After writing down some comments and the such a few months ago and hearing some rumors that WYDU was featured in the latest issue of Hip Hop Connection as part of their "Blogger World Cup", I've finally been able to verify it. Finding a copy of Hip Hop Connection around here has been proven to be like finding the proverbial "needle in the haystack", although I used to see it quite often. The good folks at Fat Lace have blessed us with the write ups found in the magazine.
http://fatlacemagazine.uproxx.com/?p=3406
Surprisingly enough, WYDU didn't win. Yeah shocker, I know. Honestly, I'm just honored to be included with the big names, although I thought there were a few blogs that were better that were overlooked. I'll let you name those yourselves. Fun read though.....
Didn't finish up 100-76 tracks today, met up with some friends and had some beers and went to the local college football bowl game here. Froze my balls off, but what did I expect? Did get some used CD shopping as well along with a couple pieces of vinyl. Maybe I'll post that shit up sometime over the weekend I'll try to get it wrapped up tomorrow before I go out for the night. Holidays are so unpredictable.
12/30/2008
Blogger World Cup
12/29/2008
WYDU's Top 100 Tracks of 2008: The Honorable Mentions Part One (101-125)
Time to kick off the year end celebration on WYDU. We have two weeks of highlighting the best (and in some cases the worst) of 2008. You'll see so much of 2008 that you'll be glad its gone and done by the time we are done with it. As I mentioned over the weekend, I'm a big fan of the year end lists. Of course the internet has killed the anticipation and usefulness of the "year end list". It used to be a good tool to use to maybe catch something you might have missed or just slept on. Now, at least for a good chunk of people (myself included), if you keep your eye to the.....ummmm...computer screen, you are likely to catch anything catching any kind of buzz. I'm guessing that I've listened to more albums/eps/bootlegs/unofficial releases/mixtapes this year than I have any other year in the past. Yet, despite all this, it's still fun to hear other peoples opinions and in the case of this week, catch onto a song that you might have missed the first time around.
Myself, I'm a fuckin' freak when it comes to this year end list shit anyway. Even more so that I have some kind of voice to trumpet my opinion in the form of this blog. What I did this year, as in years past was make a seperate folder for songs that I like of that specific year. I try to keep it related to the 2008 year, but I know a few 2007 tracks have slipped in and that's okay. Throughout the year, if I hear a song on a project or something that I hear on a blog, I put it in this folder. Around December 1st, I start weeding through the tracks. This year I had 900+ tracks in the said folder. Needless to say, it's been quite a chore to get down to the 100 tracks I wanted to list on our year end list. In fact, there were quite a few that I still wanted to be highlighted, that weren't going to make it in the top 100. I had at least a good 75 tracks that I just wanted people to know that were among my favorites as well, but just couldn't fit in the final list. If you made it anywhere on this list be featured, it means the music had some kind of effect on me through the year, I listened to it more than once (I kid I kid).
This the first part of our Honorable Mentions, which covers tracks 101-125. These tracks are still among my favorites, they still deserved to be heard by the masses. I'm not going to get deep in to the honorable mention tracks with writing and the such. I have enough writing to do with the top 100, another 75 would cause me take my keyboard and beat someone upon the head by the end of the week. So enjoy.
Special Note: Again, these are MY opinions. I'm not going to kid myself or anyone else into thinking that I'm some kind of professional critic, cause I have yet to be paid for my opinion, so until then, just realize that these are my favorite tracks. They are songs that I enjoyed. If your favorite joint isn't on here, or it is on here and you think it should be higher, just realize opinions are like....you know the rest.
