Monthly Archives: June 2011

The fall of the No Limit Records is often attributed to the rise of Cash Money which seems like an easy conclusion- young lions beat old ones. The problem with this theory is that rap isn’t anything like boxing. There is never a revolution in Hip Hop. No, No Limit fell because their music beganContinue reading “Fiend – Life Behind The Limo Glass”

I pressed the play button and clutched the little speaker stand in my right hand. The volume is almost as loud as it can be, any louder and the bass makes a terrible popcorn popping sound. I looked right over at her face as she was driving, a simple head nod just to acknowledge thatContinue reading “Mac Miller- Best Day Ever”

Regions erect icons so large that they leer and oppress the younger generation. Every new rap artist in Atlanta is held against Andre 3000, while New York rappers do their best to imitate Jay-z right down to his ad-libs. This is the reason that The Game lost his mind and killed more fictional people onContinue reading “Pac Div – Mania”

Fabolous has always been two rappers, really. A snarling, battle rapper lacking the ability to say “No” to marketing execs, his discography has ended up as a schizophrenic collection of Street Rap put downs, and syrupy songs “for the ladies”. The romantic side of Fab has always been a matter of contention to Hip HopContinue reading “Fabolous- The S.O.U.L Tape”

On paper, Juicy J working with Lex Lugar doesn’t really come as a surprise.  In Lugar’s minimal, sometimes eerie, always bass heavy beats, it’s easy to hear Juicy J’s influence. The cheap lumbering monsters that Juicy J & DJ Paul created in their heyday were less aggressive and slower, but that same sense of intenseContinue reading “Juicy J & Lex Lugar- Rubba Band Business Vol 2.”

The Clipse have focused on drug metaphors the way TMZ.com focus on celebrity mishaps. It’s what made them: each track functioned as a one-two punch. Pusha T would startle everyone with unexpectedly callous rhymes so focused on the hustle that he had stripped the humanity from them, before Malice came in to color in aContinue reading “Pusha T- Fear of God”

Every track on Curren$y’s new mixtape Covert Coup starts with short tight samples looped into deep, dark, sneaky music. It’s the same kind of beat that Alchemist has thrown behind hard as nails rappers like Mobb Deep for years. This time, though, it’s not Prodigy’s anti-flow of pain and fearlessness that barks over the backdrop;Continue reading “Curren$y & Alchemist- Covert Coup”

Nostalgia is a tricky thing. While it can be used as a reference point by artists to extend and offer their own ideas, it can also it can be a leaning post for lazy artists attempting to piggy back our collective consciousness for chance to be noticed.  It takes a lot of hard work toContinue reading “Elzhi’s- Elmatic”

Waka Flocka Flame is the quintessential Goon Rapper.  An incompetent lyricist with a simple flow, Flame is an unflappable hook machine with a decent ear for beats. In 2010, he found himself on many 2010 year end lists with Flockaveli, an intended mixtape – turned – album, that proved that once again many Hip hopContinue reading “Waka Flocka Flame- Benjamin Flocka”

DJ’s try to bolster their reputation by building stables of emcees that they helped discover. This does two things, it increases their reputation by putting an important artist on and, it ensures that when they put together a compilation album they have enough people to throw on massive posse tracks with air horn…a lot ofContinue reading “Big K.R.I.T- Return 2 4eva”