9clacks has overtaken hiphopearly and genius as my #1 most browsed site.
Anyway, the best songs on the radio at the moment are the following:
Do any of you listen to Radio 1Xtra? Trevor Nelson (10:00-13:00) hosts a game called Five Seconds To Name where he plays a five second mashup of a single artists songs. It's solid. Like literally the hardest game in the world. I managed to get two right this week though (Destiny's Child and Stylo G) so felt like a bit of a boss.
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Girls @ is quality.
Isaiah Rashad came to the uni here but I was delivering pizza.
I've been listening to a lot of old Rocafella stuff over the past week or so. I think it was seeing Beanie Sigel reemerge in that Meek Mill and Game beef that prompted it. So I threw on his first couple of albums, then moved on to the State Property soundtrack, Cam's "Come Home With Me" (I always forget what a great record that is, "Purple Haze" seems to get all the retrospective shine), Freeway's first album. Stuff like that. It's crazy the in-house talent they had back then. Especially when it came to producers. Just Blaze and (to a lesser extent) a young Kanye just steadily supplying everyone with great beats. Just Blaze especially though, he was a machine back then.
They seemed to have such a winning formula in place. Reminds me a little bit of how you see Black Hippy operate now. Really close, talented roster with great in-house producers who don't really have to go outside for any help. It kind of makes me sad thinking about how the whole thing collapsed and can't ever really be put back together. There would be no market for it at all nowadays though, so it's probably for the best.
Also, at some point during all of this I came across this awesome video of ODB in the studio with Pharrell, I would guess not long after he got out of jail and signed with the Roc. They're recording "Pop Shit" from that first Neptunes album.
You can tell how he's obviously a bit insecure about doing his thing (I would guess because he's cleaned up post jail, he seems pretty sober) but once he goes for it everyone just loses it. So good, you can't teach what that guy had.
Danny Brown just dropped his album. I'm a third in and it's a trip.
I'd love him to have recorded a straight soul album, Good Morning Heartache is ace.Originally Posted by Alex
Definitely. I listened to his second album last night after posting that, in fact. I'm not sure if I would say it's better than his debut, but I've definitely listened to it more. Such an interesting record. He could have made a great soul record.
I suppose if you think about it, his sometimes incoherent, half sung/half rapped style is a bit of a blueprint for what a lot of the new guys are doing today, just minus the autotune!
I just started listening to Midnight Marauders about 20 years too late.
Fucking quality album, it is. The whole thing just flows beautifully.
I haven't really kept up with releases recently as Discover Weekly seems to throw up constant bangers these days but this just came up on it.
Nize.
Played this new Danny Brown three times already. Incredible album.
Yeah, I had a day off work today and pretty much all I did was listen to it. I feel like it's really good, on first impression. Better than "Old" I would say, which in itself was a strong album, but probably my least favourite full-length he's put out so far. This one feels way more cohesive, and he seems (at least to me) to have dialled down his cartoon voice to an extent. It was getting a bit unbearable in places on the last album. This just feels like a smarter, better put together record.
Better than/as good as XXX?
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Difficult to say this early. I feel like it is way more consistent and well-produced overall, but slightly lacking the highs that XXX reached.
Ain't It Funny is SOTY though. I got dizzy the first time I listened to it.
I wouldn't say it's as good as XXX, no. It's early days though. The Hybrid is still his best record if you ask me.
Had two Drake tickets in my basket earlier, £144 each. Couldn't justify it.
Should've bought them to sell cos they were gone ten seconds later.
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Long but good.
Terrible name aside, the NO PANTY album, Westside Highway Story, is currently AOTY for me. I'm a massive Joell Ortiz and Nitty Scott MC fan anway, and it's those two along with Bodega Bamz, for a whole album. I was worried Ortiz would bury the other two with his far-superior rapping, but it works well. Bamz is noticeably the weakpoint (from my fanboi point of view, admittedly) but it's well-rounded and some of the beats are ace.
Three of New York’s prominent rappers – Bodega Bamz, Joell Ortiz, Nitty Scott and also along with producer Salaam Remi – have teamed up to form the aspiring super-group NO PANTY. The trio have unveiled their debut project, Westside Highway Story. Produced in its entirety by Salaam Remi, the project is a unique blend of vintage Latin sonics backed by hard-hitting boom bap.
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Offy posted this on fb: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/ar...view.html?_r=0
I really hope it's great.
Apparently I have to log in to see that. What the fuck?
Me too. I really hope the majority of it was worked on and recorded collaboratively when Phife was still alive too.
