Tons of quality shit got released this year. Please share anything you think the Lesson missed out on.

I'll start:

Uptown XO: Great production. Fantastic politically-minded lyrics. Can't wait to hear what he does on MMG.
http://uptownxo202.bandcamp.com/

She's a soul singer that dropped on Wax Poetics. ZZ Ward kinda stole her shine. "Pow" is one of my favorite records this year.

http://kendramorrismusic.com/home.cfm

phemom's the name, all-star writer/
searching 4 journalistic fame, mindframe igniter....www.twitter.com/hayabusaage

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

(for fans of the smiths, jesus & mary chain, the church, etc)

i've probably listened to this song more than any other this year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdIlsTpf5wM

the whole album is great. maybe my favorite from 2012.

Starvation (Produced by the Renegades unless noted)

1|A Hustler's Prayer|3:15 3 - 3.5
2|Reminiscing|2:57 4
3|Piss 'Em Off|2:36 (Produced by the Monarch) 3.75 - 4
4|I Kno|3:44 3.5 - 4
5|We On|3:30 (Produced by the Monarch) 3.75 - 4
6|I'm Fucked Up|3:27 3 - 3.75
7|Do It|3:39 3 - 3.25
8|2-12-12 (Thoughts)|4:06 3.5 - 4
9|My Life (feat. Dane Cash)|3:21 (Produced by Dane Cash) 3 - 3.5
10|Promises (feat. Kevin Cossom)|4:13 (Produced by the Runners) 4 - 4.25
11|Slow Down (feat. Kevin Cossom)|3:53 (Produced by the Lottery) 3 - 3.5
Honestly, maybe the most surprising experience I had with this album was enjoying back-to-back Kevin Cossom tracks.
12|Different People (feat. The Game)|3:22 3
13|I Solemnly Swear (feat. Ice Berg)|3:23 (Producer Unknown) 2.75 - 3
14|Nothing to Something|3:50 (Produced by StreetRunner & Sarom) 3
15|Hallucination|3:16 3

Overall: 51 - 55 3.53/5 68 - 73%: Good; detracting problems; TRY IT

When I first heard Ace Hood, I was kind of drawn into him but that feeling was quickly diminished by his 2009 album Ruthless, a release that just felt like it was phoned in by everyone involved. In the three years since it seems like audiences have mostly agreed, otherwise the guy wouldn't have slipped from DJ Khaled's flagship artist to a mixtape circuit staple, dropping album after album for free in the hopes someone might give a damn. Even when "Hustle Hard" made a massive connection with radio and clubs alike it never felt like Ace Hood was regaining any momentum, he was merely the vehicle through which a hit existed. But I have to say that I'm glad Ace's been stuck in such a stasis the past few years, because while Starvation isn't anything mindblowing it's certainly the most honest thing we've ever heard from the guy, and honesty can go a long way towards rebuilding a rapper in my eyes. It's just one song before Ace raps (briefly) about his daughter's death along with his absentee father and disinterest in the fast, brief street-level fame that comes with moving drugs. It's an earnest, less formatted philosophy that Ace brings to the table here that works for pretty much every rapper who finds the bravery to adopt it.

Assisting him further is his increasingly close relationship with the Renegades, a production duo that don't really get much work outside of this guy's projects but take the opportunity to produce half of the tracks here as a show of respect and return the favor in earnest, providing Ace with a series of stoic but subtly engaging trap beats inspired by video games and '80s goth rock (honestly though, this is a fairly unique sonic experience despite its modest base). Fellow WTB producers Monarch and Lottery are along for the ride and the result is an album that feels exceptionally focused for a guy who couldn't help but fall into the typical major label traps on his retail releases. Across these fifteen tracks, almost all of which are fairly brief and refuse to overstay their welcome, Ace Hood makes a really strong argument for his worthiness to reclaim the spot Meek Mill's grabbed over the past year. He's just a much more interesting rapper than Meek is, less reliant on gimmicks than pure presence. I'm shocked that Starvation is as enjoyable as it is, but this is what happens when a rapper and a production team feel consistently neglected by the audiences they're trying to expand into and leave everything on the field in an attempt to correct that. I'd say Starvation isn't exactly the album to give Ace Hood detractors and expect them to fall back, but then again, I was certainly one of them even through the "Hustle Hard" mania. So maybe more folks should be giving this a chance.

Most importantly, Starvation exposes Ace Hood as an artist, truly, for the first time. This isn't the sort of album that gets made in a pressurized, A&R'd situation. This is the sort of project that comes to fruition when a man has something to say; being that that's all I ask for from rap music, I'm glad Ace Hood has found the window to his soul, if only for a fleeting moment.



~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

A Dream Deferred (Produced by Illmind unless noted)

1|Dreams in a Basement (feat. Jill Scott)|5:59 4 - 4.5
This song seriously has me reconsidering my position on Illmind about 400%.
2|Jansport Strings (One Time for Chi-Ali)|3:19 (Produced by 9th Wonder) 4 - 4.25
3|Pockets Full (feat. Freeway)|4:11 4 - 4.25
4|Give It Up (feat. DJ Prince)|3:41 4 - 4.25
5|Glass Ceilings|3:48 3.75 - 4
6|Range Rover Rhythm|3:28 (Produced by Jahlil Beats) 4
7|The Knowing (feat. Jessy Wilson)|6:00 (Produced by Eric G. & Illmind) 3.75 - 4
Luckily this is the only track with a long skit tacked on this time, and it's got some cool jams behind it.
8|Drew & Derwin (feat. Raheem DeVaughn)|4:19 (Produced by Focus... & Illmind) 4 - 4.25
Raheem and John Legend sound great on this.
9|Realization (feat. Jared Evan)|3:52 (Produced by DJ Khalil) 4
10|The Rage of Roemello|5:39 (Produced by DJ Khalil) 4 - 4.25
11|How to Make it Through Hysteria|6:04 (Produced by Craig B. & Godfather) 3.75 - 4
These names come straight off a No Limit tape but...well, that'd be wild if it's the same guys.
12|Steel's Apartment|4:12 (Produced by Black Milk) 4
13|Spike Lee Was My Hero (feat. Talib Kweli)|5:37 (Produced by Tall Black Guy) 4.25 - 5
Probably the only extremely noticeable flaw to this album is there's no true stand out track; Kweli just kills it here.
14|The Cost of Sleep|5:38 (Produced by Tall Black Guy) 4 - 4.25

Overall: 57 - 57.5 4.09/5 81 - 82%: Great; repeated listens suggested; BUY IT

Skyzoo may just be the most accessible "über lyrical miracle" rapper since Ghostface's heyday. He's an MC that seems custom fitted for these times. His flow acts like a falling Tetris piece, locked into a constant rhythm and yet able to assume a myriad of forms on its way to the end point. The voice follows suit, with a nasally drawl that feels very Houston or Atlanta yet backed by a gnarled sort of urban confidence that could only truly resonate from underneath the corner store street lights of 1990s Brooklyn. Being obsessed with the artform and the nuances of how much a great voice and delivery can push even subpar work into the spotlight, it's hard to convince myself that Skyzoo's nuanced delivery isn't the definitive bridge point between the new school's swaggering and the old school's dense formalism. And yet all signs point to the fact that he's not: The Salvation, for all its positives, was at times criticized for Skyzoo's sticking to script as a rhymer (again, I'd argue the appeal is in the subtle nuances within his template) and at others simply for not being what it represented, an underground album for mainstream heads. The release barely cleared five figures, which on a longstanding independent like Duck Down is a hard figure to measure as a bystander, but through a Billboard lens just feels like an unworthy number for someone whose style is so rooted in dangling upon the border between obscurity and radio play.

