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

Coastin'

Some West Coast stuff. My listening relationship with Zion I has been a strange one. Back when I was first getting into hip-hop at the start of high school I was heavy into their first release 'Mind Over Matter' and I really like their album 'Deep Water Slang'. Then for whatever reason they just sort of fell off the map for me and I got into some other areas of hip-hop. I kept tabs on them and checked in once and a while but I started to get away from strictly underground music. 

Don't get me wrong I love underground hip-hop as it often provides a vastly different voice from the often hyper-consumption driven mainstream counterpart. But at the same time those kind of 'conscious rap' themes of rebellion and down with the man can get tiresome listening to 24-7. Besides anybody not digging Jay-Z saying 'I'd rather live enormous than die dormant' and has to get their head checked. My point is you need a balance of these seemingly divergent sub-genres depending on mood, time and place. 

But this Zion I song is so good it fits into every mood, time and place. And the video is a beautiful thing as well with all it's sustainable technology and oh so smooth feel. Has to make my man Van Jones proud (middle finger up for Fox News; you're still going against those commies? Really?)

Zion I- Coastin'

Wale In Detroit

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. 

Wale ft. Lady GaGa- Chillin'

Wale ft. Black Thought, Peedi Crakk, Young Chris, Tuphace- Hot Shyt

Wale- Gotta Be Magic

Are You In?

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. 

De La Soul Are You In?

Crime Pays

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. 

Cam'ron- Silky

Cam'ron- Never Ever

Cam'ron Crime Pays