Lupe Pays Homage To One Of Detroit's Finest With "Portrait Of Royce"

Lupe took to Twitter earlier this afternoon (March 8th) to drop a new song. Unretired now, are we Lup?

The song is dedicated to Detroit's own Royce Da 5'9, and is aptly titled "Portrait Of Royce". The song finds Lupe spitting some lyrical miracles, complicated schemes and entendre's (that I'm sure I will have to Genius to figure out) over a very PRhyme-esque instrumental that shines with what sounds like a fluttery synthesizer, some crispy claps and an ending Royce interview sample to boot.

Lupe's tweet suggested that the song was "from my sketch book...", so there is no rumor or word on if the Chicago based emcee with be putting out any new music, this could just be a one-off dedication to promote Royce's PRhyme 2, which drops in just over a week, March 16th. Check out Lupe's song in the Twitter link below.

Lupe Fiasco - Portrait Of Royce

Hip Hop Year In Review 2015

There is a give and take in any good relationship; relationship meaning a status you hold with someone (or in this case, someTHING) in your life. There's always going to be someone or something that gives you a different perspective on life (or anything, for that matter). Variety in life means choices, such as different types of hobbies, or different kinds of people you associate yourself with, for example; there's the guy that has to make everything a competition, that guy who you could call your brother and open up to about anything, then there's those partiers that are just too fun not to hang out with, and maybe every now and then you'll encounter that person that just makes you feel cooler than the rest of the block. Such is hip hop; introducing the year of variety.

Drake owned 2015. In fact, if we name this year like people do the Chinese new year, then 2015 was the year of the owl. Despite the (not what anyone would call setbacks at all because, domination) setbacks that Drake encountered (Meek Mill beef, ghostwriting accusations, the "contract" struggle on Cash Money, and being in the middle of the battle of Lil Wayne vs. Birdman), Drake still managed to have the biggest year in hip hop (again). If You're Reading This It's Too Late was Grammy nominated, his collaborative album with Future What A Time To Be Alive was at one point the biggest album in the world, and his annoyingly catchy "Hotline Bling" became #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 list. Oh, and ever hear of a diss track becoming Grammy nominated?  Also this year, Drake's Meek Mill diss "Back To Back" was Grammy nominated for "Best Rap Performance". October's Very Own did it again; the year of the owl.


(Because I didn't want to share a Drake and Future song. Also, this song represents what 2016 could bring. For those looking for change.)

Although the Grammy's are yet to happen (not until 2/15), hip hop heads can rejoice at the notion that this year's "Best Rap Album" nominees are (arguably, not really though) some of the most deserved. To say J. Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive has gotten all the attention it has deserved would be criminal, and the same goes for Kendrick's To Pimp A Butterfly and Dr. Dre's Compton; The Soundtrack (Dre could probably do without winning considering the movie's success as well) . Lupe Fiasco's Tetsuo & Youth might be the most slept on album of the year, while fans might also be angry that Mac Miller (GO:OD AM), Earl Sweatshirt (I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside), Big Sean (Dark Sky Paradise), The Game (The Documentary 2), A$AP Rocky (At. Long. Last. A$AP), and Future (DS2, 56 Nights, Beast Mode) didn't get the nods they thought they deserved. Also, Travis Scott, Rich Homie Quan, and Rae Sremmurd (as much as I hate to admit) all had huge years.


(Kendrick was one of the biggest contributors to bringing back the "music video with a concept")

What else did I miss that's worth talking about?  Marvel did an incredibly dope thing called "Marvel Hip Hop Variants" with their very own super heroes remaking classic album covers (you can see a gigantic list of those covers here http://hiphopgoldenage.com/list/35-marvels-hip-hop-variants/), and Stretch & Bobbito finally got their just due with Radio That Changed Lives!  If there is one piece on hip hop that needs to be seen from this year, the Stretch and Bobbito documentary is that piece. Old unreleased freestyles and interviews from the likes of legends such as Eminem, Jay Z, Nas, Fat Joe, and more surface in their documentary, and if you're one that likes "diggin' through the crates" as the old heads say, then this is your thing.



