A thread about hiphop...

[Horus Ex Machina]

Well it seems that the hip hop industry is currently centered around a few things of note:

Shyne, Drake, Slaughterhouse, Eminem and to some extent Benzino.

For one thing it's just about a week from the time that Shyne will be released from his near ten yr prison sentence for his involvement in the J-Lo/Puffy nightclub shooting incident. If anyone remembers, Diddy got off, Shyne took the fall and life went on. Apparently he won't be signing with Jay-z and may actually finding himself working for the man who he once said was responsible for his stint in jail. Funny world.

Benzino resurfaced from that cesspool known as Boston to release a diss-track focused at both the current men of the hour Slaughterhouse as well as his prior nemesis Eminem. It surprised those of us who follow hip-hop since there had never been any real interaction between any of the members of Slaughterhouse and Benzino prior to this,...

In the end, he may have only accomplished being the first person to link Slaughterhouse and Eminem. It appears now that the group is preparing to sign with Eminem. They pretty much made their intentions clear by appearing in Drake's video, Forever, in the background during Eminem's verse. This all comes on the heels of Raekwon squashing his beef with Joe Budden and even going on to suggest a possible WuTang/Slaughterhouse colab. Hmmm.... Royce and Em are back together,... could this mean the return of Bad meets Evil?

I've never listened too much to Drake's music, but this track has me interested... but just a bit. And Ser Renasko, Eminem might just change your mind on whether or not he's still a lyricist when you hear 4:55. That man spits fire when he wants to.

Here's hoping that Kanye West takes this opportunity to concentrate on music and less on making statements.

aNYwAY, just me bringing a bit of hip hop to Westeros! :thumbsup:

[Rubies & Jade]

... Royce and Em are back together,... could this mean the return of Bad meets Evil?...

aNYwAY, just me bringing a bit of hip hop to Westeros! :thumbsup:

ok, I'll admit upfront that I know just a smidge above squat about hip hop. but anyone else been listening to Royce's Street Hop album? I've been liking it! ok, that's all. :leaving:

[Stego]

Why you gotta be on Boston?

[Stego]

And I have been digging on La Coka Nostra lately. Yeah, I'm white and old.

[dornish prince]

i'm massively outta the loop but most of the folk who remain on my ipod are great lyricisits, IMO. kool keith aka dr. octagonycologist has been mentioned.

i'll be honest, though, i'm surprised that no one has mentioned mr. lif, akrobatick or 7L and esoteric. i will admit, however; that i've been on the sidelines for a while. regardless of what came after, i still find most of the wu to be competent lyricists. bobby digital is playing on the tower right now.

thanks for the thread, btw. i'm gonna chase it down.

ETA: :lol: most of the folk i named rap from the boston area

[keithweed]

Horus-if Boston is a cesspool than Nigeria :thumbsdown: gotta be one of those huge ditches that would be dug underneath a mass latrine/porta potty(gotta defend my hometown).

Now on the subject of Hip-Hop,I think one of the best lyricists right now is Immortal Technique."Revolutionary Vol.2" is a dope album.And his collaboration with Green Lantern,"The Third World",is another winner.This guy is a beast on the mic and some of his lines will just blow your mind.I think major artists won't enlist him for guest spots because he'd outshine them to the point of embarrassment.

Another recent album that I like is "White Van Music" by Jake One.He's a producer/DJ that raps a little.He makes some slammin beats and has some excellent guest rappers such as M.F Doom,M.O.P.,Little Brother,Talib,among many others. Um,I could name some others but I'm having brain freeze right now.

[sckma]

No love for Brother Ali?

But I'm getting into Lupe alot, and Mos Def's new album, thought they're great. Getting into Immortal Technique as well.

Drake and J. Cole are alright, not so bad, alot of people I heard find them to be the next big thing.... but I don't know alot.

[Vestrit]

Been listening to Slaughterhouse since I read this topic earlier. Nice shout, Horus. :thumbsup:

Seconded. These guys have been on heavy rotation on my iPod since I first read this thread a couple of months ago

In fact, I only popped in to say thanks to Horus for the heads up

[keithweed]

Raekwon finally released his first good album since "Cuban Links".

