Yo WYDU Raps

Cunninlynguists - Cocaine (Produced by J-Zone)




Tab-One - This Way feat Median

Tab-One - This Way feat. Median from BECAUSEUS on Vimeo.

Agartha Audio - The Hollow Earth Preview



Agartha Audio, a collective of emcees and Producer Dig Dug out of Berkley, CA present the full length LP "The Hollow Earth". In this Welcome to The Hollow Earth video, you will here audio snippets of the LP along with further explanation of the album's overall concept illustrated through the amazing artwork Dig Dug himself. This bold hip-hop LP features work by (as featured in this video) Gigster, Cam, Nac1, Mischief Mic, Passive65ive, Tracy Jones, E. Coli, The Presence and more. Watching this will give you a clear idea of the concepts that are on the album, namely The Hollow Earth and the Reptilian Agenda. The album is released through Uncommon Records wordwide www.uncommonmusic.net. It can be purchased on Itunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-...


Together (feat. Nac1) by Agartha Audio by UncommonRecords


ScholarMan - Hopes & Dreams b/w So Origi-NOW




Demic - Pay




Synopse Feat X:144 - More Fiyah




Mayer Hawthorne - I Left My Heart In San Fransisco




Aloe Blacc - I Need a Dollar





Wais P - Ain't A Problem (Formerly of Da Ranjahz)



Here's the video for "Ain't A Problem" from Wais P (of The Ranjahz). Shouts to John Colombo in the director's chair and Scram Jones on production! Stay tuned for more leaks, singles and videos from Wais P who is currently working on his solo debut album (currently untitled), that includes a strong line-up of guest features and producers such as: Joell Ortiz, Devin The Dude, Sean Price, Mistah Fab, Mario Winans, Red Cafe, The Madd Rapper, DJ Premier, Sean C & LV, M-Phazes, Domingo, Frequency & more! Click on either of the links below to download the mp3 for "Ain't A Problem".

Wais P - "Ain't A Problem" (MP3)

Download | MediaFire: http://www.mediafire.com/?t2y4j3jnifj
Download | Zshare: http://www.zshare.net/audio/74185095fc166a76/

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Top Hip-Hop Singles of 2009 - BC's 1-10

10) The WWKYA Tour (remix) - Cunninlynguists w/ EFamm - The chanting background vocals start and stop throughout this song and EFamm takes care of the vocal duties. Tonedeff, PackFM and Substantial talk about life on the road. Any song that ends with a House Party sample of the high pitched dude from Full Force is alright with me.



9) Mellow Fellow - B.o.B - This is a catchy tune and the one that first stood out when I checked out his stuff. Lyrically, it's just Bobby Ray talking about Bobby Ray, or is it B.o.B? Something like that. Snippet:



Here's the full album that was once posted on his MySpace page:

https://download.yousendit.com/MVNmTmZhbEpFd2VGa1E9PQ

8) Takeover - Zion I - This is one of the more straight up hip-hop tracks from The Takeover. I think this is the best beat on the album as well.



7) Empire State of Mind - Jay Z w/ Alicia Keys - Jay's ode to NY featuring Alicia Key's tour de force chorus. I don't need to say much about this song because you've heard it.



6) Cudi Zone - Kid Cudi - This is my favorite track from Cudi's Man On the Moon LP. This song is very melodic, especially the chorus and there's just something about the beat that I really like. It's kind of a synthesizer orchestral beat.



5) Life As a Shorty - Fashawn - Fashawn's song about growing up poor without a father (that did finally show up) and a few step-fathers, getting into fights and being cheated on by his first girl. Even through all of this, he enjoyed his childhood (to a certain extent) and learned from those experiences.



4) Generation Lost - B.o.B - I like this song because it's cool to hear a dude in his early 20's talk about changing his perspective on life and basically growing up. He doesn't really explain what sparked the change, if you can call it that, but it's a cool song.



3) New Wu - Raekwon feat. Ghostface and Method Man - Man, this song got me real excited for OB4CLII. I was skeptical, but the LP actually lived up to the years of hype. This is something you could throw on any one of the Wu LP's in the 90's and it would fit right in, and that's for damn sure a compliment.



2) The Sun - Mr. Lif - I'm not sure what the sample is, I've had no luck trying to find it, but I love it. This is the stand out song on a real nice LP from Lif. Check it out if you haven't.



1) Never Come Down (The Brownie Song) - CunninLynguists - Well, I agree with Travis on this one. I think the song is hilarious and I have been known to ignore weed songs in the past because usually they're just the same old same old, but CunninLynguists pull off something original and it's also WYDU's video of 2009.

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Top Hip-Hop Albums of 2009 - BC's 6-10

Here's my 6-10:

10) P.O.S. - Never Better



In my mind, P.O.S. just keeps putting out great material. In weaker years, this would be higher up on my list, but for the sake of my very important list, he’s #10. With tracks like “Goodbye“, “Low Light Low Life” (w/ Sims and the very nice to look at Dessa) and Savion Glover, I expect nothing but bangers in the future. And, listening to P.O.S. I wonder why I haven’t gotten into more Doomtree stuff; it’s time I do.

9) CunninLynguists - Strange Journey Volume Two



I really think I swapped volume 1 and 2 now that I think about it. I think this one benefited from a later release date, but looking back, I think 1 is better. That being said, this is a nice album and stands alone in it’s own right. “Running Wild” features a dope appearance from E-40, who has always had one of the craziest and most inventive flows in the game, not to mention that they’ll never be another MC like 40 until 5004. They’ll never be another MC like 40 until 5004??? One of the few tracks not produced by Kno, “Cocaine”, features production from another one of the best producers out there, J-Zone. Then, you have one of the nicest tracks, featuring EFamm, “The WWKYA Tour”. Another nice contribution to hip-hop from CunninLynguists.

8) KRS-One and Buckshot - Survival Skills



This was one of the surprise albums of the year for me. It sounds weird to say that you would buy an album and not expect much (why would you buy it them?), but I wasn’t expecting a lot here. This album ended up being solid all the way through. They used a lot of different producers, from Black Milk to Marco Polo to 9th Wonder, but the album comes together nicely. Plus, anytime someone calls out autotune for the garbage that it is (“Robot“), they score a point in my book.

7) Mr. Lif - I Heard It Today



This was another surprise, although milder, as I have enjoyed Lif’s albums in the past, but I didn‘t expect the best album of Lif‘s career in 2009. Barrack Obama is President, but that doesn’t mean Mr. Lif is going to sit back and trust the government and ignore the injustices in the country and world. If you slept on this album, which you might have, wake your ass up and buy it.

6) Raekwon - Only Built For Cuban Linx Pt. 2



A snap y’all, it’s another shocker/surprise. Linx II has been talked about for years and years, only to be delayed on multiple occasions. It‘s also one of those “part 2 albums” that are usually a last ditch effort to recapture some sort of past glory (and sales), but end up miserable failures (I think I saw The Carnival II while perusing my local record store, when the hell did that come out???), so much so, that I expected absolute garbage from this album. Man, was I wrong. I got excited when I heard the phenomenal “New Wu” w/ Ghost and Meth, but I was still skeptical, especially when hearing about the 50 producers that were involved. Anyway, man, was I wrong to doubt this album. Raekwon could be the new Ghostface if he puts out another gem like this one, meaning that he might turn into the most relevant member of the Wu (anyone get that Ghostdini LP? Heard a song w/ autotune and didn‘t bother, myself).

