Day 5 - OutKast and Beyond

After signing to Def Jam, Big Boi has been on a rampage, releasing acclaimed singles such as "Shine Blockas (feat. Gucci Mane [who actually did a fairly good guest job on the track])" and "Shutterbug (feat. Cutty Cartel)", along with enjoying the success and heavy remix of his hit "Royal Flush". With these releases, it gives fans hope that the rap superstar will finally release his long awaited and oft-delayed album Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty this summer. I am a huge Big Boi fan for his fast delivery and his insane and hilarious rhymes which are definitely on display especially in "Shutterbug" which was officially released this past week. Big Boi definitely went back to his bread and butter with this most recent single. The track has the traditional OutKast beat package full of a mixture of interesting, some would say weird, sounds with a major synth background. The beat has an old school funk feel to it with the guitar and bass rifts as well as the synths that you would find in Bootsy Collins tracks. With the addition of Cutty Cartel using a voice box, its like Big is goin back to the wild wild west and channeling Roger Troutman and his work of 2Pac's anthem "California Love". Look for the full LP to drop sometime in early to mid July.

Andre 3000 has also stated he will be releasing a solo project within the year; however, he has not released new material (the last being "Green Light" with John Legend that I can recall) in the past year. While I consider Big Boi to be the superior rapper, Andre definitely is the most musically talented and can command the mic and stage as good as anyone. I enjoyed The Love Below (his dual LP as part of OutKast, but largely considered to be his first solo album); but I would love to see 3-Stacks get back to his old style that he displayed on the first couple of OutKast LPs. His performance on "Ms. Jackson", which I consider to be their best track of all time, eclipsed Big Boi's by lightyears just because he had shown a much matured rhyming style and commanded the mic like the rap heavyweight that everyone knew he was but hadn't seen yet. I am anxious to see what he does with his solo effort and hopefully it will drop this year (but mostly because both 3K and Big have stated a new OutKast album will not be released until both solo albums are released).

OutKast is one of my favorite groups of all time for the simple fact that they are different than anyone else but are still raw, and because of this, have become one of the most successful groups in rap history. Listening to "Ms. Jackson" and "So Fresh, So Clean" was what made me fall in love with hip-hop and Stankonia and Aquemini remain two of my favorite albums of all time. I was ridiculously hyped when both Big and 3-Stacks said they are back in the lab together workin on a new album after their last album, Idelwild, was subpar in my view, mostly because it was designed as a soundtrack for their movie of the same name (which was also subpar in itself). It is hard to follow the huge success of an album like Speakerboxxx/The Love Below but I thought seasoned vets like OutKast could have done a little better than Idlewild. And what was worse was both Big and Andre said they were taking an indefinite hiatus after its release and that it was unclear if they would ever release an album again. While we have to wait for their solo projects to come out, I'm just happy that they have started to go back to the studio. It would be great if they got back to the style that made them famous, like in Stankonia, but anything they release together would be better than the stuff we are listening to today, especially (of course) Gucci and the Brick Squad and all the other wannabe stars (GS Boyz, V.I.C., etc.). If they make anything like the stuff Big Boi has been putting out I think we have a lot to look forward to for this year.

Day 4.5 - Quick Look at the Summer

Hunger for More 2 should be decent and "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley" was a great track that showcased in a year of rap disappointment; but I think Lloyd Banks has to team back up with Interscope and get back into the lab because he can't ride the success train for much longer, as we saw earlier in his career. Hunger for More was a good debut, with tracks like "Karma", "Playboy", "Warrior, Pt. 2", and "On Fire", but Rotten Apple was poor; and with Yayo essentially out of the limelight entirely with one of the worst sophomore performances I have seen, with Gunpowder Guru, someone's gotta pick up the slack on the end of the G-Unit/Aftermath camp.

The R.E.D. Album should be decent, hopefully, as my patience with The Game is running out. Like his former mentor, 50 Cent, The Game's debut The Documentary is one of the best in history, and I would love to see The Game return to the skill and flow that he displayed; however, LAX was one of the biggest flops I have had the misfortune of listening to (except for "Dope Boys" and "Camera Phone").

Watch for Young Buck to make big moves and try to salvage his rep (after the embarrassing, emotional phone message/breakup left on 50's answering machine last year) this year after leaving G-Unit, and watch him showcase the skill that made him the undisputed number two on G-Unit and with a vengeance. Ca$his may drop his much awaited and delayed LP this year, but I highly doubt it; however, he will always be remembered for his crazy guest spot on "You Don't Know" which is one of the best tracks I have heard produced by any Interscope artist(s).

