Curren$y and Big K.R.I.T Announce New Joint Album, "Lacs N Chevys"

Slow down for what?  Curren$y had dropped a whopping 12 projects in 2016, and in 2017 it seems he is looking to make even bigger power moves. With a rumored project with Freddie Gibbs on the way announced in early January, Curren$y has now taken to Instagram with Big K.R.I.T to joke and announce a new joint album, titled Lacs N Chevys.

Can you say dream collaboration?  This one definitely should have been added to the list. With Big K.R.I.T not dropping a project since his late 2015 mixtape It's Better This Way, it'll be refreshing to hear some new stuff from the Mississippi emcee/producer, and who better to collaborate with than fellow low rider aficionado Curren$y?  The title says it all!  No release date has been announced, but you can enjoy the funny clip through the link below.

https://2dopeboyz.com/2017/02/02/curreny-big-krit-joint-project-news-lacs-n-chevys/

Paul Wall's Slab God Album Review

It's been 10 years since Paul Wall dropped his classic "Sittin Sideways" hit, and a lot has changed since then. Eminem dyed his hair black (then back to blonde again), Lil Wayne became a hot commodity in the later 2000s and early 2010s, and then Drake suddenly became the (not so official) face of what people thought of when people thought of Houston's hip hop scene. As much as that may or may not be true, Paul Wall took a few years off from the mainstream music scene, but stayed making music for die hard listeners. He made a point for his newest album Slab God to be a big release when it hit; do you think it's measured up to it's hype?

Paul starts off the album on a slow, chilled out note with "Swangin in the Rain". Some heavy bass, jazzy piano and quick high hats help this track set the tone for the rest of what's to come on the album; heavy hitting, slow moving (heavy "drank" and syrup inspired) bangers that make it easy to move to. Other stand out tracks of this nature are the Curren$y and Devin The Dude assisted "Crumble the Satellite", "Ridin Homie" featuring Houston's own Trae The Truth, and "R.I.P Act" featuring C. Stone. Paul featured a wide variety of rappers while staying true to his Houston roots.

   

Mr. Wall has never been one to NOT shine on these hoes, either. "Shine on Fo's" is a great example of Paul's shining and his ever so enviable glistening lifestyle. The grills, the girls, the syrup and the jewelry all come along with that Houston rapper lifestyle, and Paul makes it sound as good as it ever has on Slab God. You can also hear about Paul's "checklist" of fancy things on the song "Checklist" (who would have thought?).

Paul also pours his heart out into a couple of songs on Slab God. On "Steady Mobbin", Paul discusses a fallen comrade and you can tell by the start of the song which direction Paul is going to take the song in; "This for all the fallen soldiers in the game. Sip in peace. We gone ride for your memory. We steady mobbin." Paul also gives quite a chilling, yet thought provoking line on shootings and the people's perceptions of them; "I wonder if it was worth, whatever they were shooting fo', and to be honest if the cops would had did it we'd be protestin' and lootin' bro." Surely makes you think, doesn't it?  "R.I.P Act" is also a nice, slow, soulful jam dedicated to a fallen comrade (or former girlfriend, it's hard to tell).

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


So overall, Paul Wall's album proves that he just might be the true "Slab God". Slab God bangs, has some great features that fit in well where they're asked, and makes you want to "swang" with some "Muddy Cups on Sunset" and "Shine On Fo's" (I thought I was pretty damn cool already, I might just have to move to Houston and check out the scene). Houston's rap scene remains somewhat underground (maybe not underground, but not so much commercial), but Paul's album proves that not only is Houston's hip hop scene timeless, but it proves that Paul Wall is another one of those rare rappers who's music can withstand the test of time.   
   




    









 

Talib Kweli's Javotti Media Presents: The Cathedral Mixtape Review

If you don't know who Talib Kweli is, you probably don't know real hip hop. I'm totally kidding of course (who likes that type of person?), but to deny Kweli has had a huge influence in all of rap is an ignorant thing to do. His consistency as a rapper doesn't show up in records sales, it shows up in his skills as an emcee, and to say he is underrated (even today) is an understatement. It's truly fun to listen to Kweli kick skill on the mic, but his newest effort doesn't focus on just him, it focuses on the label he's pushing to become great:  Javotti Media. Is Kweli pushing Javotti in the right direction?  This remains to be seen, at least for now.

The first track, a Kweli solo spitting joint, starts with comedian Affion Crockett giving some hilarious opening banter. Crockett does this throughout the entire tape, and it surely adds a different vibe to the tape, it almost seems as if Affion is acting as the tape's DJ (just less annoying with no tags). But the track, titled "Another Day", is a smooth track that shows signs of the old school hip hop sound that Kweli is so well known for. The rhythmic drums and the steady bass line make for a good opening to warm you up for the rest of the tape.

