Throwback Of The Day : Da Brat - Funkdafied

Its time for the throwback of the day. And I had to show love to the first female rapper to go platinum!  Da Brat was some street shit was she came on scene and she made history with this album so props to her. Da Brat gets some assistance from JD on this one. Yall know what to do...Sit back, relax and enjoy this joint.

Throwback Of The Day : Ma$e - 24 Hours To Live

Ya'll know I love the late 90s joints. And when you think about that era, Mase should be one of the first rappers to pop up in your head. That Harlem World album was big! It sold 4 million. Bad Boy as a whole was pushing crazy units at the time. For todays throwback, I had to choose "24 Hours to Live". These dudes was on their A-game. Mase,The Lox, DMX and Black Rob bodied this track.

Ice Cube Beaks Down His Discography (Vibe Article)

Friday was a big day for NWA. They released the long awaited "Straight Outta Compton" movie. Let's be real, Cube isn't only one of the best West Coast rappers, hes one the best rappers period. Shoutout to Vibe for this throwback article they did with Ice Cube. Its a good read!


 "My Posse” (1987)—C.I.A.

 Image Credit

I first met Dr. Dre in 1983 going into ’84. He was the most famous person I knew at that time [laughs]. He was in the World Class Wreckin’ Cru who just dropped a record called “Surgery.” Dre was the only person I knew who actually released an album, so I was excited to meet him. When he heard me flow, he took me under his wing. He would be at the house making records and I would help him write whatever I could to just get in where I fit in. Before N.W.A., we were in a group called C.I.A. We were on Epic Records and we had a song called “She’s A Scag,” which Dre used the Tears For Fears track “Shout.” It was a cool little song, but it wasn’t particularly hot, so we ended getting dropped from the label. Then we got on Crew Cut Records and changed our name to C.I.A., which stood for Criminals In Action. But the label didn’t want us having the word ‘criminals’ on our record [laughs]. So they made us change it to Crew In Action and needless to say we were mad about that shit!’

Throwback Of The Day : Philly's Most Wanted - Cross The Border

I Remember Urban XPressions used to always show this video. I always rocked with the Philly Hip-Hop scene. Mr Man and Boo-Bonic had some dope songs on their debut album, not to mention The Neptunes did a bulk of the production. And while their mainstream success didn't last long, "Cross The Border" is always gonna be remembered as a Philly Classic!

AZ - Doe Or Die (Album Review)

 

Release Date : October 10, 1995
Label : EMI Records

Today I wanted to revisit AZ's Doe Or Die, so lets get into it. After having a classic verse on Life's A Bitch, AZ got offered mad deals, including Sony (Where Nas was signed at the time), but he chose to sign with EMI instead. How many rappers can say they got signed off of one verse? Not too many. But on the flip-side, its a lot of pressure that comes with it, but AZ lived up to the hype on Doe Or Die. Some consider it a classic album and others consider it a near-classic album, honestly you can't wrong either way. Az wanted his first single to be more street, but he said  EMI saw how huge Biggies One More Chance song was, so he ended up making the Miss Jones featured Sugar Hill his first single.

Throwback Of The Day : Ja Rule - Kill Em All/ Its Murda

Ja Rule's first album was hard. Nowadays hes known for his commercial songs (Always On Time, Livin It Up, Put It On Me, etc..), but Venni Vetti Vecci had no to type of love songs on and it still went platinum, hence the reason I chose Kill Em All for todays throwback. I only seen this video maybe like five times on Rap City, it didnt get a lot of video play either. Check the video out below.

Jadakiss - Kiss Tha Game Goodbye (Album Review)

Release Date : August 7, 2001
Label : Ruff Ryders / Interscope

2001 was crazy because Nas and Jay were going at it and D-Block and State Property were going it at too. Jadakiss was killing it on the mixtape scene. And with the success of The Lox's "We Are The Streets" album, it was only right for Jada to put out a solo album first. I remember "Put Your Hands Up" being the first single. I first heard it on "DJ Clue's "Hev E Components Pt. 2 mixtape. Then "We Gonna Make It" came out. That song had everybody waiting on Jada's album. It was a little controversy with the beat because it was used on Ras Kass' "Home Sweet Home" record.  Ras said that beat was one of the three Alchemist beats that were planned for his "Van Gogh" album, but then Alchemist said he was never paid the full amount, and when he tried to reach out to Ras Kass' team they never paid him the rest of the money, so he sold it to Jada. Crazy situation right there. Moving along, "Knock Yourself Out" was the third song released, but it was the first official single for the radio.