Look for Drake's debut Thank Me Later as it WILL be one of the craziest releases of the year, which I will blog about more extensively in the future. Three 6 Mafia's Laws of Power comes out in late May, but don't expect too much as Last 2 Walk was subpar. Lupe Fiasco may release Lasers this year, but with the amount of leaks, he might delay it until next year. Reflection Eternal will make their long awaited return and Redman will see if he can return to prominence with Reggie. Juelz Santana will drop Born to Lose, Built to Win in June, and it has high expectations, especially the success of "Back to the Crib" and "Homerun". More classic albums are The Roots' How I Got Over and Nas & Damian Marley's Distant Relatives.

Day 4 - The Mixtape Circuit

With rapper's taking to the internet to gain exposure and fans, mixtapes are coming out daily with new or remastered material. While rappers like Drake (Room For Improvement, Comeback Season, and So Far Gone), Wiz Khalifa (Burn After Rolling and Kush & OJ) and Fabolous (back in the day) are making their name with the mixtape, rappers like Lil Wayne are solidifying their name in the game with releases like No Ceilings, and the Dedication trilogy. Chamillionaire is the self proclaimed "Mixtape Messiah" and DJ Drama has built an entire career (and was locked up) for being the King of the mixtape, but is it all worth it? Is the mixtape ruining hip-hop?

Mixtapes were the canvas that fueled rap feuds, especially right after The Game left G-Unit and released Ghost Unit and You Know What It Is, Vol. 3, it has become a new outlet for pirating music, pushing back release dates, and leaking album singles. I enjoyed No Ceilings and the Dedications, but I am getting tired of Lil Wayne material flooding the airways on DatPiff.com with useless, redundant, and pre-released material. Just recently, Wayne released Blue Martian, which was full of horrible Young Money tracks that couldn't make it on any other Young Money releases and were hoping to ride on Wayne's success to gain more exposure for the crew.

On the other hand, I get to find new artists that are hot and follow them as they grow in the industry. I mean, Drake is one of my favorite rappers out right now just because of So Far Gone and Comeback Season, which in my mind could have easily been albums/main releases in themselves. Plus, you get to listen to underground stuff that record labels wouldn't ordinarily release, especially collaborations. Just release is Fan of a Fan, a collabo mixtape by Tyga and Chris Brown. Chris Brown is a great young talent even though his career is catching a lot of flaq and has hit a major roadblock with the whole Rihanna issue and Tyga is one of the more promising members of Young Money (other than Wayne, Drake and Jae Millz) and he always comes with straight fire. Tracks like "Ain't Thinkin About You" (a possible hit at Rihanna), "I'm So Raw", "Holla @ Me", and "G Shit" make the mixtape worthy of a good listen will definitely get your car bumpin. Truthfully, this mixtape was more well-put together than Bow Wow and Omarion's collabo album, Face Off. Mixtapes turned me onto new acts as well, especially Trey Songz with Anticipation. Tracks like "Famous", "Scratchin Me Up", "Does She Know", "Infidelity", "You Belong to Me", "More Than That", and "It Would Be You" got me into Trey and really feelin his collabos with Drake.

Day 3 - Summer of the Aftermath?

In the age of speculation over release dates, could this finally be the summer of Aftermath?

Eminem is making quick work of moving on from his scrapped Relapse 2 project and putting out new material for Recovery, his new LP tentatively set to be released June 18. With the release of "Despicable" (his best freestyle since the hilarious hit back at Mariah Carey in "Warning" and the best rhymes I have heard over two of the biggest beats of the year, "Over" and "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley") and the album's first (promo?) single, "Not Afraid" (over a ridiculous Boi-1da beat), Em brings back his gritty and hard flow and rhyme scheme that made him famous. A lot of fans and critics praised Relapse, but, personally, I thought it was trash. Relapse was predominantly made of filler tracks, which is uncharacteristic of an artist of Em's caliber, with only arguably three tracks ("Beautiful", "Must Be the Ganja", and "Crack a Bottle" [which won him a Grammy]) that I could put on replay and listen to without cringing. I don't care what anyone says, "3 a.m." is not good. While Dre provides a decent beat and production package on the track, it simply sounds like Em was confused when layin down his rhymes as his delivery is uncharacteristically and unpleasantly slow. His depression seeps through the lyrics and I feel worse after listening to the song (and after "My Mom" as well). Relapse was simply too depressing and serious from start to finish to be considered a "real" Em album. He's to get back to the fast flow and quick wit, wise cracking lyrics that everyone loves and that brought him fame, especially in "My Name Is", "Superman" and "Real Slim Shady", which were upbeat, comedic, and good (unlike his comedy attempt on Relapse, "We Made You", which was one of the worst tracks I have heard). Even the depressing songs on previous albums were enjoyable because he found an equal medium between seriousness and playfulness, especially "Cleanin Out My Closet", "When I'm Gone", "Like Toy Soldiers", and "Stan". With that said, I like Eminem, and while I don't necessarily agree that he is the Best Rapper Alive, I think he is one of the most able and willing to claim the throne, but he will have to impress me with Recovery to earn it.

