My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (2010)

Favorite: "Monster" (ft. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj &Bon Iver) - Nicki kind of kills this!! I was a hater until I heard her verse on this song.
"Who Will Survive In America" - I always loved me some Gil-Scott Heron tho!

Shapeshifters - Invincible

Shapeshifters - Invincible (2008)


Powerful Detroit hip hop.


Favorite: "Sledgehammer"

From The Home Of Brown Babies & White Mothers - Big Quarters

From The Home Of Brown Babies & White Mothers by Big Quarters (2009)


Minneapolis hip hop. Mostly mellow and soulful. word!

Favorites: "All Day Long" "Good Look"

like their video, too.

$O$ - Die Antwoord

$O$ - Die Antwoord (2010)

weird South African hip hop.

I'm posting this today in honor of my friend Christina "Kit" Bihun because she loves them & I'm heading to NYC today to see her new play, Bandage, as part of FightFest at the Brick Theater.

I didn't originally like Die Antwoord, but after listening to the full album a couple times through, there are a few stand out tracks.

Favorite: "Fish Paste" "She Makes Me A Killer"

Least Favorite: "Enter The Ninja" "Rich Bitch"

24-Hour Karate School - Ski Beatz

24-Hour Karate School - Ski Beatz (2010)


Favorite: "Prowler 2" (ft. Jean Grae, Jay Electronica, Mos Def & Joell Ortiz); "Back Uptown" (ft. Camp Lo)

Also notable, but not actually on the officially released album is Mos Def's track of the same name: 24-Hour Karate School

Into The Wind - Bei Bei & Shawn Lee

Into The Wind by Bei Bei & Shawn Lee (2010)


If you like Wu-Tang Clan & their old-school Shaolin Kung-Fu movie samples, you'll love this album! Bei Bei, a traditional performer of the Gu Zheng (classical Chinese stringed instrument, it resembles a harp), teams up with Shawn Lee, a California-based hip hop producer from the Ubiquity Records camp.

Favorites: "Whiskey Waltz" "Willingness" "The Master Room" "Hot Thursday"

The Dreamer Mixtape - Aima The Dreamer

The Dreamer Mixtape - Aima The Dreamer mixed by J-Boogie (2010) 


My best friend lent me this cd when I was home recently. It was great to have some new music to listen to on my ride home (that didn't involve me using the iphone to tape converter in my stereo since the connection there is crazy finicky).


It's some bay area conscious hip hop. The mix veers from hip hop to more house-y in feel but Aima definitely does her thing on every song.

Favorite: "Bom Bom" by Crown City Rockers ft. Aima

How I Got Over - The Roots

How I Got Over by The Roots (2010)

runs like a mixtape, with one song flowing pretty seamlessly into the next.
Unfortunately there are a host of less-than-stellar guest mc spots on this album. Black Thought outshines them all whenever he's on but maybe he's getting tired? They have been doing this for a long time now!

Favorites: "Hustla" - BUMPS!

"Hustla" by The Roots (feat. STS) from Bigger Than Blogging on Vimeo.

"The Day" "Doin' It Again" "Walk Alone" "Radio Days" "How I Got Over" - very heavy Curtis Mayfield influence!
Least Favorite: "Dear God 2.0"

Sound Of The Police - Cut Chemist

going to see The Heavy tonight at the El Rey.  Very excited since I've missed them at least the past 2 times that they played in LA. 

Sound Of The Police - Cut Chemist (2010)

Newest release from this Los Angeles DJ/Producer.  Very funky with all kinds of world beats in the mix. It runs like a mixtape so there's not really one song to like or dislike.  But if you're a fan, you need to pick this up!


There are a couple singles floating around from it tho. The  first I heard was "Adidas to Addis" 

Cosmogramma - Flying Lotus

Cosmogramma - Flying Lotus (2010) 

BEATS!! 

Favorite: "Do The Astral Plane"  

LP4 - Ratatat

LP4 by Ratatat (2010) 

really funky instrumentals.

to (possibly slightly mis-)quote A-Trak, "The vocal bassline on 'neckbrace' is one of the most screw-face inducing things I've heard in a long time. In a good way". If that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is.

Favorite: "Neckbrace" "Bilar" "Party With Children" - is that a harpsichord I hear? "Grape Juice City" - replete with birds chirping!

