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.

Music Video: Busta Rhymes, Respect My Conglomerate [ft. Jadakiss & Lil' Wayne]

05.03.09

Song: Respect My Conglomerate [ft. Jadakiss & Lil' Wayne]
Artist: Busta Rhymes
Album: Back on My B.S.
Label: Universal
Producer: Focus
Notes: 3rd single from LP
Analysis: When this song first leaked in the beginning of the year, it featured Young Jeezy rather than Lil’ Wayne, and I pointed out how it was actually one of the few times that I’ve enjoyed one of his verses. Of course, there have been so many changes to Back on My B.S. that I don’t know where the real material starts and the throwaways end. I can’t see this album having any sort of cohesiveness to it, as it’s been fucked with from every possible direction since it’s inception. But at least it will be a good collection of songs, and ‘Respect My Conglomerate’ is one of them. Weezy’s added verse is pretty nice, too (‘hip hop is a bitch and I’m proud of this girl‘). For the video, Busta calls in some favors and gets a few familiar faces in his conglomerate – I see Xzibit, Raekwon, Tyrese, and Idris Elba (The Wire’s Stringer Bell) all chilling at the table. One of these days, the album will actually come out.

Music Video: Lil Wayne, Prom Queen

03.04.09

Song: Prom Queen
Artist: Lil Wayne
Album: Rebirth
Label: Cash Money / Universal Records
Notes: first single from LP
Analysis: Can’t really say that this song has grown on me since it first debuted back in January. It still pretty much sucks, and the video doesn’t enhance the song at all. Wayne has a new crimped braid hairstyle, though, so there’s that. And I believe that’s Jonathan Davis from KoRn on drums? I still haven’t wrapped my head around why Weezy wants to create mediocre pop rock when he has the capability to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Years after this Rebirth record comes out, it is going to be a punchline in plenty of “remember the 00’s” jokes, and either nobody has the nuts to tell him it’s a bad idea, or he just doesn’t give two fucks. But hell, he’s still got people talking…

The New Classics Mixtape [February 2009]: Download

Ain’t dead yet…
Hit the jump for the tracklist, download link, and information on the future of the site:

The New Classics Mixtape [January 2009]: Download

It’s been a good month. Tracklisting here, download after the jump.

New Music: Q-Tip, Renaissance Rap (Remix) [ft. Busta Rhymes, Raekwon & Lil Wayne]

01.29.09

Song: Renaissance Rap (Remix) [ft. Busta Rhymes, Raekwon & Lil Wayne]
Artist: Q-Tip
Album: The Renaissance*
Label: Universal Motown
Producer: Q-Tip
Notes: *not actually on album
Analysis: I’ve already talked about my undisputed love for The Renaissance, so it should come as no surprise that I am declaring ‘Renaissance Rap (Remix)’ as the best hip hop song of the month. You should already know what the beat sounds like, but if you’re still sleeping on that album, I will fill you in.

New Music: Lil Wayne, Hot Revolver

01.28.09

Song: Hot Revolver
Artist: Lil Wayne
Album: Rebirth
Label: Cash Money / Universal Records
Notes: none
Analysis: After releasing his new, very mediocre single ‘Prom Queen’ earlier in the week, this track appears and proves that Lil’ Wayne is about as “rock” as Kelly Clarkson is.

New Music: Lil Wayne, Prom Queen

01.25.09

Song: Prom Queen
Artist: Lil Wayne
Album: Rebirth
Label: Cash Money / Universal Records
Notes: 1st single from Wayne’s first “rock” album
Analysis: From the minute it was announced that Lil Wayne was coming out with a “rock” album, I called bullshit. That guy is so drowned out on codeine everytime he’s on camera that I brushed off that project to the same “yeah right” status as his joint albums (coming soon!) with T-Pain, and Juelz Santana, and re-releasing Carter 3 with all new tracks (which makes absolutely no sense anyway). But now here we are on January 25th, and Wayne’s first single from this so-called rock album has leaked, and the album is given a release date. In determining if this song is any good, I’ve raised a few questions: 1) is Wayne really using live instrumentation?, 2) Can a song really be “rock” while using autotuner? 3) is this really necessary?

New Music: Lil Wayne, Yes [ft. Pharrell]

01.10.09

Song: Yes [ft. Pharrell]
Artist: Lil Wayne
Album: The Hottest Nigga Under the Sun (mixtape)
Label: Cash Money / Universal Records
Producer: unknown
Notes: none
Analysis: I really hate posting songs to projects that don’t even exist yet, but I have to make an exception for this song because it features two of my favorite hit-or-miss artists of all time.

Best Music for the week of 01.01.09-01.08.09

01.08.09

Sort of a disappointing first week of music for the new year, but there are a few standouts. Eminem & 50 Cent were the biggest but not necessarily the best releases, having both returned to the front and center with new singles. Lil Wayne only put out three songs in the last seven days, and there are a few new artists who are starting to impress. On the rock side of things, there’s only been 2 songs unfortunately, but quality rock music comes out at a slower pace than hip hop anyway. I have a review for Animal Collective coming this weekend, and hopefully that will bring up the rock quota of these lists a bit. Week 1 is complete, and after the jump is the best album, top 5 songs, and worst song for the week of January 1st – January 8th, 2009.