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Top Hip-Hop Albums of 2009 - BC's 11-15

I'm sure everyone is ready for more lists, so here are my 11-15 of 2009:

15) Ace & Edo - Arts and Entertainment



Masta Ace is my all-time favorite rapper and he’s joined by another old-school MC, Edo G. to form A&E. The production is spotty, but there are some real nice songs on this collab, as heard by songs, such as Little Young, Ei8ht Is Enough, Here I Go Again (w/ the exception of the R&B verse) and Over There.

14) Slug & Murs - Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez



Upon my first listen, I was extremely impressed with the production by Aesop Rock. However, it faded a bit to me after repeated listening. Overall though, it’s another real nice collaboration from Slug and Murs. If you haven’t picked up any of the 3 Felt albums, I’d recommend going back and buying them.

13) Jay-Z - The Blueprint III



Here’s an admission that you might be surprised to hear, I have never bought a Jay-Z album in my life. The main reason is that Jay came along at a time where I was very disillusioned with hip-hop, the late 90’s. I heard some early stuff and wasn’t really that impressed and was annoyed that this dude came along and was considered the greatest rapper alive. He started releasing some songs that I likes, but I just never copped any of his stuff. I guess I just was annoyed with the hype and annoyed with major label hip-hop. Anyway, I’ve warmed to Jay because of his genuine love of hip-hop, along with his solid catalog of music. BPIII is a solid album and some people that have been down with Jay for years didn’t really like the album, but the fact that I didn’t own previous works by Jay, I feel like I am pretty objective (I understand the reactions, because I am like that every time a new Outkast LP comes out, but then I listen a few more times and realize the greatness). With songs like "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", "Run This Town" and "Empire State of Mind", this LP has some of the year’s best songs.

12) CunninLynguists - Strange Journey Volume One



Kno is one of the game’s best producers and Deacon is one of my favorite MC’s (Natti’s no slouch either). This album, as well as Volume Two, is more of a guest driven album and not necessarily a true CL album. Vol. 1 features other indie artists, such as Looptroop Rockers, Substantial, PackFM, Mr. SOS, Tonedeff and Mac Lethal. It also contains one of my favorite songs of the year, "Never Come Down (The Brownie Song)", and other nice tracks like Don’t Leave feat. Slug, and Nothing But Strangeness feat. Looptroop Rockers and Hilltop Hoods (if you can get past the stupid verse about a girl using the bathroom).

11) Mos Def - The Ecstatic



I could have easily put this in the top 10, so it was hard to leave this on the outside looking in on the top 10. The Ecstatic was a nice return to form musically for Mos Def after a couple of clunkers since his debut solo LP. It’s a bit of an alternative hip-hop album, meaning that the beats aren’t your typical hip-hop beats and some of the emceeing is a little different than your straight up hip-hop. You can really hear this on songs like "Casa Bey" with it’s horn laced/elevator music beat and "Roses", which sounds a bit like something Andre 3000 would do. It may take some getting used to if you’re looking for something reminiscent of Black On Both Sides or Black Star, but if you give it a chance, you’ll dig it. Nice to see Mos Def giving a damn about music again.

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BC's Top 10, 40 - 2005

Looking back, this was a real good year. I especially had a real hard time narrowing down my top songs to 20, so I went ahead and expanded my songs to 40 (for the price of 20!), and any of the LP’s in my top 5 could easily be #1. I only had about 14 LP’s that I considered for my top 10, but there were a lot of albums that had some really good songs, but just weren’t good enough to make the top 10 LP's.

I would also like to complain about the auto-spell check function of Microsoft Word that changes Tonedeff to Tone-deaf, Del the Fukee Homosapien to Del the Funkee Homespun and plenty of other annoying crap. So, if you see any weird spellings, that aren’t just a result of your normal hip-hop spelling, please ignore them. Just a rant.

BC's Top 10 LP's of 2005

10) Edan - Beauty and the Beat - There might not be a lot of stand-out songs, but listening to it as a whole really makes for a great listen and a solid LP.

9) Dangerdoom - The Mouse and the Mask - I dig this LP and I love all that Adult Swim stuff (well, a lot of it). Dangermouse is a crazy-dope producer and DOOM is one of the greats out there right now (just not live).

8) Fatlip - The Loneliest Punk - I was pleasantly surprised by Lip’s debut solo LP. It starts to trail off a bit at the end, but the first 75% of the LP is nice. I’d add “What’s Up Fatlip?” to my songs, but it came out back in 1999, but it’s the best song on the LP.

7) Busdriver - Fear of a Black Tangent - Busdriver might not be some people’s speed, but I really like him and his odd, interesting albums. I listened to this straight through numerous times with a large amount of enjoyment.

6) Blueprint - 1988 - Was 1988 the height of hip-hop greatness? I don’t know, but this album from Blueprint is straight dope. Go ahead and buy this if you don’t already have it.

5) Tonedeff - Archetype - I love this album. I think there is one song on here that I don’t like and I can’t wait to get the next Tondeff album.

4) Asamov - And Now... - This one took me a while to get into, and I actually remember posting on www.mastaace.com with Travis about this one. He was digging it, but I hadn’t gotten into it, but gave it another chance and just loved it.

3) CunninLynguists - A Piece of Strange - They came a little more mellow on this album, but it’s a good one. Kno continues to grow as a producer and Deacon, and now Natti, are well above average MC’s.

2) J-Live - The Hear After - Another solid album all the way through from J-Live. I just can’t get enough of Mr. J-Live and you get another classic from The Hear After.

1) Atmoshpere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having - This is the first Atmosphere LP that I really just couldn’t get enough of. I liked Atmosphere before this, but wouldn’t call them one of my favorites really, but it was always nice to be able to get some of these local folks here in the Twin Cities to go to a hip-hop show. Everyone wants to claim to be down with big local acts. Anyway, this is their first unskipable album and more than worth the 15 bucks or so it’ll cost you.

BC's Top 40 Songs of 2005

40) Grand Ol’ Party Crash - Cage - A nice anti-Bush song with Jello Biafra (from Dead Kennedys) playing the part of W.

39) Party Hard - The Perceptionists w/ Guru - The Perceptionists LP was pretty solid and I don’t know if this was the best track on the LP, but it’s a good one and Guru is on it, so you can’t go too wrong.

38) Remember the Name - Fort Minor w/ Ryu and Tak - You have to admit this track is catchy and perfect for all those basketball or baseball ads it was featured in.



37) All in Together - GZA and Muggs - My favorite song from the collaboration from the Wu-Tang and Cypress Hill members. This is an LP that I think I need to back to.

36) Employees of the Year - Felt 2 (Slug and Murs) - A nice song from the second Felt LP. You have to like a song where the first verse starts with an interpolation of one of EPMD's greatest songs, So Wat' Cha Sayin'.



35) The Mask - Dangerdoom w/ Ghostface Killah - Hopefully, that DOOM/Ghostface album will come out eventually. It’s an interesting pairing of MC’s and this song gives a little taste of what may come out.

34) Let It Out - Ugly Duckling - Another fun song from UD. Play this one at a party and people will start head nodding from the horn laced beat.

33) Supa Dynamite - Asamov w/ Mr. Lif - This could be higher on the list, but it sits here for now. A real great song from Asamov’s album.

32) Smart Went Crazy - Atmosphere - Atmosphere had some uncharacteristically hard tracks on YCIHMFWH and this is one of them. The beat is a little rugged and Slug, being the versatile MC that he is, kicks a bit of a harder flow than usual.

31) World of Vibrations - Blackalicious - This song kicks off The Craft and is a catcht little diddy, if I can come off sounding like a jackass.

