A pair of albums that impressed me recently, you should be used to this by now; short descriptions and selected tracks are waiting below.
The xx - xx One of the best albums of the year, I said this about a few albums this year, but they all deserved it. This is one is no different. This Boy/Girl band made and amazingly innovative album, that sounds complete and does not contain any fillers. Check them out, you won't be disappointed.
KRS-One & Buckshot - Survival Skills Two aging rappers, or more accurately two hip-hop pioneers. These two uncles diss wack MCs, talk about great they are, and preach a lot. The album contains production from Black Milk, whose dope as hell, and features more than half a dozen other artists, such as: Talib kweli, Mary J Blige, K'NAAN and Pharoahe Monch.
All sounds good, but unlike the album above, this album requires some skipping, but don't let that put you off, cos over all it is pretty good.
In the fifth edition, I will be showcasing two of the most anticipated hip-hop albums and one album everyone forgot about.
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx PT II "See these fans can't resist the rush, they Wu-Tang for life Scarred for life, they can't forget the cuts" Method Man
The follow up to Rae's 1995 classic, the first one is considered to be one of the best hip-hop albums of all time, it is one of favourites as well. This explains why it took a very long time for this album to drop, Raekown tried his best to make this a classic as well and he succeeds at that. This album belongs in the mid 90's, it shits all over the competition, it is pure hip-hop, pure Wu-Tang, it is the project that managed to reunite the clan.
The production is mean and raw, and with the likes of RZA, J Dilla, The Alchemist, Dr Dre and Pete Rock behind the boards, it is no surprise. In addition, all guest verses on this album are fire. Do yourself a favor and buy this album.
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 With all the hype, A-list producers and guests, you would think this project can't go wrong. False. This album is just slightly above average at best, like most things involving the new KanYe. Instead of doing good hip-hop Hov tries to 'push boundaries', brag about his status in hip-hop and his new BFFs (Obama and Oprah).
Most of the production fails to impress me, however, out of 15 tracks I like 5, so I can't really co-sign this album. But it is worth a listen or two , just make sure you delete 2/3 of the album, so you don't have to skip all the time. A decent effort.
Wu-Tang - Chamber Music Although this is technically not a Wu Tang album, it is endorsed by them and RZA is the executive producer. It has the old WU sound in it and feature several members of the Wu-Tang Clan collaborating with New York hip hop veterans.
Most of the production is done using live instrumentation mixed with classic soul and kung fu imagery. Check it out.
This is a post showcasing music from the late DJ AM, he was a superstar DJ and had exceptional mash-up tapes with the talented drummer Travis Barker, I used to jam to these while playing pro evo all year.
These tapes mix classic rock with hip hop with pop, they are just dope.
Jay-Z is one of the most popular rappers ever, so it makes a lot of sense that there are a lot of Mash-up tapes involving his music. So I decided to take the time -lucky you- to get all the better ones, upload them and provide you with a brief explanation, a sample and finally: a working download link.
Danger Mouse - The Grey Album(Jay-Z + The Beatles) What do you get when you cross Jay-Z's Black Album with The Beatles' White Album? The Grey Album.
This album got a lot of publicity, some of it was caused by its excellence and the rest by EMI attempts to halt its distribution. It is one of my favourite albums and gets heavy play all the time.
Mick Boogie & Terry Urban - Viva La Hova(Jay-Z + Coldplay) This is too dope, since Coldplay have always been one of my personal favourites; all four of their albums are classics. Mick Boogie & Terry Urban did an amazing job on this, it is too good. Honest. Here is a quote from the makers about the tape:
"If you love Jay-Z and you're not into Coldplay, this is for you. If you love Coldplay, but don't mess with hip-hop, this is for you. If you love all good music, this is definitely for you."
Cookin’ Soul - OJAYZIS(Jay-Z + OASIS) This one dropped right after the 08' Glastonbury and got inspired by the Noel/Jay-Z beef, Cookin' Soul claim that it took only one night to do this, but don't let all this fuckery distract you from the music and it is good.
Minty Fresh Beats - Jaydiohead(Jay-Z + Radiohead) DJ Minty Fresh Beats mashed instrumental tracks from OK Computer, Kid A, and In Rainbows with various Jay-Z vocals to make this tape, it is the least impressive of the bunch, but it is no where near terrible and anything involving Radiohead is always a win.
In the second instalment of my music showcase, I went for a rodents theme, well, enough with the bullshit, here you go.
Modest Mouse - No One's First, And You're Next(Album) I am not ashamed to say that this was my first experience with Modest Mouse, and the result is a win. These guys are very talented and lack the ability to make a boring record. This one is no different, this album is so good that I added 3 tracks instead of one. However, the other 5 tracks could have easily slipped into my 'Top 3'
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul(Album) Unlike the first time I talked about this album, I'm focusing on the music this time. This album is written and produced by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse and performed by such artists as: The Flaming Lips, Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys, Jason Lytle, the Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Frank Black, Iggy Pop, the Shins' James Mercer, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chestnut, The Cardigans' Nina Persson, and David Lynch. And like everything the Mouse touches this is dope.
DJ Quik & Kurupt - Blaqkout(Album) This album has nothing to do with the theme of the post, it is just a really good album. I was pleasantly surprised when I decided to give it a listen. Don't sleep on it, it is dope.
This post showcases some of the new-ish tracks, albums and mixtapes that I dig. It will be in many mini volumes due to the big amount of music I need to catch up to, due to my lengthy holiday breaks.
Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse(album) The Hip-Hop super-group consisting of Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce Da 5'9" have their self-titled debut album set to be released on August 11, 2009. I have already heard it and it is pretty decent, I'm not a big fan of Budden, But Joell and Royce go in hard. Below is one of favourite tracks from the album, produced by The Alchemist.
Brother Ali - Us(Single) This is the first single from Brother Ali's latest effort, which is set to drop some time this year, too lazy to find out. But this is not take away from the dopeness this track is. Enjoy.
XV - Everybody’s Nobody(Mixtape) I have only listened to the top half of this mixtape and dude has already impressed me, give it a listen, you are not losing anything. Download Link From 2Dopeboys
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