New Orleans

A brief tribute here to New Orleans musical legacy as the city slides into the sea. I don't mean for this to be tasteless, I was planning on posting about it for a minute so now's as good a time as any I suppose.

The Cash Money Baller Blockin' soundtrack is probably most well known for the "Project Bitch" single, with its bouncing horn melody and weirdo bubble-pop backdrop courtesy Mannie Fresh, obviously. I've never seen the movie this 'soundtrack' accompanied, but its got a cool variety of music in addition to the Cash Money regulars - great contributions from 8ball and MJG, UGK, Mack 10, and mediocre contributions from the Bravehearts (ugh). It's mostly a good album, uneven but the highlights can be jaw dropping - for every dramatic-by-numbers beat Mannie throws down (the title track) he hits on some bleepy future-bounce like "Rover Truck."

The two best tracks are pretty unstoppable. Mannie's best work is probably on the Big Tymers' "Let Us Stunt" which has woozy vibe instrumentation and features Mannie rapping about his brand new space shuttle. The beat has the neat effect of sounding non-generic thanks to the weird tonal smudging going on during the chorus, contributing directly to that woozy, distorted feeling, softening out the edges of the standard Mannie production.

My favorite cut though is B.G.'s "Thugged Out," which finds Mannie dropping little double-time string plucks like some cartoon bounce imitation of Sicilian mafioso music, the N.O. version of Nas' "The Message." B.G.'s message isn't lyrical the same way it is for Nas; his lyrics on this cut sound like straight ahead bragging without the musical context, just cliche'd boasts on paper or lyrics websites, but thank god rap isn't just words on internet pages. B.G.'s 'message' is in the performance, surfacing through B.G.'s creaking vocals, that aged, vodka-soaked strung-out croak, full of grim certainty and confidence with self-doubt, the simultaneous desperation and ruthlessness channelled through experience and shuddering honesty, only in his late teens or early 20s when this was recorded, but he sounds much older.

I gotta get it how I live and
in these bloody streets that I live on it's real
So I gotta play it raw, cause only the strong survive
So it's a must I sell them first, and grab them things and ride
If I don't, nigga gonna jump in they shit and smash out
Trynna catch me slippin' and leave Geezy ass out
But it ain't gone happen cause believe I know how to think
I'ma shoot a hole in yo boat first, before mine sank ...

B.G. - Thugged Out

Scott Matelic vs Radiohead

vs

My producer-extraordinaire dude (and soon-to-be-roommate) Scott Matelic has a remix of Radiohead’s “I Will” on Coke Machine Glow for download. Like everything Scott does, it’s great: calculated, somewhat brooding and melancholy, powerful with it’s understated simplicity. Scott also doesn’t push the issue and force the song to be some epic that it’s not (he lets it clock in at under 3 minutes). Great stuff.

Direct link here.

White People "Find"

But Blacks loot. Oh you got to love the "liberal" media. all of these are from yahoo news

Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana.(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen)

But when it's blacks they are thieves.

"A woman walks through chest-deep water as she heads to loot a grocery store in New Orleans, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, as floodwaters continue to rise after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)"

"Looters make their way into a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, as floodwaters continue to rise after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage when it made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Bay Area Rap Mix

Peep this free mix from DJ Mark 7

Tracklist:

1. Only Wear My White T's Once - The Federation
2. Da Dummy - E40
3. Do The On One - Kinsmoke
4. Turf 2 The Club - Ya Boy
5. Guess Who's Back - B-Legit & E40
6. Right Here - Balance
7. Show Me U Nasty - The Team
8. Take U Down - Furious feat E40
9. Super Hyphy (remix) - Various
10. It's Gettin Hot (remix) - Oakland All-Stars
11. The Bay Is In The Area - San Quinn
12. The Bay (remix) - Zion I feat The Team, Turf Talk & Casual
13. Call Me Stevie - PSD
14. I Got Grapes - Nump feat The Federation & E40
15. Gimme Dat - Sean T
16. Get Stupid (remix) - Thizz All-Stars
17. The Resume - Ea-Ski feat Too Short
18. Bounce Shake Wiggle - Killa Keise feat Cellski
19. Fuck Yo Couch - Bailey

40 oz'ers represent

bayview liquors always makes the perfect background for any photoshoot

88 mane, so yeah awhile back my homie Marz rolls through and hooks me up with some new Eddie K. I burned it real quick so I don't know what the fuck the album is called or even the names of the songs on it. For those that don't know Eddie K is down with the Bulletproof Space Travlers, straight out of San Franpistol but reppin that GurpCity Chico connection. If you're not up on Bulletproof then you need to get your turntablism game up.

