I have been a fan of hip-hop since walkmans hit the shelf. I bought my first cassette tape in the 90's. I'd like to lie and say that that tape was "rap traxx 1" , which was actually the second tape I ever bought- but I'm not here to tell lies, I'm here to tell it like it is. That first tape I bought was the ninja turtles soundtrack. Yup, I'm an 80's baby. Soon after, I evolved and so did my weapon of choice. I moved from those foamy headphones to portable plug-in speakers and I was THE coolest kid on my school bus, okay? From there I slowly graduated to the one-speaker portable stereo (yes, the flat 1970's model casette-recorder kind) and as I became older, the models grew more expensive and costly on batteries.
Almost two decades later, I still carry a boombox. I am still a hip-hop fan.I pride myself on knowing about what's good and what's the latest hot shit. Ego, bravado and bragging rights aside, I have been asked to do a column on this subject for a friend's magazine. I am flattered he would pick me- I could think of plently of other local music fans in our circle of friends that are capable of writing a healthy and wholesome piece.
Without further ado, I present the No- *Ahem
Movember hat trick.
1)Mac Miller-Blue Slide Park-2011
Billboard Stats:
As forecasted, indie rapper Mac Miller's first album, "Blue Slide Park," debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 144,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.
While it didn't shift as much as some industry sources had expected (180,000 was the optimistic projection), he still can lay claim to a pretty cool chart feat: "Blue Slide Park" is the first independently-distributed debut album by an act to hit No. 1 since 1995.
Let's be honest. I've never thought this kid was capable of taking the charts by storm simply by being the default white kid rapper after Asher Roth decided to put his mic down for a minute.(Having Copywrite tear you a new asshole has got to be the last thing you want right before you take a seat. But Asher while you're having one, eat your heart out.) I'll also be incredibly frank about my first impression of this kid and his "Donald Trump" Video. I wasn't thoroughly impressed with the song or the video, but of course anyone can relate to the come up. He might be writing from the success side of the coin, but we can't hate on that. I give the video 4/10 simply because the content wasn't that deep. If you're the kind of person that prefers a rapper who puts down a laid back party track this artist might be for you.
Back to the topic at hand, the new LP from Mac Miller,Blue Slide Park. It starts out with "english Lane" a synthesizer based beat full of percussion and mellow vibes. Miller raps a small few sentences and the LP's intro is born.
Next "Blue Slide Park" comes out the box on another fairly loose knit beat with a nice kick and snare. "Young and actin' out, the topics that I rap about Be varying from politics to bitches pullin' asses out" Miller raps.
"party on fifth ave" flips a familiar horn loop from an old school classic, I won't ruin it for you, but I guarantee you will recognize it. This track is decent.
"Pa Nights" has more of a moving feeling to it,some organ keys and moog bass with an 80's style synth keys in the chorus. This track is digestable; similar topics are recycled, although it doesn't get boring before it ends.
"Frick Park Market" must be the best track yet, he had me with the Grimy synths off the jump. Whoever made these beats is a VSTi Genius, evidently."Anything you need you can find it at the market" is spit as a chorus, while miller flips a simple rap about his style, and how he's developing. Always taking a moment to yak at any possible haters.
"Smile Back" Is more of a militant, 808- fueled dirty south classic more than anything I've heard outta PA, but It's clearly got the potential to be a banger. Unfortunately, Miller kinda comes mediocre on this one. Maybe the beat doesn't match his style as much? Plus any song with a chorus that starts off with "I just be like fuck you" can't be anything intelligent in the first place.
"Under the Weather" Is more of a down tempo beat where miller reassures himself it's "All gonna be OK" sometimes rappers write to themselves, we understand that. But he's able to switch viewpoints and rap to us as well which is cool. It adds to the real feeling.I like this track.
"Of The Soul" is a piano riff and aura ambient based dreamy track. He drops some knowledge and a little personality with on you on the this one. If you're lucky you might get to know this guy before his LP ends. "Work four bars tighter than your cornrows/See girl that's lookin' horny in the fourth row? I just put it in her mouth/ Ortho." So I guess there's room for a little humor as well.
"My team" is another snare and synth heavy beat, uptempo and edgy, Miller spits some mildly annoying raps over this one, by his point his voice is getting annoying.
He sounds like he's talking when he's rapping, but when he's yelling he sounds like a pre-pubescent teen. If I was In my ride,(And I never am, cuz I don't own one) I would skip this track.
Beats: 6/10
Rhymes:5/10
Production:8/10
Overall Feeling:Meh
Would You buy this album?:No.
Top Rap/Hip Hop Billboard Rating:#1
TRY B4 U BUY LINK: Click HERE
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Tech N9ne Collabos:Welcome to strangeland LP
I haven't been this stoked about one single Tech N9ne release since "Killer" came out. This Compilation comes off like an album, There's alot of Tech Presence in comparison to the other Tech N9ne collabos releases.( The gates mixed plate, misery loves kompany and Bad Season ,respectively.) "Stars" has Tech exclaiming that they have "landed" a starry metaphor for his new found Top of the chart rap presence. This track is catchy and quick paced ; I think I enjoyed it for what it was.
"Welcome to Strangeland" gets an intro from Tech and goes straight into a verse by Krizz Kaliko. He's a competent, and poignant emcee with incredible rhythm and delivery. Some Bee synths and a clap-snare that'll cut you back to the white meat, this track is a certified banger. Tech has a knack for riding that fine line of crazy yet organized sound-That style definitely shines through here.
