Get To Know H.E.R.

If you haven’t heard by now, Mick Boogie and Terry Urban have been hard at work for the past week or so on mixing some of Jay’z vocals over the great instrumentals of Coldplay, with the help of a legion of up and coming producers including 6th Sense and Remot. This just dropped as a free download this morning, so make your way over to the site when you can and give it a listen. I’m going through it right now, and I have to say it’s pretty dope. The complete tracklisting is as such.

1) Intro (produced by Mick Boogie & Terry Urban)
2) Public Speeding (produced by Cookin’ Soul)
3) Know My Place (produced by The Amps)
4) Never Changing (produced by nVMe)
5) Miss Trouble (produced by Judah)
6) Back At My Place (produced by Remot)
7) No Love Coming Home (produced by The Kickdrums)
Lost Part 1 (produced by Coldplay)
9) A Spy’s Prayer (produced by nVMe)
10) Science Is Ignorant (produced by Gooch)
11) The Reverse Fix (produced by Mick Boogie & nVMe)
12) Hola Blanco (produced by Garbs Infinite)
13) Take The Hill (produced by nVMe)
14) Lost Part 2 (remixed by Mick Boogie)
15) Cold Success (produced by 9th Wonder)
16) What If We Cry? (produced by Remot)
17) Beach Chair (produced by Coldplay)
18) Falling In Shadows (produced by 6th Sense)
19) Life of Clocks (produced by Terry Urban)
20) X-Y-Z (produced by Hasan Insane)

As the election draws closer and closer, you knew this was bound to happen. I haven’t had the chance to give this a peep yet, but from the tracklisting, it shouldn’t be bad. Just a heads up though, the whole thing is formatted as a single mp3, so you’ll have to cut it yourself if you want individual tracks.

1. Intro
2. David Banner,Busta Rhymes,Talib Kweli “Black President” Rmx pt1 *
3. Barack Obama “Stand Up”*
4. Nas Speaks on Politics
5. Styles P and Cassidy “Make It Out”*
6. Jay-Z Speaks “The American Dream”
7. Barack Obama “One Mic, One People”
8. Russell Simmons Speaks on Obama
9. Joe Budden,Twista,John Mayer “Waiting on the World to Change 2008″
10. Angie Martinez “Yes We Need A Mixtape!!”
11. Kanye West,Malik Yusef “Promised land
12. Wale,Rhymefest,Christina K, Royce 529 “Black President” RMX Pt2*
13. Barack Obama “My Life”*
14. Jay-z “Lick a Shot”*
15. Russell Simmons on Change
16. Wyclef “Obama for President”
17. Charles Hamilton “The Moment”
18. Find ur Dreams (interlude) *
19. George Bush’s Highlight Reel
20. Mikkey Halsted “King George” *
21. Obama on Hip-Hop
22. Joel Ortiz feat Dante Hawkins “Letter To Obama” *
23. Akon , U.M. “Aint No Sunshine” *
24. Qadir, Dwayne (Invasion) “Its My Time
25. Johnny Polygon (Invasion),Amanda Diva “Colorblind” *
26. Mavado “We Need Barack” *
27. Jay-Z / Gabe Real “What We Need” (Speech)
28. Qadir “Yes We Can” Outro

http://www.sendspace.com/file/laa2r9

Hip hop purists should already be familiar with El Da Sensei. He along with Tame One made up the New Jersey duo, The Artifacts, whose often graffiti centered rhymes got them a place in the hearts of the underground. Although the El and Tame no longer drop albums as a group, they still give us some dope solo joints from time to time. On El Da Sensei’s latest effort, he teamed up with a Polish production crew, The Returners. The Returners consist of DJ Chiwal and Little, and to be honest this is the first time I’ve ever heard of them. I understand that this is supposed to be just an EP, and that a full length release is in the making. I don’t usually review EPs but since this release is about as long as a full length release used to be back in the days, I thought, o…why the hell not. Also, since this is hard to find as a non imported item, I have no qualms with providing a link to the album.

Hits aka Why You Should Care:

1. El Da Sensei sounds a lot more on top of the game then his old partner Tame One did on his 2008 release, Da Ol Jersey Bastard. I don’t remember El Da Sensei to be this good in his previous solo efforts; I may have to dig those up and give them another listen.

2. The Returners are dope as fuck! Their beats are heavily jazz laced and still retain that hard hip hop sound. I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve really liked a strictly instrumental introduction in a long time. Look out for these guys in the future.

3. Going along with the beats, the hooks are for the most part scratch based. The vocal samples are taken from various sources, the two sticking out the most right now being Jay-Z and Big L.

4. Guests are kept to a minimum and are on point. The Outro has some unnamed rapper rapping in what I assume is Polish. There’s no way I can understand his lyrics but I can see that dude can ride a beat pretty nicely.

