Rolling 2006 Hip Hop Thread

I don't like The Heart Of Tha Streetz, Vol. 2 (I Am What I Am) as much as I did at first, but I still think it's better than Reality Check, which I only really really like 2 songs from ("Holla Back" and "Sets Go Up"). B.G. just got signed to Atlantic though and is supposed to drop another album in the fall executive produced by T.I., so that might be better.

I checked the freeway mixtape after you mentioned it to me the other day, its pretty great, short for a mixtape. He sounds good with southern dudes, the song with Jody Breeze is champ, with that cool high noon-style western movie guitar, and Freeway does this cool thing with his flow so it's even eighth notes. Its by-numbers coke-soldier stuff written out, but Free's voice has this urgency so it sounds pretty impressive and intense:

we move through traffic tote the 'matics bring the package round yo WAY thats why they call me mr. WEIGHT mr. yay-pusher no relation to pusha-t push a half a ki on the street my heat in the bushes FUCKA.

etc.

I can work the fashion, but that's the easy part, right.
I can flow for a second or two, until I start to bite*.
Yo, I've emptied some paint cans in my juvenile time.
My art is much closer to abstract than it is fine.
I could scratch a record, if I could just find the break.
It's the spinning on the head that kills me, for fuck's sake.

*bite as in copy from another, not as in suck (which as you can see, I do anyway)

oh and has anyone heard the new public enemy album? how fucked up is it that there's a new public enemy album?

Other albums I like this year...Do or Die, Vakill, Papa Reu, Keak.

i was going to make some boring ilm rap song threads but i guess you have to register now.

B.G. (didn't even put this one on yet)
Da Musicianz (I think I like "Bust It Wide Open," "Crazy Man," and "Girls I Know" and hate "Til Yo Back Git So" but maybe not)
Dem Franchize Boyz (played about half of this one)
E-40 (I liked a lot of this, but only played it once)
Ghostface Killah (I like the Stylistics sample in "Big Girl", which I swear exhibits more vocal personality than Ghostface tends to)
Juvenile (Track 3 through 5 seem pretty good, track 12 seems shitty, track 16 seems unintentionally ridiculous, the rest who the hell knows)
The Streets (his dullest album, but tracks 9 and 10 amused me so far)
Youngbloodz (I like "Presidential" and "Play the Position")
T.I. (I think I loaned my copy to my kid or something)

other hip-hop songs I like this year:

3-6 Maffia "Poppin' My Collar"
Field Mob featuring Ciara "So What"
Pitbull featuring Ying Yang Twins Elephant Man and George Kranz "Shake (Remix)"
Young Jeezy "Trap Star" (I think this is a single this year)
No Lay "Unorthodox Chick"
Remy Ma "Conceited (There's Something About Remy)"

My favorite hip-hop album of the year so far is probably *The Death of a Frequent Flyer* by a Chicago woman/Brother Ali collaborator on the Rhymesayers label named Palm One (for "The Nine," "Macaroni and Cheese," "Rap Star," and "Beat the Drum"), but even that one seems marginal, not to mention sort of undie goody-goody too. But so what.

Hip-hop album I am looking forward to, since I LOVED their other two: Field Mob. Assuming it's coming out. Does anybody know?

Otherwise, if anybody can convince me to give a flying fuck about any of this stuff more than I already do, by all means try to do so.

"Big Apple Rappin': The Early Days of Hip-Hop Culture 1979-1982*
(Soul Jazz)

And that Jeff Chang book is pretty great too, by the way.

"Stay Fly" is great; so is "Poppin' My Collar". But after six months, I still haven't gotten through that fucking album. That's my big problem with hip-hop these days -- Trudging through those 20-song monstrosities is *work*, not fun, especially when, half the time, you have to dig under vocals and lyrics that just get in the way to find the potential future-of-pop beats underneath (not saying that's the case with those particular 3-6 songs, though.) I always figure that there will be a handful of songs I'll like a lot on the Juvenile album, or the Dem Franchize Boyz album, or the E-40 album, or the T.I. album, or the Cam'ron album, or (okay, I'm gonna be toally blasphemous now) the Ghostface album, but it takes me so long to dig through all the useless shit I just give up. (And right, that's partly *my* problem, but it's also a problem with the 20-song monstrosities.) (Mix "tapes" are better and worse because, sure, they often have a few songs that jump out and sound good, but often the songs have nothing to do with each other, and the rest usually sounds inconsequential. So does that means it's a good mixtape or a bad one?) (And all that said, I put Lil Wayne and Mannie Fresh in my top ten last year. I LIKE hip-hop now, just don't love it. Same goes with electronica -- I have nothing *against* the stuff. It's fine.)

