Hip Hop/Rap Fanatics Unite!

[noiseredux]

Del The Funky Homosapien
Both Sides Of The Brain
2000, Hieroglyphics Imperium
Del's third (or fourth, or fifth depending on how you count them) solo album feels like a bit of a transitional period. It doesn't have the same Hiero weirdo jazz-funk that his classic No Need For Alarm did, nor does it have the epic slickness of his Deltron 3030 collaboration with Dan The Automator. Instead it just sort of feels like some new Del songs with no clear focus. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just not all that monumental either. Both Sides Of The Brain is probably best known for "If You Must," a diatribe against poor personal hygiene that actually got some mainstream airplay. It's still a good song, sure. But it's also kind of silly and a bit of a novelty compared to Del's much larger body of work. Much of the album is produced by the man himself, and his approach to beat-making results in something that sounds like a combination of badly damaged records playing over dying fax machines. As you might imagine - this works brilliantly sometimes and fails miserably others. The album starts off strong with the one-two punch of "Time Is Too Expensive" and "If You Must," but unfortunately the rest of the album is far less focused or strong. In fact the inclusion of several tracks is so baffling that it almost makes the good stuff forgettable. The seven-minute "Pet Peeves" comes to mind. Ultimately the letdown here is that Both Sides is proof that Del isn't the super-human that we thought he was, and he is capable of making a "just okay" album. Dig through this to hear the good stuff for sure (the tracks mentioned above, "Phoney Phranchise," "Offspring") but chances are good you won't be listening to this beginning to end more than once.


Eminem
The Slim Shady LP
1999, Aftermath
Eminem's major label debut was huge. A star was born overnight with this one, thanks of course to "My Name Is" (and Dr. Dre). But here's the thing: he wasn't a star while he was recording this. He was young, and he sounds it here. And I don't mean that as a put-down. What I mean is that Em was still having fun. Sure plenty has been written about this record's use of shock. And yeah, there's plenty of shock going on here. Drugs and violence are in abundance. But much of it is presented in a very over-the-top way that hints at satire. Even when getting personal it seems that perhaps Em as a storyteller uses hyperbole as a defense mechanism. Take "Brain Damage" for instance where he talks about some very serious bullying that he was a victim of. The point here may just be to learn to go along for the ride. Take nothing too seriously. If you forget that the title of the album is referencing the fact that the star of this one will be Slim, the character that Em created to be his evil twin, then you will be missing out on a lot of the inside jokes. But if you're along for the ride then you've got a lot to enjoy. "Guilty Conscience" is still some brilliant storytelling, and I love that Em was able to get even Dre to poke fun at himself. And as the record gets deeper so does the demented fun. The only real missteps here are "My Fault" with its horribly annoying beat and "Cum On Everybody," which just sounds cheesy. But really this was a pretty great way to introduce Eminem to the world.


50 Cent
Curtis
2008, Shady
I have sort of soft-spot for this album. Maybe it's my love of a good underdog story. See, this is the era where 50 realized that he had rapidly lost relevance. So what does he do? He shelves the album he had been working on and instead throws together Curtis out of leftfield. It's an album that actually finds him taking some risks by stepping outside his comfort zone. Most notable: He's working with many collaborators here who are not part of G-Unit. That's huge. For whatever reason it took him this long in his career to ditch the myopia and see himself as an entertainer with far more connections than the small camp he had assembled. Maybe it's unfortunate that it took him so long - the decline in relevancy and all. In the end, he's still rapping (and sort of singing the hooks) here just like on any of his previous albums. And the subject matter remains about the same. But there is freshness in the sound pallets and guest voices that's nice to hear. Single "I Get Money" is a huge one. That driving beat and awesome Big Audio Dynamite sample aside, 50 is absolutely in the zone here. Likewise "Ayo Technology" featuring Justin Timberlake and produced by Timbaland is a slow video game sounding track that really sounds like nothing Fif has done before. Oh sure he falls back into his safe zone now and again ("Amusement Park") but even when the album is in a holding pattern it still feels interesting and commendable. This to me is a transitional record. It's the one where 50 stopped just being the leader of G-Unit and started showing a bit more personality. And really that goes a long way. There were always hints (like early underground single "How To Rob") that he was actually a much wittier funnier MC than he let on by the time he got to the limelight. On Curtis it feels like he's finally ready to shed the persona and be himself a bit more. Perhaps he felt like he had gotten to a point where he had nothing left to lose. He did say that if Kanye's Graduation - released the same day - outsold Curtis that he'd retire from rap. Graduation did, but 50 didn't.


The Game
Doctor's Advocate
2006, Geffen
Alright so The Game gets kicked out of G-Unit, dropped from Aftermath and Dr. Dre pulls out from recording his sophomore album (which was going to be titled in tribute to him). What does Game do? He keeps the album title, gets a bunch of other producers to do their best imitation of Dre and uses all the above rejection as fuel for his creative fire. It shouldn't work at all, but it does. Brilliantly. First off, the beats are awesome here. The album is a lean 16 tracks (with no skits, unless you count a brief bit of dialogue from Tales From The Hood!) and the sonics here recall classic Death Row era. It's impressive how cohesive it all is, and much applaud has to go to all the producers involved. Now for the rejection, which is apparently a potent driving force for The Game. I actually attempted to keep track of how many times he mentions Dr. Dre, and lost count. But I love that he decided to be this much of an open book. He is audibly angry and hurt. He wants to get revenge with this album, yet also wants to repair a burnt bridge. And as far as Aftermath, Interscope and G-Unit is concerned, he's got no problem going hard at them. He's focused and brutal here. And the combination of his improved rapping and writing along with a stack of tight beats results in what I'd consider a modern classic in West Coast hip hop. While The Documentary was very much a G-Unit record that happened to heavily feature The Game, Doctor's Advocate actually stands shoulder-to-shoulder with 90's gangsta rap classics. Which is ultimately what Game was attempting to do from the start.

[Luke]

Ad-Rock on the Daily Show

[IrishNinja]

god, there's gonna be an exclusive Run the Jewels EP & J Dilla "Fuck the police" vinyls at record store day tomorrow, and ive zero shot at either one out here...ugh

[noiseredux]

Is the RTJ EP on cd or vinyl?
I want that KMD reissue.

[IrishNinja]

looks like vinyl...im counting on a rip by the day's end though, at least!

[noiseredux]

Yeah I don't collect vinyl.

[Luke]

Ad-Rock has also been on a feast of radio and tv shows lately. Worth youtubing.

[IrishNinja]

Yeah I don't collect vinyl.

see i only dove in because a local DJ buddy finally went digital & dumped a ton of classic hip hop vinyl on me, now i can't stop picking up classics & modern ones like RTJ2, haha. the last ghost one, 36 seasons even brought a comic!

[noiseredux]

I got a comic book w the dlx of 12 Reasons.

[Luke]

A friend brought over Straight Out of Compton last night. He still doesn't have a record payer, but I have no problem with him bringing his records over here.

Now this brought up an interesting conversation, as I knew the DOC had a part in almost everything NWA and was on The Chronic, but I didn't know that he did just as much of the producing as Dr.Dre. I'm looking online to verify this.