What a musically rich night for the D it was last Thursday! I already knew Wale was going to be in town at The Shelter and bought tickets pretty far in advance just to make sure I didn't make the drive to Detroit for nothing, but as I am driving in I catch wind of a Drake performance at the Majestic. Apparently the line for this show was huge and this surprised me a little. Just goes to show how much Drake has been blowing up lately. The former Degrassi star is everywhere! Unfortunately I was unable to sneak my way into the Drake show after Wale got finished after midnight. Immediately after Wale ended, everyone made fled like shots had been fired to see if they could get into Drake. Almost no one did.
But Wale did not disappoint. The D.C. ambassador brought a live band with him which makes hip-hop shows infinitely more interesting and the setting was cozy and full of some pretty devoted fans despite an official release from the rapper. This video should give you a better feel for the setting. The Shelter is pretty much the basement of St. Andrew's, a larger venue, and the entrance leads you down an alley and to the back of the building, a very hip-hop setting. (See 8 Mile) In fact, Wale rapped the opening verse of 'Lose Yourself'. A few tracks from Wale below.
De La Soul is one of hip-hop's most legendary groups not only because they have produced classics such as De La Soul Is Dead and 3 Feet High and Rising but they have also managed to stay together for two decades now. As a result, they are still putting out music and recently they teamed up with Nike for one of their workout releases. It's no secret that hip-hop makes for good workout/inspirational music. Just ask Michael Phelps what he listened to before he swam in the Olympics and he will tell you Weezy. Coincidentally, ask Phelps what he listens to when he lights up and he will probably have the same answer.
But if you listen to Are You In? while on the Phelps offseason workout plan you may start to feel a little lazy. While not flush with workout references, there are a few instances that may leave fans of De La Soul wondering why they are talking about running so much. And with this being untracked, unless you feel like fast forwarding you will have to deal with it.
Killa's Back! After a long hiatus during which he apparently thought about retiring from hip-hop all together, Cam'ron released his 6th album to date which qualifies (in my mind) as the first big official release of the year. While a good album, it is incredibly hit or miss. As usual, when Cam'ron connects on a track he hits it out of the ballpark and this is clear in a few songs on Crime Pays, most notably 'Never Ever', 'My Job', 'Silky', and 'Get It In Ohio'. While this amount of strong tracks would usually make for a pretty strong album, Cam'ron loads this single disc to the brim with a total of 23 tracks (18 songs). As a result, Cam'ron has his fair share of misses. But after such a long absence, I'm willing to overlook the missteps.
Believe it or not, hip-hop has provided the world with some of the greatest mothers day tracks known to human kind. Today I head home for Mother's Day and is my usual question before I set out on the 2.5 hour drive- what am I going to listen to? Well here is the answer, an assortment of my favorite mothers day tracks will start me off on the right foot.
One thing you have to respect about hip-hop is that it is filled with artists that have almost obsessive work ethics. Say what you want about people like Lil' Wayne as sometimes he leaves a lot to be desired but there is no denying two things. First, he is talented and secondly he's a worker. This is evident simply in the seemingly unstopping torrent of mixtapes from Weezy which have featured some of his best work such as in the unstoppable 'Da Drought 3' and 'Dedication 2'. When Wayne proclaimed in an interview with Fader that his daily routine consisted of waking up, lighting up, and heading to the studio until he went to sleep, he may not have been exaggerating.
Now it seems some (not all) of Wayne's attributes have rubbed off on Young Money protoge Curren$y. Known as primarily a mixtape rapper, he recently delivered his official release appropriately titled This Ain't No Mixtape in case you mistook it for one of the many unofficial releases he rattles off on the introductory track. You have to respect that kind of work ethic and if you do purchase the album here. Lord knows the man has put out his fair share of free work.
The Cool Kids newest mixtape features more of the nostalgia rap that they have become well known for. As usual, the young Chi-town duo come with many 90's hoops and hip-hop references. It's strange how the new thing in hip-hop is getting back to the 'golden age' of the early 90's. Call it post-postmodern hip-hop. Don Cannon is the mixtape DJ on this one so get ready for that gruffy voice and 'THE CANNON-THE CANNON'.