In terms of coming up, a lot of names could be put on this list. Michael Christmas, Boogie, and Mick Jenkins immediately come to mind, but it'd be wrong to say that there aren't several more artists that could blow up in 2016. Rap took a turn for hilarious, ridiculous fun when Run The Jewels put out their mega-cat-remix album Meow The Jewels made up of 90% cat sounds. The Game got into more beef and legal problems (surprise), and Grantland staff writer Shea Serrano also released his very successful book "The Rap Yearbook", which chronicled the biggest rap song of every year from 1979 to 2014, and also illustrates how hip hop is the product of multiple musical genres mixed with the poetic word expressing the oppression that blacks have faced throughout U.S. history.


   (*I do not own any of these songs, videos, or the rights to them*)

Was 2015 the year of the wave riders (which Drake and Future so often got accused of being, although I can't say I disagree)?  It could be argued that this is the case, certainly. But I think 2015 turned out to be much more than that. Not just because there were too many dope projects that dropped and made us all jig in our own way, but because you created a sort of relationship with every rapper you heard this year. Some rappers pushed you to do big things because of their competitiveness and work ethic (Eminem, just because he works on his craft, Kevin Gates because he doesn't get tired), some rappers opened themselves up to the world and were accepted (Kendrick), some rappers made you want to party until the world ends (Future, Rich Homie Quan, Rae Sremmurd, etc.), and some rappers just made you feel like you were fresher than the rest of the block (Fabolous). The year of variety happened so fast because people were looking for the next thing instead of enjoying what they already had (which makes an argument for 2015 being "the year of the wave rider"), but here's to hoping 2016 stops that trend. A flood of music forces the listener to move onto the next thing faster than the brain can process, so why would artists want to ruin the impact of the music that they just put out?  Anyways, here's to an incredibly bumpy, roller coaster year for hip hop and hoping for a more consistent one, yet just as entertaining.              

                



 









          

Atlantic Records is "Suppressing" Hip Hop Artists

According to reports, Atlantic Records SUUUUUUCKS. Being an artist, obviously you should always be comfortable with who is going to be dealing around your music and how much exposure they will be trying to get you, because social media only goes so far (very incredibly immensely far nowadays, why not just stay independent anyways?). As an artist you have to be able to sell a song on the radio (have a single to push to the public), but the rest of the selling you'd think would be the label's job right?  Atlantic Records apparently does not do a very good job of giving their artists (ironically all hip hop artists, unsure if any other artists of other genres have problems) exposure. Here's 3 cases where rappers have made problems with Atlantic Records public.

Lupe Fiasco

Lupe had such issues with Atlantic Records at one point that for the release of his album Food & Liquor 2; The Great American Rap Album in 2012, Lupe used an all black album cover (above) without the stamps of the label on it to get back at Atlantic. Last year it was reported that Lupe "can't wait to get off Atlantic Records" because he "refused to sign a 360 deal." It'd be interesting to see what happens with Lupe if/when he gets off of Atlantic.

Waka Flocka

Waka Flocka has been having problems with Atlantic Records since the first half of this year, and it looks like they won't be slowing down anytime soon. Back in April, Flocka blamed Atlantic for delaying the release of his long awaited album Flockaveli 2. Reports were that Waka was getting so fed up with Atlantic that not only did he want them to buy out his contract, but Waka also sent out mass tweets telling fans to call Atlantic and demand his release from the company! Are we starting to see a trend here?

B.o.B

B.o.B is the latest rap artist to claim Atlantic Records is "suppressing" him. About a week ago (December 7th) Bob sent out some tweets ranting about Atlantic claiming that they (similar to Waka) don't attempt to get him any exposure. It makes sense seeing as B.o.B (as of late) has been talking about some conspiracy theories and using his music as a platform to question the government (normally big companies don't respond well to that kind of talk, who knows why).

