Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta

Wow, this sounds like a really good Prince ballad (I'd link to Diamonds and Pearls or something on Youtube, but the Purple One's not a big fan of that - or any other - video site) and I must compliment Alicia on being virtually the only mainstream r'n'b songstress around I'd give the time of day at the moment (not that the male artists are all that better - right now I'd settle for Sisqo over this).

As for the video, the concept's kind of been done already by the likes of Toni Braxton and R.Kelly, but it's cool to see Common return the favour Alicia did for his last video and it goes without saying, getting to ogle Miss Keys for four and a half minutes is no bad thing.

Replicating this at some point has become a life goal it is imperative that I achieve.

...a big day for hip-hop - and not just because Jay-Z will be turning 40 or 50 or something. Quite a few noteworthy albums are coming out on that date, including:

This is the long overdue sequel to a beat comparison/favourite-producer-jock-riding post in collaboration with Stretch Nav the Sword Swinger. With no further ado, over to the Wu-disciple:





G-Deini and Bobby (w/ Rae on the chorus...check his pronunciation of the word "champion") from '96. Another Wu banga off the Great White Hype soundtrack. We can take it there/settle it son/who the champion!



RZA representing with Bjork from 1997. Very rare remix, it took me some time trying to find it, but it was worth the wait. Another reason why I think he is one of the best producers of all time-Brilliant use of orchestra/strings. Further evidence came later on "Fatal" off the Blade Trinity soundtrack.



Another of the talented Killa Beez over some digi electronics, circa 2002. "Bobby Digital shit" indeed.

RZA, Skinnyman, Blade, Mr Tibbs & Tim Westwood(!)-Boing Boing

Personal favourite off the 2003 "World According To.." album. I rinsed this tune when it first came out. Westwood on the intro (brilliant), some of UK's best and RZA-recta over a crazily-constructed beat (check the bass). For me, this defines the term, "Wu Banga". Boing Boing-don't know what it means, but its catchy and Randy and I seem to be using that term too much.



I couldn't do a blog on the Abbot without some kung-fu samples. The use of the samples (check the last two minutes) and RZA's verse are great. From 2003. Btw 9th Prince is RZA's younger brother. 5th Brother!!!!


From the grimy street-level business over to metrosexual fashionista theme muzak. Kanye's been a real perfectionist working on his last couple of albums and you can hear it. For the most part I take it as a positive, but at times it all sounds a little too polished. That being the case, I went for mostly mixtape tracks here, as he still allows a little (good) sloppiness to creep into those beats.



A reworked version of this song featuring a Chris Martin hook appeared on Graduation and exemplifies how much his sound has evolved over the last 4 or 5 years. Not so much of the soul or boom-bap now, but a grander more epic sound in search of "stadium status".



Awesome strings and funny as hell.



Back in '03/'04 he recycled these drums to within an inch of their life...but I still love them. Term's Bad Boy time line verse is highly impressive - if not a little nerdy.



The beat's simple but effective and Cons rips it.



Is it the Feist sample? the innovative drums? my affinity for '80s synths? I don't know, but me likey. And Twista complements the bass drums so well.

Some highlights from a busy week for mixtape releases:







I'm not the biggest Cam'ron fan as, though I appreciate his swag and witty lyrics, I find it takes a really good beat to make his lazy delivery sound anything but boring. Glad to say these tracks off his new double-mixtape certainly achieve that. Also, Penz contributes some great verses to the tape.








This tape's all about Black Milk's awesome production and he really outdoes himself on the first of these tracks with a real "wtf?!" bassline.






The best saved for last: despite comments from Rae shedding an ugly light on relationships within the group, the new material on this tape raises my anticipation for 8 Diagram. I think there have been sample clearance problems with this track, which is a shame as Eli Wallach's "if you want to shoot, shoot, don't talk," line is genius.

Simply, the best Southern rap album I've listened to all year. Trae keeps it True and Real, Trill (word to UGK, whose album is also very good, just too long...like every double album ever) with some great introspective verses.







A great producer-album, with guest verses from the cream of East Coast hip-hop.






One of my favourite mixtape rappers and I look forward to him eventually getting some shine from a major label.






(from the Style Wars EP) I'm quite excited about this dude as I've been listening to him a lot the last few weeks and from the limited material I've heard, I'm pretty sure he has some great albums in him.






A great song from another solid LB effort, enhanced once you've watched Jamie Foxx virtually eviscerate Doug Williams (who?).






What can I say, I've a soft spot for ign'ant, hype Southern rap of the 3-6 Mafia variety. Screw snap-vocoder-ringtone rap, I say bring back crunk music, stupid party music you can really bang your head to.






The quality control on his mixtapes seems to be spiraling downwards as his album approaches (is that a good or bad sign?), but there's still always a few tracks like this one to make it worth the bother of downloading (how lazy does that sound? Like I might bruise a finger mouse-clicking!)






An audible Timbo/Neptunes influence in the minimalist beats and the rhymes about fly sneakers and general all-around freshness are right up my alley.