101. Q-Tip - Gettin' Up (from: "The Renaissance" LP)
http://www.myspace.com/buff1der
103.Busta Rhymes - Don't Touch Me (from: Unreleased LP and street single)
104. The Gents - It's The Gents (from: the free EP "Pugs Atomz Presents: The Gents")
EP Download: http://www.zshare.net/download/50279466444bde7e/
105. Amad Jamal - Boy Meets Girl (from: Amad's Myspace Page)
http://amad-jamal.com/blog/
106. Buff 1 feat Black Milk - Never Fall (from: "There's Only One" LP)
http://www.myspace.com/buff1der
107. Camp Lo - Lumdi (from: street single, as far as I know)
http://www.myspace.com/therealcamplo
108. Has Lo & Small Professor - Moltov Cocktails (Small Pro Remix) (From:The free EP from Has Lo & Small Professor "Fuck Has Day: Remixed But Still Fucked")
http://www.myspace.com/loreso
http://www.myspace.com/smallprofessor
109. The Camp - Gentleman Needs (from: "The Campaign")
www.myspace.com/itsthecamp
110. Atmosphere - Shoulda Known (From: "When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold")
www.myspace.com/atmosphere
111. Doomtree - Drumsticks (From: "Doomtree" the LP)
www.myspace.com/doomtree
112. Torae - Switch (Small Professor Remix) (From: The Torae "Switch" remix contest)
and he deserved to win too.....
http://www.myspace.com/smallprofessor
www.myspace.com/dayoungvet
113. Big Quarters feat Alicia Steele - August (from: monthly song series on their Official Site)
Big Quarters: (Official) (MySpace)
114. eMC - Winds of Change (From: "The Show")
www.myspace.com/emcthegroup
115. Fade ft Has-Lo - Negadelphia (From: "Benign Neglect" LP)
http://www.myspace.com/fademoneyphilly
116. Blu & Mainframe - Mama Told Me (from: "Johnson & Jonson")
117. N'Telligence feat Preach - Let Me Run It (from: "Black Boy Lost")
Free Album Download Here: http://kevinnottingham.com/myblog/2008/08/02/exclusive-ntelligence-black-boy-lost/
118. Hot Box feat Sampson & Mischif - Squeal Snaps (from: the free EP "Boxploitation")
http://www.wydublog.com/2008/11/new-artist-spotlight-hotbox.html
119. Praverb - Freedom To Prevail (From: his LP "Center Of Attention")
http://www.praverb.net/
http://www.myspace.com/pvizzle
120. Ox The Midwest Bully - You & Me (from: "Life Support")
http://www.myspace.com/midwestbully
121. Pillowtalk Politiks - Not Preaching (from: "Pillowtalk Politiks" EP)
http://www.myspace.com/pillowtalkpolitiks
122. Blu & Mainframe - Bout it Bout it (From: "Johnson & Jonson" LP)
123.Kooley High & HaLo feat Rapsody of Kooley High - Eye Of the Storm (from: the free online EP/mixtape "Burn After Listening")
Free Download for EP:http://rapidshare.com/files/178059703/Kooley_High_-_Burn_After_Listening.rar124. Weapon X - Asshole Syndrome (from: "Portrait of a Starving Artist")
www.myspace.com/wxmc
125. Quad Almighty - Quad Almighty (From: "The Royal Parchment")
http://www.myspace.com/quadalmighty
12/28/2008
Last Inbox Goodies of the Year
My peoples Kooley High are the feature of a new documentary about the day in a life of a hip hop group trying to be heard. It's filmed in Raleigh-Durham and features WYDU favorites HaLo and J SOL along with NC favorite 9th Wonder and Skyzoo. Be on the look out for the debut Kooley High album dropping the first quarter of 2009.
"One Day" Movie Preview from Kooley High on Vimeo.
Premiering at the Galaxy Theatre in Raleigh N.C., Becauseus Films in association with M.E.C.C.A. Records presents "One Day". This biopic chronicles a day in the life of the emerging N.C. rap group. The film includes exclusive live performance footage and studio sessions with some of the industries most notable figures like Skyzoo and 9th Wonder. This film will give fans to get an inside look on this groups grind to the top and the blood sweat and tears that went into their debut album "The High Life" set to drop in the 1st quarter of '09.
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Upcoming Releases from Supastition:
Kam Moye - Splitting Image (RSM)
Kam Moye & D.R. - Electric Ave (RSM)
Kil Ripkin - Balancing Act (RSM/Domination)
Reform School Music presents "Breaking All The Rules" mixtape
Free Download from Supastition:
Now available for free MP3 download is the Supastition song "Sound of Xmas" dedicated to the less fortunate during this holiday season. Recorded in late 2007, this song was produced by NC's own D.R.