30) Old School - Dangerdoom w/ Talib Kweli - Talib kicks a verse about watching Saturday morning cartoons and being old school and DOOM kicks a verse about his childhood. The beat from Dangermouse creates a great horn induced funky track for them to spit over.

29) Befriend the Friendless Friendster - Busdriver - A speedy beat that has Busdriver kicking his usual unique and speedy flow. “Because you’re an undersexed lady cop.” is one of my favorite lines.

28) Side to Side - Blackalicious w/ Pigeon John and Lateef - Gift of Gab, Lateef and Pigeon John all go to a club and kicks rhymes about their different experiences at said club.



27) Poems 4 Post Modern Decay - Zion I w/ Aesop Rock - I just think Aesop Rock is the rap equivalent of what they call a change of pace back in the NFL (him and Ab Rude). When you add him to a song, he adds a little something different to the other MC(s) on the track.



26) Make Music - Emanon - One of the 3-4 real good songs from The Waiting Room. The beat is real nice and features some vocalization as part of the beat, which I always dig.

25) Birdz - Fly the Coup - Buckshot & 9th Wonder w/ Phonte - A real nice song from the Buckshot/9th Wonder LP.

24) Count Your Blessings - Emanon - Another crazy vocalized beat and Aloe Blacc does his thing, like he always does.

23) Sleepwalking - One.Be.Lo w/ Ka Di - A great song from a great LP. The singer on this track actually adds a lot to the song.

22) Lefty’s Lament - Busdriver - Busdriver kicks some lyrics about race and perception over a dope, mellow beat.



21) Lo-Fi Funk - Blueprint w/ Aesop Rock - A crazy beat with Aesop Rock handling the duties of the chorus. Blueprint does his thing.



20) Hourglass - Cunninlynguists - Again, I have never studied music, so I’m not sure, but I think the beat might feature an organ. Whether it does of not, it’s a dope beat and a real nice song.

19) Help Me Sing - Asamov - Just a great beat and a great song. A bit of a song about the fans.

18) Can’t Hold On - MED - A great back in the day song with a great Madlib beat. MED raps about his younger days and Kool Ade stains on his shirt. Dope track. A live version:



17) Writer’s Block - Fatlip - Fatlip talking about writer’s block, which might explain why it took so long for his solo debut to be released.

16) Pseudo - Emanon - When I first heard this I went nuts, and I thought they sampled the score from The Frighteners. Turns out it just kind of sounds like something from that score. Anyway, it’s a real nice track with a great beat. The LP had a few real good songs, but the mediocre songs out number the great ones, like Pseudo.

15) Aaw Yeah - J-Live - J-Live being his normal dope self. He just cranks out quality hip-hop on a regular basis with tight beats and lyrics.

14) What U Hear - Zion I w/ Del the Funkee Homosapien - The way the beat switches up when Del kicks hie 2nd verse is just crazy.



13) Porcelain - Tonedeff - A great introspective song from Tonedeff.



12) Brooklyn Public, Pt. 1 - J-Live - J-Live speaking from his experience as a teacher about fictional students in an under-funded inner-city public school.

11) The UNDERground - One.Be.Lo - This song starts off s.o.n.o.g.r.a.m. on a strong note.



10) The Arrival - Atmosphere - This song just comes hard and I love the line “ I’m just a man that loved rap!” It was anice track to be featured on Fight Night 3 (I think it was 3).

9) Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz w/ Dave (De La Soul) aka Trugoy - Again, I love the Gorillaz and this is one of the hip-hop infused tracks from their second LP. A great song.



8) Where’s Your Girlfriend At? - Blueprint - It’s 10pm, do you know where your girlfriend is at? Blueprint probably does. A throwback song with a sense of humor involving Blueprint entertaining your lady. You have to love an MC that can be both self-deprecating and cocky at the same time. “As long as 2 five’s still add up to ten, then I got options every Friday night., and a team of mediocre broads grabbing my tip.”

7) Git Loose - Asamov w/ Akrobatik - An old-school throwback track featuring Akrobatik. Another well produced Asamov song, Beatrice!



6) Children - Tonedeff - A song about how things can change from a young person to an adult. I dig the singer that is also featured on the song. “One day you’ll look back at your life and wonder, like, what the fuck was I thinking?” That sums it up.

5) Making Planets - Edan w/ Mr. Lif - Edan starts the song nice and slow and he kicks his verse, but the song slows down even more and you can just sense that something dope is coming right before Lif comes in. I’ve found myself telling people to just wait… wait… wait, then the beat switches up and Lif kicks his verse. It’s a real dope song.



4) Give It Up - R.A. the Rugged Man and J-Live (from Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture) - I love the pairing of R.A. and J-Live. The beat is solid and you have 2 top-notch MC’s at the top of their game.

3) Play Hard - Masta Ace (from Sloppy Seconds 2) - Ace and some fellas hit the club and Ace speaks on it over a catchy beat featuring a lot of “oh’s”.

2) Get Fly - Atmosphere - The beat is phenomenal and is piano heavy with a choir feel. It’s a pure head nod song.



1) Hellfire - Cunninlynguists - I looked this up when the song came out, and the song sampled is from someone called Aurthur Brown. To me, it sounded like a song from The Doors, and that’s what others have said as well. Anyway, I remember hearing this song before the LP came out and it got me pumped. The beat is chopped nicely and it’s just a straight forward dope rap song.



Pack Up (remix) - Lyrics Born w/ KRS-One and Evidence
Rocketship - One.Be.Lo
Life Vegas - Felt 2 (Slug and Murs)
Avantcore - Busdriver
Since When - Cunninlynguists
Serious - MED - Oh No produced track
Archetype - Tonedeff
That Night - Atmosphere - A song about the tragic murder of an Atmosphere fan in Albuquerque after an Atmosphere show.
Dirty Harry - Gorillaz w/ Bootie Brown
Big Girls Need Love Too - Blueprint
Zodiaccupuncture - Aesop Rock
After - J-Live
Vats of Urine - Dangerdoom
Ride Off in the Sunset - Haiku d’Etat w/ Zumbi and Deuce Eclipse from Calicomm 2004
Benzie Box - Dangerdoom w/ Cee-Lo
Fat Leezy - Fatlip
Fly That Knot - Talib Kweli

Bonus track: About 6 minutes into Liberated (track 13) of Blueprint’s 1988 is a bonus track (although it’s hidden within a song, there’s about 1 minute of nothing and a new song kicks in). The beat is ill and if you haven’t heard it, check it out.

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BC's Top 10, 20 - 2003

2003 was a much better year than the previous two. I had a hard time coming up with a list of 10/20, as you can see by my list of honorable mentions for songs.

BC's Top 10 LP's of 2003

10) Zion I - Deep Water Slang V2.0 - Another inconsistent LP from Zion I, but the good outweighs the bad enough to crack the top 10.

9) Lexicon - Youth is Yours - I dug this LP and thought it was solid all the way through. It was nice to hear their stuff sprinkled throughout Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.

8) Loius Logic - Sin-A-Matic - This one took a while to grow on me, but when it did, I was glad I gave it multiple listens.

7) Brother Ali - Shadows on the Sun - Brother Ali building his catalog of dope songs. A solid LP.

6) Jedi Mind Tricks - Visions of Gandhi - I really had to go back and listen to this to find out how much I liked it. I really dig Stoupe's production, although, their LP's tend to have some average songs mixed in with the amazing ones. Vinnie can rip the mic in half, but also spits some ignorant crap, so it might not be for everyone.

5) J-Zone - $ick of Being Rich - One of my favorite producers and an underrated MC. There are some classics on this LP.

