Train Of Thought, Black On Both Sides, Black Star and Funcrusher Plus.....call me

until then I have to vote for Rawkus

and for the record, I love Mello Music

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https://93millionmilesabove.blogspot.com/
https://rateyourmusic.com/~Kosa12

I've voted for Rawkus cause they were a label who just didn't sign anybody, they tried to push and get their artists with multiple singles & to collaborate with others on the label but still maintain as an up & coming solo artist.

With Mello Music Group, to me they seem like an outlet for underground rappers & producers to get their music pressed up on the label and distributed, but it's still up to the artist to do the bulk of their own promotion.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

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"We in here talking about later career Prince records
& your fool ass is cruising around in a time machine
trying to collect props for a couple of sociopathic degenerates" - s.blak

Rawkus are so fuckin' overrated, man. The Trustafarian boom of Cherry Hill kids, New England CACS, midwest freestyle bozos trekking to fat beats was ultra nauseating.


The Roots were bolstered by this vile sect.



MMG in a landslide.

I love Mello Music's roster, but they haven't put out anything even remotely touching BOBS, or Blackstar, or TOT yet. not one release.

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too many songs, too bloated

shoulda trimmed the fat

thats also the only real issue w/ BOBS

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

Infact do they even have anybody that could come close the Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, Big L., Company Flow, Reflection Eternal, or even a compilation that matches "Soundbombing 2"?

I'm not saying that every artist on Mello Music Group is wack, average, or don't have anything worth listening to cause that would be far from wrong, but to me they aren't trying to build a roster of artist, just good artists who need the exposure even though most of the albums released are something okay or good for the meanwhile, but Oddisee, yU, Gensu Dean, Georgia Anne Muldrow, & Declaime put out some great material but nothing classic like the majority of the albums that came out on Rawkus during their hayday.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

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"We in here talking about later career Prince records
& your fool ass is cruising around in a time machine
trying to collect props for a couple of sociopathic degenerates" - s.blak

*Fudge Pudge reference*

and again a Pharoah album w/ Apollo on the beats? sheeeeeeiiiiiiiit

In the Ruff
The Earn
PHWTS
Tangible Dream
Daily Bread
Gas Mask
the various instro albums?

no way that lineup doesnt stand tall

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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

Throw in Quelle Chris, a guy whose easily as interesting as any of the Rawkus big 3 were. You're in trouble when Kweli is in your big 3.


Funcrusher Plus fucking sucks BTW. 3 songs max i liked. Weirdo beats.

for the sheer fact that it's more imaginative. the pink elephant in the room here is that MMG is heavily based on the sounds Rawkus helped establish as an acceptable norm. I'd say they mastered the safe lanes of those sounds, but the fact that they can't even come to the table with anything as unique as Funcrusher, even if cats like you don't like it, is a testament to the foundations Rawkus laid.

█▆▇▅▇█▇▆▄▁▃
Big PEMFin H & z's
"I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." © Miles

"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."

Nm

█▆▇▅▇█▇▆▄▁▃
Big PEMFin H & z's
"I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." © Miles

"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."

the lyrical performance on that album from El and Juss is enough to take it above literally everything I've heard by Mello Music. I can understand if some people don't like El-P's pretty unorthodox take on boom bap on that album, despite the fact that I love it (and haven't really been able to find anything like it since)....but...That album is just insane lyrically

and again, I love Mello Music lol

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https://93millionmilesabove.blogspot.com/
https://rateyourmusic.com/~Kosa12

El P & Juss being nearly indecipherable and wack and off key and out of pocket over weird ass beats is cool to the doofy crowd I described in my first post.


I'm pretty sure "pots & pans" beats was coined specifically in regards to that huff ass album.

People love to nut over some random ass cryptic shit.

I'll take OC's real perspective and relatable lyrics over most which is why I feel he is one of the most underappreciated and underrated hip-hop artists of all-time.

You sound dumb as fuck.

All I pointed out was the fact that people who base their opinion solely on what's different for the same of being different shouldn't be judging music period.

