Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta

I was initially quite dismissive of Blue Magic and - though I hate to contradict myself - after the first few dozen listens...I'm kinda liking it. I'm growing to appreciate the throwback minimalist beat (though I still think both the drums and the keys could have been better), Jay's verses sound better with every listen (haven't felt that about too many rap songs, let alone Jay-Z songs, since The Black Album) and (probably most important) I really wanted to like it.

American Gangster as a concept album is a great idea. After failing to prove with Kingdom Come that rap-moguls can age gracefully, here he's given himself an excuse to revisit his Reasonable Doubt-era cold-hearted-hustler persona in depth (with a few post-crack-rap modifications I'm sure) without being widely accused of rehashing old material. Also, the fact that it's something of a vanity project (like Best of Both Worlds, Unfinished Business and Collision Course), made for the fun of it as much as anything, will hopefully lessen the scrutiny placed on this album from overzealous fans (such as myself, to some extent) who felt robbed of a happy ending when he came out of retirement with an album that wasn't classic.

In stark contrast to the $15m marketing budget for his last album, Jay's announced this one to little fanfare, just 6 weeks ahead of the release, and the decidedly non-club-banging lead single suggests that he's not too bothered about massive sales/media jock-riding here, but genuinely just doing it because he felt inspired. Not sure what to expect, but the verses are sure to be tight, so worst come to worst, if the beats all suck, he can put out an a capella album and I'm sure a few decent remix albums will follow.

"What more can [he] say?" - Good question courtesy of Shawn Corey himself.

I quite like simple/low-budget music videos (assuming the song is dope) and I've caught a few good ones over the last week or so:

Lupe Fiasco - Dumb It Down



Best/bravest lyrical performance I've heard on a lead hip-hop single for a while...will go over a few heads, though.


Peedi Peedi - Fall Back



Been looking forward to a solo album from this guy for a while after dope features on the last Beanie Sigel, Roots and Jazzy Jeff albums. This is sooo much better than "Oochie Wally" and the video clip's well directed.


Jay-Z - Blue Magic (Trailer)



You know you've made it when you can get peeps to make promo videos for your promo videos. Sick DJ Babu beat here, hope it makes the album. Like the underground, street-level feel Jay's gone for, both with the beat and the video, but it'll probably be back to grown-and-sexy for the "Blue Magic" video, as Hype Williams is directing it.

...& a little paper." - Q-Tip

But off the back of this evidence, son might be eating bench this year. As a disclaimer, only given it a couple of listens & maybe it'll grow on me. The first 20 seconds got me excited, then P really dropped the ball with a lameass beat. Jay's verses are quality as always, but Pharrell's totally fallen off the last couple of years. Aside from the last Clipse album, he's been working sans Chad production-wise and, in a word, it's boring. Hopefully, he'll do a Timbo, get a(nother) decent co/ghost-producer & reinvent himself.

Hov's beat selection's usually second to none & I hope this is just a filler track or better yet doesn't make the cut...then again, I didn't like H to the Izzo the first time I heard it, so what do I know?

[edit: damn, I swear dude's totally biting/borrowing from the Clipse on this...though that might just be the beat making me think that]

All due respect to KRS & co, but too many of the main competitors in the hip-hop game - by whom I'm referring to people who record decent albums & not just annoying ringtones...which some folks think are now worthy of awards, but I digress - are kinda getting on a bit, relatively speaking. Jay-Z, Nas, Snoop, Kanye, Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent, Kanye West, Common, UGK, Luda...all 30+ & I've been hard pressed to think of rappers who haven't peaked yet (I hope), both critically & commercially, who are likely to take on the mantle of being tha shiznit once the current crop cease to be relevant and become hip-hop pensioners like Cube, Flava, Ice-T etc.

Forever an optimist, thought it might be worth listing a few peeps with the potential to elevate to Best Rapper Alive, if not necessarily G.O.A.T. :


Saigon ("P" ft Kool G Rap, prod by Just Blaze)




Termanology ("So Amazing", prod by Primo)




Papoose ("Publicity Stunt")




Skyzoo ("Long Way to Go", prod by 9th Wonder)




Lupe Fiasco ("Failure")




Black Milk ("Sound The Alarm")




Clipse ("The Funeral")




Lil Wayne ("Shooter" ft Thicke)




& of course, The Bawss:



...nah, just playing on that last 1.


Noone here I envision going mainstream enough to sell tons, but I believe/hope/pray there'll be a few albums turned out by this bunch that I'll still be bumping when I've got a pension plan & a mortgage.

"My lyrical you hear it, you fear it, you can't get near it" - Kris Parker

Good. losing has Fif' all down and dejected & hopefully being in the pits will spur him away from his cookie-cutter album template & inspire him creatively. Case in point:



This song has more genuine emotion and - forgive the hackneyed phrase - "real talk" than the whole of Curtis put together. Soul tracks seem to put him in confessional mode & "plain old Curtis" is way more intriguing than superthug, superhustler or supermack. There's nothing wrong with being macho, but a little vulnerability can take you a long way.

