The biggest news of the last 24 hours seems to be the announcement that R&B Goddess Jhene Aiko and Detroit rapper Big Sean are dropping an EP this Friday, April 1st titled Twenty88, which is a spin on both artist's birth years (1988) and ages (28). Now there is some speculation on the release date being April Fools, but if you know Jhene, she definitely has a heart enough to not pull a fast one on her fans. Because then she knows I'd cry and... never mind. Check out the 2 promo videos below. You can also check out their Twitter for any updates @twenty88.
Denzel Curry had never hit my radar screen until Imperial came out about 3 weeks ago. I had no idea what to expect from him or his latest project, because admittedly yes, Imperial was my first listen of anything from the Carol City, Florida rapper. Is Carol City heavy gang territory? Somebody can answer me this question right? Because based on this guy's music and persona, he's seemed to have lived quite a hard and strenuous lifestyle.
Now remember what I said about not doing full on album reviews anymore? This will be no different, just a few highlights of the tracks I like. Anyways, Denzel hits it off on the right track (if you will) on the opening number, "ULT", which Denzel later defines as meaning "ultimately til infinity". The wavy introduction instruments sound like something you'd only hear watching a power ranger morph, or watching the Joker become the Joker, or... you know, etc. "ULT" makes a hell of a statement as an opening track and makes you want more of what Denzel has to offer, and Denzel gives it to you.
Some tracks that Denzel takes you through on Imperial sound like some tracks that belong on a horror movie soundtrack, the perfect example of this being the signature gang banging sound on "Sick & Tired", where the hook describes the haunting realities of living in the hood and fearing for your life every day. Another one that gives this "300 hundred deep" feeling is "Narcotics", a track where Denzel tries to dispel the rumors that all blacks "serve narcotics." This track bumps and is something you could play at a party, but I'm not the biggest fan of the message, and the "all these crackers thinkin' that a nigga serve narcotics" line is not exactly something that is going to progress the thinking and ideas of the U.S., or anywhere for that matter.
Denzel definitely knows how to tell a story, which is harder to find with the bigger artists nowadays, and he gives some interesting stories in "Story: No Title", and even vents a little bit in some more genuine songs like "Pure Enough" and "This Life" (where he makes even an open book song sound like a banger). The Joey Bada$$ feature on "Zenith" is definitely a highlight of the tape, and that ear slapping snare makes for the perfect ambiance of a Joey Bada$$ verse. The hook is catchier than catching either artist on a zenith, and both rappers do their respective "things" on the track.
(*I do not own these videos, songs, or the rights to them*)
Overall, Curry's project does have some bangers and some tracks that partiers would love. The project is solid overall, but not much more than just "solid". He impressed me on a few songs lyrically, the beats were good (although not great), but I've never been the biggest fan of dudes glorifying and promoting the street and gang lifestyle. This new generation of "Chi-raq" types of dudes seem to force their hardened lifestyles onto the masses, and ultimately make it cool to be a part of these gang activities, or make gang and street lingo the thing to be a part of. I really don't like to be the old (22 year old) man preaching about how rap was, but it seems the difference between the "okay" artists and the "great" artists is that the "great" artists always give the impression that there is a way out of that lifestyle, while the "okay" artists claim that it's all they know, and don't attempt to show growth and maturity, even over time. So when it comes down to the musical aspect of things, Curry's project was absolutely rock solid, the music was good, but would I use this project as an example for artists coming up who want to be "great"? Probably not.
For such a long time Detroit emcee Royce Da 5'9 was living in the shadow of Eminem, but in just the last 2 years or so (still with no new Slaughterhouse album in sight, we're getting impatient guys) Royce has stepped into the limelight by himself with some incredible guest features, and not to mention the critically acclaimed joint album with DJ Premier, PRhyme. With Royce's new Layers album on the horizon (which is set for an April 15th release date), Royce's first solo album in 5 years, it's going to be interesting to see how Royce has evolved from Success Is Certain to now, because the title Layers can only mean one thing; we haven't quite gotten to know the real Ryan Daniel Montgomery yet. Here's 4 things I want from Royce's newest Layers album.