I Am Not A Human Being - Lil Wayne

I Am Not A Human Being - Lil Wayne (2010) 


Favorite: "I Am Not A Human Being" "I Don't Like The Look Of It" "YM Banger" (ft. Jae Millz, Gudda Gudda, Tyga)



Least Favorite: "I'm Single" Wayne's storytelling is in full effect, but it's just too slow to keep my interest.
"Popular" his rhyming just seems lazy & the hook is not doing it for me.
hiphop

The Invitation (mixtape) - Donnis

The Invitation (mixtape) by Donnis (2010) 

mostly not so good. he does flow on some tracks.  but sometimes his style is a little too close to Lil' Wayne (in the way he does his similes).

decent tracks: "Yep" "OMG" remix "Gone"

"Everyone Nose Freestyle" is pretty good

really, the high point is Yelawolf destroying it on "Country Cool (remix)"

So Far Gone EP - Drake

So Far Gone EP - Drake (2009)

hate.it!

really not sure why so many people love this guy. 

he's awful. 

only song of his I actually like = U-Turn "Style, Class, Flair" (the Emynd "Money To Blow" Blend) i.e. Drake with some DISCO... soooo appropriate. 

U-Tern "Style, Class, Flair" (Emynd "Money To Blow" Blend) by Emynd

Depart From Me... - Cage

Depart From Me... by Cage (2009)

the cover image gives you a really good idea of how depressing this album is. mostly not anything i'd care to listen to more than once.  As a general rule: I want no singing from my rappers. The production is really moody & synth-y with lots of bass.  I could maybe get behind an instrumentals release.

Least Favorite: "Kick Rocks" "Captain Bumout"

Favorite: "I Lost It In Havertown"

Born Like This - M.F. Doom

Born Like This - M.F. Doom (2009)

Favorite: "Yessir!" ft. Raekwon - then again, rhyming over ESG's "U.F.O." beat isn't really fair.  Everyone sounds good over it.
"Cellz" really finds Doom at his best with his signature clever wordplay and comic-book inspired beats.

Shotgun Rules - Zuchinni Drive

Shotgun Rules by Zuchinni Drive (2009)


Another project I've had for a while and been listening to without knowing what to say about it.
Sent to me by my friend KaeoFLUX, formerly of Komadose Productions out of Massachusetts. Now based in Brooklyn, NY & working with his band Mon.Key.Pod, they have crafted a dense soundscape for Marcus Graap (of Stacs of Stamina) and Tom De Geeter to play with. I've had it & been listening to it for months & still can't describe it other than to say it's grown on me.

The full album is available for free download at Marathon of Dope.

Favorite: "Shibuya" "Where the Buffalo Roam" ft. Seraphim of No Surrender "Your Fucking Face" ft. Elissa P

Tin Foil Hat EP - RJD2

Tin Foil Hat EP - RJD2 (2009)

The first thing I've heard from this guy in quite a while.  Though it gets off to a bumpy start with "The Sleepaway", the second track "The Highest of Courts" finds RJ doing what he does best: pairing funky drums with atmospheric vocals and instrumentals. "Thine Planetarium" reminds me of his first 12", "June", in a good way.  The guest MC, Tage, doesn't really do anything for me on "The Move" but RJ's work is still solid - I mostly just wish he had better taste in rappers. 

Overall, this is a good reminder of why I was so excited about RJ back when his debut, Deadringer, dropped in 2002.

Favorite: "When It Wobbles" "Thine Planetarium" "The Highest of Courts"

Ultraviolet - Kid Sister

Ultraviolet by Kid Sister (2009)

New release from Fool's Gold records, the label started by A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs. This album is not as hip hop as I like, a bit too electro, pop-y & sing-song, but it's pretty much what I expected from two guys who are huge in the party scene now.

Favorite: "Get Fresh" "Big n Bad"

Blackout! 2 - Method Man & Redman (2009)

Least Favorite: "Mrs. International" ft. Erick Sermon, "A-Yo" ft. Saukrates if only because I've heard it way too many times due to the automatic play feature of my iPhone that starts with the first song alphabetically every time it's plugged into my fm transmitter in my car


Favorite: "City Lights" ft. Bun B, "Dis Iz 4 All My Smokers", "Father's Day", Errbody Scream" ft. Keith Murray good to hear Keith Murray back at it - HARD!