-- xhuxk (xedd...), May 15th, 2006.

(Actually, more like 10 months, probably. When did 3-6's CD come out? (And, I mean, I've *played* the damn album; just haven't been able to give a shit listening to it. I always end up with "Why am I expending so much time and effort with this thing? I didn't used to have to do that with hip-hop. And sure, people selling drugs and killing each other {or whatever they're rapping about; what do 3-6 rap about again, once you get past the stuff about staying fly and popping collars?} is interesting, but not *that* interesting, for Crissakes. If I need that stuff, I'll just watch a DVD of *The Wire*.) (Ha ha, in this morning's Times, Kelefah mentioned a new Cam'ron song about irritable bowel syndrome, then asked "Sorry, you were saying you wanted rappers to rap about something different, for a change?" Funny. But hey, I can kinda *relate* to I.B.S., you know?)
-- xhuxk (xedd...), May 15th, 2006.

sweet james jones stories? I was just revisiting this and it's holding up real well ---- lots of sick beats "slow down","everytime" --- I love that part where he theorizes that prescription medications make you die young.

When I first came to ILM thinking about rap music this way (and timbaland neptunes et al) seemed like it was opening up a whole new world of appreciation to me; I'd never thought of Timbaland's beats as different chapters in an auteur's diary, and Tim F's posts on it made me think about music very differently. But what attracted me to rap in the first place was vocals and lyrics over beats, a) the way that monotone just sounds awesome whether it's Mase ripping a disco track or T.I. talking shit over Toomp beats and b) lyrics I connected with, like "Passing Me By" and "Juicy". So just looking for future-of-music beats is fun but if I limited my main appreciation of rap to that sort of thing I would feel so limited.

The new Suga Free is, as expected, kinda disappointing minus DJ Quik. There are a lot of faux-Quik beats on it though and its growing on me. The faux-Quik beats are like unfinished real Quik beats or something; they have a very similar feel but never quite come together, don't have that tenderlovingcare Quik brings to the table. He's still fun though, and funny, in a weird-tangential-rapping way, sort've like Devin the Dude except he's a pimp rapper so I suppose that's kept him from being totally embraced by folks Devin's done well with. Good thing he and Quik are cool again.

As far as rap albums, xhuxk I think this is why folks are confused by yr anti-ipod sentiments. But still no one says you have to listen to a whole rap album. I'd rather have more bounce for my buck.

bird(man) aka #1 stuffa

sorry.

(xpost I've had the Killer Mike thing for a minute and keep putting off listening to it)

Also: Pigeon John and P.O.S. made the best two backpack records of the year easy

xpost pigeon john over the subtle record? i havent heard POS but i really like the subtle (i know im corny) and pigeon john just didnt impress me.

delusions of grander grandeur

Deej - I just got the DJ Quik live cd. It is quite awesome indeed. This: http://www.hiphopsite.com/images/ITEMS/wutangclan-liveonxm.jpg is pretty good too. Not as good as the Quik, but way better than the Rock The Bells '04 one, even if only half the Clan is there.

I listened to the Too Short & Snoop albums too. They're both good, especially Short's. The Snoop is too long and has a few duds but on one listen, it's the best post-Doggystyle Snoop album I've heard. (I haven't heard all of them, so grain of salt, etc.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjDtcefRplQ

i wonder where john went

― anticon jemima (ooo), Tuesday, November 21, 2006 11:17 AM (2 years ago)

he's probably writing a song about us

― my teeth are horrible, I'm gaining weight, I don't understand twelve-tone (dubpl, Tuesday, November 21, 2006 11:18 AM

congratulations to ilm's own thomas tallis for his appearance in weird al's 'white & nerdy' video

― anticon jemima (ooo), Thursday, 23 November 2006 15:32 (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Classic post.

http://www.crailtap.com/c3/newrandoms/1-3-05/hyphy.jpg

my teeth are horrible, I'm gaining weight, I don't understand rolling ringtone

lol

5th yr anniversary bros B-)

never knew scott seward was goon progenitor

respect the architect

B-) B-)

xhuxk used to participate too

respect the ogs

I figured it out btw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZNrIzVTuZQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55xb0LYWqt4&feature=related

hoosteen otm

― and what (ooo), Monday, November 6, 2006 12:45 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark

never forget

eh @"hip hop" tho