Get To Know H.E.R.

As long as I’m putting the word out that Sweet Lord is going to be a free download, I thought I might as well give people another reason to take time out of their busy schedule to listen to it when it drops. That reason, boys and girls, is this album right here. It’s not the first album by 9th Wonder or Murs, but it is the first of their collaborative efforts. 9th Wonder had done work with his ex-group Little Brother prior to this, and Murs has been releasing solo albums for a good minute before this (and group efforts as a part of both Living Legends and Felt). They’d built up quite a bit of hype in the underground, so you can imagine the excitement that was generated by bloggers everywhere when these two announced that they would release an album together. Did the album live up to it’s hype? Yes and no. But you’ll see what I mean.

The album begins with an Intro that seems like your average self hype rap intro at first. Then, the beat changes completely to become Robot Rock meets Murs (any Daft Punk fans in the house?) and our emcee drops a quick verse to give us, the listeners, one of the better post 2000 rap intros ever. Then they drop the ball completely on the second track with the ridiculously annoying Bad Man. The beat by itself would’ve been annoying enough, but the voice loop repeating “bad man” seals the deal. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: even if the lyrics are sick, a song with a horrible beat is a bad song. Thankfully for all parties involved, 3:16 is a great track that picks the ball right back up. The Pain is a track that really embodies the spirit of its title. Having one of those days in which nothing seems to go right? Just get rejected by that female coworker again? Listen to The Pain. Failed another exam? Listen to The Pain. Just in the mood to feel really emo? Listen to The Pain. Not that it’ll solve any of those problems, but good music always calms the soul. Not that this track is meant only for your emo days either. Just get a raise? Listen to The Pain. About to go for a quick run around the block? Listen to The Pain. Feel like kicking your puppy? You get the idea.

The next track, Trevor an’ Them, is pretty damn good but way too freaking short. You just start getting into the whole groove of the track when it cuts you off and leaves you high and dry. Freak These Tales provides an refreshing sound on a subject matter that hip hop has beaten 22/23rd to death already. It actually sounds a lot like an adult version of Will Smith’s “”Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble,” if that helps you at all. Afterwards, H-U-S-T-L-E comes on and I decide to completely forgive the duo for including Bad Man on this album. There’s actually a music video to the remix featuring John Cena, which is just ridiculous and funny as hell. I’ll post it at the bottom and you’ll see what I mean. The following song, Walk Like A Man, kicks ASS. Seriously, everything is just right on this track. Murs exercises his storytelling abilities in the telling of the shooting of a friend and 9th provides three separate beats that provides the perfect backdrop for each section. On And This Is For, Murs speaks his mind on a couple of things and calls out his fans for not buying his albums. I don’t agree with a lot of what’s said on it, but it’s still an enjoyable track. The album then ends with a bang with Animal. The beat sounds like something one can just chill to and Phonte’s guest appearance is more than appreciated.

The Good: Intro, 3:16, The Pain, Freak These Tales, H-U-S-T-L-E, Walk Like A Man, And This Is For, Animal

The Solid: Trevor an’ Them

The Bad: Bad Man

Final Score: 9.0

As far as 9th Wonder goes, this album was incredible. Other than Bad Man, every track was laced with an amazing beat, and it’s clear that 9th had come a long way since The Listening. However, I also expected it to be Murs’ best effort thus far and while it’s damn close, I still prefer Murs Rules The World to this on an average day. But that’s not a big complaint at all and I do think that this album oozes excellence. This album may seem a bit different from most mainstream albums that are coming out these days. For one, there are almost no guest spots at all. Two, the whole thing is only 10 tracks long. Still, I’ll rather have a condensed, mindblowing musical experience to an oversturated, 8 tracks too long, shit album any day. Besides, 10 tracks, one of them an intro, and one guest rapper spot? Sounds a lot like a classic album by the name of Illmatic to me.

And now as promised, the H-U-S-T-L-E video. enjoy

A previous comment on this site had me thinking a bit. It asked why I bothered to review albums by artists if I don’t wanna listen to their music. Well, false hope for one, but mainly it was to round out the categories of albums being reviewed. But now, I guess I really don’t see a point to that. This blog was originally created to promote good artists and I realize to do otherwise is a waste of my time. So from this point on, I’m only gonna inform you, my readers, on the finest.

Anyways, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Common Market’s new LP, Tabacco Road, due Sept.9, is gonna be top ten of the year material. The emcee half, RA Scion, has really been rising through the ranks of my favorites and I still listen to his solo LP on a regular basis. The man behind the boards, Sabzi, has given us some great beats in the past, and his work with Geologic on Bayani last year was superb. Black Patch War, released earlier this year by the duo, was also pretty damn good. Also if you go to http://spin.com/reviews/new-common-market-mp3-tobacco-road you can listen to the title track. However, my main reason for hyping this album so much is the quality music that was found on their eponymous debut. I was actually turned on to this album by a friend of mine, and I have to say, I’m eternally indebted to her for it. I can hardly wait to begin the damn review.

The Good:

1. Refresh - It’s really good for the first track. I remember the first time hearing this and thinking that RA Scion sounds a bit like Talib. Hell, I still think that. Anyone else think so?

2. Push

3. G’Dang Diggy - Considering that their overall sound is very feel good, their lyrics are usually pretty down to earth and usually focus on politics, life’s hardships, and more of that hard hitting stuff. At first it sounds like it’ll collapse from the contradicting nature, but their sound works very well. This song is a perfect example of that.

4. Connect For

6. Every Last One - On most hip hop albums, I have a big problem with the hooks. This album, however, is chock full of great hooks, and this track’s hook is probably my favorite off it.

8. Trinity - The darker, bass centric production on this song is a departure from the overall sound of the album, but who cares as long as it makes for a great song.

10. Love One

11. Succor MC’s

12. My Pathology

13. Keep Track

14. Doors - Probably my favorite track off this album. Everything about it is just great, from the train tracks intro (tying the real last track of the album to the first track) to the fantastic hook to both the KRS One and the Roots homages.

15. Every Last One (Cornerstone Remix) (ft Geologic and Gabriel Teodros) - The only thing that puts this above the original is the sheer awesomeness of the MassLine Media artists’ collaboration.

The Solid:

5. Crossbow - For some reason, I’ve always thought that this track lacked something that the other tracks had that made them better than the average track.

7. Poison - The lyrics are more than on point, but I thought the beat could’ve been improved.

9. Kampo - It’s just an instrumental track, but it’s still a decent track.

The Bad: N/A

Final Score: 9.5/9.0

It’s not a classic album, but it’s still an excellent, nothing but quality from track 1 to 15 CD. I would seriously say that this is one of the best albums to be released in recent years (recent being past 4, 5 years), alongside Below the Heavens and Game Theory. Give it a chance and I guarantee you’ll like it.