Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta

Prettiest fiend I ever did see.

Another quality addition to my favourite mixtape series. Not quite on a par with Vol.2 (though I mainly blame that on hip-hop's failure to provide enough dope beats for the R-E-U-P to rip up over the last year; case in point), but immense nonetheless and far superior product to most rappers' albums:

Good Morning



Pusha's verse, dedicated to his own lyrical greatness, claiming a spot in the pantheon of true hip-hop greats is swaggerific (yes, it is cool enough to justify such corny-ass terms!)


Rainy Dayz



They do justice to the Cuban Linx classic and Mal's almost sing-song flow on the closing verse stands out for me.

Certainly worth a download (they upped it for free).

After a pretty shambolic '07, I feel some sympathy for Curtis...felt the same for Ja in '04. He hasn't completely fallen off, but I wouldn't begrudge him a successful comeback of sorts if it involved dropping a really good album. In the mean time, he might want to try rebuilding his buzz through mixtapes, as it worked the first time round:

Rider for Real




Make Me Feel Good

Never thought I'd get so much joy from a Tony Yayo for-the-ladies song! It's super-catchy, though.

One of my my "guilty pleasures" I'm not all that guilty about is poppy electro music and these folks certainly fit the bill...if you're into that sorta thing:

Ninja of Love




Brainpower



Listening to this, I picture myself off-my-face drunk, boogying down in Shibuya with Japanese chicks (of legal age) dressed as school girls (them, not me)...that just does it for me.

Amy's 2003 debut was awesome. Nearly as good as Back to Black, and she certainly looked a lot healthier:

Fuck Me Pumps






In My Bed

Salaam Remi used the same "Apache" loop on this track - I'd argue to equally good effect - as on Nas's "Made You Look".

Jean Grae - "Love Thirst"




Mark Ronson - "Just (Primo rmx)"




Jim Jones ft The Game - "Love Me No More rmx"




The Pharcyde - "She Said (Dilla rmx)"




Skyzoo - "The Necessary Evils"




Termanology - "Who's The Nicest"




Starski ft The Cool Kids - "Stunnas On"




Three 6 Mafia - "I'd Rather"




Tribe Called Quest - "The Hop"




Q-Tip - "Go Hard"

I wouldn't call this a spectacular album, but it's shortcomings are more than made up for by naming it after my favourite Huxtable - she was like Rosario Dawson before Rosario Dawson...but I digress - and by a couple of real standout tracks:

Woman Tonight

Seldom have lullaby, love song, soul-baring and phat hip-hop song come together so well in the space of 3 or 4 minutes.


Morris Day

Morris and his valet Jerome stole the show recently at the Grammys and The Time are my favourite Prince side-project, so Murs and Slug get kudos from me just for naming the song after him. Even better than the title, though, is the laid back groove on the track.