Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta

Last couple of weeks were boring, hip-hop-wise, but glad to say a few new (at least to me) tracks have popped up this week, right on time for the 4th quarter album rush. A few I'm feeling at the moment:



Don't think this is a new song, as the American Gangster album version's supposed to feature Beanie Sigel. Good track regardless.




The drums on this track kill me, so much so that I'm even willing to forgive Verbal's wack flow and dodgy Transformers simile (anyway, he shouts out Tokyo, so if he's Japanese and rapping in his second language I can't really hate).




I know mashups got boring a couple of years ago, but Bullion's Pet Sounds in the Key of Dee Dilla/Beach Boys album is quality. Can't get this track in particular out of my head.




More Dilla-influenced music as Spinna and a very Dwele-esque Phonte smooth it out, with Phonte crooning a collection of classic Jay Dee hooks. A great tribute, worth sticking on The Get Back, maybe as a bonus track.




I've heard a couple of Jay's tracks on Just Blaze's blog and been impressed. Ditto with this track over (surprise surprise) J Dilla's spacey sonics. Very reminiscent of MF Doom; shame he and Dilla never collaborated on an album/EP.

Due to various reasons, not least my lack of a desire to ever be the designated driver, I am yet to get a driver's license and travel mostly on foot or by bus, more often than not with my trusty backpack in tow, and the experience is most pleasurable when the sun shines on my shoulders and heavy boom-bap drums reverberate in my head. As such, I thought it a good idea to post a few favourites...all pretty obvious choices, but all headphone classic theme songs for the discerning hip-hop listener:


Pete Rock and CL Smooth - "Troy"




Tupac - "Old School"




A Tribe Called Quest - "Electric Relaxation"




Mos Def and DJ Honda - "Travelling Man"




Common - "I Used To Love H.E.R."




Chubb Rock, OC and Jeru - "Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers"




Big L - "Put It On"

It's always good to have a plan B. As of late for me, it's been '80s-electro-retro-throwback/indie music (I like to be genre-specific) :


The New Young Pony Club have restored my faith in young folks (as opposed to 30-something rappers) to drop good albums I don't need to skip through. Great basslines, synths and vocals, with the bonus of loads of bright colours and a hot chick on lead vocals making for more than tolerable music video viewing.











Started listening to CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy) ["I'm tired of being sexy." - Beyonce Knowles] about a year ago because they're Brazilian, again they have bright colours and a hot chick on vocals as a bonus for the music videos and as a megabonus their bassist has an awesome 'tache...I then also discovered, in passing, that their music was pretty awesome too.








He's unfortunately not a hot-chick-on-lead-vocals, but Calvin Harris does also boasts bright colours in his music videos and has a great album title to boot: "I Created Disco". Dude and his synthesizer are pretty much attached at the hip - in a good way - so the album's very '80s. A lot of the beats are reminiscent of the Neptunes, Timbaland and Daft Punk to me; great to bounce around to.

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.