Albums I listened to this week [4/3/2011]

Guce - Pill Music: The Rico Act, Vol. 1

Masta Ace & Ed O.G - Arts & Entertainment

Nas & Damian Marley - Distant Relatives

Choclair - Ice Cold

Rick Ross & Plies - Goon Music

R.B.L. Posse - A Lesson To Be Learned

Krayzie Bone - Volume 5: Lyrikul Assassin

Albums I listened to this week [7/27/08]

The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale EP [2008]
This is a funky little hip hop gem. "What Up Man" starts off the EP with a track composed primarily of human-produced beats, including a voice repeatedly saying "bass" and "clap." As the song says, "did you know I made this beat with my mouth and a bell / Just an FYI." The rest of the beats provide a consistent amount of boom-bap funk.

Since The Bake Sale is an EP it only provides ten songs - but it's a strong ten songs. I will definitely be looking for more material from these kids.

Highlights:
- "What Up Man"
- "One Two"
- "Mikey Rocks"
- "Black Mags"
- "A Little Bit Cooler"
- "Gold And A Pager"
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Nas - Untitled [2008]
After all of the back and forth about the controversy surrounding the album's title, I was concerned that I would be underwhelmed by the actual music. If anything, I was under-prepared. Nas brought it.

Nas focuses much of his attention on social and political topics such as the "N-word," mass media outlets such as Fox News and Senator Obama's run for the presidency. Moreover, the beats are not lacking. The album includes production by:

- Jay Electronica
- Cool & Dre (Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Goodie Mob, Twista, Lil Wayne, Christina Milian)
- Polow Da Don (Pussycat Dolls, Ciara, Ludacris, Will.I.Am, Fergie)
- stic.man of dead prez
- Salaam Remi (Fugees, Canibus, Ludacris)
- Mark Ronson
- DJ Green Lantern

Highlights:
- "You Can't Stop Us Now"
- "Breathe"
- "Hero"
- "Sly Fox"
- "N.I.*.*.E.R. (The Slave and the Master)"
- "Y'All My N*gg*s"
- "We're Not Alone"
- "Black President"
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Fatt Father - You Are The Father
Fatt Father hails from Detroit, which is apparent in his lyrics as he states that he'll ride for the D, argues that Proof of D-12 did not instigate the incident that led to his death, and indicates that he wants to get Swifty McVeigh of D-12 to stop drinking.

While his claims that he is "picking up where Big left off" may be a stretch, his flow and the underlying tracks have some definite appeal. I'm surprised how many top notch beats are making their way onto mixtapes. Why aren't these beats showing up on radio singles somewhere? (Specifically, the simple but enchanting "I Know.")

Of course, the mixtape includes the obligatory freestyle over 50 Cent's "I Get Money." It seems every mixtape includes a freestyle over that or Lil' Wayne's "A Milli." There's also a remake of T-Pain's "Bartender" that is definitely not an improvement on the original.

Highlights:
- "Blah Blah Blah"
- "Fatts Freestyle"
- "I Know"
- "Green Light"
- "Late @ Night"
- "Detroit Playaz" (featuring King Gordy and utilizing the beat and a sample from Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize")
- "Foe Tha Hood"
- "Would It Be Nice"
- "Right Now"

Albums I listened to this week [6/29/08]

Mutek - The Remixes
I can't even remember where I found this. I've tried to find out more about Mutek, but can't find very much. In fact, I am wondering whether Mutek is actually a magazine as opposed to a person. If you know, let me know.

Essentially, this is a compilation of ten remixed Hip-Hop tracks. Most of the beats on these remixed tracks sound like the type of tunes you'd hear during a Sunday brunch at a lounge with a live jazz band. The artists remixed on this album include: Nas, Beastie Boys, Gang Starr, Big Daddy Kane, Common, MF Doom, Skee-Lo, Crooklyn Dodgers, and Outkast.

Based on this album, I would definitely check out more of Mutek's remix work.

