Top 5 Mixtapes of the Month (March)

Its been a fluctuating stream of good projects for the month of march with the release of certain major label LP’s like Ross’s Mastermind and Pharrel’s G I R L but as always I still manage to deliver a list of the only mixtapes you should be listening from the month of march so peep them out and I hope you enjoy as always.   

1. Vince Staples – Shyne Coldchain Vol. 2: Long Beach’s promising rapper vince releases the second installment of his Shyne Coldchain mixtape series with only two features from recent collaborator Jhene Aiko and James Fauntleroy and is mainly produced by Legendary producer No I.D and others like Childish Major, Evidence and DJ Babu, definitely a great body of work and is a must listen for fans of that graphic and truthful LA gangsta rap.  D/L Link: http://www.datpiff.com/Vince-Staples-Shyne-Coldchain-Vol-2-mixtape.590712.html

2. Jon Connor - Best in the World: He’s Back! Recently Aftermath signee Jon Connor returns and gives us another highly impressive mixtape for his Best in the World Series, this time him displaying his lyrical abilities over Kanye west records. Alternative title for this mixtape is The Late Registration of a College Dropout Who Had a Dark Twisted Fantasy of 808 and Heartbreaks and is definitely a must listen for those who still appreciate the foundation of how mixtapes were constructed. D/L Link: http://www.datpiff.com/Jon-Connor-The-Late-Registration-of-a-College-Dropout-Who-Had-mixtape.592179.html

3. De La Soul – Smell the D.A.I.S.Y:  Legendary Hip Hop Collective De La Soul releases a new project with all the tracks being of J Dilla production and is just a warm up for the album they are currently working on so take a listen and enjoy. D/L Link: http://www.datpiff.com/De-La-Soul-Smell-The-Daisy-mixtape.594813.html

4. XV – Elite Eight: In The spirit Of March Madness and him being a huge college basketball fan XV been providing his fans with a ton of new music and this is the third project he’s done since the beginning of the madness series which consists of all original tracks with production from Swiff D, Big Blizz, Pete Pine and many others. D/L Link: http://www.datpiff.com/XV-March-Madness-Vol-3-Elite-Eight-EP-mixtape.595823.html

5. King Los – Zero Gravity: King Los drops the second attachment to the Zero Gravity mixtape he dropped back in 2010 with features from Kid Ink, Jeremih , Mark Battles, Devin Cruise and many others with production from Dot N Pro, Devin Cruise , Peter Pan and Los Himself. D/L Link: http://www.datpiff.com/King-Los-Zero-Gravity-2-mixtape.592172.html

                                         

UnHyped Audio: March 26, 2014

Here we go! Another selection of tracks that you probably wouldn’t notice or maybe slept on at some point but best believe these are records of quality, carry a captivating sound and deliver depth in content so have a listen and enjoy.

Kent M$ney – Home Alone:  HS87’s Kent leaks a new record featuring the rest of the HS87 crew like Audio Push, Hit-Boy, BMac The Queen and more, beat was constructed by in house producer Haze Banga and is definitely a record you’ve going to add to your playlist.  

Smoke DZA – Hearses:  Kush God releases the first leak from his upcoming album with TDE’s Ab-Soul delivering an impressive verse and receptive chorus over a well produced DJ Dahi beat.   

Mac Miller – Amen Brother: Mac releases a new instrumental under his production moniker Larry fisherman with no verses from mac himself but he enlists some of his rap peers like Da$h, Ab-Soul, Vince Staples and Retchy who each delivered a stand out 16 on the record.   

Pusha T – Burial: New record by GOOD Music’s Pusha T delivering his regular cocaine stance verses over an electronic infused style of production by London’s Outfit YOGI in which Pusha flows on the beat with such elegance. 

Mic Check 1, 2: SXSW Edition

This latest post of Mic Check 1, 2 showcases some fun and intriguing freestyles from some of the performing Hip Hop acts at this year’s South by South West musical festival in Austin, Texas on the live set of Radio/TV personality Sway’s “Sway in The Morning Show” (With the exception of an impressive Five Fingers of Death freestyle From Los At the Base location) so as always watch, pay keen attention and I hope you enjoy.   