4) J-Live - Always Will Be - Unskipable EP from one of the best.

3) P.O.S. - Ipecac Neat - Another Minneapolis MC. Maybe I'm a little biased, but every one of his LP's has been something that I've listened to over and over and over again. A great debut.

2) Cunninlynguists - Southernunderground - Another great LP from the fellas from KY. This is the one that cemented them as one of my favorites.

1) Outkast (Big Boi) - Speakerboxxx - Just Big Boi y'all. To me, his album was much better than Andre's, even though Andre got all the press, or most of it. I think most hip-hop heads would agree to this being better, but maybe not. It is to me.

BC's Top 20 Songs of 2003

20) Kicking Knowledge in the Face - P.O.S. - A basic drum beat with a little guitar mixed in. The beat changes up a couple times and P.O.S. changes speeds along with the beat. A nice track overall.

19) Strapped - Jaylib w/ Guilty Simpson - I didn’t get into the album as much as some, but this was the stand out track to me with it’s orchestral loops and the addition of Guilty Simpson.

18) Gimme, Gimme, Gimme - J-Zone w/ Masta Ace - MA coming down to Zone’s level and kicking some lyrics about young, immature ladies. It’s a J-Zone beat, so it’s a dope one, of course.

17) Diablos - Louis Logic w/ Celph Titled - Lou and Celph kicking some hardcore over a string-laced beat.

16) Brokenhearted - Lexicon - Nick and Oak reliving some experiences with the opposite sex. The chorus makes this song a stand out, with the repeated “Love you” from some singer.

15) Always Will Be - J-Live - I think the best song from J-Live’s EP. The entire EP is unskipable and J-Live even has a song by that name on the album. J-Live is always dope.

14) Blah Blah Blah - Brother Ali w/ Slug - I don’t know how to explain the beat, but it’s damn good. Slug and Ali drop some bragging battle rhyme verses and play off each other nicely. Great song.



13) Bowtie - Big Boi w/ Sleepy Brown and Jazze Pha - One of those horn heavy funk tracks off of Big Boi’s superior LP (to Andre that is).

12) Southerunderground - Cunninlynguists - A nice start for CL’s 2nd LP. The beat has a nice piano loop, some scratching, some grunting and an Andre 3000 sample.

11) Cheeba Cheeba - Zion I w/ Aceyalone - Another example of Amp Live creating a near perfect beat. Aceyalone and Zumbi have contrasting voices (which is prone to happen w/ Zumbi, I guess) that work well together.

10) Dos Factotum - Louis Logic - Get your drink on w/ Louis Logic. Louis spitting, possibly vomiting, lyrics about drinking over an acoustic guitar-laced beat.

9) Battle Me - C-Rayz Walz w/ Natacha Elossaint - C-Rayz doing what C-Rayz does, bragging on the mic with large amounts of humor. The r&b hook actually works for me. “I'm not Santa’s helper, I’m not rapping for free.”



8) Le, Le, Le - Zion I - If you really love your mama say le, le, le! Not sure what that means, but this is a cool song. Video quality is harsh:



7) Duct Tape - P.O.S. - I love this song. What I assume is a somewhat autobiographical song about P.O.S. and his mother struggling with an abusive husband/father.



6) Animal Rap - Jedi Mind Tricks w/ Kool G Rap - I love Stoupe’s production and how he uses a lot of string instruments and orchestral sounds. This one features some horns as well as G Rap guesting on the 1st verse. Vinnie kills his verse and the first bar or two are just fire.

5) Tame Az It Ever Wuz - Tame One - The LP wasn’t consistent, but I just dig this track with the scratching samples over the chorus get you fired up. Lyrically, Tame talks about drugs (big shock), disses El da Sensai and how he’s going to take out other MC’s.

4) Seasons - Cunninlynguists w/ Masta Ace - Kno, Deacon, SOS and Ace rap about hip-hop and use the 4 seasons to weave in metaphors about hip-hop. The beat is, as usual, a nice one.



3) Forest Whitiker - Brother Ali / Whatever You Say - Little Brother - Me being indecisive. BA - Ali’s song about embracing his differences with an organ (?) heavy beat. Dope song. LB - I still need to go back to this LP, I liked it, but didn't get into it as much as a lot of people, but this song stood out to me. A great song.



2) The Way You Move - Big Boi w/ Sleepy Brown - The top 2 songs are Outkast, so you know these for sure. Another funky track from Speakerboxxx.

1) Hey Ya - Andre 3000 - Just a great song. I wasn’t a huge fan of Andre’s The Love Below. Most of the beats were real nice, but Andre’s attempts at singing were interesting to say the least (some was good, some real annoying).



Honorable mentions:

The Fine Print - King Geedorah



Walkman Music - J-Live
Bring Em Out - T.I.
A Storms of Swords - Jedi Mind Tricks w/ Planetary
Eatadiccup - J-Zone w/ Celph Titled
Choir Practice - J-Zone w/ J-Ro and King Tee
Church - Big Boi
Old School - Cunninlynguists
Hellohihey - Lifesavas
Party Party People - Lexicon w/ Dizzy Dustin
Don’t Be Afraid - Lexicon

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A Tribe Called Quest's Scenario and Other Posse Cuts

The number of great posse cuts has seemed to dwindle over the years. In the past, the posse cut seemed to be a way to put on others in your crew, or posse, and make the public aware of their talents. Sometimes they were members of the same crew, and sometimes they were other label mates that were, at times, forced onto the same track. The nineties were a big time for such a posse cuts and featured many classic songs.

Some felt a bit forced as the overall talent level began to dwindle, and the posse cut lost it's legitimacy in some ways. I started to dread some of these tracks, because I didn't want to hear so-and-so's third cousin fumble through some lame verse trying to score a deal (which is why some posse cuts existed, in my mind, just to get some dude a record deal).

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites from the nineties and beyond:

Scenario - A Tribe Called Quest feat. Leaders of the New School

This might be the mother of all posse cuts. It’s a testament to how good this song is when you can hear various other songs that sample verses from this song. Basically, every verse is top notch, starting with Phife:

Aiyyo Bo knows this (what?) and Bo knows that (what?)
But Bo don't know jack, cause Bo can't rap
Well whaddya know, the di-dawg, is first up to bat
No batteries included, and no strings attached
No holds barred, no time for move fakin
Gots to get the loot so I can bring home the bacon
Brothers front, they say the Tribe can't flow
But we've been known to do the impossible like Broadway Joe so
Sleep if you want, like we'll help you get your z's troop
But here's the real scoop
I'm all that and then some, short dark and handsome
Bust a nut inside your eye, to show you where I come from
I'm vexed, fumin', i've had it up to here
My days of payin dues are over, acknowledge me as in there (yeah)
Head for the border, go get a taco
I'll be wreckin from the jump street, meaning from the get-go
Sit back relax and let yourself go
Don't sweat what you heard, but act like you know

This is also the song that threw Busta Rhymes into the hip-hop stratosphere. After hearing Busta’s verse, most hip-hop heads took notice and his energy was even more evident during live performances.

I also included the remix in the download. The remix is nice, but the original is so good that the remix seemed unnecessary.



Buddy - De La Soul feat. Jungle Brothers and Q-Tip

This is another Native Tongues flavored posse cut and the first time I heard Q-Tip. I think this is the first time I heard of male genitalia referred to as Jimmy, which became a very common term (see Jimmy hat) and they also used Jenny for the ladies. The basic theme of this song is about knockin’ boots.