After 10 years of ongoing speculation over the status of Detox, Dr. Dre has finally stated that the "most anticipated album of the decade" will be released this summer. Yah Yah, how many times have we heard that? People are definitely waiting for and definitely anticipating Dre pulling, well, a Dre and push the album back another decade; but this is the first time that he has ever stated he will be releasing a single within the next two weeks. I know he said that 3 weeks ago but I mean, it is Dre, we can't expect too much. Rest assured, the leaked beat is crazy; I can't wait to see what he does to fill out the beat with the help of super (and recently sobered up) producer Scott Storch as well as see how his lyrical skills have withstood the ultimate test of time. I'm not a huge Jay-Z fan as I feel he has too big of an ego and has sold out since In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (which I consider to be one of the best rap albums of all time) and I feel like his flow has suffered due to this, but I feel like Dre would not come out with something that wasn't up to his usual, and ridiculously high standards (the same standards that drove the likes of legendary rappers like Rakim, Busta Rhymes, and, even the (unlegendary) first lady of Ruff Ryders, Eve away from Aftermath). Detox's impending release is certainly something to hope for, but I've waited for 10 years, I think I can wait another month or two.

50 Cent delivered with a noteworthy release in Before I Self Destruct; however, I will admit it was way overhyped. Despite containing tracks such as "The Invitation", "Psycho", "Baby By Me", "Do You Think About Me", "Could've Been You", it cannot compare to Get Rich or Die Tryin', which is one of the best debut albums by any musician in history. "Psycho" is, I feel, a better Eminem collaborative track than "Patiently Waiting"; but the lead singles are not even close ("Baby By Me" vs. "In da Club", come on?). The album had a few forgettable tracks that were poor alternatives to the early released tracks, like the club banger "Get Up" and, my personal favorite, "I Get It In", which was one of the best Dre beats I had heard in a while. None the less, 50 is one of my favorites for his gritty style, flow, and voice that screams the pain of his upbringing and path to fame; and I fullheartedly agree with Ice-T that 50 is the last of a dying breed of Gangster Rappers, and coming from one of the pioneers of Gangster Rap (and his work with the King of gangster rap, Dr. Dre) that is saying something. With that said, the latest reports on Fif's direction for his next album, Black Magic, are troubling. Throughout his European tour, 50 has been tampering with techno beats since visiting European night clubs and sampling the DJ music. Fif is the next of a long line of today's rap stars to resort to techno beats to open up to a new market and attract more fans and I don't think its the best idea he's had. He states Black Magic will be a classic 50 Cent album, but just the mere thought of techno beats on the Prince of Gangster Rap's album is repulsive. I won't be able to judge until I hear the final product, but "Ayo Technology" was about the most synth I can take on a "classic" 50 album. Nonetheless, 50 ambitiously states the album will be ready by the summer.


