I don’t think I really have to talk too much about Lil’ Wayne at this point. So I won’t. The new album is ridiculous and it’s been number one for like a month now. The singles (which I threw down into the bonus area) are great but the real gems are the Kayne produced tracks that are listed below.
Lil’ Wayne - Shoot Me Down
Lil’ Wayne - Let The Beat Build
Bonus:
Lil’ Wayne - Mr. Carter
Lil’ Wayne - Comfortable
Damn I need to get these posts out quicker before they become old news. If you haven’t heard it by now, the new Girl Talk album is pure fire. Just like always you either hate him or love him, but by this point you should have already made up your mind. It’s still crazy to me that in 2008, Greg Gillis can make mash-ups sound fresh and listenable. Plus I just discovered that it’s the best biking music for those nights when the hills are looking bigger and bigger. True, it does make me think of that movie Bring It On sometimes, and when I’m biking up those big hills I can’t help but draw the comparison to being at an aerobics class. However, if you have ever seen one of his live shows you’d know that sometimes to get to the party you need to get a little cheesy first. Also, all through the last album I wished that I could have a track listing to consult with. Luckily, you can find the complete track listing for the new album on the Wikipedia page. I tired to figure out what tracks to post, but it was pretty hard. I think you should just go to the Feed The Animals page (on the Illegal Art website) and download the whole album for free instead.
Girl Talk - Play Your Part (pt. 1)
Girl Talk - Hands In The Air
Girl Talk - Like This
Girl Talk - What It’s All About
Girl Talk - Set It Off
This first Mystik Journeymen album was so sick. It was basically just a mixtape since they released it mostly on cassette if I remember correctly. It had so much soul and emotion on it, and I would listen to it over and over. They’re part of the Living Legends crew now so I think the days of rapping about Top Ramen are over. Before all that though, they used to hustle the tapes outside of Amoeba on Telegraph and pioneered a lot of that fuck-major-label thinking that made the bay area so rad for hip hop in the mid-nineties. Anyways, enough reminiscing.. I just wanted to post ‘Sammy’s Song’ because the track is amazing and I couldn’t find it online anywhere else. Plus it’s really sad and for some reason sad hip hop seems sort of hard to find.
Mystik Journeymen - Sammy’s Song
Mystik Journeymen - Never Forget
Mystik Journeymen - Give It Up
After hearing the Coughee Brothaz track ‘We Gettin’ High’, I came to the conclusion that at some point I’ll need to make a compilation of all my favorite rap songs to get high to. I don’t even smoke that much anymore, but I can still appreciate a song that makes you drop your seat to the back of the car. Damn, I just realized that I should have wrote this while I was high. Oh well, I always come up with my best ideas two seconds too late. Don’t be surprised if we’re having a conversation and I bust out with something funny I thought of from five minutes ago. Anyways, these guys are friends with Devin The Dude from out in Houston and anyone who is friends with Devin is a friend of mine.
Coughee Brothaz - We Gettin’ High
Coughee Brothaz - The More I Smoke
This was one of my favorite indie hip hop records from the mid-nineties. That piano sample is so smooth and lovely. Then that Nas loop comes on and makes sure shit doesn’t sound weak. Plus they name check Alvin Ailey.. ha. It makes me think of getting high and hanging out during the warm summer nights in Boston. I think I must have played this record hundreds of times by now, so I apologize for the bad sound quality. Someone had to upload it though. I think that’s a good rule. You can take as much music as you want from the internet, but if something isn’t up there then you have to add it. Makes sense to me. Anyways, Black Attack has a myspace page I think, but I’m not going to bother linking it. I like to remember them like this, instead of knowing they are still around. Never did find out what record they sampled for that piano. Anyone know?
//photo by shawna enyart
I’m not totally sold on CocoRosie, but I can’t deny that this song is amazing. It sort of sounds to me like old Tricky with Bjork or something. Not even in a cheesy trip hop way, just dark and slow. Plus both Bianca and Sierra have great voices and some charisma to spare. I heard that they give a good live show too. Ha, I just used the words “amazing”, “great” and “good” again for like the 50th review in a row. I need a “fucking” thesaurus.
All three of these tracks deserve their own write up, but I have ADD which means I have to do everything impulsively. So now you get..
Three different tracks and three different emotions to go along with them. The Public Enemy track is off their 2007 release and is one of those feel good tracks. Makes you want to go and do some shit right quick. Then you have Devin The Dude with Snoop and Andre talking about the rap game being hard work. The whole song sounds like an exhale and while it’s upbeat, it’s still pretty mellow. (Andre absolutely kills that track by the way - As he does with every guest spot). Finally Lil’ Wayne picks himself off the floor and manages to mumble half a verse into the mic. Seriously, that shit is hilarious and sad all at the same time. He actually says, “Why did I say that, I dunno..”. I prefer to listen to them all at the same time to get the perfect combination of mood swing.
Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think
Devin The Dude - What A Job (ft. Snoop Dogg & Andre 3000)
Lil’ Wayne - Crank Dat Weezy Wee
Bonus:
Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think (video)
Devin The Dude - What A Job (chopped and screwed)
(I usually don’t like screwed remixes, but this one sounds pretty sick. I can see myself liking this around 4AM.)
I was digging through my records again and I came across these DJ Eclipse remixes I picked up a while back. I searched for them online but couldn’t find them anywhere so I hooked up my turntable and put them up myself. Eclipse is down with Non-Phixion (who I think broke up) and Ill Bill which means he’s been around for a minute. These remixes are all from the ‘94 era of hip hop which I am forever biased towards. Just so lovely.. I should have posted these in the Summer, but just imagine it being nice out and playing that ‘Dedicated’ or ‘One Love’ remix. Wish I was on a stoop with a sweet honey blunt right now.
Nas - One Love (DJ Eclipse Remix)
Funkdoobiest - Dedicated (DJ Eclipse Remix)
O.C. - Born 2 Live (DJ Eclipse Remix)
N-Tyce - Sure Ya Right (DJ Eclipse Remix)
I feel hip hop less and less these days, but here are a couple of tracks that make me click back to the start as soon as the song is over. First off, I’ve talked about Lupe Fiasco before, but dude is the new Kanye for real. Just like Kanye supposedly surpassed Jay-Z after Jay mentored him, Lupe was Kanye’s protege and is now posed to out shine him (remember that CRS track I posted?). Check his rhymes, they are too sick. ‘Riveting is rosy, pockets full of posies’? Did he just say that? Yep. Keep an eye on this one.
The Nas track is just fire as well but I always forget that these days, they come one at a time. No more Illmatics, just Stillmatics that come in white label form and happen like a solstice. Oh well, I’ll take them where I can get ‘em. God’s son flips some Nipsey Russell, and comes up with a track about his start in the game. Watch how the beat drops too, out of nowhere and he just jumps in. Nice.
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