Get To Know H.E.R.

Moving right along, without further ado here are albums number 20-11.

11. Atmosphere - When Live Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold

The emcee producer duo of Slug and Ant can do no wrong. Slug’s emotive rhymes over Ant’s beats have always been a surefire formula for a a great album to me since day one. And since Slug just gets better and better as an emcee, and Ant has slowly become an absolute monster behind the boards, this album was damn near guaranteed to be great. This was actually in my top ten for a good chunk of 2008, and got pushed out at the last second. I’m still wondering whether that was a good move or not.

12. Nas - Untitled

I was scared that this album would be absolute crap after all the hype that came about from its controversial choice in name (Untitled was a cop out move). But my fears were put to rest when I listened to this album for the first time. And upon multiple listens, I realized that this album was actually pretty damn good.

13. Pacewon and Mr. Green - The Only Color That Matters Is Green

To be honest, I don’t really know much about Pacewon or Mr. Green. All I know is that this album rocks.

14. Jake One - White Van Music

I first became turned on to Jake One when I heard his absolute beast of a track on De La Soul’s Grind Date (hearing it live was freaking amazing). Jake One’s production is consistent quality throughout and it helps that he brought along some of the best emcees of our time to join him.

15. Blu and Mainframe - Johnson and Jonson

Those who expect another Below the Heavens will be pretty disappointed. However, those who take it for what it is (some good music by a rising emcee and Mainframe I guess) will walk away pleased.

16. DJ Revolution - King of the Decks

This came out of freaking nowhere. I was expecting this album to be average at best but as soon as it started playing, I knew I had something special in my hands. Great beats, great rhymes. What more could you ask for?

17. Restoring Poetry In Music - Cave Drawings

The side project of Panacea’s Raw Poetic was actually more enjoyable than the new Panacea album itself. Raw Poetic’s rhymes just seemed so much more on point and focused on this and the jazzy beats suited him just fine. If you like Panacea or jazz rap in general, make sure you give it a try.

18. Common Market - Tobacco Road

Sabzi and RA Scion have done it again. I didn’t really enjoy Black Patch War, the pre album EP, but they were able to redeem themselves with this one. Make sure you check out their latest EP, Winter’s End, as well.

19. Sadistik - Balancing Act

I’ve never heard of Sadistik until my friend made me listen to this and I actually thought I was hearing Slug at first. The two really are quite similar in their voice and their choice in dark subject matter and if you’re the fan of one it’ll be easy to get into the other.

20. Heltah Skeltah - D.I.R.T.

I always tend to get worried whenever an artist or a group releases a comeback album after a long ass hiatus because let’s face it, such albums usually suck ass. This is one of those rare exceptions and while it’s still a fairly far cry from Nocturnal, it’s shits on Magnum Force any day.

Come back tomorrow for the conclusion to the top 30. In the meantime, get off your ass and hunt some of these down. It’ll be worth your time.

I know we’re damn near three whole months in already, but I’ve been so swamped with work and stuff that I haven’t had a chance to give many 2008 albums a proper listen. But now at the end of freaking March, I’ve finally finished and made a list of top 60 albums of 08. But for the purposes of this blog, the top 30 would do I think. I’ll be counting them down in the next three days, so it’ll be 30-21 today, 20-11 tomorrow and 10-1 the day afterwards. Keep in mind that while the albums listed fall within the range of the day, there is no specific order within the groupings. Meaning number 23 on the list is not necessarily better than number 25, but number 14 will be better than both of them. You get what I mean. Here we go.

21. Black Milk - Tronic

Black Milk’s production is dope, only an idiot would disagree with that at this point. However, his emceeing skills could still use a bit more practice. However, if the trend of improving his rhymes with each album continues, and he gets some more guests on it, his next one could be some truly mindblowing stuff.

22. The Roots - Rising Down

It hurts me to put a Roots album so low in an end of the year list. However, this may be, in my humble opinion, the weakest offering by them since their debut, Organix. The first half of the album is undeniably fire but the second half bores me, which is something I never thought I would say about an album from one of the greatest groups of all time. That being said, 72 Bars, Get Busy and Criminal are still phenomenal songs and probably some of the best in their catalog. If only that quality was consistent throughout.