Track 1

Opening track on the album that starts off with some dusty horns that I think are from some spaghetti western but I'm not sure. They sounds like some Ennio Morricone type steez but don't hold me to that I'm just guessing here. It's like a fucking call to arms, Eddie K come strapped with a dope verse and bottle of E&J.

Throw That West ft Young Bruno

This is probably my favorite track on the album and happens to be the only title that I know on the album. The beat is pretty stripped down, some deep drums, that sweeping synth, some handclaps and then those church bells dropping in for that extra touch of darkness. Eddie K doing it up for all the gurped out kids from the bay to the central valley. No fancy bullshit just straight rapping and repping that west till the mic bleeds. It's fucking great.

Another Anthem

I don't know if this song is actually called that but fuck it lets just run with that. Eddie K coming with that dramatic club joint. Great for getting drunk and just wildin out, fuck those softhanded motherfuckers breaking out the cristal trying to get cute at the club. Eddie K is rapping for the dudes that drink on the cheap and get fucked up off that cisco hobo wine.

Track 2

Speeding up the rap over that low budget electronic beat, just a few stutters away from being on some pop and glitch shit. Calling out all the retardo rappers who sound like Nelly Fertado, thank god, I hate that dumb bitch.

The album is 11 tracks deep and man I think it's fucking dope. I hope someone picks this up because it really needs to be heard. There are some banging cuts that I didn't post because the sound quality was shitty. The cd I got wasn't properly mixed down so I held off on that. There is one cut that I assume is called The Bay that is cute as fuck. Someone needs to get Eddie K some radio play. Shit at the very least get his ass on some mixtapes. He's got more style than a lot of these motherfuckers in the spotlight right now.

HEY GUESS WHAT!!

SCION FUCKING SUCKS!

The pussies over at scion are afraid of Bavu Blakes because they a bunch of fucking idiots. Peep houstonsoreal for info on what went down. I posted up my own thoughts over on my site. Anyways the deal is Scion loves to pretend they really really like hiphop but when it comes time to actually like hiphop they turn into a bunch of weaksauce bitches and run. Marketing campaigns fucking suck, what else is new.

Because Mac Lethal won't shut up about it.

Apparently when you drive to scribble jam they play this song on the radio the whole time. But since you suck at internetting you have to constantly IM me with bullshit like PURPLE DRANK! Even though I have never heard this song till yesterday. This probably doesn't matter to most of you people but I think Mac lethal is dumb and lazy. Seriously, why the fuck did this dude make that stupid bamboo lounge song?

Paul Wall - Got Dat Drank ft Frayser Boy & Mike Jones

I guess this song is a single or someshit, I'm assuming off Frayser boy's shit since he goes first and this is obviously a 3-6 beat. I'm not sure so who knows it may show up on pauls album too but don't count on that because I could and probably am wrong as fuck. This mp3 is off the Kool Kid and Paul Wall mixtape - Sitting Sidewayz. I'm sure you can cop that shit at any mixtape spot.

The song is pretty cute. If you can't tell from the title or the obvious lyrics this shit is about sippin lean. I've never sipped lean and I don't really want too. Being disoriented and dizzy just doesn't sound fun to me. I drink beer because it's reliable. I know where I'm headed and I know when I'm going to fall down. I don't need to drank to make passing out seem really slow, but Texas loves them drugs. I don't think I've ever met more drug addicts then when I was in Texas. Well except for Arizona meth heads. I guess the humidity and cheap bricks of weed at the border will do that to you.

Oh and here is C Rayz rapping about how he wants to be white BUT WITH PUPPETS!

San Quinn says stupid things over at the Siccness

Over at the Siccness they got this San Quinn Interview where he claims that the reason the bay isn't blowing up like the south is that the south isn't as technology friendly as the bay. Apparently San Quinn isn't selling like Mike Jones because people in the oh so intelligent bay know how to use cd burners. Never mind the fact that southern dudes are always fucking complaining about bootleggers. Fuck, I thought San Quinn was smarter than that. I like the dude's music but that's just backward as fuck.

I got some more thoughts on this shit but I got to go to work so that will have to wait.