I think it's almost certainly going to be great. That NY Times article is quality. It really sounds like they did it for the right reasons, so even if its not up there with their best work, just hearing them have fun will be great. Dunno if you guys listened to the new Phife song but its really good. Nothing groundbreaking, but has that classic Phife and Dilla sound which is always a winner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cujUZvwqVjA
Offshore.
Yeah, I'm sure it will be good. And even if it's not particularly great at least it's gotten Q-Tip to emerge from his hole again, which can only be a good thing.
Y'arite, mate.
Listened to Saba - Bucket List Project today. Reminds me of early chance, which is nice given how much of a let down Coloring Book was.
Y'arite, mate.
Listened to Saba - Bucket List Project today. Reminds me of early chance, which is nice given how much of a let down Coloring Book was.
I've been listening to the Saba album as well, definitely a strong effort. You didn't like Coloring Book though? I thought it was great. Maybe his best work.
I don't think it's been the greatest year for Hip-Hop in general, but Chicago has been absolutely killing it. Kanye, Chance, Noname, Mick Jenkins, Saba and then, to top it all off, Common just dropped the best album album he's made in years. He sounds so reinvigorated on it, it's a beautiful thing to hear.
I was never one of these people who thought he totally fell off, but he's definitely been a lack of general effort for the last few years. It felt like the acting was his new main gig and he was just throwing out the occasional album to keep his name out there. This though? Very possibly the best thing he's done since Be. I certainly haven't heard him sound this energised or purposeful since then.
I felt that Coloring Book moved too far away from what I liked about Chance. Angels is a great song, but the trap and autotune vibes just didn't fit for me. I only listened through once, though. I can't help but feel Kanye may have taken some of his best ideas as well, since that's what he does. The Life of Pablo was a bit all over the place, but it had some of his best work to date imo. 30 Hours, Wolves, Real Friends are all incredible, plus Facts and Fade are bangers. The rest of the album varies from meh to very good.
Was anybody else really let down with Blonde? Chance and Frank disappointing wasn't something I thought possible.
It definitely hasn't been the best year, although Atrocity Exhibition was amazing and is Danny's best album imo. So fucking weird. Catching him next week in London, then probably again in Brighton the week after. Then with Tribe, Pusha T and RTJ3 still to come, it'll be a strong finish. Also saw Death Grips a couple of weeks ago and it was fucking insane. Up there with the best gigs I've been to.
I haven't really been listening to hip hop as much, though. Maybe that's because it hasn't been a great year. People like Anderson.Paak, Denzel Curry and so many new guys just don't impress me. Then with an album like M.I.A.'s which is really good but just doesn't bring anything new to the table.
I will say that Swet Shop Boys (Heems & Rizwan Ahmed (bloke from Four Lions)) - Cashmere was really good, though. The beats were great and Rizwan surprised me with how many great punchlines he had. Definitely one of the hip hop albums of the year.
I had no idea Common was releasing anything so I'll definitely check that out.
He does do that.
TLOP definitely was all over the place. It felt more like a mishmash of "these are the various things Kanye has been working on in the last couple of years" rather than an actual, cohesive album. It still had it's fair share of moments of absolute greatness though. Ultralight Beam is probably still the best track of the year for me, and one of the single best things he's ever done.
Atrocity Exhibition is very good. I would say either his second or third best album, I'm not sure. Better than Old though. I've played it a lot.
I'd forgotten that Heems (or Das Racist for that matter) existed. I remember liking a mixtape or two of his after they split. That guy could be genuinely, laugh out loud hilarious with his rhymes sometimes.
I really need to re-listen to that whole tape.
I loved that album. "Yo, bad business a hundred million/Wait, wait, Mike says this should be a song about women." I'd go as far to say he was outshone on the Swet Shop Boys album, though. Either way they've pretty much gone out and made the most Indian hip hop album they could and it worked so well.
Actual hip-hop discussion.
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I ended up writing a little something about hip hop and the presidential debate which escalated into 1,000 words somehow.
https://www.facebook.com/sussexhipho...90925684358510
Nicely done that, Offshore. I definitely agree with the prevailing idea that Hilary is the Hip-Hop choice by default, just because she isn't Trump. There's no real love for her, but you get the impression that people like Jay-Z and Beyonce are mobilising for her this late in the campaign just so they can't be said to have done nothing if Trump does get in.
Bernier Sanders would have been the Hip-Hop choice I guess, he would have gotten a lot of support from the rap community if he got the nomination I think. I know Killer Mike was a big supporter of his. Speaking of which, I saw the other day that he basically told people to stay home and not vote because he didn't feel like either side would work for the black community. I love Killer Mike and I think he's a really smart guy, but I found that a little short-sighted and it worried me a bit.