ATL Hip Hop: The Trap Needs To Go

I don’t even know how to begin this article but for the most part let me say that as a devoted fan of this genre, this culture we call hip hop I am really disappointed in the level of baboonery the city of Atlanta has emerged onto the Hip Hop scene and also disappointed in the radio stations that continue to feed this mockery to the masses which not only continues to paint a negative image on us as a race but further strengthens the stereotypes that were made against us for judgment and in order for this culture we call hip hop to survive a few more decades this gibberish nonsense needs to cease and be gone! It serves no purpose, has no message and is highly distorted to the ears of the sensitive. 

Like where has the lyricism and cohesive nature for quality music gone from the ATL? These new “rappers” is a disgrace to the foundation of The Goodie Mob and Outkast who may have also told tales of similar scenarios involving drugs and crime but never was it told in a positive light, you see these guys paved the way for not only ATL but the world to hear their stories and listen to the everyday trials and tribulations they faced coming up living in Atlanta, Georgia and its quite funny how they had difficulties delivering these stories to the listener because of their strong and not so understandable southern accent but in the year 2014 you have males mumbling gibberish over a 808 beat and you swear you know what he’s rapping about lol.

I mean I’m confused, over the past four years I’ve seen a different rapper from Atlanta get some exposure from a popular street record he did, he gets a major record deal, drops his debut album then few months later where is he?? I’ll tell you where he is! He in the one hit wonder section with the rest of the no talent morons that only making an effort to pursue music for the money, not passion or because he has a skill to rap NO! He tryna get paid like the rest of these “rappers” on TV lol. The only emcee I can count for that is straight from the ATL is G.O.O.D music’s very own Cyhi the Prynce, I truly appreciate his effort to keep the lyricism alive from the city and commend him on helping to push the culture forward.  

So acts like Future, Migos, Rich Homie Quan (exception for 2 Chainz because that’s my Dawg lol) and Young Thug are only some of the disappointments of the ATL, now you may find some of their records captivating, you may even say their music is “dope” but really ask yourself what is the message in their music?? What do they stand for? Do they do it for the culture or is it just a money scheme? And also ask yourself if u are not particularly interested in the song content but only just the repetition of the hook and the beat that got your attention for the song and if that is the case all I want most hip hop listeners to do always is have variation in hip hop music cause I can guarantee that only listening to the “I got money and hoes” braggadocious  style of rap will only make you ratchet-minded and definitely lower your IQ lol, so please if you consider yourself a person of intelligence let your music compliment your state of mind and resonate with who you are as a human being and help to eliminate this discriminating factor from the culture and elevate the conscious state of rap to its true supremacy.

REVIEW: Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron

Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction , For Hoover Street ex resident  Quincy Hanley AKA Schoolboy Q this term represents all past criminal and gang member activities that occurred in his past in which he was apart of in order to help provide for his four year old daughter where at the beginning may have seen as if he was doing good to support his child but in all reality was just mere excuses and that is the life contradiction Quincy came to perspective with, that is his Oxymoron and it tells you the tales of these contradictions throughout the entire album with an eclectic soundtrack of grooves to keep you attentive to his life stories so you may also leave with a perspective of your own.

                         

West Coast Gangsta Rap has been prominent over the decades in Hip Hop from the likes Of NWA to Snoop Dogg to The Game and many others but for the past few years this very enticing and arrogant nature of LA Hip Hop has been on a back burner in the mainstream where the new generation of Gangster Rap has only been prospering underground but it seems Schoolboy Q has found The recipe and with Oxymoron listens will get a heavy dose of what this generation of Gangsta Rap sounds like as this was Q’s main objective throughout the entire project from the stories of his grandmother showing him his first gun to the well known “Yak Yak!” ab libs he so frequently uses to his whole demeanour on each record, he embodies the Gangsta imagery from his bouncy flow to the wordplay and gun lingo punch lines, you will most definitely be glued to every record on this album.