Fuck being in a constant bind

Slim Thug, Sir Daily, Killa Kyleon - Good Ole Luv



Masta Ace - Good Ole Luv

My vital take on the Young Jeezy album

We may have been the first blog to post about Jeezy back in Nov. (although I'm sure there's a chance he was namedropped in the gelandweave archives back when) but I never really followed up on it. First heard him on Thug Matrimony, checked the tracks Serg posted, thought he seemed pretty good but I wasn't about to go out of my way researching dude. Then I hear Trap or Die - I think I got it about two months ago? Sat on it for awhile. Spent some time with it. Realized I loved it, realized his style was totally different from what I thought it was (circa "Fucking Around"). Copped the Boyz n Da Hood album. Uneven but fantastic in parts. And then this album drops and suddenly everybody loves Jeezy! Well isn't that nice. I waited around and finally bought it today so here's my reaction because I'm at work late and the phones are not exactly ringing off the hook so here are my SO NECCESSARY thoughts on the first listen to Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101.

What I like about it:

Jeezy is Mr. Charisma isn't he? SCRATCHY smoker's voice. The "THATSSSSSS RIIIIGHT" underlining punchlines, real-talk alternating with goofy "AYYY!" the ghetto tragi-comedy of performance reflecting reality, distorted through the lens of personality and real-life struggles warped and broadcast by the urge to entertain, and oh yes: the SNOWMAN chain (see Ozone Mag for the pornographic detail) and all the white/snow/cold summer/icy refs. Then there's the songs. A long-ass album that is somehow incredibly consistent and mostly-great, Rocky-anthemic beats ("Standing Ovation," "Trapstar") and knowledge jewels ("Don't Get Caught," "Talk To Em") the late-90s Cash Money optimism of "My Hood" and the still-amazing finale "Air Forces." great guests (T.I., Trick Daddy) and just the feeling that Jeezy knows his "punchlines and riddles" are corny, so he has to underline them - eh? eh? nah. "AYYYYYYY." But best of all, biggest strength and biggest weakness: like T.I., Jeezy doesn't look for the pop charts, he pulls them to him. Aside from "Icy" (which, according to Gucci Mane's old Murder Dog interview, he didn't allow Jeezy to use on the album - pity) Jeezy is not pulling the Ludacris "THIS IS FOR MTV AUDIENCES"-style single, and instead following the T.I. blueprint - make "QUALITY STREET MUSIC" and tell the people to come to you if they want their drug tales raw and uncut, want their drama LIKE THE DJ. AYYYYYYY. The closest thing to a potential pop cut is "My Hood," and maybe "Trapstar," and I love both of those but judging from the amusing snowman-shaped sticker attached to the saran wrap when I purchased the thing, the label's pretty set on following up "And Then What" with "Soul Survivor," the Akon-produced track.

Finally, its lighter on the violence than the Boyz' album, which was peppered with guntalk; not that it ignores it, but it envelopes it realistically, without cartoon exaggeration; Jeezy's not standing on the cover holding various assault rifles. Jeezy's looking backwards, learning from experience, teaching the babies, emphasizing the future, well aware of what it took to get here etc. Not that he sounds eager to be fucked with, but he doesn't want to go out in a hail of cartoon gunfire either. Or as its summed up in the liner notes when he shouts out the "United Gangsta Nation, Bloods, Crips, GD's Vice Lords - Let's bring it together and get this money." Let's Get It indeed.

What I don't like:

I only listened to the album one time through, but I'm not too impressed with the Mannie single. (I know its been out for a while, but in Chicago they're still playing "Icy" so I think I have an excuse for not hearing it til now). I'll give the song some more time but corny Mannie introductions ("Fags, hags and scalliwags!") and all, I was not feeling it.

Its not as good as Trap or Die. Not as immediate, not as ENTHUSIASTIC, no shouts of GANGSTA GRIZILLS! No "Crunk Muzik" beat. No Ennio Morricone-style rap beat. No explanation of what "Gangsta means to me." The album's just less consistent, a bit too long, and, as is customary with albums vs. mixtapes, there's just less flow from track to track.

MOST OF ALL: the mixing. OK so this sort of complaint annoys me normally because it reminds me of when this dude at college told me he didn't like the beats on Cuban Linx because the snare was MIXED TOO LOUD. And I'm like ...the fuck. But for some reason, the beats on the whole album, even the Jazze Pha ones, sound very very THIN. Like, where the fuck is the bass? This actually kinda bothered me on Trap or Die and the Boyz album too, although not to the extent that it does here. Everything has been mixed to provide optimal trebel-assualt, or something. Is there a reason for it? Even the soul-sampling on "Talk to Em" sounds like the bass has been reverse-filtered so it sounds weirdly SHALLOW.