Depending on his approach, Before I Self Destruct could be his chance to go out with a bang. After Curtis, Fif' stands where Ja Rule was after The Last Temptation, where DMX stood after Grand Champ: down, not out, but suffering serious diminishing returns. He doesn't care about his label, he's no longer the biggest draw in rap & he clearly doesn't need the money, so he has every reason to go into the studio trying to make a classic.

If you can't beat 'em join 'em; I'd like to hear duke over some Kanye West production...matter of fact, why not go for the Blueprint reunion & throw on some Just Blaze as well...and while he's at it, hook up with Hi-tek & Needles again, maybe Pete Rock, Primo...make an underground 50 Cent album. That's just wishful thinking on my part, but in an environment where he can't control whether or not people buy his album, he might as well work to solidify his legacy, like Jay did (kinda).

Justice D.A.N.C.E. video + booming Toomp production + Michael Jackson's PYT + Teddy Pain doing his '07 Roger Troutman thing = Audiovisual sugar rush.

...mostly consisting of songs about weed. Dope songs by the not-so-dope rappers that all the big-name rappers hang with to make themselves look comparatively good:


















Tony Yayo - I know You don't love me




Not surprisingly, a couple of G-Unit flunkies here, Memph Bleek, whose been one of the top weed-carriers for over a decade, DOE repping for Timbaland in Magoo's absence & Stat-Quo keeping the Shady-Aftermath Ratio up.

I'm sure they all agree with Busta:

"Knowing as a shorty, I was always told
That if I ain't gon' be part of the greatest
I gotta be the greatest myself"

Willie Hutch has provided some great soul samples used on hip-hop tracks & one of my favourites is from Baby Come Home:





I first heard it used on 9th Wonder & Tightman's Underdogs. The lyrics focus on the everyday struggle & Tightman really bares his soul on this one. The production is minimal & 9th's signature snares & bassline keep your head nodding without taking the focus off the verses, with Willie's vocals in the background adding that extra bit of emotion. I feel I can really empathise with the rhymes & at the risk of sounding corny, it really tugs at the heartstrings...in a man-ass hip-hop way of course.

"What u doing?
Why u broke?
Where tha hoes?
& where that dro & all that Remy XO?
When the show?

Tell 'em I don't really know...
there's more to life than just me & my flow." - Tightman




Ghostface Killah's Back Like That takes the sample in a different direction with live instruments providing a bigger more expansive sound, mixed to sound squeaky clean. Though the subject matter's not so joyful, Xtreme's beat is uptempo & definitely for the clubs & in stark contrast to the introspective, almost mournful sound 9th produces.

It's crazy how music marks time. I've just been listening to a few old CDs & got some major nostalgia off some tracks that are only a couple of years old:

Slug & Murs - Morris Day
Great title to start with & this is the perfect summer song. Really captures the feel of lounging outside in the sun, not doing too much


Jay Z - December 4th rmx
This is definitely 1 of the better efforts of the innumerable remixes & mashups of tracks off the Black Album. The soul sample's nearly as good as the 1 Just Blaze used on the original & the chipmunk vocals are uplifting &, more importantly, don't get annoying.

Gucci Mane ft Jeezy - Icy
For a little contrast to the soul feel on those 2 joints..


Ying Yang Twins - Whisper Song (70s mix)
More Rich Harrison than Snap Yo Fingas, I love it when a rmx sounds this different to the original (assuming it still sounds good).


Zero 7 & MF Doom - Somersault (Dangermouse rmx)
More summertime music, more lounging in the cut laid back cold lamping with a tall cool glass of O.J. Nice.


Not sure if my taste's evolved much, as I still like all these. What I did notice is I was really into rmxes a coupla years ago.

...I picked up trawling my RSS feed:




Raw and aggressive, with a great heavy metal guitar riff. If MOP were Southern & could rap fast...they wouldn't be MOP - but they would also sound a lot like this.




In stark contrast, here's the title track from my favourite emo-rapper's new album.




Dilla had a deep & meaningful relationship with his jewelry judging off this! Poppy, catchy hook, but with Primo-esque drums & bassline keeping it gutter. Dope.




Weezy, Akon, Snoop & Rick Ross need to start a feature-rapping agency, with buy 2 get 2 free offers going into the 4th-quarter-tax-write-off-album season. Can't complain if they keep the quality level this high. Raekwon features on the rmx, with a C.R.E.A.M. sample. Sweet.




Hi-tek kills the beat & the always impressive Dion is sublime on the chorus. His haunting vocals have helped define Hi-tek's sound in recent years (e.g. Running on The Documentary & a buncha tracks on Hi-teknology 2) in a similar manner to John Legend's contribution to Kanye West circa 2003/2004. Would love to see them both get that kind of recognition.

Once the Kanye/50 business quiets down, we'll have a rush of 4th quarter tax write-offs and hopefully a couple of gems. 1 artist who I expect to drop a dope album is young squire Fiasco with his sophomore effort The Cool. I enjoyed his 1st album and expect more of the same off the strength of these leaked tracks:


I really like the Soundtrakk beat, the song concept and the pure lyricism (though the hook sounds like something off a bad Kweli record).


