Rhymesayers' Soundset Recap

So the Rhymesayers website posted a recap of Soundset '08, a great day if I might add.

After following that link, there are more options to see photos taken and what not. I also couldn't help but notice that there were dudes taking video footage of the concerts everywhere, so if we're lucky (knock on wood), maybe Rhymesayers will put together some DVD deal with highlights of the day.

Lil' Wayne: Mr. Carter ft. Jay-Z

So I won't spend too much time talking about Wayne here, because I usually don't support him, but this track is very hot, so it deserves a listen. All I got to say is after all this time and all this material he's produced, Carter III better be the best album ever.

Wayne & Jay-Z - Mr. Carter

On a side note, I won't post the others, but there are plenty of other Carter III tracks being leaked to the net. Check the other blogs for them if you really want to listen.

Flashing Lights Original Video

This is apparently the first video Kanye made for Flashing Lights. Dude is a perfectionist, this is a pretty sick video and it got straight 86'ed.

And Then There Was Nothing

Ladies and Gentlemen, Wale's The Mixtape About Nothing has arrivied. Follow the link to get that hotness.

Wale: The Mixtape About Nothing

MPLS Massacre

Stumbled upon Muja Messiah's mixtape, MPLS Massacre. Follow this link to download it. He's a underrated rapper in the Twin Cities scene, and will hopefully be making some noise soon. In fact, he seems relatively well on his way after ripping it up on stage at the side stage during Soundset, as well as jumping on the main stage for "Crewed Up," Atmosphere's insane Twin Cities posse track featured on Strictly Leakage. They all got up there and performed the song, creating a fitting closing to a great day at Soundset last week. Here's the track if you haven't heard it yet:

Atmosphere: Crewed Up ft. Stage One, St. Paul Slim, Muja Messiah, YZ, Brother Ali, Toki Wright & Blueprint

The Cool Goes Gold

Lupe just went gold, which is pretty big these days (unless your name is Kanye West or Mariah Carey or some shit). Good for him, he deserves it, especially after the leak issues with Food & Liquor.

Celebration Video (...?)


Hip-Hop Saved My Life

Could It Get Any Worse?

I'm this close to actually feeling bad for Suge Knight. First, he got knocked out by some random dude named Greg The Barber. Now, apparently he's been forced to put up all the assets of Death Row records. This happens to include plenty of stuff that Pac did back in the day, and I'm sure Snoop's got some old shit sitting around from when he was really spittin. Check this story for further details. The first bid starts at 24 million dollars? Who wants to pool their money?

Big L and J Dilla Remixed Music Video

Got this off Okayplayer. It's a remixed and synced up version of Big L's "Put It On." Nice.

Jay-Z Interview

On a side note, I'll be going to see Jay-Z here in London later this summer - early July, to be precise.

Slug Battles Faheem

This is an MTV commercial I stumbled upon. It was promotion for the new Atmosphere album, and has Slug battling Faheem, Brother Ali's Son, who also kicks a guest rap on Ali's Off The Record album. Future GOAT in the making? I think so.

Soundset '08 in 1 day!

W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E. (Video)

Oh My God

One of the craziest posse tracks yet this year. Doesn't quite match up with Game's One Blood Remix which had 236 people on it, but quite a good effort.

Busta Rhymes - Don’t Touch Me (Remix) f. Reek Da Villian, Spliff Star, Lil Wayne, Nas, The Game & Big Daddy Kane

Slug Likes To Get His Thug Mansion On

Insight on When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold from our favorite psychoanalytic rapper, and much, much more.

Midwest Broadcast's Slept On Albums, Vol. 1

So I'm trying to add something new to this website besides just posting shit I see and like elsewhere. Here is hopefully the first of many posts on albums that I think are just too good and may have slipped through the radar.


Brother Ali & BK One: Off The Record


This album, as Fifth Element states, is comprised of "a number of exclusive cuts and guest appearances" by Brother Ali. That, however is the delicate, easy way to describe this record. Basically, as far as I'm concerned, Off The Record is a bunch of great cuts Ali recorded that for some reason, didn't make any of his other albums. But, nearly each song is still individually spectacular. I don't intend for this to be taken lightly when I say that I honestly believe that Brother Ali is one of the best, most consistent lyricists in the game right now. This has nothing to do with me hailing from Minnesota (although that does allow me to keep up with his work more easily). I'm not favoring the home team, here. Ali just simply drops hip-hop quotables on damn near every song, never failing to impress lyrically. Furthermore, he isn't scared to tackle a multitude of topical matters. And he does so masterfully. The first track, "Original King" features Ali brashly claiming that he's second to none in this rap shit. Brother Ali reliably backs up his claims throughout the whole record. While most rappers aren't scared to say they're the best, few do so convincingly. Ali is one of them, and belongs on a pedestal with the great contemporary lyricists today.

