i ♥ hip-hop

[The NZA]

^it's such a good album. i gotta get through my backlog and get back to it soon, its up there with rae's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II for good wu albums in the last few years.

 

tonight:

 

 

 

 

...and now, a mixtape that milks 90's TV and will hit a lotta fun notes for a lotta you guys, im a few tracks in & had to share:

 

 

 

download link! seriously, hearing dude rhyme over some of your favorite show themes is a trip.

[Mr. Hakujin]

Listened to the A-1 album and as far as concept albums go it'sa clever idea and well executed. However, from a pure listening standpoint, it's a mixed bag. Some tracks had weak rhymes, some had weak beats, some had both. All That! and Price Is Right are the two big winner tracks for me.

[The NZA]

yeah, i walked away with about the same impression. you really gotta try something out there to get noticed right now, as a lot of new artists are joining the mixtape bandwagon; apparently it's the thing to do for both exposure and putting together a production budget.

 

hakus, since you're around, you might enjoy:

 

[The NZA]

 

I was recently reminded that february is Dilla month, and i've mentioned him here before but never really done the man & his work justice. known as "your favorite producer's favorite producer", his influence on hip-hop can't be overstated, but like No ID many don't know his name, much less his influence.

 

His wiki is detailed & quite well done, but given the nature of this thread, i thought id like to let his work speak for itself, so sit back & enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a great set up on youtube, and a better look at the man's resume (so many classics i couldn't link to here). R.I.P. to one of the best.

 

[The NZA]

more respect/love for dilla month! dont make me bomb ya'lls facebook pages with quality

 

tonight's recommendations:

 

Phonte (of Little Brother) - Unreleased track (produced by 9th Wonder)

 

The Illz - Know your place in the universe

 

 

^ bumping this tonight, fans of Madlib should not sleep.

[Mr. Hakujin]

Nick, wanna hook us up w/ a J Dilla "best of" torrent link or sumfin? Also, did the guy ever put out any instrumental only tracks a la MF DOOM'S Special Herbs joints?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Axzxe1a78E

 

not really feelin' the "I'm Beamin'" track from Lupe though.

Edited February 10, 2011 by Mr. Hakujin

[The NZA]

heh.

 

glad you asked, hakus - Donuts is one of his more liked/poplular mixtapes of mostly instrumentals. its not my personal favorite, but its fun - try it when you get a chance & lemme know what you think!

[APANCHALYPSE RETURNS]

Can somebody hook me up with an Apollo Kids download? I downloaded a couple songs off the album and need more of that shit. Fuckin disgusting! Can't find any more or they're all censored. Thanks in advance, Nick. Heh.

[The NZA]

NZA gon give it to ya, he gon give it to ya

if that's somehow censored, there's a lot more of em.

 

ps tonight is about:

 

 

halfway through, and its all quality so far. dont sleep!

[Mr. Hakujin]

I DL'd Apollo Kids off of piratebay w/ no prob, Panchy.

 

And I'm DL'n the Donuts torrent now, NZA. Cheers!

[APANCHALYPSE RETURNS]

Cuban Links 2 is next.

[The NZA]

...thoughts on Apollo Kids? OB4CL2 is also some of the best Wu efforts in years, few skippable tracks but mostly bangers.

 

and now, ya'll get your chance to #SWAG the fuck out, but is Hondo's ready?!:

 

[The NZA]

i need some of ya'll to watch that Yonkers video in my last post and comment. it goes hard in the paint.

 

Shaolin vs Wu-Tang video - oh shit i am karate chopping everything in sight right now

 

Freddie Gibbs & Blu (from Blu & Exile, chill shit previously posted)

 

 

speaking of Gibbs:

 

 

"Oneirology" from StevenMossberg on Vimeo.

 

<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/19824644">"Oneirology"</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user4694689">StevenMossberg</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

 

Oneirology is the spiritual follow-up to the critically slept-on hit album last year by Kno (Cunninglynguist), Death is Silent, an abstract sort've album i suspect DoJ and a few of you would dig. anyway, it's something quiet different that what you get from a lotta hip-hop right now, very much looking forward to it.

 

today's been huge for quality; my last post introduced me to OddFuture, which has been nothing but mind-blowing at the moment. ive just jumped on Tyler the Creator's album "Bastard" and between that and the stuff on their site...definitely not for everyone; some dark shit that'd sit best with Gravediggaz/horrorcore fans, i think. some examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

^^mellowhype on the last few is a lot more approachable.

[Mr. Hakujin]

I'm half way through J Dilla's album "Donuts," and so far so good.

