Life After Death

A couple years back I bought a t shirt proclaiming 'Dilla Lives' shortly after the untimely, tragic, and downright unfair death of the legendary Detroit producer. Of course at the time I thought the message was purely sentimental as I endlessly rolled around playing 'Donuts', the album Dilla recorded on his death bed. 

Little did I realize the t shirt would prove to have a more literal meaning. It turns out that James Yancey's collection of unreleased work was so extensive that many of it is just coming to light now on albums such as Q-Tips The Renaissance released last fall and more recently on Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Part 2, which is already being anointed as a classic. 

J Dilla contributes three beats to Raekwon's tremendously terrifying sequel and the results are three of the better tracks on an album full of great ones. The fact that beats like these are just now getting play three and a half years after his death does two things. It makes me wonder just how many more beats like these he has and further solidifies his position as one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time. It's clear J Dilla's musical legacy isn't even finished forming even if his time on this earth is over. 

Raekwon ft. Inspectah Deck, Ghostface, Method Man- House of Flying Daggers

Raekwon ft. Ghostface- 10 Bricks

Raekwon- Ason Jones

Us

Brother Ali has many gifts. He's a great lyricist, is comfortable in his own skin which seems to elude even the most popular MC's sometimes, and he has one of the most soulful voices in hip-hop. Unfortunately, Brother Ali is a white albino from Minneapolis which leaves him in hip-hop limbo. Besides his cultish following in Minneapolis, not many really know what to make of this man. But when listening to Us, Brother Ali's latest release, you can't help but think how all those physical and regional differences combined with his unquestionable talent has molded him into one of the leading voices of underground hip-hop. 

Listening to this album is personal. By the end of the album you feel like your inside Brother Ali's world as he spends the entire album describing everything from how he parties, to race relations, to buying a new house. By addressing such a wide range of topics Brother Ali does a great job of avoiding some of the common pitfalls of underground rap. His album doesn't get bogged down by a monotonous theme that so many underground albums fall victim to. If he talks about race relations, the next he's talking about how great life is after the birth of his second child, and then right after he goes into telling the story of a rape victim. This gives the album it's honest feel and buy the end I even forget that he's a white albino from Minneapolis, home of the most God forsaken baseball stadium known to man. Despite the Metrodome sabotaging the Tigers, we still escaped with one and now we leave without looking back. 

Brother Ali- Breakin' Dawn

Brother Ali Us

The Salvation

What a couple of weeks it has been for hip-hop music. Big old names, big new names, and smaller new names alike are all bringing forth really solid efforts. By now most know Jay-Z has released the Blueprint 3 to mixed, but mostly positive, reviews and Raekwon has released Only Built For Cuban Linx Part 2, an album some are already calling a classic. There's been some debate over which is better. Personally, and I know you care about my personal opinion, I love them both. There's something to be said about Raekwon making something that sounds like it's straight out of the 90's and there's something to be said about Jay growing to this point in his career. He really is hip-hop's first grown up star. 

Oh yeah, did I mention Kid Cudi released something too?

I'll post more from all this stuff later, but I figured I should start with something a little more under the radar. I've posted a few things from the young Brooklyn MC that goes by Skyzoo but with all the big releases lately I almost forgot about his upcoming debut album. But to Skyzoo's credit, he has knocked Jay, Rae, and Kid Cudi all out of my speakers (albeit for a short while). 

By unanimous decision 

All of them's telling me 

That it's me who can paint true Brooklyn like Shelton Lee

I ain't aim to make a classic

I aim to say what happens

And if the outcome gets praised then blame the havoc

If the outcome gets praised then blame the tragic

My Lord what a line. Combining 'blame hip-hop' viewpoints with the 'hip-hop needs to be hardcore' and shrugging both off. Skyzoo is lyrically on point throughout this album's entirety painting vivid pictures and reminding me why I first fell in love with hip-hop. 

And in case you were worried about production with the debut, have no fears. Just Blaze has a track, 9th Wonder has 5, go-go's greatest Best Kept Secret has one, and for my Detroit peoples Black Milk owns the track titled Penmanship with that haunting Detroit sound. 

Skyzoo- The Opener

Skyzoo The Salvation