Highlights: "Nas Is Like [Mutek Remix]" and "Sure Shot [Mutek Remix]."
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Killah Priest - The Offering [2007]
Killah Priest is one of the more cerebral MCs in Hip-Hop. I definitely learned that after listening to View From Masada [2000], Heavy Mental [1998] and Black August [2003]. The Offering does not veer from this standard.

The album utilizes a massive amount of religious and/or spiritual references. For example, "Uprising" contains references to: The Beast; Three 6's; Christ; disciples; Bible scriptures; the Gate (referring I believe to Heaven's Gate); the pits of hell; and archangels.

Guest artists include: Nas, Hell Razah, Immortal Technique, Ras Kass, Canibus, and Kurupt.

Highlights:

• "How Many?"
• "Happy"
• "Priesthood"
• "Standstill" (featuring Bloodsport and Immortal Technique)
• "Inner G" (featuring Ras Kass, Kurupt and Canibus)
• "Gun 4 Gun" (featuring Nas)

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The Herbaliser - Blow Your Headphones [1997]
Herbaliser's album features repeat appearances by a female MC known then as "What?What?" (who many now know as Jean Grae). However, most of the tracks are of the instrumental variety, usually with a trip-hop or jazzy feel. Decent, but for instrumental Hip-Hop, I prefer Nicolay, Ayatollah, Nujabes, DJ Shadow and J. Dilla. Nonetheless, the album was solid and I'd probably check for another Herbaliser album.

Highlights: "Another Mother."
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LMNO and Kev Brown - Selective Hearing [2008]
I first heard about Kev Brown when he remixed Jay-Z's Black album, calling his version The Brown Album. He also contributed quite a bit to Jazzy Jeff's album, The Magnificent. His beats were consistently jazzy and smooth. He brings the same style to this selection.

This album gets bonus points from me by offering an instrumental version of all of the tracks. The album has 11 full tracks (with vocals and instrumentals) followed by the instrumentals of the same 11 tracks. THANK YOU!!!! Why don't other artists do this more often? This is so much wiser than putting together 11 nice tracks and 11 sorry filler tracks just to reach a 60 - 70 minute album.

Highlights:

• "Who's That?" (which samples Charlie Brown from Leaders of the New School's verse on "Case of the P.T.A." - "Who's that? Broooowwwwwn" - works perfectly for a Kev Brown song.)
• "Selective Hearing"
• "We Got This" featuring Oh No

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Nas & Phil Collins - Phillmatic
Full disclosure: I'm a sucker for 80's pop music and I'm a sucker for blend remixes. This album hits both on the head.

Sometimes I forget how many classic Phil Collins songs exist: "Land of Confusion," "In The Air Tonight," "Sussidio," "Against All Odds" and "Take Me Home" just to name a few. On this mixtape, Phil Collins vocals are blended with Nas beats while Nas vocals are mixed with Phil Collins (or Genesis, a group that included Phil Collins) instrumentals.

For the most part, the mashup works well. There are a few tracks that seem awkward because the vocals don't match the track or because the mixing gets sloppy. But these occasions are the exception rather than the rule. Listening to this album made me want to reconnect with some old school Phil Collins and Genesis. Moreover, it made me want to hear more from the DJs involved in this mixtape: DJ Crazy Chris, Simon Sez, Chong Wizard, and DJ Sixteen.

Highlights:

• "One Mic" lyrics (Nas) mixed with "In The Air Tonight"
• "Tonight Tonight Tonight" lyrics (Phil Collins) mixed with "Made You Look," "I Can," "If I Ruled The World," "Thief's Theme," "Dr. Knockboots," and "Nas Is Like."
• "Invisible Touch" lyrics (Phil Collins) mixed with "Ether."
  
• "Affirmative Action" lyrics (Nas) mixed with "Hold On My Heart."
  
• "That's All" lyrics (Phil Collins) mixed with "Halftime," "Phone Tap," and "Street Dreams."
• "Made You Look" lyrics (Nas) mixed with "I Missed Again."
  
• "Land Of Confusion" lyrics (Phil Collins) mixed with "Rule," "You Owe Me," "You Know My Style."