Reform School Radio - '08 Freshness (Episode #2):
Now available is a new podcast that was posted this weekend featuring some of Supastition's favorite indie hip hop songs from 2008 as well some joints that were overlooked. Please subscribe to the podcast if you are a member of podcast.com. The homepage is: My.Podcast.com/ReformSchool
This Is The New Mixtape Dedicated To All You Old School Fans Out There...Reno Chinati Is Showing His Lyrical Prowess On Nothing But 80's Inspired Instrumentals For Your Pleasure....Download Right Here For Free!
CLICK ON LINK BELOW:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5EL2LSIG
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NEW VIDEOS: Evidence feat. The Alchemist - Let Yourself Go & Fashawn - Samsonite, Live in Fresno.
Evidence feat. The Alchemist - Let Yourself Go (Live)
Url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeoSVczULwwEmbed:
Fashawn - Samsonite (Live) (Produced by Exile)
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdlLE0re-EoEmbed:
Fashawn feat. Evidence - Our Way (Produced By Exile) Live in Fresno, CA. 12/23/08
Embed:
Fashawn feat. Evidence - Our Way (Produced By Exile) Live In Fresno CA from AlwaysHustle.com on Vimeo.
Richie Cunning - Richie's Day Off (Live in Fresno, CA 12/23/08)
Embed:
Richie Cunning - Richie's Day Off (Live in Fresno, CA 12/23/08) from AlwaysHustle.com on Vimeo.
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Free Mixtape!: Excess Bangers 6: Untitled
As we get ready to start off a new year I thought it'd be best to keep it simple. No title. No color. No flare. Just bangers. Some standout tracks you should make sure you check out are the Mims track "Bread N Butter" where Mims aims to prove he really can flow. Also take a listen to those tracks featuring Ron Browz who is on his way to being 2009's "love it or hate it" artist.
As always, if you are an up and coming producer or recording artist, send me some stuff. If it's hot, I'll be more than happy to get it on one of our mixtapes. evorgleb at highbrid dot com. Also any bloggers who post one of our mixtapes on your site, let us know and we'll be sure to hook you up with some link love.
1. Busta Rhymes Feat. Ron Browz, Juelz Santana, Jim Jones & Jadakiss - Arab Money (Part 3)
2. Fat Joe Feat. Ron Browz & Lil Wayne - Winding On Me
3. 50 Cent Feat. Ciara - Slow Down (Remix)
4. Mims Feat. The Notorious B.I.G. - Bread N Butter
5. Freeway - Diesel
6. Stat Quo - In California
7. Keri Hilson Feat. Busta Rhymes - Turnin Me On (Remix)
8. Ron Browz Feat. N.O.R.E. - Jumping Out The Window (Remix)
9. Swizz Beats Feat. Fat Man Scoop - Get Loose
10. Joell Ortiz Feat. Joe Budden - Move On
11. Jim Jones - Scarz
12. Termanology Feat. Big Pooh, Chaundon & Joe Scudda - Pay Jay
13. Termanology - Circulate
14. Young Chris - Status Of The Game
15. Curren$y Feat. Mistah FAB - Life's A Bitch
16. Mims Feat. Letoya Tuckett - Love Rollercoaster
17. Freeway - Long Money
18. Freeway feat. Hesikiya - As I Ever Been
19. Freeway Feat. Neesh - For The Better
20. Royce Da 5′ 9" - Part Of Me
21. Jay Electronica - Swagger Jackson's Revenge
DOWNLOAD: Excess Bangers 6: Untitled (Sharebee)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------J The S, My Thing Ft. Donny Goines and Emilio Rojas
J The S' new mixtape My Will will be dropping shortly...the tape hosted by Mr. Peter Parker and DJ Warrior with features from B.o.B., Kool G Rap, Emilio Rojas, Donny Goines, and a few major surprises will be out everywhere for free shortly. Jake recently dropping his new single, My Thing which you can find everywhere.