 

Yonkers - not feelin' it in the least

 

Gibbs - I like what you've posted thus far

 

Mellowhype - see Yonkers

 

I also realized I don't necessarily hate this song anymore. And honestly, I even kinda like it now...

 

 

. . .still dislike Drake though.

[APANCHALYPSE RETURNS]

I also realized I don't necessarily hate this song anymore. And honestly, I even kinda like it now...

 

 

. . .still dislike Drake though.

 

I credit this song as Eminem's thrust back into awesomeness. While the others do just fine on their verses, Eminem crushes everyone and frankly, everyone on any other song that whole year. Shortly thereafter he made his Recovery album. I think he was feeling it...

[Mr. Hakujin]

seconded on the em verse, panch. kanye and weezy are good as well--but em crushed it. having to listen through those other verses enough times to get to his at the end is what made me finally admit i dug the song as a whole.

[The NZA]

I'm half way through J Dilla's album "Donuts," and so far so good.

 

Yonkers - not feelin' it in the least

 

Gibbs - I like what you've posted thus far

 

Mellowhype - see Yonkers

 

I also realized I don't necessarily hate this song anymore. And honestly, I even kinda like it now...

 

 

haha, i do appreciate you giving it a go & posting back, hakus. again, the Gravediggaz comparison works well here: there's people who enjoyed RZA on Wu, soundtracks or his solo albums, but the dark shit he did with Prince Paul & co was niche at best, and it wasn't till a few years ago i really started digging it. Tyler the creator got way more exposure than he's had with that creepy video today, and id assume a fair amount wasn't necessarily good but i can't stop bumping it. curious to see if panch can get into it, again i totally get it if im flying solo here though.

 

i couldn't make it through "Forever"; radio's killed it, and its funny but i do better hearing Drake than seeing his goofy ass, his look + style reek of herbs in my old high school trying way the fuck too hard.

@ Em - if any of you managed to enjoy Relapse (...), Oh No (unreleased track) - yeah, he's still doing that voice thing here.

also, if anyone's likewise somehow a fan of Saigon, "Greatest story never told" finally came out.

[APANCHALYPSE RETURNS]

Good to hear Em and Royce aren't wasting any time (they've already recorded a few songs together). Still, I do not understand how Eminem does it.... Amazing!

[APANCHALYPSE RETURNS]

Finally got around to hearin' that Yonkers joint (heh) annnnnnnd... I don't know.

 

How is he gonna make more songs if he's dead?

 

 

The video was a bit too much. Lyrically he's fine. I just don't know. I'm not gonna go as far as Chris and say I'm not feeling it AT ALL, though.

[The NZA]

well...i'm glad some of ya'll checked it out, anyway. i kinda warned it was a bit raw, but yeah, helps me gauge what to post here. i'ma fly solo and say that was the best shit i heard all week.

 

dont worry, when the remix has video ho's and autotune, ya'll be all up ons

 

 

finally got panch's em/rocye track to stream for me, kinda confirmed a few thoughts i already had though:

1) em's good, but past his prime. to be fair, he's not phoning shit in like snoop/etc, and i give him a lotta credit for acknowledging relapse was shit and ditching the voice-thing. not a lotta artists can humble themselves later in their career like that.

2) this move will hopefully help royce, but i don't really think he's gonna blow up. (this counts for crooked, ortiz etc too with slaughterhouse, i totally saw why they banded up, but also why they didnt sell).

it's worth noting i think this has more to do with the industry itself - the limitations it allows to be placed on it, and worse yet, the ones it places on itself - but we could seriously do a whole thread on artists who "deserved" to blow up, but never really could due to their style/content/other factors - jadakiss, canibus, rhymefest, lotta other MCs who've actively sought higher profile MCs to work with and producers with a popular sound but couldn't really transform it into anything past a hook on a radio track.

there's nothing wrong with these dudes, but they weren't able to make their niche despite their efforts. they're noteworthy in hip-hop for their contributions, but not outside of that..hell, a bunch of the guys ive been posting here fall under this camp, Jay Electronica (a 40 something year old dude on some 5% nation stuff that the radio hasn't wanted to hear about in a decade and a half at least) is a perfect example. eventually they just kinda fall back into their underground circle and try to find happiness in that lane, i think.

 

the industry's changing a lot. i love the effort to go digital (and anything it does to fuck up the RIAA/recording labels that've fucked rappers up for years), but seeing almost every artist put out a mixtape (often for free) is still new to me. I keep hoping this'll open up the radiowaves to larger playlists/stuff that's not just the trend right now, the way guys like Ye (and his disciple Lupe) use G.O.O.D. music to try to help find some really talented MC's a sound/niche - Common was overdue, but Consequence (from Tribe) is another great example of an artist i love who it's just not gonna happen for.

