I've long thought about how to do a video show in the same vein of Yo! back in the days. Is it possible or did youtube just kill the video show? I'm not sure if it's something that could ever happen again or not. The fact is though, I miss videos. I mean yeah, we can go to youtube and check them out whenever we want, but I miss the package of a hip hop video show. Yes, Ed and Dre were great as hosts and were a big reason we watched. And the fact that the game has changed so much since the days of "Yo!" and other rap video shows, the same reasons we watched back then, for the newest and hottest song, has been replaced by the internet. One more good thing the internet has killed, how is that for biting the hand that feeds me?
In any sense, I'd to do a somewhat regular series around here (anyone knows I don't do anything on a regular basis for the most part) of some videos that get sent my direction. Lord knows I get enough of them, and I'm always trying to figure out a way to get them posted up in a more original way than just making a post and saying "here is so and so's latest video". So here is the first crack at this...
The first video comes from a Gutter Water Music fam member, Oddity. Coming in over Dysposable Heroes production, Oddity tackles the subject of the Twin Towers, 9/11 and the potential the government had a role in it. I haven't had the pleasure of having much contact with Oddity yet, but from following his rants on the Gutter Water Music site, the dude is one of those cats that challenge you to think for yourself and not rely on the face value of anything. "Twenty Minutes With The President", does that as well. The video is aight, nothing mind blowing, but it does it's job with lots of footage of that eventful day that is sure to spark something in most everybody that dealt with that day.
The second video is from another WYDU Artist Spotlight alum, ScholarMan. I've been a supporter of anything ScholarMan does, because it's straight from the heart with soul, he doesn't mess around with unnecessary bullshit. The new song and video "Reap, Sow", is a great track, one of the better ones I've heard from ScholarMan, and dude creates nothing but quality music. The video looks like a big budget was put up for it as well, very professional, with a storyline and all hooked up to it. It added to the song, which is what a good video should do, take a great song and add to it or at the very least don't take away from it. Now I just have to find the mp3 for this track...
Next up Kam Moye aka Supastition. It's getting late and I'm getting tired, so we go to what the good people at Audible Treats sent us
The Video:
"Sometimes you have to be grateful for the things you already have." With Kam Moye's new video for "Let's Be Honest," the North Carolina emcee continues to display his down to earth sensibilities, and now finds himself fleshing out those sentiments with a strong set of visuals. The scenes are filled with Kam rhyming on a park bench and window-shopping with his girl, a refreshing contrast to the decadent hip-hop videos that have grown to be so common. The video is directed by Matt Koza of HOJ Media, who is known for his recent work with Foreign Exchange, Big Pooh, Cymarshall Law, and more. Kam and MYX Music Label have enlisted Koza for a 3-video package deal, which will also include videos for "Splitting Image" and one other video off of the new album. Kam states, "I've worked with a few video directors in the past and I've had great experiences, but very few had the same quality as Koza's videos. Instead of experimenting with different directors, I wanted to use one director to help tell my story for the album." Kam Moye's new album, Splitting Image, is currently available everywhere via MYX Music Label.
Album Sampler: http://media.audibletreats.com/Kam_Moye-Splitting_Image_Sampler.zip
Buy It Here: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=334144990&s=143441
Last but not least, it's Bekay, with his newest video, "Bloodsport".
Brooklyn's own Bekay presents his follow-up video, 'Bloodsport," to his long awaited album, Hunger Pains, which dropped this week on Coalmine Records. The track is produced by Shuko and features DJ Dutchmaster on the cuts. Directed by MonStar films, 'Bloodsport' was shot & directed in the world famous Gleason's Gym which was once the training facility for boxing legends Muhammad Ali & Mike Tyson. The concept is a spin off LL Cool J's "Momma Said Knock You Out."
You can view it on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZEubf7tFi4
Embedded
Bekay - "Bloodsport" (Video) HUNGER PAINS DROPS THIS WEEK!!