To download the song: http://www.zshare.net/audio/531448464f210a90/
Don Cerino, Missing Element
Don Cerino's new single, Missing Element Ft. Royce Da 5'9 was recently features as the lead single off of Legend's new monster mixtape, OnSMASH x DJ Green Lantern Back 2 The Basics. Thanks to all the sites for supporting both Don Cerino and the tape.
To download the song: http://sharebee.com/578ac148
Minute After Midnight Out Everywhere!!!
Don't forget, Donny Goines heavily anticipated debut album Minute After Midnight is finally here!
http://www.rhapsody.com/donny-goines/minute-after-midnight
Keeping with tradition, Crown City Records & Tato Ent. finish the year off strong with the return of Trujillo aka the "Old Skool Young Nigga". Not satisfied with the success & acclaim of his previous efforts, Trujillo is back "Hungrier Then Ever" & he's ready to "Eat Ya Food". We bring to you "The Appetite".
This time around he recruited some real heavy hitters to chef shit up in the kitchen. "International Club King" DJ Camilo and "Mixtapes Worst Nightmare" Dub Floyd join forces to help raise the temperature on these microwave "Ready in 5 minutes" popcorn rappers.
That's right, you won't find any of that saturated fat here. Nothing but the finest chef'd up gourmet cuisine in the world.
Featuring sensational new creations from some of the greatest masters of the culinary arts. Production from: SPK, Frank Diggs (Labor Dept.), Riel for Ghetto Grime Muzik, Moonshine, Vic Official, Rod Da Blizz (Labor Dept.), Doe'p Mann & many more.
(Video) Trujillo ft. Big Mato - "Real" (Pd. By SPK)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UzeGxM84n4
(Audio) DJ Camilo, Gab Gacha, Joell Ortiz, & Trujillo - The Blackout Show
(Pd. By JUJU of The Beatnuts)
https://www.box.net/shared/tyklqufloy
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Tracklisting:
1. Silent Hills (Produced By The Unknown)
2. Fly Remix (Produced By Mr Simmonds)
3. Make Te Call (Produced By MUDD)
4. The Making Of Haste feat. BlissOne (Produced By The Unknown)
Free Download: STMiC "Brace For The Honesty" EP
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These are fan favorites, exclusives, ruff mixes and things we are working on. Download and enjoy. Check us here as well and subscribe www.highwaterISmusic.com
Tracklist:
1. Homeboy Sandman - Airwave Air Raid (Track available on the street album "Actual
Factual Pterodactyl", official debut album on HWM Summer '09)
2. Willie Evans Jr. - Rock Widdit (Track available now on the album "Communication")
3. Sputnik Brown - Super Ego (Track off the debut album Three Shades of Black,
coming out 2009)
4. Daniel Joseph - Pack Lite (Exclusive for this comp)
5. P.CASSO - Stress (available now on the album "For Your Consideration")
6. Ben Grymm & Shawn Jackson - Blood Sweat & Tears "Demo" (available now on the
"Back To My World" single on ITunes. Vinyl 7″ available in January)
7. Fresh Daily - Breezy Afternoon feat Outasight (off of "Tomorrow is Today" available
in January)
8. Señor Kaos - For the Cream RMX feat JAX (off of "Swagger Is Nothing…"available now
on highwaterISmusic.com)
9. S.O.U.L. Purpose - Preposition (Exclusive for this Comp)
10. Spec Boogie - Ghetto Mind (Exclusive for this Comp)
11. John Robinson | MF Doom - Black Gold (Track off the album "Who's This Man?"
available Jan 27th)
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MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 3 FREE Cymarshall Law CDS! FREE FREE FREE
TIS THE SEASON FOR GIVING SO FREEDOM ENTERTAINMENT IS GIVING YOU FOR FREE 3 FREE CYMARSHALL LAW CDS FOR YOU TO DOWNLOAD , TO ALL MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR , PEACE AND GOOD DAYS! UNTIL NEXT YEAR
-CYMARSHALL LAW
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/CYMARSHALLLAW
P.S. ON JANUARY 5TH FREEDOM ENT. WILL BE RELEASING A FREE DIGITAL MIX CD THRU COAST2COAST MIXTAPES AND VIMBY!!!