So here's my question to Atlantic Records; why suppress successful artists with die hard fan bases?  How does that benefit you?  Wouldn't it make more sense to promote them more so you can make more money?  It doesn't make sense to me. If any other artists come out and boycott Atlantic, I can't say I'd be surprised at this point. Those corporate big wigs are up to some awfully fishy stuff...  


       
 

3 Dope Samples On Beats

Sampling has taken over as one of the most effective forms of producing in hip hop. In fact, it might actually be safe to say that it's part of the creative process in which hip hop was created upon. Hip hop was started from producers and DJ's creating their own music from previously made music, taking older music and flipping it into a catchy drum beat that everybody can groove to in an urban form. Am I dropping knowledge now (just agree with me, it'd make me feel good)?  Anyways, I thought it'd be a good idea to go back and find 5 dope beats that include samples (which can very easily be done considering the amount of samples on beats nowadays). We'll just consider this piece "5 Dope Samples On Beats, Vol. 1".

Game ft. Kanye West - Wouldn't Get Far


I heard this song for the first time in a VERY long time last year and my God I downloaded it and played it until I couldn't anymore. The samples included in Game's 2007 hit include Creative Source's "I'd Find You Anywhere" (which makes sense considering the lyrics in the hook) and "Long Red (Live)" from Mountain. Creative Source was a big R&B group from the 70s with many funk and disco hits, so it's wouldn't be surprising to hear their samples on other big hip hop jams. In other words, you wouldn't get far without hearing them sampled by another hip hop star.

Lupe Fiasco - Mural


It's amazing the amount of songs this sample has been in, but I figured the most relevant and recent song using it would be Lupe Fiasco's near 9 minute onslaught "Mural", released from his album that came out in January of this year Tetsuo & Youth. The sample included in this song is the song "Huit Octobre 1971" by Cortex, and can be found in Wiz Khalifa's "Visions", MF DOOM's "One Beer", and many, many more.

Drake - Draft Day
https://soundcloud.com/octobersveryown/drake-draft-day
(*I do not own these videos, songs, or the rights to any of them*)

Interesting way I found out what the sample was in Drake's "Draft Day"; NBA 2K15 (and they say video games are bad for you, the nerve of old folks). Lauryn Hill's classic "Doo-Wop (That Thing)" is featured in NBA 2K15, and towards the end the familiar singing is heard that Drake puts in the beginning of "Draft Day".

So there's 3 dope samples on beats. Hip hop producers are some of the best in the world at flipping old songs into catchy or banging jams that hip hop fans love (that's probably why they do what they do). Samples can be found on nearly any and every hip hop song nowadays, it's actually harder not to hear a song that's sampled. It's definitely interesting to hear a familiar old classic in a beat, so here's Geoffrey's suggestion of the day; go out and buy some physical copies, peep the production credits and pay homage!         

Throwback Thursday: Did You Know Lupe Remade This Hit?

This post is probably just a result of me being super excited that I got all of my music on my phone again. I'm not exactly the most responsible with a phone (my history shows, though I'll deny it left and right), and that feeling of getting every single song in my iTunes music library on my phone almost made me change my pants it was so good. Anyways, going through my music library I realized that there are a lot of songs that I forgot I used to bump every day, and one of those was Lupe Fiasco's (I don't know if you'd call it a remake or not) remake of Ellie Goulding's "Lights". Sounds ridiculous yes, but that's only if you haven't heard the song.