A Dream Deferred appears on the heels of a pair of mixtapes, 2011's The Great Debater (admission: I never found time for it) and Theo vs. J.J., a release that was seemingly set up to display the differences between the aims of Salvation and Dream Deferred. If Salvation represented Skyzoo as Theo Huxtable, the rapper who knew success was just a rhyme and a beat away so long as his label supported his every move, then Dream Deferred is certainly Skyzoo seeing the world more from J.J. Evans' perspective, worried that maybe hope isn't enough to "make it through hysteria", though Skyzoo posits he's "made it through hysteria, show 'em how" late in the album. But that doesn't mean the album is a notably somber affair compared to his would-be coming out party; in fact, to Skyzoo's great credit, this is an album that expands on everything that Salvation did well while folding on most of its more questionable decisions.

In addition to a more focused effort on Skyzoo's part, the production is just on a whole different level. In part, this is because he's graduated from what's considered in the 21st century to be basic underground production to beats that bridge that void between boom bap and the grandeur that approaches larger artists like a J.Cole, Kanye West or Drake. Fans of Kanye West and Buckwild can coalesce here in equal measure, with about half the project guided by the steady hand of Illmind. The guy is just on another level here, for just one example the Late Registration levels of orchestral grandeur on the album opener "Dreams in a Basement". Or check how "Pockets Full" comes off as a Moment of Truth-era DJ Premier cut until its horn-driven outro without jarring the listener out of the vibe at all.

Addressing production without looking towards Illmind's (who moonlighted during Kanye's Cruel Summer sessions) "Give It Up" would be an accident. This is a track that's so rooted in the odd, wobbly histrionics of dubstep while maintaining a very deliberate grounding in mid-90s boom bap that it's amazing Illmind was able to hide this from Kanye's team. It's not the best track here, but for an army of hip-hop listeners that have wondered why density-focused artists like Skyzoo struggle to gain their shine they can now point to "Give It Up", claiming that this is a monument dedicated to both clubs and headphones with impunity. After collaborating in full with Skyzoo on 2010's Live from the Tapedeck, Illmind appears in front or in back of six of the fourteen tracks here, providing a guiding light for other producers like 9th Wonder, Black Milk, DJ Khalil and Tall Black Guy to follow. The message is simple: embrace your most marketable qualities, but don't be afraid to expand the boundaries of those formulas. Hip-hop fans who were entranced by Black Milk's 2008 release Tronic will have some familiar feelings throughout this album.

However, even with all he's learned and all he's capable of, listening to Skyzoo certainly results in a feeling of impermeability. Even as he rocks increasingly ambitious production - and trust, Dream Deferred is one of 2012's great accomplishments - it's sometimes hard to get on Skyzoo's side as much as he seem tailored towards accessibility. He'll do the double back thing, where a line becomes a line within a triplet or a note becomes a pun, almost on impulse, as though he can't find a way out of a writing hole other than adjusting his word choice. And as subtle as his verbal display is, as region-abstract as I've presumed it can be, I'm not willing to argue it definitely is. The professionalism Skyzoo exerts, then, sometimes works in a minorly antagonistic fashion to the work he's presenting here as the increasingly amazing production and intricate rhyme schemes fall into place. As impressed as I am by Dream Deferred, to the layman's ear it could certainly feel like an album that's less impressive than it is, if only because one nuance or another doesn't fit where they think it should. But these are truly minor nitpicks, as the old adage goes that dense rhymes plus fantastic production equals out to spinning the LP over and over in order to decode the puzzle.

To be truthful, in my nearly four years writing for PopMatters it's rare I've wished for a middle ground more than writing about this album. 8, 9? The difference is negligible, it's just a number. The idea is to listen, not to read.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

This is an amazing review. Keep up the good work, G.

----

https://weketchum.contently.com/

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Savage Journey to the American Dream (Produced by Block Beattaz unless noted)

1|Savage Journey|3:40 3.25 - 4
If the Dave Fridmann-like distortion is just on my copy, let me know please. Awesome track otherwise.
2|Petrin Hill Peonies|2:54 4 - 4.25
3|Route 21|2:28 4 - 4.5
4|Hammers and Vogues (feat. Curren$y)|5:18 5
5|Lover's Lane (feat. Anthony Flammia)|4:11 3 - 3.5
6|Home to You (feat. Wale & Anthony Flammia)|3:40 3.5 - 4
7|Island Hopping (feat. Avriel Epps)|3:57 3.75 - 4
Openly asks for MMG not to play him for a fool here, nonchalantly. Cool touch, honestly.
8|Cold|4:23 4 - 4.5
9|Everything New|2:49 (Produced by Chad Hugo) 4 - 4.5
10|Seen It All|4:34 (Produced by Soundtrakk) 4.5 - 5
11|Hell's Angels (American Heathens) (feat. Rick Ross)|4:03 4 - 4.5
12|Live at Blossom|5:35 (Produced by Soundtrakk) 3 - 3.5
13|BCGMMG (Remix) (feat. Rick Ross & Meek Mill)|4:06 4 - 4.25
|Bonus Track|
14|Rick Ross - Party Heart (feat. 2 Chainz & Stalley)|4:29 (Produced by Chuck Inglish) 3.25 - 4

Overall: 56 - 56.75 4.03/5 80 - 81%: Great; repeated listens suggested; BUY IT

Like Maybach Music labelmate Wale, Stalley's experienced an odd and ever-transitional rise to what counts for relevance in hip-hop's modern, internet-dominated culture. Originally that dude from Ohio with the Freeway beard, most came to know him from video campaigns on popular hip-hop blogs that led to linking up with Curren$y and Dame Dash back in 2009 when the DD172 project seemed more like rapper heaven than another Dame Dash cash for gold scheme. But when the fantasy surrounding DD172 began to crumble behind the (marijuana-laced) clouds of rhetoric and Ski Beatz-fueled dopeness, Stalley quickly found the unlikeliest of homes under the umbrella of Rick Ross' Maybach imprint. At that point, it would've been easy to count the man out. Pill was much more suited for a roster that featured Rick Ross, Meek Mill and a half dozen trap rap production heavyweights, after all, but his time with the group was short-lived and shockingly underwhelming. Stalley's sparse appearances since the signing have felt oddly comfortable, however, finding odd comfort zones and interesting corner pockets within his new sonic homefronts that made for understated if not easily overlooked forays into harder edged territory.

Savage Journey to the American Dream, Stalley's first full length project since last year's wonderful Lincoln Way Nights, is notable both for its risks and its hallmarks. Stalley is still very much the MC his fans have grown to appreciate, neither fully adherent to a given rhyme scheme or ignorant to the benefits of having one. At times he raps like a street poet turned rapper while at others that script is flipped, lending an unpredictability to his cadences that have come to define the Stalley experience. His time under Ross' wing seems to have enhanced this ability as he's certainly adapted some of Ross' techniques for feeling like both a very good and very unintriguing rapper all at once. The key to his appeal lies within the earnestness with which every word drips out of his mouth, bathed in suds of struggle and desperation. If you're able to ignore that, much of Stalley could be lost on you from the jump, but Save Journey is certainly an attempt to allow that trait to more easily sink into mainstream ears. What's really interesting about Savage Journey, after all - especially if you're of the mold that considers Stalley a fairly reliable entertainer - is the choice of production. Block Beattaz handled ten of the fourteen tracks on this mixtape, and if you haven't been following the sounds of Alabama (or at least G-Side) fairly closely, there's a very good chance you have no idea who or what that is.