IT WILL FEATURE NEW , RARE AND EXCLUSIVE TRACKS FROM CYMARSHALL LAW , SKIT SLAM , PACE WON & MR. GREEN , EL DA SENSAI , SUPASTITION , STICKY FINGAZ , SWEDISH SINGER MARY LOU AND PRODUCTION BY THE BEATNIKZ!!!
BUT FOR NOW DOWNLOAD THE MIX CDS THAT ARE OUT NOW BELOW!
CYMARSHALL LAW - CYOLOGY 3 : THE FREEDOM WRITER MIXED BY DJ GI JOE ( IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE DJ )
( MY FAVORITE IN THE CYOLOGY SERIES )
http://www.sendspace.com/file/xsmcgh
CYMARSHALL LAW - CYOLOGY 2 : THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM MIXED BY DJ GI JOE
http://www.sendspace.com/file/z9kcg9
EVERLIVEN SOUND - STRAIGHT RAW MIX CD
http://www.sendspace.com/file/kxjafl
CYMARSHALL LAW & MR. JOEKER - HIP HOP IN THE SOUL ALBUM OUT NOW FEAT. KRS-ONE AND MORE!!
SKIT SLAM & THE BEATNIKZ - A BLESSING IN DISGUISE COMING FEBURARY 2009!
12/27/2008
The Pre Game Warm Up: Best Tracks for 2001 & 2002
It's my favorite time of the year. No, not because of the holidays. Those are great and all, and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a happy and safe New Years. But the reason this is my favorite time of the year is all the year end lists that pop up all over the net and the blogs. Anywhere from the first part of December (or if you're Eric over at When They Reminisce, you start in October...haha)to the last part of January. I just like reading other people's opinions, and maybe pick up on something I may have missed or breezed over the first time through. We here at WYDU are busily working on our year end lists. We should have the year end extravaganza up the week of January 5th. I'm hoping to have a wide variety of people on the WYDU panel this year. If you missed last years, you can peep it. This way, with a bunch of different people weighing in you won't be dominated with just my opinions, which as we all know, can be kind of on the strange end and a bit narrow minded even if I have to say so myself.
However, I will start posting my own personal Top 100 songs of 2008 starting on Monday. It will be a four day event and there might even be some bonus songs thrown in there, mainly because there are a bunch that I loved, but didn't make the top 1oo and I don't want them to be left out. I've actually been making tapes/cds of my favorite songs since 1990. I don't have all of them anymore, and I didn't do any from 98-00 for a few different reasons. I recall '93 being a particular great year for singles (duh) but I of course can't find that one anymore.
To get you all warmed up, I've dug through my homemade disks and pulled out some of my past "Favorite Tracks of 200_" that I have sitting on CDs. These are the same as I picked them the day I made my list for that particular year. It's always interesting to go back and see how my tastes have changed . Some the songs I wouldn't have on the list anymore and others I think should have been higher, but that's the way things go. I'm sure you'll see an updated lists next year about this time for the Decade Lists (yeah, I'm already as giddy as a school girl for those), but for now, these tracks are unchanged and as is....
In 2001, the internet was already in full effect and a starting to be an influence on my listening habits. I already was living a life of crime and downloading off of Napster and Audio Galaxy (I can't remember which was first) and my fascination with some of the underground and indie stuff was starting to become a major part of my listening habits. I have this broken up into 1-19 and 20-39. Unfortunately though, my girlfriend snagged my 1-19 and I haven't seen it since (She claims its in her 4-Runner, but I have yet to see it). I seem to remember Erick Sermon's "Music" being my favorite song of that year. There was Bubba Sparxxx "Ugly" that was a favorite during our all night Madden tournaments that we played a lot that year in that top five as well. The second half is also made up of some mainstream acts such as DMX, which I usually proclaim an extreme dislike for as well as some underground/indie stuff such as Ace Lover and Binary Star.
A couple songs from the from 1-19
Erick Sermon feat Marvin Gaye - Music
Bubba Sparxxx - Ugly
This was my theme song when I was whoopin' fools on the Madden that year. This was also during my Timbaland kick that I had right around this time, with the Missy Elliot shit, Petey Pablo and of course Bubba. Don't play, you know you've danced to this song sometime in your life. Ahhh, redneck rap....This video is hilarious.