Buddy (remix):



Bring It On - The Geto Boys (w/ just about everyone on Rap-A-Lot from the mid-90’s)

Man, everyone is on this track. We used to play this song all the time in high school and we had most of the lyrics down. Rap-A-Lot had some damn good MC’s with differing styles. Unfortunately, their LP’s didn’t always live up to their talent, as in the case with Seagram and Gangsta Nip (in my opinion). At over 8 minutes, this is one of the longer posse cuts that I’ve heard, if not the longest.

Rap-A-Lot definitely wasn’t anti-disabled people, as they had a couple little people and a blind, handicapped motherfucker, as that dude (not Devin the Dude, but Rob Quest) from The Odd Squad says in Bring It On.

Save the Children - Nice and Smooth feat. Everlast

This isn’t really a posse cut, per se, but I always liked this song and wanted to add it here because it was always a mystery with me. The title has absolutely nothing to do with any of the lyrics in the song and I have no idea why they decided to call the song Save the Children. The only time they saw anything about the “children” is at the very beginning when, I think Smooth B, says save the children a few times before the song starts.

Everlast starts the track and is followed by Smooth B, which is a sharp contrast in styles, which always amused me as well. That being said, Nice & Smooth were just different than most artists, so they kind of clash in general, but they’ve always been favorites of mine.

Back to the Grill - MC Serch feat. Nasty Nas, Red Hot Lover Tone and Chubb Rock

This song features the first time I heard Nas, before dropping the Nasty, and he kills his verse (This is Nas kid you know how it runs, I’m waving automatic guns at nuns.) That’s just a funny ass line, although, given Nas’s style (especially when he was younger), it wasn’t really meant as humor.

Overall, this is kind of a weird mix of MC’s. Pretty much all of them are bringing some humor here, and are kind of known for a sense of humor and then you have Nas waiving automatic guns at nuns. But, overall it’s a nice track.



Flava in Ya Ear (remix) - Craig Mack feat. LL Cool J, Biggie, Rampage and Busta Rhymes

Craig Mack had a huge hit with the original version, but the remix featured that up-and-coming rapper named The Notorious B.I.G., who Puffy was trying to get on everything he could, which was definitely the correct strategy. Basically, this version has the same beat as the original, but featured a few guest MC’s.

Enjoy the video with LL at the height of his roll-up-one-pant-leg phase:



616 Rewind - CunninLynguists feat. Tonedef, Sankofa, Kashal-Tee and Celph Titled -
Obligatory Posse Cut - Extended Fam feat. CunninLynguists, Jean Grae and more

I wanted to get something a little newer on here. Basically, the next 2 songs here are QN5 related and solid posse cuts. CunninLynguists and a lot of the QN5 peeps like to add humor into their music, so you have a fun track with a nice beat. Celph Titled adds a bit of a contrast with his rougher, masochistic, homophobic verse.

Here are a couple highly quotable verses from 616 Rewind:

Tonedef: From parts of the south so dirty, you’ll want to be given a bath.

Kno: I’m so nice, Mr. Roger’s sued my ass for copy write infringement.

You have a bit of a sequel with Obligatory Posse Cut from Extended Fam’s only LP.

http://www.zshare.net/download/691940954dc2de6b/

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Cunninlynguists - Running Wild Single

DOWNLOAD MP3: [DIRTY] | [RADIO] | [INSTRUMENTAL] | [ZIP]
Photography by Alex Cairncross

Produced by Kno and featuring emcees Natti and Deacon The Villain trading verses with Evidence of Dilated Peoples and Bay Area legend E-40 about society’s uptick in chaos and violence, CunninLynguists‘ “Running Wild” is the official first single from Strange Journey Volume Two, the second installment of this year’s double release from the trio.

CunninLynguists’ newest project, Strange Journey Volume Two, is set to be released on November 3rd. Guests include Sean Price, Tonedeff, Geologic of Blue Scholars, Freddie Gibbs, Substantial, Poison Pen and more with production from J-Zone and Blue Sky Black Death.

Similar to Volume One, Strange Journey Volume Two is also almost entirely produced by Kno and features 70+ minutes of brand new music. The trio will be supporting the release by embarking on a 28 city tour starting November 10th.

[PRE-ORDER STRANGE JOURNEY VOLUME TWO NOW]

[STRANGE JOURNEY U.S. TOUR DATES]

Enjoy!
QN5 MUSIC

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New Release Tuesday

We have two new releases that dropped today, both which I've had spinning for a month plus (in Cunninlynguists case, since March) and both are well worth any money that you throw toward them.

Nite People - What Do You Mean You People?

The new Nite People album is now officially on iTunes. For those of you who are broke as a joke or cheaper than your moms, SLS is dropping a FREE mix of “What do you Mean You People?”. Coming out of NYC, our homie Ross Rosco surprised us with this special blend with selected cuts from the new album. Enjoy the free download and make sure to visit iTunes and cop WDYMYP and the re release of Daily Livin!

FREE DOWNLOAD

Cunninlynguists - Strange Journey Vol 1CunninLynguists Strange Journey Volume One (Bad Taste Records) is now available for purchase at all retail outlets. I’d love for you to do a brief News Item to inform your readers that it is now available. Below you will find Album Artwork, MP3 Giveaway for “Never Come Down (The Brownie Song)”, Music Video for “Never Come Down (The Brownie Song)”, and a Amazon Purchase link. Please let me know if this works for you.

“Never Come Down (The Brownie Song)” MP3
http://www.divshare.com/direct/6461329-bbb.mp3

“Never Come Down (The Brownie Song)” Music Video
Directed by: Kno & Matt Hobbs
Produced by: Kno

Cunninlynguists - Never Come Down (The Brownie Song) from Bad Taste Records on Vimeo.

Strange Journey Volume One Amazon Purchase Link
http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Journey-Vol-1-Cunninlynguists/dp/B001V88D6S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1247595872&sr=1-1

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Trav's Spins and Plays

February sucks. There I said it. There is only NBA as far as sports, music is still in a fourth quarter hangover, and the weather blows. Then you toss in Valentines Day, and February could quite possibly be the worst month of the year. Oh well, fuck it.

If you suffer from the Winter doldrums, then maybe a little comedy is in your need. What better way to get some of that than from an old WYDU friend, Mike Dikk. Some of you long time readers will remember Dumpin.net, in which Mike and several fellas would basically talk shit about everything from music, sports and popular culture and was always good for a few laughs. Over the last half year or so, the site has kinda gotten quieter and quieter. But alas, fans of the Dumpin sense of humor can rejoice as Mike returns (or actually has already been doing) with his own podcast of humor and what not, in Buncocky. What is Buncocky? Well, it's kinda like an audio version of Dumpin...sorta...kinda.... It's Mike and Jay talking about all sorts of shit...such as Episode 15, in which they discuss the art of Male, Male, Female threesomes. Only people with a sense of humor need apply, cause I'm sure this can and would offend the faint of heart.

Buncocky episodes can be caught here: http://www.buncocky.com/
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275706009

The first month of the year is a rather dead one in the music industry in general. No different in the hip hop world either, which means the amount of new material is limited to some of the rather unknowns trying to get heard in this laxed time. Personally, I take time to reflect back on the past year and to revisit some of the older material in my digital crates. Around this time, things start to slowly appear, and since my man Eric already did his little post about some of the most recent songs, I figured it was time for me give some exposure of what's been getting play time on the ole iPod. I thought this would be somewhat tough, but the only thing tough was narrowing it down to 10 songs. Nothing really amazing, alright, I take that back, the number one and number two songs are pretty amazing and I expect to see again at the end of the year in a pretty high position, hell probably number three as well. So, without further ado, I present WYDU's top 10 for....well for the past couple weeks.

