In many ways, Honest has parallels with YG's My Krazy Life, an album I quite enjoyed even if my review didn't fully indicate. Just like YG, the general consensus on Future's album was that the shit was actually pretty good (apparently his debut was met with a similar reaction), which was unexpected, at least in my expectations. Secondly, and probably more importantly, is the albums production. DJ Mustard was the mastermind (I'm only halfway kidding) responsible for most of YG's album and the dude runs the radio this year, but the same could be said about Mike Will Made It last year, and he's responsible for three tracks on Honest. I've been particularity interested in hearing his response after being dethroned of the top spot on the producer popularity chart. Will he switch it up or keep up the same tricks in the hope that Mustard becomes a born again Christian and steps away from the rap game? The latter seems unlikely (although not impossible; lets not forget that Terminator X left one of the most popular groups ever in favor of running an Alpaca farm), so Honest should be an interesting look into his future.
Let me just address this real quick: Future has a weird, auto-tuned as fuck voice. There, now hopefully I won't have to spend much more time talking about his standout quality that most people can't get past. Anyway the rapper known to his mother as Nayvadius Cash has recently developed quite the confidence boost, adopting the moniker "Future Hendrix" and making statements about the uniqueness and timelessness of his music. Nothing wrong with that, but he's certainly had some bold words for someone most people would consider "trash". (Because everything's either trash or classic to hip hop fans) But what the hell, I was interested to see what he had up his sleeve, so I decided to check out his sophomore album, Honest.
In many ways, Honest has parallels with YG's My Krazy Life, an album I quite enjoyed even if my review didn't fully indicate. Just like YG, the general consensus on Future's album was that the shit was actually pretty good (apparently his debut was met with a similar reaction), which was unexpected, at least in my expectations. Secondly, and probably more importantly, is the albums production. DJ Mustard was the mastermind (I'm only halfway kidding) responsible for most of YG's album and the dude runs the radio this year, but the same could be said about Mike Will Made It last year, and he's responsible for three tracks on Honest. I've been particularity interested in hearing his response after being dethroned of the top spot on the producer popularity chart. Will he switch it up or keep up the same tricks in the hope that Mustard becomes a born again Christian and steps away from the rap game? The latter seems unlikely (although not impossible; lets not forget that Terminator X left one of the most popular groups ever in favor of running an Alpaca farm), so Honest should be an interesting look into his future.
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As I was watching some of the last NBA regular season games unfold I have decided to speak on a project under a title that also happens to be what Andre Iguodala left Quincy Miller with a few weeks ago. If you are not a follower of the NBA I am referring to broken ankles. Some of you may unfortunately only know Freeway as one of Jay's weed carriers from the original Roc familia, but the Philadelphia born Philly Freezer is actually quite the acclaimed rapper in his own right. While it is easy to remember him as a Memphis Bleek type of guy who rotted away on the Rocafella bench, he has made a career of releasing solid solo albums, having a cool voice, and having the greatest facial hair of all time. That's right, despite being a very talented rapper, Freeway is certainly most identifiable for his ridiculously cool James Harden esque beard. If you can seriously look at a picture of this guy and not want to hear him spit a few bars you must just hate hip hop.
If you're unable to connect patterns, posts are coming at a 4 day at a time frequency. So what's the occasion today? Well, on this particular day last year I ran a review on Dr. Dre's original Chronic, so I figured why the fuck not finally get to the second installment. This post is also really, really damn long, so get a snack (and leave comments). But first, let me set the scene. After the implosion of Death Row Records, Andre Young left and founded his own label titled Aftermath Records. Naturally, with Dr. Dre being one of the better producers in the game, most fans easily drew the conclusion that his first label album would change the landscape of hip hop all over again.