New On iTunes:
B.o.B.- The Adventures of Bobby Ray
Bone Thugs n Harmony- Uni5: The World's Enemy
8Ball & MJG- Ten Toes Down
Trina- Amazin

Listen To:
Drake- Shut It Down (feat. The-Dream)
Jeezy- Lose My Mind (feat. Plies)
Eminem- Not Afraid
Shawty Lo- Atlanta, GA

Day 2 - April 27th, 2010: Kush & OJ

A bit off topic but the first time I heard about the concept of Kush & OJ as a mixtape a couple of months before its release, I thought it would be a collabo album between OJ da Juiceman and Wiz Khalifa as they were both on the XXL Magazine Top 10 Freshmen List for this year, which I was a little sceptical about. I don’t care what people say, OJ da Juiceman and the whole Brick Squad crew is trash. Gucci Mane is the most overhyped rapper this year bar none. He relies too heavily on dope beats and production by heavy hitters in the game, like Bangladesh, Scott Storch, Polow da Don, and up-and-comer FATBOI, but it is not enough to hide his lackluster lyrical performance. Everything from his flow to his word play is mediocre at best. His delivery is slowed by stupid sounds like “burrr” and “uhhhh”. His rhymes are elementary and his voice, in many instances, is annoying. Gucci is also known as one of the worst freestylers in the game. XXL Magazine was way off in naming Gucci the next best rapper. With that said, I have liked him in a couple of Collabos, especially “Shine Blockers” by Big Boi off of his debut solo album Sir Lucious Leftfoot: Son of Chico Dusty. Next is Wacka Flocka Flame who is arguably the worst in the crew. ”O Let’s Do It” is one of the worst songs I have heard this year and the only reason he became famous is because his mom is Gucci’s manager and she, most likely, insisted on Gucci signing him to Brick Squad despite little hype surrounding Waka in the underground. To round it out, OJ was mediocre on Jadakiss’s “Who’s Real” but his lyricism has fallen into the trap of rapping about the most meaningless topics, for example “Silver Hummer on 8’s”, who cares. ”Make tha Trap Say Aye”, the song that made OJ famous, is one of the most underproduced songs, along with “You’re a Jerk” by New Boyz, with what sounds like static interference in the background and a lowered master volume on both the keys and the mic; and, to boot, the beat was not even good, it actually sounded like organs. Second, what does making the “Trap Say Aye” even mean. OJ continues with a chorus that is typical of today’s southern snap-rap generation of “Quarter brick, half a brick, whole brick (Aay)…..”, just horrible. XXL Magazine named him a Top 10 Freshman for 2010, so who knows maybe they see something I don’t, and plus he has a dope ass chain.

I am really feelin Wiz right now. On the downside, his flow/voice is monotonous, which I believe takes away from his true skill because people just get bored listening to it due to the lack of energy coming through the mic; and his lyrical message is too repetitive: “I love weed and I smoke all day, you should too”. It gets a bit repetitive. In my opinion, many tracks (especially “Pedal to the Medal”) on Kush & OJ had the potential of being a meaningful track that showed his true potential as a lyricist and a “mic-commanding” rapper but he decided to fall back into his comfort zone, and even began to stray from the party rap style that got him “widescale” national recognition for example in “Say Yeah”. Wiz did not come into the game known as the “weed” rapper, like a Devin the Dude type. He started out with tracks like “Youngin On His Grind” and “All In My Blood” (off of Show and Prove, which I think waspretty legit and mature for afirst attempt, especially for an 18 year old [I think he was 18]), which talked about his adolescence in Pittsburgh (and some of the stereotypical “money” talk). While his lyrics, as well as song and mixtape titles, don’t vary much nor stray far from the underlying message and energy of the song of smoking a ton of weed, I still love it because of his dope beats and his ridiculous, silky-smooth as well as krisp flow. I was a big fan of Burn After Rolling as well as the majority of Deal or No Deal. Some tracks to watch out for and give a good listen to are: “Mesmorized”, “Visions”, “Still Blazin”, “The Kid Frankie” (which has an old west coast retro beat, almost a morph between Roger Troutman, Snoop Dogg, and Eazy E/NWA beats), “Pedal to the Medal”, “Never Been”, “Glass House”, and “In the Cut”.

Other rappers to look out for on the underground circuit are:

Tabi Bonney

Shad

Murs & 9th Wonder

Blu

Fashawn

Curren$y

Little Brother

Take a Listen (Unreleased):

Drake- Shut It Down (feat. The-Dream)

Nipsey Hussle- Army All By Myself (feat. Jay Rock & 2Pac)

Both great heavy hitters on the west coast

Latest Releases on iTunes:

B.o.B.- Adventures of Bobby Ray

Cypress Hill- Rise Up

Rap Aficionado Day 1

This is to commemorate the start of Tim Bautz rap blogging. Tim himself is THE rap aficionado, and soon the world will know why. Tim will rant about topics concerning, rap/hip-hop history, current events, news, songs, albums, the industry, ect. Enjoy!