Saigon's single "The Rules" is dope,but I don't know how the whole album is,but wouldn't mind finding out.Anyone?

There's a rapper named Jay Electronica that is good as shit.He has a hot single-"Exhibit A Transformations",check it out.

[Horus Ex Machina]

but anyone else been listening to Royce's Street Hop album? I've been liking it! ok, that's all. :leaving:

Royce is probably one of the top 10 lyricists in hip hop easily. I've been meaning to pick up street hop ever since I heard "Gun Harmonizing". I had to cop Wale and Mos Def first unfortunately more on that later.

Why you gotta be on Boston?

Cuz noone else will get on that skanky ho. :thumbsdown: Boston sux!

And I have been digging on La Coka Nostra lately. Yeah, I'm white and old.

I have no problem with Everlast despite what Eminem says about him. It's good hip hop whether they're white or black. Some of the best lyricism I've ever heard came from the Beastie Boys in some of their latter albums.

i'm massively outta the loop but most of the folk who remain on my ipod are great lyricisits, IMO. kool keith aka dr. octagonycologist has been mentioned.

It's too bad that Dr. Octagon's style has never caught on in the mainstream. Especially his horrorcore shit. You need to listen to sum Gravediggaz stuff too.

Horus-if Boston is a cesspool than Nigeria :thumbsdown: gotta be one of those huge ditches that would be dug underneath a mass latrine/porta potty(gotta defend my hometown).

Oh yeah, you wanna go there? Well... well... well,... your city is full of doodoo heads!

Whatever, it is what it is, Nigeria needs alot of work but it doesn't change the fact that Boston is full of dog humping, hoopty-ridin, coke-snorting, morons who like to ride Terry Francona's jock. There I said it! What? LOL. Just playin with ya! Gotta defend Nigeria. :thumbsup:

Now on the subject of Hip-Hop,I think one of the best lyricists right now is Immortal Technique."Revolutionary Vol.2" is a dope album.And his collaboration with Green Lantern,"The Third World",is another winner.This guy is a beast on the mic and some of his lines will just blow your mind.I think major artists won't enlist him for guest spots because he'd outshine them to the point of embarrassment.

Another recent album that I like is "White Van Music" by Jake One.He's a producer/DJ that raps a little.He makes some slammin beats and has some excellent guest rappers such as M.F Doom,M.O.P.,Little Brother,Talib,among many others. Um,I could name some others but I'm having brain freeze right now.

Yeah Immortal Tech's another strong hard hittin lyricist. And anyone who colabs with Green Lantern is gonna come out with a winner. "Third World" was off the chain. He's got something dropping next year so I'm keeping my ear to the ground. Talib is a favorite of mine. I still got my Black Star shit. MOP is on my MP3-player too, I'm always ready to cop his singles from Amazon.

In fact, I only popped in to say thanks to Horus for the heads up

No prob, you just gotta stay up on the underground man, there's good hip hop goin around without the industry BS that's been killing it.

Raekwon finally released his first good album since "Cuban Links".

Yet another album I'm weighing getting next along with "Street Hop". Gotta get that.

No love for Brother Ali?

But I'm getting into Lupe alot, and Mos Def's new album, thought they're great. Getting into Immortal Technique as well.

Drake and J. Cole are alright, not so bad, alot of people I heard find them to be the next big thing.... but I don't know alot.

Drake's got alot of potential, he's better to listen to that stupid Martian. Haven't heard too much from J. Cole but I do plan on checking him out on Youtube.

If you're into Lupe Fiasco, you're on the right track. His style is pretty similar to Wale, Mos, even Kanye when he's actually on his game. It's that alternative hip hop sound that is pretty exclusive to the east coast and the midwest.