In 2012, boom bap New York hip hop made its resurgence through a generation and movement called the "Beast Coast", lead by the music of Pro Era, Flatbush Zombies, and to a lesser extent, A$AP Mob. That's about finished. Not that the movement has lost hope, but the center of focus in rap has clearly migrated to L.A., Chicago and Atlanta. Why is this? Well, to be blunt, we've already heard '90s hip hop. Sure, it was a great bit of nostalgia and its nice to have around, but in the Beast Coast movement to revive "real New York rap", they seem to have forgotten what made the east coast innovative in the first place: innovation. Nothing is less hip hop than regurgitating past methods.
That's what makes Ratking the most New York sounding group to come out in quite some time. Of course they're grimy (what else would you expect from a group with that name), but they're varying subjects and sonic jungle reaches new levels on their second proper LP, So It Goes. Running with Death Grips' abrasiveness, Ratking offers a profane update on their careers and their city's twisted streets: "My city view's subdued by duded in uniforms of blue/ Conforming to their or you will get turn in two" they trade off the the police critiquing "Remove Ya", a song that could serve as a 2014 take on the NWA classic "Fuck the Police". As battle rap inches closer towards the mainstream center of focus, its inevitable that the skilled rhymers attempt to craft the full length album. I'm a fan of the battles, but I'm not the type of guy to stay home on weekends to watch KOTD for hours on end. One trend I've noticed, though, is that someone's ability to embarrass opponents based on pure wit and rapping ability hardly translates to making actual songs. One of the few to break the trend, however, is former Scribble Jam champ and L.A. native Nocando. Born James McCall, Nocando is an artist I've been following for a while, as he is a Project Blowed veteran and founder of Hellfyre Club, one of my favorite current stables. His current crew is full of oddballs, (I say that with complete endearment) and in comparison, Nocando is arguably the most tame of the core members, but his genuine ability to be comical, tell a few stories, and his brilliant pen game has made him my favorite of the group.
Have you ever found it incredibly hard to care about an artist, no matter how enticing they seemed? That's how I have always felt about today's subject, Vince Staples. Hailing from Long Beach, home of rap legend Snoop Dogg, Vince Staples is a newcomer to the mainstream for the most part, and has seemed to garner a decent fan base over the past few years. He had a dope ass verse on Earl Sweatshirt's "Hive", and is one of the nominees for this year's XXL Freshmen cover. So, needless to say, this guy may end up being a big deal. To add to that, he has a great ear for beats, and can rap his ass off. Given all of that I still can't manage to really care about his career. Thus far he has lacked a certain charisma or "it" factor to really become an intriguing artist. That leads us to this point. In the year 2014, Vince Staples is releasing this ten track mixtape to win over people like me who are still on the fence concerning his music. At this juncture in his career, Staples has the opportunity to capture an audience and broaden his clientele. With all of the tools it takes to succeed, the table has been set for Staples to catapult his career straight into stardom. The fact is, though, unless you can win over the people, all of the talent in the world does you no good in the rap game.
The De La Soul/Dilla story is one of lost potential. With the help of Prince Paul's lighthearted production, De La redefined the landscape of hip hop throughout their first three album, but it wasn't until 1996's Stakes Is High that the trio would link up with James Yancey, then working under the name J Dilla. Dilla was responsible for the composition of the title track, and its hardly a coincidence that the song remains one of the group's, along with rap as a whole's, defining movements. With the amount of high quality material being released in the year, it seemed nonsensical for the group's warnings, but while the trio was letting their audience know that hip hop wasn't all peaches, it was Dilla working his craft behind the boards, brilliantly flipping samples to a degree that was unheard of at the time. Since the late '80s, De La Soul had been enforcing the native tongues movement, but it was J Dilla that would carry its presence into the 2000s with his material with Slum Village, and his catalog is ultimately what's keeping it alive today.
A few months ago I ran a review on Will Rap For Food, CunninLynguists' debut album, with plans to wrap up their whole discography relatively quickly. That, however, never came to fruition, as there's been a hefty amount of new material that I wanted to speak on. Conveniently enough, the group released a new project that falls under the category the last sentence described. So hopefully this will also give me the motivation to write about their nearly flawless back-catalog.
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