New Music: Clipse, Popular Demand (Popeye’s) [ft. Cam'ron]

10.25.09

Song: Popular Demand (Popeye’s) [ft. Cam'ron]
Artist: Clipse
Album: Till the Casket Drops
Producer: The Neptunes
Label: Columbia Records
Notes: none
Analysis: Cult followings in hip hop don’t get much bigger than that of both Clipse and Cam’ron. Neither act has had a mainstream hit in years, but both have fans hungry for new material constantly. In Clipse’s case, most of the material they put out is worthwhile, but with Cam’ron, for every ‘Dead or Alive‘ there is an absurd track like ‘IBS‘ (which  happens to be about his irritable bowel syndrome). Thankfully, on the drowsy piano-laced banger ‘Popular Demand (Popeye’s)’, Malice, Pusha T and Cam’ron stick with what they’re all best at – shit talking, bragging and drug raps:

New Music / Music Video: Snoop Dogg, Gangsta Luv [ft. The-Dream]

10.23.09

Song: Gangsta Luv [ft. The-Dream]
Artist: Snoop Dogg
Album: Malice in Wonderland
Producer: The-Dream
Label: Priority Records
Notes: 1st single from LP
Analysis: Snoop decided to play it a little bit safer with his latest lead single. Unlike the stripped-out classic ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’, or the auto-tuned disco-flaired weirdness of ‘Sexual Eruption’, ‘Gangsta Luv’ is a more straightforward pop rap dance track.

New Music: Big Boi, Shine Blockas [ft. Gucci Mane]

10.22.09

Song: Shine Blockas [ft. Gucci Mane]
Artist: Big Boi
Album: Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Producer: unknown
Label: Def Jam Records
Notes: none
Analysis: When you’re using a sample better than Jay-Z, you have to be doing something right, regardless of how many times your album is pushed back. ‘Shine Blockas’ rocks a soulful ‘I Miss You Baby’ sample by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes once used in the Kanye West-produced ‘This Can’t Be Life’ on Jay-Z’s Dynasty album. Where Jay (along with guests Beanie Sigel & Scarface) spat about the problems of their worlds, Big Boi takes a different turn by going in about those darn haters that always sound like such jerks.

New Music: Gucci Mane, Spotlight [ft. Usher]

10.21.09

Song: Spotlight [ft. Usher]
Artist: Gucci Mane
Album: The State vs. Radric Davis
Label: So Icey / Warner Bros. Records
Producer: Polow da Don
Notes: 2nd single from LP
Analysis: Mark my words, you will be hearing this one everywhere for the rest of 2009. Convicted criminal and gutter-flowed mixtape rapper Gucci Mane is likely to hold a Top 40 spot next to Miley Cyrus with this song, and deservedly so. This track drips of the spilled Heineken Lights of women flocking to the dance floor to get busy to their new favorite song.

New Music: Torae & Marco Polo, Hold Up [ft. Masta Ace & Sean Price]

05.22.09

Song: Hold Up [ft. Masta Ace & Sean Price]
Artist: Torae & Marco Polo
Label: Duck Down Records
Producer: Marco Polo
Notes: none
Analysis: The first two leaks from Torae & Marco Polo’s upcoming Double Barrel album were pretty good, but ‘Hold Up’ is fucking great.

Music Video: D-Block, Get That Paper

05.21.09

Song: Get That Paper [ft. S.I.]
Artist: D-Block
Album: No Security
Label: Def Jam
Producer: unknown
Notes: 1st single from LP
Analysis: ‘Get That Paper’ is actually more a LOX song than a D-Block song, but all D-Block is is the LOX with some excess rappers, and I’d rather hear a LOX song anyway. This is one of my favorite hip hop tracks of the spring and the video’s actually not your run of the mill rap video, although all the elements are there. Instead, it’s Jada, Styles P and Sheek Louch (and a Kid Capri cameo) throwing a party to raise funds to not get evicted. It’s even shot kind of hazy to fit with the flow of the song, and I’m digging Styles’ throwback Charlotte Hornets hat on an unrelated note. This song is still on repeat for me though, which is a good sign for the new album.

Album Review: Eminem, Relapse

05.17.09

So here’s what you probably already know by now: Eminem still hates celebrities, still raps about killing and raping women, still uses that silly voice that he used on the song dedicated to dissing a hand puppet, and has become a lesser version of himself from nine years ago. But his relevancy has dropped considerably over the years and so has his ability to stay in touch with what the fans want to hear. Sure, in 1999 we had never heard someone so vocal in their lyrics about how cheesy American pop music was. Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, N Sync all got taken down a peg or two, and at the time it was a relief to hear someone stand up against that crap. Now that it’s 2009, all we see is ridicule of our pop stars and celebrities all over the tv, papers and internet. We don’t need Eminem to join in anymore and put his two cents in about these stale topics – it’s already taken care of everywhere else. We also don’t need a grown man (almost 40 now) rapping in character of a psychopathic murderer/rapist with a voice that sounds like Conan O’Brien’s evil villain impression. What we do need is a fired-up, aggressive and lyrically dominant Eminem – a ‘The Way I Am’/'Soldier’/'Lose Yourself’ Eminem. We need a heartfelt, thoughtful, smart ‘When I’m Gone’/'Stan’/'Like Toy Soldiers’ Eminem. Neither of those sides of Marshall Mathers show up for very long on Relapse, but I think I’ve figured out why.

Album Review: Busta Rhymes, Back on My B.S.

05.16.09

Coming off of the most complete album of his career in 2006, Busta Rhymes has experienced plenty of label fuckery: Back on My B.S. has gone through 2 years worth of pushbacks, 2 different label deals, 3 different “lead” singles, and several name changes. Regardless of all of this, Busta has remained optimistic, and has consistantly been releasing new music to the internet as possible tastes of the new album. Unfortunately, the best of those tastes are nowhere near the finished product.

New Music: Mr Hudson, Supernova [ft. Kanye West]

05.15.09

Song: Supernova [ft. Kanye West]
Artist: Mr Hudson
Album: Straight No Chaser
Label: GOOD Music
Producer: Mr Hudson
Notes: 2nd single from LP
Analysis: The industrial-sounding ‘Supernova’ is more like a Gary Numan song than something you would expect Kanye West to feature on.

Music Video: Mos Def, Casa Bey

05.14.09

Song: Casa Bey
Artist: Mos Def
Album: The Ecstatic
Label: Downtown Records
Producer: unknown
Notes: 1st single from LP
Analysis: Unique video here, it’s a close-up shot of Mos’ mouth rhyming, until eventually the screen literally becomes flooded with his words. Not the energized, electric video I was hoping for but the song’s too nice to gripe about.