6 on repeat

being a longtime three 6 fan, earlier this year i watched dj paul on celebrity wife swap. i guess i had a preconceived profile on the guy but he came across as a pretty good, fun carefree guy. real down to earth and liked to do fun things with his family, involved with his kid, visiting colleges with him, having neighborhood bbq's that didn't involve 40's or weed (at least not on camera lol). the substitute wife asked why he had all his awards boxed up and his reply was something to effect of "i don't want to see those and be content, or have the big head and just put out bad music. putting out good music is more important to me than awards and i want to stay grounded on that regard". coolio was on this season also and came across like a self entitled prick who had the attitude like he was an A lister that was still relevant. i'm kinda liking the da mafia 6ix album the more and more i listen to it. a nice through back from triple 6, or will it be da mafia 5 with the death of lord infamous lol. but anyway i'll have to check out the new da mafia 6ix mixtape out next year "hear sum evil"

[TSTR]

"Hear Sum Evil" is actually already out. It's not as good as "6ix Commandments," but then again there are Three 6 Mafia albums that aren't as good as that.

[stickem]

"Hear Sum Evil" is actually already out. It's not as good as "6ix Commandments," but then again there are Three 6 Mafia albums that aren't as good as that.

yeah. after that post i seen it on youtube. i thought i read march 2015 awhile back.

[noiseredux]

got some cool hip hop related stuff for Christmas...

CD's:

Belly soundtrack
Eminem - Shady XV
Mobb Deep - The Infamous Mobb Deep (dlx)
Nas - Illmatic XX

books:

Illmatic - from the 33 1/3 series.
Check The Technique Volume 2- I've read vol 1 multiple times.

and a Beastie Boys Check Your Head t-shirt!

[noiseredux]

A request, noise: review To the Five Burroughs! How does late-era Beasties stack up in your view?

Beastie Boys
To The 5 Boroughs
2004, Capitol
After a super long hiatus from 1998's Hello Nasty the Beastie Boys finally and triumphantly returned with To The 5 Boroughs in 2004. A lot had happened in that six year stretch: one of which occurred on September 11, 2001. In many ways Hello Nasty and To The 5 Boroughs serve as excellent examples of art reflecting the pre- and post-9/11 mindset. Whereas the former was a sprawling epic mess of fun and experimentation, the latter is a lean, focused, and serious love letter to a New York and hip hop. What's nice is that although there are certainly some political lyrics throughout, nothing is beating you over the head. Nope, the Beasties instead take the high road and craft a late career high point. This is the most straightforward 'rap album' they recorded since Paul's Boutique. And I don't mean 2004's definition of a rap album, I mean three MC's and one DJ. You can (and I have) spend the length of the album playing "guess the Golden Era sample." Opener "Ch-check It Out" is a hot-potato-microphone race to the finish line over instrumental stabs. "3 The Hard Way" uses that classic "three the hard way" sample that you already assume it does. "Triple Trouble" samples "Rapper's Delight." And on and on. Though the sonic palette here is heavily old school drum breaks and snatches of vocal samples there are also a couple of left-field beats that manage to somehow fit perfectly and truly stand out even further within a record of solid tracks. "Right Right Now Now" rides an eerie harpsichord and operatic vocal backdrop that perhaps wouldn't be out of place on a RZA or DJ Muggs production for instance. And then there's "An Open Letter To NYC," which is perhaps the album's mission statement, kicking off with the nervous guitar riff from the Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer." It's frantic and urgent and adrenaline pumping. It's also a perfect metaphor for the kind of melting-pot of ears that birthed hip hop in the first place. As a "thank you" to New York, To The 5 Boroughs succeeds. As a reminder of what hip hop sounded like in its adolescence, it succeeds. As an example of why the Beastie Boys were still relevant in 2004, it succeeds.

[noiseredux]

"Day After XMas Gift Cards" means I ended up buying a crazy stack of cheap hip hop CD's today...


Black Sheep - A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing
Consequence - A Tribe Called Quence
Digable Planets - Reachin'
The Diplomats - Diplomatic Immunity
Drake - Thank Me Later
50 Cent - Curtis
Ghostface Killah - 36 Seasons (dlx)
Jay-Z - Magna Carta Holy Grail
Jay-Z - Unplugged
Lil Wayne - Rebirth
Nas - Life Is Good
NWA - Efil4zaggin
Ol Dirty Bastard - Free To Be Dirty
Onyx - Bacdafucup
Outkast - Idlewild
Q-Tip - Amplified
Rich Gang - s/t
The Roots - Rising Down
Snoop Dogg - Doggumentary
2Pac + Outlawz - Still I Rise
Kanye West - 808's & Heartbreak
YG - Blame It On The Streets
YG - My Krazy Life
Young Money - Rise Of An Empire (dlx)
Young Money - We Are Young Money

[TSTR]

Dood, I got a Check Your Head shirt too! Is it just the album cover with the text in blue?

