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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Negro Please!

"He's smart," Ross said about Eminem not addressing him and avoiding a rhyme battle. "That's what I'm waiting for. That'll be a gift -- a great Christmas present for me...."Like I said, he might wanna do a record with me. We here. Triple C's."

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Rick Ross has mad audacity to even speak of Eminem's name, let alone challenge him or suggest that it's "smart" for Em not to battle Ross lyrically. Mr T. face, this is the same dude always running around in a velour jacket (in many assorted flavors) with nothing but a tanktop underneath, looking real nasty. Negro Please!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Dollarz' Freshman of 2010

Last year XXL Magazine formed a list of 10 up and coming (pause)hip-hop artists that have emerged on the scene to look out for in 2009. That list consisted of Blu, B.O.B, Wale, Currensy, Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, Ace Hood, Mickey Factz, Cory Gunz, and Charles Hamilton.

Now that the end is near for this year I've decided to post my own predictions of the Class of Freshman to look out for in 2010.

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There's no question that Drake deserves to be on this list at the forefront. With two smash singles ("Best I Ever Had" and "Successful" feat Trey Songz) he managed to keep the radio on lock WITHOUT a major backing him and promoting his records. He is now signed with Lil Wayne's Young Money label and set to drop a debut album under Interscope/Young Money.



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Nicki Minaj is another Young Money artist that is very well deserving of a spot in Dollarz' Freshman list. She is the only female really making any noise right now which is a feat in itself since hip-hop is a male-dominated genre. Personally I feel she is beginning to stray away from her original sound and starting to sound more and more like Wayne (not a good look in my opinion). I liked her way better pre-young money, but what she has going is working for her so it's all good.

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OJ da Juiceman is definitely holding it down for the "A" along side Gucci Mane. He's featured on several tracks including Jadakiss' single "Who's Real" (verse was trash lol). His signature adlibs "Aye aye ok ok aye!" have set him apart and gave him a distinctive sound to identify by. The sad thing is you cant help but say it right along with him lol.





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J. Cole is the first artist on Jay Z's Roc Nation label. The Fayatteville, NC native has a more east coast sound than he does southern as he displays in his music. He's without a doubt lyrically inclined and from what I've heard his songs are good as well. NC finally has a frontman to "put on for their city" (no disrespect to Petey Pablo and Rain), Cole is definitely the best to come out of that state thusfar.

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Pittsburgh's own Wiz Khalifa has definitely been making noise this past year. His mixtape "How Fly" alongside one of last year's freshman alumni Currensy has received a good response and has gained him a loyal following. His laid back rhyme style caters to the "backpackers" and his hooks are wavy (free max b). Like Cole, he may be the only one from his particular region to really gain any mainstream buzz and he has been maintaining it.

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Detroit representative Big Sean has bubbled this past year and plans to carry the torch for Kanye's G.O.O.D Music label. He is labelmates with Kid Cudi, which whom made last year's XXL freshman cover, but unlike Cudi, this kid could rap(lol)! ON his "Almost Famous" mixtape he shows his lyrical ability with countless metaphoric bars that lean toward a lyric-driven fan base. His fun sound should attract a younger audience but his lyrics show that he should be able to grow and stay relevant.

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Nipsey Hussle brings that old school West Coast flavor back with definite East Coast influence as well. He is a product of South Central L.A and his content is heavily influence by that environment. He is definitely a vital component of the wave of new gangster rappers and he does it with such flair. He's no slouch with the pen as he shows on "Speak My Language" which features two lyrical giants Cory Gunz (member of 09' XXL Freshman) and G-Unit's Lloyd Banks. Although his gang affiliation is present in his rhymes, it doesnt seem to be glorified which is commendable. West Coast!

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OOWWWWWWWWWWWW! Harlem's own The Wavy Grand Cru King Max Biggavel has definitly made his own lane and took over the streets this past year. With his highly publicized beef with Dipset's Jim Jones, he capitalized off that but not nearly as much as he capitalized off his God given talent. He co-wrote Jim's biggest hit "Ballin" and since their falling out, he has pumped the streets with nothing but "wavy" music. His creativity and innovative style and swagger is what stands out most and keeps him very relevant. He may not be featured in the upcoming XXL Freshman list however because he has just been hit with 75 years in prison for a conspiracy of robbery charge. He has worked heavily alongside French Montana and together they created "Coke Wave", "Coke Wave 2", along with countless other material.

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Another artist with plans to revive the West is Jay Rock. His buzz has grew larger and larger with time and has become one of the main faces associated with the West. His raw and aggressive style will surely contribute to gangster rap and move it forward.