[Mr. Hakujin]

Re: Eminem

I got about 1:15 into the "Oh No" track before bailing. I can understand why it was discarded.

I dug the track w/ Roysce though.

NZA is off his rocker if he thinks Em is "past his prime."

[APANCHALYPSE RETURNS]

Dude, you really fuck me up with your elitistism. You mock hipsters, but you act like one yourself.

 

I'm sorry Nick, but I gotta call you on this... haha, funny joke about autotune and what not. That song is ok. What makes it interesting is the video and the beat. It's interesting, but way too much for my taste. What's dude trying to say? I'm edgy. Look at me. Lyrically he doesn't do anything crazy. He's good! But nothing outta this world (he mentions Adventure Time and you're supposed to be like 'I watch that and its obscure so he's gotta be different...like me'). Lil Wayne has more to say, with a better delivery, WHILE USING autotune. He's not conscious. Tyler I mean. Or Yonkers or whatever his name is. He's just an average rapper raping over a decent beat in a shocking video. Period.

 

Em was the best there ever was... and still is. His lyrics are as jaw-dropping and complex as they ever were. AND he's switchin' shit up. Rappin' hungry again. I told you before that he became that 'goofy' rapper we saw for so long cause he had nothing else to talk about. All the drama of his pre-millionaire life was gone. Dude was essentially making millions with our Patos Malos videos. Fuckin' around and still creating better lyrics than 90% of the folks out there. The critics dissed his work, but he was still outsellin' everyone! It wasn't until some tragic shit happened to him again that he made Recovery (which is a fuckin' brilliant album, by-the-way) and earned everyone's respect again. AND PEOPLE ARE STILL HATING!

 

Em is also back because he's making moves again. Signin' all these folks. That Royce shit was a long time coming. They came up together in the rap game in Detroit and in my opinion Em made it BECAUSE of Royce! Lyrically the guy is amazing. Really, he was the only person to rival Em back then. And instead of tryin' to take each other down, they aligned and took Detroit's underground. What happened when Em blew up was Royce got salty. They stayed in touch. Even workin' on each other projects, but shit wasn't the same. Eminem offered him spots on D-12 (before it was D-12), but Royce said no and went off to do his own thing (there might have been contractual shit going on, too). Still, Royce dissed D-12 AND Em and went on his way. D-12 said all this nasty shit, but Eminem kept his mouth shut. Talk about respect. The news of Royce signing was awesome! While he may not go the way of 50, its still a good thing, financially for Royce. But most of all its cool to see these guys friends again. I mean, look at that... these fuckers have probably been dying to get in the booth together again and right out the gate they're recording together. To me, its more than just music.

 

As far as the Jada, Canibus shit goes, I agree. These guys have their following, but like you said, these guys hooked up with producers that didn't work for them and ultimately suffered because of it. I've always said that if Jadakiss made joints like his Lox shit he would be alright right now. The Lox was right on the eve of crossing their sound over and they decided to go solo. Then Jada releases his first album (which is still awesome, by-the-way), but gets Timbaland and Swizz Beatz and others and kinda blows up, but not really. He basically copied Jay-Z's formula to a tee, but he ain't Jay-Z. Canibus was just sabotaged production wise by Wyclef (not intentionally, of course). Also, starting beef with LL and later Eminem didn't help either.

 

Ah, Lupe. This guys is the Dave Chappelle of Rap. At the top of his game and disappears cause of the pressure of out doing himself. Discovered by Pherrell and with Kanye at his disposal... man, this guy is taking his gifts for granted. But I respect him for trying to do something different. Just do it already (still... I'm not fully convinced by him yet)!

 

Lastly Common. He's a mystery to me. He's conscious, but he's not. Like Mos, but they stay where they're at. I don't know. Dude will write some amazingly thought provoking songs, then you hear him freestyle and he's like 2Pac! Then he's in movies with Queen Latifah and shit! Still, I love to see him in movies. I never go to see him in shit, but when I do I'm always happy with his performance.

[Mr. Hakujin]

WTF is going on w/ these essay length posts in the hip-hop thread. Fuckin' hell, you two. DOJ and I are the only other ones reading posting in this thread so at least try to keep it outta tl;dr territory.

Edited February 14, 2011 by Mr. Hakujin

[APANCHALYPSE RETURNS]

Nick's always the one fucking me up with 14 videos on one post crashing my phone and shit. You can read my post, dammit.

[The NZA]

NZA is off his rocker if he thinks Em is "past his prime."

 

it's just an opinion - but yeah, Em @ 96-04 or so couldn't be fucked with. he's not the same dude, but hold up, i think we got hurt feelings.