5. Dope tracks: Global Takeover, Introducin’, Hard To Find, Aight Then, Got Fire (ft Doujah Raze), Life It Is, Money (ft Reef The Lost Cause and Roc Marciano), And You Know, Outro…It’s Only The Beginning

Strikes aka Why You Should Be Wary:

I can’t find anything I don’t like about this release, other than it’s too short.

Balls aka Whatever Floats Your Boat:

These tracks are more or less solid: Super Fly Jazzy J, It’s Not That Way

Final Thoughts:

This may be one of the top hip hop releases I’ve heard all year. El Da Sensei behind a good solid production team = quality hip hop. It’s really a damn shame that this was just an EP and I’m definitely looking forward to the full length. Check it out. Actually, since I’m even providing the link, you have no excuse. Trust me, it’ll be worth your time.

http://rapidshare.com/files/153466220/Oct12.rar.html

Termanology is without a doubt the Saigon, the Papoose, the Tru Life, of 2008. He’s a slightly above average rapper who nevertheless is hyped up to unreasonable levels, usually on the strength of some single off his mixtape. The difference between Term and the rest of them however, is that his album actually got to see the light of day. And believe it or not, the Boston native actually managed to bring even more hype to his album by getting a line up of super producers that shits on any production team on any album this year, to provide the beats. How this happened, I don’t know. I do know that this album has a LOT to live up to.

Hits aka Why You Should Care:

1. For the most part I would say that the production held as best to expectations as was humanly possible. There were a couple of disappointments (ie. Hi Tek) and a couple of surprises (Havoc having a better beat than Pete Rock).

2. Good looks on including Watch How It Go Down and So Amazing. Forget that they’ve been out forever now. I would’ve been mad if they weren’t on here.

3. Guest spots are on point, although Bun B shitted on everyone.

4. Great tracks: Watch How It Go Down, Respect My Walk, Hood Shit (ft Prodigy), How We Rock (ft Bun B), Drugs Crimes and Gorillaz (ft Sheek Louch and Freeway), So Amazing, Sorry I Lied To You (eh, just maybe), We Killin Ourselves, The Chosen

Strikes aka Why You Should Be Wary:

1. It’s Time isn’t bad but to use Easy Mo Bee only on an intro? You fucked up.

2. Skip this: Please Don’t Go

Balls aka Whatever Floats Your Boat:

1. For all his bragging, Term really isn’t the best new rapper around. Not to say that he’s bad though. He has a good foundation and if he stops name dropping like a little bitch, he has potential to be that underground hero he wants to be. This time around, he’s good enough to hold your attention but I’m expecting him to step his game up next time, especially over this kind of production.

2. Solid: It’s Time, Float, In The Streets (ft Lil Fame)

Final Thoughts:

In the end, I feel that this album may have been better with another, more talented rapper in need of such production (ie. Royce Da 5′9”), but considering it’s his debut, Term gets the job done. It’s enjoyable, and if he’s lucky, this may just crack my top 20, even if it has no hope of making my top 10. However, if you wanna check out a better release from a Beantown rapper, don’t sleep on Reks’ Grey Hairs.

O and after I finish up a couple more 2008 album reviews, I’ll start reviews on some dope, under the radar releases from the past couple of years and I’ll restart uploading random mixtapes here and there as well.

A couple of weeks ago I put up a free Black Milk mixtape, Music From The Color Purple for all ya’ll enjoyment. Now Black Milk has put out another free mixtape, the ELEC mixtape, which can be downloaded from this link.

http://cdn.hiphopdx.com/audio/downloads/blackmilk-elec-2008.zip

Tracklisting is as follows

1. Fat Ray & Black Milk - Take Control

2. Black Milk - Give the Drummer Sum

3. Caltroit - Go Hard (feat. Ras Kass & Royce Da 5′9″)

4. Elzhi - Motown 25 (feat. Royce Da 5′9″)

5. Elzhi - D.E.M.O.N.S.

6. Caltroit - Goatit (feat. Elzhi & Bishop Lamont)

7. Black Milk - Dub Rock

8. Fat Ray & Black Milk - Nothing to Hide

9. Jake One - I’m Comin (feat. Black Milk & Nottz)

10. Dabrye - Special (Black Milk Remix, feat. Guilty Simpson)

11. T3 - Yawl (feat. Elzhi)

12. Caltroit - Mouth Music (feat. Guilty Simpson)

13. Slum Village- Call Me (feat. Dwele)

14. Pharoahe Monch - Bar Tap

15. Young RJ - Welcome to the District (feat. Black Milk)

16. Black Milk - The Matrix (feat. DJ Premier, Pharoahe Monch, & Sean Price)

17. Slum Village - Bootleggin

18. Genius / GZA - 7 Pounds

19. Caltroit - Bang that Shit Out (feat. Bishop Lamont & DJ Rhetttmatic)

20. Guilty Simpson - My Moment

21. Marv Won - Talk About

22. Caltroit - Everything (feat. Kardinal Offishall)

23. Fat Ray & Black Milk - Get Focus (feat. Phat Kat)

24. Fat Ray & Black Milk - When it Goes Down

25. Caltroit - Inconvenient Truth

Look out for Tronic, dropping October 28th.