Get Yourself A Copy Of Bekay's Hunger Pains Today!
iTunes Download Link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hunger-pains-bonus-track-version/id337835925
11/18/2009
Yo! WYDU Raps
11/11/2009
Midweek Offbeat
So for this weeks edition of "Midweek Offbeat" I figured I would share with you some of my current favorite random Youtube's.
I love this video, i think its some dope shit that they are able to cool a computer with mineral oil without getting the shit electrocuted out of them.
Ruka Ruka Ali is a pretty funny dude, you can check more of his shit out on his myspace. www.myspace.com/ruckaruckaali
I caught this video while i was sniping goodies at Woot.com (they were having a woot off) and this video came up on the error page.
This last video is not for weak stomachs!!!
8/09/2009
UGHH Video with Eyedea
Eyedea - Interview Pt. 1 (At Rock The Bells - Columbia, MD - 7/12/09)
Video Link:
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/video/detail.asp?ID=1259
Video Summary:
Part 1 of 2: Rock The Bells 2009!!! One half of the duo Eyedea & Abilities, MC Eyedea lies down (literally) on the grass with UGHH's Van Stylez (no, yes, maybe homo) for a conversation, which immediately veers away from music and into the metaphysical. The time-space continuum, existence, the afterlife, the soul and energy are all pondered in this offbeat discussion. Eyedea, who first made a name for himself battle rapping in the late 90s and has been widely revered for his strength as an emcee alongside producer Abilities, talks about taking a temporary hiatus from the rap industry to play guitar in coffee shops across the country and sing with his rock band Carbon Carousel. Eyedea's disinterest in aligning himself with any specific genre has led him to label the wide range of music embodied on his new album "post-mathcore-grunge-rock." The album "By The Throat" is produced by his accomplice Abilities and just dropped on Rhymesayers Entertainment. Cop it at UGHH.com.
8/03/2009
Blaq Poet Interview Pt. 2 with UGHH
Blaq Poet - Interview Pt. 2 (At Harper's Ferry - Allston, MA - 7/9/09)
Video Link:
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/video/detail.asp?ID=1254
Embed Code:
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Video Summary:
Part 2 of 2: A legend from New York's infamous Queensbridge housing projects, Blaq Poet first gained notoriety back in 1987 during the Bridge wars when he attacked KRS-One on the song "Beat You Down." This was the first of a career riddled with taking shots at made rappers including T La Rock, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, LL Cool J, Rakim and the Ultramagnetic MC's the following year on "All Hell's Breaking Loose." That track cemented Blaq Poet's legacy as hip-hop's villain long before 50 Cent went at industry greats on "How To Rob." Blaq Po speaks on who he would aim at with a diss track in 2009 along with what it was like recording at Marley Marls' original house of hits on 12th Street in Queensbridge. Be sure to check out Blaq Poet's new album "Tha Blaqprint" produced by DJ Premier & available at UGHH.com.
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We also filmed his concert and posted up three songs he performed (Ain't Nuttin' Changed, Bang This, and Don't Give A F*ccc - if you think this would be of interest to your audience, go to the UGHH Exclusive Video section to grab the embed/link code here:
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/video/listing.asp?Category=Exclusive
12/18/2008
Hip Hop Videos from 2008
Souls of Mischief - Tour Stories (Produced by Prince Paul)
Never thought this album would see the light of day, but I did hear from a very good source that it is finished and is real. Based on this song, it could be dope as fuck.....
Atmosphere - Guarantees
Atmosphere - Shoulda Known
Akrobatik - A to the K
Has-Lo - The Quiet Things
Black Milk - Give The Drummer Some
eMC - Leak It Out
12/08/2008
Sneak Preview: Hip Hop Labels
Running a little late with things. Between trying to keep up with everyday things and just enjoying everyday life (read watching the NFL on Sundays), the blog isn't always the main thing on my list to finish. So is life....I'll be having some time over the holidays to work and post up some of my bigger ideas, with two weeks off of work. Then after January, I'm looking at the same situation as a lot of folks in the States, unemployment, so there could be more time in the near future. Ah, gotta love it.