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French Montana of the Bronx has gained the attention of R&B sensation Akon, enough attention and talent for Akon to actually sign him. His Cocaine City street DVDS slowly created a buzz to where he is recognized as an artist instead of just a DVD dude. Alongside Harlem's Max B he has kept his name relevant and scored a deal with Konvict Music.

These are my predictions for the 2010 XXL Freshman Cover and I feel all of these artists are very well deserving of appearing on the cover. In my opinion, hip hop is moving to a beautiful place, because with the exception of OJ these artists are all LYRICISTS! Well you will seldom hear Frenchy blow you away lyrically but there is some substance at times (lol). Remember where you heard it FIRST!

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Saturday, August 15, 2009

Onslaught 2

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This title of this blog is my favorite joint off the self-titled debut album from Slaughterhouse. . .This supergroup consists of 4 artist (Joe Budden, Royce da 5'9, Crooked I, and Joell Ortiz) whom I believe are MAD talented but have yet to reach their full potential. Despite prior label woes suffered by the individuals of Slaughterhouse, they've been able to gain major internet followings due to the quality music they've developed. I feel this group will definitely help bring back what hip-hop has seemed to have left behind, lyrics. This group will certainly be beneficial to each of their individual careers as well. Personally, I have always been a fan of both Joe Budden and Joell Ortiz but I wasn't very familiar with Crooked I and Royce da 5'9. By them forming this lyrical conglomerate, I've found out that Royce and Crook are dope lyrically and made me more interested in their music. This can only make their fanbase grow due to fans of each being exposed to the others in the group. Another cool thing about the group is they make listening fun for the fans. On any given song, a debate can arise about who had the best verse. Of course certain fans will be more biased toward their favorite member, but they all GET BUSY so there isn't always an obvious answer to who had the dopest verse.

Heres the song "Onslaught 2" (which I believe Joe had the illest verse), but its up to you to decide. They definitely ALL went in.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Flashback Joint: Jae Millz

Came across this joint thats a little bit over year old called "The Dopest" with ya man Millz flossin real HEAVY, GUCCIED DOWN



That beat is crazy. . .

Monday, August 10, 2009

Wiz Khalifa and Currensy: How Fly

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Pittsburgh's Wiz Khalifa and New Orleans' CurrenSy The Hot Spitta have composed a mixtape displaying their "fashion forward" rap styles and has been longly anticipated by their fans. CurrenSy was formerly a member of Lil Wayne's Young Money and has collaborated with a younger Wiz Khalifa in an effort to maintain the heavy internet buzz that they've both earned.

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DOPE: "The Life" is the HARDEST track on this WHOLE PROJECT! The eerie dark production kept my head nodding consistently (timeout). The stellar production of this song sort of sets it apart from others in a good way. Wiz keeps up with Spitta lyrically which makes for a great performance. It is not often you hear these two on this type of beat and they both delivered exceptionally well. The only flaw of the song was the LACK of verses, it kept the audience in need of more!! "Over the Building" discusses the haters and suggests that they should be disregarded due to the success that both of these artists have attained. Both artists perform equally well as far as the bars are concerned and Wiz comes thru with a great hook which makes for another exceptional song. Other standout tracks include "Checkpoint"and "Car Service"(both songs have been leaked prior to release of "How Fly"). The following songs are also solid efforts from Spitta and Wiz due to the substance of both of them. Both "Planes" and "Drunk Dialing" focus on their female audience. These tracks highlight there ability to make conceptual records with an actual point and meaning behind them.

Weak: Main problem with "How Fly" is the lack of bars on each song and it ultimately having only 15 SONGS on it. This is a mixtape! Designed to give the fans that fix they've been fiending for. Fans deserved more of that potent product, ESPECIALLY since there was such a delay which only built more anticipation for this project. "All Over" was an utter failure concerning both the production and lyrics. I had to play it OVER and OVER several times to critique it. While it was playing I FORGOT IT WAS ON! Very boring and forgettable. Tracks like "In the Middle" and "Layover" are both mediocre possibly because CurrenSy's verse was first and Wiz's following verse didn't quite keep the WAVE flowing. Spitta should definitely be the one to finish the song since he is the VETERAN of the duo and more seasoned lyrically. Wiz should begin the song strongly, delivering the jabs in order to set up CurrenSy for the knockout!