Now if you haven't heard in the past, there have been a lot of rumors about Lupe stealing beats/remaking songs without artist's permission. Lupe's biggest fans will back up Lupe and say that Lupe has simply sampled all of the songs that he has redone (such as "The Show Goes On", and he even re-used the "Around My Way" beat which was originally Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's song "T.R.O.Y"). Reading up on Lupe's past label struggles is as interesting as it gets, Lupe has feuded with Atlantic Records for quite some time, and at one point he even "contemplated suicide" over a legal battle over the rights to the song "Nothin On You" by B.o.B and Bruno Mars (the song was originally Lupe's). Who knew?  Anyways, if you hear the very heavily radio played "Lights" by Ellie Goulding and then compare it to Lupe's version "LightWork" below, you can hear the similarities, but more importantly hear the imminent differences between the 2. I honestly feel bad for you if you haven't heard it. If you haven't heard it yet, enjoy it below now, thank me later.

                                               (*I do not own this song, or the right to it*)

The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan Album Review

Now if you'd need to know anything about my post topics, anything at all, it would be that I absolutely do not do promo for up and comers who think they are the shit unless I actually believe that they will blow (although I've yet to have anybody hit me up about doing an article promoting themselves). A man by the name of Dayne Jordan (who I posted about back in November of last year, formerly known as Dosage) has accomplished a lot since the last time I posted about him. He came out with a free, 9 track EP named In Progress, he put out his phone number on twitter for his fans to keep in touch with him, and now he's back from a short hiatus to deliver you his free album, the aptly titled The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan. Needless to say, the man has been working. Now if you read the last post about Dayne (or if you keep up with him regularly), you'd know that Dayne toured with Lupe Fiasco on the Stepping Lasers tour back in 2010-2011, and with DJ Jazzy Jeff on the production side of things, Dayne definitely knows how to keep things interesting with his music, but is his music good enough to make you want to listen?

Dayne's ability to tell a story is some of the best I've heard (dare I say since Kendrick, Cole) in quite awhile. The intro track to his album, "In Progress", is the pinnacle of this ability. It's like if you had never heard of him, or never known who Dayne was in your life before this song, you understood his journey after this beautiful (damn near) 6 minute novel of perfect descriptiveness. In "In Progress", Dayne details his come up, and everything that has happened along the way, including starting out working in a Footlocker, and even up to his touring and performing with Lupe Fiasco. You get the picture as clearly as you could possibly get it due to Dayne's picturesque wordplay on "In Progress."

The production on The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan gives such a summery, warm weather feel that it's release date (7/20) is the perfect date to make those summer memories that we all associate so well with great music. DJ Jazzy Jeff handled production for every track on the album, (which was his first full length project since 2007's The Return Of The Magnificent), and his drums, crisp snares, and (of course) DJ scratches throughout the album round it all out in great fashion. "Waitaminit" is a great example of this production, and the breakdown in the middle of the song with the beat boxing and Dayne's 10 year old rapping self are a highlight of the album. This highlights Dayne's hilarious, yet fond view of his past very well.

"Don't Forget" describes more of his growing up in North Philadelphia, such as hearing gun shots and growing up with his mom and struggles with family getting along. The catchy strings and hook make it pretty hard not to bob your head to this jam. An interesting note about the album is that between each track Dayne tells his story leading into each track, topics range from talking about his family to growing up and making friends, and trying to make a name as a rapper. Dayne's honesty, humble story telling and come up are keys to his rise as a star that will make him relatable to people.

Then comes the incredible "Circle of Life" part's 1 and 2. Part 1 is as deep as it gets, the hook is sang in such a way that would get to anyone who happens to be deep in thought at the time. The concept of these songs is brilliant; the concept of one's life ending, being remembered, and mourned in part 1 leads to the beginning of a new life in part 2; being born, having a dream, remembering the little things about why you love your dream, then conquering your dream. Part 2 is carrying on part 1's legacy in the sense that part 1's life never ends, it is only carried on and lived through part 2.