Until then, we'll toss up some albums from our next profile for our hip hop labels series we've been running. The actual post probably won't be up until Wednesday, that will give you a couple days to think about who the next label is....not that it's too hard (try to guess without looking)
Nemesis - Munchies For Your Bass, 1991
| 1 | Droppin' The Bass (1:32) | |
| 2 | Bitches And Money (3:15) | |
| 3 | Ali English And The 40 Oz. Thieves (3:02) | |
| 4 | I Want Your Sex (3:59) | |
| 5 | Let's Have A Good Time (3:23) | |
| 6 | Munchies For Your Bass (4:06) | |
| 7 | Settin' The Record Straight (3:33) | |
| 8 | On The One (3:00) | |
| 9 | S.O.U.L. (4:18) | |
| 10 | Grind (3:00) | |
| 11 | Nemesis To The Future (3:03) | |
| 12 | Life In The 90's (3:51) | |
| 13 | Dallas We Come From (3:02) | |
| 14 | Dis-N-Dat (1:45) |
If you've read this blog long enough, you know I have an affinity for bass music. Not the cookie cutter, computer bass crap, but actual bass music that has some resemblance of actual music. For that reason, I've always liked this Dallas, Texas group. Nemesis was kind of a cross of basic bass music and some Houston influenced southern funk. The group was made up of several different lineups, with Ron C probably being the most well known member of the group. Ron C also released several solo albums, most notably 1989's "C-Ya".
1 Brother Man (4:06)
2 I Don't Sleep (4:30)
3 Inner City Blues (4:32)
4 Friday Nite (4:07)
5 She's A..... (3:45)
6 Subtle Party (4:17)
7 Let Us Get Back (To What We Call Hip-Hop) (4:18)
8 Mr. Do (4:07)
9 Soul Power 1990 (4:18)
10 Life (Ain't It Funky) (4:00)
This album, although not particularly great, will always hold a special spot in my memory. The single was "She's A....." and I only remember seeing it once on Yo! MTV Raps back in the day. That one time was all it would take for me to try to hunt down the album. Since it was released on Profile, you'd think it would be fairly easy to track down. Well, it wasn't. In fact, it wasn't until 1993, while visiting my aunt and uncle in Salem, Oregon, that would finally track down a copy of the album, on tape. I found it some little used music store. They didn't have shit for hip hop music, in fact, I want to say I found it in the Jazz section or some shit. There is nothing really mind blowing on it, in fact about the only "claim to fame" is Tony D mixed it. Still, I tend to like the album, if for nothing else the hunt it gave me to find it. It's still real hard to find. I can't recall ever running into it again anywhere else. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm probably the only person to up this anywhere on the web, at least I've never seen it anywhere else. I finally broke down and bought it off of Amazon, so obviously it was out there. Regardless of it's eluding me throughout my life, it's still fairly cheap online.
DJ Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde - The Champagne of Rap, 1985| A1 | Yellow Panties (4:39) | |
| A2 | He's The Band (4:31) | |
| A3 | And You Thought That We Were Soft (4:54) | |
| A4 | Champagne Of Rap (4:38) | |
| A5 | Scratch On Galaxy (4:37) | |
| B1 | Freshest Rhymes In The World (5:03) | |
| B2 | Transformation (5:25) | |
| B3 | Butt Naked (4:47) | |
| B4 | A Rappers Love Song (5:20) |
I've never been a big fan of this group. I heard them fairly early in my hip hop listening days and thought they were mad corny, even for back then. I guess I can stomach them better in my older age, but I still don't go out of my way to listen to this duo. Let's just say, Andre Harrell, one half of this duo, made for a better record exec than artist.
And just to make it super easy in case you've had any doubts, some videos of pretty easy artists....
9/10/2008
Mekka Don - Death Is Life Video: A Tribute To Bearnie Mac & Isaac Hayes (Prod by GooseBumps)
Whew.....
