Written by willshoob on Friday, 31 of October , 2008 at 9:19 pm
Lupe’s big announcement was just announced, and it’s pretty fucking exciting. At first he said that there would be a live dvd/cd of his Chicago Halloween concert, but as the night got later the surprises got better. He later revealed that LUP.E.N.D. is going to be a triple album, as in three cd’s in one. He later revealed that they will be called Everywhere, Nowhere, and Down Here. It sounds pretty exciting to me, but then again I am a super humongous Lupe fan. Anyways, enjoy the video and one of my favorite Lupe songs below.
Written by willshoob on Friday, 31 of October , 2008 at 5:24 pm
As some of you may know by now, I’m in the process of counting down my 20 favorite hip-hop albums of all time. Lil Wayne’s Da Drought 3 came in at #14. Remember that I grew up on late 90’s and early 00’s music, so my hip-hop views are probably a lot more modern than a lot of “old school” hip-hop fans.
Continuing the trend of mixtapes, and starting a trend of everybody screaming at me and questioning my credibility (like I have any), we have Kid Cudi’s mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi.
Ok start screaming and freaking out. Yes, this mixtape came out in summer ‘08 but that just shows how good it is. Kid Cudi is bound to be a superstar. The mixtape is full of great choruses and clever rhymes. He’s already starting to get big, and it’s only a matter of time before you start mentioning him with the biggest names in hip hop. I’m sure if you take away the name and year of this album, many people would agree with me that this whole mixtape is amazing. Anyways, let’s begin.
We start with the second song, “Down and Out.” Kid Cudi raps over OutKast’s “Chonkyfire”, which happened to be on an earlier hip hop list. He immediately gets down to business with this great first track (excluding the intro) and really sets the bar for the rest of the album.
Highlight of the song:
See the lord adore me
He met me half way
No guts no glory I always say
So until I reach what I came here to find
Along with inner peace my life will always be a grind
Proceed to the next track, and you get a view of what the future of hip hop will be like. This song called “Is There Any Love?” features Wale, who will also be a huge rapper in the future. It features a simple beat, and really picks up once Wale’s verse kicks in.
Highlight of the song:
You nigga’s so so like seamstress
Skip a song, and we arrive at “Man on the Moon (The Anthem).” This is one of my favorites on the album, but then again I have a lot of favorites. Anyways, this song features a really nice beat that just makes me happy. This song has a great chorus, but then again what Kid Cudi song doesn’t have a great chorus?
Highlight of the song:
It’s a curtain call come one come all
All I do is try and make it simple
The one’s that make it complicated never get congratulated
I’m something different all aspects
Don’t want a woman just to love her assets
Go to the very next track, and we arrive at “The Prayer.” Another one of my favorites, “The Prayer” features “The Funeral” by Band of Horses. Quite a few of Kid Cudi’s songs revolve around death, and this one is no different.
Highlight of the song:
And If I die before I wake
I pray the lord my soul to take
But please don’t cry
Just know that I have made these songs for you
And If I die before I wake
I pray the lord my soul to take
Because I’m ready for a funeral
We arrive at the very next track, which happens to be “Day N Nite.” This happens to be Cudi’s most popular song, he even played it at the MTV Music Video Awards (who cares if it never aired). Another thing Kid Cudi obsesses with is weed, and this song is about a “lonely stoner.”
Highlight of the song:
The pain is deep
A silent sleeper you won’t hear a peep
The girl he wants don’t seem to want him too
It seems the feelings that she had are through
through
Cuz day n nite
The lonely stoner seems to free his mind at night
He’s alone through the day n nite
The lonely loner seems to free his mind at night
At at at night
We once again go to the very next track, which is “Embrace the Martian” featuring Crookers. This is currently my favorite song on the mixtape. It features an absolutely bomb beat from Crookers, and an infectious chorus from Cudi.
Highlight of the song:
License to ill
I promise I won’t turn the whole world to Cloverfield
On the real yes I will
I’ll destroy it and then rebuild
Just for thrills
Just so I don’t end up talking about the whole album, we’ll skip to the last song “Heaven at Nite.” The topic of death once again comes up, as Cudi raps over Ratatat’s “Tacobel Cannon.” This song features an infectiously haunting beat, and once again, an amazing chorus. Every time I hear this song, I like it more and more.
Highlight of the song:
Have you ever been to heaven at night
Closing your eyes the feeling so right
At first you might see just one bright beam of light
Written by willshoob on Wednesday, 29 of October , 2008 at 6:21 pm
The Knux have skyrocketed to the top of my favorite artists list, in a really short amount of time. This hip-hop/every other genre duo from New Orleans, make really interesting, fun hip hop that never gets stale or boring. Their debut album came out yesterday, and I highly recommend it. I’m going to talk about a few of my favorite tracks, if you all don’t mind.
I’m generally not one for intro’s, but this is an exception. The album starts off with a bang, as the up tempo “The List” emerges with a flavorful guitar riff. It has a metal-ish hint to it, but once the boys start rapping, all genres go flying out the door and it’s just The Knux.
One of the albums single, “Bang! Bang!” is a great example of the type of band they are. It features a bluesy/rock guitar riff and a chanting chorus, but then they start rapping and everyone is utterly confused on how to label them. This is the song they’ve been performing on all the daily shows, and it’s really great live. They’re one of the first hip hop acts I’ve ever seen play an instrument live. Their first single, “Cappuccino” comes next, and I’d say it’s the most “mainstream” out of every song on the album, although you can hardly call it that.
The next song, “Roxxanne” is one of my favorites after a couple of listens to the whole album. It features sort of an 80’s-ish guitar riff, hand claps, and a great chorus, with great harmonies. I highly recommend this track. Two tracks later, they switch everything up with an electric banger in “The Train.” It features a whole lot going on, including a trancy synth line. This song feels like it could have been a Bloody Beetroots remix.