Assuming this isn't another fleeting collaboration with more nationally buzzed-about artists (they also produced three tracks on Freddie Gibbs' Str8 Killa EP) Savage Journey is a great look for both them and Stalley. It's a mutually beneficial relationship that sees Block Beattaz toning down their exclusive brand of dreamy trap rap in favor of some more boom bap-related aesthetics while Stalley mostly abandons the exceptionally palatable yet somewhat out of vogue jazz atmospheres he's called home most of his career. Both artists seem to have found a sense of adventure in each other, and while neither perhaps reach the apexes of their potential they don't find time to indulge in their less interesting tendencies either. The result is a mixtape that's both surprising and comfortable for fans of the two camps, yet also extremely inviting to strangers to the newness this tape oozes with. Hip-hop may be a genre renowned for bending rules but it's actually somewhat rare for a risk to be taken and pay off, so kudos to these guys for making it work.

That the collaboration between Block Beattaz and Stalley being so successful isn't the only newsworthy item on Savage Journey is just another bullet point on this mixtape's impressive resumé. Chad Hugo also makes a rare appearance separate from Pharrell Williams on "Everything New", and much like Pharrell's solo productions over the past two years he makes what made their dynamic as a duo abundantly clear without disappointing what one would expect from a Hugo solo. There are also a pair of Soundtrakk productions, who returns from 1st & 15th exile to add a surprisingly faithful change of tone to the other guys, and the Rich Forever lowlight "Party Heart", which appears here as an endgame bonus track and speaks significantly to the weight of clever tracklisting and sonic cohesion, feeling much more at home here than it did as the clear outcast of Ross' winter-stealing freebie. But this review wouldn't be ending properly if it didn't reemphasize how effortlessly Stalley adopts more mainstream tropes such as chauvinism and machismo into his well-worn ghetto philosophizer persona. Savage Journey doesn't have the sort of face-grabbing tracks that crept up throughout his last project - no clear summer banger like "Slapp" or "She Hates the Bass". But what it lacks in clear highlights it makes up for in cohesion and shock, a pair of qualifiers that have become increasingly hard to combine when talking about major label rap.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

LWN (ITM) was fantastic IMO and this was a step back

Stalley's cadence and flow definately improved on here, but his content regressed and the beats didn't suite him

his loosie with Rashad "Loud Motors" is better than 90% of this tape. the end of the tape Seen It All, BCGMMG, Lvie At Blossom and Hell;s Angel are my favorites

all in all Stalley haters get the side eye from me

Professor @ Large (Produced by Large Professor unless noted)

1|Key to the City|3:00 4 - 4.5
2|UNOWHTMSAYN|3:24 4 - 4.5
3|Straight from the Golden (feat. Busta Rhymes)|3:48 4 - 4.75
4|Focused Up (feat. Cormega & Tragedy Khadafi)|4:25 3.5 - 4
5|Happy Days R Here (feat. Fame)|2:45 2
6|Professor @ Large|2:07 (Produced by Marco Polo) 3.5 - 4
7|Light Years|3:09 4 - 4.25
8|Barber Shop Chop (Instrolude)|2:08 3.25 - 4
9|Live Again|3:50 4 - 4.25
10|Mack Don Illz (feat. Mic Geronimo & Grand Daddy I.U.)|3:41 4 - 4.5
11|Sun, Star & Crescents (Instrolude)|2:56 4 - 4.5
12|Kick da Habit|3:23 4
13|LP Surprise|3:39 4
14|Back in Time (Instrolude)|3:19 4
15|M.A.R.S. (feat. Cormega, Action Bronson, Roc Marciano & Saigon)|4:03 4.75 - 5
Reference John Starks dunking on the Bulls (or any obscure NBA event as a referral on your own skill) and you win immediately. Cormega for life. Drop a "Contagious" reference and it's a wrap. Saigon for now.

Overall: 59 - 60.25 3.98/5 79 - 80%: Great; repeated listens suggested; BUY IT

Large Professor, as the brains behind Main Source and Nas' debut, holds a special place in hip-hop history. Despite his major influence on the foundations of hip-hop's most traditional formula, east coast boom bap, Extra P has rarely if ever really stood at the foreground of the scene. His debut solo LP (that is, if you still view Breaking Atoms as a group effort) was mostly finished in 1996 but didn't see a real release until 2009, holding court with InI's Center of Attention for many years as one of the Golden Age's most sought-after bootlegs. However, a DJ promo of that record surfaced in 2002, and along with a rebirth of Large Pro's career as a self-producing MC. While the releases have remained sparse, consistency has been the standard for his music as well as a subtle nostalgia. Large Pro still raps like it's 1992 and produces like it's 1995, with little care for the ways in which hip-hop has changed direction over the years.

As always, Professor @ Large is evidence that this mindset isn't a mistake by any means. At age 39 many of his more visible peers have faded into obscurity but Pro keeps going steady, delivering beats and rhymes that will be instantly nostalgic for anyone who grew up during his era while clueing new heads in to the instant gratification that comes with a boom bap LP done correctly. The rhymes here won't blow you away (at least, not until album-closing highlight "M.A.R.S.") but neither will they disappoint. When the weakest rhyme one can point out is "I dot all my i's and I'm crossin' my $'s" only because it's difficult to ascertain he's talking about dollar signs at first, you know you're in for a solid lyrical display. Fellow underground icons Cormega, Tragedy Khadafi, Mic Geronimo and Grand Daddy I.U. make their typically stoic guest appearances, further lending to Professor @ Large's nostalgic feel. And if the beats that get rhymed on weren't evidence enough that Pro still has that it-factor, a trio of instrumentals drop by during the second half run to provide aspiring rhymers attractive practice fodder.

It's the stuff LP concocts for the album's two highlights, "Straight from the Golden" and "M.A.R.S.", that elevate Professor @ Large from expectedly strong to one of the year's more stand out releases. The former sees Busta Rhymes hopping onto the sort of beat he's become depressingly unfamiliar with the past few years, delivering a throwback performance that reminds folks that gangster posturing is always more enjoyable over loud snares and ominous keys. Pro matches him tempo for tempo, creating a song that's oozing with atmosphere and keeps the head nodding. And "M.A.R.S." is just a treat of a generation-bridge, teaming Cormega and Roc Marciano with new schoolers Saigon and Action Bronson for a lyrical display that teams up with Pro's "Pussyfootin'" sample to create one of the year's great throwback cyphers, akin to Black Milk's "Deadly Medley". The track is just one mean-mugged rhyme after another, the sort of lighthearted gutterness hip-hop's lost a little sight of in pursuit of fresher pastures. Professor @ Large is evidence that the more things change in rap, the more refreshing it is to see folks willing to keep things the same, if only because certain brands of rap remain as timeless as ever.