Bottom Line.

This album is great and I'm sure it'll just grow on me with time. If you don't have Trap or Die though, pick that shit up. OK I'm done talking about Jeezy.

Welcome to Brooklyn

It’s always been curious to me how similar Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown are as rappers. They don’t really sound alike, but their basic understanding of what it means to be a female MC in rap music is remarkably similar and is basically built on the fact that they both overtly use their sexuality as a sense of pride and power. The characters they portray are characters that are strong, sexually experienced, sexually active, sexually comfortable, independent, rich, and—quite often—like giving head as much as they like getting head given to them. I’m not really hear to comment on the political nature of this strain of uber-sexual postmodern feminism and I really can’t say I’m familiar enough with either Foxy or Lil’ Kim’s work to say anything really interesting about the similarities and differences (surely there are some?) between them. I just find it interesting that yet again, these two women find themselves doing something extremely similar in two of their new songs: appropriating a reggae/dancehall aesthetic... and doing it rather well.

In “Come Fly With Me,” Foxy Brown recruits Sizzla to sing a rather uncouth hook, but the results are anything but so. Sizzla is without a doubt one of the most versatile dancehall dj’s today: he can sing a ballad as heartbreakingly beautiful as anything Sanchez has ever done; he can belt out strong, provocative, political roots tunes; or he can spit that raw, chi-chi man, gun-talk shit that still dominates the dancehall clubs stateside (his “Kopa” version is still my favorite from the rhythm LP). Foxy Brown does her typical Foxy thing, kicking sexual lyrics that are anything but subtle (“the na na na taste like rum punch”) in her Brooklyn Jafakin’-flow/Jamaican-flaux ripe with "Pull Ups!" and Patios. The beat is a slow burner that teeters along, feeling more like a slow 86 bpm trudger than the 96 bpm stomper that it actually is (and there’s something really energetic about beats that feel slower than they actually are--it builds a tension that transcribes itself into energy in a way that only music can perform). But, oddly enough, this song doesn’t feel like one of the failed mid-90’s (year, not bpm) attempts at dancehall/hip-hop crossover (i.e Bounty Killer and Mobb Deep, or Bounty Killer and NORE, or Bounty Killer and Jeru). It simply exists as a powerful Caribbean-influenced hip-hop song. Of course, this makes perfect sense given the huge Caribbean population in Brooklyn and given the ever-increasing popularity of Caribbean music amongst all black folk (whether Caribbean or not), but this might be one of the first really successful dancehall/hip-hop tracks of recent memory that feels like a natural marriage as opposed to simply a brief cross-over marketing venture attempting to appeal to more than one audience. And, got damn it, Lil’ Kim has gone ahead and done the same god damn thing... and is just as successful at it.

O-Dub posted Lil’ Kim’s “Lighters Up” earlier this week and wondered whether Lil’ Kim was attempting to take Lauryn’s place with this song. While I can certainly hear the Lauryn Hill similarities, I found myself thinking the same thing that somebody in his comments section was thinking: that this song is more "Welcome to Jamrock" than it is L-Boogie... and I ain’t mad at it AT ALL. Scott Storch comes through with a barreling beat that bumps with it’s heavy percussion and stabbing pianos that don’t really sound too Caribbean, but as soon as Lil’ Kim does her best Damian Marley impression, the song immediately beckons for a “More fiya! More fiya!” chant. Part of what makes this song successful is its unabashed reliance on the summer anthem "Welcome to Jamrock." The rhythmic pattern that Kim spits is pretty much identical to the flow on "Jamrock" and Kim’s "Welcome to Brooklyn!" wail at the end of the second and third verses makes the connection anything but slight. But while the appropriation sounds somewhat dubious on paper, in performance, it works. Kim sounds comfortable and confident with her Patios inflections, and even the few bars in Spanish that she drops--something that would never have been done if reggaeton wasn’t the genre-of-the-moment--feel natural and effective.

So, what the fuck inspired these two artists to appropriate a very similar style at the same time? To be fair, Foxy Brown has a history of doing Dancehall influenced hip-hop ("Oh Yeah" with Spragga Benz, and the jawn with Shyne that samples Barrington Levy whose name is escaping me) so perhaps it’s not so surprising that she recruited Sizzla and put out this banger. But Lil’ Kim’s experimentation is slightly more surprising, isn't it? I don't mean to suggest that either artist is biting the other. In fact, I'm more inclined to think that both Kim and Foxy simply noticed the similarities between rap and dancehall, and didn't find it uncomfortable to perform these similarities.