Dayne Jordan's talent is unquestionable. His story telling ability is that of an author (hence why the album title The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan is so fitting), and his lyrical ability is a breath of fresh air. While knowing and paying respect to the greats, Dayne pushes the agenda to bring hip hop back to a better time, and it's apparent in his music. If The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan told us anything else we needed to know, it's Dayne's ability to put together a concept album as genius as the likes of Kendrick Lamar. If The Memoirs Of Dayne Jordan is Dayne's life up to this point, I certainly can't wait for the next audio book. I know I didn't post any of the tracks from Dayne's album, but the entire, 13 track album can be found here ---> https://soundcloud.com/daynejordan/memoirs-of-dayne-jordan-1


     





    

Who's On Your Rap Label? (A Point System Game)

I have a dream... well, I constantly have daydreams of what my perfect rap label would be like (if you were expecting some inspirational MLK shit there, sorry if I disappointed). There are literally so many rappers with so many different types of skills that it's insane to think about what they could all do together (or with different collaborators, you remember my "who are your dream collaborations" article awhile back? this is almost of the same vein). Too many times have I thought about how limited some of my favorite rappers are because of their label, or because of whose in their circle, or even because of who they frequently collaborate with. You never know what could have happened with some artists if their career paths may have went differently, or if they do in the near future (butterfly effects aside). This post is for those like me that think (probably waaay too much) about how things could be if they were different. All I want to know is this:  who's on your rap label?

Now before we start the game I have to lay down some guidelines:  first up is the point system. I tried to make it as simple as possible in terms of what rankings each rapper got, the best rappers get a 5 point ranking while the worst get a 1, and so on. A 5 point ranked rapper is what you would want to lead your label:  in terms of selling records and being the fan favorite, this is your go to artist. A 1 point artist isn't necessarily just a label filler, they could be whatever you want them to be, it is YOUR label after all, although to make it challenging I have given each label a 12 point limit per label, though there is no limit to how many rappers/artists are on your label.

Next up are the label tags (or in NFL terms, the "franchise" tags). These tags basically define what each rapper is and how the public sees them (or at least how I see them, you may see them differently, all I ask is that you follow the guidelines). Some rappers/artists will get tags that others won't because it is all based on how unique that rapper/artist is musically, but these tags include; Chart Topper (CT), Lyrical Miracle (LM), Fan Favorite (FF), New Artist (NA), Party Music (PM), Thought Provoking (TP), Story Teller (ST) and Original Gangsta (OG). The only guidelines I have for the tags is that every label have at least 1 Chart Topper (CT), 1 New Artist (NA), and one Original Gangsta (OG). Every other artist is up to you, there is no limit to how many of each.

The last rule is that there are to be no label heads involved on your label, obviously because you would be taking their place. So this means Eminem, Jay Z, Nas, Diddy, Lil Wayne, Dr. Dre, Kanye West, T.I., Rick Ross and Birdman will not make the list. The rest of the rappers, however, are all fair game. I only define label heads as the MAJOR labels (Shady Records, Young Money, Cash Money, GOOD Music, Roc Nation, Mass Appeal, Grand Hustle, Bad Boy, Maybach Music Group), so labels like Drake's OVO and B.o.B's No Genre would not make this list. Whatever you believe the guidelines should be, they have been set and to play the game you must follow them (it's supposed to be a fun challenge as well, I hope to readers follow the guidelines and play the game fairly). Anyways, below is a list of most every rapper that qualifies to make the list, along with their tags and point totals next to them.

5 Points                                                                                                     4 Points
Kendrick Lamar (ST)(CT)(LM)(TP)                                          Logic (ST)(FF)(TP)(LM)(NA)
J. Cole (ST)(CT)(LM)(TP)                                                         Lupe Fiasco (TP)(LM)(FF)
Mac Miller (FF)(TP)(PM)(LM)                                                  Big Sean (PM)(LM)
Tyler The Creator (LM)(PM)(FF)                                              Meek Mill (PM)(LM)
Drake (ST)(PM)(FF)(CT)                                                           Young Jeezy (OG)(ST)(CT)(PM)
Nicki Minaj (LM)(FF)(CT)                                                         Fabolous (OG)(FF)(PM)(TP)
Big K.R.I.T (FF)(PM)(TP)                                                         A$AP Rocky (FF)(PM)
Slaughterhouse (LM)(FF)                                                           Schoolboy Q (PM)(FF)
                                                                                                     Ab-Soul (FF)(TP)(LM)
                                                                                                     Common (OG)(ST)(TP)
                                                                                                     50 Cent (OG)(PM)(FF)(CT)
                                                                                                     Pusha T (LM)(PM)(TP)