23. GZA - Pro Tools

It’s no Liquid Swords (despite the artwork in the back of the jewel case), but I think it’s the best GZA has given us in a long time. With this, 4:21, No Said Date, Fishscale, and the (hopefully) upcoming Cuban Linx 2, the Wu has really been impressing me lately. Now if only RZA would get his act together.

24. Scarface - Emeritus

Scarface really is one of the GOAT’s of the South and even of hip hop as a whole. Ever since his Geto Boys days, he has given us nothing but consistent quality. This album continues streak of hits.

25. Immortal Technique - 3rd World

Production wise it’s better than Revolutionary Vol 1 and 2 and Immortal Technique even managed to step up his flow a bit. It’s a great release by a solid emcee and if you enjoy the heavy political stuff, this is right up your alley. Contrary to what I said in the review however, I find that I do prefer Revolutionary 2 to it.

26. Panacea - A Mind On A Ship Through Time

This release was so low key, I actually almost missed it. After dropping a top ten album 2007, my expectations were sky high for this one. It didn’t exactly match up to them but it was still a great listen (and my expectations were pretty unrealistic I suppose).

27. Blue Sky Black Death and Jean Grae - Evil Jeanius

This sounds like a match made in heaven. How the hell could it not have been great? Seriously though, even though there are times when the production seems a little mismatched with the rhymes, the overall product is still a blast. I won’t say this is better than Jeanius though (close call really).

28. Ludacris - Theater Of The Mind

Luda just gets better and better over time. Despite one or two missteps, I think it’s probably one of his best releases to date (this and freaking Word of Mouf) and it sure featured some strange collabos that worked (Primo? I know I didn’t see that one coming).

29. Killer Mike - I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind Pt 2

Shoot, Killer Mike is hands down one of the most underrated emcees ever. His lyrics are always on point and there are times when he legit outraps frequent collaborators Andre 3000 and Big Boi (although it’s really not a common occurrence). Support the man. Give it a try.

30. Termanology - Politics As Usual

Term is not the next best thing in hip hop, but he’s no slouch either. The album could’ve been ALOT better but heavy reliance on Nottz, and surprisingly weak beats from Hi Tek and Pete Rock dragged it down some. Still worth checking out for the shining moments found throughout.

Tomorrow I’ll continue with albums 11-20.

Hits: ABC’s (ft Chubb Rock), I Come Prepared, Bang Bang (ft Adam Levine), If Rap Gets Jealous, Wavin Flag, America (ft Mos Def, Chali 2na), Fire In Freetown, Take A Minute, People Like Me

Strikes:

Balls: T.I.A., Dreamer, Somalia, Fatima, 15 Minutes Away

There’s a lot moments in K’naan’s Troubadour that makes one forget that one is listening to a hip hop album. In fact, a lot of what makes this album work owes itself to the fact that it was able to blend the sound of multiple genres throughout. But, make no mistake, at it’s heart this is a hip hop album through and through.

With a distinct voice, the tendency to switch between singing and rapping (at times in the same song), and his emotional lyricism sprinkled with a bit of political charge makes K’naan inevitably sound a bit like a Canadian Mos Def. So it’s maybe not coincidence that track 9 features the Mighty Mos himself alongside Chali 2na (on a side note. Where the fuck is Chali 2na’s solo album at? Despite rumors that the album is coming along and that Rakim(!) is on it, I’m beginning to fear it’ll just become another one of those albums that will be released in the year 20never. End side note.). But the two emcees are distinct from each other and while Mos can shred K’naan to pieces lyrically, I tend to enjoy it more when K’naan sings anyways. He’s really not the most complex of rappers/lyricists in terms of technique, but he does have a way of bringing out emotion in every word he spits/sings.

Bottom line is if you feel the need to experience something a bit different, and maybe support our neighbors north of the border, give K’naan a chance. Like I said, there’s not gonna be too many moments where you’ll be rewinding your CD/mp3, trying to catch a sick line here and there, but I guarantee you’ll enjoy the listen. Sometimes I like my hip hop presented in a simple form without the need to dissect every line and K’naan is just the thing to satisfy that craving.