Top 10 Spins of Feb 1st - 10th

10. P.O.S. - Savion Glover

I'm admittedly not the biggest P.O.S. fan, although I did like the group album he did with Doomtree. His new album, Never Better, is full of the reasons I don't usually care for him, just weird ass shit. I usually like weird, but not this much. Despite that, while I while giving the album the courtesy listen, I ran across "Savion Glover", which did meet some of the reasons I like a particular cut. For one, the crazy scratching layered over a spastic drum track, make for a high energy track. P.O.S. is actually a good MC when given the chance and I'm not distract by audio garbage.

9. Ameer - Never Be Shits

Ameer dropped the The New Dream toward the end of 2007 and since then, I've been keeping my ear open for some new music and I finally got my wish. "Never Be Shits" is a soundtrack for all the underdogs out there. Over a sparse, but loud, drum pattern and a rolling piano sample, Ameer provides hope for those out there with the cards against them. It's nice to have meaning in a hip hop song, not nearly enough out there.



8. Inverse feat Deacon The Villain - So True

Phonte needs to take singing lessons from Deacon of Cunninlynguists. The cat has some true vocal chops that just drip soul. The title track from the EP, So True, is blessed by Deacon on the hook. That's not the only reason why I'm banging this joint daily since it's early January release. Tunji does his job on the mic, catching the listener and sucking him into piano stabs and strings. On the strength of their last couple projects, including their free EP , So True, I'm waiting for Inverse come correct with a full length release.

7. Tecknowledgy feat 2ew Gunn Ciz, Chaundon & Web - That's How It Go Down

I'm lost how I came into possession of this track, I'm guessing maybe Zilla Rocca due to his alliance with 2ew Gunn Ciz. Regardless, everyone involved brought the heat lyrically over a hard beat, reminds you of a Mobb Deep beat from years past. Sharp keys found on "That's How It Go Down", give that Alfred Hitchcock "Psycho" feeling of a slasher flick. It's good to hear Chaundon come correct after a somewhat disappointing album that dropped lost year. Nothing ground breaking here, but just a solid track.

6. Blacastan - Life of Tape

While I was familiar with the name, I couldn't tell you much about Blacastan. I was sent a couple tracks from his promotion company and must say I loved both. This particular track is great as far as originality and it's concept. "Life of a Tape" is about...well, the life of a tape. You youngins won't appreciate it as much as us old fogies, but tapes were a big thing to us back then. You had your home made ones, the ones you bought from the store, everything was on "tapes" back then if you didn't do vinyl. To top it all off, the beat is dope as fuck as well. A speed up vocal sample (done right) is used as an instrument of sorts as it's a true inspiring head nodder. This has to get you excited about future material coming from Blacastan.



5. Pugs Atomz feat Rashid Hadee & Theo - Blue Blazer
(Tie) Pugs Atomz - Roof Top

As my anticipation mounts for the upcoming Pugs Atomz LP, Roof Top, Pugs keeps dropping dope leaks. On "Blue Blazer", pugs brings a long fellow Chi-Town artist Rashid Hadee and Theo. After Detroit, Chicago might be my next favorite region/city to be doing it lately. On "Roof Top", DJ Vadim drops an infectious groove, as Pugs just rides the beat perfectly. If these two songs are indication what the album is going to sound like....Daaayum.

4. Raekwon feat Ghostface & Method Man - Wu Ohh

This is the most Wu sounding track I've heard in a minute. After turning my noise up at "Wu Ohh" originally, it was saved by the iPod shuffle. It's another track using the vocal sample as a major part of the song which gives it that Wu like flavor. It's great to hear Meth do his thing over the track, as he provides a nice hook. I can't recall if this was on the upcoming Cuban Linx II or not, but this shows some promise.

3. Souls of Mischief - Tour Stories

I posted this track up on WYDU toward the end of December to rave reviews. The Prince Paul produced track is a welcome back to a great producer and made one of the legendary Hiero crew members relevant again in the Souls of Mischief. The track is a classic hip hop in all it's glory as the boys sound like they haven't missed a step from '93 Til Infinity. The beat sounds tailor made for SOM, with that added Paul sound. If this is any indication what to expect from the all Prince Paul produced Souls album, then it could be a doozy.



2. Cunninlynguists - Never Come Down (The Brownie Song)

If you have followed this blog long enough, you know that Cunninglynguists are a favorite of mine. Their last two albums have been named in the top three on my year end list. So I was pretty excited to hear they had a new single out. I'm not sure if this is off a new album they have coming out, I haven't fully investigated yet, but they often like to throw out some collections before dropping albums (Sloppy Seconds anyone?) and this sounds more like a track that might be found on something like that. Regardless, Kno demonstrates why he is quite possibly my favorite producer going right now as he laces a soulful track as Deacon drops seemingly silly lyrics about pot brownies....or so it seems. As with a lot of Cunninlynguists tracks, I'm sure it goes much deeper than that. Looking forward to see what the dopest crew out of the south is going to bless with this year.

1. Blue Scholars - Coffee & Snow

This was a throw together track that came on a whim? Wow.....wow....Sabzi is one of the illest producers going at it right now. That is witnessed on the critically acclaimed (especially this critic) album Bayani from '07 and the Common Market album Tobacco Road that dropped last year, both of which Sabzi produced in entirety (or at least 99% of them). The story behind this track was they put it together after a winter storm came through the area (Seattle). The angelic keys are nothing short of amazing and Geologic does his thing lyrically. A truly impressive track that only makes me more hungry for more from the Scholars.

Mp3 courtesy of Musical Essence



Bonus "Tobacco and Snow Covered Roads" *Anyone got an mp3????



The Five Most Listened To Albums of the Period

1. Drumz & Llingo - Black Market

This probably isn't on any one's radar as of yet, but this was slide over to me by DXArmy, who if you recall my year end list, I was highly on. On the strength of their recommendation, I gave their boys, Drumz & Llingo a listen and I wasn't disappointed. Their album, Black Market, is full of no gimmicks, quality NYC hip hop. The beats tasty treats of hard breaks, crisp snares and full bass lines. Lyrically, while nothing ground breaking, they are very complimentary of the beats. You'll be hearing more from these cats in the future, but this one of the better things that I've had passed to me in awhile.

2. Exile - Radio

I wasn't to sure what to think of Exile's Radio the first time I listened to it, nor the second or third time. But for something kept me listening. It's like that movie that you are not sure you liked or not but you want to watch it again. I've finally had it catch on in my subconscious. It's not exactly what I expected out of Exile, who has been making a name for himself on the strength of the album he did with Blu back in '07. But if you do go back to some of his Emanon material, then the experimental nature of the beats shouldn't be too much of a surprise. I wonder how the early leak is going to effect it, which is unfortunate. If you dig the album, be sure to cop it when it drops.

3. Platinum Pied Pipers - Abundance

You can't call this a hip hop album, nor could you really call it a soul album. I'm not sure what I'd label PPP's Abundance album, but I would call it good. If you can't stomach anything other than hip hop, you might want to move on. For those of you that can get down with other genres, then PPP is definitely something worth lending your ear to, as Wajeed and boys bring the buffett line of music to the masses.

4. ScholarMan - Gameshift: The Movement

The Maryland based ScholarMan is somewhat one of those cats that a lot of underground heads knows about and respect, but he has yet to gain the full notoriety that he deserves. Hopefully "Gameshift: The Movement" will help focus the spotlight on him a little more. I've had this album for awhile now, but I still give it listens, which is a sign of a good album with me. The beats are both soulful and hard, while you know what to expect from ScholarMan if you've heard his past albums, no nonsense, straight to the point lyrics that more than likely will give you something to think of.

