Wu-Tang - A Better Tomorrow (Album Review)

Release Date : December 2, 2014
Label: Warner Bros. Records

Earlier this year everyone thought it was over for the Wu. Its like certain members always get into with RZA, whether it be over money (Rae) or creative differences (Ghostface). Rae was the most vocal though. He even went on "strike" from group. I don't even have to touch on the 8 Diagrams album, we all know how unfocused that project was. Finally, back in May everybody got back on the same page. With all that being said, I was still a bit iffy about how the album would turn out, but "Keep Watch" featuring Nathaniel was a sigh of relief Lol. It let fans know that Wu was back on their shit.

Rick Ross - Hood Billionaire (Album Review)

Release Date : November 24, 2014
Label : Def Jam

When Ross first announced Hood Billionaire, two things popped in my head. The first thing was that this album is gonna overshadow Stalleys "Ohio" album, which came out about a month before this. And the second is why not wait at least til the top of next year to release another album and keep pushing Mastermind. "In Vein" was the perfect single in my opinion. Now that I got that out of the way, lets talk about this Hood Billionaire album. Hood Billionaire is more trap based this time around. Yall know the formula, repeat the same word over and over on the hook, ala BMF, 9 Piece, MC Hammer, etc...To be fair, Ross is perfectionist when it comes to that. "Elvis Presley Blvd" with project Project Pat is a good example. Ross' hook is extremely catchy "I'm riding down Elvis Presley BLVD ... I got Priscilla, I got Priscilla".

M.O.P. - Street Certified (Review)

Release Date : November 18, 2014
Label : Nature Sounds

With 20 years in the game, M.O.P. still sounds fresh as ever. Street Certified is their first project since 2011s Sparta. Instead of trend chasing and trying to fit in with the youngins, the Mash Out Posse stick to their guns,  which is that gritty New York sound. The EP focuses on two things, hard beats and hard rhymes. Its evident on tracks like "Street Certified" with Mobb Deep. While the two appeared on the same cut in the past, this is the first official M.O.P. and Mobb Deep collab. The four MCs deliver and give listeners a nostalgic late 90s feel. The second single 187 is more that street shit fans grown to love M.O.P. for. Fame's bone-chilling hook let's you know that nobody's safe, he raps "187 in progress/ everybody get it/ everybodys a target".

Wu-Tang - Enter the Wu-Tang : 36 Chambers (Review)

Release Date : November 9, 1993
Label : Loud Records

I know I know, this album has been reviewed a million fucking times, but shit I wanted to set the week off right with a throwback review. First things first, who the fuck would have ever thought that Hip Hop and Kung-Fu would go so well together? Wu tried it and pulled it of so damn well. 36 Chambers only sold 30,000 units in its first week. Thats a fun fact for yall motherfufckas who thought all 90s Hip-Hop albums was selling crazy units at the time they were released. But fuck album sales, the music is great on here is great. Now lets get into it, "C.R.E.A.M.", the most popular song from the album, is one of those those songs everybody should of heard by now, especially if you claim to be a Hip Hop fan. RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God and Masta Killa all deliver on this album.

Childish Gambino - STN MTN (Review)

Release Date : October 2, 2014
Label : Glassnote Records

Coming off the success of his strongest effort to date, Because The Internet, Childish Gambino unexpectedly announced his his first Gangst Grillz mixtape, STN MTN. Motherfuckas was wondering would he drop all original new material or would he rap over other peoples beats.  Since Gambino has a show called "Atlanta" coming out soon on FX, it was only right that he reps it to the fullest. The mixtape has Gambino rapping moslty over "Atl" club bangers. STN MTN starts off with Bino dreaming about everything from running Atlanta. He namedrops different things he would do. Whether its bringing back the legendary Laface records or re-opening popular Atlanta clubs like 112 and Jazzy T's and even letting strippers get Mother's day off.

Snootie Wild - Go Mode (Review)

Release Date : September 23, 2014
Label : CMG/ Epic Records

This is my original review of the EP I did for XXL. In 2013, Snootie made the local hit anthem "Yayo". Yo Gotti heard the track and immediately jumped on it and shit took off from there. Not only did Yo Gotti take Snootie Wild on his I Am tour, he also signed him to his CMG label.This past May, CMG (Yo Gotti, Zed Zila, Wave Chapelle and Snootie) released the Chapter One mixtape. The tape featured two joints from Snootie,  "Stackin' & Flippin' It" and "Want U 2 Kno". Now with his first EP, "Go Mode", we get to see what Snootie can do on on his own.