We later arrive on “Parking Lot” which has the most “hip hop” beat of the whole album. It shows yet another side of The Knux, which is a real old school, laid back rap song. A few songs later, and we arrive at “Playboy’s.” At this point it’s getting ridiculous, they’ve covered so many genres on the album, it’s really impressive. This song has a pop punk feel to it, that would be a top 40 song if Avril Lavigne made it. But, these guys really turn it into a great song.
The only other act I can relate The Knux to is OutKast. With no boundaries, The Knux explore into all genres and show no fear when jumping into unknown territories. The result is a great first album, from a great up and coming hip hop duo.
If you like the album, make sure to buy it! You can check out their Myspace here, and our interview with them here.
Written by willshoob on Tuesday, 28 of October , 2008 at 6:34 pm
Sorry for the delay, it’s the last week of first quarter. Shit sucks. Anyways, I have a couple of remixes and a rap song that all are pretty “guilty.” Enjoy.
If someone who actually rapped about stuff made this song, it’d be one of my favorites of all time. This beat is sooooooo fantastic but T.I. doesn’t say anything! Oh well, I still love it. T.I.- What You Know
Written by gzabriel on Tuesday, 28 of October , 2008 at 2:41 pm
So we got sent this track by Italo Electro Producer Phonat and we really dig it. This is what we could find about him:
MofoHifi Records is pleased to bring you fresh fresh talent from new signing ‘Phonat’, a 7 foot Italian electro house genius. Now with BBC Radio One support from Annie Mac, Annie Nightingale, Trophy Twins and Eddie Halliwell.
The track combines a really cheesy disco pop sample with electro blips and sirens and a nice driving bass groove. The original track, as I do believe this is the strictly dance mix, uses all of these elements transmogrified across 3 genres effortlessly and is worth checking out. Keep an eye on this guy, good things are sure to come.
Written by caz4mack on Monday, 27 of October , 2008 at 7:30 pm
The liberals are at it again with A.T.P.’s release of “Obama Obama,” a clever take on Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli.” Thanks to Lucas Kraft who just sent this over to me. Check it out.
Written by ashkap on Sunday, 26 of October , 2008 at 7:59 pm
Off of Kanye West’s upcoming fourth studio release, 808 & Heartbreak, we have a track entitled “Robocop”
It sucks.
808 & Heartbreak’s only possible redeeming factor is its remixableness. Other than that, it is possibly the biggest rapper in the world, singing. In Autotune.
Written by willshoob on Sunday, 26 of October , 2008 at 6:00 pm
I’d like to start out by apologizing for the lack of postage recently… Our first quarters end is approaching us, and our teachers have loaded us with essays and tests all do this week. Anyways, on Friday night I attended the first of two LA Girl Talk shows, at the Henry Fonda Theatre.
The show started off shittily as the first band, Hearts of Darknesses, sucked. They were really bad at what they were trying to accomplish. Their live show suggested that if No Age and Health were to form a really shitty cover band, this would be their child. I have no idea what their studio sound sounds like, but I’m not really interested after what I heard on Friday. Here’s a picture to illustrate what they described as music.
After they left the stage, the show got significantly better for a couple of reasons. First of all, Hearts of Darknesses were no longer playing, and second of all I was introduced to a great hip hop act by the name of Grand Buffet. Grand Buffet hail from Pittsburgh, PA (just like Girl Talk), and they make awesome, danceable hip hop. Consisting of a dancer, a hype man, and a rapper, Grand Buffet really set the table for a night of awesome partying. I remember them having a song about killing your microwave, and another one about cream cheese money. It was really cool. They also had a backdrop controlled by a computer which adjusted to the current song. Like one song would have a Seinfeld clip playing, and then a song about heartbreak would come on, and a google image search of the heart would appear. Anyways, here are a couple of pictures and songs for your listening/seeing pleasure.
Now came time for the main event. Girl Talk’s sidekick nicely dressed in feathers and stronger glasses, stood motionless as the crowd heckled him, anxious for Mr. Gillis to hit the stage. As soon as his intro blasted through the speakers (see the video below), the crowd went apeshit and didn’t stop until the final note of Journey’s “Faithfully” ended. Girl Talk entered the show wearing a headband, sweatshirt, tank top, and sweat pants, and ended in just sweat pants. Not really surprising, because he is known for stripping during his shows. He’s really not to blame, either. By letting people on stage he puts himself in a cubicle of sweat, getting air once in a long while when his 300 pound body guard throws people to the side of the stage. At this point he (Girl Talk) runs around the stage pumping up the crowd, or gets on top of his table and jumps and bangs on shit. I would describe this show as a sweaty ass bar mitzvah. Essentially it was the most hard rocking, exciting bar mitzvah ever. He played the music that would be loved by pre-pubescent teenagers, but he somehow transcended it to appeal to teenage hipsters. One thing I loved was how much of the material he played was not on any albums. My personal highlight being, “Club Action” by Yo! Majesty, and “Kids” by MGMT. I got a little bit angry when the synth line for “Kids” got mixed in (and everyone went apeshit), but as soon as the real heavy synth and Yo! Majesty lyrics “Fuck that shit, fuck that shit, fuck that shit, say fuck that shit” kicked in, I forgot about all my MGMT problems and went apeshit, just like everyone else. He of course ended with “Faithfully” by Journey, and once that dropped out it was just Andre 3K saying “Keep your heart 3 stacks, keep your heart.”
Overall, I enjoyed this show a lot more than I expected to. I have to say that his studio album does absolutely no justice to his live show. Once you see him live, I doubt you’ll be able to listen to his albums in the same way again.
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