So this video right here has some emotional ties for me. First off, if you have checked this blog very much, you will recognize my man Mekka Don from a previous New Artist Spotlight from back in May, or maybe you saw him in a recent issue of XXL. Mekka recently recorded a heartwarming (is that possible in hip hop?) dedication to two recently departed stars. The touching tribute to both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes is a nothing short of great as Mekka gets the listener thinking about those lost and even my own immortality. He followed the track with a excellent video as well.
While I am a big fan of both Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac (I dropped condolences for both on the days of their deaths), the emotional tie to the album comes in a different form. The beat is produced by newcomer GooseBumps. Yes, he is an unknown at the moment. No, you probably haven't heard about him. The beat adds that mood to Mekka's track and really fits the vision he had when he created the song. The light keys provide a fluttering like feeling as Mekka rides over the beat to create a light, yet somber feeling.
GooseBumps is one of my personal best friends for the past fifteen years. Chances are, if I've told a story about hip hop from the mid 90's on this blog, my boy "D" was there with me and/or was apart of the story. So I'm like a proud "brother", it excites me to see my boy get his shine. It was also my "crates" that provided the sample for the beat...hahaha. As well, it was my first (succesful) act as "pseudo manager", as it was me that brought Mekka and Goose together. I'm not sure if managing is something in my future, but for the time, I'll do whatever I can to get my man heard. So, check out the video, POST IT ANYWHERE, pass it around, drop comments, because this is probably one of the more personal posts I've done. Good to see my man up on it!
Final Outlaw - "Hip Hop 4ever"
Final Outlaw has started to make some noise. I didn't pay much attention at first, but this track is kinda hot.
Final Outlaw Hip Hop 4ever Directed By Janelle Ryan from Janelle Ryan on Vimeo.
Final Outlaw's "Hip Hop 4ever", directed by Janelle Ryan, is a powerful story of struggle, maturity, and the path towards freeing oneself from the mental prisons of society, addiction, and past pain.
9/06/2008
Pharrell doing Busta Impersonations
I know this is been all over, but damn, this is so fuckin' funny. I was rollin'...
3/12/2008
The Funk Hunt
The Funk Hunt is a 12 minute short film made by the French crew "Kourtrajmé" which is a collective of artists consisting of different actors, directors, dancers and musicians counting nearly 140 members including i.e actor Vincent Cassel(La Haine, Ocean's Thirteen..) or french rapper Oxmo Puccino.
The story focuses on the trials and tribulations of a funk record made in the '70s and how it survives and travels through the electro hip hop influenced '80s into the '90s dominated by house and club mixes.
Part1
Part2
kourtrajmé.com - official site
2/04/2008
WTR Meets WYDU Presents: I Love The 90's (1991 Part IV)
The final chapter of 1991, finally.....
The Source's Top 15 Videos of 1991 (In No Order)
A Tribe Called Quest - Check The Rhime (the song that sold me on ATCQ)
Black Sheep - Flavor Of The Month
De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)(this was my answering machine for awhile in the mid 90's)
Ed OG & The Bulldogs - I Gotta Have It
Gang Starr - Just To Get A Rep
Grand Daddy I.U. - Somethin' New
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PZoq2ztEPY
Ice T - OG (Original Gangster)
K-Solo - Fugitive
Leaders Of The New School - Case of the PTA
Main Source - Just Hangin' Out
Naughty By Nature - OPP
Nikki D - Daddy's Little Girl
Poor Righteous Teachers - Shakiyla
Resident Alien - The Dew Doo Man (I never knew a video for this track existed and it's not on Youtube)
Son Of Bazerk - Change The Style (On the part three post)
KMD - Mr. Hood (Elektra)
Released: May 7th, 1991
"Mr. Hood" was instrumental in transforming my hip hop tastes in those days from the raw, in-your-face, type of music of LL Cool J, Run DMC, Kane, Rakim, to a more laid back, approach of groups like De La, Tribe, that Native Tongue vibe that started to blossom around this time. I've long had a dislike for MF Doom's material, but it didn't start out that way. As most of you should know (since probably half of you reading this are more than likely die hard Doom fans) Zev Love X was "discovered" by MC Serch and the Prime Minister Pete Nice and appeared on several tracks with 3rd Bass including the hit, "Gas Face". That was more than enough to ignite the excitement for the upcoming KMD project with Zev at the helm.