5. Tha Connection - Trapeze

Although this album has been out for awhile, I still play this shit out of it. The NYC guys bring their own flavor of smokey roomed hip hop with plodding beats and deliberate rhymes. They definately got their own flavor and it's found all over Trapeze. If there was ever a "kick back and smoke an L" type of music, this is it.

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When They Reminisce Waking Your Daughter Up

If I had your link up at one time but you don't see, give me a day or so, I have to manually import the links back in again by hand. Giving up on it for tonight.

Once again, Eric and I sit down and talk about some albums. This week its the new Cunninlynguists LP, which I've been waiting for all year. The second one is a blast from the past in the form of Schoolly D's "Am I Black Enough For You". After all, we are both old school heads, so its only natural we talk about some of lost favorites. Enjoy.


CunninLynguists - Dirty Acres

Eric: "Dirty Acres"...hmmm, that's an interesting title for an album

Trav: Dirty south, forty acres and a mule kind of thing? Not sure, might be a lame interview question, but I might have to ask Kno, if I hook that interview up next week.

Eric: Who is the dude on the intro droppin' knowledge? Isn't that the same cat who was politicin' at the begining of Outkast's "13th Floor/Growin' Old" from "ATLiens"....", " '96 gon' be that year....ye..ye....year"

Trav: Not sure, it might be one of the Dungeon Family cats...or I know Deacon does some singing

Eric: For a minute I thought it may have been Witchdoctor. You now he's droppin' an album on Cunnin's label, supposed to be produced entirely by Kno.

Trav: Yeah, heard that. I'm going to have to go back and listen to some of his music. I never got into it for some reason.

Eric: He's been gettin' some pub lately. Ill Poetic posted a joint from "A.S.W.A.T." on his top 25 beats...that's actually a fairly overlooked album that contains it's fair share of dope content and beats.

Trav: I know fans of Dungeon Family generally like him and the album, and I've always liked the Dungeon Family. Don't know why I never got it.

Eric: Dude, according to my Itunes I've listened to "Wonderful" (f. Devin) 78 times since I downloaded the advance Thursday morning. Wifey became nauseous on our vacation this weekend, I must've had it on repeat for two hours straight.....hands down, my favorite track this year...hands down!!

Trav: I've gotten into that track pretty hard myself last night and today. The beat is kind of cliche-ish, but it really grows on you. I had 28 plays for "Yellow Lines" and that was just on Last FM...probably another 25 on the headphones
Eric: Yeah, the whole "sped up" sample thing could fall under "cliche" but when that drawn out "ooooh yeahhhh" pops in at the break..shit, gives me goosebumps.....Devin said "starin' at you at the club for an hour and a half, and it smells like you just took a shower and a bath"...dude is sick!!!

Trav: Yeah, Devin's verse is kind of the highlight on that track.

Eric:"Yellow Lines" is just plain haunting...Phonte quite possibly spits not only the best verse on the song, but maybe the album. "I put a spell on dem' hoes, forgive me lord but I'm hell on dem' hoes"...classic!

Trav: "...we grown folk, let me long stroke" Yeah, that and the "I cordially invite you to come take a ride on my thoughts switch memory lanes while we dream and wanderin' and in return I strip my inhibitions and go skinny dippin' in your stream of consciousness"...that whole verse is just sick. It kind of sings to me as of late with some personal stuff going on. I love that track.

Eric: How fitting is "Summer's Gone" for this time of the year???

Trav: It's too damn short!!! Both the song and the season. But yes, I played that often last Saturday. Where is that sample from, I should know.

Eric: I honestly have no clue....but, "The Park" is perfect for the season as well. That's a real nice four song sequence.."Wonderful", "Yellow Lines", "The Park" and "Summer's Gone".

Trav: Yeah, the first part of the album plays rather nicely. The end of the album kind of tails a bit, although I'm starting to get hipped to "Dance With me" and "Mexico"

Eric: Yeah, my sentiments exactly....musically the production is exceptional, Kno's beats on this album had me dl'in everything dude blessed prior to "A.P.O.S."

Trav: I've been a fan of Cunninlynguists since back in the day I asked for people to fill me in about them on UGHH.com and Kno himself told me to buy "Will Rap For Food" and if I didn't like it, he'd personally refund me. Needless to say, I never asked for that refund. This album kind of played like APOS for me in terms it took me a bit to get warmed up to it, but once I did, All I'll say is this will be in my headphones non stop for a while.

Eric: What about Deacon & Natti, those cats are pretty original and talented. They really are sayin' somethin' on this album. At times it's hard for an emcee to capture my attention throughout the bulk of an album..these cats are simple yet complex and thought provoking. I wasn't a big fan of Kno on the M-I-C though.

Trav: Kno admits that he isn't much of an MC, and he only shows up on two tracks. He's tailed off on the MC tip since the first two releases. Deacon and Natti are both nice, although the voices and styles are fairly similar

Eric: yeah, I had a helluva' time differentiating the two....shit, I can't even lie I thought Cunnin was just Deacon & Kno....even on "APOS"...that's pretty bad, huh?

Trav: You can tell them apart by vocal tone and flow. They make some fun of that on their "Sloppy Seconds 2" mixtape.

Eric: So, "Album Of The Year"??

Trav: I won't say that yet. But it could be in the running for it when its all said and done. Top Five right now for me. I'm going to look like a big time dick rider if I give it to them two years in a row, but I just love this shit.
Eric: Shit, I have no reservations stating that this album just slid past "Below The Heavens", it's much better than "Bayani"....Ill Poetic's "The World Is Ours" better watch out...."Dirty Acres" is no joke!! I love this shit too! It's solid from all aspects, no matter how you look at it, it's very difficult to find a weakness on "Dirty Acres"....9/10...fa' sho'

Trav: Brave, for sure. It's still growing on me. I'm not going to jump out there quick on it yet. Like I said it's taking the same path APOS did for me. It took me about a month to really "get" APOS. This album is going faster since I'm playing it more often and kind of laid of checking out a lot other things since this dropped.

Eric: Remember how Clipse's "Hell Hath No Fury" and Ghostface's "Fishscale" were Blender's & Rolling Stone's "Million Dollar Babies" on there year end list for 2006. You heard it here first..."Dirty Acres" will be that album at the end of this year....I can see it already, these cats are gonna' get the attention they deserve.

Trav: Not sure about that, I'm not sure they will get heard like that, they aren't exactly the media darlings that Clipse and Ghost are. If APOS didn't do it, not sure if this will either.

Eric: I don't know, I read somewhere (I wish I could find it) that these cats are the best thing since Outkast..pretty heavy stuff, huh?

Trav: They've been compared to Outkast for awhile now, which I think is why some people knock them. I never really saw a huge link there, but I guess there is worst things to be compared to.

Eric: What would you tidy up on the album if you had to?

Trav: The only beef I have so far with the album is that there is no "banger", no "uptempo" joint. Most of songs are of similar BPM's. There is no "Hell Fire" or "Old School" from previous albums to switch things up a bit.

Eric: "Wonderful"? I'm telling you, that's the 2007 "Around The Way Girl" baby!!

Trav: Its a great song, but its still not that uptempo joint that I think the album could use

Eric: Hmmm, I can see your point...I was gonna' suggest "Valley Of Death" but that's a pretty mid-tempo joint as well

Trav: not a big beef, but I kind of missed that this time around. I loved "Hellfire" last year and the way it was placed on the album.