"Niggas dissed Marshall after they copy his whole reference, like we won't send an actual firing squad to they studio, that'll Basquiat they whole session"
Now seeing as it's Royce, obviously he's going to bring the bars, and if you know Royce you know DAMN WELL he's going to keep the riff raff in check (not the rapper, obviously, although I'm sure he'd have no problem saying something if it came down to it). Royce is already creating a buzz around his newly released song "Dead President Heads", with rumors that he's dissed J. Cole for mentioning Eminem's name in Cole's song "Fire Squad", but if you've ever heard Royce speak of the newer young guns that he respects in the game today, Cole would be one of the first names to come out of his mouth, probably right next to Kendrick. Royce wasn't dissing Cole, it seems all Royce was doing was keeping the competitive riff raff alive in hip hop that he and his Bad Meets Evil brethren Eminem love to do so much.
Great Story Telling
By the looks of the track listing for Layers, we might be getting a story telling type of album from Royce. It's probably too early to tell, but when the album starts off with the very descriptive and narrative-like first single "Tabernacle", we might actually get to really know Royce a bit more than we've gotten to know him in his last albums. And seeing as "Tabernacle" is just a taste of his story telling abilities (see also "On The Boulevard" and "Security" off of Royce's last solo album Success Is Certain), Layers could be quite an informative listen for fans.
Better Production
Now the real hip hop heads would tear me to shreds once they read what I'm about to say, but I'm really hoping for some better production on Layers. Obviously Royce is always one to do his thing no matter what the beats sound like, and working with DJ Premier is a win for a lot of fans, but I wasn't entirely impressed with the beats on PRhyme. With the newest Royce leaks ("Tabernacle" and "Dead President Heads") I'm already sensing that this album's production will top Royce's last 2 (PRhyme and Success Is Certain), so Royce is stepping in the right direction. Go ahead and call me crazy for not being impressed with PRhyme's beats, but we all know that Royce and Premo are hip hop to the core. Sometimes the DJ scratches and the old vocal samples (not to disparage sampling altogether) can be too much for albums, I say bring in the 808s and do your thing over those Royce! (It's a horrible guilty pleasure, but I do love it, and I'm sure nobody else could argue; 808s get people moving.)
LET'S GET SOME GOD DAMN SLAUGHTERHOUSE MUSIC!
(*I do not own these songs, videos, or the rights to them*)
Okay so this last point might be a bit of a lashing out by yours truly, but I WANT SOME FUCKIN SLAUGHTERHOUSE MUSIC! HAVEN'T YOU MADE PEOPLE WAIT LONG ENOUGH? WHAT'S THE POINT?! The last little bit of news dropped about the mythical Glass House album was around January, and Crooked I was quoted as saying that Slaughterhouse will drop the album "when the game needs it." WHAT KINDA PROPHETIC BULLSHIT IS THAT?! Even a collaboration every now and then is good to hold people over, but this is starting to get really Shady guys (pun intended). New Royce, Joe, Joell and Crooked solo albums are great, but they just don't compare to the chemistry that all 4 have on a track. This "Voltron" crew looks like it's starting to fall apart, but I really hope I'm wrong. No word on whether the album is coming this year, all that they say is that "it's coming." Don't let this become another Detox situation fellas. Anyways, Layers looks to be another solid project from Royce, and we'll get to see how he's going to shift the game again on April 15th.
Something must be wrong with hip hop today because the Gods are sending in some heavyweights (and in this guy's case, quite literally). LL Cool J took to Twitter yesterday to say he's officially coming out of retirement and he'll be recording a new album! Check out the tweet right here.
What do y'all think? Does LL still have what it takes to bust some heads? By the look of those arms, I'd say yes.
I know, I know exactly how you internet fiends get. "Are you serious you're just NOW listening to that? I've been on that since the millisecond it came out!" Okay, so I haven't exactly been up to date on the newest and most dope shit lately, but when I see dopeness, I'm most certainly going to point it out. One of J. Cole's Dreamville protégé's Bas has been on the come up for a minute, but it seems like Too High To Riot is his coming out party. I had heard the Queens, NY rapper on a couple of Cole loosie's from back around 2010-2011 (I believe), and I have to admit that I didn't exactly see what was going to appeal him to people, but of course Bas wasn't putting out music like the songs on Too High To Riot back then. It seems Bas has finally found his sound.
Now I'm not going to call this an album review since I hate doing them so much, I mean obviously I'm not the most up-to-the-minute like these other hip hop blogs (since when is doing an album review the day it came out a good idea?), but from now on when I hear a new album, I think I'm just going to point out the things I like about it. And seeing as Bas' Too High To Riot appeals to just about every sense, there is a lot to like about it.