Is there any lineup on any posse cut that screams "indie" as much as the Jigmasta's "Lyrical Fluctuation"? Back in 2001, all these cats were on some super "underground/Rawkus/indie" steez as much as anyone out there. Dudes like Talib, Mos and Pharahoe were the champions of the underground. That might not be so now, but Spinna killed this beat and everyone brought heat on their verse. It was something I think I found on Napster or Audio Galaxy, and I still dig this song to this day.
Tha Liks "Best U Can" shit was catchy as hell, although I was utterly
disappointed with it when it originally dropped. Still nothing like getting a lap dance with this song playing.....I love weird shit and Outkast's "B.O.B" was weird as it gets. It was one of those songs that gets the ole adrenaline pumping and the blood flowing. The track should definitely be higher, or at least higher than "Ms. Jackson". Outkast and "Ms. Jackson?" Really? I actually am still sick of that song to this day.
I've never been a big fan of DMX's music, but I'll have to admit he makes some catchy ass music from time to time. While I've never heard the Great Depression, I always though "We Right Here" was a catchy track that for some reason got a lot of play from me in 2001.
As I said, I was just getting into the underground stuff around this time. This is evident with a few of the songs that came out before the 2001 year, but since I didn't know, they were lumped into this year. The Constant Deviants came out in 1998, but since there were no blogs, no discogs and very little info on groups such as Constant Deviants on the net at that time, I had no clue. You can also lump Louis Logic's "Logistics 101" into that category. I was really getting into artists such as J-Zone and Louis Logic around this time. Zone dropped probably his most universally liked album in Pimps Don't Pay Taxes, and one of my favorite joints from it was "Zone for President" along with "Pimp Palace East" with the rest of the Old Maid Billionares. Zone at his best, dropping some great lines. Both tracks should be higher. Ace Lover was also in that bunch of me being late on, but hey, that dude during this time was one of my favorites, see Here.
It's interesting to see Jay-Z's "The Takeover" on the bottom half of this list. To this day, I consider it one of the greatest dis tracks.
If you haven't heard Jean Grae's "How To Break Up With Your Girlfriend", check that track out. Produced by M-Boogie, it was the track that REALLY grabbed my attention and made me check out Jean on the regular. M-Boogie had some decent tracks that appeared on his Ill Boogie label and also had a couple decent producer type albums around this same time. Speaking of ill producer type albums, The Creators have two songs in the list. Phil Da Agony dropped "The Kronkite", which had some haunting strings to go along with Phil's rough ass voice. I was amped to hear more from Phil, which has since passed. Consequence also popped up on the scene again, with "In and Out", which is a hyped track that got cats looking for the Con again.
http://rapidshare.com/files/177388370/Trav_s_2001_Fav_20-39.rar
(FOR WHOLE COLLECTION)
20. Jigmastas feat Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharohoe Monch, Mr. Complex, Shabaam Shadeeq - Lyrical Fluctuation (DJ Spinna Remix)
21. Ace Lover feat C Rayz Walz - Area Codes
22. Outkast - Mrs. Jackson
23. Tha Liks feat Pharrell - Best U Can
24. J-Zone - Zone For President
25. Outkast - B.O.B
26. DMX - We Right Here
27. Binary Star - Glen Close
28. Ace Lover feat Uncle Paulie - Weed Spots
29. J-Zone feat Al Shid & Huggy Bear - Live From Pimp Palace East
30. Jay-Z - The Takeover
31. Louis Logic - Logistics 101
32. Beatnuts - No Escapin'
33. Jean Grae - How To Break Up With Your Girlfriend
34. DJ Clue & Redman - RED
35. The Creators feat Consequence - In and Out
36. Constant Deviants - Can't Stop
37. The Creators feat Phil Da Agony - Kronkite
38. Obie Trice - Mr. Trice
39. Masta Ace feat Jean Grae - Hold U
The year 2002 was somewhat sorry, I remember thinking "is this it?" Looking back it now, and it's not all that bad. In some ways, I think at that time I was still upset with the direction that hip hop was taking. You had stuff like Nelly and whatever other crappy radio music that was going on during that time. I was very upset with the state of hip hop. It finally hit me that things weren't going to return to the glory days of the so called "Golden Age", which left me somewhat bitter. Looking at things now, I realize that those days are gone and to just accept it for what it is. There is still good music (I'll still argue with one til I'm blue in the face that says the present is better than the past, but that's another story), and 2002 had it's share of good (not great) music.