~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Queens...Revisited (Produced by Black Noi$e unless noted)

1|Intro...Revisited|3:42 3.5 - 4
2|Kids from Queens|3:36 4 - 4.25
3|Trust|3:28 (Produced by Matt Martians) 3 - 3.75
4|Ellis (12:06 AM) (feat. Lakutis & Big Baby Gandhi)|3:38 3.75 - 4
5|Woman|3:59 (Produced by Hannibal King) 4 - 4.5
6|ILYAS|4:09 (Produced by Skywlkr) 4.5 - 5
7|Higher Learning (1:34 AM) (feat. Marz Lovejoy & Meechy Darko)|3:14 (Produced by Left Brain) 4.75 - 5
8|Manishewitz|3:17 (Produced by Skywlkr) 3
While I recommend headphones, this song often sounds like more of a mess than it is without proper bass levels.
9|Northernplayalistic (feat. Gita)|4:53 3.25 - 4
10|'86 Mets (3:05 AM) (feat. T.Shirt & Roc Marciano)|4:03 3.75 - 4
11|World's Fair Party|3:50 3
12|Subway Series|2:29 (Produced by Skywlkr) 4.75 - 5
13|The Foundation (feat. World's Fair)|3:47 (Produced by Skywlkr) 4 - 4.25
14|4:4THREE AM|4:09 (Produced by Thelonious Martin) 4 - 4.25

Overall: 55.25 - 56 3.97/5 79 - 80%: Solid; few major reservations; TRY IT

Contrary to the past three years, my 2012 has mostly been spent quietly hoarding things assuming I might get to them eventually. Such is the life of a guy that makes a 24 month transition from working three hours a day six days a week making enough money to satisfy all his recreational obligations to unemployed for half a year to working eight hours a day five days a week for much less money. I just kept thinking I'd figure it out, afraid I might never, and all the while hitting mixtape sites more than ever and grabbing anything that looked slightly plausible with no idea what I was looking at. Since I've cut back to five hours four days a week, for now anyway, I've finally got to explore some of the things I grabbed blindly and it's a real pleasure that I gave Children of the Night a shot, because this might just be one of the best albums 2012 will hand out.

Thoroughly representing Queens, this trio is comprised of three rappers who sound very similar to each other and don't exude much character. In 2012, this has somehow become evidence of a negligible crew, but to my ears it feels like a throwback to the days when dudes would link up on wax precisely for that reason. And much like those various group albums of the 80s and 90s, the weaknesses of character are canceled out by the lack of spotlights, replaced by atmosphere and chemistry to the point that you never find yourself caring much who is rapping, only that they are, and that it's good. Unencumbered by trying to stand out as personalities, the three members of Children of the Night ask nothing more of themselves than solid verses and that's exactly what you get from start to finish on Queens...Revisited.

A big assist is owed to the production, the majority of which comes from Black Noi$e and Danny Brown DJ Skywlkr, along with talented beat tapers Hannibal King and Thelonius Martin. While Black Noi$e was a fairly fresh name before this release, the other three had all proven themselves highly capable of providing a variety of moods to their work, which this trio takes full advantage of. Queens...Revisited opens up with some pretty basic boom bap conscious rap, complete with skit of a taxi passenger asking the driver to turn the group off because they rap about falling in love ("gay," he remarks) but very quickly becomes a more complex listen. Drugs and one-offs slowly enter the picture until they dominate it, a growth that progresses in such a subtle way that it feels like a group of guys slowly losing their grip on life. Not only does this allow for a nice balance between sides, but it makes for an album that grows and surprises very pleasurably as it moves from beginning to end.

There's also some creative hip-hop geek stuff going on here, like "Woman", which feels like "All I Need" (because of the..."All I Need sample"...) and that Biggie beat I can't place, or "The Foundation" which has that super dope Mandrill sample most will recognize from Shawty Lo's "Dey Know", manipulated to the point you've got to think just a little before you place it. All in all Queens...Revisited is an album for three types of people: those who love the old values of group albums, those who love great production and those who wish the Black Hippy crew would nut up and put out an album together. Because even without the captivating personalities, Children of the Night prove that even in 2012 all you really need to cut a great album is dope beats, good hooks and fun ass verses. What a surprise. Also, I'd recommend headphones before you pass final judgement.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

it didn't catch me. i found it to be very sleepy time boom-bap

Live Loyal, Die Rich (Produced by Celsizzle unless noted)

1|2nd Chance|4:58 (Produced by Bassline) 4.5 - 5
2|Shit Head|4:30 4
3|Something's Got Me on It|4:30 (Produced by Jussi Jaakola) 4
4|Go Loco (feat. Tha City Paper)|3:48 (Produced by Freeway Tjay) 3.5 - 4
5|No Place for Me|2:43 4 - 4.25
6|Money in the Walls|3:24 (Produced by 3Fifty7) 4 - 4.25
7|Drug Related|3:22 (Produced by A-1) 3.75 - 4
8|Death of Me|3:07 4 - 4.5
9|Touch the Ceilings (feat. Starlito)|4:28 (Produced by Lil' Lody) 4
10|Personal (feat. Cruna)|3:24 (Produced by DJ Pain 1) 3 - 3.75
11|Car Clowdy (feat. The Outlawz)|4:42 (Produced by Freeway Tjay) 3 - 3.25
12|Think They Know|3:39 (Produced by Drumma Boy) 4 - 4.5
I wish I could have squeezed this quote into the review proper, but, shit: "Y'all don't know about microwaves!"
13|Closer (feat. Goapele & Hambino)|4:18 (Produced by Hitmaka) 5
14|Hate on Me|3:32 3
15|No Smiles|3:42 (Produced by Drumma Drama) 4
16|Touchdown (feat. CTN)|4:41 3
17|21 & Up|3:14 (Produced by J-Mac & 4th Quarter) 2 - 2.25
18|Get It All|3:20 (Produced by Lil' Lody) 3 - 3.25
19|Dusted (feat. Bezzeled Gang)|4:31 (Produced by Syksense) 2 - 2.75
20|I'm Ready|4:39 (Produced by Boss Devito) 4

Overall: 73 - 75.5 3.71/5 73 - 76%: Solid; few major reservations; TRY IT

"Made a lot of money, I blew my whole advance / People stole from me, but now I understand" -- Young Buck, "2nd Chance"

To most, the public memory of Young Buck probably begins and ends with 50 Cent's explosive decision to record and release a private phone argument between the two artists during which Young Buck was audibly holding back tears, wondering what it was he needed to do to get back in G-Unit's good graces and regain the fans who'd turned on him for picking a fight with fellow G-Unit rep The Game. While Young Buck is far from a footnote in the historic G-Unit saga that engrossed much of hip-hop media in the mid-2000s, the memory of his contributions was greatly diminished through his feud with Game and he was quickly ushered out of the group's good standing. Post Buck the World Young Buck has, by all accounts, been an unfortunately salient example of the ways in which a hip-hop career can sparkle and flame out in spectacular fashion. Effectively ostracized to the mixtape and features racket, Buck couldn't even find time for his own projects in 2011 as the IRS came knocking and he was forced to enter Chapter 7 bankruptcy. For a guy who once stood as Nashville, Tennessee's one and only beacon of hope that their hip-hop scene could enjoy some sort of freedom from the city's country shackles, it seemed far too unfortunate an end for a hero.

