B.o.B.

I've been listening to him a lot lately, particularly his mixtape. There have been two standout tracks that I have had on heavy rotate lately. He keeps with the martian theme that is so prevalent today, but does it more so in the Outkast vein than the Lil' Wayne 'I'm on every drug known to man and am in my own world' vein. He is after all from Atlanta, and I'm a sucker for that southern drawl. Here's the mixtape in it's entirety. 

First we have this song 'Generation Lost'. I love the flow on this song and it goes well with the beat. 

B.o.B.- Generation Lost

This song is with the current King of the South T.I. 

B.o.B. I'm That N...a

New York City

In honor of my upcoming trip to NYC I created a nice playlist full of hip-hop from the city that never sleeps. However, as I realized how extensive my playlist had become I started to break it down into a playlist for each borough. So I thought I'd give you my top 5 songs from each borough (minus Manhattan). Let's start it out with the birthplace, the Bronx. 

Bronx- Home of the Yankees, but more importantly the birthplace of hip-hop. Just leave it at that. 

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five- The Message

KRS-One- The Bridge Is Over

Afrika Bambaataa- Planet Rock

Big Pun- Beware

Dr. Octagon- Earth People

Brooklyn- The hardest borough to pick 5 from. I'll limit myself and try to do some things a little off the map. 

Notorious B.I.G.- Juicy 

Jay-Z- U Don't Know

Ol' Dirty Bastard- Shimmy Shimmy Ya

Jeru the Damaja- My Mind Spray

Big Daddy Kane-Ain't No Half Steppin' 

Harlem- Not being a fan of Dipset lately, I had to reach back for some stuff from this borough. 

Kurtis Blow- The Breaks

Biz Markie- Biz Is Goin' Off

Big L- Put It On

Cam'ron- Harlem Streets

Mase- Feel So Good

Queens- A very underrated borough. While there are certainly better Run and Nas songs, these two I've been feeling lately. 

A Tribe Called Quest- Check the Rhyme

Nas- Nas Is Like

Run D.M.C.- Down With The King

Mobb Deep- Survival of the Fittest

LL Cool J- Mama Said Knock You Out

Long Island-  I never realized two of hip-hop's most influential group were from Long Island. 

Erik B. and Rakim- Paid In Full

Public Enemy- Don't Believe The Hype

Busta Rhymes- Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See

De La Soul- Wonce Again Long Island

MF Doom- ?

Staten Island- Wu-Tang dominated.

Wu-Tang Clan- C.R.E.A.M.

Raekwon- Ice Cream

Ghostface Killah- The Champ

Method Man and Redman- Da Rockwilder

Ghostface Killah- Cherchez LaGhost

Brooklyn Go Hard

New Jay-Z, and if that wasn't enough, Kanye West produced. This song is reminiscent of Swagger Like Us as Kanye calls on a Santogold sample, who is more and more appearing as an M.I.A. All she needs to do know is be pregnant in a couple years and their career paths may be completely the same. 

While Jay-Z adopts some what of a Jamaican accent/Lil' Wayne flow on the first verse, the second is classic Jay. 

I father I Brooklyn Dodger them I jack I rob I sin

Aw man I'm Jackie Robinson

Except when I run base I dodge the pen

Lucky me luckily they didn't get me

Now when I bring the Nets I'm the black Branch Ricky

Jay-Z- Brooklyn Go Hard

But anyways, this track will be featured on the Notorious soundtrack, which is reportedly supposed to be a good film. From what I've heard, the man that plays Biggie does a fine job. Check the trailer here.