Eric: Yeah, "Hellfire" knocked for dayzzzzz. Nevertheless, I have a feelin' that when it's all said and done this will be your favorite from 2007 along with many other Hip Hop heads out there

Trav: You could be right....a good album. Looking forward to seeing them in concert in a couple weeks and possibly sitting down with Kno and kick it.

Eric: Word? I heard dude on a DJ Hyphen mixshow that I downloaded from Hyphen's MySpace...dude seemed kinda' chill

Trav: He was cool about returning my request for an interview. Should be good. I'll be picking this up the day it comes out.

Eric: Ditto......great stuff from a group who has really put Kentucky on the map. Speakin' of Kentucky, shout out to "Have A Nice Day Cafe" (saw Run DMC perform there once, place was CRAZY!!!)

Schoolly D - Am I Black Enough For You?

Trav: I got my 40oz, got my greasy ass double cheeseburger, lets talk some Schoolly D.

Eric: Damn, I listened to this album a few times this week prepping for our review...for some odd reason when I picked this album up in 89' I recalled the production being somewhat "advanced" at the time...not so sure today...but damn, this album is the SHIT!!

Trav: It was advanced for Schoolly at the time who lived off of 808's, but this has always been my favorite Schoolly album. I love this fuckin' album.

Eric: Oooooh! This is my ONLY Schoolly album (with the exception of "Welcome To America", which I recently picked up for .99)

Trav: I've beena big fan of Schoolly since first hearing "I Don't Like Rock N' Roll" and some corny ass video where he was wrestling "long haired faggots"....the dude is a legend. There is some dope shit on here. Jimi? Dope.
Eric: I've always been partial to Schoolly (being from Philly) myself, but I never really checked for any of his work after "Am I.." which was one of my first Hip Hop purchases. Matter of fact, I picked up it along with 2 Black 2 Strong's "Burn Baby Burn" EP....talk about an eye-opener for a country ass white kid!!!

Trav: Yeah, "Smoke Some Kill" and "Am I Black Enough" both scared the fuck out of my fragile little 17 year old mind or however old I was at the time. I remember playing "Pussy Ain't Nothin" constantly. Thats how I learned who Jimi Hendrix was, believe it or not.

Eric: HaHa, I was about to say.....Luke didn't have shit on "Pussy Ain't Nothin', that Hendrix riff is killer and the beat is just "hard as hell". "Who's Schoolin' Who?" has always been my favorite track on the album. It's funny looking back at it now...listening to Schoolly's vocals laid over these banging tracks. I just conjure up images of Schoolly locked up in some basement in Philly with Pabst Blue Ribbon cans and blunts spread all across the cold basement floor, spittin' lyrics in a plywood booth soundproofed by egg cartons. Shit just sounds crazy raw.

Trav: There are so many classic cuts on this, and yes, your right, shit is just raw as fuck, "D is For" was one of my favorites as well. Schoolly sounded so pissed, but in control like he could murk when ever the fuck he wanted.

Eric: Tell me the production on "Gangster Boogie" doesn't sound like some Eric B & Ra shit. I've always liked the danceable (err....as danceable as a Schoolly D cut is ) tracks on the album like the aforementioned "Who's Schoolin'...." as well as "Mama Feel Good" .....Schoolly spits.."two seconds later cole' popped a hardie".

Trav: Schoolly used the James Brown samples fairly liberally on this, but he hooked up on this. "Gangster Boogie", "Gucci Again" and the track that first alerted me to this album "Living In A Jungle", which at the time was SO different than anything Schoolly had done.

Eric: Who's that on the cover with Schooly? Is that Code Money? Did you also notice that the legendary Joe "The Butcher" mixed "Am I Black Enough? Oh, and tell me this pic doesn't bring back mad memories http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?what=R&obid=815457

Trav: Yeah, thats Code Money. Joe The Butcher is deep in early Philly lore. This tape was in my little Jetta non-stop for a year at least. All my non-hip hop friends knew who Schoolly was and liked him, because of this album. But it also kind of made me become conscious of the Black struggle, kind of in the same way PE and KRS did actually, which is weird to say.

Eric: I acutally purchased this album not soon after "It Takes A Nations Of Millions". My folks didn't know what the hell is goin' on with me. Here I am, this 12 year old kid ridin' my 10 speed to my grandfather's farm to help with the dairy cattle...blastin' "Am I Black Enough For You" out of my little ass walkman (Fast Forward only fool) with a screen printed PE t-shirt on with ironed-on logos from EPMD & Wreckx N Effect (yeah, "New Jack Swing" was my shit when it dropped) on the back. And two year old work boots piled with cow shit on my feet. Talkin' about the music reaching every demographic!!

Trav: How did you get hipped to Schoolly then?

Eric: That's a damn good question. I know it wasn't the Source, maybe RapPages. Or it could have been the fact that the album was released on Jive....back when everything they dropped was the shit, they were a pretty significant label back in the late 80's -early 90's

Trav: Yeah they were, thats crazy how some of this music reached us back then. Like I said, I had purchased "Smoke Some Kill" when it dropped. If you can find one of his first 5 albums, they are going for some money these days. This is the cheapest at almost 40 bucks. I still have my tape, but I'm wanting this on CD one of these days.
Eric: Damn, that would be a nice find....I sorta' have some reservations about listening to "Welcome To America", I think I want to remember Schoolly like Jordan goin' out with the jumper over Bryon Russell in the finals against the Jazz. I'm fearful that "Welcome To America" will tarnish Schoolly's legacy in my eyes. Any suggestions??

Trav: To me, "Welcome To America" is where it starts to drop off and the last Schoolly album I own. It's not bad, but its not as good as his first five albums. Any of the first four Schoolly LP's you cant lose with "Schoolly D", "Saturday Night" (which might be his best, but I like "Am I..." too much), "Smoke Some Kill", this of course and "How A Black Man Feels" (which is a slight let down after this album. His downfall though was he failed to keep up with the changing game.

Eric: I can sense that would be the case with Schoolly, he's like one of those old dudes that you play pick up ball with, who try to back you down in the blocks everytime they touch the rock and your like "Gotdamn! How bout 3 seconds Muhfucka!" I don't see him even "wanting" to adapt to the changes around him that occured in Hip Hop.

Trav: He did a good job changing up from "Smoke Some Kill" to "Am I Black Enough For You", I mean after all, Afrocentricity was the thing at the time and the production is much more advanced than the 808 drum machine he used before, but yeah, he didn't age well. To be honest though, I've never heard any of his other stuff after "Welcome To America" probably for the same reason as you, I didn't want it to tarnish his legacy. Changing record labels might have had something to do with it all as well.

Eric: You had to love this album though, I don't care who you are! You think we should post a link for the kiddies to snatch up some good ol' Philly funk??

Schoolly D - Am I Black Enough For You? (Jive/RCA, 1989)

1		Black (0:29)
2		Gangster Boogie (4:06)
3		It's Like Dope (3:46)
4		D. Is For (3:47)
5		Black Is... (0:30)
6		Gucci Again (3:42)
7		Pussy Ain't Nothin' (3:04)
8		Black Attack (0:40)
9		Who's Schoolin' Who? (3:17)
10		Mama Feel Good (3:30)
11		Get Off Your Ass And Get Involved (1:53)
12		Education Of A Black Man (2:29)
13		Black Education (1:03)
14		Livin' In The Jungle (3:34)
15		Black Jesus (3:50)
16		Super Nigger (1:53)
17		Am I Black Enough For You? (4:24)
18		Don't Call Me Nigger (3:36)
19		Black Power (1:03)
20		Godfather Of Funk (3:05)

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