Onto "The Ecstatic". Really good stuff but what pissed me off is that it seemed like he wasn't sure what he wanted the theme of the album to be and just threw darts at a bunch of studio shit. Some of the tracks is was getting into could have been longer but that's Mos, I'm ok with it. "Wahid", "Supermagic", "Pretty Dancer" and "Worker's Comp" are my picks from the album, but I'll let you decide. I also liked the interlude before the Embassy and I would have like the actual track but with the long interlude the track only lasted a little over a minute. It's kinda interesting that he had an interlude that included a cut from the Great Fela Kuti on it bc Fela had been known for making songs that were 10 sometimes 20 minutes long and all the songs on this album were a bit disjointed. Talk about extremes.

Ummm... I just bought Wale's "Attention Deficit" and I'm listening to it right now, so I'll have words on how it is in a bit. (Happy to put money in the pocket of a fellow Naija) Peace! I can say that I'm really diggin "Chillin". SOmeone mentioned that go-go sound he brings to the table and I think it's tight.

The first half of the album comes really strong and Wale is one of the best at coming at you with rapid-fire punchlines.

Oh btw, Shyne did get released from prison finally, but he's since been deported to Belize. Maybe the proximity to his home will change his style up on his next album.

Nas and Damian Marley are definitely doing a colab album that should be hot. That's something that I'm waiting on more than anything else this year; Outkast is still saying they're gonna put out their next joint, so it should be solid.

[sckma]

Onto "The Ecstatic". Really good stuff but what pissed me off is that it seemed like he wasn't sure what he wanted the theme of the album to be and just threw darts at a bunch of studio shit. Some of the tracks is was getting into could have been longer but that's Mos, I'm ok with it. "Wahid", "Supermagic", "Pretty Dancer" and "Worker's Comp" are my picks from the album, but I'll let you decide. I also liked the interlude before the Embassy and I would have like the actual track but with the long interlude the track only lasted a little over a minute. It's kinda interesting that he had an interlude that included a cut from the Great Fela Kuti on it bc Fela had been known for making songs that were 10 sometimes 20 minutes long and all the songs on this album were a bit disjointed. Talk about extremes.

I agree. I loved Wahid, Auditorium, Life in Marvelous times is... I just really like it, what can I say.

But I gotta get into Wale then, if he's like Lupe. What can I say, I'm a fan.

Nas and Damian Marley are definitely doing a colab album that should be hot. That's something that I'm waiting on more than anything else this year; Outkast is still saying they're gonna put out their next joint, so it should be solid.

That's going to be awesome! Nas and Damien Marley, hope the production is good. I love a good reggae track.

[Horus Ex Machina]

I agree. I loved Wahid, Auditorium, Life in Marvelous times is... I just really like it, what can I say.

But I gotta get into Wale then, if he's like Lupe. What can I say, I'm a fan.

That's going to be awesome! Nas and Damien Marley, hope the production is good. I love a good reggae track.

On Wale all you need to do is listen to

and you'll be hooked. Can I change my opinion for hip hop album of the year? This is right up there with Slaughterhouse. Amazing debut for the kid outta DC.

On Nas and Jr Gong, I don't know how they screw this up. It's a match made in heaven for sure. I don't know which direction Damien will go,... will he do the more roots type of reggae or will we get more of the dancehall version. Either way he's the best since his father bar none. Better than Vybz Kartel, better than Elephant Man, and better than Barrington Levy. Even better than Jah Cure or Sizzla Kalonji. I am as excited as you are to see what they're cookin up. I imagine that Nas and Jr Gong are gonna split the production on this thing. We might see Khaled, hell we might even see a track layed out by Kanye. Who knows. But I think that they're gonna be heavy on this thing and be themselves.

Oh and does anyone else love it when Blink's Travis Barker throws down a hip hop remix as much as I do? Well now he's onto some Slaughterhouse. He did the no-brainer on this one,... "The One" gets the famous Barker treatment here. Bun B throws in an extra verse on the end.

Oh and if you hate the Martian's music as much as I do, here's something you might like. Apparently Royce the 5'9" is readying a diss track directed at the Weezy One. Maybe it will be done entirely in Auto Tone. I hope not though.

[seastarr]

I've been to two interesting live shows in the past couple of months.