I tend to think that we’re simply at a point in hip-hop where black musics are colliding and finding more similarities with each other than they outwardly admit. A few days ago I posted about the unstated similarities between rap and R&B that are performing themselves more and more obviously these days. And, it seems that at least in part, that the success of these two songs (and of the increasing number of hip-hop/dancehall blends and party tracks) is based on the fact that black music(s) are toppling over themselves finding a great deal more in common with each other than differences. This of course isn’t a new realization per ce. Anyone who knows anything about black music knows that there are certain strains and stylistic traditions that can be traced back all the way to Africa. But the seamless combination of these black musics has never been so apparent. The seamlessness is making the connections obvious.

But, I can't help but wonder if that will somehow preserve these black musics, or whether it will simply allow it to be consumed more easily...and irresponsibly.

Whatever the case, the music is fucking good and I'll never be mad at that.

-- Foxy Brown feat Sizzla Come Fly With Me

-- Lil’ Kim Lighters Up

-e

One Of The Hardest

This past sunday I got to see Saafir rap. I almost didn't go because I have no money but I figured shit fuck it when the hell else am I going to be able to see Saafir. Rap is more important that buying crap like food. We rolled up to milk and they had the UPN van out front playing episodes of distortion 2 static. The D2S kids threw the show, they got some shit going down at milk like 2 sundays out of the month. The club wasn't super packed but I figured it's sunday and I didn't hear shit about it until last week. I grab some beers and bullshit with some folks until someone starts rapping. Kirby Dominate hit the stage with Hypnotic The Native Son on hypeman duties. I was trippin off Hypnotic being there because I hadn't listened to his shit in years. I use to jam the fuck out of his Iternal Symmetry tape. Kirby did some older shit and then got into some new material he was working on that was on some 80's shit. I liked the set but that might be because I got some free alcohol out of his performance when he rapping about ballin and started pouring champagne in cups.

After Kirby's set, some delaying and figuring which of the two shitty mics to use Saafir finally hit the stage. Started off talking about how he's back and all that. He says he's got new shit and it's time for him to bring back the lyrics to this shit. At that point I started to think oh this is going to be crap. He says he doesn't really want to do old material and wants to show how he's changed and has new shit. That sounded really suspect but then he went into Battle Drill and that was pretty fucking cute to finally hear live. Then he went into a bunch of newer shit that he was working on. One song was about cops, that one was pretty dope. Then there was a song called "Cash Me Out" and "Crispy." Overall the show was dope but I think me being excited over it had more to do with finally being able to hear Saafir live than his actual performance. After the show I picked up this cd for 5 bucks:



Yeah like it says, it's archived material from 97-02. It features some Golden State songs that never saw the light of day. For those that are stupid and didn't pay attention to westcoast underground supergroups from the mid 90's that never came to be Golden State was Ras Kass, Saafir, and Xzibit. Fucking sucks that these dudes never managed to release shit because in 1996 this sounded like it could have been the dopest shit ever. Before the days when Xzibit was more concerned with trying to pimp Krondon's career.

I'm going to post half of the songs off this short cd because I figured I'd just throw up all the Golden State tracks. The most of the other songs are about women anyways and those songs are stupid. My favorite track off the cd would have to be Back Up Off Me. I think that line about how Xzibit wants to do Brittney like Bobby did Whitney is hilarious. It's Official sounds a too much like some predictable single material. Overall the material isn't mindblowing but if you are at all interested in Golden State I suggest you check this shit.

Back Up Off Me

It's Official

Touch Somebody

Less Work

You can now buy this cd from SoFarWest so pay them a visit if you need more saafir in your life.

Teairra Mari -- Princess of the Rock

Yummy.

Remember when R&B sucked and to have an R&B singer on your hook was considered “selling out”? I think we can safely say those days have been dead for quite some time… and rightfully so! Hip-hop and R&B have always had much more of an intimate relationship than the true-schoolers of the early 90’s were willing to admit. In retrospect, I think we have to admit that the true-school rejection of the preponderance of tracks that married hip-hop and R&B in the early 90’s was simply a misguided attempt at criticizing the increasing popularity of the genre. These true-school heads were basically frightened by hip-hop’s ever increasing popularity because that strain of hip-hop that was becoming increasingly popular was one that was markedly different from their own brand of hip-hop and—since girls buy a hell of a lot of rap CDs—markedly more marketable. Feeling threatened by the rather obvious lack of mainstream marketability, a lot of these true-school rap folk decided to rail against the more obvious stylistic differences between their true-school, “keep it real” rap and what they considered to be “watered down” commercial shit. And so, one of the most obvious differences between the “true” and the “weak” was that a lot of the stuff that was blowing up had R&B singers on the hooks. So, R&B singers on hooks became “wack” and implied that you were trying to sell out.