With the exception of Co Flow, Rawkus' roster wasn't exactly reinventing the wheel here, they were making traditional beats and lyrics music that stood out because everything in the mainstream was sounding super-glossy and commercial. I've always considered MMG's core roster (the Diamond District crew, Apollo Brown, Sean Born, etc.) as much the heir to DITC as anyone. Regardless, both labels center on music making back to basics hip-hop music that appeals to heads sensibilities, nothing wrong with either.

And I also vehemently disagree that Mello Music doesn't put out "imaginative" hip-hop music: off the top, I'd site both Has-Lo's "In Case I Don't Make It" and the remix album "Conversation B", Castle's "Gas Face," and both L'Orange albums as pretty clear examples of "Imaginative" hip-hop music.

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www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

>With the exception of Co Flow, Rawkus' roster wasn't exactly
>reinventing the wheel here, they were making traditional beats
>and lyrics music that stood out because everything in the
>mainstream was sounding super-glossy and commercial.

I said the sounds (plural) that Rawkus helped to make acceptable, specifically in contrast to that super glossy commercial sound. It's not that they were the creators or even for the most part the innovators but they paved the way. I get the DITC comparison you make below but by example DITC never could achieve what Rawkus did. You can just look at the rosters from both labels and what they were able to sustain. The biggest success DITC has is Fat Joe and that's mainly because of his abandoning of what made DITC DITC. Meanwhile Talib, Mos, El-P all have sustained a level which was only possible because of the work Rawkus put in. Not to mention the peripheral artists that past through their doors the most prominent of which is probably Eminem. Sure Dre brought him 'out' but Rawkus held his hand in a sense.

>I've
>always considered MMG's core roster (the Diamond District
>crew, Apollo Brown, Sean Born, etc.) as much the heir to DITC
>as anyone. Regardless, both labels center on music making back
>to basics hip-hop music that appeals to heads sensibilities,
>nothing wrong with either.

There's nothing at all wrong with back to basics hip-hop. But i tend to find the folk that are purists about that sound tend to be so dismissive of anything going beyond that it disgusts me. Not even saying they have to like it, but to pretend like it doesn't have its place in hip-hop is absurd. I mentioned Em above because you can pretty much link him to Co-Flow through Rawkus. We've almost gotten to the place where folk can accept Em's place in hip-hop and he owes a part of that to Funcrusher.

>And I also vehemently disagree that Mello Music doesn't put
>out "imaginative" hip-hop music: off the top, I'd site both
>Has-Lo's "In Case I Don't Make It" and the remix album
>"Conversation B", Castle's "Gas Face," and both L'Orange
>albums as pretty clear examples of "Imaginative" hip-hop
>music.

My comment wasn't meant to say MMG was unimaginative. They've broaden their lane over the years but still none of that measures IMO to the gauntlet Funcrusher laid down.


█▆▇▅▇█▇▆▄▁▃
Big PEMFin H & z's
"I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." © Miles

"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."

I would definitely put it up there.

I'm a huge OC fan though so I may be biased.

I don't think there are many solo acts that have 3 albums as good as Word...Life, Jewelz and Trophies.

Even the much maligned 'Bon apetit' has a few great songs. I don't care what anyone says..,'Paradise' is one of my fav OC songs.

Bon Apetite is better than what people make it out to be but it's just average overall.

Paradise is a banger.

In the Ruff
The Earn
PHWTS
Tangible Dream
Gas Mask
Trophies

and other stuff like Self Sacrifice, Helpless Dreamer, Rock Creek Park etc etc etc

and while all those albums are good, Tangible Dream being my favorite out of all of them probably

none of them, for me personally come close to the albums I mentioned in my first post, and I probably prefer Internal Affairs to all of them too

to each his own tho, if you are going to ride hard for something, its good that its Mello Music haha

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https://93millionmilesabove.blogspot.com/
https://rateyourmusic.com/~Kosa12

Rawkus has too much of a legacy with classic/near-classic albums. Black Star, Black On Both Sides, Train Of Thought, Internal Affairs, Soundbombing 1-2, Hi-Teknology, Funcrusher Plus.