The chill vibe is a consistent one throughout the tape, with slower paced beats that allow the rappers to differentiate and slow up flows that fit very well, an example of this being evident on "Cherry Beamer Dreaming" where rapper NIKO IS showcases his talents. The slow paced beats and vibe you can also find on tracks like "Boomerang", where "quality over quantity" is stressed, and it's hard to argue that it isn't.  Other chilled out tracks include the smoker's anthem "Roll Me Up" featuring Altitude and Cory Mo, and perhaps the stand out track of the tape, "Everywhere I Go" featuring fellow speaker bumpers Big K.R.I.T and Curren$y. K.R.I.T lays down a smooth hook that certainly makes this track one to bump in the trunk.

    
The song "Dreams" ft. singer RES and the Piano Tribute Players is a truly heartfelt, masterful performance on piano and in singing. The first time I heard this I was truly moved, and I felt the pain and honesty in RES's voice as the thought crossed my mind that I had never heard anything like this before. We need to talk about this singer RES:  I don't know where Kweli found her, but he surely is doing right if he plans to push her to be big. Her vocal talents on "Dreams" and the live version of "What's Real" are just a taste of her talents ("What's Real" makes me want to see Kweli and RES live), but she really steals the show on her very own solo singing track "For Who You Are", which resembles an old Spinners' song as its smooth jazzy sound mixed with her lovely vocals bring you back to old love songs, while at the same time presenting you with a fresh new sound that could take this girl far if she plays her cards right.

So in all, does Talib succeed with his new mix tape?  You'd be crazy to say he doesn't, the great mix of songs, which includes lyrical acrobatics and jovial jams to soulful singing singles and uplifting efforts, definitely sounds like more an album than it does a mix tape, and even though nowadays it's become second nature for artists to put out their best work for free (some of it, at least), this tape becomes only a sample of what to expect from Kweli's ever growing Javotti media brand. The mix of originality with old school fits very well as usual for Kweli, and he looks to bring up a team that deserves recognition just as much as he does. I'll end this review with my personal favorite track from the tape, "D.R.E.A.M" featuring Kweli and Pharoahe Monch.

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










     

Curren$y's More Saturday Night Car Tunes Mixtape Review

Admittedly, I've never truly gotten into Curren$y as heavily as I'd thought I might. Don't get me wrong he's always interested me, being a former huge Wiz fan obviously you couldn't NOT hear a track with the two every now and then, but I never looked into him as much as I thought I would. Well, until now that is. One thing I am aware of with Curren$y is how hard he works to constantly put out music, and that's a pretty good reason to be a fan. It seems you're always getting new material.  A 7 track mix tape seems the perfect introduction to someone fairly new to a rapper as I am to him, so what is there to lose?  Curren$y you sly dog you.

The intro on More Saturday Night Car Tunes is something I admit I haven't heard anything quite like before. Simply named "Intro", this song comes with almost a zapping form of production from constant hit maker Cardo. If you've heard of Cardo before it's probably because of his production on a good selection of Joe Budden and Slaughterhouse songs, I also happened to feature him in my "5 Producers You Should Know" article a while back. Anyways, back to Curren$y. The weirdest thing about this song is he doesn't rap over it at all, and you wish he would. He pretty much just talks over the beat, and even has a point where he says "I know a couple mother fuckers new to this shit, thought I was about to rap. A lot of us already know that I had, like, 5 more tracks to that." He goes on to mention tweeting the producer of the song, Cardo, and almost prepares the listeners for what they're about to experience it seems. The crazy part about it is when listening to just the music portion of the beat, this intro is actually good. I have to say I've never seen this done before, but it fits, knowing Curren$y and how "chill" of a vibe he wishes to create for the listeners.

"Champaign Reign" is built around a piano based beat (don't worry, he actually raps in this song) that surprised me because of what seems like at first a lack of drums.  Of course I figured out shortly after putting on headphones that this song doesn't contain real drums, but some wavy sounding 808s that add a nice vibe to the song. The next cut, "Countin Money" ft. Wiz Khalifa seems like the first real dose of music on the mix tape, and it doesn't disappoint. Wiz lays down a typical Wiz verse, flexing about his money and weed intake as usual, but what got me jigging a bit was the catchy hook Curren$y lays down.

"Money Shot" is the perfect mixture between Mac Miller and Curren$y's conflicting rap styles. Mac's verse contains the usual entertaining, keep you on your toes type of verse. It's decent, but definitely seems that he's holding back a bit considering the song and the style. Mac's usual raps are filled with a different lyrical style and picture painting capabilities, but he slows himself down, almost seemingly taking meds on this track, and part of the slow down seems to be the slow, somewhat jazzy instrumental holding Mac back. Curren$y sounds as good on this track as you'd like him to sound, to quote some lyrics in the song, he's almost "comfortably dressed" in the instrumental. My favorite part of the song is the last 10 seconds, where the beat slows down into this other worldly place with a really cool ending hook to finish.