Rick Ross - Mastermind (Album Review)

Release Date : March 4, 2014
Label :  Maybach Music Group / Slip-n-Slide Records / Def Jam Records

After some delays, Ross finally releases his sixth studio album, Mastermind. And it features some great production as his previous albums. On the Black Metaphor produced "Rich Is Gangsta" Ross boasts "Elevators like Frank's on Scarface/ New Presidential had that pavé/Like a G, I gave the Cartier to Wale/Then I gave Meek Mill a Range Rover/Told Warner Brothers that the game's over". He also takes a little jab at Curtis Jackson "For me to move forward from here on I need 50/ I ain't talking 50 Cent neither nigga, haha". I'm surprised Ross even mentioned 50s name since that beef was like 6 years ago. Moving along, "Mafia Music III" is a reggae tinged gangsta joint featuring Sizzla and Mavado, and produced by the underrated Bink. "War Ready" featuring Jeezy and Tracy T is a dope song too. Its good to see that they put the beef aside and finally did a collab.

Jeezy - Seen It All: The Autobiography (Album Review)

Release Date : September 2, 2014
Label : CTE World / Def Jam

When you mention trap music , Jeezys name has to come up. T.I. did bring it into the mainstream in the early 2000s, but it was Jeezys TM:101 that took trap to another level. Listen to his classic mixtape Trap Or Die and tell me a lot of these new rappers didn't follow that format. Now on his seventh album, Seen It All, Jeezy is in a different mind frame. He takes more of a mature approach this time around, but he still serves the trap with some dope boy anthems like "Me OK" produced by Drumma Boy and "1/4 Block" produced by Childish Major.

Pusha T - My Name Is My Name (Album Review)

Release Date : October 8, 2013
Label :  G.O.O.D Music/Def Jam Records

After being signed to G.O.O.D Music for about three years, we finally get Pusha T's debut album, My Name Is My Name. That seemed like forever right? But Push did put out the Wrath of Caine mixtape in January of this year, and that mixtape did have some bangers on it like Blocka and Doesn't Matter just to name a few, so its not like he wasn't putting out material and making guest appearances since then. A few weeks he proclaimed he'll have the album of the year, so will Pusha back up his claims on MNIMN? Well, lets get into it. King Push sets the tone for the album, he feels like he can't be stopped, Push raps (This is my time/this is my hour /This is my pain this is my name/ this is my power/ If it's my reign then it's my shower).

Fat Joe Da Gangsta - Represent (Album Review)

Release Date : July 27, 1993
Label : Relativity Records

I missed out on Fat Joe's D.I.T.C. stuff, so why not go back and check out the earlier material while he was Fat Joe Da Gangsta? Can you believe this album is 20 years old? You know how people always say an artists older material is their best? Well lets see! The production on Represent is very raw, it has that whole early 90's jazzy boom bap sound. He gets beats from Lord Finesse, Diamond D and The Beatnuts, just to name a few. Fat Joe is really limited on Represent, he rarely switches flows, his mic presence is average at best, and his repetitive tough talk gets annoying after a while. Fat Joe wasn't always mainstream, this is way before Lean Back, What's Luv?, All I Need, Make It Rain, Etc.

Twista - Dark Horse (Album Review)

Release Date: August 12, 2014
Label :  Get Money Gang, Caroline Records

On Twista's 9th album "Dark Horse", he tries to find the right formula to put him back in the mainstream. Some of them work, while others don't. The album starts off with the title track, "Dark Horse" featuring Tyme. While the verses was dope, the hook is terrible. Twista bounces right back though with "I Am Such a Mobsta" and "Devil’s Angel". Twista proves that he still hasn't lost a step.