The album didn't disappoint, although Peachfuzz kind of made me hesitate at the time. It's a loosely based concept album, that sees the boys of KMD go through the album interacting with the shady "Mr. Hood". The album encompasses dope beats, def rhymes (how cliche) and a sense of humor that definitely isn't seen much today. "Who Me?" was a favorite of mine and released as a single (second or third, I can't totally remember). The joint contained the flavor that always made me think of De La or Tribe and while I never understood how this album wasn't included into the "classic" label that is applied to those projects, this album will always be among my favorite albums of all-time.
Scarface - Mr. Scarface Is Back (Rap-A-Lot)
Released: Oct 3, 1991
Scarface along with Andre 3000 has the paved the way for
strong lyricism hailing from the South. Following the immense success of Geto Boys’ “We Can’t Be Stopped” in 1991, Rap-A-Lot dropped Scarface his debut in the same year (only three months later!???) and unfortunately, this album went largely unnoticed. Now every one of us can put two and two together, especially after being breast-fed with information in the confinements of cyber-space and the traffic of unworthy news of marketing agendas; the Geto Boys were still reaping all the benefits and riding on a horse called “My Mind’s Playing Tricks On Me” when somebody had the bright idea to put out “Mr. Scarface Is Back” and let it fade to oblivion ( it took the album almost two years to go gold!). It couldn’t work and it didn’t work. I know a lot of people who would welcome Scarface to the Hall Of Fame, but nine times out of ten, the same people had to come back and revisit this album. Joints like “Murder By Reason Of Insanity” and “Diary Of A Madman” were beyond average and “A Minute To Pray And A Second To Die” ( He chose the wrong way and that’s the route he took / Born and brought up as an angel but he died as a crook) reality-rap at its purest form. I don’t know what my man Eric has in store for you guys as far as Scarface records are concerned- I could name you at least two albums that are better than this one- but I understand his choice and fully appreciate it since this composition is more than solid. Maybe that was a romantic pick, who knows… -words by Rasul
http://whentheyreminisce.wordpress.com/2007/04/17/erics-top-100-tuesdays31-40-words-by-rasul/
Trav's Take: I was a lot more open to the "reality rap" back in those days and I've longed considered this one of the best in that genre. I realize there are probably one or two other 'Face albums that are better, but "Mr. Scarface is Back" has always been my favorite from him. It was just the raw realness that made me think I was watching some gangster movie. Scarface is a master at weavin' the stories of the crooked streets and I was totally sucked into this album.
Greyson & Jasun - Sweatin' Me Wet (Atlantic) Released: July 9th, 1991
Upon looking at the cover, I'm sure visions of dancing, new jack swing kicking, r&b rhythms fill your head and you put the album back down in the dollar bin that you found it in and moved on. You would be making a mistake, because "Sweatin' Me Wet" by Greyson & Jasun, while not a classic in any sense of the word, is a solid release. The albums first single would come in the form of "Get Bizzy", featuring one of my all-time favorite MC's Slick Rick. It was a straight up party joint that was produced by Vance Wright, who did the whole album. At first, it was Slick Rick's verse that hooked me. Rick comes with one of the most pompus, arrogant, cocky verses I've heard from him, and that is saying a lot, but I loved it:
"They call me Slick Rick, Rickey D, Rickey Ricardo get it through your mind that your a played out retardo truth child, follow, shield your pic (?) there is no competition, (cuz they are all on his dick) So shoo number 2 you crumb cause your a bum You are all going real dumb when I'm on You could screamed "Rick" from way back in the past so now you want to kiss Rick's ass cause I blast? Save it and let me whip things thorough I run through every county state town and borough So don't try to step to me and say is he "Dizzy" why? Cause I'm about to get bizzy"
It was about this time when I started calling people "crumbs" for the summer. The rest of the album had some slammin' cuts, such as the title track, "Livin' Like A Troopa", "Laura" and the ever so dope "Hard As They Come". So why didn't this album make much noise? This was about the time hip hop was starting to make a change. The Daisey Age/Native Tongue flavor was starting. NWA and the west coast was starting to make noise. Hip Hop was evolving, and this album sounded like it really could have been released in '88 and it would have fit right in. It was built on the break beats, James Brown samples and other fairly common samples of the day, not the obscure samples found on Black Sheep's album or Prince Paul's Turtles sampels. Then of course, Atlantic had no CLUE how to promote hip hop back in those days. See what happened to K-Solo, Hard 2 Obtain and Original Flavor.