I'm not going to go through each of the 17 tracks on Off The Record for you, here. Ali's cadence, delivery, and passion is something that really should be heard rather than described. In the end, if you want to have a comprehensive collection of the work of one of today's best rappers out there, this album is a must have. Limited copies of the CD exist, but can be purchased (YES, it's worth your actual money) at the Fifth Element's website. Plus you won't be able to download this anywhere. Or at least I seriously doubt it. Also, if you don't have Shadows On The Sun or The Undisputed Truth, you need to get on your grind. You haven't heard some of the truest hip-hop music out there if these records aren't in your collection.

Gemstones track

The artist formerly known as Gemini (as he appeared on Lupe's Food & Liquor), now known as Gemstones, had some track leak. Lupe's on the hook.

Gemstones ft. Lupe Fiasco - G4

Slick Rick Gets Full Pardon

So remember former NYC Governor Eliot Spitzer? The one who got caught being involved in a high priced prostitution ring, and then subsequently resigned? Well his replacement, David Patterson, is apparently taking care of important matters on the policy agenda since assuming the title of new Governor of NY. Patterson recently granted rapper Slick Rick a full pardon. Slick Rick, who was born in the UK but then moved to NYC at a young age, had previously gotten in trouble for having guns, killing people, etc. You know, being an OG. Now he can finally return across the pond to the US. Nice going, Slick. Below are some classic Slick Rick cuts:

Children's Story


Lodi Dodi

Small Amount of Drums

Tuba Gooding Jr. isn't fuckin' around either.

Rising Up Live
by yardie4lifever2

Yes

Even More Cool Kids, Damn It!

Bake Sale EP is now available on the itunes store. Hard copies will be released to stores shortly. Here are a couple bonus cuts that didn't make the album:

The Cool Kids - Get Busy, Son

The Cool Kids - Chicago Zoo

Re-Up Gang - 9mm

Here's a new single from the Re-Up Gang. It's apparently on the GTA4 "Soundtrack" put together by DJ Green Lantern.

Re-Up Gang - 9mm

More Cool Kids Damn It

Sorry, they just keep popping up. Here's a video via OkayPlayer. This will keep the hipsters happy for a little while longer, I suppose.

Common's First Leaked Single

Below is the link to download U.M.C. (Universal Mind Control), Common's first single off of Invincible Summer, his upcoming album. My verdict has yet to be decided on this one, I kind of prefer Common on some simple, jazzy boom-bap, but I suppose this is moderately fresh as well. Strong dance vibe, which is also what the rest of the album may be sounding like. No reason not to try something new. In the end, this album could be a great change of pace for Common, or could be complete shit. Only time will tell.

U.M.C. (Universal Mind Control) ft. Pharrell

Atmosphere on Conan

Lupe Fiasco Live Video

Some Funky Ass Jay Electronica (Is There Anything Else?)

Don't know too much about this - spotted it at NahRight. Apparently DJ Khalil has some band called The New Royales, and they have a song which Jay Elec hopped on.

The New Royales - Posers ft. Jay Electronica

Get Pumped

Crooked I: Dream Big ft. Akon

I won't even front anymore, Crooked I is nice. I wasn't really feeling him initially, but he's grown on me, and is much more talented than I gave him credit for at first. This is the first official single off of his upcoming debut studio album, B.O.S.S. Rappers really love acronyms, I guess.

Crooked I: Big Dreams ft. Akon

The Cool Kids Like to Hang Out In Malls

Naledge "Freestyle"

Naledge of Kidz in the Hall actually snaps pretty hard on this here. 2DopeBoyz says it's a freestyle. Somehow I doubt that, but it'll get a few ipod spins, that's for sure. Follow the link to download.

Naledge Freestyle

Jeanius Gets Release Date

Jean Grae's album with 9th Wonder, Jeanius, has finally received an official release date - July 8th (Also when Game's L.A.X. is dropping). In celebration, here's her newest music video: Love Thirst.

Jean Grae - Love Thirst
by itsshake

Who Else Gon' Make It Hot This Summer?

If you haven't heard yet, Little Brother are officially re-releasing their mixtape ...And Justus For All pretty soon with a NO DJ VERSION! Oh Shit. Apparently there will be a few bonus tracks on it, too, and here's one of them. Black Light Special is the name of this track, and it's produced by 9th Wonder, so it's kind of some LB throwback business (but no Phonte, for some reason). Pretty solid still, LB stays killin' it.

Little Brother - Black Light Special


Also, LB is about to be at Soundset '08, happening this Sunday, May 25, in Minneapolis. I'm planning on trying to get some footage of at least some of the acts there (Brother Ali, Atmosphere, etc.), so here's a little taste of what's to come.