Also, your mention of Trump references in Hip-Hop tracks immediately made me think of this, which was such a weird and random skit:
All the way back in '98.
Cheers, mate.
I kinda feel like Jay Z is doing it because he loves the idea of being important - as an American gangster or otherwise. Jay and Beyoncé clearly love this idea of hanging around politicians, so I'm not sure how politically motivated that concert was.
Yeah, I think once Run The Jewels endorsed Bernie it had a huge effect. I didn't expect to see Rae Sremmurd of all the groups to be endorsing Bernie.
I've never seen that Method Man skit.
I thought Coloring Book and Blonde were awesome. Did anyone hear Chance showing Zane Lowe his early cuts of Waves and Nina Chop (Famous)? Kanye missed a trick with both of them.
Yeah, they suit Chance so well. Definitely his ideas to begin with.
CyHi's 'lost' FMSH pt. 2 verse is really, really good as well.
Had to be done.
This paves the way quite nicely for YEEZY 2020 as well.
Have you listened to the NOPANTY album, Offy?
Also:
Impressive, even if it wasn't strictly a freestyle.
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Excellent point.
Can you imagine what the debates would be like?
Baz, I watched that earlier. He's really good! Especially when the "Kick in the Door" beat drops, he kicks it up a notch then. Even squeezes a couple of pretty good disses to actual emcees in there.
I like Shia LeBeouf, he always seems like a really interesting, very genuine bloke. Obviously a massive rap head as well.
Also, all really I've done since finishing work today is listen to the new Tribe album on loop. It's really cool. It's hard to say exactly how good it is in the grand scheme of things because I'm still a bit lost in the novelty of it actually existing. But I reckon it's safe to say that it's at least as good as The Love Movement, which in itself is a very underrated album, and therefore a totally worthwhile effort.
Obviously it's a little bit light on Phife and that's understandable, and they build around what they do have from him really well. Q-Tip sounds great. Bringing Jarobi back and getting him to rhyme (he's very good!) was an excellent decision.
I wonder if Shia is any closer to getting his Cage biopic off the ground?
On Tribe, gave it a spin after work. Really good on first listen. Sounds like they've never been away and the guests are well chosen and seamless.
Yeah he's boss. Seen the X-Files with him in yet?Baz, I watched that earlier. He's really good! Especially when the "Kick in the Door" beat drops, he kicks it up a notch then. Even squeezes a couple of pretty good disses to actual emcees in there.
I like Shia LeBeouf, he always seems like a really interesting, very genuine bloke. Obviously a massive rap head as well.
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Agreed, no clue how it will age but I think there are some pretty great songs (Dis Generation for one). I think they succeeded in that it sounds very much like Tribe, but it still sounds pretty current with hip hop.
Their voices have changed in some odd ways though.
No, I don't think I'm that far yet. Season 7 apparently? I'm still in season 6. It's weird how many future famous people show up in the X-Files though.Yeah he's boss. Seen the X-Files with him in yet?
Agreed. They've updated the sound but it's still very quintessentially Tribe. Everything has got that same bounce to it. As soon as the beat dropped on The Space Program (which is a GREAT opener) it was totally evident they were back. Q-Tip is still an excellent producer, I hope he doesn't hibernate again after this.
They've done an excellent job on fleshing it out with the right kind of collaborators too. Just the right amount of Busta Rhymes, for example. Weirdly, the Andre 3000 guest spot it probably the most underwhelming thing on the whole record for me. He usually kills it on guest verses but I think it's a rare swing and miss from him here, that's probably my least favourite track on the whole LP at the minute.
Haven't heard of it. Any good?
It'd be absolute chaos if he went up against Trump. Definitely realistic in this climate, though.Excellent point.
Can you imagine what the debates would be like?
My favourite hip hop album is Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury, by Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Can anyone recommend some other stuff that I might like?
I've never heard of that, but with hip hop its quite easy to find similar music by looking at the producers and features.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michae...ti#Discography
I'd just take a look at all of the albums in the collaborations bit if you're looking for something a bit different.
I haven't heard that @Hammer, but I like Michael Franti. "Yell Fire" and "Everyone Deserves Music" are good albums.
I can't really think of anything similar. Try Atmosphere if you haven't, you might like them.
Listening to it, it's basically an underground Public Enemy. The closest thing that came after it was probably Bay Area rap from 90s onwards.
If you want the more modern era (but way less political) try Ugly Duckling.
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