Terminator X - Terminator X & The Valley of the Jeep Beets (Colombia)
Released: May 7, 1991
For those of you not around to witness what a power Public Enemy was in hip hop during the early 90's, you have to look no further than witnessing a solo album from their DJ, Terminator X, being released. I'll repeat that again; their DJ, the same DJ that is rumored not to even do much in the grand scheme of the group. That's how much clout Public Enemy had back then. In all common sense, this album probably should have bombed before it even dropped, but in reality it's not all that bad. It might be a little uneven, there is some stuff that is probably better suited laying in the bottom of a cat box, but tracks such as the ever popular "Buck Whylin" featuring Chuck D and Sista Souljah or my two personal favorites, The Interrorgators "Back To The Scene Of The Bass" and Celo of the mysterious Casino Brothers (I always wanted to know more about them) "Wanna Be Dancin'" maybe this a CD that I kept in my Jetta for most of the summer.
The album lived up to it's name, it was made for the Jeeps in mind. Or in my case, my Jetta. This wasn't the thick, rollin' 808 basslines most of my friends were playing in their cars. This album packs some hard kicks that really test a speaker...and amps. The instrumentals just are showcases of production and some cuttin' from our good friend Norm. The musical influences is a wide variety genres, everything from R&B (No Further), an attempt at rock (Run That Go-Power Thang), and even an reggae influenced cuts (DJ Is The Selector). As said, by no means should this album be considered near classic, but the strong cuts on the album make this more than a good purchase in the used CD section.
6/18/2007
Sunday/Monday Lite
Sunday/Monday Lite
Summer has finally kicked into full gear here in the Mile High City, with temps reaching the upper 90’s over the weekend. I’m not a big fan of heat, especially when my little one room apartment only has a wall unit air conditioner in the front room, leaving my bedroom a legitimate sweatbox. It’s funny though, only a mere six months earlier, we were digging ourselves out of two feet of snow. You got to love places with the four seasons and four extreme seasons at that.
I hope all the dads out there had a great Father’s Day. I’m guessing that the majority of the visitors to this site are male and a large chunk of those are probably in their 30’s meaning we have some dads that come this site. Hip-Hop probably isn’t the best example of fatherhood and I’m probably not the best example of being a dad. My own dad and I had a pretty rough relationship up until I moved out. These days, my pops and I have a pretty good relationship, but we butted heads many times in my youth. I made sure to call my old man and wish him a happy Father’s Day and we had a good talk. Living in a different state makes you appreciate family a lot more. I wish that could be said about my own relationship with my nine-year-old daughter. As usual, I didn’t hear from her this year for Father’s Day. She lives in Salt Lake City with her mother, so I don’t get to see her very much, especially being strapped for money like I’ve been since deciding to try to finish my college degree. I moved from Salt Lake City when she wasn’t even a year old, mostly due to her mother disappearing with her after I fought to have my name on birth certificate in order to have some kind of rights. I later found them in Salt Lake a little over a year later, but things have never been “good”. I wish I could blame it all on my daughter’s mother, but I can’t. I gave up fighting for my rights early on. I hold grudges and I still hold one toward her mother and unfortunately it effects my relationship with my daughter. I know I don’t call nearly enough, I don’t see her nearly enough, my seeing her is limited to mostly Christmas and hopefully at least another time during the year. It does bug me alot and today (yesterday) was more difficult than usual, which is probably why I’m writing about it, to get it off my mind. There are lots of things I wish I could tell her, but since she is only nine, she wouldn’t understand. I wish I would handle things differently, but I tell myself I have enough adversity in my life at the time and I’ll deal with it later. I just hope later isn’t too late.