Of course, that was just silly scapegoating. After all, people who were lauding supposedly “true” rappers like Smif N Wessun casually ignored that Smif N Wessun recorded the “I Love You” remix with Mary J. Blige (a song that is anything but “wack”). Skip forward a decade or so and you find R&B singers getting some of the hardest beats out. Just to mention a few, there’s last year’s “Only U” by Ashanti with its obese, distorted guitar; Mashonda’s new track “Blackout” with Snoop Dogg and solid production by Swizz Beatz; Amerie’s frantic, rolling and stabbing “One Thing”; Faith Evan’s break-heavy soul ballad “Again”; and so on and so on.

Which brings us to the new princess of the Roc: Teairra Mari. After albums by Bleek and the Young Gunz flopped (albums everyone knew would flop except for Jay-Z), this might be Hov’s only early round Roc success… or at least it should be because this shit is hot. Here I’ve linked two songs that are basically the same formulaic make-up, but they are both knocking tracks that illustrate the familial nature of hip-hop and R&B. The first is Mari’s current single “Make Her Feel Good” that jacks Eric B and Rakim’s classic synth line from “My Melody” and adds a sparse drum line on. The track doesn’t even bother with a bass line; the kicks are all the low end that are needed as Mari belts her little heart out and Hov shows up for a silly little verse(NO HOV ON THE VERSION I'VE LINKED). The second track is “La La” another drum-heavy banger that works because of its rugged miminalism: simple melody, loud drums, clean and full vocals… Oh, and no bass line again. Raw.

Anyway, lemme know what you think of this shit.

-- Teairra Mari Make Her Feel Good

-- Teairra Mari La La

-- Extra: Here’s a link to a low quality version of "No Daddy," another track from Mari’s album from the Roc website.

-e

Songs from 2005 that I like

Here are a bunch of great 2005 songs, some very popular (well, most of which are very popular) but many of which don't get the same attention on blogs as say, "Sittin' Sidewayz." Actually, many of them get attention from blogs too, but I've been listening to them a lot so it doesn't matter. Basically here are some great songs I want to talk about because I'm bored at work, and if you don't like it too bad. (Now 100% Dipset-free!)

15. Boys n da Hood - Dem Boyz

Its weird but people still hate on Diddy. Between 8ball and MJG's album last year, his video-endorsment of T.I. in Rubberband Man and this, Diddy is like my favorite non-rappingest rapper. Oh yeah and this song is great blah blah blah read about it on gelandweave. The album is pretty good too! Plum Drank makes fun of me for liking SAD RAP MUSIC but one of his favorite songs on the album is about how the Boyz refuse to make happy jams.

14. Cassidy - I'm a Hustla

This track is like someone listening to Jay-Z's Life and Times of S. Carter and deciding that it was too long, and really it could be a single song about hustling. OK so it misses huge swaths of Vol. 3's awesomeness but its reductive and punchline-heavy version of Jay-Z is pretty great on its own. I like the remix with Mary J. too, because as Serg would say, I have soft hands. Don't worry though, plenty of R&B left in the list.

13. Kano feat. Sadie - So Sure (Remix)

Kano is disappointing everyone, because the WEIGHT OF GRIME'S MAINSTREAM SUCCESS IS ON HIS SHOULDERS. Or it was, I think his 15 minutes of blogophame are up. This song is really pretty though.

12. Christina Milian feat. Twista - For Real

The return of Xtina Milian! Triumphant clarion call of chipmunked voices, but oh how sweet it is. (Remember when in "Dip It Low" Christina said "greet him at the door with nothing on"? That was my favorite part, too.) Seriously, Twista's the best thing to ever come out of Chicago rap.

11. Keyshia Cole - I Should Have Cheated

I saw her do this live on Live at the Apollo and it was mildly jawdropping. She started out uncomfortable and by the end her Mary J. Blige-like tortured conviction had sort of leveled the boisterous crowd. Oh yeah, this song is also depressing because she's clearly lying - she wouldn't have cheated, and this is her last attempt to hurt. She contradicts it all with a little overdub at the end.

