G-Unit - Hollow Through Him
50 loves nothing more than a fight where the odds are stacked in his favour and his "beef" with Fat Joe, though pretty pointless, seems to have rejuvenated him musically, just when he was starting to come across a little jaded.
Young Buck - The Strip Club
More from The Unit. The beat really makes this song. It sounds so much like Timbaland, I'm almost disappointed when there isn't an eerie space-age beat-switch towards the end.
Snoop Dogg - Cool
Wholesale Prince-shark-biting on a major scale - not that I'm complaining. The beat's uberfunky, but Snoop could do with working on some of those high notes.
Camp-Lo - Lumdi
stream of consciousness, dadaist Luchini rhyming over massive drums and an infectious sample.
Big Boi ft Andre 3000 & Raekwon
Southernplayalistic beat & rhymes, with Dre stealing the show as per usual.
The Game - Big Dreams
Good song, but is it just me or is Game doing a Ja Rule impression by the 3rd verse?
The Knux - Cappuccino (rmx)
Production sounds straight outta the Umma/Hiero era, even better than the original
Nas - Stay Chiseled
'90s song I found on a mixtape. If ever I quit bumming around and hit the gym, this'll make the workout plan playlist.
Ice Cube ft Scarface & Nas - Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It rmx
Now if I only I could get all the folks constantly hating on my hip-hop to sit down and listen to this...
Q-Tip - Midnight '08
Love the way Cool and Dre keep the original boom-bap drums, then stick all the synthy syrupy southern stuff on top. Plus 'Tip hasn't lost a step.
The Cool Kids - Action Figures
My favourite rap group at the moment.
The Prodigy - Who The F**k is Eddy Cochran?
And Now For Something Completely Different...
0 comments Posted by Randy Watson as Bob Digitech at 15:11Album-wise, not too much to get excited about as of the moment, so I've been cheating on H.E.R. with some '70s psych-rock albums. The self-titled album from Brazilian group "Karma" and Japanese group Happy End's "Kazemachi Roman" have got a mellow, melodic folk sound that's definitely worthy of some sample love.
Karma - Transe Uma
Karma - Você Pode Ir Além
Happy End - Kaze Wo Astumete
About half of this album is pretty damn awesome, making the mediocre, lowest-common-denominator filler tracks that much more frustrating, like he couldn't have just recorded 3 or 4 more quality songs to make this a dope album. As it is though, it's a not a bad collection of songs, and I really enjoyed the last couple; something of a throwback to Joe's Diggin In The Crates roots:
My Conscience (ft KRS-1, prod by Alchemist)
That White (prod by DJ Premier...will he ever fall off?)
Some samples always seem to produce awesome songs and this one's got a 3-0 winning record over the last few years:
MF DOOM as King Geedorah - Anti-matter
Mos Def - Undeniable
RZA as Bobby Digital ft Inspectah Deck - You Can't Stop Me Now
"9 6 and Forever..."
Jay-Z ft MJB and Swizz Beatz - "You're Welcome"
MJB ft Weezy & Swizz (again!) - "Just Fine rmx"
19-vintage.
Laziness, cheapskatedness, global warming; a number of reasons why I'm not driving yet...but I kind of regret not having a ride to bless with tracks like this:
Rick Ross ft Jay-Z - "Maybach Music"
Jay hasn't kilt a rapper on his own shit like this since Bleek didn't even make it onto the best track from his 534 album.
...Another classic [MP3] for y'all to vibe with" - The Good Doctor
Main Source - "Looking at the Front Door"
Pete Rock ft Papoose - "Comprehend"
Given in to the temptation of using the pun rock solid to describe New York's Finest, Pete's new album. This isn't a standout track, particularly, but the 10cc sample is one I've intended on using myself for a few years now...when I invest in a sampler & start making 5 beats a day for 3 summers...perhaps with John Legend resinging the hook..I digress.
Fat Ray & Black Milk - "When It Goes Down"
Love this Detroit shit!
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - "Keep On Looking (Kenny Dope rmx)"
Might go see this soul sistah in April.
J-Live - "Don't Play"
Madonna ft JT - "4 Minutes"
Must say Timbaland's on pretty good form at the moment...though I hope Madonna doesn't insist on cringe-worthy near-nudity in the videos this time around.
Mighty Joseph - "Legend"
Madlib production + Super Mario sfx samples = a classic song.
Assholes By Nature (Trae & his cousin Z-Ro) - "It is what it is"
Some nice shit to ride out to...on chrome...& low-lows...top down on the slab, candy paint & all that other stuff the kids are into.
Kanye, Lupe, NERD & Rihanna - "The Glow In The Dark Mixtape"
0 comments Posted by Randy Watson as Bob Digitech at 21:01
Kanye dropped this tape as promo for the US leg of his world tour a few weeks ago. Some really good tracks here and I'm hoping they've put in some CRS recording time on the tour:
Lupe - "What It Do"
N.E.R.D. - "Locked Away"
DJ Felle Fel ft Kanye, Ne-Yo, Fab & JD - "Finer Things"
Dope album. No skippable tracks, great content, fresh production and Ms On-&-On Badu's eccentric self. at least a 4 out of 5 :
The Healer (prod by Madlib)
Soldier
Around this time of year, there's always a few good mixtapes out, plenty of leaked singles worth a few spins, but after the buzz of all the 4th quarter releases has died down, when the 1st quarter releases have been pushed back to April or June or Nevuary, there does seem something of a void to be filled. It's at this point that I dust off the old 19-vintage Tribe, Wu-Tang and Biggie CDs. It doesn't hurt if you can mix that up with a few dope new tracks aswell:
Reflection Eternal - "2000 Seasons"
The Roots - "75 Bars"
C.R.A.C. - "Love Don't"
Saigon ft Grand Puba - "Who Can Get Busy"
(apologies; couldn't find any non-homo-erotic pics of Sai...still a great rapper, though.)
Pete Rock ft Papoose - "Comprehend"
EMC - "Once More"
Common - "The Light 2008" (prod by Just Blaze)
Trendz of Culture - "Valley of the Skinz"