In attempt to get my mind off of things, I went to the ballpark to watch the Rockies and Devil Rays. In past years, the Devil Rays and Rockies would be a titanic match-up of losers, but our hometown nine have actually gotten themselves up over .500 and have looked pretty good of late. Being a little on the broke side, as usual, I ponyed up the four bucks for Rock Pile seats (centerfield cheap seats). It was hot as hell out and I didn’t bring much cash with me so needless to say I fried in the 97-degree heat. Not sure if it was a great idea or not going to the game, but it helped in getting my mind off of things. This is where I would go off into how great the national past time known as baseball is, but I’ll save it for another time. Enough with the self-therapy, on to the music.
Hip Hop Videos For The Mind, Body and Soul.
Mick Boogie on ESPN.comTrav’s Top Spins For The Week
I’ve actually had some fun listening to music the past couple weeks. For a short while, my old school bitterness has subsided and
1. Buff1 – Pure
There was about three albums that I listened to A LOT this past week, so trying to figure out which one got the most play was rather difficult, but after spending more time Saturday playing the new Buff1, I went with this. This album is just refreshing to sit down with and listen to it all the way through. I do get caught up on a few joints, listening to them over and over again, such as “Pretty Baby”, which is just a great song with a message.
2. Blue Scholars - Bayani
It was hard to bump this from the top spot and I think it’s a better album than the Buff1. I thought the Pitchfork review of this was bush though, but it is what it is. I think it’s a classic throwback to the Native Tongues sound.
3. Senim Silla – The Name, The Motto, The Outcome
I’m getting more and more into this album, which is a sign of a good album to me. I’ll admit, this didn’t thrill me at first, but once you start getting familiar with the songs, the album as a whole really starts growing on you.
4. Pharoahe Monch – Desire
Another album that I wasn’t initially identifying with but after a few forced listens, it started growing on me. It’s no where as good as “Internal Affairs”, and honestly I wasn’t expecting it to be after hearing so much halfhearted music from him the last couple years. I can do without some of the attempts at mainstream crossover though.
5. Junk Science – Feeding Einstein and Ill Poetic – The World Is Ours
The first album, Junk Science, is a much slept on album from ’05. I should know I slept on myself. It’s just a collection of songs that are not a your typical hip-hop songs. It might be classified as “nerd rap”, but so be it, its something different and I’m cool with that. The other album, is another suggestion from our man Eric from “When They Reminisce” and once again, he suggests a winner. The album is another decent cohesive collection of songs to form a worthwhile album that I’ve enjoyed listening to four of five times since first encountering it on Thursday.
Why?
Why am I getting sick of Hip-Hop remakes? At one time I stood by artists such as Snoop who chose to remake hip-hop classics such as La-Di-Da-Di, but now, I’m just sick of hearing it. The latest example is Pharoahe Monch’s remake of “Terrordome”. Maybe its because I love the original so much, but Monch’s attempt at the remake is no where near as good as the original. I’ve always felt if you are going to remake a song, make it as good as the original, if not, don’t bother.
Why am I pissed the Rockies are starting to do good? I just hope it doesn’t fuck with getting cheap tickets.
Why is Detroit killing the "good" hip hop scene right now?
page? He's posting up wrong tour dates and trying to collect a performance fee from a promoter.... loser.
