Hip Hop Discussion/Album Review Thread.

[virms]

Quick question. My buddy the other day asked me what the first rap song was that used rock guitar in the track. I naturally thought it was Run DMC/Aerosmith's Walk This Way, but he insists I am wrong and now he won't tell me.

Anyone know what the first rap song to incorporate rock guitar? I wanna get this smug look off of his face.

[RuneEdge]

50 is still gonna sell more. Sure he has weak lyrics but his production is miles better. Sadly he'll get the credit for it though.

[Adamy]

I think the Kanye album is solid, but most of it is in the same vein as the singles. There's a lot to like about it, but very little of that is Kanye's rapping.

It did make me smile when he repped No ID, though.

[Adamy]

Quick question. My buddy the other day asked me what the first rap song was that used rock guitar in the track. I naturally thought it was Run DMC/Aerosmith's Walk This Way, but he insists I am wrong and now he won't tell me.

Anyone know what the first rap song to incorporate rock guitar? I wanna get this smug look off of his face.

I think the Soul Sonic Force had an actual guitar player at one point. :dunno:

[QuietStorm]

I think Kanye's album is balls and I don't have time or the need to listen to 50's, so I'll just sit and wait for October to bring me new Sandpeople/Buck 65.

Of course, I'll still hope for the best out of Lupe in November....

[Fro]

Quick question. My buddy the other day asked me what the first rap song was that used rock guitar in the track. I naturally thought it was Run DMC/Aerosmith's Walk This Way, but he insists I am wrong and now he won't tell me.

Anyone know what the first rap song to incorporate rock guitar? I wanna get this smug look off of his face.

Well I can't say for sure what the first was but it surely wasn't "Walk This Way" because "Rock Box" was 2 years before it.

[Stringer Bell]

"Rock Box" is the HOTNESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm the king of rock, there is none higher, sucker MC's should call me sire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone should check out PackFM's new single produced by Domingo, from the upcoming EP they're doing together. The sample's pretty much jacked straight from "Rock Box" but with harder, fresher drums. It's called "Sire", I can find a link...

Here we go, PackFM heat, straight from QN5's website. Can't wait for Pack and Domingo's EP, which is wonderfully titled I Fucking Hate Rappers.

http://qn5.com/media/distro/packfm_sire.mp3


Man, you can really find some GEMS if you dig at your local mom-n-pop spots. I picked up a used copy of Large Pro's Beatz Volume 1 which is out of print, and Amazon only has ONE used copy for $24 plus shipping. Picked that baby up for $5.99 and started off my morning in excellent fashion...

Also, here's a new Immortal Technique track for dat azz. I think it's new at least :dunno: Don't bust my balls if it's not... "Parole" http://www.zshare.net/audio/3464886a0d9cec/

[spanish announce table]

Timbaland is being sued for uncleared samples used on 'Put you on the game' and 'Big Pimpin'. Damn shame as those are two of my favorite Tim beats.

'A Long Hot Summer' by Masta Ace is getting a lot of rotation from me. Ace is a damn good story-teller, and knows how to make love songs, which is hard because its so easy to make them corny.

[spanish announce table]

http://www.zshare.net/audio/3534154a673057/

Wu Tang - Watch Your Mouth (Produced by DJ Scratch)

[TRO]

What do you guys think of Madvillainy? I got it over the weekend, and its a fun album. My favorite tracks are Accordion, Slickfit, Money Folder, and Strange Ways.

Great fucking album. My favorites are still "All Caps" and "Figaro", but it's hard not to just listen to the whole thing.

I'm looking forward to the new Sandpeople; I've seen the whole crew twice this summer and I think they were doing some new songs. It sounded good, but I was too busy bouncing with the crowd to really listen. The best songs are when one guy does two bars, then another guy steps up to do a bar, then another, and you never really know who's going to be rapping next. Actually, when they're just doing a hip-hop concert, Sandpeople don't stand out that much, but this show with the Evolutionary Jass Band (http://www.myspace.com/evolutionaryjassband), Yellow Swans (http://premium.fileden.com/premium/2007/5/8/1059608/21%20Untitled.mp3), and Sandpeople, followed byBlitzen Trapper (http://kate.oberlist.com/Blitzen%20Trapper%20-%20Wild%20Mountain%20Nation.mp3), kicked my ass. And it was free. I :heart: music.

[TRO]

By the way, this song is good: http://www.resonatormag.com/music/lupe_fiasco-dumb_it_down.mp3

[QuietStorm]

HipHop's Third Renaissance: Taking Back the Music We Love

by iCON the Mic King

Hiphop is not dead. HipHop is on the verge of people-driven revolution. Commercial radio has hit rock bottom with songs so ignorant that none of us are interested anymore. There was a time when many of us would say "that's my joint in the club!" but even that value is beginning to wear thin. Many fans are turning to other genres while hiphop at its finest continues to further splinter into subgenres and incorporate elements that further legitimize its musicality. The ease of bootlegging has made the fans a much more powerful component in the music industry through their newfound ability to become educated consumers. The singles-based formula for selling records has rendered the recording industry's business model obsolete. The prophecy is that the Internet would one day level the playing field for the major and independent labels. Ladies and gentlemen, with HipHop's Third Renaissance on its way, that day is fast approaching.

It is no secret that HipHop sales are significantly down; as much as 21% from 2005 to 2006. In fact 2006 was a year where platinum hiphop albums could be counted on one hand and the first year in the past twelve where there were no rap albums amongst the music industry's top sellers. Much to the dismay of rappers like MIMS or Lil' Boosie, in 2007 the surprise lies in what is selling. It only took seven albums but legendary "backpack" rapper (I only use terms like this to help you identify easier) Common's "Finding Forever," fueled by electro-infused beats provided by Kanye West, debuted 1 on the Billboard 200 selling 155,329 copies in its first week. T.I.'s "T.I. vs. T.I.P." was a distant 6th selling 55,339 copies. Just this past week Talib Kweli's "Ear Drum" debuted at 2 on Billboard selling 60,479 while Swizz Beats' "One Man Band Man" driven by the inescapable radio record "It's Me Snitches" debuted at 11 selling 45,163 copies. The record industry takes notice when, in the words of Swizz Beats, "Talib outdid me without a hit?"

As the prophecy tells us, the sales of major and independent labels are going to equalize. However with music being produced at such high volume and such low quality, they are not going to equalize at diamond sales. This is the Information Age, there are children who don't know what it is to anticipate, purchase, and digest an album. Music has become such an expendable commodity and it is as much the fault of the artists who have created such awful "microwave music" for so long, the labels for not learning to market better product, and ultimately the consumer for enduring it. The consumer now has the power to fight back thus causing a domino effect amongst the other parties involved. The end result is the change we've all been waiting for. HipHop's Third Renaissance.

HipHop's First Renaissance undeniably happened in 1988. I don't claim to be old enough to remember the name of every group that left their mark in this period but I remember this is the era that begat many a classic album. This is the era when I went to my first hiphop show. It was at Penn's Landing in my hometown of Philadelphia and the headliners were EPMD and Public Enemy. Hiphop was young but it was finally coming into its own worldwide. It was fun, the music was good, at any given moment you could hear a dope song on Power 99 FM. This was before Radio One and Clear Channel synced playlists across the United States, back when a program director actually directed programming. More often than not the hiphop you heard in this era was good. This era is the same era that would inspire the rappers of the early and mid-90s, the era Nas, Wutang, and Boot Camp Clik reminisces upon.

HipHop's Second Renaissance happened in 1998. With commercial rap in its Ice Age HipHop dug its way underground and progressed. This was the Rawkus Lyricist Lounge era. The focus was lyricism and a lot of rap's unsung heroes were able to stake their claim as true artists. This is the era that breathed life into the marginal careers of such legends as Pharoahe Monch and Common and would give birth to emcees like Canibus, Mos Def, Wordsworth, Talib Kweli and give us album's like "Black On Both Sides, "Train of Thought, "Internal Affairs, "Funcrusher Plus" and many more. This is not to say that good music didn't come out of the commercial world, it's just that overall better music built from artistic integrity that represented the rebellious spirit hiphop was built from came from the independents in this period.

It wasn't until September 11th, 2001 when Jay Z released "The Blueprint" that our attention would be again captured by the capability of mainstream to create good music. Jay led the pack with Kanye West and Just Blaze in his pocket and together set the trend for soulful, emotive hiphop that was good music albeit laced with champagne splashing motifs. At this point the independents had begun to delve into things that just weren't good music and the natural progression was to go with the more accessible product. The mistake was expecting it would last.

Right now, it is 2007 and we are in our Prenaissance led by Common, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, and soon Kanye West. These musicians are laying the new archetype for soulful music created by those with actual lyrical ability in an era where the paradigm has shifted so much that Lil' Wayne is considered the new Rakim. The difference between these rappers and the rest of the marketplace is they make efforts to create timeless music rather than bombard you with "mixtapes" to maintain relevance. They don't over saturate the marketplace with microwave music; instead their efforts are few and far between as to prepare a quality product. Based on the new sales figures, it seems as though fans are responding accordingly.

As fans we have a lot of responsibility in making this movement move. In this, the information age, our modern classics may be lost in the shuffle through the new expendability and oversaturation of music. Gone are the days of purchasing and digesting an album. Remember when you bought a tape that may not have hit you immediately but you kept listening to it because you couldn't afford a new tape. You grew to enjoy that album because you gave it a fair chance. For me De La Soul's "Stakes is High" was that tape.

I'm not saying that you must brainwash yourself into enjoying the new Common album. What I am saying is that if you're going to download everything don't limit your listening experience by just giving each track an 8-second test and deleting it. Burn the album; listen to it several times in your car or at least listen to it on something without computer speakers. Then if you enjoy the album you should support the artist so he can continue to make the music you love. Look at those sales numbers, your contribution is no longer a drop in the bucket and your lack of contribution is a hole punched in that bucket.

With than said we also need legitimacy in our journalism. There are a lot of albums that getting undeserved praise and a lot of albums being overlooked. Furthermore there is an overabundance of writers that are reviewing albums under the same premise as those 8-second testers. I can't tell you how many times I've read reviews that were rewordings of the press junket that went out with the album. HipHop journalists need to recognize their power; they are tastemakers abusing the menu. However when I say "HipHop journalists, I would be remiss if I did not recognize that the people are taking over that position as well with the popularity of blogs. In HipHop's Third Renaissance it is everyone's responsibility to use their voice and spread the word on what is worth supporting.

Speaking of support, September 11th, 2007, ironically enough, marks a pivotal day in the coming of the Third Renaissance as it is the day Kanye West competes with 50 Cent in this turbulent market for sales supremacy. We couldn't have chosen two better people to represent the polarization of hiphop. In this corner you have Kanye West, the backpacker with money on his mind whose story of surviving a near-fatal car crash coupled with dramatic and layered productions launched him into HipHop royalty as the uber-every man. In the other corner is 50 Cent, the hustler turned rapper turned mogul whose death-defying legend and visceral lyricism matched with impressive business strategies both devolved rap and has had the industry in a stranglehold since 2002. In actuality the two are not as different as the media would like them to be. 50 Cent is a devout Talib Kweli fan with backpack producers on his payroll and Kanye West has many odes to misogyny with many post-Ice Age gangsta rappers. In other words Kanye West is not purely Pete Rock and 50 Cent is not purely Tupac.

I admire 50 Cent, this is not to say I am a fan of a lot of his music, but I admire his work ethic and business acumen. As a person who reveres Robert Greene's "48 Laws of Power" as one would the Bible, I admire 50 Cent's ability to manipulate people into inflating his relevance. We all know that he is going come out and create a conflict; we have watched him use the same archetype three times now. However his ventures continue to be successful and we continue to talk about his every move. With all that said, I'm not so sure what he is trying to accomplish in his constant belittling of Kanye West and his staged emotional reaction to the leak of his video with Robin Thicke. He's painting Kanye West as an underdog and Kanye is playing into it perfectly. It's as though 50 Cent is attempting to shift the paradigm back in the direction of better hiphop.

On the other hand I admire Kanye West and I am a fan of a lot of his music. I enjoy his arrogance, his passion for his music, his beats, and a lot of his lyrics (although there is always a line or two that makes me cringe). His heart is always in the right place, he uses his creativity to push his boundaries, and musically recreate himself every go round. He embodies the soul of what it is we loved about A Tribe Called Quest without emulating them. In short I am happy to see Kanye West stepping up and flourishing in his role as a leader of the new school. Throughout his career he has done the unthinkable, making masterful chess moves to blur the lines of what is "mainstream" and what is "underground." Before Kanye West who would think to put Jay Z on a song with Saul Williams or Mos Def with Freeway?

Much like Canibus in 1998, Kanye West is in a position to change the game significantly. I say this because if Canibus would have delivered a successful and critically acclaimed album in "Can-I-Bus" the labels would have looked for more rappers like him to release and the landscape of HipHop would be considerably different. Just as DMX begat the success of Ja Rule begat the success of 50 Cent, Canibus could have joined Eminem and Big Pun and helped beget a generation of superlyricists with major label deals. The difference is Kanye is two albums multi-platinum albums and a Grammy into his career and he is not an upstart losing himself in a war with an industry veteran. Thus, if Kanye West outsells major labels will have the final reason to fully begin to take more risks with progressive artists that think outside the box.

HipHop's 3rd Renaissance will come on the back of the next generation, lyricists who create music you can feel with a progressive sound. This is not the era to recreate WuTang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest records. This is not the recreation of the Rawkus era. This is a time for new blood with new ideas to take hiphop forward. This is not the time to keep playing "DWYCK, "Scenario, and "The Choice Is Yours" over and over. This is the time to breathe life into the new classics. HipHop's 3rd Renaissance will manifest itself through emcees like Lupe Fiasco as he is an exceptional blend of adept lyricism with soulful music that the average person can feel. Many emcees fit this description in different ways, each one with their own flavor. This is key in the progression of HipHop, embracing the dynamic qualities that each emcee brings to the table as well as the potential for musicality that Hiphop for so long left untapped. The 3rd Renaissance is about the evolution of this music that we leave in recreating the magic that is all but forgotten. That next generation includes emcees like Elzhi of Slum Village, Tonedeff, Yarah Bravo, PackFM, Emilio Rojas, Supastition, Dezmatic, and many more passionate, charismatic, and progressive emcees that I have yet to hear or meet. Most importantly, HipHop's 3rd Renaissance includes you.

Change in HipHop comes through change in us. Flashback to 1999 to "Fear Not of Man" the first track on Mos Def's "Black On Both Sides" where he said: "You know what's gonna happen with Hip-Hop? Whatever's happening with us."

The time is now to effect change. Your voice matters, your vote counts. It is time to take back the music we love and lead it further. Respect and support this music and in soon enough the industry will be forced to respond to your voice. A vote for Kanye, Common, Pharoahe, and/or Kweli is a vote for HipHop's Third Renaissance. The power is yours, use it wisely. I'm using mine right now and you can find me standing in line at FYE on September 11th.

Peace and Respect.

-iCON the Mic King
Real talk.

[Stringer Bell]

Glanced over that, and it looks spot on :yes: I'll read the whole thing later.


'A Long Hot Summer' by Masta Ace is getting a lot of rotation from me. Ace is a damn good story-teller, and knows how to make love songs, which is hard because its so easy to make them corny.

Word!!! "Brooklyn Masala" is the JAM! and "Beautiful".. oh god, don't even get me started. Lovely beat, fits the song title to a T. Thanks for the Wu link.



I'm going to see Aesop Rock, CAGE, and Blockhead in DC tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :cool: :wiggle:

I'm gonna take my None Shall Pass and a bunch of my Cage CD's. Hopefully they're nice guys and will sign them :D :D

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

Real talk.

I thought you said Kanye's album was balls?? Hardly the tone of that piece

[Adamy]

The more I listen to the new Kanye, the more I like it. I think it's the right mix of production, the occasional insightful line, and his weird self-conscious self-righteous self-aggrandizing personality. Then again, the version I downloaded is only 13 songs and there's no bullshit like skits or whatever, so maybe I don't have the full album. "Drunken Hot Girls" is terrible though.


"I'm the fly Malcom X: Buy any jeans necessary" :lol:

[QuietStorm]

I thought you said Kanye's album was balls?? Hardly the tone of that piece
Am I supposed to have the same opinion as him?

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

You said it was "real talk", and nothing else.

[QuietStorm]

It was a pretty long and pointed blog to only draw that out of it.

[Stringer Bell]

So Blockhead, Yak Ballz, Cage, and Aesop fucking tore the 9:30 club apart. Right up there with Wu as my favorite show. Blockhead opened with an awesome set, followed by Yak Ballz who was better than I expected. Around this point, me and my buddy made our way towards the front for Cage.

He came out and owned the whole fucking crowd. He closed with "Agent Orange" and while I was in the middle of jumping and frantically screaming lyrics, Yak Ballz does a stage dive out of NOWHERE with no warning or indication whatsoever. Busted some girls mouth next to me and she bled all over my shirt. He hit me in the face and knocked my glasses off, but thankfully didn't break them. It was a pretty stupid move by Yak, he had impressed me with his set and then he had to do something fucking stupid like that. So yeah, I missed the rest of "Agent Orange" and made my way to the back/exit/entrance to grab some water and collect myself, while I left my boy up front to watch Aesop. I'm sitting there exhausted in front of the exit, when I look up and see someone in the exact same Daniel Johnston t-shirt Cage was wearing, shit was almost surreal. I expected him to still be in the back and come do some songs with Aesop, but he was leaaaaving for the night. Had Yak not smashed me in the grill, I would've never met one of my fucking idols... I know I look like shit, that's beside the point.

http://i2.tinypic.com/4m79945.jpg

Cage performing....

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/8728/img062vy8.jpg

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/1764/img065oz8.jpg

Oh yeah, on top of the picture, he signed almost every CD I brought with me. Smut Peddlers was the only one he refused to sign, for obvious reasons. He took Weather Proof and the first thing he did was flip to the ad for the Weathermen mixtape and scratch out Copywrite, Vast, and Jakki :lol: He also signed the WM mixtape and Movies For the Blind. I had Hell's Winter with me, but at that point I didn't want to waste any more of homie's time, and said "fuck it" to make sure he'd be down for a picture.

[TRO]

The more I listen to the new Kanye, the more I like it. I think it's the right mix of production, the occasional insightful line, and his weird self-conscious self-righteous self-aggrandizing personality. Then again, the version I downloaded is only 13 songs and there's no bullshit like skits or whatever, so maybe I don't have the full album. "Drunken Hot Girls" is terrible though.


"I'm the fly Malcom X: Buy any jeans necessary" :lol:

I dunno man, some of the tracks are great ("Barry Bonds"), but when he says "do anybody make real shit anymore?" on a track where he just took a Daft Punk song and rapped over it, is it supposed to be ironic? Sampling a new song shouldn't be frowned upon, like it's somehow less original than sampling an old soul song; but at the same time, if you're not going to do anything interesting with that sample, you just sound like Billy Joel singing Gnarls Barkley. AKA bad.

Like, Kanye's version of "Young Folks" (which I don't think is actually part of the album) is just asinine. Contrast it with team9 and stereogum's remix of "Young Folks", which adds a whole new dimension to the song, and Kanye just sounds hollow and uninspired. And "Homecoming" is just spinning something he created back in the College Dropout days and pretending it's new.

Anyways, it's a good album, but not great, although I keep hearing it's a grower so apparently I have to listen to it more. If people are going to compare Kanye's album to 50 fucking Cent, of course Kanye sounds better. But compare it to Eardrum, Finding Forever, Hip Hop Is Dead, Food & Liquor, Game Theory... Kanye comes up short. On that "Classic" single with Nas, KRS and Rakim, he said "I'm everywhere you never been and better than I ever been", but the best Kanye's ever been was in like 2003. And then KRS's verse was better than his. Don't get me wrong, I like Kanye, but I have high expectations and Graduation isn't really up there with his best work.

[Mr. Boombastic]

Bought the Kanye cd the day it came out.

I was not that impressed on my first two listens, but it is really growing on me. Kanye has gotten worse lyrically with each new album, which really exposes him as a producer-rapper, but I will say that muscially this album is phenominal. The production is top notch and Kanye's lyrics, while not great, still do not detract from the great production of this album. Even if Kanye is not the best lyricist he is still one of the better pop rappers as far is lyrical ability is concerned.

At this point, I would still clearly put College Dropout as far superior (as it is a classic), but at this point I am not sure whether I like it better than Late Registration or not. I need a few more listens, but I think that it is pretty close, as it has far less filler material.

Best tracks, I Wonder, Cant Tell Me Nothing, Flashing Lights, Everything I Am

[Stringer Bell]

College Dropout is definitely his best lyrically, but I don't think he's necessarily gotten worse by any means. He just wanted this album to have a special feel, a "universal" feel that just about anyone could relate to. I think he achieves that on most levels, and even when he wonders off into his own braggadocio ("The Good Life", etc.), it's still on-point. I can't even begin to count or list off the notable one-liners and witty lines 'Ye drops throughout Graduation.

He's never going to be the greatest emcee alive, but I think he's made great strides to improve his flow/wordplay/etc. Now if he only he would get introspective like on "Two Words" and "Never Let Me Down". But again, that wasn't the point of this album, so it's understandable.

I agree that Graduation has much less filler than LR. Late Registration was an excellent album, but it could've been chopped down a bit or had some tracks replaced with better ones. It's still a great album, though.

For me, it's probably..... Dropout > Graduation > Late Registration

That said, I can't think of ONE rapper who has put out 3 consistently dope albums like 'Ye. Not to mention coming out of the gate with a MONSTER, classic of a debut. Followed by 2 more excellent albums, not once falling into any sort of slump or setback. I can't name one single rapper who has dropped 3 straight quality albums like that, honestly... especially since 2000. Kanye is the fucking man, peoples.

[Simon]

That Kanye single is fucking rubbish. If you want to see a dance beat turned into a hip-hop track, listen to Shakespeare by Akala...superb.

[Stringer Bell]

"Shakespeare" is awesome, but Akala is hardly any Kanye West, Simon.

Bonus track from UK/Japan version of Graduation - "Good Night" featuring Mos Def (http://www.spinemagazine.com/music/august/kanyewest/goodnight.mp3)

[Billmatic]

I'm in the camp of those who weren't really impressed with 'Graduation' at first, but the more I listen to it, the more I really am coming around on it. I don't think it quite matches 'Late Registration', on a sheer epic level, and it doesn't have the singular masterpiece that the first two albums had ('Jesus Walks, and 'Gone', respectively) but it's a near-perfect pop album. Every song on the album has potential to be a hit single ('Drunk and Hot Girls' excluded), but the album really re-enforces the idea that Kanye has really proved to be the definitive pop voice of the 21st century thus far. I wouldn't say hip-hop, as there are far better MCs out there, but in a day and age where the pop format is suffering greatly, the fact that Kanye's putting out the quality that he is really says something about his power.

[spanish announce table]

That said, I can't think of ONE rapper who has put out 3 consistently dope albums like 'Ye. Not to mention coming out of the gate with a MONSTER, classic of a debut. Followed by 2 more excellent albums, not once falling into any sort of slump or setback. I can't name one single rapper who has dropped 3 straight quality albums like that, honestly... especially since 2000. Kanye is the fucking man, peoples.

The Roots and Outkast come to mind, but I guess you mean solo rappers. I would say GZA. 'Beneath The Surface' and 'Legend of the Liquid Sword' are not on the same level as 'Liquid Swords', but they are damn good albums.

I've been listening to "The Wrath of the Math" a lot lately. Premo did an amazing job for Jeru again. My only gripe is the beat on 'Physical Stamina'. It sounds too disorganized.

http://rapidshare.com/files/55392310/exlusivenorthcarolina.rar
9th Wonder - The Dream Merchant Vol. 2

[Stringer Bell]

Good call on the Roots, but yeah, I was referring more to solo rappers. Outkast most definitely did it with Southern-Aquemini, but yeah... nice picks :yes:

GZA I would have a hard time arguing with, especially when we're talking strictly lyrics. However, when it comes to full length albums, presentation and all... I might have to give Kanye the nod, as blasphemous as that feels typing it :p

"Wrath of the Math" is lovely. One of Preem's best jobs. Definitely seek out OC's Jewelz if you don't have it, Primo KILLS that too. I'll upload it if you don't have it.

Do you know by any chance if that 9th Wonder is a retail/group rip? I have a copy downloaded, but I believe it's a webrip/re-encode...

[Simon]

"Shakespeare" is awesome, but Akala is hardly any Kanye West, Simon.

Bonus track from UK/Japan version of Graduation - "Good Night" featuring Mos Def (http://www.spinemagazine.com/music/august/kanyewest/goodnight.mp3)

Well I wasn't really comparing the two anyway, just those two individual tracks...but for what it's worth, I think Kanye is pretty overrated. I respect that he's doing something different in terms of commercial hip-hop, and he's certainly capable of some fantastic stuff - as I've said a couple of times before, for me Never Let Me Down is the best hip-hop track this century, it's utterly brilliant.

I loved a lot of College Dropout (Family Business, School Spirit, Slow Jamz and Never Let Me Down the standout tracks for me) and the rest of it was rarely less than good - the only track I outright disliked was Through The Wire. But since then, I don't think he's done much that is good.

Golddigger was a great club track and Late was ok, but everything else on Late Registration leaves me cold. As for Graduation, well I've only listened to it through once but the beats left me cold, I much preferred his old style of sped-up samples and oldschool relaxing vibes...his new stuff just doesn't do it for me.

I appreciate that he is willing to mix up his style and experiment, but in practise I don't think it's leading to enjoyable music. That's just my opinion though and clearly a LOT of people like the new route he's going down...but it's not really for me. It frustrates me a bit, because as I said I loved much of College Dropout.

[Stringer Bell]

"Slow Jamz" is a standout but not "Two Words", and "Through The Wire" is bad? "Late" was one of the worst tracks on LR in my book... how about "Gone"? That was the JAM.

Your taste in hip-hop is frustrating :mad:

[QuietStorm]

Well, although I do think "Through the Wire" was a very nice track I pretty much agree with Simon.

[Mr. Boombastic]

"Two Words" is maybe my favorite Kanye track ever, I dont know how you could not love it and an unmentioned track We Dont Care is maybe my favorite debut track for an artist, in that it was the first track of his first album.

Nobody is saying that Kanye is the best rapper alive or anything, but I would be hard pressed to find another commerical rapper better right now. If you can please tell me who.

edit, I guess Nas "NY State of Mind" would top We Dont Care, but its still a great introductory track imo.

[Stringer Bell]

"Can't Knock The Hustle" comes to mind as well ;)

[Mr. Boombastic]

agreed stringer.

[Morrison]

Pfffft, Jigga who?

Speaking of Jay, I just realized earlier today that I've been rocking a copy of The Blueprint with two songs missing; "Heart of the City" and "Blueprint." Freaked me the fuck out. Thankfully hearing "Heart of the City" during the American Gangster trailer got me intrigued, then seeing Jay's Unplugged version of the song on MTV made me put it all together. Don't know how I let that get past me.

[Fro]

Heart of the City is probably my favorite Kanye-produced track ever.

In fact here's my top 5:

Heart of the City
Never Change
Get By
Be
The People

And yes that includes tracks from Kanye albums as well. He has a bunch that come very close (mainly on College Dropout) but I don't think any are as good as these tracks. It's best when he gives his beats to real MCs.

[Mr. Boombastic]

Be, may be my favorite beat ever. Its really a shame that it is just a 2 minute intro to the album, instead of a 5 minute classic.

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

Now the Fugees gone break up

good song

[RuneEdge]

Here's a snippet of the "I Get Money" Billion Dollar Remix.
http://rapidshare.com/files/56152267/i_get_money_snippet.mp3

Apparently Jay-Z, P. Diddy and Kanye are supposed to be on there.

[Simon]

"Slow Jamz" is a standout but not "Two Words", and "Through The Wire" is bad? "Late" was one of the worst tracks on LR in my book... how about "Gone"? That was the JAM.

Your taste in hip-hop is frustrating :mad:

Slow Jamz got the job done...just an incredibly relaxing, enjoyable track. I can't really explain my dislike for Through The Wire, it's the style that I like but for whatever reason it never struck a chord with me, the hook annoyed the shit out of me. Two Words is a good track but again it strikes me as overrated.

I'd love for him to drop a few more uptempo tracks along the lines of Guerilla Monsoon Rap (still the best beat he's ever done) or Good To You.

Best five Kanye beats...

1. Guerilla Monsoon Rap (Talib Kweli)
2. Never Let Me Down
3. Lucifer (Jay-Z)
4. Good To You (Talib Kweli)
5. Slow Jamz

[Stringer Bell]

"Be" is outstanding, might possibly be my favorite 'Ye beat as well... :heart:

[Hack]

Stop calling him 'Ye you crazy bastard.

Saw Common this weekend and was surprised to hear him do Get Em High. We can talk about Late Registration and Graduation all we we want, but there's really no way we can expect the man to top College Dropout. That album still blows me away each time I listen to it.

Except for the workout song, the thing is practically flawless ...

[Simon]

I don't hate the Workout song the way everyone else does. Yeah, it's irredeemably stupid, but it's good fun and the beat just about works.

[Stringer Bell]

I agree with Simon for the first time in a while :p "The Workout Plan" is a fun song that served its purpose, much moreso than "Drunk and Hot Girls" from Graduation...

I fucking :heart: that "Be" beat. Dooooo-doooooo-dooooo-doooooooooo-dooooooooo-doooo-duuuhh--duhhhhhhhhhh

[Fro]

Except for the workout song, the thing is practically flawless ...



"School Spirit" is pretty mediocre too - worse than "The Workout Plan" in my book. I think an underrated track on the album is "Last Call". Those are some of my favorite Kanye verses...

the fans want the feeling of A Tribe Called Quest
but all they got left is this guy called West

[Hack]

OK, so I finally picked up Finding Forever. It sounds pretty good, but there doesn't seem to be much to the songs ... like, the hook will be strong and Common's verses are as consistent as ever, but you can tell where the songs are going after like the first 15 seconds. No surprises, no risks.

Maybe it'll grow on me. I'm not saying it's bad, it just sounds like it is far from the classic some of you guys were labeling it as.

[TRO]

I dunno if Finding Forever is a classic, per se, it's just exactly 100% the kind of hip-hop that I like. Strong hooks, good verses, that's all I want, and that's what this album has in spades. Some of the songs should have had bridges, but I still like them. I'd rather just have a good solid album than a risk-taking nonsense like Electric Circus. And "Forever Begins" turning out to be 7 minutes long with a big spoken word section was a surprise for me.



I appreciate that he is willing to mix up his style and experiment, but in practise I don't think it's leading to enjoyable music. That's just my opinion though and clearly a LOT of people like the new route he's going down...but it's not really for me. It frustrates me a bit, because as I said I loved much of College Dropout.

I like Graduation more after listening to it a few times, but this is basically how I feel too. That Daft Punk sample is almost as obnoxious as people saying 'Ye all the time. Typing five letters is too complicated, let's just call Q-Tip 'Ip from now on.

[Morrison]

Ghostface is going to be doing a college tour soon, as well as some other cities, for Adult Swim. He hits Philly in November, so I'll hit that up.

Common and Q-Tip are going to be in town next Tuesday night. Hopefully I'll be able to get to that one. I've been rocking Common a lot lately, and Tip is one of my rap Gods. And apparently they're going to team up and record an album, which should be amazing.

[Fro]

Q-Tip has a new solo album coming out relatively soon, early 2008 I think. Can't fuckin' wait. Even Amplified, which many people didn't like because it was too comercial, was very enjoyable. Has anyone gotten their hands of Kamaal the Abstract? I've always wanted to hear it but couldn't find it anywhere. Supposedly they're re-releasing at some point.

[spanish announce table]

Anybody listen to Spooks? I dont know much about them, but 'Things I've Seen' is a damn good track that has been stuck in my head for days.

[Stringer Bell]

Kanye West's "Graduation" easily leads the star-studded class of Sept. 11 releases, posting The Billboard 200's largest sales total in more than two years. Nielsen SoundScan will show West's album moved 957,000 during its first six days when the tracking service refreshes its charts tomorrow morning (Sept. 19). 50 Cent's "Curtis" will lock down the No. 2 slot with 691,000 sold.



FUCK YES!!!! G.O.O.D. MUSIC EXCELS AND PREVAILS!!! Kanye, Com, and Talib all with STRONG showings this year, KANYE with the best sales in 2+ years. The tides are changing....

[Morrison]

Q-Tip has a new solo album coming out relatively soon, early 2008 I think. Can't fuckin' wait. Even Amplified, which many people didn't like because it was too comercial, was very enjoyable. Has anyone gotten their hands of Kamaal the Abstract? I've always wanted to hear it but couldn't find it anywhere. Supposedly they're re-releasing at some point.

Yeah, I downloaded Kamaal the Abstract a few years ago. It's a solid album, moreso then Amplified, which I honestly loved.

And Tip's solo album was supposed to come out sometime this year. I'm not holding out much hope on seeing it anytime soon.

[jakeb]

Kanye West's "Graduation" easily leads the star-studded class of Sept. 11 releases, posting The Billboard 200's largest sales total in more than two years. Nielsen SoundScan will show West's album moved 957,000 during its first six days when the tracking service refreshes its charts tomorrow morning (Sept. 19). 50 Cent's "Curtis" will lock down the No. 2 slot with 691,000 sold.



FUCK YES!!!! G.O.O.D. MUSIC EXCELS AND PREVAILS!!! Kanye, Com, and Talib all with STRONG showings this year, KANYE with the best sales in 2+ years. The tides are changing....

And the fact that Curtis sucks so bad also helps this battle.

[RuneEdge]

And the fact that lots of Fiddy haters went out to buy the Kanye album.

[Fro]

My distaste for Kanye on a personal level prevents me from being too excited about this.

He clearly deserves it more than 50 though.

[RuneEdge]

Kanye's tracks are better but I thought 50's album was more consistant in terms of how good the tracks were.

[Morrison]

:wtf:

[RuneEdge]

I'm not saying they're great tracks, I mean they're pretty much as good (or as bad, which ever way you want to look at it) as each other. Where as Kanye has some good ones and some bad ones.

[Fro]

Wu-Tang album news...

http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/statusainthood/archives/2007/09/the_wutang_clan.php

[Stringer Bell]

50's album is repulsive, and I'm not saying that to jump on the 50-hate bandwagon. I still stand by my statement that "Ayo Technology" is one of the best songs on the whole LP.

Fro, I think I have Kamaal The Abstract somewhere on my PC. I'll upload it for you by the weekend.

[Mr. Boombastic]

And the fact that lots of Fiddy haters went out to buy the Kanye album.

I hate 50 cent, but I really hate it when people call him "Fiddy"

[spanish announce table]

Pitch Black's second album has leaked. A lot of people forgot about them after "It's All Real" came out in '04. I thought the first album was decent, but their rhyming varied depending on the level of their production. With the second album, there's a huge step up in production, with beats from Premo, Marley Marl, Alchemist and Pete Rock. Premo's beats for 'Revenge' and 'Nice' are definitely worth checking out.

[Mr. Boombastic]

I just picked up Ghostface Killah's Fishscale. Wow, thats all I can say. I knew it supposed to be a pretty great disc, but it may be one of my favorite wu tang solo cds that I have heard, outside of Masta Killa's No Said Date, in just one listen. I remember reading all of the great reviews, but wow, when a rap cd gets to you in just its first listen, it is something special. In just one listen i give it 4 of 5 stars, and in a few more listens i am sure it will be even higher.

[Hack]

You'll love More Fish, too. Both are incredible. :yes:

[Stringer Bell]

Fishscale is great Boombastic, but please tell me you've heard Supreme Clientele!!! :D


www.spinemagazine.com has a new Kanye song featuring Trick Daddy (mehhh), and a radio rip of the new Jay-Z single, which is pretty fucking DOPE.

[Hack]

http://www.prefixmag.com/


New Jay-Z track.

Sounds better than Kingdom Come …I’m sure it’ll have Stringer/Buck drooling. :headbang:

Edit: Fuck you Stringer! Haha

[Stringer Bell]

Haha :D Is that a radio rip just like spinemag? If not, I gotta grab that..

[Mr. Boombastic]

I used to have Supreme Clientele, stringer, but one of my a-hole friends "borrowed" it and I have not seen it in a few years. I hate when that happens.

[Fro]

So the new Jay-Z album's called American Gangster and is inspired by the film of the same name. Interesting idea... don't really know how it'll be different from other Jay albums (drug dealing, ducking the law, etc) but if he can get inspiration from the flick (which looks like it will be BOMB) then god bless. I guess he's made so many albums he's running out of personal experiences to talk about (well, he probably did that a while ago). Anyway, hopefully it'll be better than Kingdom Come.

[VanillaJello]

Travis Barker's remake of "Soulja Boy", enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKQgDY0pZ68

[Hack]

I'm So Hood is the first radio rap single I've liked in months. That is all.

[Restiform]

That new Jay track is the tits. I agree that it's better than most of Kingdom Come already.

[Fro]

Man, people are really going nuts for Soulja Boy right now. I was at a party tonight and as soon as it came on people started flocking towards the dance floor. Shit, my mom even likes the dance and the imitation videos on youtube.

:dead:

[Stringer Bell]

I don't even know who Souljah Boy is, thankfully. Hope I don't run into that shit anytime soon.. :blah:

I loooooove that new Jay track, can't wait for an explicit rip. He rips that shit, I dig the Rakim nod. It's definitely harder than the majority of Kingdom Come. Between that and his "I'm killin the roof like Michael Vick" line on the "I Get Money" Remix, I think Hov is BACK. With a title like American Gangster, I'm expecting some hard shit. Probably not Reasonable Doubt status, but we should have a great album come November. This year's hip-hop just keeps getting better and better...

Here's a DOPE Clipse remix of Kanye's "Flashing Lights" courtesy of www.sumish.com (http://www.sumish.com)

http://www.zshare.net/audio/3760368365ca60/

Makes me wish they would rap over non-Neptunes production more often. Or if P could lace them with some crazy synths like on this track, which he's certainly capable of...



I'm So Hood is the first radio rap single I've liked in months. That is all.

What about "Big Shit Poppin'" and "Hip-Hop Police"? I dug those a lot...

[Hack]

Nah, those both suck.

By the way, dude, Fishscale is better than Supreme Clientele. They're both great, but I'm just saying ...

[Fro]

Gotta disagree with you there, and pretty strongly. Supreme Clientele is near perfect - a classic album in my book. Fishscale is very good, but not on the same level.

[Chris Scott]

Listened to 50 Cent's album yesterday.

People actually consider this album "true" hip hop, which is truly laughable. This guy is just a mainstream puppet. He's telling you how he sold so many grams of crack and got so and so much money for selling it. So if i went down to the shop now and bought a mars bar, then sold it on for double price to some kid, get a banging Timbland beat, write stupid lyrical content about it, I can become a millionaire like this 'gangsta' doll? Well it is near enough the same concept isn't it? Kanye's effort is better, quite a lot better actually. If you actually purchase this album, well...... I feel sorry for you, it could well be one of the stupidest things you could ever do.

Good job I took The Games as a fan from the start.

[Mr. Boombastic]

Good job I took The Games as a fan from the start.

Yea, cuz The Game is so much better than 50 Cent, lol. They are pretty much the same considering they are poor rappers lyrically, were only made famous because of Dr. Dre, and only have their "street tough" credibility because they were shot and nearly killed.

Game is only better than 50 based on the fact that you dont get bombarded with his crappy shit nearly as much as 50's on tv/radio. "I'll take you to the Candy shop and let you lick my lollipop," ugh.

[RuneEdge]

I'm So Hood is the first radio rap single I've liked in months. That is all.

Could someone explain to me exactly what DJ Khaled does cuz I always thought he was the producer. But then I find out someone else produced some of his tracks. He doesnt really sing or rap or anything so what input does he have?

[Stringer Bell]

Game makes much better albums than 50, if nothing else. Looking at his last two records, that guy really knows how to put an album together.

Hack, I just... I just can't agree there at all. Fishscale is a great album, but the poor mastering on some tracks ("Shakey Dog", etc) brings it down a bit. Not to mention it just doesn't have the classic, near-perfect aura of SC. Maybe it's just me.. :dunno:

[Hack]

I like Ironman more than Supreme, too. What are you gonna do about it, yo?! :mtr:

They're all solid. I'm not about to actually try to defend why Fishscale is better. Something about it and More Fish just really get my ass wet. Ghostface always delivers, so it seems like it really just comes down to which selections of songs/beats you prefer.

I'm listening to I'm So Hood as I type this. Why the fuck do I like this song? I don't know. It's great though.

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

That Kanye single is fucking rubbish. If you want to see a dance beat turned into a hip-hop track, listen to Shakespeare by Akala...superb.

I fucking love this shit. Is his album any good??

[Chris Scott]

Game makes much better albums than 50, if nothing else. Looking at his last two records, that guy really knows how to put an album together.

Exactly :yes:

[spanish announce table]

Anybody hear the new AOTP album? The production is on point, but the beats from Esoteric and Ill Bill are amazing. Shame there was no Stoupe or 7L.

I was excited as hell to hear Jus Allah back with Vinnie, but he disappointed me. He wasnt bad, but every other word started with an "un" prefix. The new additions are hit and miss. Doap Nixon and King Magnetic are solid, but Demoz really irritates the hell out of me. Keep that guy off the choruses.

Apathy and Faez One were completely left off the album, and Reef and Crypt were only on 2 tracks each. Kamachi and Planetary stole the show for me. My ideal Army album would have Virtuoso and Louis Logic back in the lineup.

[Hack]

OK, couldn't resist. Had to pick up Graduation.

I'm just on my first listen, but "The Good Life" and "Flashing Lights" are fucking gorgeous. When Kanye doesn't ruin things with his own verses, this albums sounds really consistent. Even the lame stuff works.

And I loved the Can sample. I had read people saying it was weak, but that shit is awesome.

[Morrison]

Just got back from the Common and Q-Tip show. Amazing. Q-Tip was wild, doing his solo stuff and of course some Tribe songs, as well as a new song from his forthcoming album. Sounded pretty good.

For "Check the Rhime," he said he needed some help and asked who in the crowd knew Phife's part. He picked out two people, a black girl and this white kid with glasses and a "J Dilla Chaned My Life" shirt on. The girl went first, and got boo'ed off the stage. Wasn't talking loud enough, way too nervous. So he brings up the white kid and asks him "Listen, do you know the lyrics!?" to which the kid responds "I'm on point, Tip." Tip asks again, "do you know the part?" Kid coems back, "Uh, a tidbit. Uh, a smidgen." Tip busts up laughing and the beat drops.

The kid is soooooooo into it. He's working the stage, interacting with Tip, trading verses, gets the crowd to explode when he hits Phife's verse. I doubt the kid was planted, but even if he was, it was a fantastic thing to witness, and just a whole lot of fun.

Common was crazy, running around and jumping off things. His set was all about love and being in the moment and just getting along. He mostly did shit off of Be and Finding Forever, did a song off Electric Circus and "The Light," and only a verse of "I Used to Love H.E.R."

Half-way through he goes that despite all our differences in the crowd; race, sexual preference, how much money we make, our political views, we all had love for one thing: hip-hop. So from there he went on a retrospective of hip-hop, busting out some quick verses from some classics.

Incredible energy all night. One of the best concerts I've been to.

[CollegeGraduate]

Whats the release the date of that new Jay Album?

[Adamy]

Could someone explain to me exactly what DJ Khaled does cuz I always thought he was the producer. But then I find out someone else produced some of his tracks. He doesnt really sing or rap or anything so what input does he have?

He's the one who got all those guys together. And I think he did a couple of the beats.

[Fro]

Morrison, that sounds incredible.


I'm going to this lil show on friday...

http://www.mideastclub.com/ads-down/boot_teamzweb.jpg

:)

[Hack]

Every day for the past month we've been hit up by people wanting explanations, statements, clarifications, and declarations about MF DOOM. Is he lip synching? (No. Listen to the videos on Youtube.) Is he an impostor? (No, but he did lose some pounds.) Is he in the hospital? (No, he's in his studio ... or if not there, you can find him in the pub with the grub stain.)

Reached earlier this morning at his home in Georgia, an alive and well MF DOOM issued this statement:
"What up? I'm dead."

DOOM was in Los Angeles recently and recorded a few verses at The Bomb Shelter studio, where Madvillain, Quasimoto, YNQ, and Madlib classics have been made. Among the new joints recorded was one with him and Guilty Simpson over J Dilla's "Mash"


That's from Stones Throw's Web site.

[Hack]

To update my thoughts on Graduation:

"Good Morning," "The Good Life," "Barry Bonds," "Drunk and Hot Girls" and "Flashing Lights" are all great. "Champion" and "The Glory" have their moments, too. I know most people don't dig "Drunk and Hot Girls," but it's a risk on an album that doesn't take enough of them. Sure, the lyrics are ridiculous ... the lyrics are bad on songs like "I Wonder" and "Can't Tell Me Nothing," too, but people don't rip THOSE to shreds.

If Kanye gets much cheesier than this, we might lose him, but this thing sounds gorgeous enough that I'm willing to ignore the fact that a lot of it sort of sucks.

[Stringer Bell]

Man, awesome shows you guys are getting to see. BCC and Special Teamz?!?!?! I LOVE the new Special Teamz album. Enjoy that Fro. I'd love to see BCC, but I might get shot knowing my biiiig mouth aha :lol:

Glad you enjoyed Q-Tip and Com, Morrison. Common is definitely amazing live, never seen Tip unfortunately. Did Common have a live band?

And I'm a little upset no one commented on my Cage pics! :(

Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello are in my town tonight but I'm broke :dead: Hack is going to kill me. But I gotta see BOTH of those guys in my lifetime, it's destiny... sorry to get off-topic...

Anyway, sorry to bring up the Kanye "Stronger" debate again, but unless I have some remix of Daft Punk's version, I really don't see what the fuss is over. Sure, it's not the most original vocal sample, but Kanye has always been notorious for that. Maybe it's just because it was such a recent song, I dunno. Maybe it's just the UK fans bickering (other than Adamy), or maybe it's because I'm hearing the DP version afterwards.

But I really don't see how he ripped the beat at all. He FLIPPED it crazy, and in my humble opinion he turned a mediocre/boring song into a banger. The vocals, sure, but the beat? I don't hear too many similarities, like I said, unless I downloaded some remix of the Daft Punk original. I dunno, just my 2 cents :dunno:



PS: Hack, I hate "Barry Bonds" :( Where's the love for "Big Brother"?!?

[Morrison]

Common had something resembling a band. He had a drummer, a DJ and a keyboard player.

Tip, however, had a keyboard player, a DJ, a bassist and a guitar player.

[Stringer Bell]

I LOVED Com's drummer when I saw him live, I dunno if it was the same guy though. I was right up where the drummer was, and he was amazing...

[Morrison]

The guy was amazing, so I'm gonna guess it was the same one.

[Adamy]

I live in Massachusetts.

[Morrison]

Massachusetts, England, of course.

[Adamy]

Worcestershire, Massachusetts, to be precise.

[Deka]

Favorite songs on the "Graduation" album are "Big Brother", "Can't Tell Me Nothing", "Flashing Lights", "I Wonder", and "Stronger".

[Adamy]

"Good Life" would've been the song of the summer if it had been released during the summer.

[Mr. Boombastic]

Flashing Lights may be my favorite track right now, I cannot get that crazy beat out of my head.

[Hack]

"Good Life" would've been the song of the summer if it had been released during the summer.


Agreed. It is a hell of a song.

And "Barry Bonds" is great, Stringer, what the heck is wrong with you?

[Stringer Bell]

I just don't dig it. Kanye has a nice verse, and Nottz provided a decent beat, but the chorus is lacking and Wayne's verse sounds like a throwaway. "Big Brother" outshines it by all standards, in my eyes..

[Hack]

"Barry Bonds" is awesome. I like that it isn't just one idea repeated over and over like so many songs on Graduation.

It's one of the few songs on the entire album that features Kanye actually spitting something worth hearing. And Wayne's verse is just fine. I don't know what "Big Brother" being better than it or not really has to do with anything.

[Stringer Bell]

Just that you didn't mention "Big Brother" as one of your standouts, that's all. That track hit me RIGHT away... :dunno:

Here's some GOODS for everyone. Peanut Butter Wolf's soundtrack for NBA 2K8. Man, as if this game wasn't already great enough. New Guilty Simpson, new Madlib, new Quasimoto, new Aloe Blacc... goods from all around at Stones Throw.

PLUUUUUUUUS, it's got Talib Kweli & Q-Tip spitting over J Dilla's "Lightworks" AND MF DOOM & Guilty Simpson spitting over "Mash". GET THIS WHILE THE LINK WORKS OR LIVE TO REGRET IT! :D

http://rapidshare.com/files/58456860/Lightworking.rar

PS - I cannot wait for the new Little Brother album. I bump the sampler like 4-5 times daily. Even the song with Lil Wayne sounds crazy! I will be downloading the leak, but buying it the day it drops for sure.

[QuietStorm]

The first track and the last track are alright on the Kanye album, the rest can lick my nutsack.

[N.E.R.F.]

I thought Big Brother was the worst song on the album :dunno:

[RFF Champ]

I went to see "The Enemy" last night and they were supported by Lethal Bizzle, who I met afterwards. It was immense.

That's pretty much all I have to add.

[Stringer Bell]

How is "Big Brother" anywhere close to the worst song?

[N.E.R.F.]

Everything about it just annoys me. "Stadium status", the actual chorus, everything.

Drunk & Hot Girls definitely has weaker lyrics but it doesn't make any airs about what it is. A bit of mindless fluff never hurt anyone.

[Fro]

Big Brother is the only track where Kanye actually says something with substance, which is why I like it. The beat is pretty weak compared to the others though.

The Glory is definitely one of my favorite tracks on there. I like his Tribe Called Quest throwback:

I'm on award tour with Common my man
After each and every show a couple dykes in the van

Also, Flashing Lights isn't THAT good, guys. Decent.

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

New Akala album comes out around Monday, yeahdat

[Stringer Bell]

I honestly like Clipse's "freestyle" over "Flashing Lights" more than Kanye's version. Kanye's last verse is cool, but the song is pretty boring compared to The Clipse's take on it..

http://rapidshare.com/files/59108628/the_clipse_-_flashing_lights_remix.mp3.html

[Hack]

Heart of the City is probably my favorite Kanye-produced track ever.

In fact here's my top 5:

Heart of the City
Never Change
Get By
Be
The People

And yes that includes tracks from Kanye albums as well. He has a bunch that come very close (mainly on College Dropout) but I don't think any are as good as these tracks. It's best when he gives his beats to real MCs.



OK, I know this is an old post, but I've been going back and listening to all of Kanye's older stuff this weekend and I remembered you posting your list.

I wanted to post mine:

1. "Heart of the City"
2. "Gone"
3. "Never Let Me Down"
4. "Jesus Walks"
5. "Takeover"

[Stringer Bell]

No order...

1. "Song Cry"
2. "Encore"
3. "Last Call"
4. "We Major" (EPIC!!!!!!! "Gone" would be next)
5. "Be"


Honorable mentions: "Gone", "Two Words", "The Corner", "Chi City", "The Food", "Heard Em Say", "Good Morning", "Heart Of The City", "Takeover", "This Way" (Dilated Peoples)

[Simon]

No love for Guerrilla Monsoon Rap?!

Also if, as I am led to believe, Can't Knock The Hustle was done by Kanye, that would fly somewhere into my top five, great track and a great chilled beat.

[Stringer Bell]

:lol: Kanye wasn't even making beats when "Can't Knock The Hustle" came out, Simon..

[Adamy]

Kanye has done so many great throwaway tracks, like "Been Robbed" for Consequence and Mike Jones. And "Get By", which was not a throwaway, but was still pretty sick.

"Barry Bonds" is sick but it's kind of also "Drive Slow Pt. 2".

[Stringer Bell]

"Drive Slow" would've been on my list if it wasn't for the blatant and cliche' sample.. damn good track.

[Fro]

No "Get By" Stringer? Come on, that's gotta at least make your honorable mentions. Fuckin' classic.

And thanks for Kamaal!

[Stringer Bell]

Yeah, it was a close call between "Get By" and "This Way".. but I gave Dilated the nod for some reason :dunno:

And no problem, hope you enjoy it.

[Hack]

I'm pretty pumped about this Jay-Z album. A song with Nas, a song with Kanye, the song that's already out ... it should blow Kingdom Come out of the fucking water.

[Hack]

"Barry Bonds" is sick but it's kind of also "Drive Slow Pt. 2".


Well if we're going that far, couldn't "Barry Bonds" be "Breathe In Breathe Out Pt. 3"?

That's kind of a silly way to look at it. "Barry Bonds" is immense.

[Hack]

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/46124-wu-tang-a-beatles-interpolation-not-a-sample-download-the-song-now


New Wu-Tang.

[Simon]

Anyone got a link to the new Lethal Bizzle album, "Back To Bizznizz"? Had a look around the usual places with no joy.

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

I'd look on torrentspy then give up.

Get Freedom Lasso by Akala if you can, half of it's on his myspace anyway

[AustinRockFoleyRVDWWEECW]

Jay-Z Planning His Own 'American Gangster' Movie, Tour

http://www.thecelebrityblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/Jay%20Z.jpg

Rap star/mogul Jay-Z is planning to release a movie based around his upcoming conceptual album American Gangster.

The album contains all-new original material from Jay-Z and is his lyrical interpretation of the movie American Gangster, which stars Denzel Washington as 1970's heroin kingpin Frank Lucas.

“What I really plan to do is shoot [American Gangster, the album] as a movie. Like a better Streets is Watching.” Jay-Z told AllHipHop.com during a recent interview. “Doing it like a musical. Real stories and get somebody in there that’s [going do to]…real writing. Someone to shoot it like ‘Godfather.’ I know that’s a little ungracious, but that’s how you gotta place it..."

Jay-Z's American Gangster features guest appearances by Beanie Sigel, Nas and Bilal and production from Jermaine Dupri, The Neptunes, Just Blaze, DJ Toomp, Sean "Diddy" Combs and others.

Jay-Z, who also plans to star in the movie version of his album, is also in the process of selecting a band for an upcoming tour.

“I really look forward to touring, because of the music…the musicality of it all," Jay-Z said. "I’m looking at a band right now. I’m looking to tour this summer. With all that instrumentation that’s in that album [American Gangster], forget about it."http://allhiphop.com/blogs/news/archive/2007/10/08/18703639.aspx

[AustinRockFoleyRVDWWEECW]

Mos Def Puts Rappers & MTV On Blast

http://z.about.com/d/rap/1/0/0/5/-/-/MosDefTru3Magic.jpg

Check out the video

http://videovault.morrisvideos.com/videos/mos-def-blasts-mtv-and-rap-artists

Real talk..

[AustinRockFoleyRVDWWEECW]

A Tribe Called Quest Reunion Steals The Show At VH1’s Hip-Hop Honors

http://entimg.msn.com/img/prov_ap/200_80/pic200/drP000/P042/p04243lm4bu.jpg

Last night (October 4) at NYC’s Hammerstein Ballroom, VH1 paid tribute to various hip-hop legends in the taping of their annual Hip-Hop Honors, which will air this coming Monday, October 8, at 8 p.m. on the music network. Closing the show was an all-star tribute to Queens legends A Tribe Called Quest, featuring Common, Pharrell, Lupe Fiasco and Busta Rhymes (clad in a Leaders of the New School-era fluorescent pink and green jacket and hat) all performing classics from the group’s catalog. Kanye West was also scheduled to appear, but was a no-show. The night was capped with Q-Tip, Phife and Ali Shaheed Muhammad all taking the stage (with extended family Jarobi and Consequence) to perform “Check The Rime” and “Award Tour.”

The fusion of R&B and hip-hop was also a focal point of the evening, with a tribute to Teddy Riley, Uptown Records and New Jack Swing featuring T-Pain, Ne-Yo, Kool Moe Dee, Keyshia Cole and Riley himself. Whodini’s melodic hip-hop mix was also recognized in a tribute that featured Jermaine Dupri (who got his start as a dancer for the group) performing and even briefly breakdancing. KRS-One, Busy Bee and Grandmaster Caz also appeared to bring it even further back in a tribute to the classic film Wild Style.
The night’s other two tributes, to Snoop Dogg and Missy Elliott, brought out more star power. The tribute to Missy (the night’s only honoree who did not also take the stage during her tribute) was highlighted by Eve and Keyshia Cole performing “Hot Boyz.” Snoop’s tribute drew cheers at several points, notably when T.I. and B.G. performed “Deep Cover,”Ice-T performed “Gin N Juice” and when Snoop himself took the stage with Bow Wow to perform “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?”

Source: XXLmag.com

http://www.streethop.com/forums/article.php?t=89297

Can't wait to watch Hip Hop Honors tonight.

[AustinRockFoleyRVDWWEECW]

RZA Talks '8 Diagrams,' Wu Launching Nationwide Tour

http://cdn.last.fm/coverart/300x300/310437.jpg

By Chris Richburg

Coming back for the release of their highly-anticipated album 8 Diagrams isn't the only milestone achieved by revered Hip-Hop collective Wu-Tang Clan.

The group, which re-surfaced last year for a live performance in California, is also returning to its beginnings by reuniting with Loud Records founder Steve Rifkind for the album's release.

Although it has been nearly 15 years, since he last worked with Wu-Tang, Rifkind has kept track of the impact the group and its members have had on the rap community.

"What a thrill to be able to work with Wu-Tang again," said Rifkind, who was instrumental in launching the group's classic debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). "Over the last few years, the group has developed a whole new following of people in their 20s who never saw them perform."

Founded by the RZA, GZA and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard (O.D.B.), Wu-Tang Clan is noted for creating one of the most distinctive music catalogs in rap history.

Since the release of Enter the Wu-Tang, the group's nine members have gone on to find success through various ventures that include music, acting, scoring films, video games and clothing lines.

8 Diagrams marks the Wu-Tang's return to the rap scene after a six year absence. The first single from the release, titled "My Heart Gently Weeps," is described as "an interpolation" of George Harrison's classic Beatles song, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

It features Harrison's son Dhani Harrison, singer Erykah Badu and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante.

Fans can now hear the single, which is available exclusively on www.Loud.com (http://www.Loud.com).

According to RZA, the timing couldn't be better for him and fellow Wu-Tang affiliates GZA, Method Man, Raekwon the Chef, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa and U-God to stand united again.

"This is the perfect time for us to get back together, the stars are aligned," said RZA, who added that fans can expect to hear a performance of O.D.B. "in his rawest form" from the vault "which will show you why he was considered one of the illest MCs ever."

O.D.B.'s presence will also be felt on a tribute song titled "Life Changes."

"Hopefully, it will provide some closure for the fans," RZA said about the completed track.

To promote 8 Diagrams, Wu-Tang Clan will embark on a month-long U.S. tour that kicks off Oct. 20 in Miami, which runs through the group's final tour stop in Hawaii on Nov. 23.

Wu-Tang Clan's 8 Diagrams, which will be released on Loud Records through Universal Records, is slated to hit stores on Dec. 4.http://allhiphop.com/blogs/news/archive/2007/10/05/18692345.aspx

[Matthew]

Okay. You could have made one big post.

[RuneEdge]

So Jay-Z's making a movie based on an album thats based on a movie?

[Stringer Bell]

That's cool, but we all know where to get hip-hop news... this is the hip-hop thread, after all...

[N.E.R.F.]

I'd look on torrentspy then give up.

Get Freedom Lasso by Akala if you can, half of it's on his myspace anyway

Quality album. Comedy Tragedy History is a brilliant follow-up to Shakespeare. Some beats sound like Bizzle's, so it's weird not hearing his voice going with it but catchy as hell nonetheless. Love it.

[QuietStorm]

Honest Racket was released today and though it drags a bit in the middle it is still about what I'd expect from the best hip hop group ever. My only complaints are The Grouch and Sean P being on the album, only because with a 10-man crew it kind of takes away from who should be rapping. But hey, album sales are important when nobody knows who you are....

[Adamy]

Great username.

[Miotch]

I'd look on torrentspy then give up.

Get Freedom Lasso by Akala if you can, half of it's on his myspace anyway

Anyone have this album? I'll hook up the Clutchy Hopkins and/or the MF Doom Meets Clutchy Hopkins if someone were to put it on yousendit. I'd also love you forever.

[N.E.R.F.]

Akala? Will do.

[Miotch]

Bit By Bit is a tune.

[N.E.R.F.]

One of his mixtapes has a song, 'Welcome to England' over a Jigga beat. It's brilliant, he's brilliant, I love him.

Upload's either very slow or very very slow btw :zzz:

[N.E.R.F.]

http://download.yousendit.com/171E48101E024DE3

[Miotch]

:heart:

Do you want either of the afformentioned albums?

[Hack]

Finally buying an MPC this week ... watch out, you crazy bastards!

While I'm posting in this thread, let me say I'm STILL in love with I'm So Hood.

[Deka]

Finally buying an MPC this week ... watch out, you crazy bastards!

While I'm posting in this thread, let me say I'm STILL in love with I'm So Hood.

You like I'm So Hood? Go figures.. I don't dislike it. But, I can't get over that "pants below my waist" thing. That's so stupid.

[AustinRockFoleyRVDWWEECW]

Rakim & Ghostface Killah Join Forces For Hip Hop Live Tour

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/426142684_bc1b3aa924.jpg

Wu-Tang rapper Ghostface Killah, hip-hop legend Rakim and underground favorite Brother Ali are set to join forces for the first annual Hip Hop Live! tour later this month, each performing with a live band.

The national tour, which will also feature the sweet sounds of the Rhythm Roots Allstars - a 10-piece live band that has played with Outkast, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and the Black Eyed Peas - is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles on October 29 and end in Philadelphia on November 21. Tickets are currently on sale.

"Hip-Hop's roots are nourished by live music," said Rakim via statement, who plans to offer classic tracks on tour as well as new material from his upcoming album, The Seventh Seal. "For artists who dug through crates searching for the perfect sample, always trying to replicate the sounds of a full band, standing on a stage, moving the crowd in front of this talent is both the nexus and the pinnacle of what we do."

In related news, the HIP HOP LIVE! tour kicks off just 10 days after Ghost wraps a headlining gig for the hip-hop portion of Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" campus tour. The Wu veteran has also been in the studio working on the collective's upcoming release, 8 Diagrams.

Scheduled dates for the HIP HOP LIVE! tour are as follows:

October 29 - Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues

October 30 - San Diego, CA - 4th & B

October 31 - Long Beach, CA - The Vault

November 1 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Catalyst

November 2 - San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine

November 3 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater

November 4 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox

November 7 - Park City, UT - Harry O's

November 8 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre

November 9 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up

November 10 - Kansas City, MO - The Beaumont Theatre

November 11 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue

November 12 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues

November 13 - Bloomington, IN - Bluebird Theater

November 15 - New Haven, CT - Toad's Place

November 16 - New York, NY - Nokia Theatre

November 17 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar

November 18 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club

November 21 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocaderohttp://www.streethop.com/forums/article.php?t=88574

[Mantaur]

You really suck at this posting thing.

[spanish announce table]

8 Diagrams got pushed back from November 13 to December 4. Ghost posted a message online that says he's releasing his own solo album, The Big Dough Rehab, on the same day. There's also a rumor that GZA's The Product is coming out on the 4th as well. I'm trying really hard not to freeze myself until December like Cartman did.

[QuietStorm]

That doesn't seem very efficient from a money standpoint. Fans will buy the Wu album and maybe one of the two others, but there will certainly be a lot of downloading involved if they want people to shell out that kind of money.

And what is going on with OBFCL2 because I'd buy that solo album before either of the other two. Ghostface Killah has never been a must-listen for me and Gza is just above a flatline on the emotion scales these days.

[spanish announce table]

Rae's been saying that CL2 is finished for almost a year now, and that its Dre and the label heads are acting funny. The supposed first singles, State of Grace, The Corner & Baggage Handlers, have all been out for a long time now.

Shame you're not into Ghost. He's one of the best storytellers I've ever heard, and has one of the most original styles ever. I agree that GZA needs to wake the fuck up. He sounded dope on the Wisemen album, but went back to sleep on Watch Your Mouth.

[Hack]

Ghostface is just incredible. Hell, I got a BRAND NEW RADIOHEAD ALBUM yesterday and all I listened to today on the way home from work was Fishscale.

[Hack]

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/audio/id.3283/title.jay-z-roc-boys-and-the-winner-is

:headbang:

[Mantaur]

New Nas - "Surviving The Times"

http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=14695

pretty fucking awesome

[Stringer Bell]

No offense, but that Nas track has been floating around in mp3 form for a few weeks..

The Little Brother album is fucking awesome, as I expected. A bit short, but it's DOPE.

[Fro]

So Nas wants to call his upcoming album Nigger. He says, "I wanna make the word easy on muthafuckas ears. You see how white boys ain't mad at 'cracker' 'cause it don't have the same [sting] as 'nigger'? I want 'nigger' to have less meaning than 'cracker.' With all the bullshit that's going on in the world, racism is at its peak. I wanna do the shit that's not being done. I wanna be the artist who ain't out. I wanna make the music I wanna hear … We’re taking power from the word.”

It's foolish if you ask me - I mean, if it becomes like the word "cracker" then wouldn't that mean people would use it more freely and often? I don't think it's possible to truly strip it of its meaning considering its history. Of course I'm white so my opinion is insignificant and doesn't have any basis, but I would guess that most black people agree. Def Jam has already denied that they would release it under that name and Jesse Jackson has spoken out against it. Thoughts?

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.5852/title.update-nas-adds-to-controvesial-lp-title

[Stringer Bell]

He wanted to call his last album that... I dunno exactly what my thoughts are on at it at the moment. I think if Nas wants to do want he wants artistically, he should be able to. His VT performance already made me lose some respect, but if he wants to title his album that, whatever. The music better be good!

[Stringer Bell]

Shockingly, BET's Hip-Hop Awards tonight are actually pretty decent and I would highly recommend trying to catch a replay of them this weekend. Lots of praise for Common, KRS-One, and plenty of other credible emcees. Not to mention a good amount of entertainment so far, minus the obligatory down points like Nelly and Hurricane Chris. But they've done a great job of paying tribute to legends, and Common already won two awards -- one for best CD of the year. Not to mention, Kat Williams is hosting, so c'mon now. They've got a hoard of underground emcees there too, like Joell Ortiz and Ras Kass. Plus DJ Premier! This shit is dope...

I missed the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors this year, but this is pretty damn good so far! Try to catch this people, you won't regret it.

[spanish announce table]

The new Smif N Wessun album is pretty good. Lyrically, both guys stepped up since the last album. I was excited that Ken Ring was going to produce the whole album, and he did a good job for the most part. The beats for 'PNC for Life', 'Cant Stop' and 'I Cant Feel My Face' are kind of weak, but everything is mostly solid.

[Stringer Bell]

:lol: When I saw you had the most recent reply in here, I was just about to ask you what you thought of the SNW album...

It's good, it hasn't hit me all the way yet though. Seems like it's a bit of a grower. They could've used a few more BCC guest spots, in my book..

[Miotch]

I know it's not new, but I stumbled across Ghostface's 'Hidden Darts', which I didn't even know was out there, and, needless to say, it's fucking great.

[Restiform]

Funny, I just ordered Hidden Darts off Amazon. I'm expecting good shit by default. Ghostface is consistent as hell.

[Miotch]

Indeed, but you have to keep in mind that many of these tracks are real old.

[Stringer Bell]

http://rapidshare.com/files/64722578/Jay-Z_-_American_Gangster_Sampler.mp3


Title says it all. Man, this really does sound great. Amazingly, the Weezy track has me hyped more than any of them. Sampling some CLASSIC Beasties? Damn, Jay is back. I wonder if Rubin produced that one.

[Stringer Bell]

Two days after I post the sampler, might as well drop this on you guys. The retail of the new Jay album. My download hasn't even finished, so you're getting it <Freeway>EARLY!~!~</Freeway>

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9066/jayzamericangansterlt6tg5.jpg
http://www.sendspace.com/file/kvn6ao
01 - Intro
02 - Pray
03 - American Dream
04 - Hello Brooklyn (feat. Lil Wayne)
05 - No Hook
06 - Roc Boys
07 - Sweet
08 - I Know (feat. Pharrell)
09 - Say Hello
10 - Success (feat. Nas)
11 - Fallin'
12 - Blue Magic
13 - American Gangster

[RuneEdge]

Thats not the retail, they're all leaks. Its still missing "Party Life" and "Ignorant Shit".

[Stringer Bell]

Damn close to the retail... just trying to make a hot drop, sorry :(

And glad to hear "Ignorant Shit" will be on the real retail. I fucking :heart: that song

[spanish announce table]

The new Hell Razah album is out, produced by Blue Sky Black Death. The rhymes and beats are top notch, and the album as a whole is more consistent that Renaissance Child. Guest spots from Crooked I, Shabazz the Disciple, Prodigal Sunn, Ill Bill, & Sabac.

[Stringer Bell]

Hell yeah, that's another album I've been bumping. There's been so much good hip-hop this year it's ridiculous. People think I'm crazy when I compare this year to 1994/1996, but I stand firmly by that statement, especially with Wu, Nas, Ghostface, and others still on the way. I'm not saying that any particular albums this year match up with golden age material (yet at least, they may in time), it's just there's been so many 4/5+ albums that I can barely count them.

Sean Price - Jesus Price Superstar
Common - Finding Forever
Blue Scholars - Bayani
Blu & Exile - Below The Heavens
Black Milk - Popular Demand ****Personal Favorite*****
Kanye West - Graduation
Talib Kweli - Eardrum ****Personal Favorite*****
9th Wonder - The Dream Merchant 2
Little Brother - Getback ****Persoanl Favorite*****
Jay-Z - American Gangster
7L and Esoteric - Egoclapper
Sandpeople - Honest Racket
Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
Hell Razah - Razah's Ladder
Jazzy Jeff - The Return Of The Magnificent
NYGz - Welcome 2 G-Dom
Grayskul - Bloody Radio
Oh No - Dr. No's Oxperiment
Madlib - Beat Konducta 2: India
Cunninlynguists - Dirty Acres
Devin The Dude - Waitin' To Inhale
Coughee Brothaz - Waitin' Our Turn
Domingo - The Most Underrated
Marco Polo - Port Authority
Consequence - Don't Quit Your Day Job!
Cilvaringz - I
Chamillionaire - The Ultimate Victory
Canibus - For Whom The Beat Tolls
Brother Ali - The Undisputed Truth
Army of the Pharoahs - Ritual of the Battle
Pharoahe Monch - Desire
Camp Lo - In Black Hollywood
El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Evidence - The Weatherman LP ****Persoanal Favorite*****
Hezekiah - I Predict A Riot
Panacea - The Secenic Route ****Personal Favorite*****
J Dilla - Ruff Draft
Joell Ortiz - The Brick Bodega Chronicles
Killah Priest - The Offering ****Personal Favorite*****
KRS and Marley Marl - Hip Hop Lives
Kurupt & J Wells - Digital Smoke
Median - Median's Relief
Move.meant - The Scope Of Things To Come
Percee P - Perseverance
Phat Kat - Carte Blanche ****Personal Favorite*****
Pitch Black - Revenge
Big Shug - Street Champ
Snowgoons - German Lugers
Strong Arm Steady - Deep Hatred
T.I. - T.I. vs. T.I.P.
UGK - Underground Kingz
WC - Guilty By Affiliation
Wisemen - Wisemen Approaching
Cornel West & BMWMB - Never Forget: A Journey Of Revelations
Special Teamz - Stereotypez
Trae - Life Goes On (some quality Houston ish)
Smif N Wessun - The Album


And shit, I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of quality stuff too... so much good music, I hardly have enough time for it! :D

[QuietStorm]

Not saying it's bad.... but seriously, what is so great about the Jay-z album? A few stellar tracks in my opinion, with the rest making him look and sound lazy.

[Stringer Bell]

I dunno man.. I think it's even better than The Blueprint. It grows on me more and more everyday. Jay comes VERY hard lyrically in my opinion, and most of the production is off the charts. I love the soulful feel, it fits the movie very well even if it's not the actual soundtrack. Might just be me, but I absolutely love this album. I'd even go as far as to say it's his best album since Reasonable Doubt (but not better!). I just love it. Jay brings that ruthless, drug dealer persona, almost channeling Denzel in his lyrics. They sample my favorite Beastie Boys song EVER on a song with Lil Wayne that I amazingly find tolerable.

I can't say I think Hov sounds lazy at all on this record. He sounds refreshed to me. It's almost like he knew Kingdom Come let down the masses, so he decided to come back with a hard, street record. I mean, the only song on the whole CD that would fit on radio is "Roc Boys"...

I'm gonna go out on a limb and give it a 4.5/5. I have trouble finding flaws in this album. It's not my favorite of the year, but it may very well end up cracking the top 5.

"Professionals, movin' the decimals, no where to cop, nah -- not a connect, no/Who in the ever knows how to be successful/Need a Personal Jesus? I'm in Depeche Mode"

FIRE

[Fro]

Wow - better than The Blueprint, my favorite Jay album ever? Strong words, Buck. Really looking forward to it. This is one I'm gonna wait to buy it in stores and not download.

[TRO]

And shit, I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of quality stuff too...

Did you ever check out Gutterfly by Lifesavas? One of my favorite releases this year. Also Ohmega Watts' new album is great, and I can't forget Yesterday's New Quintet (if you want to call that hip-hop). I was just thinking about making a thread here to see what everyone's favorite albums were this year, and I think I'd have to make one list just for hip-hop and another for everything else.

[Stringer Bell]

Need to check the Lifesavas for sure...

Heard good things about that Ohmega Watts, still trying to find it. And unfortunately I still haven't heard the new YNQ.

[RuneEdge]

Which is the original cover for American Ganster? The one with "JAY-Z" written in grey or red?

[Stringer Bell]

The original would be the grey one. I saw the red one in the new Circuit City ad... I'll know tomorrow when I go buy it.

[Hack]

I was listening to Hell Hath No Fury on the way to work today. That thing grows on me more and more with each listen, and I've been listening constantly since I bought it. It's definitely up there with what I consider my favorite rap albums OF ALL TIME.

I'm real pumped about tomorrow. I've only heard 3 songs from the album so far ... one was average, one was better than average and the other (the one with Nas) was fucking insane.

[spanish announce table]

HHNF is dope, but Dirty Money and Trill really bring the album down for me. Its still a huge step up from Lord Willin'. The beat on Keys Open Doors is probably the best the Neptunes have ever done. Love Pusha's ode to the Geto Boys on Nightmares.

Four new tracks from 8 Diagrams leaked today! 3 are snippets. Thug World features Deck and RZA, and this beat is sick. I Go Through Life is the ODB tribute. They Want To Stick Me For My Riches is by far the weakest of all tracks to leak. It features some guy singing for most of it, and Meth is on it for a bit. Weak Spot is fuckin incredible. RZA, Rae and GZA particularly wreck this beat. Cant wait for this album to come out.

[Stringer Bell]

I think I'll hold off on the 8 Diagrams leaks. In fact, I might try to wait for the album's street date. I couldn't hold off with Kanye, but Wu really seems worth the wait. It's got that opus feel to it.

Bought Jay-Z today and it is indeed written in red on the cover, but "American Gangster" is still grey. I love this album more and more with each listen. Might just be my album of the year :eek:

[Hack]

HHNF is dope, but Dirty Money and Trill really bring the album down for me. Its still a huge step up from Lord Willin'. The beat on Keys Open Doors is probably the best the Neptunes have ever done. Love Pusha's ode to the Geto Boys on Nightmares.




I dig both of those tracks, though neither is necessarily a favorite.

Picked up the new Jay-Z on my lunch break and have listened to it probably 2 or 2 1/2 times all the way through. I've listened to the first few songs a couple more times than that. Overall, it definitely sounds like the man is back. I think "I Know" kind of sucks (the last few Neptunes/Jay-Z tracks have sucked, Blue Magic is the exception, now that I think about it) but that is probably the only weak song on the whole disc. More detailed review will probably follow in a few days ...

[Restiform]

Downloaded the Wu-Tang '8 Diagrams Mixtape' from Loud.com. It's made for a pretty fun listen so far. Has four tracks that are gonna be on 8 Diagrams also, so it's got me pretty hyped for the new album now.

[Hack]

P.S. - The way the bass in "Hello Brooklyn" was mixed is annoying as shit.

[Fro]

The two "bonus tracks" are two of the dopest songs on AG. What the hell distinguishes those anyway?

Great album, gotta give it time to sink in.

[Stringer Bell]

I thought that was rather strange too, especially considering "Blue Magic" is the first single..

Okay, I caved in and downloaded that Wu mixtape from Loud.com. It's awesome how well they're promoting this thing. I'm expecting a top 5 album of the year here, if not I'll be extremely disappointed..

[JIJ]

Just picked up American Gangster, superb album :yes:

Early stand out tracks are Pray, American Dreamin, No Hook and Ignorant Shit.

[Stringer Bell]

Agree on the standouts, throw in "Success" and that's probably my list. Whole album is great, though...

"American Dreamin" is probably my favorite track of the moment..

[Fro]

"I Know" is the only track I could do without, and it's still better than the lesser tracks on Kingdom Come.

4.5/5 for sure.

Favorite tracks:

Pray
No Hook
Roc Boys
Success
Fallin'
Blue Magic

...tried to slim that list down but I really couldn't. HOVA

[Stringer Bell]

Agree that "I Know" could've been replaced with something a little harder, but it definitely serves its purpose. It's got that 70's funk vibe, and Hov KILLS it lyrically with the heroin talk. It is a weak point, but it doesn't feel quite as out of place as "Hello Brooklyn", which I still love. If the album had 2 more soulful/hard tracks in place of those (not that "Brooklyn" isn't hard, just doesn't fit), it'd be INCREDIBLY cohesive, almost on some Hell Hath No Fury status as far as that goes. I think it's more cohesive than Kanye's album though, shockingly.

Jay really captured the theme well, it's a shame none of his songs actually made the movie.. but then again, I guess he recorded the album after production on the movie had wrapped. Still could've edited in something.. "Sweet" is especially fitting with the nephew lines...

I'm gonna go out on a limb and give this a 4.75/5. It's my album of the year so far, with Talib trailing closely behind. Will Wu, Ghost, or Nas be able to take that spot?

PS: I find it amazing that Diddy (and The Hitmen, of course) handled a lot of the production on this album, including one of the dopest tracks, "Pray". Apparently he had saved a lot of these beats for Biggie.

[Miotch]

www.myspace.com/ghostface

First track from the new album is up. Excellent.

[Hack]

Other than "I Know," every song is fucking incredible. I listened to this album probably 6 more times today at work and in the car and it only gets better with each listen.

"No Hook," "Ignorant Shit" and "Success" are my three absolute favorites, with "Pray" and "Party Life" right up there.

Damn, this thing is good. I have to admit, I didn't expect it to be this classic, even with all of the hype.

[Stringer Bell]

I'm telling you Hack, "I Know" will grow on you, somewhat at least. Hov is almost too witty for his own good on that track! At least it's not "Anything" :lol: (speaking of that track -- what in the HELL made Jigga think that was a good call? They didn't even release it as a single FFS)

I would've felt dirty hyping this baby up the way I did if it didn't deliver, so I'm glad you guys are enjoying it. As if 2007 hasn't been GREAT already, we are really going to get some amazing hip-hop within the next month; Wu-Tang, Ghostface, and Nas, plus all the other uncomfirmed/non-concrete releases like Saigon. All three of those artists have the potential to put out classic, 5* material, so it will definitely be exciting to hear those. Especially Nas... I can only think that Jay stepping up his new material will push Nas to do the same.

[Matthew]

I can't wait until Virmiciousshhdfuususien's xmas gift to me comes in. I heard most of the tracks once through, but have been waiting for the full release.

[Hack]

So on a note not at all related to Jay-Z, I've been listening to Stakes is High a ton lately. Am I crazy for liking it more than 3 Feet?

Edit: Does anyone have Stakes is High that could send me the Common track? I own the album, but I got it used and the fucking thing skips on that one song ...

[Stringer Bell]

I'll upload it right now, only because that's one of my favorite songs ever :p

"In the best of, 3 outta 5... whip ANYBODY ass in NBA Live"

http://rapidshare.com/files/68210328/03_-_De_La_Soul_-_The_Biziness.mp3.html

[Hack]

http://www.worstpreviews.com/images/americangangster.gif

MY MAN.

[Stringer Bell]

Hey Hack, here's that Hi-Tek too...

http://rapidshare.com/files/68215713/Hi-Tek-Hi-Teknology_2_The_Chip-2006-FUA.rar.html

[Hack]

:heart:

[Stringer Bell]

www.dubcnn.com has a DOPE mixtape up for free download. Bishop Lamont and Black Milk, featuring a load of hot guest spots; Tash, Ras Kass, Guilty Simpson, Busta Rhymes, Dr. Dre, Phat Kat, Elzhi, Planet Asia, Royce Da 5'9", Trek Life, and more. Damn, if this guy can put out a mixtape this good, I can't wait for his album...

[Simon]

Anyone able to upload a good quality version of Cyssero's "Feel It In The Air"? I'm not sure if it's actually called that or it's a freestyle over a track that is called that (and if so, I don't know who that version is)...I'm only really interested in the beat, I think it's a Kanye beat, and it's awesome.

[Stringer Bell]

You might be looking for Beanie Sigel's "Feel It In the Air"... Heavy D (yeah, old school Heavy D) did the beat. Dunno about Cyssero's freestyle though, sorry.

[Simon]

That's the one. Top boy, cheers SB.

[Stringer Bell]

I can upload it if you need, I have a nice CD quality version. Just let me know.

EDIT: Two Raekwon videos that display his distaste for the sound/vibe of the new Wu album. Damn, once things were looking so up... http://www.missinfo.tv/?p=391

This doesn't sound good :(

[spanish announce table]

Of the 7 Wu tracks that have leaked, only 1 (Heart Gently Weeps) has used live instruments. Some of RZA's best work has been using live instruments (Fatal, Chamber of Fear, Reunited), so I dont see why Rae's so pissed off about that. Plus, many Clan members have also used them in the past (Ghost's The Champ, a handful of tracks on Grandmasters).

I can understand if Rae isnt feeling the experimentation, and wants to stick to what works, but he's the same one that spoke about need for change after Immobilarity flopped. RZA is known to go off the deep end with new ideas (Bobby Digital anybody?), but it was his experimenting that made albums like Liquid Swords and Tical.

Also, I really dont trust Rae's ear after he thought 'Ice Cream 2' was a good idea. If everyone is legitimately not feeling RZA's beats, and this isnt just bitterness over money, then they didnt have to lay their vocals down. I've read interviews with Masta, Deck, and U-God all saying the vibe was good.

As a fan, why should I put money down for a product the artist's themselves dont believe in?

On a totally unrelated note, AZ's 'Uncut Raw' is one of the best album opener's ever.

[Stringer Bell]

Good point... Rae definitely isn't one to be talking seeing as he hasn't made a DOPE album in 10+ years.

It's just a shame things could potentially be unraveling just as they're on the brink of what could be their biggest album. Also, I'm supposed to be seeing them live again in January, and I'll be pretty disappointed if anyone is MIA.

[Fro]

It's just a shame things could potentially be unraveling just as they're on the brink of what could be their biggest album.

As much as I'm looking forward to 8 Diagrams, there's no way it could ever be as big as Forever was. The anticipation of that album was massive, and Wu-Tang just isn't that popular anymore (both in the mainstream and among hardcore rap fans). But maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by big...

[Stringer Bell]

I dunno, they just haven't had an album in so long, it seems like this one is getting a decent amount of hype. From the Beatles sample, to the controversy surrounding the album... it just seems like it's going to be a truly epic, career-defining album. Either that or the complete opposite. Ah well, even if it's not perfect, a new Wu Tang album will have a hard time not surpassing 4*'s...

[Hack]

Their last two albums sort of sucked, so I don't think you should expect it to be classic just because its a Wu-Tang record. With that said, I'm hoping it delivers ...

[Fro]

Fuckin' love these two lines:

keep my movements smooth while maneuverin'
through all the manure in the sewer that I grew up in

-------

broad daylight I'll off your on switch
you’re not too bright, goodnight, long kiss



Oh, and also...

http://assets4.pitchforkmedia.com/images/image/40980.bigdoerehab.jpg?

:D

[Hack]

The cover is just enough like Bulletproof's that I'm a bit worried ...

[Fro]

Bulletproof was great though.

[Stringer Bell]

Yeah, what a dope ass cover!!!! The tracklist looks nice too. Ghost never disappoints... I'd even rank Bulletproof Wallets higher than a LOT of solo Wu shit.

Nice call on the Jay lines :yes: Here's a few of mine... there's so many witty one-liners/verses on here, you could go on forever...

I'm cut from the cloth of the Kennedy's, Frank Sinatra, havin' dinner with the Genovese.. this is the genesis of a nemsis...
-----

Treat shame with shamelessness/Aim stainlesses at anuses/You know the game this is/Move Coke like Pepsi, don't matter what the brand name is
-----

I got.. dreams of baggin' snido', the size of pillows/I see pies everytime my eyes cliddose/I see rides, 6's, I gotta get those/Life's a bitch, I hope to not make her a widow...
-----

Who in the ever knows how to be successful? Need a Personal Jesus? I'm in Depeche Mode
-----

I'm more Frank Lucas than Ludacris/And Luda's my dude, I ain't tryna diss/Like Frank Lucas is cool, but I ain't tryna snitch
-----

Think OJ, I get away with murder when I sling 'ye/Heron got less steps than Britney... that means it ain't stepped on, didn't he???
-----

I'm in a whole other league, niggas never catch me/And I sport fly shit, I should win an ESPY
-----

Are you sayin what I'm spittin, is worse than these celebutantes showin they kitten.. you kiddin?
-----

They say a lot about me, let me tell you what I ain't..... I ain't no ordinary nigga, look around, this ain't what ordinary gets ya/It aiiin't.... extraordinary figures, daayum, I'ma extraordinary nigga
-----

Tell em I'll remove the curses/If you tell me our school's gon' be perfect/When Jena 6 don't exist, tell em that's when I'll stop sayin' bitch.... biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!!!!
-----

Now they wanna do the boy like Mike in his prime/Billie Jean, the goddamn boy ain't mine!
----

Fuck, I gotta stop. Lyrically, this is definitely my favorite work from Jay since his debut. It's like he's totally refreshed and reinvigorated.

[Adamy]

I'm flipping "Rock Boys" to "Indie Rock Boys" on my mixtape. I'll keep y'alls posted.

[hithit]

anyone tell me some good t.i. stuff?
i just started getting into his shit and would like to know some of his better singles and shit.
thanks in advance.

[Stringer Bell]

T.I.'s one of the few current popular southern rappers I can actually stand, so I'll help you out...

"My Swag" featuring Wyclef -- might be his latest, I dunno. It's very catchy though, and a fun song.

"What You Know" - Probably his best track to date. So catchy and ignorant, it's anthematic.

"Help Is Coming" - Not a single, but one of my favorite songs he's done so far. Just Blaze on the beat, and T.I. does it justice with his braggadocio flow.

"Front Back" featuring UGK - Another monster single. Samples a classic UGK song, and features verses from them as well. Catchy, fun.. just a good single all-around..

"Top Back" - Not a single, but it was featured in a car commercial. Another hella catchy track.

"Why You Wanna" - Not a personal favorite, but it seems to be one of his bigger singles.

Also, the "T.I. vs. T.I.P." acts part 1&2 on his new album are pretty fun. Part 3 doesn't have any rapping, and I may just be partial to them because Just Blaze killed the beats, but... they're solid tracks as well :yes:

[hithit]

good looking stringer.

[Ricky]

I hate to post something so vague, but American Gangster is fucking excellent.

[Fro]

anyone tell me some good t.i. stuff?
i just started getting into his shit and would like to know some of his better singles and shit.
thanks in advance.

Get "Rubber Band Man". Catchy as fuck, absolutely love the beat.

American Gangster keeps getting better. "I Know" has grown on me a lot with all of its clever heroin wordplay. "Fallin" might just be my favorite track, it's pretty damn brilliant.

[Ricky]

Fallin' and Ignorant Shit are tied for my favorites, though I lean towards Fallin' as well.

[Hack]

I do love how Fallin' revolves around that badass old Dramatics hook, but I think I like "Party Life," "Ignorant Shit" and "Success" more. That album is just fucking ridiculous ...

[Ricky]

Party Life was nice, but not very diverse in the lyrical department.

The same old partying shit though I guess the title implies that.

[Stringer Bell]

Just for you, Hack :heart:

http://rapidshare.com/files/70600487/02-dj_khaled-im_so_hood__remix___dirty_-whoa.mp3.html

Features Young Jeezy :blah:, Ludacris, Big Boi, Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, and others...

[Hack]

Party Life was nice, but not very diverse in the lyrical department.

The same old partying shit though I guess the title implies that.


I love the vibe, and I love Jay's joking around. Dude's swagger is incredible throughout the whole album.

[Stringer Bell]

:heartbroken: No love for the "I'm So Hood" remix?! PS get back to me in the music statement thread :p

[spanish announce table]

http://h1sjdnywabscspe8tzo4c.usercash.com/

Radio rip of two new Wu songs. They first play Stick Me For My Riches (which as grown on me) with a new Deck verse. Its followed by a track (dont know the title) with a nice bass line and guitar, featuring Rae, GZA, Masta & Deck. The last track is Wolves with U-God, Meth, Masta & George Clinton. This has a funky horn beat, and a nice breakdown when Masta comes on. This album is sounding awesome!

[Stringer Bell]

Trying my best to hold off.. the Loud.com mixtape and the CDQ leak of "Life Changes" is more than enough for me. I feel like if I wait for the final product, I might be more pleased with it since most of it's entirely fresh to me. Thanks though :yes:

[.invurzion.]

:heartbroken: No love for the "I'm So Hood" remix?! PS get back to me in the music statement thread :p


I've been in love with that remix since I heard it about a month ago. Always thought that Trick Daddy's verse ("Everybody wanna muthafuckin' no why...") was so damn hard to start of the original ... the remix is just as good if not better.

Oh ... and speaking of other T.I. hits for the person wanting to get into him: "Get Loose" ft. Nelly and Lil Kim was a decent up-beat track from the "Urban Legend" album.

And finally (been gone for a minute, had to let it all out now) just hearing U-God on some verses is just making me fucking ecstatic for this new album. Fuck the drama, fuck all the criticism ... just give me some U-God and a completed Wu album and I think I might be good for a few months.

[Stringer Bell]

What do you think of the new Jay, invurz?

[.invurzion.]

It's still growing on me to be honest. I haven't had much time to sit down and listen to it ... but I know that I got tired of "Roc Boys" after a couple of plays. Production seems really good though. Much better than his last album on the first play.

Can't give you a real criticism until I give a real good listen though.

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

I've only played it through once but I'm not really into it at all :\

Success is quality but other than that I'm not a fan tbh... some of the lyrics and that are nice but it doesn't pack any knd of bang at all for me.

Maybe it's because I hate the Neptunes or I need to play it a few more times?? Other than Success I really don't see what all the fuss is about

[Stringer Bell]

The Neptunes only produce two tracks, and "Blue Magic" sounds nothing like a Neptunes track, anyway... :dunno:

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

Yeah I know just thought my prejudice against them might have had something to do with it. I'm sure hearing it in a couple of different environments (iPod, car, etc.) and I'll change my mind

[.invurzion.]

The Neptunes only produce two tracks, and "Blue Magic" sounds nothing like a Neptunes track, anyway... :dunno:


I quite like "Blue Magic," although it was whored out on Sirius the week that it was leaked. It really doesn't sound like a Neptunes beat, but Pharrell being on the hook didn't really hurt the song for me. Kind of completed it for me.

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

I just didn't think much of it...

[Hack]

:heartbroken: No love for the "I'm So Hood" remix?! PS get back to me in the music statement thread :p


Haha, I tried to get it and it wasn't working. I'll try again.

I've been meaning to reply to you about the Wu ... will get on that as well, good sir. As I get more and more into my music shit, I'm finding less time to fuck around here, you know?

[Morrison]

Wu-Tang hitting Philly at the beginning of January. Great.

[TRO]

Wu-Tang is doing a New Year's Eve show in Portland. :D

[The Imperfect]

http://www.nobodysmiling.com/hiphop/promotional_audio/88191.php

First verse of Nas's new song. Pretty decent.

[Simon]

What do you lads make of Mr. J. Medeiros?

[Stringer Bell]

New Cunninlynguists retail :D (http://rs268.rapidshare.com/files/71339540/CDA.rar)

[spanish announce table]

It'll be interesting to see how many Wu members show up at the shows.

2 new tracks leaked on British radio last night. I know not everyone wants to hear the tracks just yet, so...

Rushing Elephants has Rae, RZA, GZA & Masta rapping over a dope horn sample. Starter has Streetlife, GZA, U-God & Deck, with some corny guy singing a terrible hook. The beat is pretty much a lazy edit of Certified Samurai. Worst track by far. They also played a new version of Thug World (Unpredictable) that has a new RZA verse and electric guitars on it. Love the beat but the hook sucks ass. Seriously.

[Stringer Bell]

http://rapidshare.com/files/71921502/wtcedra.rar
Supposedly a retail rip of the new Wu. My download hasn't finished just yet, but it looks pretty legit to me..

First impressions: Not nearly enough Ghost, or GZA for that matter. Everyone else delivers though, it's a strong album. Rae sure spit on a lot of tracks for being so dissatisfied with the "vibe". The production is on point, with only a few missteps. Easily 4/5 and that's only after one listen...

[spanish announce table]

After one listen, I agree with you. Damn shame Ghost didnt get on Life Changes. Rushing Elephants is my shit right now. I dont know why RZA changed the beat on Wolves, as the song was awesome as it was, but the new version is still good. I probably wont listen to Unpredictable the whole way through because Dexter Wiggles sends the song to hell after Deck's verse. Starter is still lame. Meth and Deck really deliver above the rest.

[Miotch]

Just got home from Vegas.

Download isn't going nearly fast enough for my liking.

[Restiform]

Just got through with my first listen, and I'm not really sure what to think at the moment. Honestly, I did like a good amount of it, but at the same time there was a lot I wasn't feeling. The first two tracks are great, two of my favourites. But I thought 'Get Them Out Ya Way Pa' was terrible. 'Unpredictable' would've been fine if it weren't for Dexter Wiggles. 'The Heart Gently Weeps' is pretty hyped up, but I just can't seem to get into it. Same goes for 'Life Changes,' despite it being a nice tribute to ODB.

At this point it seems like I dislike more than I like. Gonna give it another go, though, of course. Maybe I'll warm up to it more.

Favourite Tracks: Campfire, Take it Back, Rushing Elephants, Wolves, 16th Chamber

[spanish announce table]

I wasnt liking 'Get Them Out Your Way Pa' too much, but its grown fast. The bassline is too ill!

[Fro]

Erykah Badu's voice on "Gently Weeps" really doesn't sound right. It would be a pretty great song if they picked a better singer.

[Stringer Bell]

Agreed SAT.. a lot of songs on this album seem like growers. It's just a shame they picked so many shitty hooks and what not, that's not what Wu is about! The album would easily be 2x better without some of the LAME choruses...

"Weak Spot" is a BANGER..

Hack, I'll upload this for you soon buddy..

Here's a goody for ya'll...

http://www.zshare.net/audio/5227961273d579/ - Styles P f/ Ghostface - "Star Of The State".... Ghostface KILLS it :lol:

[Stringer Bell]

Oh shit... the floodgates have opened... not many more big releases left now!

http://rs254.rapidshare.com/files/72957914/Scarface-Made-2007-C4.zip

http://rapidshare.com/files/72951418/GhoKil-ThBiDoReh.rar

Enjoy.. and I personally guarantee that the Ghostface album is better than the new Wu, and I haven't even heard it yet!

[Hack]

So one of the last De La records I needed to buy was the second AOI record. I finally picked it up the other day and I don't think it is near the classic that I had heard people call it. There are some great tracks, mainly "Simply" and "Peer Pressure," but there are also a lot of songs that do absolutely nothing for me. "Baby Phat" is nothing special, and it had me extra pumped because I saw it featured Devin ... hell, even "Peer Pressure" could be a lot better if it had less B Real.

So, yeah, that's my random comment of the day. I dig it, but I trust those guys so much that I was expecting more ...

[spanish announce table]

Complete 8 Diagrams Review

1. Campfire - I've had that 'do do dooooo' in my head for days now. Meth's flow is damn near untouchable, and RZA serves up a monster of a beat. Lyrics could have been a bit stronger though. "On anything that RZA throw/ Ironman's invisible", literally, as he's hardly on the album. Best verse: Meth. 9/10

2. Take It Back - Really simple, but good beat that all MC's tear up. "No matter the crime, I'm beatin' the case/ If I'm wrong, a chair hit a judge right in his face/". Best verse: Deck. 9/10

3. Get Em Out Your Way Pa - Bassline is grimy as fuck. There are a lot of layers to this beat (windchimes, blues guitar) that add great depth to it. Chorus is kinda lame, but doesn't hurt the track. Best verse: Meth. 8/10

4. Rushing Elephants - Not much needs to be said about this track, as its pretty much self explanatory. Dope lyrics over a dope beat with no chorus. "We criticize producers till their joints are right/ then acupuncture the track with pinpoints of light/". Best verse: GZA. 10/10

5. Unpredictable - Thug World was damn near perfect. The electric, bass, and 70's-style Shaft guitars dont really hurt the song, but they're totally unnecessary. Its like he made these changes to spite Raekwon. I dont know why RZA changed his verse as his old one had a Gravediggaz-style energy to it. The new one is pretty boring. HOOK IS TERRIBLE! Best verse: Deck. 5/10

6. The Heart Gently Weeps - Musically, this song is beautiful. After hearing RZA hype up the lyrics of this track, its a bit of let down. Rae and Meth have decent verses, but dont really tie in with Ghost. Erykah's second hook after Ghost's verse is way off key. Best verse: Ghost by far.7.5/10

7. Wolves - I really liked the horns on the original, but this version is still damn good. The hook is weird, but works. Meth's flow is impeccable. Best verse: Meth. 8.5/10

8. Gun Will Go - Hook is pretty lame. The beat is a bit too minimalistic to hold my attentio, but I like the violins that come in on the hook, and the guitar on Masta's verse. Best verse: Meth. 6.5/10

9. Sunlight - This is in the same vein as Sunshower or Jah World. The beat is well done, and the lyrics are deep, but this is song is a bit out of place. 8/10

10. Stick Me For My Riches - Really didnt dig it when I first heard it, but its one of my favorites now. Mathematics serves up a totally different beat than what he's known for and it works out well. Best verse: GZA. 8.5/10

11. Starter - The hook is awful. Streetlife sounds uninspired and GZA sounds totally out of place. Dont know why RZA just didnt save the original Certified Samurai beat for this album instead. Best verse: U-God. 4/10

12. Windmill - Classic Wu. Not sure if the guitar is a sample or not, but it sounds dope either way. "I'm the wittiest unpredictable/ most talented rap mafucka you ever listened to/". Best verse: GZA & Deck. 8.5/10

13. Weak Spot - You can hear a bit of the sample used in Severe Punishment in the opening kung fu sample. This beat is just insane. Rae sounds rejuvenated, and GZA delivers the verse of the album. Best verse: GZA. 10/10

14. Life Changes - The beat is beautifully done, and the verses are all really emotional. Not sure why the mixing and vocal filtering change up for RZA's verse. Only real complaint is the hook is repeated a bit too much. Best verse: GZA. 8.5/10

15. Tar Pits - When I heard this beat on the Bodog interview, I really hoped it wouldnt be included on the album. It has a Chrome Wheels feel to it. George Clinton's rant is funny the first time, but its not something I'll play again. Best verse: Streetlife. 6/10

16. 16th Chamber - This is the same beat used on the Japanese Ghost Dog Score. Dirty shows that despite all the antics and wild shit, he really was a dope MC. 8/10

That comes to an average of 7.8 which is about right. It seems RZA wanted to make compositions rather than beats. Much like Andre 3000 a few years ago, he seems bored with rap and wants to take it in a new direction, no matter what his groups mates say. I think he can do stuff like Campfire all day, but its easy and boring too him, and he wants to advance the sound. If he and the others could have reached a compromise, or if RZA saved some of his beats (Weeping Tiger, Just a Lil Dude), we could have had another classic. What we have is a really good album, but the Wu can produce so much better.

[Stringer Bell]

That's pretty spot on :yes:

Man, I love this new Ghost album. It's so thorough, every single track is great in my opinion. Nothing even average, just an album full of bangers and some fun interludes (though I would've liked one comedy 'lude with Ghost ranting ;)). It's so damn good. Maybe his best album since Supreme Clientele, and that's my word.


So much good music has leaked lately, I almost feel guilty downloading it all :D Wu, Beanie Sigel, DJ Drama, Wildchild, Cunninlynguists, and then yesterday we get Scarface, Styles P, and Ghostface all in the same day! Now we just need Lupe and that Nas if it's actually coming..

I'll be buying Wu, Cunninlynguists, and Ghostface for sure. Maybe Scarface.

[QuietStorm]

The one I give the most shits about hasn't leaked yet. FnF Up.

[Restiform]

The new Cunninlynguists is fucking sick. Might be my favourite hip hop release this year, behind American Gangster. Loved Ghost's new shit as well, although I'm not sure where'd I'd rank it within his discography yet. Great review also, SAT.