T.I. - Paperwork (Album Review)

Release Date: October 21, 2014
Label: Grand Hustle / Columbia

Paperwork is TIs 9th album and its also executive produced by Pharrell. Its only right since they've been making bangers for years. Going back to TIs debut single "I'm Serious" and "What's Yo Name" to "Freak Though" to "Good Life" to "Get Back Up", and even Robins Thickes "Blurred Lines", which was a big hit. If you never heard their past collabos then go check them out, those shits still bang. I thought the buzz for this album would of been bigger but that has to do with TI not having a big single leading up to the release. "About the Money" and "No Mediocre" were Summer bangers but wheres the next single? The same thing happened with "Trouble Man" though and he still sold well. Paperwork has some "single ready" songs like "Private Show" with Chris Brown, the title track "Paperwork" with Pharrell and "Stay" with Victoria Monet.

Beanie Sigel - The B Coming (Album Review)

Release Date: March 29, 2005
Label :  Dame Dash Music Group/ Def Jam

I aint do a throwback review in a minute. I actually wrote this review a while ago, but I made some small changes to it. If you know me personally or you have been reading this blog for a while then already know that Beans is one of my favorite rappers. The thing I always liked about Beans was his the way he rapped with aggression and always spit a sick verse on a track. This album had some delays because the whole Rocafella breakup, which called everyone to pick sides and the legal trouble he was in. Obviously, Beans signed with Dame. I gotta give Dame props because when Sig was locked up, Dame was everywhere promoting this album. Beans had to rush the the recording process because he had to do some jail time. We all know rushed albums can come out bad, but not The B Coming. Beans was focused.

DMX Vibe Article (2001)

Nas Vibe Magazine Article (2000)

The Source : Diplomats Article (2003)

XXL Backtrack : Keith Murray - The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World

Big Boi Breaks Down Outkast/Solo Catalogue

I always like hearing behind the scenes stories about albums. I decided to post this for those who missed out. This is a dope article I found on the Vibe's website, written by Keith Murphy. Big Boi breaks down his solo projects and Outkast' discography. Its from 2010, which is why  it stops at  the "Sir Lucious Left Foot" album. OutKast has one of the best discographys in Hip-Hop, so I definitely recommend reading this.

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994)

This was boot camp for myself and Dre. On our first record we were strictly MC’s. All we wanted to do was rap [laughs]. Organized Noize was responsible for all our production, so our whole aim mainly was to let everyone know that we were about lyricism. We just wanted to annihilate every track; destroy every song that was put in front of us. I don’t think we understood how good we were. We were so young. But we knew we had a raw camp and there were niggas who were dead serious about their art.

The Game - Jesus Piece (Album Review)

Release Date : December 11, 2012
Label : DGC / Interscope Records

There was some controversy with the album cover because he has Jesus dressed up as a gang banger. Game knew what he was doing, it was a marketing ploy at its finest. Now on to the review, "Scared Now" featuring Meek Mill, and "Ali Bomaye" featuring 2 Chainz & Rick Ross have a Southern feel to them, so the featured artist didn't feel out place. They are also produced by Black Metaphor. The King Chip & Trey Songz  featured "Church" is basically a strip club song. "Celebration" featuring Chris Brown, Tyga, Lil Wayne & Wiz Khalifa samples Bone Thugs' classic "1st of tha Month". A lot of people actually hated that song, but I enjoyed it.

Kid Ink - My Own Lane (Album Review)

Release Date : January 7, 2014
Label : Tha Alumni Music Group / 88 Classic/ RCA Records

Over the past few years we've seen the West Coast make a comeback to the mainstream. My Own Lane is one of the first hip hop releases of the year, so can Kid Ink set off the year right and create his own lane or will he follow the current lanes out there? The opener,  Hello World is a catchy track. Matter of fact, My Own Lane is filled with catchy radio songs, like the Chris Brown featured Show Me. And the sing songy Tattoo of My Name, is about Kid Ink wanting a girl to get his name tatted on her (It don't matter whether it's the first, last or initial on that ass/ Legs, lower back of that wedding ring finger/ I appreciate you just for representing me).

DJ Khaled - Suffering From Success (Album Review)

Release Date : October 22, 2013
Label : We the Best/Cash Money/Republic Records

Khaled is back with his 7th album, Suffering From Success. I usually like about six or seven songs from each of his albums, except for Victory and We The Best Forever, which I wasn't really feeling. If Khaled did more beats on his albums, people probably wouldn't criticize him as much. Because he rarely produces and doesn't rap, he just puts the collabs together. He did do some co-producing on five songs though, other producers on here are J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Lee On the Beats, Boi-1da, 40, Young Chop, Timbaland, DJ Nasty, LVM and many more. Anyway the album starts off with Obama (Winning More Interlude), which is audio of the Pres when he came out to Khaleds All I Do Win song. Suffering From Success has some some typical songs, but also has some gems on it, For instance, J. Cole & Bas shine on Hells Kitchen, Cole gives you that Friday Night Lights mixape feel, and his artist Bas held it down as well.