3 Points                                                                                                   2 Points                        
Andre 3000 (OG)(ST)(LM)(FF)(TP)                                          Joe Budden (ST)(FF)(LM)(TP) 
Big Boi (OG)(PM)(FF)                                                               Crooked I (LM)(TP)(FF)            
Bun B (OG)(PM)(LM)                                                                Royce Da 5'9 (LM)(TP)(FF)
Dizzy Wright (NA)(PM)                                                             Joell Ortiz (LM)(TP)(FF)
Yelawolf (ST)(LM)(TP)(PM)                                                     Nipsey Hussle (PM)
Tech N9ne (LM)(FF)                                                                  2 Chainz (PM)(FF)
Ludacris (OG)(PM)(FF)                                                              Rittz (ST)(TP)(LM)(PM)(FF)
Earl Sweatshirt (LM)(PM)(FF)                                                   Cyhi The Prynce (TP)(LM)(NA)
Wiz Khalifa (PM)                                                                        Mick Jenkins (NA)(PM)(TP)
B.o.B (LM)(PM)(TP)                                                                  MGK (PM)(LM)
Juicy J (OG)(PM)(FF)                                                                 Ty Dolla $ign (PM)
Game (OG)(ST)(PM)(TP)                                                           Young Thug (PM)
Curren$y (PM)(FF)(TP)                                                              Rich Homie Quan (PM)
Nelly (OG)(PM)(FF)                                                                   DMX (OG)(PM)(FF)
Wale (PM)(TP)                                                                            Trinidad James (PM)(NA)
A$AP Ferg (PM)                                                                          Lil John (OG)(PM)(FF)
Asher Roth (LM)(PM)(TP)                                                          Kirko Bangz (HS)(PM)
Jay Rock (NA)(ST)(PM)(TP)                                                      Usher (HS)(FF)(PM)
French Montana (PM)                                                                  Omarion (HS)(PM)
Kid Cudi (TP)(FF)(PM)                                                               Tyga (PM)
Joey Bada$$ (ST)(NA)(TP)(LM)(PM)                                     Snow Tha Product (NA)(LM)(PM)(TP)Childish Gambino (PM)(TP)(FF)                                                 Rihanna (HS)(CT)(PM)
Jay Electronica (NA)(ST)(LM)(TP)                                             King Chip (PM)(TP)
Chance The Rapper (PM)(TP)(NA)                                             Skyler Grey (HS)
Freddie Gibbs (FF)(PM)                                                               Jeremih (HS)
Action Bronson (PM)(TP)(LM)                                                   T-Pain (HS)
Twista (OG)(FF)(LM)                                                                  Trey Songz (CT)(HS)
Talib Kweli (OG)(ST)(TP)(LM)(FF)                                           Chris Brown (HS)(CT)                       
Mos Def (OG)(ST)(TP)(LM)(FF)                                                 Riff Raff (PM)(HS)                           
YG (PM)                                                                                        Mick Jenkins (PM)(TP)                     
Future (HS)(PM)                                                                           Lil Flip (PM)                                      
Project Pat (OG)(FF)(PM)                                                            Chingy (PM)                                       
Anthony Hamilton (HS)                                                                Akon (HS)                                          
Kevin Gates (PM)(TP)(NA)(IDGT)(SMH)                                  Kurupt (OG)(LM)(PM)                      
Iggy Azalea (CT)(HS)(PM)(FF)                                                   Bow Wow (PM)(FF)                          
Jhene Aiko (HS)(ST)(TP)(PM)                                                     Paul Wall (PM)(FF)                           
Lil Kim (OG)(LM)(PM)                                                                Chevy Woods (LM)(PM)
Busta Rhymes (OG)(LM)(PM)                                                      Obie Trice (OG)(LM)(TP)
Jadakiss (OG)(LM)(TP)                                                                 Tuki Carter (PM)(NA)                    
Trae The Truth (PM)(LM)

