Posted by admin on May 24th, 2008
He’s been shot nine times. Incarcerated. And stabbed up and down. And that’s only what’s happened on 50 Cent’s down time. Hands down, 50 Cent is the biggest buzz emcee since Eminem (who just happens to be his label CEO), and Get Rich also features Dr. Dre on production, so it’s a can’t-miss record, right? Well, mostly. Get Rich is not filled with midtempo, radio-friendly numbers like "Wanksta," his thinly veiled Ja Rule dis first heard on the 8 Mile soundtrack. Instead, Cent brings the heat, not heater. He sheds his inner thug on "21 Questions," featuring G-funk crooner Nate Dogg showing some semblance of respect to the hotties, and then reverts right back to his thug persona on "In da Club," where he boasts "I’m into having sex, I ain’t into making love." There’s no "How to Rob, Pt. 2" here, although "Many Men" comes close, as he addresses some of the haters who may not fully get why he’s now rap’s big cheese. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by admin on May 22nd, 2008
Graduation’s pre-leak talk wasn’t as substantive as it was with Kanye West’s first two albums. As with just about any other artist’s third album, it had to be expected. The College Dropout was one of the most anticipated debuts of the early 2000s, while Late Registration had people wondering why Kanye would feel the need to work so extensively with multi-instrumentalist rock producer Jon Brion (the J Dilla of the chamberlin) and whether or not Kanye’s hubristic tendencies would get the better of it. With Graduation, there was Takashi Murakami’s artwork, a silly first-week sales competition with the decreasingly relevant 50 Cent, and chatter about Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by admin on May 22nd, 2008
After selling hundreds of thousands of records as part of Sunz Of Man, Hell Razah releases his official debut album, "Renaissance Child." Boasting nothing but power-packed rhymes, Razah easily holds his own alongside heavyweight features such as MF DOOM, Talib Kweli, Ras Kass, Killah Priest, Tragedy Khadafi and R.A. the Rugged Man. Even the production team enlisted here is first rate, with flawless beats from MF DOOM, 4th Disciple, Bronze Nazareth and more. "Renaissance Child" is a meaningful and intelligent record which is a breath of fresh air in today’s stale era of so-called hip-hop. The Rennaisance has begun. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by admin on May 13th, 2008
Senegalese-American ex-con Akon broke out with “Locked Up,” a gloomy but thrilling paranoiac tail about drug running and jail time. Placed over a fittingly dramatic production worthy of 50 Cent, with a clamping beat, simple piano figure, and frightening slams of prison bars, the single set Trouble up to be a major success. Unfortunately, no other song on the album is nearly as gripping. The club tracks fall flat, most of the soul-searching moments feel forced, and the harder and more sexual tracks tend to be more silly than alluring. At its best, Trouble places you in Akon’s turbulent world. At its worst, which is often, the album is excessively tedious. Review by Andy Kellman @ allmusic.com Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by admin on May 13th, 2008
It’s only appropriate that Xzibit’s highly anticipated, and often-delayed, Restless concluded hip-hop’s millennial melting pot. After all, Xzibit’s association with Dr. Dre and his Aftermath regime attached very lofty expectations to Restless; X was publicly anointed as the next MC expected to blow up. Surely, with Dre as executive producer and guest shots from Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Dre himself, Xzibit was virtually assured of acquiring the mainstream success that eluded him on previous efforts (At the Speed of Life and 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz). