Hip Hop Discussion/Album Review Thread.

[Ringo]

Oh My. Here we go.

[Ringo]

YUSSSSSSSS

So far, THUMBS UP.

[thegoat]

Just noticed that the video of Jay Z doing Wonderwall doesnt have the intro video they payed on the big screens just before he came out on it, I dont think they were allowed to show it on the tv coverage or something. Adds a bit of context or something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8rUbOt62ug

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

The Adulthood soundtrack is pretty big, you can find it quite easy on torrents. I'm already sick of F Ur Ex though.

Any word on the new Busta album... didn't it come out recently??

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

Oh yeah just read it ain't out til the middle of August now... gaaash

[Stringer Bell]

WHY ARENT WE TALKING ABOUT THE NEW NAS ALBUM???????????

[Ringo]

I was going to come in here and say the same thing earlier.

NIGGER FOR FUCK SAKE.

[Stringer Bell]

Damn, this album really is good. I don't even care how many songs I heard previously through 'net leaks, it doesn't take away from the impact of the songs. I'm loving it, pretty much every track is dope. I'd say it's right up there with HHID, I can't decide which I like more just yet.

[Hack]

Why the fuck would you want an MP3 of that? I mean, conceptually, it's awesome. But it's executed like shit. Jay's audible with about every fourth word. I doubt if I'll ever even watch that clip again.


The context makes it a great moment. I just downloaded the entire Glastonbury set from Hip Hop Is Read and it's a fun show to listen to. Dude is clearly enjoying himself.

"For those that didn't get the memo, my name is Jay-Z and I'm pretty fucking awesome!"

Edit: This is completely unrelated, but I'm glad "Black President" made the Nas album. :yes:

[Ringo]

AND it's not even the best song on the album. HOWS THAT.

[Stringer Bell]

Album. Of. The. Year.

:x

[Morrison]

The context makes it a great moment. I just downloaded the entire Glastonbury set from Hip Hop Is Read and it's a fun show to listen to. Dude is clearly enjoying himself.

"For those that didn't get the memo, my name is Jay-Z and I'm pretty fucking awesome!"

Edit: This is completely unrelated, but I'm glad "Black President" made the Nas album. :yes:



Oh, definitely. After seeing that intro video, and finding out in was in direct response to some shit talking, it really was quite awesome.

Still don't see a point in wanting an mp3 of it though.

[Hack]

Still don't see a point in wanting an mp3 of it though.


It's a fun moment. Isn't that reason enough?

[Morrison]

No.

Would I put the video in my favorites list on my YouTube account? Sure, why not, go back and watch it every once and awhile. But the audio alone isn't that special. You want two minutes of the crowd singing 'Wonderwall' with a muffled Jay-Z on occasion? Pointless.

[Hack]

No.

Would I put the video in my favorites list on my YouTube account? Sure, why not, go back and watch it every once and awhile. But the audio alone isn't that special. You want two minutes of the crowd singing 'Wonderwall' with a muffled Jay-Z on occasion? Pointless.


It isn't like Stringer/Rune/whoever were on here talking about how its the holy grail of recorded music.

It isn't strange at all for someone to want a mp3 of a talked-about moment.

Like I said before, you can download mp3s of Jay's entire set from the festival. So all you fucking have to do is click a link and you have the mp3. Even if you just listen to it one time, it isn't "pointless" to have it on your computer.

[Morrison]

Sure it is.

And considering Stringer was going on about how 'epic' that 1:50 clip was, I wouldn't exactly go saying he wasn't talking about it without any degree of unnecessary hype.

I think it's incredibly strange to have an mp3 of shitty audio from a talked about moment that mostly dealt with visuals. The audio by itself isn't fun to listen to. At all. It's a festival crowd singing over a fucking Oasis song with an occasional Jay Z contribution.

Download the video, save it in a YouTube account, I'll dig that, but I'll never understand why anybody would want to waste space on a computer letting that mp3 collect virtual dust.

[JIJ]

Shut up mini cash.

[Morrison]

hahahaha, what a well hidden troll.

[JIJ]

Impossible to hide with a cock this big.

[Stringer Bell]

All this talk over the Jay Oasis cover? Come on, guys. THE NEW NAS RECORD IS OUT!!!

[N.E.R.F.]

Sly Fox is brilliant.

[Stringer Bell]

Why the fuck won't vBulletin let me change my avy right now? I want the Nas cover :mad:

EDIT: Screw it, had to upload it to Imageshack because it wouldn't let me pull it from my PC for some reason. Lovely album. Lovely cover. My main Facebook picture at the moment :D

[Ringo]

Sly Fox is brilliant.

Yes it fucking is

[Stringer Bell]

Fuck.. Sly Fox, Queens Get The Money, You Can't Stop Us Now (no matter how many people use this beat), BREATHE, Hero, Testify, N.I.G.G.E.R., Fried Chicken.... I could go on. This album is outstanding. It has a much different vibe/feel than HHID, so I find them hard to compare, but I feel that Untitled is more consistent overall. Every beat is good, nearly every single line he spits has meaning behind it. Nas is my current man-crush.

[Fro]

No matter what the CD called. He's unbeatable, y'all.


Just giving this my first listen now.

[Tim]

I was watching MTV hits, and I was almost vomiting at the stuff that's out. It was Soulja Boy, then V.I.C. then Soulja Boy again, then Danity Kane, then Hurricane Chris and at that point I was ready to smash my head into the wall if it weren't for T.I. coming on with "No Matter What" and it's my new favorite song of this month.

So in closing, thank you T.I. for saving me from the wall. Though I could of just walked over and picked up the remote off the floor and ended my misery, but that's a fight for another time.

[TRO]

Well, if anyone had any doubts that Nas is the best rapper ever, period, they should be reconsidering right about now.

[Chris Scott]

Dam I'm still to hear his new album yet.

[Stringer Bell]

GET ON IT!~

[Billmatic]

Fuck.. Sly Fox, Queens Get The Money, You Can't Stop Us Now (no matter how many people use this beat), BREATHE, Hero, Testify, N.I.G.G.E.R., Fried Chicken.... I could go on. This album is outstanding. It has a much different vibe/feel than HHID, so I find them hard to compare, but I feel that Untitled is more consistent overall. Every beat is good, nearly every single line he spits has meaning behind it. Nas is my current man-crush.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. I'm fairly confident that I can say that it blows HHID out of the water, and I love that album. I'm not quite as confident in saying that it has the least amount of filler since Illmatic, but it might be true. I'm loving this. I can't think of a track that I'm tempted to skip.

I mean, come on. "Betsy Ross sold the first American flag/bet she had a nigger with her to help her old ass"

In the land of hip-hop, Nasir is king.

[Ringo]

"Least filler"

Let's be honest, THERE IS NO FILLER.

[Billmatic]

Filler's been his kryptonite on nearly everything he's done this decade, but I'm really seeing none on here. I love it.

[Cenalover78]

I was watching MTV hits, and I was almost vomiting at the stuff that's out. It was Soulja Boy, then V.I.C. then Soulja Boy again, then Danity Kane, then Hurricane Chris and at that point I was ready to smash my head into the wall if it weren't for T.I. coming on with "No Matter What" and it's my new favorite song of this month.

So in closing, thank you T.I. for saving me from the wall. Though I could of just walked over and picked up the remote off the floor and ended my misery, but that's a fight for another time.


Hip Hop is in such a bad state right know. I live in Dallas, and the radio stations play the same garbage over and over again. Makes me wanna jump out a window. I mean I was at work, and they played 6 songs back to back either by or featuring Lil Wayne. And he's cool but he doesnt represent all of Hip Hop.

Soildier Boy's career should have been done after Superman. Yet he's still dropping shit. I just dont understand.

[Ringo]

The majority (well, actually I'm not even sure if that's true) of mainstream hip-hop being fucking shit does not equate to Hip-Hop being "in a bad state". Even then, there's plenty of good stuff in the spotlight. I don't watch MTV and such and only heard that Soulja Boy track (the "Crank Dat" one) for the first time the other day. It wasn't very good. So what though? Maybe it's different over here, because I've never even heard of "Danity Kane" or "Hurricane Chris"...

[Stringer Bell]

The majority (well, actually I'm not even sure if that's true) of mainstream hip-hop being fucking shit does not equate to Hip-Hop being "in a bad state". Even then, there's plenty of good stuff in the spotlight. I don't watch MTV and such and only heard that Soulja Boy track (the "Crank Dat" one) for the first time the other day. It wasn't very good. So what though? Maybe it's different over here, because I've never even heard of "Danity Kane" or "Hurricane Chris"...

:yes:

It just depends how you access your music, I suppose. I stay away from radio/TV music because I know that very little of it is going to appeal to me. But, like you said, there's plenty of good stuff in the spotlight still. Kanye sells like crazy and is one his way to being the biggest pop star since Michael Jackson, and he's a great talent. Lupe Fiasco is successful and he's one of the best emcees to come along in years. Jay-Z, and Nas, of course. The Roots deserve to sell more, but meh, not everything can be perfect.

I've luckily only heard bits and pieces of any Soulja Boy shit. The kid has no talent whatsoever. I've made better beats than his just fucking around on Fruity Loops (I have literally no skill at all with that program), he's trash.

When you have records like Untitled, Rising Down, The Formula, When Life Gives You Lemons..., etc., not to mention all the stuff on the horizion, plus new emcees like Wale getting deserved hype, I find it hard to complain about the state of hip-hop. You've always had to dig a little deeper than the top layer.

[spanish announce table]

The Formula is a pure summer album. I've had it in my car for a month now.

I have Nas downloaded on my desktop right now, but I finally got a bunch of other stuff I've been itching to hear (Percee P, Mystic, Chops) and work is insanely busy at the moment. I'll definitely check out Nas soon as he's easily a top 3 MC on anybody's list, and it seems like he was on a mission with this album.

If you havent heard Mystic's "Cut for Luck and Scars for Freedom", I highly recommend it. She sings and raps, and is damn good at both. She kinda disappeared after the album dropped in 2001 though.

[Ringo]

MICKIE & JOHN forever and everrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Adamy]

Hip Hop is in such a bad state right know. I live in Dallas, and the radio stations play the same garbage over and over again. Makes me wanna jump out a window. I mean I was at work, and they played 6 songs back to back either by or featuring Lil Wayne. And he's cool but he doesnt represent all of Hip Hop.

Soildier Boy's career should have been done after Superman. Yet he's still dropping shit. I just dont understand.

Again, I quote Bun B:


If you think ringtones are killing rap, then you need to kill yourself

[Ringo]

This new Immortal Technique is, unsurprisingly, pretty fucking good. I'd be far more praiseworthy of him if he wasn't such a homophobic spastic though.

Anyway, BACK TO NAS.

[Stringer Bell]

I haven't listened to the new IT in full, yet.. just too much new stuff out. I do like the track with Chino and Crooked I, though.

Does anyone else find it funny to listen to certain older Wayne songs and think of his ridiculous ego/status nowadays? Some of his early shit is just laughable. I remember my friend and I honestly thought he was the "slow guy" in the group in the "Back Dat Azz Up" video, with his horrible ad-lib/mumbling/whatever-the-fuck-you-want-to-call-it. Even on albums like 500 Degreez, he's got stupid ass tracks.. It's bad enough that his current stuff is overrated, but this guy used to be horrrrrrid.

Nas :heart: :heart:

http://nahright.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/nas-slyfoxposter.jpg

[Ringo]

I really don't rate Tha Carter III particularly highly. Like, it's pretty good and all, with some notable tracks, but it's not even on my list for consideration when it comes to the year's best hip-hop, let alone music in general.

Some of the remixes that have been floating about have been mega, however.

[Stringer Bell]

Everyone should download this song.. it leaked on Sunday, so in the 'net world, it's not "fresh" :lol:, but this song is amazing. If you've ever doubted Joe Budden's potential or just never understood why some people seem to enjoy his stuff so much, this is for you. He throws jabs at nearly everyone in the game, and the thing is, 90% of what he says is the absolute truth. Great stuff. And, it's only part one...

Joe Budden - Who? Pt. 1 (http://www.zshare.net/audio/147949071b9ed84c/)

[TRO]

On the whole, Lil Wayne is pretty awful. Some of his tracks in the past two years have been OK, but what the fuck. The fact that Wayne is considered a good MC is more an indictment of the terrible state of hip-hop than it is any indication of Wayne's skills. Nas was right, hip-hop is dead. There are literally 100 better MCs than Wayne, many of whom are still active right now. I mean wow holy shit, Lil Wayne is better than 50 Cent, T.I., Ja Rule, MIMS, and Soulja Boy, CONGRATS Lil Wayne you've made it to the BIG TIME. And you've singlehandedly made The Source even a bigger joke than it already was. 10 MICS.

[spanish announce table]

10 mics? Please elaborate. I haven't read a copy of the source since Mic Club came out. With they hype around Wayne's album, he had the whole rap world listening, and should have taken the chance to really make something memorable. Even some of my friends who are die hard fans hated it.

http://rapidshare.com/files/90098864/Cuts_for_Luck_and_Scars_for_Freedom.rar
Link to Mystic's album. Best tracks are Ghetto Birds, The Life, & Fatherless Child, but there isnt a bad track to be found.

[Stringer Bell]

Thanks for the Mystic, SAT :yes:

10 mics?? I have The Source with Game crying on the front, but there's no C3 review. Must be next issue. Please tell me they didn't do something that stupid...

[Ringo]

What does Joe Budden rap about? Because unless they're fucking amazing, I have very little time for anyone who spends their time "rapping" about guns, bling and bitches, and for some reason I'm sure he's one of those.

[Stringer Bell]

:confused: I thought you liked Mood Muzik 3? Or is it just way too early for me and the joke's going over my head? :dunno:

[Ringo]

Moi? Nah, I haven't even heard Mood Muzik III. I genuinely want to know what Joe Budden raps about. I assume not much of anything, but that would be silly seeing as I'm not certain one way or another. SO YAH!?

[Stringer Bell]

Weird, I really don't know who else I'm thinking off from here then. I could've sworn it was you, Ring..

Anyway, Budden is a great rapper. He's far from your stereotypical, common rapper you described earlier. Just download this track, it should be enough to convince you..

http://www.zshare.net/audio/147949071b9ed84c/

Then get Mood Muzik 3! :D

[Stringer Bell]

You download that? Seriously, let me know what you think..

"Mood music" is a perfect description for a lot of Budden's recent work. He doesn't make a lot of stuff you would throw on at parties (he's good at those too, though), most of his work is really emotional and driven by his personal downfalls and experiences. He used to be addicted to PCP (a strange trend amongst some of my fav rappers... Wu, Cage, Budden, etc...), kicked that addiction, went through a rough come-up, made it in the game, and now he's in limbo with his label situation. I think he's still on Def Jam, but he certainly isn't happy there, and he's made that known numerous times on his mixtapes. Check his shht, Ringo, you'll like it or you can kick me.

[spanish announce table]

http://rapidshare.com/files/128234193/redhookbeard.rar

Shabazz the Disciple & Hell Razah - THUG Angelz - Welcome to Red Hook Houses

[Stringer Bell]

Thanks yet again. Hell Razah :yes: :yes: Who did production on this?

[Adamy]

On the whole, Lil Wayne is pretty awful. Some of his tracks in the past two years have been OK, but what the fuck. The fact that Wayne is considered a good MC is more an indictment of the terrible state of hip-hop than it is any indication of Wayne's skills. Nas was right, hip-hop is dead. There are literally 100 better MCs than Wayne, many of whom are still active right now. I mean wow holy shit, Lil Wayne is better than 50 Cent, T.I., Ja Rule, MIMS, and Soulja Boy, CONGRATS Lil Wayne you've made it to the BIG TIME. And you've singlehandedly made The Source even a bigger joke than it already was. 10 MICS.

Tha Carter III really isn't that great.

I was going to write an apology for Wayne, but then I realized that it boils down to two related points.

The first is that rappers don't have much of a sense of humor anymore. I like Wayne because you can tell when he raps that he loves rapping, and I love that exuberance. He makes me laugh more than anyone else out there, too: "You're like a bitch with no ass: you ain't got shit".

The second is that even the best rappers aren't that good. I have very high standards for poetry, but I honestly cannot think of a single rapper than can be counted on to consistently articulate intelligent thoughts in a poetic manner. I think, though, that you aren't giving him enough credit. How many rappers do you think could make "I Feel Like Dying" a hit? Shit, how many rappers could even make "I Feel Like Dying"?

So no, Wayne isn't a poet, but I think he's one of the best wordsmiths out there.

[TRO]

10 mics? Please elaborate

No I was making a joke, since 5 mics is the highest the Source goes, and yet everyone is so in love with Lil Wayne, if they could do it, they would give him 20 mics. And in 2010 with a LIL perspective, they would regret it dearly.

[Stringer Bell]

Thank god. I was seriously going to drop the magazine on the floor of whatever store I happened to be in when I ended up seeing that..

[UncannyIowan]

Tha Carter III really isn't that great.

I was going to write an apology for Wayne, but then I realized that it boils down to two related points.

The first is that rappers don't have much of a sense of humor anymore. I like Wayne because you can tell when he raps that he loves rapping, and I love that exuberance. He makes me laugh more than anyone else out there, too: "You're like a bitch with no ass: you ain't got shit".

The second is that even the best rappers aren't that good. I have very high standards for poetry, but I honestly cannot think of a single rapper than can be counted on to consistently articulate intelligent thoughts in a poetic manner. I think, though, that you aren't giving him enough credit. How many rappers do you think could make "I Feel Like Dying" a hit? Shit, how many rappers could even make "I Feel Like Dying"?

So no, Wayne isn't a poet, but I think he's one of the best wordsmiths out there.


I just think mainstream rap, the majority, has been dumbed down too much. Lil Wayne might sell records, but he offers nothing people will remember. The state of mainstream rap is like the blonde pop singer surge in the late 90's. Wayne is the Britney Spears of rap, yeah he's making tons of money-great for him, but he's not even close to the top 50 of greatest rappers of all time.

I don't even know what you mean by even the greatest rappers aren't that good. Rappers like Jay-Z, Em, Biggie, 2 Pac, Wu Tang, Outkast, these are artists that people will constantly bring up as having great songs and actually contributed to the rap game.

[Ringo]

KRS-ONE

Also, am downloading that Budden tune as we speak Stringer.. :yes:

[Stringer Bell]

Joe Budden - Who Part 2 (http://www.zshare.net/audio/1503013889bf69a5/)

[Adamy]

I just think mainstream rap, the majority, has been dumbed down too much. Lil Wayne might sell records, but he offers nothing people will remember. The state of mainstream rap is like the blonde pop singer surge in the late 90's. Wayne is the Britney Spears of rap, yeah he's making tons of money-great for him, but he's not even close to the top 50 of greatest rappers of all time.

I really think a better comparison for Wayne is Rakim with commercial success.


I don't even know what you mean by even the greatest rappers aren't that good. Rappers like Jay-Z, Em, Biggie, 2 Pac, Wu Tang, Outkast, these are artists that people will constantly bring up as having great songs and actually contributed to the rap game.

I consider rappers to be poets. I use the same objective criteria to evaluate all poets: can you articulate an intelligent idea in an original, artful fashion?

John Keats, for instance, destroys Wayne in that regard. He destroys everyone on that list slightly less, but still destroys them.

[TRO]

I consider rappers to be kind of poets too, and I'd probably take Dylan Thomas and Robert Frost over the Sugarhill Gang. But that said, Lil Wayne is one of the worst, most over-hyped rap-poets I've heard since I started listening to the genre. Can you imagine Nas or MF Doom or Saul Williams or Jay-Z making a song as insipid as "Lollipop"?? Give me a break. I mean, you CAN be commercially and artistically successful at the same time, like Lupe or Talib Kweli or Ghostface. But as far as I can tell, Lil Wayne is pretty heavy on the commercial bullshit and very light on any artistic merit.

[Ringo]

Exactly. So now that we're all in agreement that Tha Carter III really isn't all that great, we can go back to talking about Nigger. Did I mention that it's fantastic?

[TRO]

Really Ringo? Are you for real? NAS came out with a great album? CRAZY TALK. :D

[TRO]

Honestly though, I thought Hip Hop Is Dead was Nas's best album since It Was Written, and this shit blows it all out of the water. 14 years since Illmatic, and he's still going strong. 14 years. Like I said, he's the best rapper ever. Period. Even with all his inconsistencies, and there have been a lot of them, he's never dropped a Kingdom Come or an Iron Flag or anything like it. Really no matter how much you blow BIG and Tupac out of proportion because OMG they're DEAD, Nas is better than either of them. Heck he's better than ether of them agshagsgahsga.

[Stringer Bell]

I know the new Nas is awesome, it deserves any and all discussion it gets, I'm going to buy it next Tuesday..

However, I HIGHLY recommend you guys check out those Joe Budden "Who" songs, part 1 and 2. He's still got a part 3 on the way. The songs are superb. As nahright.com put it, he says all the things everyone else wants to say but is too scared to say. Couldn't have possibly put it better....

Reggaeton? Check. Ja Rule? Check. T-Pain and Lil Wayne with the vo-coder effects? Check. Lil Jon selling records without actually rapping? Check. Laffy Taffy? Check. Shawty Lo? Check. Walk It Out? Check. G-Unit kicking The Game and Young Buck out? Check. Swagger? Check. Reality shows? Check. Repititive subject matter in the mainstream? Check. Nas "Nigger" album title? Check. Lupe messing up ATCQ lyrics on VH1? Check. Unrightfully blaming the south for the demise of rap? Check. Jadakiss and DJ Green Lantern's ridiculous beef? Check. Dame Dash nonsense? Check. Jay-Z as Def Jam president? Check. The "climate" of hip-hop? Check. Jim Jones and Cam'ron beef? Check. Jive records bullshit post-Clipse? Check. Jae Hood and D-Block beef? Check. One hit wonders? Check. 106&Park? Check. Lil Kim? Check. DMX? (nice line here... "I hope dude's straight") Check. Hip-hop police? Check. Twista's failed attempts at success? Check....

You get the point, and that's only about 2/3rd's of PART ONE. Download these songs! Joe Budden is the motherfucking truth.

EDIT: Dayuuum Joey.. This is mostly Part 2, which I'm just now listening to.

"The more niggas say they didn't write down lyrics/The more it started to sound like they... didn't"

So simple, but SO fire.

"Maybe we at a cross, Canibus made one of the dopest diss records but some still say he lost/I ain't believe my ears when niggas tried to tell me that KRS-One has a rap beef with Nelly" :lol: Good gawd.

"So they sit hours with each other, was it Master P with them ugly ass album covers?" Shout to my 90's mainstream heads :lol:

"As dope as rap is, ain't seen no dough
If everything is commercial, where the fuck's the show?
But anybody makin' a dime, see I'ma wish well
Still we took a big L losing Big L
Or was it when Youtube came in game
Now a nobody from their living room can make a name
Or, when the indies like Koch came and blew up
Dudes at the majors, they literally grew up
To some it aint fun no more
You know its fucked up when DMC dont talk to Run no more
Too many egos, like we ain't one more
Shit's predictable, dudes ain't stunned no more
We startin to see shit we aint seen before
At one point, we even had the magazines at war
Or... was it street DVD's like SMACK
Showed you just how stupid your favorite rapper would act
Then shit gets lifeless
When MTV made a list of the hottest and ignored the nicest
Changed the whole steelo
I mean the average fan never heard of a Goodie Mob or a Cee-Lo
But they heard of Gnarls Barkley
And Dr. Carter still say we got a heartbeat
I ain't gonna lie, I was scared to death, straight up
Started hearin rumors of an Outkast break-up
I was like that aint true, it sounds desperate
Then started seein Big Boi and 3K seperate"

Holy shit... quoteable of the year!

[Ringo]

Lupe messing up ATCQ lyrics on VH1? Check.


What happened here?

[Fro]

I really think a better comparison for Wayne is Rakim with commercial success.

:getout:

Honestly though, I can't really speak on this discussion because I don't listen to Wayne and the most recent album of his I've heard is Tha Carter 1. Still, I'd say likening him to Rakim is ludicrous.

[Stringer Bell]

What happened here?

During the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors or whatever they're called, Lupe and some other cats were covering classic Tribe songs (EDIT: "Electric Relaxation"), and Lupe fumbled over a full line, and just kind of laughed it off. Let me see if I can dig up a news article...

Spoiler for length..


Lupe Fiasco may have never uttered a more farsighted statement than the one he delivered to MTV News from the red carpet at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors taping last week (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1571264/20071005/snoop_dogg.jhtml).
"[Q-Tip] was really adamant [about selecting me to be a part of the A Tribe Called Quest tribute]," he said. "And then there's a little sub-story about why he was so adamant that we'll get into, I guess, after the awards. He's kind of giving me a hazing, giving me a reprimand."

What exactly he's referring to has been dubbed "Fiascogate" by the hip-hop blogosphere, and it stems from his flubbed performance during the Tribe tribute at the Honors show, a post he created some time ago about A Tribe Called Quest on Okayplayer.com, his claims (like the one above) that Q-Tip was adamant about him performing in the tribute — and subsequent reactions to all of the above.
In the post, Lupe wrote that he's not too familiar with Tribe's catalog, specifically 1993's classic Midnight Marauders,, which he claimed he'd never heard all the way through. Instead, Lupe — whose style is aesthetically very similar to Tribe and their "Native Tongues" contemporaries like De La Soul — said he grew up on West Coast gangsta rap more than East Coast "backpack" rap.
But the real controversy began when Lupe flubbed the lyrics to one of the album's standout tracks, "Electric Relaxation," during his performance. He also tripped up on Tribe's posse cut "Scenario." But rather than letting it go, Lupe let loose.
On Monday afternoon, before the show aired on television, he posted on Okayplayer again, rather aggressively explaining — in all caps — his mistake. And if you haven't been paying attention to the way Fiasco-gate has played out, below we'll take you step-by-step. [Editor's note: For readability, we have edited some of the following posts and put most all-caps posts into normal case.]
Saturday, October 6, 5:07 a.m.: Several news outlets, including MTV News, report about Lupe Fiasco's stumbling over his lyrics during the Tribe tribute. Messageboards react. Lupe responds in a thread on Okayplayer titled: "...Becuz Q-Tip Is My Friend And He Asked Me To..."
"So I've explained this to a lot of people...let me name-drop a few:
"#1 Fab 5 Freddy #2 Q-TIP!!!! ... that's right the leader of the group himself!!! #3 Common #4 ?uestlove
"and more ... ahem ...
"I DID NOT GROW UP ON ATCQ!!!...
"The little ghetto kid from the mean streets of the West side of Chicago grew up on Spice 1, 8Ball & MJG, N.W.A and Snoop Dogg. I wasn't a backpacker rap enthusiast! I never claimed to be. I grew up on gangsta rap! Have I listened to [Midnight Marauders] in its entirety? ... no!!! ... (sorry ?uest). Get off your high horses and your sacred cows. Some of ya'll make me sick. ...
"And fyi when [the Tribe tribute] was initially offered to me, I turned it down because I felt it was out of place for me to be honoring them, because while I was fully aware of their impact in hip-hop I wasn't really aware of their music like that ... but guess who wanted me to be a part of it ... hmmmm ... how about ... Q-Tip!!!
"So now are you going to hate on [A Tribe Called Quest] because they wanted somebody who didn't really know their music to honor them by covering some of their music? ... think on that [Okayplayers].
"P.S.: I forget the words to some of my own songs on stage ... hey it happens."


That's fine and all, but if Lupe didn't grow up on Tribe or feel some sort of connection to their music, why would he do it? His excuse is that Q-Tip wanted him to do it? Okay...? If you don't respect ATCQ, why would their lead emcee be able to persaude you to perform a song you don't even know? I woulda said something like "Nah Tip, with all due respect, I don't want to butcher your song. I don't know the lyrics that well." Whatever. Kinda lame if you ask me. This is the first time I've ever actually read Lupe's reaction.

[UncannyIowan]

That's fine and all, but if Lupe didn't grow up on Tribe or feel some sort of connection to their music, why would he do it? His excuse is that Q-Tip wanted him to do it? Okay...? If you don't respect ATCQ, why would their lead emcee be able to persaude you to perform a song you don't even know? I woulda said something like "Nah Tip, with all due respect, I don't want to butcher your song. I don't know the lyrics that well." Whatever. Kinda lame if you ask me. This is the first time I've ever actually read Lupe's reaction.


He didn't even say he didn't respect ATCQ, he just said he didn't grow up listening to it. He obviously does or he wouldn't go out of his way to make it point he fucked up the lyrics to songs he never listened to. At first he did tell ACTQ no, but for obvious reasons he gave in. If you're rapper who's creating a name for your self and Q-Tip likes your shit enough to ask you to cover it-that means a lot and it'd be stupid to not be involved. Still, fucking up on every song--at that level you need to be 100% ready. Rappers don't go on 70 city tours so it's not like he didn't have time. That's why people are kinda hating on him about it.

I do think it's funny he considers ATCQ backpack rap, never thought of them like that.

[Ringo]

Heh. Bit lame but many of my favourite rappers have done worse to go down in my estimation. Lupe still seems like a genuinely intelligent and decent bloke.

[Morrison]

Lil Wayne might sell records, but he offers nothing people will remember.

I think you underestimate what most people will remember. Just today I heard Nelly's 'Ride Wit Me' on the local pop station, and Nelly never got as much hype as Wayne. It's not known for certain that people are going to be listening to Wayne's stuff 5 years from now, but to shout out that he offers nothing that 'people will remember' when you actually just mean 'I won't remember it because I only listen to 'good' hip hop' is silly.

[JIJ]

Dumb It Down my nigga

[Adamy]

:getout:

Honestly though, I can't really speak on this discussion because I don't listen to Wayne and the most recent album of his I've heard is Tha Carter 1. Still, I'd say likening him to Rakim is ludicrous.

Yes, there's nothing at all similar about two guys that are both all about boasting, bragging, and wordplay, and are on some next-level shit in all of those areas.

Maybe you should listen to something Wayne's done in the past five years...

[Adamy]

I consider rappers to be kind of poets too, and I'd probably take Dylan Thomas and Robert Frost over the Sugarhill Gang. But that said, Lil Wayne is one of the worst, most over-hyped rap-poets I've heard since I started listening to the genre. Can you imagine Nas or MF Doom or Saul Williams or Jay-Z making a song as insipid as "Lollipop"?? Give me a break. I mean, you CAN be commercially and artistically successful at the same time, like Lupe or Talib Kweli or Ghostface. But as far as I can tell, Lil Wayne is pretty heavy on the commercial bullshit and very light on any artistic merit.

The knock on Wayne around the industry was that he couldn't make a hit on his own. So that's what "Lollipop" was all about.

I don't really know what "artistic merit" even means anymore, but Wayne's rhymes are at least consistently funny. I maintain that there's none better when it comes to wordplay.

[Stringer Bell]

We're seriously arguing over Lil Wayne? I don't come to this thread for that. I thought we were bigger than that :(

Adamy, are you serious when you say that no one in the ENTIRE rap world is better than Wayne with wordplay? That's ridiculous on so many levels, man...

Has anyone even bothered to listen to those Joe Budden tracks I've been raving about? They're the TRUTH.

Nas album remains in heavy rotation. 9/10, I still don't know whether I'm digging it over HHID or not. Needs to settle in and digest a bit.

[TRO]

Adamy if Lil Wayne had any merit, and if he's so desperate to get a radio hit, he would come out with a song that A) is good B) is a pop hit, and C) doesn't rely on a minimalist hook-heavy style of production that Timbaland ran into the ground years ago. Look at Gnarls Barkley or Kanye West, their singles are pretty much 100 times better than this "Lollipop" nonsense.

I mean fine, listen to Paul Wall all you want, that's cool, it's kind of a poppy faux-rap, nothing wrong with that. I listen to the Gin Blossoms, Kelly Clarkson, MEN WITHOUT HATS, Mims, etc etc. But I don't compare that stuff to Led Zeppelin the same way I wouldn't compare Lil Wayne to Rakim, cause even Wayne would admit that he falls waaay short. Not even a fair comparison, really.

[Adamy]

Adamy if Lil Wayne had any merit, and if he's so desperate to get a radio hit, he would come out with a song that A) is good B) is a pop hit, and C) doesn't rely on a minimalist hook-heavy style of production that Timbaland ran into the ground years ago. Look at Gnarls Barkley or Kanye West, their singles are pretty much 100 times better than this "Lollipop" nonsense.

Wayne on Lollipop: "Dudes are gonna hate this one... Ugly dudes, that is."

[Adamy]

Adamy, are you serious when you say that no one in the ENTIRE rap world is better than Wayne with wordplay? That's ridiculous on so many levels, man...

I will certainly admit that I have not heard every MC in the world. However, in my opinion, in terms of American rappers that are at least on the radar, Wayne is the best wordsmith. Wayne is the only guy I've ever heard that understands the vagaries of the English language and uses it to his advantage.

Let's take an example that I cited previously: "You're like a bitch with no ass: you ain't got shit".

In one sense, he's telling "you" that "you" are worthless by comparing "you" to a girl with a flat ass. But in another, entirely different sense, if you did not have an ass (and presumably therefore a colon), your body would not produce excrement. This is some next-level shit right here!

Even "fuck bitches, get money", his mantra on Tha Carter II, falls into this category. Does he mean "fuck bitches" in the sense of "have sex with women", or does he mean it in the sense of "forget about women"? Or, why not both?

If there are other guys out there doing this on such a consistently clever basis, I'd like names and examples.

[Stringer Bell]

The example you listed is cool, but nothing ground-breaking by any means. I mean, it's a clever punchline, but there's not much else to it. A good one-liner doesn't make a quality emcee.

I guess we just have different interpretations of wordplay, then. I'm probably wrong to be perfectly honest :$, but to me wordplay is when a rapper can string his words together into mind-boggling, breath-taking groups of multi-syllabic rhymes and the like. Jay-Z for example, is a wizard at this. Blueprint 2 took a lot of flack from the critics, mostly because it didn't live up to the first album, but his wordplay right then and there was some of his best ever.

[Hack]

Mr. Stringer, it is interesting that you bring up Jay-Z, that's exactly what I was planning to do ...

Adamy, are you a big Jay fan? Because the kind of shit you are mentioning that Wayne does ... Jay perfected that with The Blueprint and even The Blueprint 2.

Just two quick examples:

... I don't care if you mobb deep, i hold triggers to crews ...

... you put on two tube socks, you couldn't walk in my shoes ...

I'm not saying these are brilliant lines, but it's the kind of thing you are talking about. Jay did this years ago, and he did it while also having the smarts to get guys like Kanye and Just Blaze to take care of a lot of the beats.

For the record, I do like Wayne, I just can't stand a lot of the production on his joints ... none of the songs from The Carter III other than "Mr. Carter" really do much for me.

[Hack]

http://www.cokemachineglow.com/feature/3696/toptensongsonillmatic-2008

[spanish announce table]

Anybody have any Rip the Jacker instrumentals?

[TRO]

For the record, I do like Wayne, I just can't stand a lot of the production on his joints ...


Yeah, I might be able to listen to a Lil Wayne acapella. The annoying little NES bleeps and bloops of "Lollipop" do not make me want to listen to his record.

Adamy, I just don't understand how Wayne is the best wordsmith out there just because he has a couple punchlines. Off the top of my head, Nas, Jay-Z, Kanye, Andre 3000, Lyrics Born, Lupe, MF Doom, Ghostface, are all better at that game. Plus guys like that don't have the bullshit "radio" beats working against them.

As for the "ugly dudes" quote, anyone could say "if you don't like my song, you suck", and in fact lots of people have. Doesn't make their song any less weak.

[Stringer Bell]

http://www.cokemachineglow.com/feature/3696/toptensongsonillmatic-2008

Woooooooow. Very well-written, good article. Nearly impossible to tackle, so props to whoever wrote that. Why didn't you come up with that for your column?! :p Anyway, the only thing I would really change is bumping "One Love" up a few spots just cause it's my favorite Nas song.

TRO, I didn't even think of Andre 3K for some reason. He's immensely better than Wayne will ever be. Even his current stuff, like last year when he was jumping on EVERY southern remix possible, he was just flat-out destroying the beats. He's a mon-stah.

[Adamy]

The example you listed is cool, but nothing ground-breaking by any means. I mean, it's a clever punchline, but there's not much else to it. A good one-liner doesn't make a quality emcee.

It's not ground-breaking, exactly, but he does it on a consistent basis, and he does it better than anyone else I've ever heard. I never said he was a the best emcee in the game; he's just the best in the game at doing this one thing.

I find Wayne quite enjoyable to listen to, and I don't understand why everyone else seems to think he's garbage. That's all.


I guess we just have different interpretations of wordplay, then. I'm probably wrong to be perfectly honest :$, but to me wordplay is when a rapper can string his words together into mind-boggling, breath-taking groups of multi-syllabic rhymes and the like. Jay-Z for example, is a wizard at this. Blueprint 2 took a lot of flack from the critics, mostly because it didn't live up to the first album, but his wordplay right then and there was some of his best ever.

Well, again, I'm using a literary definition. I would call what you're describing "being good at rapping".

[Adamy]

[center]
Mr. Stringer, it is interesting that you bring up Jay-Z, that's exactly what I was planning to do ...

Adamy, are you a big Jay fan? Because the kind of shit you are mentioning that Wayne does ... Jay perfected that with The Blueprint and even The Blueprint 2.

Not a huge one, but I respect his game. I have a handful of his albums and listen to them from time to time.


Just two quick examples:

... I don't care if you mobb deep, i hold triggers to crews ...

... you put on two tube socks, you couldn't walk in my shoes ...

I'm not saying these are brilliant lines, but it's the kind of thing you are talking about. Jay did this years ago, and he did it while also having the smarts to get guys like Kanye and Just Blaze to take care of a lot of the beats.

The "mobb deep" line is quality. I don't really see how the other one is a double-entendre, though. Maybe there's something I'm not picking up on?

Believe it or not, I never cared for a lot of the production Jay had on the album cuts I've heard.


For the record, I do like Wayne, I just can't stand a lot of the production on his joints ... none of the songs from The Carter III other than "Mr. Carter" really do much for me.

Fair enough. I'd pretty much agree with your assessment of C3.

[Adamy]

Adamy, I just don't understand how Wayne is the best wordsmith out there just because he has a couple punchlines. Off the top of my head, Nas, Jay-Z, Kanye, Andre 3000, Lyrics Born, Lupe, MF Doom, Ghostface, are all better at that game. Plus guys like that don't have the bullshit "radio" beats working against them.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion. However, I also listen to these MCs, and I don't think that what they do here (keep in mind I am only talking about this one thing) is that remarkable compared to Wayne. Examples to support your statement would be nice.


As for the "ugly dudes" quote, anyone could say "if you don't like my song, you suck", and in fact lots of people have. Doesn't make their song any less weak.

I don't think "Lollipop" is really any good either, but at least it succeeded at what it tried to do.

[Hack]

The "mobb deep" line is quality. I don't really see how the other one is a double-entendre, though. Maybe there's something I'm not picking up on?
.


In most cases, person A saying "you couldn't walk in my shoes" to person B would mean that person A doesn't think person B can do what he does as well as he does it.

In this case, Jay (person A) is taking the phrase literally and just saying, "you couldn't walk in my shoes, even if you had two thick pairs of socks on."

It's a good one-liner, and actually very similar to your example about not having an ass I believe. :dunno:

[Ringo]

Yeah, very similar for sure. I like the socks line better personally. It's not as blatant.

[JIJ]

Bought the Nas album off Play.com Friday so it should be here tomorrow :yes:

I've been avoiding this thread all week since I saw that you'd all downloaded it already.

CHEAP CUNTS :D

[Adamy]

In most cases, person A saying "you couldn't walk in my shoes" to person B would mean that person A doesn't think person B can do what he does as well as he does it.

In this case, Jay (person A) is taking the phrase literally and just saying, "you couldn't walk in my shoes, even if you had two thick pairs of socks on."

It's a good one-liner, and actually very similar to your example about not having an ass I believe. :dunno:


I always thought the full expression was, "Don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes." So, to me, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, unless (now that I'm thinking about it) he's trying to say that he's had a tougher life than you. Like: "Even with the comfort of tube socks, you couldn't have survived what I've been through." Which is kind of pompous, I guess.

It's not exactly the same, because there's really only one way to interpret what Jay's saying here. With the Wayne line, what you take away from it depends entirely on how you interpret the word "shit".

I guess it's the same idea of taking a figurative expression literally, but when Wayne does it, it's hilarious. Like when he wrote an entire song about how calling him Weezy F. Baby is acceptable but Weezy F. is not and then had a line about being "Weezy F. Baby, that's right, no abortion."

[Adamy]

Yeah, very similar for sure. I like the socks line better personally. It's not as blatant.

Eh. I'd disagree.

"Walking a mile in someone's shoes" is a pretty hoary chestnut. Whereas, the mental image of a girl with no ass trying to poop cracks me up every time. But I guess that's just my sense of humor.

[Stringer Bell]

Holla, Holla, all my niggas that's ready to get dollars, dollars
Bitches know who could get 'em a little hotta, hotta
C'mon, if you rollin' with me, follow, follow
It's murdaaaaaaaaah!

[Fro]

I pack heat like I'm the oven door

...is perhaps my favorite Jay-Z line.

The Blueprint is still the best rap album of the new millennium in my opinion.

[TRO]

You're certainly entitled to your opinion. However, I also listen to these MCs, and I don't think that what they do here (keep in mind I am only talking about this one thing) is that remarkable compared to Wayne. Examples to support your statement would be nice.

I don't think "Lollipop" is really any good either, but at least it succeeded at what it tried to do.

Well maybe you and I have different ideas about what a "wordsmith" is, because I think all of the MCs I listed are better than Wayne at creating rap songs, and I'm so confident of that fact that I don't think I need to cite any specific examples.

You originally said you liked Wayne because "you can tell when he raps that he loves rapping" and then you said you "honestly cannot think of a single rapper than can be counted on to consistently articulate intelligent thoughts in a poetic manner", which means you either haven't listened to much good rap, or you have a different concept of articulating intelligent thoughts than most people. You don't think the "vagaries of the english language" would include the kinds of things that Nas and Saul Williams are capable of? Vagaries. Lil Wayne does write some clever double-entendres, but don't pretend that that was what you were originally harping on. Seriously, MF Doom namedropping D.B. Cooper is way way better than anything I've heard Lil Wayne say. And how can you imply that only Wayne LOVES rapping, that guys like Jay-Z and Ghostface are just doing it to cash a check? I think all the great MCs love what they do.

And heck, "Lollipop"? You agree that it's a bad song, but you think it achieved its purpose? What was its purpose, to be annoying and terrible?

[Ringo]

Thumps up post. Thanks for saying exactly what I would have said were I in a thinking mood.

[TRO]

I'm more in a drinking mood than a thinking mood at this point of the night, but I knows what I likes and I likes what I knows, and Lil Wayne ain't one of them.

[Dubya]

I never really got into Wayne's stuff for the most part. I like a couple of his mixtapes, but that's about it..

[Billmatic]

And heck, "Lollipop"? You agree that it's a bad song, but you think it achieved its purpose? What was its purpose, to be annoying and terrible?

I hate "Lollipop" with a burning passion, but sorta like "Beverly Hills" was for Weezer, it was an awful song devoid of any artistic merit whatsoever, but achieved its purpose of being a catchy, mindless single that would make a shit ton of money and help the album sell, which you can't really argue.


and on the Nasir front: Popmatters referred to Untitled as his Blood On The Tracks. Perfect comparison now that I think about it more.

[Stringer Bell]

I don't know Dylan's entire discography enough to comment on that, but I'd say something like Untitled is his Blueprint, or maybe American Gangster.

Just another Jay-Z example... this is from Beyonce's "Upgrade U", technically a throw-away verse since he didn't use it on his own stuff. I don't know if it fits the exact definition of wordplay, but in my mind, it's damn good..

I'm talkin spa bags and fly pads
And rooms at the Bloom-berg
And ru-mor is you on the verge of a new marriage
Cause that rock on your finger's like a tu-mor
You can't fit your hand in your new purse...
It's humo-rous to me, they watchin and we just Yachtin
Island hoppin off the Amalfi Coast, mafio-so!
Hov baby, you ever seen satin?
No, not the car, but everywhere we are
You sure to see stars, this is high level, not eye level
My bezel, courtesy of Audemars
I'll order yours tomorrow, now look at the time I saved ya
Mama, let me upgrade ya...

:eek:

It's pop all hell, and filled with material references, but he flips it craaazy.

[Adamy]

You originally said you liked Wayne because "you can tell when he raps that he loves rapping" and then you said you "honestly cannot think of a single rapper than can be counted on to consistently articulate intelligent thoughts in a poetic manner", which means you either haven't listened to much good rap, or you have a different concept of articulating intelligent thoughts than most people.

The example I cited was John Keats. If you're suggesting that there's a rapper out there that is a better poet than John Keats, I would disagree with you.

Of course, this is entirely a matter of opinion.


You don't think the "vagaries of the english language" would include the kinds of things that Nas and Saul Williams are capable of?

Nas has been a great MC some of the time. I don't like Saul Williams' poetry (S[rad]HE is a pile of shit), so I never bothered to check out his music.

"The Feds say I'm hot; I say I'm blazin." Doesn't sound like much, but think about it.


Vagaries. Lil Wayne does write some clever double-entendres, but don't pretend that that was what you were originally harping on.

Actually, it is. Wayne is, in my book, the best at wordplay. As in, plays on words.

That is the only thing I have been saying Wayne is good at. I would encourage you to re-read my previous posts if you feel that statement is inaccurate.


Seriously, MF Doom namedropping D.B. Cooper is way way better than anything I've heard Lil Wayne say.

Doom is a great emcee. One of my favorites. Certainly better overall than Wayne. Although, any discussion of D.B. Cooper references is going to take us back to "Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock, so maybe that's not the best example.


And how can you imply that only Wayne LOVES rapping, that guys like Jay-Z and Ghostface are just doing it to cash a check? I think all the great MCs love what they do.

I don't think I ever said "Wayne is the ONLY rapper that enjoys rapping". I'm just saying that his exhuberence on the mic is one thing I appreciate about Wayne that seems to get overlooked.


And heck, "Lollipop"? You agree that it's a bad song, but you think it achieved its purpose? What was its purpose, to be annoying and terrible?

He wanted to sell records, get a hit on his own, and make money. He did all of those things. This is not particularly relevant to the discussion about Wayne's relative abilities as a wordsmith, in my opinion. Or should I quote Bun B again?

[Hack]

Adamy referencing Kid Rock is better than anybody referencing Cooper.

[Adamy]

"American Badass" is always a great choice for karaoke night. Brings the house down.

[Stringer Bell]

I'm off to the store to pick up NCAA Football 2009 and NAS - UNTITLED, you guys should buy the album too if you really like it :D

[QuietStorm]

Moving into a new apartment today. NO TIME. Will buy it this weekend.

[Flow (Ice Cold) 3000]

Is the be-all and end-all of 'wordplay' double entendres? Otherwise couldn't you make a case for Fabolous being the best wordsmith because of his use/manipulation of assonance (multis)? Tupac for his extended metaphor on Me and My Girlfriend?

Seems pretty daft to me.

[Stringer Bell]

Fabolous isn't that talented, period. What skill he may possess on the mic, he wastes by rapping about the same tired shit all the time and tends to select horrible beats (sans "Breathe" and a few others). "Me and My Girlfriend" could be considered a good example of wordplay I guess, but I'd pick Nas "I Gave You Power" over that for wordplay steez. Nas had the idea first too, I believe.

Anyyyyyywayyyyy...... I fucking stuck it to Best Buy today. No real motivation behind it, other than the fact that this is the best album I've heard in a long, long time and everyone should buy it instead of whatever else is out (sorry The Hold Steady and whoever else I covered up... but David Banner, you released a shitty album, you have no business being on display. I did this as quickly as possible, so I didn't see Carter 3 anywhere. I would've hidden those somewhere if I had.) While in the process of assembling these two displays, one employee asked me if I needed any help finding anything, I just looked at him with a handful of Nas albums and said "No thanks, man, I got it.." and he watched me for awhile, then left :lol: I used literally every copy of Nas that was on the floor for this, that's why a few spaces aren't filled in. My friend called me an idiot and said "Nas isn't paying you to promote him", but I don't give a fuck. That many more people will see that album, it will catch their eye, and they may or may not buy it.

For what it's worth, it seems the album is actually self-titled after all. There's no mention of 'Untitled' anywhere, but I guess you could draw your own assumptions. Like Nas has said, everyone knows what the album's really called.

http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35275118_5459.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35275120_6376.jpg

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35275119_5916.jpg

And of course.. the "I Got Mine" picture.. had to show off the Weathermen tat :D

http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35275134_5422.jpg

"..A hatred addict, I need faces mad with frowns when I'm around or I wasted fabric..."

[Hack]

OK, so I bought it on my way to work this morning and here are some thoughts after listening to it all day:

1. "Make the World Go Round" is bad. I'd rather listen to "Lollipop," actually, to bring up a popular topic in this thread.

2. "Queens Get the Money," "Sly Fox" and "Black President" are my favorite tracks so far

3. I think Hip-Hop is Dead is better overall

... of course, these thoughts will change as I digest the album more, I'm sure ...

[Morrison]

Anyyyyyywayyyyy...... I fucking stuck it to Best Buy today. No real motivation behind it, other than the fact that this is the best album I've heard in a long, long time and everyone should buy it instead of whatever else is out (sorry The Hold Steady and whoever else I covered up... but David Banner, you released a shitty album, you have no business being on display. I did this as quickly as possible, so I didn't see Carter 3 anywhere. I would've hidden those somewhere if I had.) While in the process of assembling these two displays, one employee asked me if I needed any help finding anything, I just looked at him with a handful of Nas albums and said "No thanks, man, I got it.." and he watched me for awhile, then left :lol: I used literally every copy of Nas that was on the floor for this, that's why a few spaces aren't filled in. My friend called me an idiot and said "Nas isn't paying you to promote him", but I don't give a fuck. That many more people will see that album, it will catch their eye, and they may or may not buy it.

For what it's worth, it seems the album is actually self-titled after all. There's no mention of 'Untitled' anywhere, but I guess you could draw your own assumptions. Like Nas has said, everyone knows what the album's really called.

http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35275118_5459.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35275120_6376.jpg

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35275119_5916.jpg

And of course.. the "I Got Mine" picture.. had to show off the Weathermen tat :D

http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35275134_5422.jpg

"..A hatred addict, I need faces mad with frowns when I'm around or I wasted fabric..."

Wow.

[Mantaur]

Wow indeed.

[Adamy]

Is the be-all and end-all of 'wordplay' double entendres? Otherwise couldn't you make a case for Fabolous being the best wordsmith because of his use/manipulation of assonance (multis)? Tupac for his extended metaphor on Me and My Girlfriend?

Seems pretty daft to me.

Wordplay = plays on words. So, basically, yes.

[Adamy]

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35275119_5916.jpg

ahahaha

The Journey records in the upper-right and strewn about on the floor cracked me up.

[Tyson]

Wanted to get the opinion of those more knowledgeable than myself.

I contend that were Tupac still alive, he would still be among the top 2 or 3 rappers in the game. He and Shawn Carter would be holding the top two spots down.

RIP Tupac Amaru Shakur. It's been 12 years this September, a legend that was taken much too soon. :(

[Morrison]

There's really no answer to the question. He could've really fallen off at some point and just start to live off his past glory. I think out of the two, Biggie would be more likely to produce quality more consistently.

[Stringer Bell]

I agree with Morrison, personally. I don't think Pac would have necessarily "fallen off", but I don't think the quality of his work would have increased drastically. Biggie on the other hand, had nowhere to go but up. He only had a chance to record 2 full-length albums, for fuck's sake.

2pac was a special kind of rapper. I personally don't rank him highly as some, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve that kind of hype.

Adamy, you know it. I had to do what I had to do.. :lol:

[Ringo]

From sputnik's review of the new Nas...


Untitled is far from terrible, but it's still a deflating, disappointing, infuriating listen.

FUCK OFF.

[Morrison]

To be honest, I'm not feeling it nearly as much as you people are, either. I wouldn't say it's an infuriating listen, but with the hype it got with the controversial title, I was hoping for a little more. At this stage of listening, it might not make even my top 10 this year.

[Ringo]

I'm not sure it's my favourite hip-hop record from this year, but it's still fucking brilliant.

[Morrison]

Yeah, wouldn't go so far as to say that.

[Hack]

From sputnik's review of the new Nas...



FUCK OFF.


Sputnik, haha ... When I first found that place, I thought it was so awesome and I immediately started writing reviews there ... but it go old so fast. Just a bunch of people taking turns jacking each other off.

"Great review man, wow, you are always so great!"

[Ringo]

Yeah, wouldn't go so far as to say that.

What did you find underwhelming about it, out of interest?

[SheltonBurke]

I'll be listening to Nas later tonight and see what's up with it. It's gotten good reviews at the places I check out. Nas never really comes up short but we'll see what the mainstream thinks this time.

As for Tupac Shakur? He's the most emulated and loved rapper of all time. Fall off? He had the most thought invoking lyrics of his time and are so great that it can't be touched by anything left by today's standards. If he was ALIVE, Jay Z wouldn't be what he is. The whole south wouldn't be what they are. Tupac was putting out classic work. He would be a multi millionaire rap kingpin who would of done songs with with other genres and continued to put out even more recent classics. No one could flip words like he could. Not Biggie, not Nas, not Rakim, not 1993 Snoop. No one.

[Morrison]

A lot of the album, really. There's definite standouts, Queens Get the Money, You Can't Stop Us Now(mostly cause I adore this beat), Sly Fox, Untitled, and Black President. Everything else is decidedly meh. I don't think he's being nearly as challenging of race and society as he made it sound like he was intending, nor do I think he's being quite as meaningful throughout as Stringer claimed after it first leaked. I dug Hip Hop Is Dead a lot more on the first listen then I have this after a few.

[Morrison]

As for Tupac Shakur? He's the most emulated and loved rapper of all time. Fall off? He had the most thought invoking lyrics of his time and are so great that it can't be touched by anything left by today's standards. If he was ALIVE, Jay Z wouldn't be what he is. The whole south wouldn't be what they are. Tupac was putting out classic work. He would be a multi millionaire rap kingpin who would of done songs with with other genres and continued to put out even more recent classics. No one could flip words like he could. Not Biggie, not Nas, not Rakim, not 1993 Snoop. No one.

Jesus, get some perspective.

[Stringer Bell]

A lot of the album, really. There's definite standouts, Queens Get the Money, You Can't Stop Us Now(mostly cause I adore this beat), Sly Fox, Untitled, and Black President. Everything else is decidedly meh. I don't think he's being nearly as challenging of race and society as he made it sound like he was intending, nor do I think he's being quite as meaningful throughout as Stringer claimed after it first leaked. I dug Hip Hop Is Dead a lot more on the first listen then I have this after a few.

What about Breathe, Hero, America, TESTIFY, N.I.G.G.E.R., Fried Chicken (mmmmmmm!), Project Roach, Ya'll My Niggas, and We're Not Alone? They might not be as spectacular as the songs you listed, but they're still great if you ask me. Certainly standouts on an album with pretty much zero filler.

Decidedly meh? Mehhhhh myself... each to their own :blah:

I suppose he could have taken his message a few steps further, but I don't see how he failed to deliver to his own hype. Nearly every single song addresses race and society, no matter how you look at it :dunno: As for my reaction to the leak, I stand by it. Again, it might be biased since I do rank Nasir as the greatest rapper of all time, but I don't see any lack of meaning here. The only radio friendly tracks are "Money" and "Hero", the latter of which is a banger anyway. Every other track is no nonsense, serious biznass...



On a side note, adding to a semi-fresh/never-ending discussion, some Weezy thoughts. Nothing that hasn't been said before, just something that's so blatantly obvious when flipping through his 2007 work. A lot of the mixtape/pre-C3 stuff was SO much better Wayne, what the hell were you thinking? You show what you're capable of, create massive hype for your record, and then when the time comes, you splatter diarrhea all over the hip-hop game. For shame.

Anyway, some specific songs that made me think of this.. most of, if not all of these, are better than the entire C3 album...

"Gossip" (maybe my favorite Wayne song ever)
"Something You Forgot"
"How You Like Me Now? (Kush)"
"World of Fantasy" (I like this a lot more than the song he re-used the lyrics for on Carter III)
"I Feel Like Dying" (who doesn't like this track? One of Wayne's best)
"La La La"
"Prostitue Flange" (he made a 2nd one as a C3 bonus track, and it sucks compared to this)
"One Night Only"
"Brand New" (fun joint, could've been a perfect single)
"Operate On Me" featuring Wyclef (much better than the Babyface song),
"Ride For My Niggas" (Mike Jones freestyle)
"I Can't Feel My Face"
"Seat Down Low" (T.I. freestyle)
"Outstanding"
"I'm Me"

That's already plenty for a full album right there. There you go Weezle, I made a better Carter 3 than you...

[Hack]

A lot of the album, really. There's definite standouts, Queens Get the Money, You Can't Stop Us Now(mostly cause I adore this beat), Sly Fox, Untitled, and Black President. Everything else is decidedly meh. I don't think he's being nearly as challenging of race and society as he made it sound like he was intending, nor do I think he's being quite as meaningful throughout as Stringer claimed after it first leaked. I dug Hip Hop Is Dead a lot more on the first listen then I have this after a few.


It's just not a very consistent album. And it's dull. I actually like it less now after another full day of listening to it.

"Queens Got the Money," "You Can't Stop Us Now," "Sly Fox," "Testify," "Fried Chicken" and "Black President" are the only songs I really dig ... the rest go from boring to flat-out terrible. And of the songs I mentioned enjoying, only "Queens Got the Money" and "Black President" are the kinds of songs that really make me want to listen over and over.

Sorry Stringer ... I loved Hip Hop is Dead and I bought Untitled the day it come out, so you know I want to love this thing.

[Billmatic]

You guys all seem to be missing the greatness of "Y'all my niggas"

"So I was thinkin' a little bit.. what would it take to authenticate my nigga-ness? Ball ridiculous, 26 inches when I call up the dealership? Aw, that's some nigga shit."

"So what if my pants sag and my hat's turned back? The same swag got our merchandise flyin' off the rack/Marketing companies thats hirin' blacks/Fresh hip-hop lingo for your campaign ads."

[Billmatic]

"I Can't Feel My Face"

Everything the hype says about Wayne is 100% dead on on this track. Shame he can't spit like that more often.

[Hack]

Anyone have the 9th/Jean Grae album? Do you want to share?

[Ringo]

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=pqtvm112

[Simon]

Pussy Money Weed is the business. And the beat on Mr. Carter is nuts.

[Hack]

Thanks man.

[Simon]

It's not my fault hip-hop is rubbish nowadays. I would go so far as to say that UK hip-hop is interesting me more than US nowadays, and UK hip-hop is mostly crap as well.

I could upload a few UK tracks if you lot are interested, there's a fair few excellent artists around and I could stick ten or twenty tracks into a zip file and put it up on Megaupload or some shit.

[spanish announce table]

Bought the Nas yesterday and gave it a few spins on the ride to and from work. Overall I really enjoyed it, but it has its flaws. Some of the beats dont stand up to the lyrics, and onsome of the songs, he drifts too far off the topic he was trying to get across. I would put this just about equal with HHID. Queens Get the Money, Black President, and the stic.man joints stand out the most.

[Ringo]

It's not my fault hip-hop is rubbish nowadays.

It's really not though. There's plenty of good stuff. Just not on MTV Base.

[Simon]

I still try my best to keep up to date with the major hip-hop artists simply out of blind hope that it might get good again. Problems being that:

1) there's fuck all worth listening to (it would help if I could get on board with the indie hip-hop stuff, I just don't see the love for MF Doom, Jedi Mind Tricks etc at all - I really wish I did because the people that like them think they're the best things ever)

and

2) the gradual decline in quality and therefore my interest over the years has meant something has to impress me greatly and instantly if I'm going to give it a chance. Which I suppose is my own fault but I can't be arsed sifting through hours and hours of hip-hop when recent history tells me 99& of it will be shit. So unless the lyrics hit me instantly or (more likely) the beat is a real banger, I probably won't give it much of a chance.

It saddens me because it was only a few years ago that I gobbled hip-hop up. I guess part of that was that I had a huge amount of back catalogue to get through - once I'd exhausted the majority of artists/albums from before my time, coupled with the decline, there just isn't much there for me now.

Just going off my iTunes, of the hip-hop tracks I've rated as 4* or more, only a handful are from the last few years...

Kanye West - Never Let Me Down (genuinely a stunning track, easily the best I've heard in the past few years)

G-Unit - So Seductive (the beat is ridiculous)

Lloyd Banks - Warrior Remix (see above)

Gang Starr - Battle (very underrated IMO, the beat is up there with Premo's best and Guru is on form)

Immortal Technique - The Cause Of Death, Dance With The Devil (no explanation needed, Tech is a badman - I missed out on seeing him for the THIRD time a few weeks ago, not happy)

Jay-Z - Lucifer (very decent, but even then it's not a touch on Brooklyn's Finest, Can't Knock The Hustle etc)

Mr. J. Medeiros - Constance (pure luck that I even heard it, but it's maybe the second best track post-90s for me, it's insane how this guy has one incredible track and almost literally nothing else worth listening to)

Nas - Made You Look Remix (hard beat, plus Jada and Luda murder it - some of their punches still get me on the 43958495843th listen...copped your shit, now I break weed up on it)

The Roots - The Seed v2.0 (yeah)


Went off on one there...I wish there was some decent hip-hop around but right now there isn't. And Untitled or whatever it's called...it's boring, there's no other word for it. Nas hasn't released anything decent since Stillmatic...Street's Disciple had a few nice tracks, this one basically has nothing...Hero is an ok pop song but the rest is just dull. Not terrible, just not particularly good. For what it's worth, I'd say Black President (crap sample aside) and America are the standout tracks other than Hero.

[Ringo]

How many of the following have you heard...

9th Wonder & Buckshot - The Formula
Kidz In The Hall - The In Crown
Immortal Technique - The 3rd World
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons...
Akrobatik - Absolute Value
Nicolay & Kay - Timeline
Guilty Simpson - Ode To The Ghetto
J-Live - Then What Happened
Little Vic - Each Dawn I Die
Killah Priest - Behind The Stained Glass
Cadence Weapon - Afterparty Babies
Yak Ballz - Scifentology 2
Damu The Fudgemunk - Spare Time
Jean Grae/9th Wonder - Jeanius
Blue Sky Black Death - Late Night Cinema
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One
Jazz Liberatorz - Clin d'Oeil
Me'Shell Ndegeocello - World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams
Ayatollah - Louder

(While not all of that stuff is exactly "hip-hop", I have seen it categorised as such at one point or another).

[Stringer Bell]

Nice list Ringo. I was hoping you had come in here to defend the Nas album in my absence, but that list is good enough for me :yes: At first I thought it was something I wrote myself! :lol: Out of all of those, the only ones I have not heard are Flying Lotus, Cadence Weapon, and Me'Shell. Not familiar with the artists at all. Sell me on them, buddy.

I guess the Nas album is a "different strokes" sort of album, but I dunno. Maybe it's a grower. It hit me instantly though. The only disappointment I had was that I had heard almost 1/2 of the album already due to the blasted internet. Is every beat perfect? Nah, but this is Nas. He's never had the best selection of beats (sans Illmatic/IWW). It's still a DAMN good record in today's climate (sorry to use that phrase, but it's true). I wouldn't rate it 10/10, and like I've said before, I'm not sure how I'd rank it next to Hip-Hip Is Dead, but I don't see why people are unahppy. I paid $9.99 for my copy and got to say 'fuck the RIAA' in my own little way, so I don't have any complaints. Is it the album of the year? I'm not sure yet. But it's probably my favorite so far. Again, Nas is the best rapper ever in my opinion, so I'm a little biased, I can admit it.

Simon, I'll happily get back to you soon. Your post is too long for my exhausted and frustrated brain to fuck with right now, sorry.

[Simon]

How many of the following have you heard...

9th Wonder & Buckshot - The Formula
Kidz In The Hall - The In Crown
Immortal Technique - The 3rd World
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons...
Akrobatik - Absolute Value
Nicolay & Kay - Timeline
Guilty Simpson - Ode To The Ghetto
J-Live - Then What Happened
Little Vic - Each Dawn I Die
Killah Priest - Behind The Stained Glass
Cadence Weapon - Afterparty Babies
Yak Ballz - Scifentology 2
Damu The Fudgemunk - Spare Time
Jean Grae/9th Wonder - Jeanius
Blue Sky Black Death - Late Night Cinema
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One
Jazz Liberatorz - Clin d'Oeil
Me'Shell Ndegeocello - World Has Made Me The Man Of My Dreams
Ayatollah - Louder

(While not all of that stuff is exactly "hip-hop", I have seen it categorised as such at one point or another).

The Jean Grae one I've probably heard, plus the Tech one...the rest, nah. Like I said, I gave up on digging deep for hip-hop as it became more of a trek to find something decent. It's all well and good posting up twenty or so good tracks, but I'd probably have to go through maybe a thousand shit ones to find that lot unless I knew exactly what I was looking for.

[Ringo]

It's hardly a "trek". Actually most of those have been brought up in this very thread. They're mostly reasonably well known and easy to find. You won't have to look through "thousands of shit ones" either. You just have to know where to look.

Anyway they're albums, not tracks.

Along with the likes of Nigger and Rising Down, they are what many would consider the year's best hip-hop thus far. You can't say that hip-hop is "rubbish nowadays" without even hearing the stuff which has been getting the most hype.

As I say, if you base your opinions on the state of hip-hop from watching MTV Base and the like, then really it's no surprise you're talking such bollocks.

[Stringer Bell]

Simon, how can you ask for recommendations and say you "wish there was some decent hip-hop around", then when Ringo lists all sorts of stuff, you complain. I don't understand that at all. Almost every single album he listed is QUALITY, absolutely worth your time spent downloading/listening/whatever. If you want new good hip-hop, there you have it.... if you don't, don't dare say there isn't any decent hip-hop around. Because there is, it's just not right in front of your face like some shitty motherfucking G-Unit song.

Ringo I love you :heart: No homo... I think?

[Simon]

I'm not complaining, I didn't even realise they were recommendations as such - I took it more as a contradiction of what I was saying, a kind of "you say hip-hop is rubbish, but all these are good" rather than albums I should listen to.

I don't know why you've got so defensive either, I admitted about five times in my original post that the gradual decline (and I'm sure you can't deny that) over the past maybe seven or eight years has left me disinterested, to the point that I'm not even that bothered even when something I think might be good comes out...I've lost whatever love I had for hip-hop and so won't bother my arse with most stuff nowadays, that's my own fault and my own problem if it means I don't get the benefits.

I just grew out of it I guess, although a big part of that was the fact that there was so much shit coming out, and such a decline in almost all the artists I grew up loving. The first three albums Nas brought out shit all over everything he's released since - I couldn't create a Best Of from his last three albums that would be as good a CD as Illmatic, It Was Written or I Am. Same with Eminem, SSLP and to a lesser extent MMLP were fantastic albums, but there's been a huge decline upon each album release since then. Other than those two, the four main favourites of mine - 2pac, Biggie, Big L, Big Pun - were already dead before I got into hip-hop, and the only other real favourite, Immortal Technique, still has a relatively small body of work. Even Jay-Z's recent stuff is far inferior to his earlier stuff. The last genuinely good album he brought out was The Black Album, the last couple (American Gangster and Kingdom Come) were beyond shit.

Kanye West's debut is the only album I can honestly say I've enjoyed over the past four or five years.

[Stringer Bell]

I didn't get that vibe from Ringo's list at all, I didn't even know if it was directed towards you or what. I think he genuinely wanted to know who had heard those albums. I was just pointing out, you asked for recommendations and one of the next posts happens to be a load of those, but you complain anyway :dunno:

I didn't mean to get so defensive, sorry. I actually real like you, so I didn't mean to lash out. I was going to bust out my own reply to your initial post this morning once my brain was rested, but I'll save that for later since I have some things to tend to.

I can't argue with a decline over the past decade, but the thing I'm trying to stress to you that you don't seem to be grasping, is that there IS plenty of AMAZING rap music still out there and there has been for the past ten years. It's just not always presented to you on a silver platter. It requires some digging, some research, or if you're lucky like you are -- bullshitting with some members on this forum and finding out what to check out and what not to.

American Gangster -- beyond shit??? I don't know how you can possibly come to that conclusion, man. I ranked it my #1 album of 2007 if I recall correctly. It was LEAGUES better than Kingdom Come, it was the album that everyone knew Jay was still capable of making, but hadn't yet. In my opinion, it rivals The Blueprint as his best work since his debut. I think you need to give American Gangster another solid, thorough listen because I love The Black Album, and A.G. is still a far superior record.

If Kanye's debut is the only album you've enjoyed over the past X amount of years, that's silly. That is indeed a great album, maybe even in my top 10 of the past decade or so, but... you just need to listen to more hip-hop man. Branch out a little bit. There's so much more to enjoy.

[Ringo]

I provided that list to see how much of it Simon had heard. Apparently, very little, which makes his "point" that "hip-hop is rubbish nowadays" completely worthless.

Do you not see how ridiculous that is?

[Stringer Bell]

Oh, I certainly do, which is why I'm constantly telling him he needs to dig beyond what's on the top layer. I just wasn't sure what the list was actually for, that's all.

I'm not feeling the love back, Ringo... :(

[Ringo]

The "you" was directed to Simon, Stringer. SOZ.

[Stringer Bell]

No worries on that, that's not even what I was getting at..

I went as far as to say..


Ringo I love you :heart: No homo... I think?

And got nothing in response :( :(



:p

[Simon]

If you're going to take that one comment about hip-hop being rubbish nowadays at face value and ignore EVERYTHING ELSE I'VE SAID THAT PROVIDES A CONTEXT FOR IT then yeah sure, it might look stupid.

[Stringer Bell]

Simon. Dig. Research. Talk to us. Hip-hop is not rubbish nowadays no matter how you cut it. Yeah, if you only watch BET/MTV and listen to the radio, it might suck... but work with us man. We're only trying to help..

[spanish announce table]

I've put together an instrumental CD with all beats produced be me. I only started making beats as of May, and I'm only using Cool Edit, so dont expect Donuts or Latenight Cinema, but I think I put together some decent stuff. I tried to liven it up a bit by sticking in some quotes from songs and movies at the beginning and end of most tracks. Let me know what you think! Criticisms, suggestions for improvement, what you liked, etc.

http://www.zshare.net/download/156203610fa22438/

Noyz - The Sound of Silence

[Hack]

http://www.stonesthrow.com/store/12-inch/dilla-ghost-doom/sniperlite

Dilla/Doom/Ghost release from Stones Throw.

[Simon]

Simon. Dig. Research. Talk to us. Hip-hop is not rubbish nowadays no matter how you cut it. Yeah, if you only watch BET/MTV and listen to the radio, it might suck... but work with us man. We're only trying to help..

I wrote a long reply to this but it appears not to have been posted. Can't be arsed to rewrite it, which sums up how much I've lost interest in hip-hop...the jist of it was that I basically just don't enjoy it enough nowadays to bother my arse digging and researching. Any time a link is posted in here to something supposedly great, I DO still download it...but I'm usually disappointed.

In case anyone's interested, I'm uploading a little playlist of good UKHH/grime at the moment, 35 tracks and 200mb so if anyone wants it I'll post the link when it's done (Megaupload). Nothing too unknown but not pop crap either. Good stuff.

[RFF Champ]

I'm not particularly well versed in hip-hop but I dip in and out of this thread from time to time.

I was at a music festival at the weekend and I went to see Mr Shaodow, it's the second time I've seen him. He has a bit of a cult following in my town due to some of the gigs he has done, I never really wanted to like him but he impressed me quite a lot.

http://www.myspace.com/mrshaodow

His recordings haven't impressed me as much as the two times I've seen him live because he is a very charismatic guy and that doesn't come across quite as much in his recordings. The crowd were going wild for him at the weekend, moreso than for any other act I saw spare for maybe Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. He also had some guy doing some freestyle singing in the background, he gets the crowd involved in his music and he occasionally incorporates some martial arts into his performance. "The British Are Coming" is my favourite and he encourages his crowd to shout "oi" in the chorus when prompted which gets everyone involved.

I wrote a bit too much there, I only really intended to see if anyone else had heard of him. But yeah, good artist.

[Stringer Bell]

Simon, I want the UKHH stuff when you get it done, please. Thanks in advance.

[spanish announce table]

Anybody hear the new Almighty album? I've only skimmed through it, but it seems pretty damn good so far. Handle The Heights is phenomenal. Doesn't get much better than Bis over a Bronze beat.

And lets not forget...
http://www.zshare.net/download/156203610fa22438/
Noyz - The Sound of Silence

[Stringer Bell]

SAT, I've already got your shit extracted into my "New" folder, I did it as soon as I got your FB message. I just have had a hell of a few days and anything I've been listening to is just randomness. I'm not in the right state of mind to digest something new if that makes any sense. I just think I'll enjoy it a lot more if I listen to it at a better time for me personally :x

For instance, the new Skillz album that was years in the making leaked, and he's from VA so obviously I'm dying to hear it. Extracted it but haven't touched a single song. I'll probably buy it before I listen to the mp3's, honestly.

[spanish announce table]

It's all good. I'm just eager to hear how people feel about it.

And for those of you tha dont have them...
http://rapidshare.com/files/131046863/itsskills.rar Mad Skillz
http://rapidshare.com/files/130309751/sinornot.rar Almighty
http://rapidshare.com/files/129337661/pledgethis.rar Killer Mike

[Hack]

Madvillainy 2 ... sort of ... OK, not really ... (http://www.prefixmag.com/news/stones-throw-release-madvillainy-2/20150/)

[SheltonBurke]

Still gotta listen to Nas Untitled....

Nas Untitled
http://rapidshare.com/files/126827299/NAS_Untitled_Album.rar

1. Nas - Queens Get The Money (2:11)
2. Nas - You Can’t Stop Us Now (Feat Eban Thomas of The Stylistics &
The Last Poets) (3:04)
3. Nas - Breathe (3:33)
4. Nas - Make The World Go Round (Feat Chris Brown & The Game)
(3:48)
5. Nas - Hero (Feat Keri Hilson) (3:59)
6. Nas - America (3:51)
7. Nas - Sly Fox (4:22)
8. Nas - Testify (2:45)
9. Nas - N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave And The Master) (4:32)
10. Nas - Louis Farrakhan (2:51)
11. Nas - Fried Chicken (Feat Busta Rhymes) (2:49)
12. Nas - Project Roach (Feat The Last Poets) (1:48)
13. Nas - Ya’ll My ~censored~ (4:15)
14. Nas - We’re Not Alone (Feat Mykel) (5:39)
15. Nas - Black President (Feat Johnny Polygon) (4:28)

[Morrison]

Little late on that, buddy...

[SheltonBurke]

I'll make up for it next time. It's time to put that Shimmer Rip in the Media thread though.

[Ringo]

Kid Cudi's mixtape: "A Kid Named Cudi"
http://10deep.com/KIDCUDIMIXTAPE/

Chris from Gorilla vs. Bear said it was his favourite of all the year's free mixtapes thus far.

[Stringer Bell]

Ah, feels good to be back. Had to handle some nonsense in The Asylum Picture thread, basically just wanted to get all the kiddies riled up and draw the most entertaining reactions as possible. Definitely got them :lol:

I have the Kid Cudi, I have had it for like a week now (whenever nahright put it up). It's cool, great stuff.. but mixtape of the year?! Nawwww. That's in my avy. WALE...

SAT, still haven't listened to yer instrumentals. Like I said, I'm in in a shitty state of mind, I want to be able to listen to it and fully enjoy it. Trust that I will as soon as I can. If nothing else, I will burn it to CD as part of my road trip mix for Rock The Bells this weekend.

PS ROCK THE BELLS!!!!! I'M SEEING NAS, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, DE LA SOUL, RAKIM, GHOSTFACE, METH & RED, AFRIKA, WALE, IMMORTAL TECH, DEAD PREZ, THE COOL KIDS, KIDZ IN THE HALL, SO MANY MORE....... SHIT IS GONNA BE HYPE!!! VIP PARTY BABY!

[Morrison]

Ah, feels good to be back. Had to handle some nonsense in The Asylum Picture thread, basically just wanted to get all the kiddies riled up and draw the most entertaining reactions as possible. Definitely got them :lol:



Yep, what a mastermind.

[Ringo]

I'm just really hoping that was some sort of witty irony.

[Fro]

PS ROCK THE BELLS!!!!! I'M SEEING NAS, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, DE LA SOUL, RAKIM, GHOSTFACE, METH & RED, AFRIKA, WALE, IMMORTAL TECH, DEAD PREZ, THE COOL KIDS, KIDZ IN THE HALL, SO MANY MORE....... SHIT IS GONNA BE HYPE!!! VIP PARTY BABY!

:yes::yes:

I'm going saturday, so pumped.

[The Rosk]

Ah, feels good to be back. Had to handle some nonsense in The Asylum Picture thread, basically just wanted to get all the kiddies riled up and draw the most entertaining reactions as possible. Definitely got them :lol:

I have the Kid Cudi, I have had it for like a week now (whenever nahright put it up). It's cool, great stuff.. but mixtape of the year?! Nawwww. That's in my avy. WALE...

SAT, still haven't listened to yer instrumentals. Like I said, I'm in in a shitty state of mind, I want to be able to listen to it and fully enjoy it. Trust that I will as soon as I can. If nothing else, I will burn it to CD as part of my road trip mix for Rock The Bells this weekend.

PS ROCK THE BELLS!!!!! I'M SEEING NAS, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, DE LA SOUL, RAKIM, GHOSTFACE, METH & RED, AFRIKA, WALE, IMMORTAL TECH, DEAD PREZ, THE COOL KIDS, KIDZ IN THE HALL, SO MANY MORE....... SHIT IS GONNA BE HYPE!!! VIP PARTY BABY!

You should take your knife mate.

[MTR]

Keep that shit in the Asylum folks and that includes you Stringer Bell.

[Stringer Bell]

My apologies MTR, I didn't realize that referencing Asylum behavior was against the rules. Won't happen again.

ROCK THE BELLS IN THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!!


Enjoy the show Fro, you lucky ass. Get to see it a day before me! I wonder how similar our lineups are, probably damn near identical seeing as it's back-to-back days.

[Kronedog]

http://www.myspace.com/3oh3

I saw these guys on the Warped Tour and they are like an electronic hip hop group who is pretty good. Got me pumped up at the beginning. I suggest you guys at least check them out to see you think they are.

[Second City Saint]

i didn't bother to see them, but their crowd seemed to really enjoy them.


and they've got their own little hand signal.

[spanish announce table]

Surprised as hell to see the Skillz video on 106 & Park today.

GZA's Protools tracklisting. Due August 19th.
1. Intromental
Produced by: Dreddy Kruger

2. Pencil Feat. Masta Killa & RZA
Produced by: Mathematics

3. Alphabets
Produced by: True Master

4. Groundbreaking Feat. Justice Kareem
Produced by: Bronze Nazareth

5. 7 Pounds
Produced by: Black Milk
Intro Produced by: Preservation for Preserved Productions, LLC

6. 0% Finance
Produced by: Jose "Choco" Reynoso

7. Short Race Feat. Rock Marcy
Produced by: Arabian Knight

8. Interlude

9. Paper Plate
Produced by: RZA

10. Columbian Ties Feat. True Master
Produced by: Bronze Nazareth

11. Firehouse Feat. Ka
Produced by: Rock Marcy

12. Path of Destruction
Produced by: Jay Waxx Garfield

13. Cinema Feat. Justice Kareem
Produced by: Arabian Knight

14. Intermission (Drive In Movie)

15. Life Is A Movie Feat. RZA & Irfane Khan-Acito (of Outlines)
Produced by: RZA
(Bonus Live Performance)

16. Elastic Audio
Live Performance @ The Parish in Austin, TX
5/31/2007 Featuring FYRE Department & Dreddy Kruger

[Morrison]

I really dig "Alphabets." I just hope he can keep things going the entire album.

[Hack]

I'm still finding Untitled hard to listen to ...

"Put On" is one of the best mainstream rap singles in the last few years, by the way.

[Miotch]

Dre mixtape from 1988?

I'm in.

http://djmksworld.blogspot.com/2008/07/dr-dre-mix-tape-1988.html

http://bp3.blogger.com/_0jPEVXgVEsU/SIyMSgRTB4I/AAAAAAAAAkg/E-fJ-Eeve6w/s400/nwa_panic_zone_ice_cube_easy_e_dr_dre_arabian_prin ce_1987_01.jpg

[Stringer Bell]

"Put On" is dope, Jeezy is tolerable and Kanye is really nice on it it in my opinion.


ROCK THE BELLS WAS THE GREATEST SHOW OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NAS IS THE GREATEST RAPPER EVER, PERIOD. I SAW RAKIM, HE WAS AMAZING. BUT NAS IS THE GOAT. AND WALE IS THE FUTURE. PICS COMING SOON.

[spanish announce table]

Did you see Ghost & Rae? Did they do any songs from CL2 like they were advertised to do? What about Mos Def? I've read some bad reviews of his sets.

[Stringer Bell]

I saw bits and pieces of Ghost & Rae. Heard most of it. My buddy said they did like 2-3 new songs, but I don't think he knows for sure. Mos Def I had to see from the screen because I was waiting in line to meet Tribe, but I almost passed that up because the rumor going around was that Talib was there and they were going to perform as Black Star. But nope, it was just Mos Def. He sounded good, but I HAD to meet ATCQ.

Sorry fellas, no weapons. I don't own any of those, thus they weren't with me on the trip. Sorry to disappoint!

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35388223_7355.jpg At the "best bar on the east coast" according to some magazine we found in the hotel. Mehhh.

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35388231_8988.jpg Relaxing at the bar

http://photos-f.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35388389_6111.jpg HYPED to be up front!!!!

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35388425_2509.jpg First up... MURS

http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35388434_5863.jpg WALE!!!!!!!!

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v274/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35388921_3675.jpg Supernatural freestyling about whatever items the crowd handed to him. I gave him my Obama button, he said something along the lines of "These days, there's a whole lot of drama/And you're a stupid motherfucker if you don't vote for Obama!!!"

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35389105_3117.jpg Dead Prez. FUCK THE LAW!!!

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35389144_8673.jpg THE GOD!!!!

http://photos-f.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35389149_374.jpg WALE and me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://photos.l3.facebook.com/photos-l3-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35389718_4372.jpg Only Built 4 Cuban Linx!

http://photos.l3.facebook.com/photos-l3-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35389723_6164.jpg Q-Tip at the meet&greet !!!!

http://photos.l3.facebook.com/photos-l3-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35389724_6515.jpg Erin, Raheem DeVaughn, and I..

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35390167_7827.jpg GOD'S SON

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v308/223/45/68135769/n68135769_35390168_8186.jpg

Still more pics, but they're on disposable digitals. My friend got some decent ones of Nas, I hope.

[MTR]

I just deleted a few posts guys that came after my warning in here. Keep it up and I will do more than delete posts.

[Stringer Bell]

:yes: D.C. United!!!

[Morrison]

Sorry fellas, no weapons. I don't own any of those, thus they weren't with me on the trip. Sorry to disappoint!



I just deleted a few posts guys that came after my warning in here. Keep it up and I will do more than delete posts.

Well, MTR, it's not like he's heeding your warning either, and not trying to bait people. If what happens in The Asylum stays there, then maybe he shouldn't be bringing that shit up in here.

[Miotch]

Well, MTR, it's not like he's heeding your warning either, and not trying to bait people. If what happens in The Asylum stays there, then maybe he shouldn't be bringing that shit up in here.

That was actually in response to something I said, so it's not really fair to put that on him.

[Stringer Bell]

How was I baiting anyone? This is seriously becoming ridiculous. I get it Morrison, you hate the world, you bitch in all of your posts, but I'm tired of reading it, so I'm going to add to you my ignore list right about.... now. Like Miotch said, he mentioned something about weapons, so in response I mentioned the fact that I didn't take any weapons with me. I don't even own any of the weapons in the pictures.

[Ringo]

Okay, let's leave it at that now.

Stringer, looks like a really good show, in all fairness. You don't happen to have a link to Wale's most recent mixtape do you?

Also, anything to add that Best Hip-Hop of 08 list we were discussing a while back, or is it mostly the same bunch?

[Stringer Bell]

Thank you, Ringo. I respect that.

http://elitaste.com/blog/2008/05/30/ladies-and-gentlementhe-mixtape-about-nothing

Just use the Zshare links on there. AWESOME mixtape in my opinion. It has a Seinfeld concept behind it. I'd say it's easily the mixtape of the year so far, even over The Nigger Tape, Elzhi's Euro Pass, and other great stuff.

I'll see what I can come up with... I haven't downloaded a whole lot of new stuff lately. I know Ludacris has a new free mixtape out to hype up his new album. It might be decent, the album has production from 9th Wonder and others.

Okay...

9th Wonder and Murs - Sweet Lord (FREE ON THE INTERNET!!!!!!)
Bumpy Knuckles - Crazy Like a Foxxx (2008 release of unreleased material with DITC production. Looks very promising)
Our very own SAT's instrumental project, Noyz - Sounds of Silence
Skillz - The Million Dollar Backpack (GREAT! Not getting excellent reviews, but it's still great. This is the album he always had in him)
THUG Angelz - Welcome To Red Hook Houses
Common - Cents (Unofficial Remixes by Insight)
Scarface presents Green City - Brand New Money (haven't listened yet, but Scarface co-signed them, so that says a lot on its own)

some more stuff... give me a while..

Someone mentioned that Kid Cudi mixtape earlier, that's supposed to be good.

[Morrison]

How was I baiting anyone? This is seriously becoming ridiculous. I get it Morrison, you hate the world, you bitch in all of your posts, but I'm tired of reading it, so I'm going to add to you my ignore list right about.... now.

Hahaha, what a complete fucking tool.

[Ringo]

Hahaha, what a complete fucking tool.

Way to completely ignore MTR's continuous pleas to leave it the fuck alone mate. Just respond in the Asylum for fuck sake.

[Torn]

Who on earth is WALE

[JIJ]

Been listening to Nas' new one for a while now and these are my favourite tracks...

Can't Stop Us Now
We Make The World Go Round
Hero
America
Black President.

Quality album :yes:

[Stringer Bell]

Wale is an upcoming artist from DC. He is the future of rap and WILL be the next to blow up. I stamped it! :D

[Hack]

Loving the Skillz album.

[SheltonBurke]

Been listening to Nas' new one for a while now and these are my favourite tracks...

Can't Stop Us Now
We Make The World Go Round
Hero
America
Black President.

Quality album :yes:

I love the We Make the World Go Round track. I have that shit on repeat all the time. That's gonna be a ringtone later this year.

[Stringer Bell]

The Skillz album is indeed greatness. Thank god he finally got the chance to release a proper album.

"Money Make The World Go Round" is easily the worst song on the entire album, guys. Nas is nice on it, but Chris Brown? What the fuck did he do to earn a spot on one of the most important Nas records ever? And the beat is just gah-baj. However, "Black President" may be one of the greatest rap songs in years.

Looking back, that Nas concert was definitely the greatest set I have ever, ever seen. Rakim killed shit, don't get me wrong, but when you see them both back to back, it speaks for itself. Of course, some of the audience was younger and probably were more familiar with Nas than Rakim, which made a huge difference for the Nas set, but Rakim was amazing.

Nas just held the entire crowd in the palm of his hand. Every lyric, every word, ad-lib, hook; everyone was shouting along with him. It was pretty amazing looking around at the lawn and just seeing everybody of all different races and ages coming together as one to rap along with him and enjoy the show. When he did "If I Ruled The World", the whole crowd was singing Lauryn Hill's hook as if it were the National Anthem or something. "Black President" got some great reactions too, the whole thing was just unforgettable.

Nas setlist as best as I can remember...

Opener: Hip-Hop Is Dead
NY State of Mind (which he flipped to "DC State of Mind")
The Message
Street Dreams
If I Ruled The World
Nas Is Like
Hate Me Now
I Want To Talk To You
Black President
N.I.G.G.E.R.
Sly Fox (AWESOME crowd reaction here too... lots of "FUCK FOX NEWS" chants)
Got Ur Self A...
It Ain't Hard To Tell
The World Is Yours
One Love
Life's a Bitch
Only the hook of Nastradamus (thank you! even though I still rocked to this shit :lol:)
Shoot 'em Up
Made You Look

I thiiiink that's about right..


There was no violence at the entire event, which honestly surprised me for as large of a venue as it was. Even with Dead Prez rapping about "smacking white boys" and "running up on crackers in City Hall", even with the controversial new Nas tracks, everything... everyone got along. It was all love all around. I've never seen something like that. I saw Wu-Tang at 9:30 Club in DC with a FRACTION of the people and 3-4 fights broke out, along with other violent nonsense.

[eddymac]

The Skillz album is indeed greatness. Thank god he finally got the chance to release a proper album.

"Money Make The World Go Round" is easily the worst song on the entire album, guys. Nas is nice on it, but Chris Brown? What the fuck did he do to earn a spot on one of the most important Nas records ever? And the beat is just gah-baj.



It was originally supposed to be on Game's LAX album, but Game decided to give it to Nas instead. As for the song I think its dope and could be a potential hit single. As for Nas album I think it's the album of the year so far. Nas really out did himself for this one.

[RockOverBoston]

Nas outdid "Illmatic" with this one?

What the fuck are you smoking, and may I please have some?

[Stringer Bell]

Nas outdid "Illmatic" with this one?

What the fuck are you smoking, and may I please have some?

I'd like some too please, eddymac.

Untitled is the album of the year so far in my eyes, but Illmatic-status? :freak: That's one of the greatest rap albums EVER recorded.

Yes, it could be a single, but the song is not dope. It's corny and sounds like it was made for the radio. It doesn't fit in at all on this album, kinda like "Hello Brooklyn" on American Gangster.

[eddymac]

Must have misunderstood what I wrote. Me saying he outdid himself doesn't imply he outdid "Illmatic" with this one.

[RockOverBoston]

Except, you know, that's actually what "he outdid himself" actually means...

And "Money" probably will be a hit single. That doesn't make it any fucking good whatsoever. Fuckin' Fergie has a stack of hit singles....

[Hack]

That Nas set you listed sounds incredible. He's coming here next month, and if I don't get to cover it, I'm just going to pay the money and go anyway. Talib, DJ Green Lantern, Jay Electronica ... can't miss it.

Stringer, Untitled is so boring. I don't even know if Untitled is as good as God's Son.

[Stringer Bell]

I forgot "Hate Me Now". Nas KILLED it. He introduced it with something along the lines of "This is for anyone who has haters. This is your anthem. Me, I love haters. I love hate. But fuck them..." then the song dropped. Simple, but perfect. I always dug the song, even with P Diddy shouting nonsense everywhere, but it was awesome live.

Also forgot to add "Nas Is Like", don't know how the hell I forgot that one! My poetry's deep, I'll never fail you!

I dunno, Hack. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Boring is the last thing I would ever call it. "What's all this talk that Nas got boring/I'd rather outline my body in white chalk" like he said on HHID. It's not perfection, but what's so bad about it? God's Son is a great album in my opinion, the only thing that brings that album down is some of the beat selections.

[Stringer Bell]

Double-post, sorry

EDIT: Not that Pitchfork means a whole lot, but check this out: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/51474-wale-the-mixtape-about-nothing

Any doubters should download this thing immediately. It's free!!!!!!~!~!

[Stringer Bell]

HEY GUYS!!!!!!!!!!

I think I have stumbled upon something a LOT of us have been waiting for. As for Morrison, I hope his file is corrupt with a trojan in it (download it Morrison, come on ;)), but for the rest of you all...

My friend passed me this link just a few minutes ago. I don't know if it's legit or not. I haven't even finished my download. I wanted to post it here ASAP. Enjoy... and again, don't yell at me if this isn't the real deal. It's labeled a web rip so don't expect outstanding quality, but my friend says it sounds fine.

http://rapidshare.com/files/133710632/Madvillain-Madvillainy_2_The_Madlib_Remix__WEB_-2008-VYM.rar

[Morrison]

As for Morrison, I hope his file is corrupt with a trojan in it (download it Morrison, come on ;)), but for the rest of you all...



Yet again you're stirring the pot that you created in The Asylum, instead of dropping it and posting normally. You're inviting abuse on yourself outside of that forum by provoking people. You should really stop.

[RockOverBoston]

Yeah, Stringer Bell's gonna stop altogether for about a week, actually. Enough's enough.

[Myles]

When is Eminem coming out with a new album? Or is he still in retirement?

[JIJ]

That banning was harsh, he was clearly joking :wtf:

[spanish announce table]

King Mathers is supposedly coming out in the 4th quarter of this year. I haven't heard anything new about since word got out that Premo did a beat for it.

[Morrison]

That banning was harsh, he was clearly joking :wtf:

Joking or not, he's been told by mods to knock off provoking people because of anything that happened in The Asylum, and during one of his own reported posts, told the mods that he was going to stop the shit as well. And he hasn't.

[Mantaur]

Speaking of Premo, the producer lineup for Termanology's new album is insane.

Premo
Pete Rock
Large Professor
Alchemist
Hi-Tek
Havoc
Easy Mo Bee
Nottz
Buckwild

Ridiculous

[RuneEdge]

King Mathers is supposedly coming out in the 4th quarter of this year. I haven't heard anything new about since word got out that Premo did a beat for it.

I can imagine him bringing in LL Cool J on a track after that interview on the radio where he pranked LL.

[Hack]

Speaking of Premo, the producer lineup for Termanology's new album is insane.

Premo
Pete Rock
Large Professor
Alchemist
Hi-Tek
Havoc
Easy Mo Bee
Nottz
Buckwild

Ridiculous


Holy shit. Sounds good to me.

Still loving the Skillz album. Not every song is great, but there are a handful of songs that are really impressive ... the intro track, "Sick," "Hold Tight," "Hip hop Died" ... good stuff.

[The Imperfect]

Might download a few songs from Nas' new album, and I was wondering which songs were worth downloading and which ones weren't a big hit?

[Morrison]

Stringer, Untitled is so boring. I don't even know if Untitled is as good as God's Son.


Yep, I haven't even listened to anything off it in the last week. It just hasn't grabbed me at all.

But on the other hand, the two cuts off Big Boi's solo record that I've heard sound completely awesome, and address the state of hip hop and America pretty well, too. Much better then anything on Untitled, as far as I'm concerned.

[son_of_foley]

Right I do this a lot so here I come with a silly question

What do you guys think of EL-P?

My friend is quite into him atm and I'm finding it a bit bleak for my liking. Draconian Prison Ship is a hell of a song though.

[Morrison]

I really dig Funcrusher Plus by Company Flow, but never gave his solo work much of a listen. I have Fantastic Damage, but haven't given it a proper listen, and because of that, didn't get the album he put out last year. I tend to really enjoy anything by Def Jux, and I don't expect El-P is going to be the one to break that trend. I'll have to give that solo record a spin soon.

And while I'm on the topic of 'still haven't given a listen to,' I STILL haven't listened to that De La Soul album you linked me up with, Hack. I seriously don't think I'm meant to listen to these guys.

[Just Do It]

I've been listening to Lady Soverieng a lot it's good.!

[Torn]

:lol:

[Just Do It]

Don't laugh, make way for the SOV!

[spanish announce table]

Just saw this today. Its the way Ready To Die was supposed to sound.

01 Intro(Original Uncleared Sample Version)
02 Things Done Changed(Original Version)
03 Gimme The Loot(Uncensored Never Before Heard Version)
04 Machine Fun Funk(Dj Premier Version)
05 Warning(Original Version)
06 Ready To Die(Original Beat Version)
07 One More Chance(Original Uncleared Sample Version)
08 Fuck Me(Interlude)
09 The What(Original Unheard Lyrics Version)
10 Juicy(Pete Rock Version)
11 Everyday Struggle(Demo Version)
12 Me And My Bitch(Original Beat Version)
13 Respect(Original Extended Version)
14 Friend Of Mine(Original Demo Version)
15 Whatchu Want(Unreleased Original Version)
16 Suicidal Thoughts(Pete Rock Version)
17 Come On(Unreleased Original Version)
18 Who Shot Ya(Original Demo Version)
19 Mac's N Dons(Unreleased)
20 Pepsi Freestyle(Unreleased)
21 Biggie Got That Hype Shit(Unreleased Demo)


http://www.zshare.net/download/16261632a952bd02/

[Billmatic]

Hell. fucking. yes.

[Hack]

Hell yeah, thanks for the link spanish. The Pete Rock version of Juicy ... wow.

[Morrison]

Just ran across this album by The Problemaddicts. They take the "Dark Side of Oz" experiment and use it as inspiration for a fun album, full of Pink Floyd and Wizard of Oz samples.

http://www.myspace.com/theproblemaddicts

Three of the songs are up on their MySpace, so you can check them out before downloading...

http://rapidshare.com/files/134539943/tp-tdsoo.rar

[Hack]

New Damu (FREE) in two days.

Dude is seriously probably my favorite producer right now. He's freakish. I like Y Society and all, but I'd love to see him work with some different emcees ... Blu, for instance.

[TRO]

Damu is the shit. Thanks for turning me on to him.

Man, God's Son is a good album. I think people don't like it because they're comparing it to Nas's other shit, which was not only good but insanely legendary. Listen to God's Son and then listen to any random rap album. It's good stuff, on its own. And he pretty much dedicated the album to his dying mother, I thought that those emotions were pretty much the realest his lyrics have ever been since Illmatic. Plus "Book of Rhymes" is interesting when he just tries to spit all those old rhymes and then stops in the middle of it to say how lame those rhymes really were. The whole album, for better or worse, is a very personal thing. "Get Down", "Last Real Nigga Alive", "Made You Look", those would be on my mix cd of the best Nas songs ever. And that acoustic version of "Thugz Mansion", how many times do you hear someone rapping over an acoustic guitar with no drums or anything? That album has some filler, for sure, but on the whole I think it's very good.

[JIJ]

Dance is one of the best hip hop tunes ever.

[Mike Skillz]

Heaven was a great track.

[Hack]

Damu is the shit. Thanks for turning me on to him.

Man, God's Son is a good album. I think people don't like it because they're comparing it to Nas's other shit, which was not only good but insanely legendary. Listen to God's Son and then listen to any random rap album. It's good stuff, on its own. And he pretty much dedicated the album to his dying mother, I thought that those emotions were pretty much the realest his lyrics have ever been since Illmatic. Plus "Book of Rhymes" is interesting when he just tries to spit all those old rhymes and then stops in the middle of it to say how lame those rhymes really were. The whole album, for better or worse, is a very personal thing. "Get Down", "Last Real Nigga Alive", "Made You Look", those would be on my mix cd of the best Nas songs ever. And that acoustic version of "Thugz Mansion", how many times do you hear someone rapping over an acoustic guitar with no drums or anything? That album has some filler, for sure, but on the whole I think it's very good.


Yeah, you are right ... that was a solid album. I forget about a lot of those songs when I think about that album and I focus on that terrible Alicia Keys track and some of the other shit.

[spanish announce table]

Finally got around to checking out Immortal Technique's 3rd World. He's definitely improved as an MC, and he sounds more full of fury than ever. Chino XL, Crooked I, and Ras Kass drop some great guest verses, and Bronze Nazareth produced the best beat on there. Overall, the production is solid and bangs hard, but there are a few clunkers. I'd give this an 8-8.5 based on my first few listens.

The producer for track two might have the best publishing name ever.

MynameisOttoandIliketogetBlotto (ASCAP)

[TRO]

But so, "Sly Fox", rap song of the year so far? I mean, it wasn't just the complete tearing apart of Fox News, there were a ton of great rhymes in there. And the bouncy, uptempo beat was a huge part of the track's appeal. "When I watch CBS I see BS" ahyahhaaaha.

[Fro]

Yeah, it's definitely my song of the year so far and will probably end up taking a spot on my personal Nas greatest hits album. I only wish he had included "Be a Nigger Too" on the album. That song is so sick and obviously fits the theme.

To chime in on the ongoing debate, I think Untitled > Hip Hop is Dead. HHID didn't age well with me. Songs like "You Can't Kill Me", "Carry on Tradition", "Who Killed It", "Blunt Ashes" and "Play on Playa" really don't do much for me.


"We're Not Alone" is getting a lot of plays on my iTunes right now. That song is so dope:

Searching for the truth is a threat/seems the closer we get/to the truth state troopers or feds/come out to silence you/my house in Malibu/probably tapped cause living next door to Demi Moore/plus I'm black/plus I want vengeance for the poor/who's attacked daily/Patriot Act never scare me

So sick.

[Stringer Bell]

"Carry On Tradition" and "Blunt Ashes" were two of my favorites on HHID. That "Now some of these new rapper got they caps flipped backwards..." line ie up there with some of my favorite Nas lyrics ever. Each to their own, though.

Untitled is still my album of the year so far..

Be sure to download the new 9th Wonder and Murs album, Sweet Lord, it's free.

Sorry for the dud of a Madvillain 2 link.. that's what I get for posting it before my download finished :x

EDIT: Has anyone been keeping up with all these unreleased Lupe songs that have been leaking recently? There's damn near enough of them to make an album out of. Here's the latest (http://www.zshare.net/download/16728056c4a15a4a/).

I'm slowly warming up to The Cool Kids. Something about the beats still annoy me, they try a little too hard to be old school, but it's still damn fun music.

[TRO]

HHID was great, man. I wasn't digging that song with The Game, and was a little disappointed that there was a clean version of the title track when we'd all been led to believe that the dirtier, better, version was going to be on the album. But frankly just the Nat King Cole sample would have sold me on that album. "That's why the gangsta rhymers ain't inspired / heinous crimes help sell more records than creative lines"... And then that hokey tin pan alley hook by whatsherface. Unforgettable indeed.

[TRO]

So was the Madvillainy 2 thing legit, or no? I thought Doom was working on his own album.

[Stringer Bell]

HHID was fucking great. I rock the unedited version of the title track ALL the time, I can upload it for you if you need it, TRO. And "Can't Forget About You" still gives me chills. Best will.i.am beat ever?

Madvillain 2 was a dud, unfortunately. My download never actually finished (Rapidshare can be weird sometimes on my computer), but my buddy let me listen to it, and there's definitely a lot of old MF Doom verses and stuff on it. I'm guessing somoene just made it from home and passed it around the internet to create false hype.

[Hack]

Madvillain 2 was a dud, unfortunately. My download never actually finished (Rapidshare can be weird sometimes on my computer), but my buddy let me listen to it, and there's definitely a lot of old MF Doom verses and stuff on it. I'm guessing somoene just made it from home and passed it around the internet to create false hype.



No, it wasn't a dud. And it wasn't made by some fan. Madlib made an official remix of Madvillainy with all new beats using Doom's old verses.

Pay attention you sons of bitches, I linked to the story in this thread like a week or two ago, it had all the facts there.

[Fro]

Don't get me wrong, I love "Money Over Bullshit", "Hip Hop Is Dead", "Black Republican", "Hold Down the Block", "Let There Be Light", "Can't Forget About You" and "Hope". Overall though, I think Untitled is the more consistent listen.

[Adamy]

The producer for track two might have the best publishing name ever.

MynameisOttoandIliketogetBlotto (ASCAP)

ahahahahaha Awesome.

"Come on Homer, come on Homer, pretend this is baseball and hit us a homer!"

[spanish announce table]

The thing about Untitled is that it didnt really grab me upon first listen like HHID did. The only songs that really made we want to listen again on repeat were Hero, Queens Get the Money, Fried Chicken, and Sly Fox. Both are good albums, but I feel HHID has more replay value.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/167370982ca29ef5/
My latest beat. Usually I just take 2 or 4 bar loops of songs and try to add layers of strings, horns, or voices under it, but I chopped the shit out of the sample on this one. There's 7 or 8 different chops in here. It still needs some better drums and a bassline, but this is one my favorites I've made so far.

[TRO]

But really, Sly Fox, one of the best songs I've heard this year regardless of genre.

So do any of you have the remix of Madvillainy? Just gimme some DOOM I need to get my fix.

[Stringer Bell]

Sly Fox is FIRE. Someone already quoted my favorite line ("I watch CBS, and I see BS.."), but there's so many good lyrics in there.

"O'Reilly, oh really? No rally needed, I'll tie you up"

"The Fox has a bushy tale. And Bush tells lies and Fox trots, so I don't know what's real"

"I use Viacom as my firearm"

The whole damn thing..

SAT, I'll download that beat now. Still listening to your album on my Ipod and in the car. Very enjoyable :yes:

I'm absolutely baffled as to why "Be a Nigger Too" and "Nigger Hatred" were left off of the album. The intro leading into the single could have propelled it to classic status, especially if you remove that SHIT with Chris Brown.

[Stringer Bell]

This thread is in desperate need of a bump, so here goes it. I know I wasn't the only one keeping this thread alive, so what's the deal?

My main problem with "Make The World Go Round", besides the fact that it takes away from an otherwise spectacular album, is that Nas and The Game have an outstanding history of collabs up until this...

The Game - Why You Hate The Game? feat. Nas (Produced by Just Blaze)
Nas - Hustlers feat. The Game (Produced by Dr. Dre)
Nas - Don't Body Yourself (Remix) feat. The Game

And then this.............


what?!?!?!?! Chris BROWN!??!?! I am from Virginia and I have more talent than him in my fucking pinky finger. Anyone can dance, we've seen that thanks to America's retarded infatuation with reality television.

[SheltonBurke]

The Game and Nas parts of Make the World Go Round are hard though

[JIJ]

Its a quality tuuuune.

[Fro]

The Game and Nas parts of Make the World Go Round are hard though

Ha. No, they're really not. Catchy maybe, but mainly just cliched, boastful lyrics. Which is unlike the rest of the album, making the song seem very out of place.

[RuneEdge]

And then this.............


what?!?!?!?! Chris BROWN!??!?! I am from Virginia and I have more talent than him in my fucking pinky finger. Anyone can dance, we've seen that thanks to America's retarded infatuation with reality television.
Sorry but if you think you have more talent than Chris Brown then you don't know what you're talking about. Chris Brown is one of the most talented RnB artists in the world right now. Just cuz he doesnt please your hip hop taste, it doesnt mean he's shit. The track was clearly aimed at an RnB audience and from that perspective, it's a decent track. I agree that it does seem out of place in the album but blaming that on Chris Brown is stupid.

[SheltonBurke]

Ha. No, they're really not. Catchy maybe, but mainly just cliched, boastful lyrics. Which is unlike the rest of the album, making the song seem very out of place.

I like catchy shit like that though. I've been on turned off to everything that usually comes out that I can't really just spit on a R&B laced Nas cut. I know dudes see Brown as a joke but the kid is really into his performances and shit. He went wild at one of those shows.

[Fro]

Fine, but it's not hard.

[Adamy]

Dude, Chris Brown IS SO HARD

[SheltonBurke]

Nas>Wayne

[Adamy]

Nas>Wayne

Not when it comes to being hilarious. But when it comes to rapping, this is not exactly news.

[TRO]

That Madvillainy Remix has some good stuff. "Can't Reform 'Em", "Butter King Jewels", "3.214" especially. Mostly just reminds me of how epic the original was.

SAT I listened to the Noyz album, it's dope. "Goin' Down" and "Get Up" are exactly the kind of sound I really enjoy right now. Who was rapping over the "Kick, Push" beat at the end there?