French Montana - Excuse My French (Album Review)

Released : May 21, 2013
Bad Boy / Interscope Records

I heard about French Montana years ago, obviously from watching the Cocaine City DVDs when he used to interview people. I didn't start listening to his music until he released his "Mac Wit Da Cheese" Mixtape, being a Max B fan you were bound to listen to French since they had so many songs together. Then the beef they had with Jim Jones and ByrdGang was hilarious! French had the perfect set-up, he put out Shot Caller as a warm up single, then Pop That. I'm confused as to why Bad Boy didn't release the album at that time because Pop That was a hit. Its about a year later and some of the momentum has died down. I wonder why there aren't any beats from Harry Fraud or Dame Grease on here and they were part of some of French's biggest mixtape songs. He was also on Akon's Konvict Label a few years ago and signed to Mizay Ent before the Bad Boy deal.

50 Cent - Animal Ambition (Album Review)

Release Date : June 3, 2014
Label : G-Unit/Caroline/Capitol

50 hasn't released an album since 2009. Five years is a long time in the music business. During that time 50 had a lot of label drama, but he kept busy by doing movies and releasing mixtapes. On Animal Ambition, 50 is doing what he does best, and thats making street music. He definitely sounds more hungrier this time around than he did on BISD. Let's be honest here, Curtis and BISD we barely average albums. Very few gems were on those albums. But on Animal Ambition, Fif sounds more hungrier now than he did in the last few years. If you want that classic 50 feel, look no further than "Hold On", "Pilot" and "Hustler". Animal Ambition is filled with hard joints.

Troy Ave - New York City : The Album (Review)

Release Date : November 4, 2013
Label : BSB Records

On his debut album New York City, Troy Ave promises to restore the feeling that has been missing in New York Hip Hop. Troys lyrics won't blow you or anything, his rhymes are more straight to the point. On Cigar Smoke Featuring King Sev he reps his city to the fullest with lines like, We don't wear tight ass clothes/ We don't do down south beats/ That ain't New York. On the title track New York City Featuring Raekwon, N.O.R.E. & Prodigy, he calls Kendrick Lamar a "weirdo rapper" for that King Of NY line from his Control verse. The funny part is Troy really feels that way, if you seen his interviews lately then you know what I'm talking about. New York City The Album doesn't have a love songs nor does it follow the trends thats currently poppin in the mainstream.

Drake - Nothing Was the Same (Album Review)

Release Date : September 24, 2013
Label : OVO Sound, Young Money, Cash Money, Republic Records

*I'm re-posting some of the reviews that had issues with the stats. For instance, this was one of my most popular reviews but it wasn't showing up in the popular posts section, so over the weekend I'll just be re-posting stuff*. Its been close to two years since Drakes last album, Take Care. Nothing Was The Same follows the same path. Drizzy is out to up the ante this time around. Right out the gate, Whitney Houston's classic I Have Nothing gets flipped and reversed on Tuscan Leather as Drake drops three dope verses. The six minute intro has him detailing the fallout he had with Nicki (Not even talkin' to Nicki, communication is breakin' I dropped the ball on some personal shit, I need to embrace it) and these hot for the moment rappers (I'm tired of hearin' 'bout who you checkin' for now Just give it time, we'll see who's still around a decade from now).

Rae Sremmurd - Sremmlife (Album Review)

Release Date : January 6, 2015
Label : EarDrummers / Interscope Records

 Rae Sremmurd (Eardrummers backwards) are setting things by releasing the first Hip-Hop album of the year, Sremmlife. Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy popped up out of nowhere with their instant hit "No Flex Zone". To be honest I wasn't even a fan of that song at first, until I heard the remix with Pusha T and Nicki, which was dope. I thought Rae Sremmurd were teenagers, but they're actually in their early 20s. Its crazy how they have two hits already. Not only can they make catchy songs, they also have one of the hottest producers in the game right now, Mike Will Made It supplying them with dope production. One thing about Rae Sremmurd is that they can easily make club bangers. And Sremmlife is full of them.