For the top 10, it was pretty much my typical tastes, with the ever catchy "Worst Comes To Worst" by Dilated that won me over for that year. It still warrants as my favorite Dilated Peoples track to this day. De La had "Baby Phat", which somewhat annoys me to this day, although it's not a bad track, I probably just played it too much back then. If I was to redo this list with my tastes in mind now, The Clipse's "Grindin" would probably be number one. I'm not huge on the whole trap rap crap, but "Grindin'" will forever be my shit. "Make You Feel That Way" by Blackalicious was another one of those joints on MTV2 back in the day with my free TV shit that I got. I'm not a big Blackalicious fan, but this song is some feel good music if I ever heard any.
The rest of the top 10 falls out with some good tracks that I still dig today, especially the Binary Star track, "Honest Expression". I'd almost be likely to include this in a top 100 tracks off all-time for myself. The message portrayed on the cut is something I still feel strongly about, maybe more so today than ever. Classic track. Ras Kass' jab at Alchemist on "Kiss U" has long been one of my favorite Rassy tracks. I've long considered Ras Kass one of my favorite west coast MC's (and all around MCs) and some of the lines dropped in "Kiss U" are a prime example of why I hold him in such high regard.
The spots of 11-20 are a peferct example of how my tastes back then were much more varied than they probably are now. You start off with some fairly obscrure (at least to the average rap fan of the day) underground type stuff. Some people might call me crazy for putting the Knoc Turn'al track in there, but "The Knoc" was my shit that year. And hey, Missy isn't too bad when you regulate her to hooks and the such. Another Aftermath potential that wasn't to be. Meth and Red's "How High 2" is kind of annoying to me now, but I guess it's an example of musical tastes changing. Of course you have more J-Zone who dropped one of my all-time favorite songs out of his catalog in "County Check Pimpin". The Jay-Z dis song, "It's Ova" by former friend turned foe, Jaz-O. The rest of the batch are from fairly well know artists and fairly popular cuts from NORE (and that blasted eastern music samples that went a little too far in 2002), Nas and his "Ether" track that came out on his Stillmatic. That highly annoying "Oh Boy" from Cam'Ron gets the "WTF was I thinking award". Of course we have the Grammy winning "Lose Yourself" from Eminem, which I almost consider a classic track these days. Yeah, I said, it, sue me.
A
gain, on the second half of the collection of top songs shows more underground stuff, especially in the form of Louis Logic and three songs from two of his side projects that year. Both "Happy Hour" and "Ready for War" were from Lou and Charlie Bawles and the Porn Theatre Usher's Mr. Jason on the boards. They were known as the Brews Brothers. Based on this single (Both sides A and B show up on the list), it's too bad we didn't hear more from the duo. J-Zone's former partners also show up with their own shit. Both Huggy and Al-Shid have tracks in the second half of the list, with Zone producing both tracks. 13, who was in the 90's west coast group Mannish, dropped the incredibly dope "Slow Burnin", which was produced by either Evidence or Joey Chavez aka Sid Roams. Still a favorite of mine. One of my all-time favorite posse cuts is represented at number 35, with Copywrite, Mr. Eon, Cage, J-Zone, Tame One and others dropping the "Eastern Conference All-Stars", with J-Zone dropping the best verse of his illustrious career:You want a free beat then put a stethoscope to your heart
You want free dick then baby go back to your ex
You want free advice chump, shave the back of your neck
I use threats over money so deejays won't play my jams
Internet B-Boy's want to know what race I am
Black, white, or Spanish, you figure it out
Learn how to rhyme off mine and take your dick out your mouth
It's 'bout to get ill in here, so stop starin bitch
Old Man Billionaire in here, Christina Aguilera's pimp
UPS is hiring so close the trap
Cuz my old gym techer ain't supposed to rap
Finally, my introduction to Tonedeff and the QN5 label was in 2002, with Tone appearing on the enjoyable KRS track "Clear Em Out". It was a jab thrown at Nelly in the utterly ridiculous Nelly/KRS beef of that year.