Saw Mos Def (in a fancy symphony hall, of all places) do his stark little one man show. I thought it was pretty balls out of him to just show up onstage, dressed in a simple black tee and pants, and go at it with his microphone. He had no back up people--it was just the man and his mic. He was great, although a symphony hall and hip hop...well, let's just say the sound wasn't completely fantastic. (I did see the Roots there a few months back and they, unsurprisingly, rocked it, and sounded great--but they do most of their sounds live as the symphony hall is designed for) Anyway, Mos did quite a few Michael Jackson covers and even brought out the glittering glove.

Two nights ago I saw Saul Williams, which was quite a different experience. Where Mos was all into his stark and simple persona, Saul came out in his feathered headdress and glittered face paint and spouted his poetry at us with his customary intensity and charisma. Saul's a great performance and he really nailed the sound quality for the space he was in. His beats were edgy and creative as usual. Had some good dance moments as well as some really introspective and poetic moments.

Both shows were pretty good, especially for hip hop shows, which usually I come away from a little disappointed.

[Horus Ex Machina]

COol stuff Seastarr! Where are you? Symphony halls usually do play havoc on live hip hop acts since it tends to scatter the vocals. I'm not surprised that the Roots play well in that environment with their instrumentals. I've gotta get out to Rock the Bells this coming year bc I really haven't seen too many live acts recently. I still think my best live experience was the Fugees when they played at Trees out here. Other than the MJ stuff what was he playing mostly? Did he get into some Black Starr shit or was it all new? It's unfortunate bc one of the down points in hip hop is the live shows. Certain performers come off notoriously well and others have voices that are pretty much cut out better for the studios.

Roots, Fugees, Chamillionaire, Ice Cube, Outkast and a few others I've seen and heard from others put on a good show. Kanye, 50-Cent are horrible live. Club and bar shows are always much better though for any hip hop artist unfortunately few of the bigger stars are willing to do the small club shows when they're riding the waves of popularity.

[seastarr]

KRS also puts on a rocking live show. Lyrics Born was good enough that I went and saw him live twice, but his latest album fell flat for me, so I'm not sure I'd go again.

Mos Def did mostly new stuff for his show. At the end he did a nice duet with Georgia Ann Muldrow, which came as a complete surprise. All in all, it was a surprising show. I'm in San Francisco.

[Horus Ex Machina]

At the end he did a nice duet with Georgia Ann Muldrow, which came as a complete surprise. All in all, it was a surprising show. I'm in San Francisco.

Sorry it took me so long to respond. That duet must have sounded incredible. I love Muldrow's music. She's got that jazzy style like Badu and Macy have. Sounds like a pretty good scene out there in Cali. Alot more eclectic than I would have thought from my time out there, but I was there in '98. Here, where I'm at, it gets pretty thin unless the acts are southern. I am getting pretty excited to see Scarface and Goodie Mob at the House of Blues in January. I always have time for some Dungeon Family music. Can't wait for Outkast to get back together.

[elmis]

Slaughterhouse is awesome! :)

Other artists that I enjoy these days are NOE and Black Milk.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

No love for Brother Ali?

Much love for Brother Ali. Shadows on the Sun and The Undisputed Truth are solid albums. I've yet to here Us (any good?)

[seastarr]

Sorry it took me so long to respond. That duet must have sounded incredible. I love Muldrow's music. She's got that jazzy style like Badu and Macy have. Sounds like a pretty good scene out there in Cali. Alot more eclectic than I would have thought from my time out there, but I was there in '98. Here, where I'm at, it gets pretty thin unless the acts are southern. I am getting pretty excited to see Scarface and Goodie Mob at the House of Blues in January. I always have time for some Dungeon Family music. Can't wait for Outkast to get back together.

I'd love to see some Dungeon Family/Goodie Mob live. I used to ride the bus in Honolulu bobbing my head to them day after day on my commute.

[Horus Ex Machina]

Fun and interesting article on hiphop in Russia and Putin, and Royce the 5'9" drops Bar Exam 3 mix series on March 13. Why March 13, you say? Because that's when Pacman and Mayweather get it on. And he want's Bar Exam 3 to be fight music.

BTW, for Stone, here's a link for

. Right next to it was

Listened to Raekwon's offering with a slice of the Wu included in

And here's one of my favorites