Live Loyal, Die Rich arrives mostly as a surprise. But more importantly, a greatly satisfying one. One of Buck's great faults as an employee at Interscope was that he tried too hard to be something he wasn't. Much like Lloyd Banks he tried to craft albums in the image of 50 Cent, perverting his hood mentality into pop constructs and dull attempts at hits that landed with a thud as album filler. He was typecast as little more than supporting actor when he'd originally been brought into the G-Unit fold for exactly opposite reasons; for the longest, his post-Interscope dealings have done little to dispel that notion. But Live Loyal, Die Rich feels like the rarest of hip-hop moments: this is an artist who has fallen as hard as he possibly could, swapped his twice-worn Timbalands for a pair of worn black and red Jordan XIIs and finally returned to what he does best. Taking several notes from fellow-Tennessean Starlito's post-Cash Money playbook, Young Buck eschews all precepts of stardom in favor of blunt honesty, something that serves to make Live Loyal, Die Rich not only one of 2012's great surprises, but with any luck Young Buck might find himself reviving a career with this street album.

He kicks the album off with that lead-in quote above, the hook to "2nd Chance" and as powerful a self-evaluation as I've heard from a rapper. He essentially uses those five minutes to catch us up to his situation the way Starlito's similar underground classic "Rap Music Ruined My Life" did in 2008, as Buck details his girl's disinterest in a down and out rapper, his many flawed business dealings and, most importantly, his desire to return to rap as the rapper he'd promised us all he was capable of being. Over the next 20 tracks - which clock in at a hefty enough length Live Loyal, Die Rich wouldn't actually fit on a CD - Buck proceeds to live up to the fire presented on that intro. His pathos and ethos throughout this album are admirable as hell, really. There are a few songs about dealing crack as is the perpetual southern vogue, and "21 & Up" registers as a particularly odd song concept (though he does mention a current girlfriend who's in undergrad at school, so perhaps he feels guilt over her youth) but these are surrounded by all sorts of songs that reveal an empathetic side of rappers generally kept under wraps. "No Place for Me" sees Buck not only regretting his drug sales but feeling entirely uncomfortable with the situation, bemoaning his fate. This latent paranoia is brought to the forefront on the following cut, "Money in the Walls", which reveals the hyper-real existence a person born into the trap experiences and how a man can ultimately arrive at one common conclusion of all trap rappers: "All I wanna do is stunt like 'fuck 'em'". But there's also "Closer", a stunningly beautiful track built on Goapele's 2001 single of the same name in which Buck celebrates his children and basks in the glow of a second chance at rapping for a living.

Initially, the great disappointment of Live Loyal, Die Rich seemed to be that Drumma Boy earned top billing on the album's cover art only to turn in one production of his own. But it turns out that Buck and Drumma have compiled a veritable greatest hits of unknown producers' beats. Hyped up and comers such as Lil' Lody, A-1, Celsizzle, Drumma Drama and DJ Pain 1 appear alongside a myriad roster of local stars and complete unknowns. Hitmaka provides the aforementioned "Closer", while guys like Boss Devito, Freeway Tjay, 3Fifty7, Bassline and Jussi Jaakola deliver the sort of surprising, professional-level slickness one would never expect from guys with names made for mixtape obscurity working for a rapper who'd burned most of his relevant bridges. That Buck only arrives at two duds on an album this substantial is as much these guys' faults as his, and they really deserve a round of acknowledgement from the rest of the industry for their work here. I'm unsure how many of these guys count themselves as acolytes of Drumma Boy's Drum Squad label (his website, unhelpfully, lists none of them) but if he can claim even a small percentage of them one would have to applaud the grooming talents of the Memphis-born, Atlanta-famous super producer.

Honestly, I could just keep talking about this tape for a while. I never disliked Young Buck as a presence during his first go around but I definitely fell in line with the opinion that he wasn't astute enough an artist to become nationally relevant on his own feet. Live Loyal, Die Rich laughs hysterically at that idea, it's litany of not only enjoyable but stunningly honest tracks nearly overwhelming coming from a rapper who once struggled so mightily to pen compelling subject matter. Whether he's detailing his breakup on "Death of Me", celebrating college parties with Starlito on "Touch the Ceilings", lamenting those who've died drug related deaths after seemingly escaping the trap on "Drug Related", or explaining the odd sense of motivation that comes from losing everything on "Something's Got Me on It", Buck is a rapper in 2012 who comes to us not only as a highly efficient street narrator but a fully formed individual rather than the G-Unit caricature we'd come to ridicule what feels like so long ago.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Warning Shots 3: One Foot in the Grave (Produced by Sire unless noted)

1|Intro (feat. Just Blaze)|1:36 (Produced by Saigon) 2.75 - 3
2|BBB (Real Niggas Never Die)|2:48 3 - 3.5
3|I Am 4 Real|3:24 (Produced by DJ Corbett) 3.5 - 4
4|Hungry|2:45 3 - 3.75
5|Yeah Yeah|3:02 (Produced by Shuko) 3 - 3.5
6|Bring Me Down Part 3 (feat. Joe Budden)|3:22 (Produced by Just Blaze & Dj Corbett) 3
7|Say Yes|3:21 (Produced by Quiet) 4
8|Come Again 2012|3:12 (Produced by EZ Elpee) 4 - 4.5
9|Women Are the New Dogs (feat. Jovan Dais)|4:53 (Produced by Red Spyda) 4.75 - 5
10|Kinky|3:09 3 - 3.5
11|When Did U Get Hot?|3:43 (Produced by Brain) 3.75 - 4
12|Moscato Flow Skit|0:54 3
13|Cutdabullshit, Cutdabullshit|4:07 (Produced by DJ Green Lantern) 3 - 3.25
14|Another Man Down (feat. Lil' Fame)|3:17 (Produced by DJ Corbett) 3 - 3.75
15|WFKR Talk Radio Skit|0:46 3.75 - 4
16|War and Chaos|2:50 (Produced by Scram Jones & Just Blaze) 3
17|Where to Find Me (feat. Quan)|2:38 3 - 3.25
18|Learning As We Go Along (feat. Rough)|4:16 3.75 - 4
19|Mr. Cool (That Ain't Cool)|3:19 (Produced by Scram Jones) 3 - 3.25

Overall: 65 - 67.5 3.49/5 68 - 71%: Impressive; well above average; TRY IT

There was a time when I was totally averse to mixtapes, a memory that strikes me as completely foreign considering most of my 2010 and 2011 listening habits consisted of free projects, many of them hosted by DJs and some of them not. It was an interesting turn of events to find myself at odds with the folks I'd found myself aligned with for so many years, to suddenly look on in disbelief as believers in hip-hop turned their backs on the free reign politics of the mixtape world. In my time as a digger of tapes, no artist has made me feel more ashamed to dismiss that underworld than Saigon. Touted for years on forums I frequented as a potential savior of the gangsta rap genre by lyric heads, I didn't hear a peep out of the dude other than random soundtracks and Entourage features until his 2011 debut, much of which contained reworked old tracks. That probably worked to my benefit in terms of enjoying that album as entirely fresh product, but it still made me wonder why I had been so open to ignoring a talent so absurdly entertaining - and equally insightful - as Saigon simply because he was stranded in mixtape purgatory.