If there's any song on this tape that actually surprised me a bit, it had to be "Drug Prescription". You expect a lot different from Curren$y, but this is a very cool change of pace. I've never heard of any sort of story telling ability from the New Orleans rapper, but this track proceeded to open my eyes a bit. He actually goes at other industry rappers a little, with lines like "these other rappers out ain't half as sick, all that half ass shit will get your whole ass whipped." This is certainly a surprise to me, a guy who got used to song types from Curren$y like "Rollin Up" with Wiz Khalifa, and their joint mix tape Live In Concert, all strictly weed mixes. It's always a great thing to see the competitive aspect of the game live in a rapper and show through his music, even if it's only every now and then.

So Curren$y is certainly a talented act to tune into, and More Saturday Night Car Tunes is just another example of why. What this tape opened me up to is Curren$y's great rapping ability mixed with a desire to make great music. It's hard to find rappers with the mix of both types of music, and while Curren$y prefers and certainly shines on calming, chill, bumping car tunes that he usually makes, you definitely better not mistake him for a rapper that has no lyrical content. For some reason I can't get past the "Saturday night cartoons" way of hearing the title of the tape (Wabbit season! Duck season! You know what, never mind.) But anyways, I personally would love to see a K.R.I.T and Curren$y collaboration, hopefully some time in the future. Yes ladies and gents, this is me giving the okay to put Curren$y's tape in the CD player, or tape deck if you're going old school, and just riiiiiide out.     

           



            

   

Kendrick Lamar Says "i" Love Myself: An Explanation Of His Genius

Were you part of a few (probably) million people in the world this morning at 8 am sharp slowly twiddling your thumbs waiting what seemed like your entire life for this new Kendrick track?  In this regard (obviously) you wouldn't have been alone. It's been almost 2 full years since Kendrick's (debated) classic album Good Kid Maad City dropped and the people are more than ready to jump back on the Kendrick horse and see what he has to offer us next, although this new single might not have been what Kendrick fans had in mind.

Rumors circulated that the sample for said song would be instantly recognizable, and those rumors certainly had that part right. Producer Rahki took a page out of the Isley Brothers book and went all "Who's That Lady" on us. Now if you don't know Rahki (like me), he certainly isn't new to the rap production game, but he's new to the spotlight. He is known as being uncredited for co-production on a banger from Eminem's 2010 Recovery album, "Won't Back Down" featuring singer Pink, but he also has full credit for beat production from other stars like Game, 50 Cent, Curren$y, Ab-Soul, and has even produced for Kendrick before on GKMC.

But back to the lecture at hand. The internet is all over the place about what to think of this new Kendrick:  a lot of people are glad that he's back to releasing music again, while others were expecting a lot more from a lead single from the Compton emcee. But if you know the deal with releasing music nowadays (especially from monster artists such as Kendrick), you'd understand exactly what Kendrick is doing. He is now considered "elite" in this thing we call rap, maybe even music as a whole, and that's where this new Isley Brothers-sampled jam comes into play. Kendrick wants to release great music to be known to all music fans around the world, not just hip hop heads like you and I. This song is a nice, catchy radio-friendly change of pace that could catch anyone's ears.

The approach is explainable, though. Going back to this "elite" argument, he definitely is, and he knows it. By this statement I mean he knows exactly how to use his power. When you think of the true elites in the game and the strategies they use to release their music, for example the Eminems, Kanyes, Waynes, Drakes, etc., they all use this EXACT same strategy when starting to push for an album release. Eminem with that at-first insane sounding "Berzerk", Kanye with the questionable "Black Skinhead", and even Drake with "Started From The Bottom". Do you notice the trend?  Artists NEVER play it safe on the first single, and you should NEVER base your opinion on what you believe the album will sound like on 1 SONG.

So do I love this new Kendrick?  No. Will I play it over and over again to figure out exactly what his plan is?  Of course I will. And so will you if you listen to Kendrick's music. Although if you're planning to listen to "i" to try and figure out what the entire album is going to sound like based off of this 1 song, you're (we're) probably wasting your (our) time. Kendrick has too many things planned for this new album for us to hang our heads on the first single (rumors circulated of Kendrick working with Pete Rock on the new album, and maybe even some DR. DRE PRODUCTION?!?!). So I say sit back, relax, and enjoy the takeover, because we'll be seeing it shortly. I'll be posting a link to SoundCloud for the official audio on my twitter (@SuperNovaRover) shortly.