CONCLUSION: Overall CurrenSy had the lyrical edge but Wiz didn't seem to fall far behind. Each of there flows work well with the production. CurrenSy shows experience and that he is more of a seasoned artist lyrically and excels with his delivery. Lines like " flow sick I need a checkup, I flow sick thats how i got my checks up" display Currensy's clever way with words. But of course this isn't competition between the two. Their collective efforts compliment eachother well and where one lacks the other picks up and fills in greatly. The best songs occurred when Wiz made the hook and both teamed up appropriately and delivered quality BARS. The production fits the overall theme of of the "How Fly" tape and each artists' dinstinctive style. The duo is at their best when Wiz sets the tone with a strong verse and CurrenSy sprinkles that adobo spice to it at the end. Overall this project has a smooth feel and fans of either or both artists should be satisfied with efforts aside from how SHORT each song was.

3.75 of 5 = Solid effort but needed more verses and songs.

Judge for yourself.



Check video out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz0as4Y1UQk

Lebron New Kicks! Tough!

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Lebron James Nike Air Max VII

Them joints is MEAN! Looks like Lebron is stepping his game up off the court and one step closer to his dream of being the first BILLIONAIRE athlete. . .I dont know about anyone else but I would rock those on AND off the court. Yes

Check out this video

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Thoughts on Joe Budden Vs. Raekwon

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Being a big Joe Budden fan, I was actually in his live chat (via Blogtv) when all of this transpired. Mickey Factz was in front of the camera talking to the fans when suddenly Raekwon came in accompanied by 5 people. Initially it seemed they were coming in peacefully because they dapped Mickey Factz as well as Joe Budden. But. . .as Rae began to talk ,it wasnt hard to tell that he had brought some negative energy with him. I noticed that one of the members of Rae;s entourage came in with a camera, at that point I knew something was going to go down and that they came with a certain motive in mind. I cant quote EXACTLY on what he said, but he kept asking Joe about a preceding vlog (video blog) that he made concerning Methodman and the rest of the Wu. At that point i was fully aware of what he was referring to yet Joe acted as if he didnt know what Rae was talking about. Rae had alot of aggression inhis voice and the movement of his hands indicated that he was upset. . . During this whole encounter between the two, Mickey directed the camera toward the both of them with a slight smirk on his face (lol). Joe's voice was low as if he didnt want the fans to hear what he was saying or because he may have been nervous or just trying to figure out whats happening since it all was so sudden . Then he made a hand signal to Mickey basically ttelling him to end the live broadcast, and then the connection was lost. . .

Personally, I already knew what was going to happen. . .I actually had a feeling that Rae was gonna snuff him on camera! And as I expected. . .my assumptions were correct and Joe broadcasted live with an ice pack on his eye (lol). . .He explained what happened and basically a member of Rae's entourage hit him.

The thing that kills me about Joe is he always acts like he doesnt know whats going on like people are crazy to act the way they do and that he does nothing wrong. Im not condoning what Rae and his entourage did, because I thought it was kinda corny, but I do understand why. . . On an apology video Joe made to Meth. . he clearly said anyone associated with Meth from this point on that feels like they can say his name is gonna cause the peace treaty to be over and that there would be nothing Royce or Crook could do or say to prevent him from handling it accordingly. . . With that being said, I feel when Rae asked him what he said, Joe should of just kept it 100 and told him how he felt about everything, but who knows maybe at that time Joe didnt know what he was talking about, but I highly doubt it, anyone thats familiar with Joe and follows him as an artist knows that Joe is far from dumb. Rae's comments about him "being the type to call police" came off as disrespectful so I understood why Joe reacted the way he did.

Miss info covered the story the best out of all the sites so check this link out for more details

http://www.missinfo.tv/index.php/what-lead-to-the-raekwon-and-joe-budden-altercation/

Here's a link to Mickey Factz explaining whats happened



Update (August 10th) - Founder and owner of "Rock the Bells" said both parties were able to put their differences aside. . .Check out the XXLMag.com Article

http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=54347

Another Update (lol) - I tuned in Joe's live stream via Blogtv and he reported that those claims by the founder and owner of "Rock the Bells" were false and that he and Rae were never in the same room squashing the beef. He says that its quite the contrary and that the only way this issue will be resolved is when Rae accpets his challenge to a "squaredance" aka one on one fight. According to Joe, Rae dismissed the challenge and doesnt want to fight. Joe insists that he will not stop baiting Rae into the fight until it happens and that once it happens he wont even speak of it. . .

p.s In his live stream he also said " the nigga punched me in my face, and threw the "icewater" bandana on me like he caught a body or something" LMFAO (not really relevant, but I thought it was hilarious)

Check out Joe Budden's blog via Youtube (username - cheah201) entitled "Updated: Squaredance"

Friday, August 7, 2009

Battle: Tay Rock vs. Charlie Clips

B'More's Tay Rock vs. Harlem's Charlie Clips!