As such I approached Warning Shots 3 with a perspective that struck me as interesting, being that he was one of the few new artists for whom I had no real perspective whatsoever; kind of like Fashawn, he dropped a shockingly awesome debut album and that was all I knew of the guy. Thankfully, while Warning Shots 3 isn't the diverse, nigh orchestral experience that The Greatest Story Never Told was it's definitely a highly enjoyable experience that's doubly welcome during the typically dry quarter of hip-hop winter. It isn't as coherent an experience as his debut studio effort - Warning Shots 3 notably takes a few tracks to really get off the ground content-wise - but it is rooted in a similar character. Once again Saigon envisions himself as a sort of anti-Rick Ross, shackled inside a prison ward pondering what the world is like on the outside. It's much rarer that he connects any sociological dots to his condition, though, as he normally bends to more traditional fare such as calling out mainstream rappers for promoting a soft/homosexual lifestyle (he never goes so far as to infer these artists are gay themselves, but he definitely paints the idea in a litany of negative connotations), notably on tape opener "BBB", which samples the classics queer-hating anthem "Boom Bye Bye" by dancehall superstar Buju Banton.

Even though it takes a while for Saigon to get started - and once he does, his subject matter is mostly women and guns - I'm struggling to avoid comparing this tape to vintage 50 Cent with a more artistic edge. Saigon on the mic is a pure joy even when he's cutting tracks like "I Am 4 Real" or "Say Yes", which are really just rallies against the subject matter of radio rappers. He just formulates his complaints in such a way that they reward repeat listens on scheme alone. And unlike a lot of rap releases it's the tracks aimed at women that carry the most bite, which is a welcome flip for the format. "Women Are the New Dogs" is going to be one of my most played tracks by the end of the year, the sort of track that perfectly blends an instantly accessible hook with socially conscious subject matter that works as both party music and lonely pondering. Other songs like "Kinky" will take a while to grow - I hated it at first, truthfully - but eventually they reveal their charms. "Yeah Yeah" was another initially perplexing listen, but eventually I was just smitten with Saigon's handling of an aesthetically displeasing Shuko beat.

I suppose I'd say Warning Shots 3 isn't an album for everyone, partly for its beats and partly for Saigon's lack of diversity. But I'd also say that any fan of straight up emceeing ought to easily find plenty of reasons to keep hitting this tape up over and over again, particularly in the dryer months of the year. The way he turns seemingly bland topics and beats into very nearly essential listening is just a sound to behold, and I really appreciate the dude for being so thorough. The next best compliment I can give this tape is that for all it's initial flaws it's become one of my most listened to releases of the first quarter, and perhaps more importantly inspired me to go digging through the internet for all those mixtapes I'd initially skipped and are nearly wiped clean from the annals of time due to expired links and slacked interest. Anyone who isn't listening to Saigon rap in 2012 must not be in need of lyrical superstars because this man holds that fort down like few others these days, all the while pulling off the magic trick of making it feel accessible to anyone in search of. The last few tracks aren't necessarily a fall off so much as randomly unengaging, but I'm not exactly sure why I feel that way because they're also pretty nice. Bottom line, Warning Shots 3 is a pretty ill ass mixtape, with a fair amount of room to grow over the years.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

First Serve (Produced by Chokolate & Khalid)

1|Opening Credits|3:37 3.5 - 4
2|Pushin' Aside, Pushin' Along|4:14 3 - 3.75
3|The Work|4:05 4
4|Small Disasters|2:38 4
5|We Made It|4:27 4 - 4.25
6|We Made It - Interlude|0:48 3
7|Must B the Music|4:07 3 - 3.75
8|Goon TV - Interlude|1:21 3.5 - 4
9|The Book of Life|4:00 3.25 - 4
10|Clash Symphony|3:24 3.5 - 4
11|Pop Life|5:16 4
12|Tennis|4:14 3
13|The Top Chefs|2:58 3 - 3.5
14|Backstage - Interlude|1:31 2.75 - 3
15|Move 'Em In, Move 'Em Out|5:07 2.25 - 3
16|Ending Credits|3:09 2 - 2.5

Overall: 54.5 - 55 3.42/5 68 - 69%: Good; detracting problems TRY IT

First Serve carries plenty of trademark De la Soul elements. It's a thorough concept record fueled by skits, the story of Jacob "Pop" Life (Posdnous) and Dean "D" Witter (Trugoy) emerging from Dean's alcoholic mom's basement to rap superstardom, culminating with a show in Paris. Without spoiling too much it's sort of a G-rated version of Prince Paul's 1999 opus A Prince Among Thieves, detailing the rise of a hip-hop group without the depressing ending. The group does go through their trials, though, with the MCs becoming annoyed over bad recording habits, fighting over women and who's the true star of the group. Admittedly the story, as with most concept hip-hop albums, can be a little hard to follow. But the group did listeners a real solid by transcribing the entire thing, from skits to choruses, in the CD's inlet. It's a gesture that's often ignored in today's digital marketplace, and definitely adds some incentive to track the disc down in stores.

First Serve is also the name of the group, which is important to note because Maseo isn't along for the ride on this one and the production is handled by a pair of Frenchmen, Chokolate and Khalid. It's been nearly a decade since the last proper De la Soul LP (2004's The Grind Date), and First Serve makes a real effort not to be taken as such despite its skit-heavy nature. More than anything First Serve is a love letter to the rap music that inspired these guys to take up microphones in the first place. Much of the beats are decidedly modern, but other than a few strays into more current production styles ("Clash Symphony", for example, is pretty vintage early-2000s battle rap) a lot of the music here nods appreciatively at groups like the Jungle Brothers along with early Tribe and De la Soul. The settings at times appears to be the late 80s or early 90s with references to Tribe's first LP and east coast/west coast beef. But there are also mentions of Pokémon and the fashions in the album artwork are decidedly current, so it's not entirely positive when this fictional group existed.

As a hip-hop album, First Serve sits upon a well-worn and potentially awkward place. On the surface it's almost addictively easy to listen to, the beats smooth and low-key and the raps equally safe to expect a base level of pleasure from. But this safeness can also work against First Serve, as even reading along with the booklet it's hard to get a sense there's much depth to the whole thing, storyline included. Pos and Trugoy rap in an almost spoken word style at times, which helps to make the constant stream of skits tying tracks together feel more connected to the tracks themselves but doesn't always make for engaging rapping. In this sense too does the album feel like a callback to the days of more simplistic, AB couplet rhyming that groups like De la Soul did an excellent job of complicating as part of the Golden Age generation. First Serve isn't a disappointing album by any means - that is, unless you make the mistake of expecting a De la Soul-quality LP from something the pair obviously made for fun - but it isn't a very remarkable one, either. The highlights of the disc are undoubtedly in the skits, particularly the intro when Dean's mom (also played by Trugoy) calls him out for taking ecstasy, but there's plenty of quality music for folks who've been waiting too long for Pos and Dave to cut new records. "Pop Life" is the tape's highest point and doesn't feel too far removed from the smoothed out jazz that informs Curren$y's Jet Life camp.

Don't expect to come away from First Serve feeling like you've heard anything surprising or new. But if you're willing to let go of your desires for a proper De la Soul album First Serve should give you plenty of stuff to enjoy for a few weeks. It's humor is classic Pos and Dave, especially when the pair nearly reach their breaking point and cut loose in a battle rap that must have been as fun for the longtime friends to record as it is to listen to. Perhaps the closest parallel to First Serve would be De la's early 2000s AOI releases - defiantly different from what one would expect from these guys, more a collection of studio exercises than an LP up to their usual standards. But it's also more like comfort food than that divisive pair was, and if any group's earned the right to release a record just because they had fun making it it's these two. Hopefully their reinvigoration leads to a new De la record soon.