Hits: To Be Told, The Rules, Prepare For War, Spit, Goodbye, The Reason, I Warned You

Strikes: My Crew

Balls: So Cruel, Lady Sings The Blues, Lose Her

Saigon and the fairly overrated Statik Selektah team up to bring us Saigon’s first official album, All In A Day’s Work. Well, calling it an album seems to be a bit of a stretch as the whole thing clocks in at just over 30 minutes and 11 tracks. The whole premise behind this thing was that it was all recorded within the span of one day (hence the title). And you know what? It shows.

Listening to it, you can tell that the whole album has a rushed feeling to it and in fact the songs sound more like a collection of tracks than a cohesive bigger picture. The beats, provided entirely by Statik Selektah are entirely hit or miss and I wouldn’t be surprised if he just rummaged through a pile of unused material and sent it to Saigon to use. Saigon’s rhymes as well have a wild range on this album going from dope to average, sometimes within the same song. When beat and rhyme come together it creates pure fire but that really doesn’t happen too often on this.

Ultimately, the 24 hours of work they put into this resulted in a scattered body of work and leaves me feeling empty. Saigon has showed much more potential than this in the past and you should still have hope for The Greatest Story Never Told (if it’s released!) but as for this, feel free to skip it. Sagion, the next time you release an album, take your time. The whole recorded in a day gimmick may have impressed some, but in a year’s time, nobody’s going to remember that and all they’ll be left with is an average album from a rapper that should’ve given us more.

Hits: Shine All Day, (ft Q-Tip, Jumz, Kel Spencer) (borders on Ball), We Speak Hip Hop (ft Afasi, Kase O, Maccho, Abass, KRS-One), Bounce Back (ft Busta Rhymes and DJ Scratch), Tribute To The Breakdancer (ft Supernatural)

Strikes: Swagger (ft Red Café, Snoop Dogg, Lynda Carter), When I Get There (ft Big Daddy Kane), I Got Sumthin To Say (ft Lordikim, Jay-Flo, Almighty Thor), Can I Take You Higher (Mr. Cheeks, Grandmaster Caz, Tito), Unpredictable (ft Big Daddy Kane and Syndee), Those Chix (ft Byata, Princess Superstar, Hedonis Da Amazon, Syndee), Oh Man (ft Syndee and Natacha Atlas)

Balls: Welcome, Here Comes My DJ (ft DJ Kool and DJ Demo), What If (KRS One), Grown and Sexy (ft Mr Cheeks), Connection, Bronx Bombers (ft Almighty Thor, Lordikim, Mann Child), Zuka The Sound

I mean no disrespect to an absolute legend. But damn if this isn’t the most average release I’ve heard so far in the new year. I gotta get to work so I’ll make this as short as possible.

Grandmaster Flash is great as a DJ but when it comes to producing beats, most of these sound like your average joe schmo backdrops. Some, such as the one on When I Get There, are straight garbage. But as I always say, lyrics above production right? I mean, Grandmaster Flash can put together some alright beats but if they have some quality rhymes over them, the end result would’ve been fire, or at the very least, enjoyable. Unfortunately, the quality of emceeing on this album is wildly inconsistent and ranges from good to absolutely horrible. Even the veterans on the album sound as if they’re simply on the album out of some sort of obligation, since most of their rhymes come off as extremely run of the mill, especially by their standards. For example, Big Daddy Kane and Mr. Cheeks, two emcees who’ve proven their talent over and over again, spit some questionable material on each of the two songs they’re featured in.

The album however, isn’t without any redeeming qualities. As previously mentioned, some of the rapping is pretty good (ie. Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip’s verses), and the overall theme is presented fairly well. Of course the problem with the second reason is that these “lessons” on the culture were pretty basic in nature and I’m pretty damn sure that anybody who would be checking for a Grandmaster Flash album in the first place will know all of that already. Still, I gotta give props for trying, and besides, We Speak Hip Hop is probably one of the most interesting songs I’ve heard in a while.

I realize that today’s review seems rushed and unorganized, and that’s probably because I am rushed today. Just know that you really don’t need to check for this release. This could’ve been so much more, but as it is it won’t add anything to your hip hop life if you do listen and it won’t take anything away from it if you don’t.

I’ve come to realize that in the midst of reviewing so many full length albums, there is much quality music that gets lost simply because they’ve been released as 4-10 track EPs. No more of that. From now on, EPs will get their much deserved shine as well and I’ll try to backtrack to older EPs as well. Today’s however are both from 2009.