All that said, Rawkus let up a little after 2002. So if Mello stays consistent, they may be able to surpass them by averages. Mello's been killing it.

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https://weketchum.contently.com/

I find this poll kinda funny, because just the fact that you are listening/checking for MMG releases probably means that you were checking for/have heard the Rawkus albums that are going to make most people vote for Rawkus

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https://93millionmilesabove.blogspot.com/
https://rateyourmusic.com/~Kosa12

________________________________________________________________
whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me

----

https://weketchum.contently.com/

----------
https://93millionmilesabove.blogspot.com/
https://rateyourmusic.com/~Kosa12

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

http://twitter.com/Menphyel7


"F you Im better in tune with the Infinite"

And honestly, I'm starting to lean towards Mello Music. Note that I say this as someone who loved Rawkus' late '90s hey day and carried a Rawkus record bag for years, even using it as a travel bag.

A lot of people are citing albums by Co Flow, Black Star, Mos Def, Reflection Eternal, and Pharoah Monch, but to me, Rawkus was essentially a singles/12" label. A lot of the artists that made that label really interesting never put out a full album. Yes, I know, it was a different time and CDs were tougher to do and the digital market didn't exist. However, I can safely say that there's not a artist that's worked with MMG that I can say, "Hmmm, I wonder if ______ can hold down a full down album on his/her/their own?" But there sure are a lot of artists on Rawkus' roster who dropped dope 12"s but delivered nothing else while on the labels: L-Fudge, Shabaam Sadeeq, B-1, Black Attack, Sir Menelik, Thirstin Howl III, RA the Rugged Man, etc. And I'd say that when majority of those artists who did manage to release albums years later, a lot weren't all that good (notable exceptions are R.A. the Rugged Man and Thirstin Howl).

So, when you look at Rawkus' output in terms of who dropped albums, I'd say the pink elephant in the room is the that the roster is pretty thin. Looking above it's basically Co Flow, some combination of the members of Black Star, Monch, and I'll throw in High & Mighty because I really liked that album.

Now, looking at Mello Music group, they've remained remarkably consistent since 2011, which is when they really started releasing albums heavy. And every year, at least in my opinion, has been extremely fucking impressive. Shoot, Mello Music Group's 2012 is one of the most impressive years by I label that I've ever heard. And overall, their hit to miss ratio is supremely outstanding; you can't say that about Rawkus once you get past 2001.

In terms of individual album quality, Mello Music doesn't have many A+/As (I'll say they have "In the Ruff" and "People Hear What They See", possibily "Trophies"), and the ones that they have aren't as good as "Funcrusher Plus" or "Train of Thought." But Mello Music sure has a whole lot of A-/B+ albums, certainly more than Rawkus had, especially as they were trying to get more mainstream acceptance. Shoot, it's even close in the compilation game. People (including me) love Soundbombing 2, but I'd say "Self Sacrifice" and the "Mandala" compilations (especially the first) stack up pretty damn well to it.

If anything, what actually helps Rawkus' is the albums they decided to distribute towards that ended of their "official" life: Marco Polo's "Port Authority," Blue Scholars' "Bayani," Procussions' "2 Sparrows...", etc. And actually there were some really good albums in the Rawkus 50. But the reason that failed was because they looked at it more as an exercise in social media rather than music.

Anywho, yeah, it's close, and it's not quite apples to apples, but I don't think people are giving Mello Music enough credit.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

... for me is that they seem very gimmicky at times and the music is overall good but not great. I also don't think they have the strength and variation in their roster like Rawkus did. The range Rawkus had - from Company Flow, through to Shabaam Saadiq and Sir Menelik and then Mos and Kweli, Pharaohe and Spinna, etc is just a lot stronger than MMG where, save for some of the acts - like Oddisee who has bags of talent and a huge following - is all a bit same-y.

Plus on a personal gripe - in the UK at least - those vinyls are a bump in terms of price.


Peace,

Nij

....as far as albums, I'll put the OC/Apollo album up againt any Rawkus Full Length