~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Paraphernalia (Produced by DJ Burn One)

1|D.A.R.E.|4:27 4
2|Dope Man|4:22 4
3|L.S.D.|4:29 3.25 - 4
4|S.L.A.B.|5:55 4 - 4.5
5|M.E.M.P.H.I.S. (feat. Freddie Gibbs)|5:23 4 - 4.25
6|Training Day|3:54 4.5 - 5
7|T.H.C.|6:32 4 - 4.75
8|M.D.M.A. (feat. Rittz & EbonyLove)|4:03 2.5 - 3
9|HellaTrill AF|4:18 2.75 - 3
10|Organized Confuzion (Interlude)|3:23 2.5 - 3
11|Per Say|4:01 3
12|Key Lows|3:00 2.5 - 3
Man this sample is so damn familiar to me, just like "Organized Confuzion". I'm always mad at myself I don't have the associative brain of those dudes at Who Sampled.

Overall: 42.5 - 44 3.60/5 71 - 73%: Impressive; well above average; TRY IT

You'd think the world might have learned their lesson two years ago, or at the very least last summer - if there's a free album out there entirely produced by DJ Burn One, you're supposed to have that in your collection. There just aren't any other options on the table other than shameful ignorance. The man's quietly been building an independent empire in Atlanta and Alabama since he first burst onto the scene jumping between the Burn One and the Mick Vegas moniker, each project he latches onto turning out just as consistent and without flaws as the last. One of his best turns of 2012, on paper, is so guaranteed to succeed that when Paraphernalia sounds exactly like you'd expect it to it's almost easy to overlook it. S.L. Jones is a name that can easily slip under the radar given that he hasn't put much notable work to his name, though those most attentive to the Atlanta conscious-gangsta scene will immediately attach his name to Killer Mike's late-2000s Grind Time crew. He was the most featured player on Mike's transcendent I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind mixtape, but he slowly faded out of that mix and into the arms of Burn One, becoming a much more productive artist in the process.

His pair of 2011 tapes may have kept whatever small legion of fans Jones has confident he wasn't willing to fade away, but neither of them were very notable. And now they rightfully feel like warm-ups for the bigger picture, as Paraphernalia comes from the sort of headlining rapper S.L. Jones never threatened to become before. His delivery has become truly professional grade, two stepping from mid-tempo to double time to southern drawl with the sort of effortlessness one normally reserves for a T.I. or Big Boi. Lyrically, Jones isn't at that level, and his songwriting doesn't technically come anywhere close, but this is an underground rap album intended only to make your drive to the corner store more enjoyable, to make your walks to the barber shop more cocky, and at times to remind you it could all fall down in an instant if you aren't careful. Jones flits between the personae of drug dealer, prescient old head and cocky weed smoker with casual ease whenever it suits him, rarely if ever falling into the common hip-hop pratfall of self-repetition.

Like P. Watts and P.Dukes last summer, S.L. Jones has teamed up with DJ Burn One to drop one of the summer's easiest listens. Unlike those two, S.L. Jones has put out a pretty brief project and he does slip a little in quality towards the end, but some of that has to do with my own personal tastes. Over reliance on sung hooks and more intentionally epic production never really does it for me, even if it's pretty intriguing on first go around to hear Jones doing spoken word over post rock on "Organized Confuzion". For half an album, it's just fantastic how much these two struggle to drop a weak cut, and even more amazing that they refuse to charge for it. It's a shame that so many continue to sleep on this amazing little scene tucked into the southeast corner of the country, and slightly more so that Jones and Burn One seem stuck between two different types of albums here, but if with the extreme tone shift that occurs during and after "M.D.M.A." I'd be remiss to conclude this review with anything other than utter enthusiasm. Perhaps the strongest hip-hop EP of the year opens this project up, and one of the more solid pop rap efforts closes it out, even if it struggled to satisfy me specifically.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

deleted it after two listens

El Chapo 2 (Producer unknown unless noted)

1|El Chapo Intro|0:29 3
2|Garden|2:29 2.25 - 3
3|RazorBlade (feat. Danny Brown)|3:20 4
4|1.5 Million|2:35 4 - 4.25
5|California Dreaming|2:24 (Produced by Kon Hathaway) 3 - 3.25
6|Shame on a Nigga (feat. Mike Brown)|2:47 (Produced by the Rkitec) 3 - 3.5
Lowend! Out of nowhere! Mike Brown wants to be a weed carrier in Flipmode Squad, it seems.
7|M.O.B. (feat. P. Reala)|2:27 3 - 3.75
P. Reala probably does Yayo better than Yayo at this point.
8|Let Us Pray|2:25 3 - 3.75
9|El Chapo Skit|0:08 3
10|In My Life|2:51 3.75 - 4
This is some real early 80s funk shit here.
11|Flexin'|2:08 4
Yayo says "Justin Beaver" like that's really Bieber's name. That's real.
12|Ballin' (feat. French Montana)|3:43 (Produced by Cardiak & Chinky P) 4
"Leaches - blood thirsty opportunists!" This is Yayo's Rick Ross track, complete with MMG producers.

Overall: 41 - 42.5 3.48/5 68 - 71%: Good; detracting problems; TRY IT

Back when Yayo was known more for attempting to make songs that to fit into the Action Bronson/Danny Brown/Lil' B/Riff Raff circle of absurdity, he was also known as one of the worst rappers with a major label deal (or any deal of any kind, really). Hence the nickname, "The Most Hated". But he's embraced his goofier side of late, and while it hasn't necessarily done much for the quality of his music it's certainly made him a less self-serious, more enjoyable persona. El Chapo 2 suffers from some really poor fidelity, Superstar Jay doing his typically obnoxious hosting (seriously, anyone complaining about Atlanta DJs hasn't spent much time in the Jay Zone) and a slight lack of guests to keep Yayo from rapping himself in circles. But the production is that sort of soulful funky flavor that just about anybody can sound good rapping over as long as they bring their own character to the party, and you know if anything Yayo will at least cut a unique presence.

Of course, if you're a regular person and not some mixtape-obsessed clown like me you're probably dropping by for the Danny Brown and French Montana appearances, which don't disappoint in the slightest. It would be nice to know who produced most of these tracks, even if their goals are very obviously basic mid-90s boom bap with some leans towards the more nihilistic sounds of post- Harry Fraud and Dame Grease New York. "Yea I'm out the hood so I'm out my element, eat a model out for the hell of it." "I been at the top, the bottom feels crazy though - Lord knows I miss those Shady tours." "1.5 Million" is a crazy song, the sort of thing it takes realizing you suck at your job and no one outside your circle wants you doing it to cut. This is budget, soundcloud-sourced rap at its most raw, a former celebrity clinging to his status in a blunted haze. Of course it's fun as hell, what else could it be?

On second thought, since it's Yayo we're talking about...don't answer that.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

It's a re-release of the ep he put out a year ago but with a bunch of new songs added with the instrumentals of all the songs plus five bonus instrumental beats, it's worth it if you're a person who digs Kev Brown's sound.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"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

What more can I say, you all know who the two rappers are, both got their own sound, they know how to pick good beats, one track has a joint produced by Premier, the album is good, nuff said.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"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

album is dope. i just can't rock with Term though. Fizzy is my nicca for life!

******************************************
Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob

Dope beats with a rapper who rhymes like he's always mad but spits dope lyrics & lots of good guest appearances too.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"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

Chino XL is one of those emcees who way too lyrical for most rap music listeners but most of the time he's got something to spit about inbetween all the metaphors and punchlines; beatwise more than half of the beats on this album is decent but none are terrible, it's a pretty long album since it's a double disc but overall it's worth your money if you are into Chino's music plus he got some dope guest appearances on it too such as Big Pun (not sure if that verse is an old used one or an unreleased one but either way, he's on it).