04 Blackalicious - Make You Feel That Way
05 Binary Star - Honest Expression
06 J-Live - Satisfied
07 Slum Village - Tainted
08 Outkast feat Killer Mike - Whole World
09 Ras Kass - Kiss U (Original Version)
10 Scarface - My Block
11 Knoc Turn'al feat Missy Elliot - The Knoc
12 Methodman & Redman - How High Pt 2
13 Jaz-O - It's Ova
14 J-Zone - County Check Pimpin
15 Eminem - Lose Yourself
16 AZ - Once Again
17 Camron - Oh Boy
18 Eminem - Without Me
19 Noreaga - Grimey
20 Nas - Ether
21 Royce Da 5'9 - Rock City
22 The Roots - Rock You
23 Al-Shid & HUG - Fight Club
24 Brews Brothers (Louis Logic & Charlie Bawles) - Ready For War
25 The Odd Couple - Pimp Shit
26 Obie Trice - Rap Name
27 Erick Sermon feat Redman - React
28 Gep Dep - Special Delivery (remix)
29 Nas - Got Yourself A Gun
30 Mobb Deep feat Big Noyd - The Learning (Burn)
31 N.O.R.E. - Nothin'
32 InI - Center of Attention
33 DJ Jazzy Jeff & Slum Village - Are You Ready
34 13 - Slow Burnin'
35 Brews Brothers (Louis Logic & Charlie Bawles) - Happy Hour
36 Eastern Conference All-Stars - EC All-Stars (Original Version)
37 HUG & Al Shid - Radio
38 Krs-One feat Tonedeff - Clear 'Em Out
39 G-Dep - Special Delivery
12/25/2008
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM WYDU
Merry Christmas to each and everyone that visits WYDU! Happy Holidays to you and yours and may you all have a blessed year!
Trav & Gang...
12/24/2008
When The Reminisce/Sneaker Politics Presents: Preservation Mixed By DJ Ragz
My Man E has been talking about this for quite awhile. I've had the privilege of seeing it grow and mature throughout the project, so I have to say it's a great little mixtape. Both Eric and DJ Ragz of Jazz Addixx did a nice job on it. Give it a listen....
When They Reminisce/Sneaker Politics present: "Preservation" mixed by DJ Ragz (Jazz Addixx) (CLICK TO DOWNLOAD)
Mic for tightening up the sound quality, Shiro for the cover art and Derek at Sneaker Politics for his input as well! Most importantly, thank you to all the contributing artists featured on "Preservation" who gave me the "OK" to pursue this project!
"Preservation" is something that Ragz and I are extremely proud of, I hope that you, the listener, will appreciate it as well! "Preservation", simply put, is a compilation of sorts that I put together in order to highlight some of my favorite artists over the last two or so years. The amount of time and effort that Ragz and I dedicated to this project truly shines through on "Preservation", as I stated last week: "This ain't just your regular mixtape"! St. Mic sums it up perfectly with his opening bars from the "Intro": "This is a dedication, to preservation/For authors in this art form/Seekin' elevation...". The sound quality is perfect, the tracks are ridiculous and Ragz' cuts are as sharp as a razor's edge. "Preservation" plays more like a cohesive "album" than a mixtape...ENJOY!!!
--Eric
DJ Ragz: "Im really amped to be a part of the "Preservation". There really is some dope hip hop out there and I really feel that this mix helps you learn about artists that are still making great music. All of these artists gave us approval to use their songs, so if you like what you hear, go support that person's project. Big ups to Eric for directing this project and being flexible at the same time. This mix was treated like an album so we spent time to bring you a quality project. Please help us get the word out and tell a friend about it.
It will be your part to preserve this art!!"