So yeah, Cole is featured on the album, and most would think that this would be the high point of this album, but the great thing is that it's not (speaking of Cole's feature, Bas and Cole have a really fun back and forth on their collaboration off the album, "Night Job"). Bas has what the kids today would call, a "wavy sound" that could get anybody moving. You can party to these songs, or you can just kick back and do some laundry to it, and there's a huge in between. The bass lines in songs like "Methylone", "Housewives", and "Clouds Never Get Old" are perfect to bump in the whip, while Bas also shows his deeper, more reflective side in jams like "Live For", and then he goes and makes ridiculous interlude types of songs like "Miles And Miles" that could lift you up and float you away (even without the smoke, though I'm sure it's heavily influenced).
So all in all, stay awake on Bas. He has an incredible body of work just in Too High To Riot, an album that makes him one to watch moving forward. Being under J. Cole and his Dreamville label could be bad or good, it's too hard to tell so early seeing as Cole doesn't have much experience being the mentor type, though it seems if Bas is going to continue being as dope as he is, Cole will have no problem with letting Bas do his thing.
Amazing the power Lebron James holds over music huh? It's pretty crazy the influence and power he holds over most things, but this is especially significant considering the fact he just convinced Top Dawg's CEO to release the unreleased songs (one of which they said they didn't have the audio file for because it was apparently accidently deleted, yet it somehow ended up on the album) that Kendrick has been performing on late night television. And his wish was granted! WTF?!?! Yo Lebron, while you're at it, go ahead and ask Just Blaze for that Slaughterhouse album would you so kindly (I know it's a shot in the dark, but worth a shot)? Kendrick's untitled unmastered. doesn't even sound like the title suggests, but it's easy to make a few more observations of the EP just based on TPAB, and based on the sound he was experiencing with. Here's 4 observations I made about Kendrick's new EP.
Socially Conscience Agenda
"The smell is disgusting, the heat is unbearable, preachers touchin' on boys, run for cover the paranoid, raper's and murderers hurdle alleys, valleys in high places turn into dust, famous screaming in agony, Atheists for suicide, planes falling out the sky, trains jumping off the tracks, mothers yelling 'he's alive'," etc. Kendrick has never been one to shy away from speaking on the real state of the world, and "Untitled 1" is another prime example of this, as is the entire rest of the EP (especially the beginning of "Untitled 4").
To Pimp A Butterfly themes
The re-occurring "pimp pimp! hooray!" theme that Kendrick shows throughout untitled unmastered. can easily be seen as a theme that was intended for To Pimp A Butterfly. Is there a reason for the chanting? I have a theory that the chanting could be a satirical way for Kendrick to demonstrate how the "hood" sees pimps (the "hooray" being a celebration of how cool and "righteous" being a pimp in the hood actually is). It's a far fetched theory, but most theories are. Anyways, the funky bass lines (which help lead to the next observation) found throughout untitled unmastered. are reminiscent of "King Kunta", not to mention the ever so familiar instruments found in the beginning of "untitled 6" (sounds eerily similar to "For Sale?" off of To Pimp A Butterfly).
Funky Music + Live Instruments
Obviously the recordings on untitled unmastered. sound much different than those that Kendrick performed on his live television performances (which is the only disappointing thing about this EP, you can't hear him spazz out HIT THE BANK AND WITHDRAW, HIT THE BANK AND WITHDRAW like he did on Colbert), but one thing that stays true is the great use of live instruments that Kendrick uses throughout the project, as opposed to your average hip hop instrumental. You can hear the live snare come in beautifully and right on cue in "untitled 3", as well as every other track (live drums add an extra special pop to the beats on untitled unmastered., as well as the live hi hat in "untitled 5").
Kendrick Can't Be Touched
(*I do not own these songs, or the rights to them*)
It's understandable that people get tired of hearing this, I mean for God's sake at some point all you can do is sound like a broken record, but Kendrick might literally be the Chosen One. That was too much to say, let me be real about it. Kendrick is ACTUALLY pushing boundaries and breaking down walls that other artists so confidently (actually, the worst kind of cocky) claim they are (cough cough Kanye West). Kendrick has muted the already silent supposed "greatness" of Jay Electronica with subtle, yet potent jabs like "before you poke out your chest, loosen your bra, before you step out of line and dance with the star, I could never end a career if it never starts." Where's a shock-faced emoji when you need one? I would love to hear Jay Elec's comment on that one. Regardless of the drama, Kendrick has done it again, and with an untitled and unmastered project, no less.