Its up to the viewer to determine who wins, but its pretty clear to me who won. . .

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Tay Rock had some hot metaphors and his flow was good money but ya man Charlie was SPAZZING on him! ! !

Despit my opinion of who won the battle, I was still impressed with Tay Rock and decided to look more into him as a rapper. . . I looked him up on youtube and he has several battle footage up. . .the majority of it was when he was ONLY 16, but he was killin dudes! ! !



One thing I noticed was how agressive he was in those battles and how he lacked that same intensity during the battle with Charlie Clips. . . I'm assuming that the battles posted on youtube all took place in his hometown of Baltimore, so that may explain the difference of energy, being that the battle with Charlie Clips took place in Harlem. . . I'm certainly not taking anything away from Charlie because his punchline were CRAZY and i feel even if Tay Rock was more aggressive I feel Clips would have won regardless. . . BUT I DO feel that Rock would have a better chance if he incorporated more of that GRITTY, GRIMEY aggression that he had in prior battles. . . that energy is always condoned in this lane of hip-hop . . . now that I've talked to you to death (lol) check out these links of Tay Rock's prior rap battles. . .

Rock Goes 2nd in Both





You see the aggression? Yeahhhh

Tay Rock 09 Freestyle (He's only 21)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B08ttYHJDVE

Mixtape on my Mind: Young C

Frontman of The Young Gunz is shuttin it down!

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The Philly representer's mixtape entitled "The Network" shows he goes in with the lyrics and with an innovative flow

Arguably one of the best Philly has ever produced, he's joined by fellow Philly rappers Beanie Sigel, Peedi Crakk (Free Peedi), Black Thought of The Roots, Neefbuck of Young Gunz, up and coming (timeout) artist Tu Phace, as well as R&B artist Rell

XXL Freshman Wale and Currensy also join him on this project

Enjoy.

Little Brother is DOPE!

Being one that prides himself in my heavy interest in what i like to call "real" hip hop, I am disappointed in my self DEEPLY, for me to JUST learn that LITTLE BROTHER IS DOPE!!!

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9th Wonder is a freak with the production and his soulful samples are crazy! Personally, his beats take me back to that 90's feel with hip hop. . .I feel he is so dope that if you DONT have a 9th Wonder track on your album. . .YOU ARE NOT HIP HOP!!! Categorize yourself with another genre if you never spit over or actually worked directly with a 9th Wonder beat. . .lol

Phonte and Big Pooh lock in with the bars and shows actual substance lyrically. . .the South(North Carolina)has some spittas!!

p.s I found that 9th Wonder is no longer witht the group but the following video is when they were all together. .

Check out the video that introduced me. . .


Thursday, August 6, 2009

Honey of the Week

Ms. Nicki Lewinsky!

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Nicki Minaj

Shorty is bad!!! But she also can spit which makes her more than just eye candy.

When you can LOCK IN on a classic such as "Warning" by Notorious B.I.G. . .you got something going for you. . .She's currently the only female really relevant in this male dominated genre and she's not leaving anytime soon...(now lets see how long it takes to release her debut, since Drake has the game in a smash right now)

Clipse!

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Best Duo Ever!!

Was recently listening to "Keys Open Doors" and forgot how dope it is!! The metaphors are ridiculous and their flows over a Neptunes track works every time..

Their real crafty with the metaphors and its definitely rap geared toward the "thinking audience". . . some of you should proceed with caution LOL

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack. . .

Been gone for a minute, but I've returned to bless you with the thoughts of a genius (ME!!)

Really diggin what Wale been doing musically

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Check this tape ENTITLED: Back to the Feature,MOSTLY produced by 9th Wonder, its TOUGH!

This mixtape has several different artists on it doing their thing! Well the title of the mixtape gives that away obviously, like Nas would say "It Aint Hard To Tell"! Some of the more popular appearances include 3 of the 4 members of Slaughterhouse (Joe Budden, Royce da 5'9, and Joell Ortiz), new Roc Nation artist J.Cole, 1/2 of Blackstar Talib Kweli, 1/2 of UGK..Bun B, Young Chris and Freeway of State Property and Currensy (former Young Money member)

All of these artists provide stellar lyrical performances and give diversity to this project.

Wale definitely displays that he has BARS and shows promise by contributing to LYRIC DRIVEN HIP HOP!!

Enjoy.