Stan’s: Music’s Fungus

Over the decades in this world of music there have been two types of individuals who have an admiration for the art form whether it be Rock, Alternative, Pop, Hip-Hop/R&B etc. there are Fans and Stan’s now as a fan of Urban music I must say over the years I have been highly disturbed and irritated by the mentality of Stan’s on the global social media spectrum and it puzzles me how a person have developed such a paranoid and biased obsession for a particular musical icon where their love transcends further than the music and now this person’s interest solely lies on the personal affairs and not so much the music of an artist and to this day these set of individuals continue to amaze me how they can jump to justify any wrongs done by their special superstar and be highly defensive when negative comments are slurred as if they have a personal relationship with such entertainer, its quite bizarre and extremely sad if u ask me and I refer to these species as the fungus of pop culture that slowly takes the attention from the general love of the music and makes it seems to be all about the artist’s personal life and this only creates a generation of mindless future music listeners who will follow this forever growing popular trend and I do hope that someday we has human beings can revert back to the foundation of how music was just appreciated more and not so much the lifestyle an artist portrays. 

Pretty much almost every major artist has Stan’s but the most irritating ones can be Rhianna’s (NavyArmy), Beyoncé’s (Beyhive), Chris Brown’s (TeamBreezy) , these set of Stan’s really are in a façade when it comes to these particular artist and can be very defensive and biased towards their beloved icons. Personally I’m not a fan of Rihanna’s music nor am I a fan of how she portrays this imitative bad girl wild life image to the media which I believe has a negative effect on young girls but to a Rhianna Stan ‘she’s young let her live’ this very ignorant remark is only a prime example of how a Stan operates because as far as I’m concerned she will not be young forever and there will come a time where she will need to mature and be a more positive role model for her young fans and be the example of a strong, respected, self-worthy woman because we need more of that in this poisoned world of today and less “bad bitches”.  

During his early beginnings in the contemporary R&B game I was a big fan of Chris Brown but it’s clear to see lately that the Virginia superstar is lost in this world and needs help to find himself because since the negative whiplash he dealt with after his assault on former girlfriend Rihanna he has been staying in legal trouble from the multiple rumored and factual assaults on people he displayed in recent times and its quite clear he doesn’t care  and that’s why his behind in his jail but now u have very silly and obsessed crazed stans of his writing #FreeBreezy all over social media and I wonder if they understand how that is not a good thing, personally I think he needs a year or two in jail since he’s not taking nothing seriously, not the rehab, not the court dates so some jail time must straighten him out and make him realize this lifestyle needs to end before he puts the lights out of his career indefinitely because its happened before and he an be the next victim of an “has been”.    

Last but not least the Beyoncé Stan’s and I can understand why so many will Stan over this woman, I mean she emulates a lady of ambition, self-worth, kind, loving, respectful and its almost like she’s perfection and one of the few artist in the world that shows so much positivity in everything she does its hard not to love her but a lot don’t and for that this is the reason why the Beyhive attacks on rapid whenever somebody speaks of their beloved Beyoncé in a negative tone. But for me I think they need to come to terms that people have opinions about people not all of them are going to be good and that is the world we live in so they should practice the act of ignore and learn to let go the obsession a little because I mean I know she seems perfect but she bleeds just like the rest of us and will die like us also (laughs).  

My main message for this particular article is simple, before you spend each day on Tumblr being glued to pages of your obsessed idol or website watching their everyday move take that time and do something more substantial because this type of behavior only develops a intense biased appeal for their music which could cause the quality of such music to be poor but will you be able to know the difference? Most likely not and we as the supporters of music don’t need this depreciating factor in the culture we live for so it should and always be about the music nothing else is important but hey that’s just my unpopular opinion on the matter.

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.