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"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

I don't even care for mf doomy but Jneiro Jarel aka Dr. Who Dat makes some dope lo-fi beats and these joints fit mfdoomy's style very well, I wouldn't even have listened to this but a friend of mines gave me the cd and of course I popped it in the car and was bumping to it for a few days, it's well worth listening to.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"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

OhNo is basically what Madlib use to sound like when it comes to beats, not saying Madlib isn't good anymore but he went in another direction a few years ago and doesn't make that headnoddin' shit like before but OhNo is keepin' the Jackson sound around with another dope instrumental album full of 70's samples and crazy (Dolomite) vocals thru out.

Why this wasn't on the Stones Throw label is beyond me I wonder if PBW & OhNo don't get along as well as he does with Madlib, who knows.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"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

* * * * =========
* * * * =========
* * * * =========
==============
==============

Snowgoons, a trio of overseas producers who make that mean boom-bap who always got a ton of rappers with them to spit, some not so lyrical or nice but if you like hearing different rappers spit instead of one kat thru an entire album then this is for you, I enjoyed listening to it but I can't always be in an angry mood and this does just that.

They put albums every year and they even produced an entire album with MOP last year that was dope, if you never heard them before, well now is the time to peep them out.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"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

haven't heard many since.

great project
great rhymes, beats and concept
gets me in workout mode everytime
haven't seen or heard this record getting mentioned anywhere

>great project
>great rhymes, beats and concept
>gets me in workout mode everytime
>haven't seen or heard this record getting mentioned anywhere

Some type of synergy deal with an athletic apparel or workout supplement/sports drink company could have really taken the project to the next level commercially. Of course that might have gone against some of Dead Prez's core principles though.
_________________________________________
The Combat Jack Show is the best hip-hop related internet radio show
http://thecombatjackshow.com/

I put bread on your head like powdered toast man

I know a few of you OKPs don't care for Houseshoes but his album was pretty dope, at first I thought it was going to be an instrumental album but it was a compilation with some dope rappers such as Big Tone, OhNo, Black Milk, etc., can't front this album is nice, good for rotation in the whip; I really like the Roc Marciano joint too.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"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

DITC represents, this is kind of a come back for OC who hasn't has dope production like for an entire album in years, not saying some of his previous ones wasn't good but it's hard to make a dope album better than his first two which are classics but I will say that Apollo Brown came thru with the heat.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"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

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

...that O.C. is still rhyming or putting out music, I bet a year from now it will still be some so-called DITC heads that will just have found out about this album; just the other day a kat asked about the new Show & AG album and when I mentioned the album that O.C. & AG did together "Oasis", they was clueless & excited thinking it was something new.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"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

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

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

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

-

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

crowded year though, its been tough to give every release enough time...

http://i54.tinypic.com/2j51hj4.jpg

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

>

I thought pt. 1 was excellent. He did a great job of establishing himself as an artist outside of the Hiero brand.

_________________________________________
The Combat Jack Show is the best hip-hop related internet radio show
http://thecombatjackshow.com/

I put bread on your head like powdered toast man

Like Pt. 1, it's pretty short (somewhere between 35 and 40 minutes), but
it's really good. I think you hit the nail on the head with Op continuing to establish his brand outside of Hiero; it doesn't "feel" like a traditional Hiero album, but it stands on its own as a damn solid album. "Spanish Fly" is one of my favorite tracks/story raps of the year.

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

Just picked this up. Dude still spittin his ass off. This type of emceeing ain't even appreciated nowadays.

******************************************
Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

i remember bumping 2000 & Beyond back in 98/99, even going to one of their shows

i chuckled when most didn't know Joey BadA$$'s Survival tactics beats was theirs.

they got the rights to it and gave it a proper release, so while it's new material, most of it was recorded like 5 years ago... Tak to me an all-time slept-on mc... Ryu is dope as hell too

my fave track on joey's mixtape, damn I was embarrassed to ask cause I knew it was a track I should know... been buggin me for a minute now

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

This is a great album...

***************************************


xbox gamertag: Winladen
PSN: Winladen

it sounds like.


Had he trimmed a little fat it would be UP there on the list for me.

This was my first introduction to him, not sure how to describe his flow...but dude really is an incredible lyricist/writer.


good call on this

listened to ti a few times, liked it, never returned to it

Word up. Good to see some of OKP fucking with the homies. It's weird because when woods was in SCFB they got some attention on here but History didn't seem to connect to folks on here. Kinda surprising but then again maybe not, it's a lot darker, angrier and more abrasive than the Flight Brothers records.


I also think it's a lot better but those are my people, I'm biased.

I'm from the lost black tribe of Israel, the Yos

http://coolehmag.com/frontEnd/

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

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

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

http://www.djbooth.net/index/albums/review/jeremih-late-nights-tape

When it dropped. Co sign

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Don't see it talked about in too many places so I guess it counts as underrated. Does get a bit corny at times but considering how corny mainstream hip hop has gotten anything less is a step up in my mind http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPksHurSNHg

I guess you could consider it the next stage of chillwave but I doubt anyone would want to be attached to a dying trend (As much as I enjoy most of those bands). Very similar to Com Truise but still not as lo-fi sounding, didn't hear anything about this album (EP?) but listened to it a lot when I first got it. This song at first thought was the new gorillaz or DA project http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hNZ-GMg8C8

thanks

I didn't know it was rereleased, just found it on a blog earlier this year and loved it but didn't check too much into. Thanks

BigReg's song of 2012 (in the other post) came out in 2010 also: https://soundcloud.com/zebrakatz/ima-read (still a great choice)

pretty much the nicest rap release all year. especially from a production standpoint. not really slept on cause it got its due and dom is gettin alot of exposure but i've never seen anyone here mention it.

taste

but Yellow Album, particularly "Don't Call Me", did inspire me to give Dom a write-up for PopMatter's "High Hopes in 2013" feature. Not sure if it'll pop before January or not but between his Youtube views and me coming around on his stuff as front to back listens with Yellow Album, I think 2013 could be a really big year for him.


I'm definitely shocked "Don't Call Me" wasn't huge.



~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Some really dope shit out of Minneapolis. Truth Be Told sounds good on the mic and Big Cats has been killing the beats this year. And it's free to download.

https://soundcloud.com/the-tribe

http://www.hulkshare.com/scappcatmvwg

Spotify link:
http://open.spotify.com/album/4Rc3wOCoh4jpWkNzum6dDA

Also, Poor Moon's EP and LP:
Illusion EP:
http://open.spotify.com/album/4YlnXNGglPfhEHHaylULvN

LP:
http://open.spotify.com/album/36DJp43u5kLJqLPEzaLPYI

~Austin

http://austintayeshus.blogspot.com
http://www.last.fm/user/Austintayeshus
http://twitter.com/Austintayeshus

hadn't heard of her...exactly what I was looking for right now. thanks

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

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

the beats are nasty on here and Term can get repetitive at times but he comes correct on this and is balanced out well by Fame, who as usual, is spittin! "fizzyology" "it's easy" "The greatest" "after midnight" "too tough for tv" "not by you" the Premier joint with Styles and Busta, this is a really really good album

On the real .. its better than 80% of the albums listed in this post.

Of all places I hope the lesson ain't sleep on this one.

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