Now with the absolutely humongoid, gigantic, mammoth, Andre The Giant-esque list I just gave you (with the exception of a few, let me know if I left any names off or if there are any others that you would include in your label), you should definitely have fun putting together your label. Now I want to see what the people come up with!  Honestly I can't even tell you who I'd put on my label with the point limit at the moment, it may even take me a couple days before I can come up with my list. But just remember the guidelines/rules, and just have fun with it, it's all about the discussion!  We can talk over who you put on your label and why on Twitter (@SuperNovaRover) or Google+ when you make your decisions, you important label heads you. Now go and do big things with your artists.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  








 

























     

Step Into The Ring: Mainstream Rappers Who Should Battle

It seems as if a spotlight has been shined on battle rap in the past year. As popular as it has been throughout the years, it has remained underground and has produced a much different audience from the Lil Wayne, Drake or Kanye (etc.) type of rap fan base that you see and hear every day. I say this being a particularly new fan myself, and it's crazy to think about the differences in recorded rap as opposed to battle rap, they're really two different beasts completely. One side of the spectrum is made for your listening pleasure, while the other shines a much brighter light on the technical aspect of rap with competition being aplenty. It's very hard to mix the two, and if you do one and have the balls to try the other, whether you're successful at it or not, there is a respect factor given to you for even trying in the first place. There are very few mainstream rappers that have the skill to battle rap, and I thought it'd be a good idea to figure out who these guys (or girls even, remember the term "femcee"?) are. Here's a short list of mainstream rappers who could probably battle.

Ab-Soul

I'm a little new to Ab's catalog, but if there's one thing that opened up my eyes to the idea of Ab-Soul having battle bars, it's this freestyle with infamous battle rapper Daylyt (shout out to my good friend and fellow rapper Terrell Cooper for showing me this!). Ab-Soul is incredibly smart with novelist-like bars and Einstein-like wordplay, and if you were stuck in the dark like me, listening to this would enlighten your day with facts that Ab-Soul could indeed hang with some of the best battlers.

Lupe Fiasco

Another big writer-at-heart rapper is Lupe Fiasco. If you've heard Lupe (or if you even know about him) you know how smart and politically/socially conscience he is of everything going on around him. His rhymes take multiple listens to process for even his most die hard fans, and if there's anything that draws attention to a battle rapper, one of the biggest would be how smart and well thought out their rhymes are (syllables, double entendres, similes, metaphors, etc.). Lupe is such a fan of the craft that comes with rapping that he even battled his fans for a short period of time on Twitter, and has been called out by infamous battle rapper Dizaster to battle, though it never panned out for whatever reason.

King Los

                            (*I do not own any of these videos, songs, audio, or the rights to them*)

I'm not as familiar with King Los' catalog as I probably should be (I've heard from too many people that he's dope), but if I got just a mere sample of what he can do, his "Control" response (which seems to bring out the best in everyone, at least for rappers who had a response) is a good example of it. He really impressed me with the following bars: "I'm a king I'm elite, I could never dream of defeat, I could Dr. King you a speech while I'm Rodney King-in your beat." Day-umn Los! Guess I got some homework to do.

So those are a few dudes that could probably battle with some success (or so I think). There are probably many more rappers you could name who could battle and do well (I would probably say any of the other Slaughterhouse guys along with J. Cole and Kendrick), but there are many aspects of battling that some mainstream guys just don't have or don't show in their recorded song history as an emcee. A lot of guys show attitude and confidence on the mic (you almost have to, if you rap for a living it's a given), but if they have the mental stability is the real question, along with being able to successfully freestyle and truly go off the top of their head. If you know any dudes who you think could battle right now be sure to let me know on Twitter (@SuperNovaRover) or Google+ and let me know why you think they'd fair better than the rest.