Here he features on an Emily King track and runs away with the song, with a flow that Marshall Mathers'd be proud of.


I think this is a great song and hope it's as big a single as Kick Push was. Sounds like Lupe was green with envy over the hipster kudos Jay-Z and Kanye got for their Coldplay features, so he roped in his boy Matthew Santos to do a (very impressive) Chris Martin impression. Great keys and Lupe's always reliable for a few hot 16s.

"A fresh cool young Lu
Trying to cash his microphone check 2, 1, 2
Want to believe my own hype but it's too untrue
The world brought me to my knees
What have you brung you?" - Lupe

The Curtis v Graduation sales battle (kicking off tomorrow) has had the most - the only? - major hype of any hip-hop releases this year. They're out tomorrow and I look forward to hopefully seeing Curtis flop, so much so that I'm gonna forego my usual Long John Silver approach to acquiring music and pick up a copy of Graduation tomorrow.

The Kanye album's great. He's technically a better rapper (& probably producer) than he was on the 1st 2 instalments in this trilogy, but I miss the soul loops which are less prominent here & also I think he's gotten to be enough of a big deal that he's lost some of his everyman appeal. I'm sure he'll stay a loveable asshole, but beyond this 50 rivalry I can't see him ever taking on the mantle of underdog he wore so well on the Dropout again.

Sonically, I can't fault the album at all. He's been brave enough to expand his sound. I think inspired by Timbo's electro-renaissance last year, the sound here is more 80s synths than 70s strings, typified by the single Stronger. DJ Toomp makes a massive contribution to the album, producing singles Can't Tell Me Nothing & The Good Life & the last track Big Brother, which 'Ye accurately describes as "stadium status". T.I. really should've got duke to help out with his last record. Toomp's Southern sound adds to the electronic vibe & after Kanye helped usher in the resurgence of the soul sound, the beats here are likely to play a part defining what rap sounds like over the next few years.

You can tell listening to the verses here that dude's rewritten his rhymes over & over to get them perfect and by today's standards, there's a very impressive ratio of quotable rhymes. There's a few clangers (e.g. Flashing Lights' hate paparazzi more than Nazis & can't roam without Caesar lines), but he's got to be 1 of the most improved rappers over the last few years. The only major stumbling blocks are that Li'l Wayne gets the album's only feature rap verse on Barry Bonds...& it's kinda wack & that Kanye sings through Drunk & Hot Girls. It's forgivable when he's serenading his Moms on Hey Mama, but not for 3 whole verses & a hook. To be fair though, the track does kinda capture the drunk, tryna-pick-up-chicks-at-2am ambience quite well.

'Ye makes theme songs for people, & quite trim at only 13 tracks, I must say this album's a great collection of them. I remember him sayig this would be his Blueprint &, regardless of whether or not 50 outsells him, I feel he has now got to that 2001-Hov level of importance to hip-hop. Hope he enjoys being on top & that he's prepared for the inevitable backlash.











Enough about Skywalker, how does the big homie rate? I didn't want to like Curtis & after the 1st listen thought it was utter bilge. However, after a few more listens I must admit it's not that bad...just not that great either. Posterboy gangsta rappers who don't evolve don't stay relevant for long (see all the rappers Fif's spent his career dissing for falling off) and after this the title of his next album (Before I Self Destruct) takes on greater significance.

If I could listen to this objectively (i.e. if I hadn't listened to 2 solo albums, 2 group albums, a buncha mixtapes & loads of features over the last 5 years) I'd like it more, but the oversaturation had me hoping he'd either "switch the style up" or stick to Formula 50, but bigger & better. He does neither, there are good songs, but nothing mindblowing & quite a bit of filler. Even the standout tracks (I Get Money for 1) lack freshness. He's not trying as hard as he did on his 1st record and the beats and hooks aren't as impressive as on The Massacre.

That being said, though, I enjoy about half of the album. Fire is a cheesy poppy guilty pleasure for me with that hot Pussycat Doll on the hook, Hands Up High is the uptempo outro, featuring a surprisingly good Tony Yayo hook, All Of Me sounds like Hustler's Ambition (a personal favourite) with Mary J Blige doing her thing/going nuts on the chorus & the street tracks are mostly predictable, but still well-executed.

Some hit and (mostly) miss r'n' b features from the likes of Timberlake, Akon and Thicke and a lack of ideas mean the album's good enough, but not what it could have/should have been. The album's title suggested a more introspective approach and on tracks like Hate It Or Love It, Many Men and God Gave Me Style, that's something Fif' has done well in the past. Instead it's the usual generic mix of fucking, killing and dancing, but without the the superior production values G-Unit used to have as their ace in the hole. Looks like son's reached his highwater mark, peaked and is about to fall off in a major way if he doesn't rethink his approach to making records.







Ultimately, the big winner will no doubt be Universal Records, who'll rake in muchos denari from both albums when cheapskates like me go out and pay for the record for once.