Oxymoron is very diverse as it relates to Q’s personality traits from him being the having fun party guy so you’ll find tracks like “Collard Greens”, “Hell Of a Night “, ” What They Want” and “Man Of the Year”  to be instant bangers if u like this particular content Schoolboy Q brings to the table and if your more into the insightful, street conscious Q then tracks like “Blind Threats” (Which is a personal favorite of mine)  will more than suit you, another stand out record was “Hoover Street” where Quincy gives you a audio visual of the day by day situations that occurs in his neighbourhood in which the double beat was composed by In house TDE producer sounwave  , also  the record “Prescription” was a very dark and somewhat depressing track in which Q’s reveals to us his life struggles and addiction to the same vices he sells to his cliental.

The features for this album was very different and at the same time very minimal from the likes of Tyler The Creator who produced The Purge, LA OG Kurupt, Sugar Free , TDE members SZA, Kendrick Lamar and Jay Rock, 2 Chainz and others.  Now many have debated if this album would put Schoolboy Q as the Top Dawg in TDE and take Kendrick off the throne, now for me personally Oxymoron may not be as conceptually built and in depth as Kendrick’s Good KID Maad City But Both albums were constructed and produced in high quality what I can say is that with the preparation leading to this album Q has risen out the darkest as K dot’s long time Hype man and made his own name, built his own core fan base and now has his own legacy to fulfil as an artist so I hope to see what is in store for him and the rest of the TDE collective as the years go by but hey that’s just my outlook on the project.     

REVIEW: RICK ROSS – Mastermind

So Rozay dropped Mastermind, his sixth studio album under May Bach Music Group and Def Jam Recordings. Rick Ross had a goal for his latest project to be a classic, a reminiscence of the chill vibe of the golden era of the 90’s but to be honest it’s a good body of work but its nothing compared to Deeper than Rap and Teflon Don. I would dare say GFID (God Forgives I Don’t) was actually more conceptual and insightful than Mastermind but do not get it twisted Mastermind is still a top quality album and you can see that Ross still has not lost his taste in beats. I can only imagine Diddy had a lot to do with how this album sounded as it was almost as if I heard Trilla, Port of Miami, a bit of Deeper than Rap and the new Rozay flow all complied on the album.

Fortunately I won’t be speaking on every track on the album as some are particularly underwhelming but the standouts for me are of course starting with Drug Dealer's Dream sounded like Teflon Don Ross on a beat with heavy bass that makes you unconsciously nod your head. The Subject nature throughout the album is that you would expect of Ross, visions of grandeur, the machinations of a master "crime lord", and the insight of a man who reflects on the negatives of the "game".

Indeed if Ross never sold a brick in his life you would never know from the content and the details he portrays, if it was not from personal experience it definitely comes from good sources.

Nobody is a top standout not because of Ross and not because of that addictive French Montana hook but because of that Diddy Speech. That Speech that was said to not be staged but was a real conversation with Diddy taking on an associate about the lack of vision and ambition.

That song is inspiring for that verse alone; if you manage to get through and not feel like you need to do more with life then there's no hope for you.

Mafia Music III is a great track but I think I would have rather it be named differently, I didn’t get that "Mafia Music" effect such as that was given off from I and II. Maybe it was because it wasn’t as Grandiose as the prequels in sound. The Jamaican infused beat was not lacking though and Sizzla was a great addition.

To close this insight without mentioning the "Hanker-ch-aaave" song would be an insult with that DJ Mustard and Kanye collab production it was bound to be magic. The Betty white recreation was a magical touch rather than to be a sample as the powerful nature of her voice really brought the track together. 

All in all it was a job well done but it still fell short of a classic in my eyes. Call me a hipster or one who dwells in the past too much but Ross needs to really revisit the Deeper than Rap days and combine it with Teflon Don Production to get his Classic.