 
 

Rapper You Need To Know: Dosage

A lot of times here on Hip Hop Unlimited I might discuss a rapper that already has a ton of shine, but maybe one that I hadn't really given the time of day until now. You could argue that this is one of those times, though the rapper I am about to discuss has an interesting story that doesn't include as much mainstream success. If you've ever heard a feature verse that was so incredibly dope, though you'd never heard of the rapper before once in your entire life up until that point, you might say I experienced this listening to just 2 tracks with this guy. The mystery surrounding Dosage (at least for me) is something I wish I could understand. Why don't we have some more dope music from this guy?

If you haven't heard of the Philadelphia bred rapper, Dosage is an up and coming (or was an up and coming) emcee who has tons of talent that somehow hasn't panned out into mainstream success quite yet, although he's gotten a couple of cosigns from Lupe Fiasco, and was also a guest on Lupe's 2010 "Stepping Lasers" tour which also included B.o.B. He's got a very strong, distinct voice that commands attention, and when you hear his bars you can't help but wonder what's next. And so comes my first time hearing Dosage...

                                         (Dosage's verse starts at exactly the 6 minute mark)

This song could be an attention grabber due to the amazing beat and all star cast (All City cast I suppose you should say), but the first time that 6 minute mark hit, I felt like I was listening to the next great rapper. Obviously the kid had to have proved something to be featured on a Lupe Fiasco song, not just 1 but 2 ("Friend of the People" off of Lupe's mix tape of the same name as well). "Friend of the People" is a great display of Dosage's range (and rage, perhaps) as a rapper and shows off a lot more of his personality than you hear on his "I'm Beaming (Remix)" verse. Listening to both of these songs, however, you don't get the best feel for what "Dose" (my new nickname for him) is really about. So this meant I had to do some more digging, of course.

Dose has a total of 4 mix tapes listed on DatPiff (though none are listed as official releases), one of which being a tape by the name of It, released in 2011. It certainly is what you thought it was (or not), a mix tape made up of entirely Nas instrumentals, and the intro to each track includes a snippet from the movie (hence the name "It"). Being new to Dose this tape is certainly an easy way to get into him, you hear Dosage rap over Nas classics like "Hate Me Now" and "It Ain't Hard To Tell", and it certainly is a great sign to hear up and comers paying homage to some of the greats such as Nas.

His next tape however, 3d11, is a step up from It as it includes more original material over original production. His lyrical prowess and his flow reach an all time high, and it's hard to argue that he doesn't hit his peak when you hear tracks like "Which Way", "LVLA", and the old school sounding "Notorious Remix" which features production from DJ Jazzy Jeff (yes, that DJ Jazzy Jeff). In some of his tracks you can hear a bit of a rock influence it sounds like, and this is pretty noticeable on the track "3D11", which stresses Dosage's 3 D's to live by: dream, drive, and determination.

So to sum this up, you definitely need to deed your day by dosing up a dose of Dosage's dopeness. He caught my ear listening to just 2 tracks, and now I'm wondering what I'm going to hear next from the guy. Though he doesn't go by the name "Dosage" anymore (I've found him on Twitter and Sound Cloud as "Dayne Jordan"), he certainly does give you a dope dose of emceeing (too much? Alright then) and a big portion of his tracks actually feature production from DJ Jazzy Jeff, so that's a reason to look into him. The only wonder now is what is Dosage really doing?  His last full length release dates back to 2012 (2 mix tapes that year actually), and he's only putting out songs on Sound Cloud about once every month or so. One can only hope he gets what he's trying to do right, and doesn't turn out to be the next Jay Electronica.