New Nas Track

So perhaps this was the actual title track of Nas' upcoming album until he decided to change the name of said album. This is a pretty good track, beat is a little repetitive/boring, but then again, it is Nas. Lyrically, though, God's Son is on point as usual.

Nas - N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave & The Master)

Usher ft. Jay-Z - Best Thing

I suppose this is worth bumping one, possibly two times.

Click Here To Download "Best Thing"

Nas Changes Album Title

Nas caved in to the guys at the top of the food chain, and is no longer controversially naming his upcoming LP Nigger. Most bloggers say that they saw this coming, but hindsight's 20/20, right? I thought Nasty Nas was actually going to do it, but it's probably a good thing in the end that it's changing. Apparently the LP's new name is .... Nas. Maybe he didn't have to pick such a lame new title, but whatever.

Lil' Wayne - "A Milli" (Video)

I'll hardly ever cosign anything Mr. Weezy does anymore these days, but in this case, I'll make an exception. This is some YouTube video a fan put together, and it's actually rather funny at times. And I guess Wayne isn't really even associated with it since it's unofficial, so that's cool with me, too.

Just Because...

This is some pretty amazing shit. It's graffiti animation from some dude named Blu (not to be confused with the rapper) from Argentina. Picture it as a flipbook: he takes a picture, then has to start all over from scratch. I don't even want to know how long this took. Watch it all the way through.


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Live Footage of Kanye

This doesn't look like Glow in The Dark Tour, because shit isn't blowing up and lights aren't flashing everywhere. It's still pretty dope, though. Ye goes off the top, and then spits some new written material.

KANYE SAVES THE WORLD. from Bobby Hundreds on Vimeo.

The Game: Game's Pain ft. Keyshia Cole

N.E.R.D. - Everybody Nose (Video)

I guess I can stop talking about N.E.R.D. now. Until Seeing Sounds, that is.

Everybody Nose
by yardie4lifever2

The G Hide

Not quite sure if this is a new track, some old material, or whatever. I guess it doesn't really matter, Ghost and Rae are one of those all-time great duos, as far as I'm concerned. Check this out, and look for Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 this summer.

Raekwon and Ghostface - The G Hide

Bun B ft. Lupe: Swang On 'Em

Bun B and Lupe together for this new track. Bun B's new album coming soon, too!

http://sharebee.com/c6fe1767

Pacific Division Feature @ Okayplayer

If you don't know about Pacific Division by now, step your game up. Okayplayer just did an article about them, so go on and get yourself acquainted:

http://www.okayplayer.com/content/view/5685/123/


And some bonus PacDiv videos:

Vimby feature video:

VIMBY - Pac Div

FatBoys '08:


Women Problesm:

Lil' Wayne ft. Kanye West: Lollipop (Remix)

Still not too huge on Wayne, or Kanye's guest spot on this track. The whole vocoder craze really doesn't do much for me. Whatever, he's the link:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/11985478557574e3/

Wale Interview

Wale does an interview with Rhapsody.

N.E.R.D. Remix!

Everybody Nose (Remix) ft. Kanye, Lupe, and Pusha T. Whoa. Looks like this Child Rebel Soldiers project might actually come together now that they're all on the road together. Good news for us!

http://www.zshare.net/download/1190917677d267cf/

Blueprint vs Funkadelic...

Blueprint is finally back. The Rhymesayers artist has been absent for a few years, but he just dropped a FREE EP. Featuring all Funkadelic (word to George Clinton) samples that Blueprint made himself.

http://www.zshare.net/download/1147969249f80939

The Roots: Rising Down (Review)

This is sure to be the shortest, most informal review yet, as I'm about to dip out to a Cool Kids concert, but why not, right?

In short, Rising Down is somewhat of a sequel to Game Theory, but in my opinion, much better. The Roots' sound has been evolving lately. Gone is the organic, loose, jam session style of their early albums. Rising Down is tight, dark, grimey yet polished. The band (Black Thought in particular) sound downright mad. As a whole, though, the album maintains the consistency that The Roots always have, and is a very solid release.

One clear departure from previous albums on Rising Down is the abundance of guest artists. From all-stars (Talib, Mos, Common) to the proteges and lesser-known (Truck North, Wale, Dice Raw, PORN) and a return of Malik B, there's plenty of lyrical assistance on this album. However, it is still Black Thought's show to run. I have always enjoyed Thought's work, but Rising Down seriously makes him worthy of GOAT status, in my eyes. The sequencing of "@15" directly preceding "75 Bars" is brilliant, and shows how Thought has progressed over time. If anyone today raps with the passion of Big Daddy Kane, it's Thought. He downright murders near every song, all while brilliantly assessing a great variety of topics.