LL Cool J - Authentic (Album Review)

Release Date : April 30, 2013
Label : S-BRO Music Group, 429 Records

*This review was actually written last year, but I decided to post it instead of just letting it sit around*

After taking a 5 year hiatus, Uncle L returns with 13th album "Authentic". This is also L's first album not under the Def Jam umbrella, it's being put out by S-Bro Music group/429 Records. Originally titled "Authentic Hip Hop", James Todd released "Rachet" as the lead single, but it was panned by critics. I personally thought the song was funny and he was just having fun in the booth. He quickly bounced back with the Trackkmasters produced "Take It" featuring R&B crooner Joe, and everyone loved it. It is one of LL's best singles and the it was the perfect single for him to come back with. A few months later, L took Hip Hop out of the title and put out a new tracklist and album cover. I'm not sure what caused the change, but the new tracklist had way more features than the original album had. But anyway lets get into this review.

Future - Honest (Album Review)

Release Date : April 22, 2014
Label : A1, Freebandz, Epic

This review is kinda short. So lets get right into it. Honest was supposed to be released about a year ago, but it kept getting pushed back cause Future couldn't decide which direction he wanted to go in. Honest was intended to be more pop but the single with Miley Cyrus flopped so fucking  hard they decided to focus on street music. One thing I like about this album is the features, they definitely delivered. Take "I Won" featuring Kanye. Future and Ye explain their love for Ciara and Kim. Gotta respect that. "Never Satisfied" with Drake is dope but its way too short. Future has one verse and Drake does the hook and then the song just fades out. No way thats the full version. So here's my question, can we get as full version of the song someone, anyone?

Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron (Album Review)

Release Date :  February 25, 2014
Label : Top Dawg / Interscope

My upcoming reviews are gonna be kinda short. I been mad busy so I got some catching up to do. Lets get right into it. Oxymoron is a dark album. It starts off with "Gangsta", Q's daughter talks on the intro, then Q spits some dope lyrics over a hard beat courtesy of Nez & Rio and Sounwave (They also produced "Man of the year"). On "Hoover Street" he raps about his gang ties, as well as being real. "Blind Threats" featuring Raekwon is another dope joint to check out. "Prescription/Oxymoron" is about Q's addiction to prescription drugs. And his addiction gets so bad that he ends up ignoring calls from his Mother and daughter. On the second part of the song, Q talks about how he quit dealing drugs.

Rossi - Didn't Take Over Feat. Chantel Taddeo (Unsigned Artist)

In the first post of my unsigned artist section I wanna introduce everyone to Australian rapper Rossi. He cites Jay-Z and Eminem as his influences. Here's a song off Rossi's Our Zones Reality album, its an introspective song called "Didn't Take Over" featuring singer Chantel Taddeo. And its also produced by Rossi. Check it out. On anther note, shout-out to Angela and Infectious Magazine for the recommendation. 

You can find Rossi at the following links

http://rossimusicozr.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/Rossi_OZR
https://www.facebook.com/rossimusicozr
http://www.youtube.com/rossimusicozr
http://theozrstore.bigcartel.com/

Yo Gotti - I Am (Album Review)

Release Date : November 19, 2013
Label : CMG / Epic Records

Yo Gotti is back with his new album I Am. And hes serving the fans up with more of that raw street music.  If you've been listening to Yo Gotti for a while then you already know what to expect, that trap music with the boomin 808s. Songs like LeBron James, Sorry and  F-U featuring Meek Mill are a perfect example of it. Cam'ron fans should recognize the sample in F-U as soon as they hear it. Cam used it on his Confessions Of Fire album, which is the first album I've ever brought, but that's another story.

Busta Rhymes - The Coming (Album Review)

Release Date : March 26, 1996
Label : Elektra Records

Busta Rhymes is one of those artist that cannot be duplicated, from his animated videos to his rapid fire flow to his charisma, just watch A Tribe Called Quest's classic Scenario video when Busta pops with the famous line Rah, rah, like a dungeon dragon, come on now how could you not be a fan of Busta? He's one of a kind and it shows on his debut The Coming. This album sounds like nothing else that was released at the time. The Coming is centered around that Apocalypse theme and like many others, Busta really thought the world was gonna end.

T.I. - Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head (Album Review)

Release Date : December 18, 2012
Label :  Grand Hustle/Atlantic Records

T.I. gets rejuvenated on his 8th album Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head. His 2010 Album No Mercy was rushed and underwhelming, but now hes focused and back to putting out good music. Trouble Man was actually supposed to come out in 2011 but it kept getting pushed back due to not having that monster single his label was looking for. He released videos for I'm Flexin' featuring Big K.R.I.T. and Here Ye, Here Ye featuring Pharrell, but they were just warm up singles. Alot of people wrote him off and labeled him with "fell off" tag. After listening to this album I think its safe to say this is his best work since 2008's Paper Trail.