10. Lil Rob - Summer Nights

I've already said too much about this song but I thought I should reiterate its greatness because no other bloggers or internerds are recognizing. Its like the rap version of "Night Moves" which makes it classic, obv.

9. Eightball and MJG feat. Lloyd - Forever

This is on their great and underrated album Living Legends from last year and I like how weird it sounds on the chorus - slow, gutter-ass Shondrae beat and then Lloyd's creepy falsetto singing about hustlin with your misfits and keeping money til you get rich. I like the video a lot too, with its dark, post-rainstorm Memphis gloom. MJG dreams of marrying Oprah and Eightball's gonna let his nuts hang and start punching clowns out. Get this album.

8. Tru - Where U From

I didn't feel the album as much as Plum Drank but the single is killer, jazzy New Orleans bounce with rumbling pianos and big triumphant horns and people shouting out where they are from like the title instructs. The video is pretty wild, dudes just going buck all over the place (courtesy IAP-TV).

7. R Kelly - Slow Wind

Way better than "Trapped in the Closet," or at least it has a lot more longevity for me. "Slow Wine" is R Kelly doing reggae, sort of like the Police *do* reggae! Yeah, its like the best Police song never made. And its pretty sexy too, without being creepy. No 'wacky' lines about tossing salads. Kell's music is good BEYOND novelty, folks, its true!

6. T.I. - ASAP

T.I. is my favorite rapper, and this is my favorite 2005 T.I. single.


This is a picture of Aesop Rock sweatbands.


5. Xzibit - Criminal Set b/w Saturday Night

This is like one of those old classic Cali beats, propulsive thump and Ice Cube lyrical hook. I like it a lot! Certainly better than the recent Xzibit-Timbaland bullshit. Its like X was waiting for Timbo's price to go down before he'd hire him. Which is sort of like buying stock in WorldCom today. Man I remember I bought man and machine from 'hiphopsite.com' because it came with an autographed poster and the CD was fucking awful, and no one would buy the poster on Ebay. Fuck you Xzibit! Oh yeah the b-side to "Criminal Set" is called "Saturday Night" and it has a cool flute hook. These songs are both great. Xzibit is great at this old Cali sound, and at adding useless shit to cars, just leapfrog over the middle of his catalogue.

4. TOK - Hey Ladies, Footprints

TOK are so awesome. Their new album Unknown Language is like the perfect summer barbecue music celebration LP, and these are two of the best songs on it. "Hey Ladies" is on the Junkanoo rhythm and it's an upbeat BLAST of perfect party dancehall. Footprints is SAD, like the blues! No but seriously, the track is pretty heartbreaking, and my favorite use of the beautiful drop leaf rhythm.

3. Pretty Ricky - Your Body + Bow Wow feat. Ciara - Like U

These two songs are like synth-pop hip-hop, twisting the dark rowdy crunk synths into peppy 80s pop cuts. Lil Jon tried this with Nivea's "Okay" and it didn't work very well. Lil Jon is much better at club/arena-sized minor key air-raid synth blasts. These sound much more like little bedroom teenage pop synths, which explains why they work so well for these artists I suppose.

2. Mariah Carey featuring Styles P and Jadakiss - We Belong Together (Remix) + Mariah - Secret Love

Styles P has a funny name. Say it. "Styles P." I haven't heard anything from him since the totally great "I Get High" which is much better because it came out way back when it did than it would be if it came out today. Anyway this remix is way better than it has any right to be, consider how much it messes with the original. I posted about "Secret Love" way back when, and it's still one of the best songs Mariah's ever done. And its with recently-revitalized Swizz Beats. Why its not on my copy of the Mariah album I could not tell you.

1. 3-6 Mafia, Young Buck and 8ball and MJG - Stay Fly

I mentioned this a couple days ago in a couple awkwardly-worded sentences, but jesus is this track great. I mean we go through like 5 years of New York sub-soul, sped-up samples thrown in to harness that generic 70s sound, a hundred bad songs for every good one ("I Get High," "Through the Wire") and helium no longer has the same effect. THEN! Hypnotized Minds drop, like, the apex of *THAT SOUL SOUND* with this, a full-bodied realization of the legendary encounter that David Banner couldn't quite get right ("Gangsta Walk" is good and all, but...). This song fucking rules.

Bay Area Rap Bloggery

Man I don't know where all these blogs came from but there has been a whole new crop of bay area rap related blogs. I figured I'd throw up a couple links for those of you who don't want to wait for hipsters from new york to put you up on some regional raps six months from now.