Hits: Real As Can Be, Philistine David, Little Rodney, Palm The Joker, Good Lord, Talkin My Shit, The Believers (ft Slug), Begin Here

Strikes: N/A

Balls: Baby Don’t Go

First up is The Truth Is Here by Brother Ali, which was released recently as a CD/DVD combo. With three great full length albums (1 arguably a modern classic) and an incredible EP in the form of Champion, Brother Ali has been steadily moving up on my list of favorite emcees. All I can say is this EP does not hinder that forward movement in any way. Each of the 9 tracks are laced with some great beats from Ant of Atmosphere and Ali absolutely destroys each track. A nice guest appearance from Slug doesn’t hurt things as well, and I would actually love to see a whole album full of collabo tracks between them. It’s not quite as classic as Champion was but it’s still great and you should by all means pick this one up.

Hits: Nouveau Depart, Escaping Arkham, Brasso, Slow Down Moses, The Picture of My Delorean Gray

Strikes: N/A

Balls: N/A

Second is The Winter’s End EP by rap duo Common Market. It seems that after dropping a good album last year, both RA Scion and Sabzi wasted no time messing around and continued to hone their respective crafts. Sabzi continued in moving away from the soulful horns and upbeat drum beats of their debut and opted to concentrate more on the ambient, dark but relaxing soundscapes he started to experiment with in Tobacco Road. RA Scion also shows improvements as an emcee, employing both his signature flow and more slower one when necessary and sometimes switching between the two in the same song. At 5 tracks totaling14:14, the EP makes for a quick but rewarding listen and is in my opinion much better than their Black Patch War EP. Hopefully this means that their next full length will be an absolute killer. Anyways, do yourself a favor and check this one out as well.

Hits: Now I Lay, Don’t Make Me, In My Sleep, Exxxes, Adrenaline, Angel In My Life, Pray For Me, Family Reunion (bonus remix) (ft Fabolous, Ransom and Hitchcock)

Strikes: The Future (ft The Game), Happy Holidays (ft Emmany)

Balls: If I Gotta Go, Blood On The Wall, I Couldn’t Help It, Do Tell

Going into 2009, this album was top 10 if not top 5 on my list of albums to look out for. And how the hell could it not have been? Even without releasing an album in the past couple of years, dude has been completely ripping the rap game apart. Starting from his first Mood Muzik mixtape, to his subsequent releases in the series, to the Halfway House EP, to his appearances with the Slaughterhouse supergroup, I’ve checked for every project he’s been involved in and have not been disappointed. So naturally, I looked for his sophomore release with a good amount of excitement and high expectations.

With all that said, by the end of this album, I was completely underwhelmed. There were a good number of moments in which you could feel Budden’s hunger and in those moments the album managed to shine. However, there were a surprising number of moments in which he sounded bored and as if rapping was the last thing on his mind. Not at all what I’d expected from the same rapper that gave us Mood Muzik 3. The bigger problem, however, is the production on the disc, which is handled entirely by relatively unknown producers. Mind you, I’m not knocking on unknown producers and some of my favorites currently would more or less fall into that category (Remot, Ravage, Afta-1 and Freddie Joachim). However, these producers provided extremely average beats that makes me wonder if Joe Budden may be another rapper infected with the Ras Kass syndrome.

As a whole though, the album isn’t entirely bad and mostly due to Budden’s rhymes, there are more tracks on here that I would listen to than tracks I would skip over. But that ratio is dangerously close and I know that Joe Budden has more potential than he’s shown on here. Check it out at least once, but if you’re more of a fan of hip hop in general, you would be better off buying a copy of Mood Muzik 3.5 and waiting for the opus magnum that he will one day undeniably drop.

WTF Moment: Nobody from Slaughterhouse was able to drop a guest verse on this? Really?!

Hits: Talk It Out (Nieve and Jean Curley), All I Want In This World (CL Smooth), Mountain Top (ft Aloe Blacc), Live Forever (ft Black Thought), So Fresh (ft Talib Kweli), Only One (ft Need Not Worry), The World Outside In (ft Othello), Cheers (ft Asheru), Food For Thoughts (ft OC), Yin Stacks (ft Rakaa Iriscience of Dilated Peoples), Velvet Ballads

Strikes: Bubbles (ft Jean Curley)

Balls: Nothin For Nothin (ft CL), Jag Jam Jazz

I’m not usually a fan of extended introductions to the artists in question. However, I’m fairly sure that the majority of you have never heard of the group so here it goes. Cradle Orchestra is a group from Japan that specializes in jazz tinted hip hop productions. They started off with two DJs but more recently they have recruited live instrumentation in the form of a bassist, a violinist, a flutist, and a pianist. Sounds good already doesn’t it?