Production is fairly good too, you can probably chalk that up to ?uestlove. The fuzzy, electronic "Get Busy" is straight, "Criminal" has some smooth drum work, and the go-go inspired "Rising Up" is a fun track with a guest spot from Wale. Overall, very solid CD deserving of many listens (it's already received heavy rotation in my ipod).

One last thing of note is that ?uestlove has been on record saying that since they have to record while on the road touring, it was impossible to get all the guest spots he initially wanted for the album. Some artists he mentioned he wanted, but didn't get were Lupe, Blu, Q-Tip, Jay Electronia, and Phonte (Damn!). Can't wait for the next release!

Best tracks: "Rising Down," "Get Busy," "75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)," "Criminal," "The Show," "Rising Up"

Rating: 8/10

Hidden Gem: The Money Making Jam Boys

I've been fast asleep about this one, but in light of the new Roots album, here's another little something that I found, that's apparently been circulating the internet for a while now. Apparently the Money Making Jam Boys are composed of Dice Raw, PORN (who had a few nice guest spots on Rising Down), Truck North, as well as Black Thought. However, Black Thought doesn't really pop up too much on this mix. Still worth a listen, I'd say.

http://getabar.com/2007/12/dice-raw-the-money-making-jam-boys-present-the-antidote/

N.E.R.D. - Spazz

http://www.zshare.net/audio/1174703809460af8/

Cool Kids Mixtape - Cool Ass Ninjas

http://www.mediafire.com/?ostj0l0iamg

New Cool Kids mixtape - follow the link to download.

?uestlove Interview @ HipHopDX

HipHopDX just did a nice interview with ?uestlove of the Roots. He's a real insightful dude, has some interesting things to say - so check it out.

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1112

Also, a shorter, more informal review of Rising Down (a dope album, by the way) might be coming relatively soon.

Buckshot & 9th Wonder: The Formula (Review)

The emcee/producer duo is a dying breed in hip-hop. Some undeniably classic hip-hop music has been created when a rapper teams up with a single producer for an entire album. Take Eric B. and Rakim or Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth for example. However, in today’s era of ringtone rap, a larger emphasis is placed on making hit singles than classic albums. This has led to many rappers simply shelling out exorbitant amounts of money to “super-producers,” just so they can create that elusive radio hit.

Although those classic pairings of old are not as prevalent anymore, legendary underground rapper Buckshot and producer 9th Wonder are looking to start a revival. In 2005, they released Chemistry, their first LP together. Now, their follow-up effort, The Formula, manages to avoid a sophomore jinx, but does not create the magic expected from them.

“Intro (The Formula)” sets the album in motion with a typical soulful 9th Wonder beat and some uplifting Buckshot verses, but an awful hook (“It’s the formula, the formula,” repeated over and over). “Ready (Brand New Day)” grows weary with an Alvin and the Chipmunks-esque sped-up vocal sample. Meanwhile, “Whassup With U?” is a poor attempt at mainstream appeal that does not mesh with Buckshot’s style and cadence.

Still, The Formula does combine those unimaginative songs with some pretty exceptional ones. The lead single, “Hold It Down,” features a vicious guest verse from Talib Kweli (When they hear ‘em wave like a magic wand, I excite fam / The way I rise my sun gives you a nice tan), as well as a strong chorus from singer Tyler Woods. Buckshot puts his rhyming skills on display on “No Future,” rapping, “You feel like the world’s against you / ‘Cause you don’t make dollars, but you don’t make sense, dude.” 9th Wonder also gets a chance to show off, on “Just Display,” as he chops up an R&B sample and layers some crisp drum work on top of it.

The album falls short by following, as the title would indicate, a simple formula: take a 9th Wonder beat based off of some obscure 1970s soul or R&B sample, add a couple solid yet generic verses from Buckshot, and repeat 13 times. As noted, this recipe created both outstanding and tedious tracks, thus constructing a good, albeit inconsistent result.

Regardless, this duo was capable of much more. Hearing 9th Wonder step out of his comfort zone would have been a welcome change. A couple of storytelling or concept-based raps from Buckshot would have been a pleasant change of pace, too. But instead of striving for sensational, Buckshot and 9th Wonder stuck to The Formula, and ended up sounding routine.

Rating: 6/10

Bonus Cut: "Hold It Down" Music Video

Really?

This is some pretty funny shit.

Roots track cut from Rising Down

The Roots - The Grand Return ft. Dice Raw & Wahud Ahmad

http://www.zshare.net/audio/1133933866e91a8d/

Pharoahe Monch - Broken Heart (produced by Mr. Porter)

Here you go, people. You already know Pharoahe rips it, lyrically, he can't be touched by many.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/113392574feb6f12/

(Relatively) New Kanye/J Dilla Track!

Apparently Kanye made this beat back in '01 or so, when Hov's "Takeover" came out. Notice the same sample from The Doors' "Five To One."

http://www.zshare.net/audio/11360534afeaf327/