It’s the review all ya’ll have been waiting for. Everyone’s favorite underground rapper has finally dropped his major label debut. Earlier in the year Murs gave his fans a free collabo album with 9th Wonder that I at least played to death for a couple of days. And in support of the man, no matter how this review turns out, I want ya’ll to promise me that you buy this shit. If Murs gets dropped from his label, I’m holding you personally responsible.

Hits aka Why You Should Care:

1. Murs rarely disappoints when it comes to rapping. His lyrics provide a nice breath of fresh air in the midst of the same corporate garbage that’s released by most major labels and I always appreciate the sense of humor that all his rhymes are tinted with. Although no matter how good he is, I’m always reminded of Royce’s monster of a track, Throwback whenever I listen to Lookin Fly.

2. These are the enjoyable tracks: I’m Innocent,  Lookin Fly (ft will.i.am.), Can It Be (Half A Million Dollars and 18 Months Later), Everything, Road Is My Religion, Time Is Now, Think You Know Me, Love and Appreciate II (ft Tyler Woods), Break Up, Breakthrough

Strikes aka Why You Should Be Wary:

Not really a strike but…where the fuck are the Living Legends? I thought at least one of them would make an appearance on this. I mean, if anything put Slug on it.

Balls aka Whatever Floats Your Boat:

1. The production was all over the place. I mean, for a major label album, the budget must’ve been really small if the most well known he was able to secure was 9th Wonder (Nottz doesn’t count. His beats are ass for the most part). I’m guessing they used all their money trying to get Snoop on this thing, which, while it wasn’t a bad guest spot, could’ve and should’ve gone to other cheaper yet more talented rappers (read Living Legends).

2. Listen to these at least once: Intro, The Science, Sooo Comfortable, Me and This Jawn, A Part Of Me

Final Thoughts:

I find it slightly frustrating that his free album, Sweet Lord was a whole lot better. Still, Murs  has never made a bad album and he comes through with this one, providing a pretty good album. It’s disappointing that it’s not really up to Murs’ standards but there’s no reason you shouldn’t enjoy this. Besides, you’re obligated to buy it.

Planet Asia was once the next big thing. Don’t argue on that one, you know it’s true. His mixtapes were fire and he steadily gained a great reputation in the underground hiphopverse. However, somewhere, somehow, something went wrong. His albums really didn’t live up to the hype and people just moved on to the next “too hyped up to fulfill any exectations” rapper (read Papoose and/or Saigon). But this may be the album to change all that. Continuing his trend of one mc, one producer albums, DJ Muggs has decided to provide the soundscape for Planet Asia’s next album. With any luck, this album just might put our boy on the map again.

Hits aka Why You Should Care:

1. The production by DJ Muggs is more or less what you’ve come to expect from the man (this is a good thing). He’s pretty much perfected that dark, cinematic, nitty gritty sound and it really helps hold the album up. Freaking Smoke is just an interlude but the track is just so sonically pleasing.

2. It’s good to see some of the guest spots on this album, especially B-Real. I mean, he hasn’t exactly improved much since we last heard him, but then again, he hasn’t gotten worse either. Gives me actual hope for his solo that’s due sometime next year.

3. These tracks are the ones I enjoyed the most: Sleeper Cell, Smoke, 9MM (ft B-Real), That’s What It Is, Lions In The Forest (ft B-Real), Black Angels (ft Killah Priest, Cynic and Scratch), Deadly Blade (ft Prodigal Sun and Tri State), Shadows Of Hell, Triple Threat

Strikes aka Reasons You Should Be Wary:

Nothing on this album sticks out as being bad so to say. However, feel free to skip “Language” on every listen.

Balls aka Whatever Floats Your Boat:

1. Planet Asia is all over the place on this album. Sometimes he’s right on point and ripping the beats a new asshole, but other times dude just sounds uninspired. The former moments outweigh the latter moments by a bit but damn.

2. These tracks are just what they are: Pain Language, Black Mask Men, Death Frees Everyone (ft Sick Jacken), All Hail The King (Planet Asia kills it, but the beat is more or less eh), Drama, Hashashins (ft Turban and Chace Infinite)

Final Thoughts:

It is what it is. Overall, it’s an extremely solid album that leans towards the good side. Pain Language isn’t a bad album by any means and in fact, I like it. But it’s not making any top 10 lists this year and there are a good number of 2008 albums that I would rather bump over this one. If you’re a DJ Muggs and/or Planet Asia fan, this won’t disappoint. If you’re not either of the above, check it out if you want; it won’t be a waste of time. But even if you don’t, you really won’t be missing anything spectacular.