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.

The New Classics Mixtape [March 2009]: Download

03.31.09

No artwork for this month’s tape, at least not yet. My time’s been real limited lately, but I managed to whip up a new Mixtape for whoever would like it. A few artists appear twice this go-round, but everything’s (2) legit + quality shit. This tape is also special because it features several tracks that haven’t even been reviewed yet here at The New Classics. Trust me when I say that this is the best mixtape so far from the site. Best 20 songs released in the month of March in the year of Two Thousand and Nine, in no particular order besides a transitional one:

Download> The.New.Classics.MiXTAPE_march.2009_

New Music: D-Block, Get That Paper

03.15.09

Song: Get That Paper [ft. S.I.]
Artist: D-Block
Album: Prepare for Glory
Label: Interscope
Producer: unknown
Notes: none
Analysis: It’s been 9 years since we’ve had a L.O.X. group album now. Since then, Jadakiss, Styles P, and Sheek Louch have expanded and become D-Block, adding a few new members. But none of the new cats are featured here on ‘Get That Paper’, which feels like vintage Bad Boy-era L.O.X.

Mixtape Review / Download: Termanology, If Heaven Was a Mile Away (A Tribute to J Dilla)

01.01.09

I was skeptical at first of the intentions of this mixtape. I am quite sure that Termanology & late producer J Dilla (who passed in 2006) have never previously collaborated. Neither of them share any song credits to my knowledge, and at first I was afraid that the relatively-new MC was somehow capitalizing on the trend of saluting Dilla, who has become more known in death than he was in life. In 2007, Busta Rhymes also released a free mixtape called Dilla-gence, providing new vocals over unreleased Dilla beats, but they had been frequent collaborators throughout their careers. How can someone give a tribute to another person who they’ve never even known? If heaven was a mile away, would J Dilla even know who Termanology was? Then I remembered how good an album Termanology’s Politics as Usual was this past year. And I remembered how Term is one of the nicest upcoming artists in the hip hop world, and how his raw, energetic style is remeniscent of early New York rap that we’ve been badly missing for years now. So I started looking at this mixtape in a different light. Term is simply just a fan.