Get Stoopid
About six posts deep and it's all bay shit, short, 40, turf, mistah fab, da theory, federation, keak, san quinn, and thuglordz. I don't know about his love for yukmouth. To me Yukmouth is like an angry toddler who just wants attention. Yeah thuglordz has it's moments but overall I think it's a boring record. Whatever though that's my opinion. This blog just started up and so far he's got some cutesy mp3's up so I'd recommend peeping.

The Bay Finta Blow
Some young kid, well he's 20 but when he talks about how he was 15 in 2000 and heard e-40 for the first time I start to feel old. His name is Oliver Monday, sounds like he could be a character on Mr Rogers. Which now that I think about it sounds like a great idea. Some puppet coming out of the castle to school King Friday on some slumpers. Fuck Elaine Fairchilde, they need to replace her ass with Oliver Monday.

Strivin
Put together by this dude Doxx how has a gang of interviews and such. He had a newsletter called No Joke and a magazine by the name of Strivin. Doxx has interviews with JT, Lateef, Cougnut, Dre dog, and Tayda Tay, which reminds me that I need to post up TaydaTay's song Cutty Bang. He's also got a bunch of profiles, reviews and even a letter from Mac Dre. Tons of shit to read.

Pacific Standard
I think this one is mostly maintained by Rawj of Feenom Circle. It's been around for a minute now, content varies from mp3's, links, interviews, shows, or whatever is going down.

Laundromat United
Capski and Lambo, two dudes who hangout at b-sides a lot. Go there and get that E-40 - Pussy Niggaz mp3. They got mixes and shit too.

Cult Status
because even those that aren't in the bay anymore still rep it like a motherfucker.


I'm sure there are some more out there than I'm forgetting but that's what comments are for so that internetters can tell me I'm dumb.

True Grime Vol 1

You grime fans might like this mix, True Crime. I just saw it posted on RapTalk.net so I figured I might as well throw it up on here since some of you like this stuff. I haven't listened to the whole thing yet but some of the songs I've heard before, David may or may not have posted them. I don't know who the dudes are that made the mix but they have a website called Hostile.Ca. I guess they are some canadian djs who like fancy pants drum & bass and grime. I'm pretty indifferent about either genre although I'll admit I'll listen to some grime every now and then. I really don't give a fuck about drum and bass though. peep the tracklisting below.

1. Bubble Riddim - Sean C
2. Wot u call it? - Wiley
3. Chorus! - Crissy Criss & fumin
4. Sing along (remix) - Crazy Titch
5. Bring Arms Out - Kano Feat. Demon
6. Stand up tall - Dizzee Rascal
7. Womans World - Shystie
8. Bounce - Roll Deep Crew
9. Forward Riddim - Lethal Bizzle Feat. Fumin, napper, d double, jermakabi
10. Forward Riddim (remix) - Lethal B Feat Kardinal Official
11. Cock Back - Nasty Crew Feat. Crazy Titch
12. Pick yourself up - Wiley
13. Creeper Hoe - Danny Weed
14. Madness - Fumin, Crissy Criss & Dfrnt
15. Hype Hype - Flirta D Feat. Van Damage
16. Cheeky Remix - Lady Sovereign
17. When I'm Ere - Roll Deep Crew
18. Reload - Kano Feat. D Double E & Demon
19. Fit But you Know it - The Streets
20. Blam - Crissy Criss
21. Skit - Enemee & Sean C
22. Beat The Witness (Secret Dnb Track) - Target

Nas 50 Cent Diss MP3

Peep the highly google-able Nas 50 Cent diss MP3 title.

Anyway, is this really a diss song? “My raps bring horror like the board of a ouija”? Jesus. You’re embarrassing yourself, dude. Beat’s not bad though.

I still think “Ether” is the most overrated diss song in the history of rap music. How motherfuckers want to argue that Nas even came close to winning that Jay-Z battle is absolutely ridiculous. I really don’t understand that shit. Anyway, Nas’s biggest flaw as an emcee is he doesn’t know his limits. Dude cannot make a hot party song and dude isn’t really that dope when he’s trying to spit this kind of hard shit. Truth be told, that isn’t really a bad thing that he can’t do that shit. The bad thing is, he constantly tries to do that shit. Give it up, dog! Know your limits! Just do that street, intellectual thug thing with your moments of brilliant flow and introspective insight and please chill the fuck out on this other dumb shit, dude. Damn. You're really fucking up your already fucked-up legacy.

Nas "Dont Body Ya Self"

-e