"Unfair" comes off as maybe the LP's strongest track, although it has it's own downfalls:five minutes to this beat seems more like seven. Or ten. The Chorus is dope, It just gets old quick. The track sees some appearances, from. Krizz Kaliko, Ubiquitous and Godemis. (We recently saw an appearance from them on one of tech's tracks from his 6's and 7's LP. These guys are aggressive with wordplay and delivery, I can see why Tech picked them for more than one feature (recently).The verses heavily outweigh the semi annoying chorus and this track makes it to the finishing round.;
"Kocky" Sees features from Kutt Kalhoun and (fairly) newly signed up and comer Jay-Rock. It's got some certified orchestral sounds and heavy percussion, nice and snappy for a Car or club tune.Rock this at the sideshow. Rock this after you get out the club, or before you get there. Kutt's verse is clever as hell and I like it more than Jay-Rock's, but I can't hate on a man cuz I don't feel his style that much. Tech comes through to sew any rips in the audio fabric, and knits us another Gangster ass classic.
"Who Do I Catch" Is probably the deepest of songs on this release, I say this with confidence: How many other rappers have asked this question in this way? OVERALL GOOD SUBJECT MATTER! It's not only ripping any emcee who goes against or talks about Tech; he asks his fans who does he "catch" now? Does he switch genres Mix Them? Where does he go from here? He discusses some personal issues on this one too.
(Did he say he caught a permanent STD?)
.Maybe a little too deep ; no pun intended -but he drops some questionable lyrics about "catching gays before they all caught Aids" .I'm sure there's some Tech fan out there that's gonna catch feelings over that even if it's not me.
"My Favorite" Boasts a heavy kick drum and an annoying arpeggiated sound of some sort. ""Yes I love it, that's my Favritt"screams the chorus. /Prozak goes in with his flow on this one, but again I'm hardly impressed with his lyrics.Another white rapper that doesnt think he needs to stand out to be famous.All the power to him, but you'll never get rich from rap.This song really gets a facelift from none other than Brotha Lynch Hung, who has been on Strange Music for a grip now. His lyrics are more full of humor than baby guts this time around- and for that Brother Lynch, we thank you.
If "Who Do I Catch Now" Is the deepest track on this LP, "Retrogression" might serve as the most revolutionary and meaningful.He talks about the struggle / plight how if we give up now/retrogress "they'll rid us all" . I don't know if Tech was speaking to any particular group of people; he does touch on multiple issues on this one. I don't want to disect his every lyric and give my viepoint on them specifically.The overall vibe of this song is empowering.Tech Raps "If you feel like not taking that bigger fall, then with all respect, If we Retrogress/ they'll rid us all."
"Bang Out" is a self explanitory booty shaker and Punani pleaser.
"Beautiful Music" Is also directed at the opposite sex from what I can tell, Tech directs his attention to the groupies for a minute letting them all know he loves em for what they do for him, but he doesnt have a minute for anyone...especially the jealous ones. The Chorus sings "I can paint a beautiful picture, but you don't wanna look into it" I think this is a metaphor for tech telling those groupoes what they wanna hear even though they know it's lies.
"I can make beautiful music witcha but you wont wanna listen to it".HMPH.
"Won't you come dirty" Is another sexually driven tack, explicit? Definitely.
Descriptive? Absolutely. Simple chorus, I could see this knocking in a strip club.
"Sad Circus" Strangely (again, no pun intended) reminds me of "strange music box" from KOD. It's completely different, maybe just the Brotha Lynch feature that makes me connect those dots. There's a female R&B chorus, which is odd and unusual for Tech. Let errybody eat!
"The Noose" Is a depressing jingle with touching lyrics, you have to hear this yourself to understand what I mean.Sometimes Tech does that emo shit with such realness he's on par with Grieves, Murs and Eminem. Never thought I'd say that! This mayday cat is not terrible- it's tolerable. He sounds alot like a Canadian emcee named Nolto. If you're at a party, skip this track.
Beats: 8/10
Rhymes:8/10
Production:9/10
Overall Feeling:Geeked
Would You buy this album?:Yes!
Top Rap/Hip Hop Billboard Rating:#3
TRY B4 U BUY LINK: Click HERE
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This Month's Mixtape:
Don Cannon/Mike Posner-The Layover
What can be said about this cat is he's thinking outside the box. More than I can say for half the artists with a mix tape on Datpiff these days. (Let's be honest, the mix tape game has cornered a few of rap's best artists, leaked their music and played out entire albums before the first month of sales is over.Now you have a hundred White label Mix tapes, or Watch the throne, or the rainbow album...Ahem* anyways...
I also noticed I was listening to singing and not rapping and for once I didnt really mind it. He's not trying to hit ultra high notes, baritone lows or sing out of his range. The man keeps it manageable and It sounds GREAT to hear something that isn't manipulated with auto-tune.
I noticed more than one recycled classic or soft rock lyric amongst the choruses, namely an Elton John song for one; Rocket Man. Strangely, It works. I can see these songs becoming part of Dubstep Mashup remixes in a matter of a week or two, but this shit will get noticed before it becomes boring or monotonous.
Giving this mixtape a really high rating would make it hard for the rest of y'all out there trying to grind but maybe y'all need a kick in hte ass anyhow if I'm just as happy listening to R&B as I am rap. (Did I just say that?)
Henny & Purple just gets you goin' ....This track is great. Just listen to it and burn one, tell me I aint right about it. The Mixtape sees plenty of appearnaces and features, Cyhi da Prynce,Elzhi,Bun B, Slim Thug and more.
I suggest logging into Datpiff and downloading this mixtape right now.
Beats: 9/10
Lyrics:7/10
Production:7/10
Overall Feeling:Smoked Out & Chillin' !
Would You buy this mixtape? : Yes!
Top Rap/Hip Hop Billboard Rating: n/a
TRY B4 U BUY LINK: Click HERE
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