It’s groups like Cradle Orchestra that really helps argue against the naysayers that say hip hop shouldn’t be characterized as music. Their production, aided by the addition of live instruments, goes from being simply touched by jazz tones to being a full blown sonic experience. Listening to their beats, you really do get the sense that these guys treat each beat as its own musical composition and that they believe the instrumental should be more than background noise for rappers to rhyme over. The numerous sounds on the production is able to mesh together to provide cohesive melodies to bug out over. And fortunately for us, Cradle Orchestra brought together a great group of emcees to do justice to their music. Hearing CL Smooth and Talib, in particular, over production like this was really a treat.

When it comes down to it, all I wanted to say is this: Velvet Ballads is the first album of 2009 that I’ve truly enjoyed through and through and will feel the urge to listen to again as the year goes on. Pick it up and give it a try.

As all of you may or may not know by now, Saigon has decided to team up with Statik Selektah to bring you All In A Day’s Work. Pretty exciting news, especially if you’ve been waiting on an official full length from the man for years now. Saigon is a great rapper when he’s focused and Statik has produced some heat in the past 2 years so at the very best, we’ll have a dope release on our hands and at the very worst, it should be decent/a little above average. According to Digital Amalgam, the album will be released on March 17th and was recorded in one day. Hopefully, there won’t be a rushed quality to the whole thing. Anyways, here are two songs from the album.

Spit: http://www.zshare.net/audio/56876723b9507226/

The Rules: http://www.zshare.net/audio/56876768f4aabe61/

O and for those who care, The Greatest Story Never Told is still set to be released soon, although who the hell knows what soon means anymore.

Hits: Takeover, Antenna, Caged Bird Pt 1 (ft Brother Ali), Caged Bird Pt 2, Radio, Coastin (ft K Flay), Bring In The Light, Legacy (Ty and Jennifer Johns)

Strikes: Juicy Juice

Balls: The Taking (Intro), Geek To The Beat, DJDJ, Gumbo, Country Baked Yams (ft Devin The Dude), Peppermint Patty

To me, Zion I has always been a reminder that underground doesn’t isn’t always a sureproof seal of great hip hop. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed listening Mind Over Matter and Heroes in the City of Dope so it’s not like I’m overlooking the fact that the group has made good music in the past. It’s just that more often than not, their releases have been pretty mediocre at best.

When all is said and done, The Takeover falls somewhere in the middle of their discography as far as quality goes. The production, handled by AmpLive as always is pretty consistent throughout and in particular, the beats on Coastin and Antenna had me buggin out. For the most part the soundscapes provided on the album provides a great backdrop for Zumbi to rap over. However, there were also moments when the production noticeably took a turn for the worse, such as on DJDJ, which admittedly sounded like a Universal Mind Control outtake. Still, production-wise at least, the album came out on top.

The main problem with the album and with most Zion I albums in general is the MC of the duo, Zumbi. Now, this is only my opinion, but Zumbi is one of the most mediocre emcees as far as the (relatively) well known underground scene of hip hop goes. He’s never spit anything that has made me cringe and to the man’s credit, he says a lot of worthwhile things, but on the flipside nothing he’s said has ever made me rewind and listen to that shit 20x over again just to make sure dude said what I thought he said. His technical skill is just not there. I’m the type of guy that will be much quicker to enjoy a song with a mediocre beat but mind boggling rhymes than a song with a kick ass beat but mediocre rhymes. With that in mind, you can see why I didn’t think much of this offering from the duo. Zumbi’s deficiency on the mic is made glaringly obvious on the track Caged Bird Pt 1, in which Brother Ali completely steals the song from him.

Like I said, in the end, what you’re left with is a decent hip hop album. If Zion I has always been your thing, than by all means pick it up. If not, I don’t think it’s worth your time to really even hunt down the hits. There’ll be more than enough good albums in the months to come. Hold out til then.