[stickem]

The onyx one was one of my favorites the time it came out, i was a big fan of that group. Commercially bacdafucup is better but i kinda like their next one which was darker.

The beasties are one of those bands i never got but respect.liked polly wog stew ironically and licensed of course though.

[noiseredux]

The onyx one was one of my favorites the time it came out, i was a big fan of that group. Commercially bacdafucup is better but i kinda like their next one which was darker.

I agree - All We Got Is Us was actually a much better record. I had both back when they came out.

[noiseredux]

Nas
Illmatic XX
2014, Columbia
The second deluxe reissue of Illmatic is actually a lot closer to what the record deserves than the so-so 2004 release. Illmatic XX delivers a proper second disc of outtakes and remixes, and also has a lovely essay included in the liner notes by Sacha Jenkins. We open with "I'm A Villain," an excellent track from Nas's original demo tape. Next up is a pretty fantastic freestyle session with Jungle, 6'9'' and Grand Wizard from the Stretch & Bobbito Show in 1993. These early tracks are pretty revelatory and illustrate how much work went into perfected the eventual album. Unfortunately that's all of the truly new tracks included here. The rest are remixes that most hardcore Nas fans have hunted down already in some form or another. Though it's certainly nice to have them collected in one place. Standouts include the Arsenal mix of "Life's A Bitch" which comes off far more urgent than the original, Q-Tip's remix of "The World Is Yours" which actually has an entirely new verse, and the Laidback remix of "It Ain't Hard To Tell" which jacks the same bassline that Run DMC used in "Down With The King." Ultimately I still contend that the definitive archival release of Illmatic should likely be a three-disc affair that includes the entirety of his demo tape, "Live From the BBQ," "Back To The Grill," and all connected remixes and b-sides from the era. But this is still a relic totally worth owning. If for some reason you don't already own the album proper, Illmatic XX is the way you should look into it now.


Mobb Deep
The Infamous Mobb Deep
2014, Infamous
For years fans have been asking for Mobb to go back to the sound of their early work, and they've apparently taken it to heart. Though The Infamous was released in 1995, it was recorded in 1994, so they've decided to release a bit of a tribute album. The Infamous Mobb Deep is both an old and new album. It's also one for true fans. The first disc is the new album proper, and it has a dearth of excellent creepy productions and grimey lyrics. Much of the best beats here come courtesy of Havoc himself, and Prodigy is back on point reminding listeners why his Return Of The Mac in 2007 sounded like a complete renaissance. "Taking You Off Here," "Say Something," "Check The Credits" and the likes are all serious classic Mobb tracks. They do expand a bit with tracks like the Biggie-sampling "All A Dream" (which is somewhat similar to the similarly titled track on Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2.0) or "Legendary" which welcomes Southerners Bun B and Juicy J into the fold, or Snoop's cameo on "Get Down." But for the most part this is an album that sounds like the dark grizzly shit that Mobb fans from way back should appreciate. What they'll probably appreciate even more is the bonus disc dubbed The Infamous Sessions. Here we've got fourteen tracks taken from the original 1994 recording sessions, and they're all worth hearing. Even in instances where the original demos are not nearly as good as the finished products, this disc is a great alternate way to experience the original album. For instance the original "Survival Of The Fittest" goes a long way to show that this record was chipped away at until it was perfect. The beat smooth, but not fitting. The verses are vastly different. As such, this is a brilliant archival release that could have stood up as two separate releases considering all the highlights for historians here. Like hearing Big Noyd's original extended verse on "Gimme The Goods," or hearing Ghostface on "Eye For An Eye," or the super long and overindulgent "The Money" with extended telephone skit. Basically if you want to hear a new awesome Mobb Deep album, look no further. And if you want to hear some awesome unearthed Mobb Deep from back in the day, look no further.


Ghostface Killah
Icon
2014, Def Jam
I think anyone should be able to spot the lazy cash-grab here. Look at the cropped Fishscale-era promo photo on the cover. I'm not even sure why Def Jam thought Ghost needed another 'greatest hits' type compilation, but the tracklist here is pretty weird. Obviously it only covers the Def Jam era, though I have to commend the curators for not going overboard with Fishscale tracks. In fact, the first three tracks come from The Pretty Tony Album, which is commendable. Of course "Run" has been released on so many Ghost albums now in various forms, yet we have two versions here. Same goes for "Back Like That" which although originally an Epic track from Bulletproof Wallets appears in remixed form yet again on this set. Those two tracks make up three slots in this eleven-track setlist. Kind of a letdown. The remaining tracks are good, sure. But also a weird uneven mix. "Biscuits" and "Holla" from Pretty Tony are totally welcome. As are the "The Champ," "Be Easy" (from Fishscale) and the stray "Yolanda's House" and "2Getha Baby." But ultimately this collection is a pretty uneven mess that does very little to display why Ghost is such a phenomenal MC. Nor does it do anything to encourage delving properly into his ridiculously prolific discography. This is a CD of songs that I'd say are all good to great, and yet somehow the finished product feels lacking.