 

Dude, you really fuck me up with your elitistism. You mock hipsters, but you act like one yourself.

 

you are adorable when you get like this.

 

I'm sorry Nick, but I gotta call you on this... haha, funny joke about autotune and what not. That song is ok. What makes it interesting is the video and the beat. It's interesting, but way too much for my taste. What's dude trying to say? I'm edgy. Look at me. Lyrically he doesn't do anything crazy. He's good! But nothing outta this world (he mentions Adventure Time and you're supposed to be like 'I watch that and its obscure so he's gotta be different...like me'). Lil Wayne has more to say, with a better delivery, WHILE USING autotune. He's not conscious. Tyler I mean. Or Yonkers or whatever his name is. He's just an average rapper raping over a decent beat in a shocking video. Period.

 

this whole paragraph is about some weird sore spots for you somehow - he name-drops a comedy, and that throws you off (rappers never do this). he's a bit out there, it throws you off. no one here is talking about conscious rappers except some leftover feelings you have from not liking talib in like 05 or something.

you dont even know the dude's name from the track he's on, but at least that part was about the song itself.

 

lesson learned: post more auto-tune up in here

 

 

Em was the best there ever was... and still is. His lyrics are as jaw-dropping and complex as they ever were. AND he's switchin' shit up. Rappin' hungry again. I told you before that he became that 'goofy' rapper we saw for so long cause he had nothing else to talk about. All the drama of his pre-millionaire life was gone. Dude was essentially making millions with our Patos Malos videos. Fuckin' around and still creating better lyrics than 90% of the folks out there. The critics dissed his work, but he was still outsellin' everyone! It wasn't until some tragic shit happened to him again that he made Recovery (which is a fuckin' brilliant album, by-the-way) and earned everyone's respect again. AND PEOPLE ARE STILL HATING!

 

this is the paragraph of a sad Stan.

you're excusing his efforts so shitty he went back & apologized for them by "he had nothing to say"? uh, ok. next is the part where you dont like critics who dont agree with you, and then decide to use "he made a lot've money!" as the mark of a quality MC, which is cool for Em (cause you like him) but it sure isnt cool for Drake (because you dont like him).

take a step back, breathe, and remember: i just said he's past his prime. that's true for a lotta dudes i love, like RZA & such. it doesnt mean they cant make good music anymore because i said something about your boy on the internet.

 

As far as the Jada, Canibus shit goes, I agree. These guys have their following, but like you said, these guys hooked up with producers that didn't work for them and ultimately suffered because of it. I've always said that if Jadakiss made joints like his Lox shit he would be alright right now. The Lox was right on the eve of crossing their sound over and they decided to go solo. Then Jada releases his first album (which is still awesome, by-the-way), but gets Timbaland and Swizz Beatz and others and kinda blows up, but not really. He basically copied Jay-Z's formula to a tee, but he ain't Jay-Z. Canibus was just sabotaged production wise by Wyclef (not intentionally, of course). Also, starting beef with LL and later Eminem didn't help either.

 

right, but there's more to it...i mean, some of these dudes did go the right producers. jada had a single with "why" and got a lotta people working with him on some really quality mixtapes...still coudln't get his shitty label to put an album out.

there's more artists (and quality ones at that, my reason for this thread) than ever, but a smaller playing field for them to break out into...i keep thinking the NFL/NBA analogy fits more than it should

 

Lastly Common. He's a mystery to me. He's conscious, but he's not. Like Mos, but they stay where they're at. I don't know. Dude will write some amazingly thought provoking songs, then you hear him freestyle and he's like 2Pac! Then he's in movies with Queen Latifah and shit! Still, I love to see him in movies. I never go to see him in shit, but when I do I'm always happy with his performance.

 

i dont really feel the need to label an artist/group unless its something they're about (PE for instance). Mos is mad conscious on a lot of his stuff, but he comes from a b-boy background via Urban Thermodynamics so he weaves in & out of that, last few years its been black Johnson/Dante with Roots-esque shit i havent dug. Com likes being conscious in a lotta tracks but then you get Electric Circus or UMC to remind you he doesn't wanna just stick with that...as opposed to Kweli, who doesn't really know how to not do that.

 

hakus - my bad, this really isn't the right place to get into all this stuff anyway, but im not always sure where to go with this. my previous example with tyler (so

) was an example of that. you're right that its mostly the 4 of us, and when i bomb a post with tracks/youtube links, i get similar complaints. im trying to upload shit to hulkshare cause it lets you stream music before downloading (which i really like), but it's a lot've effort to either get slept on or bitched about, to be honest.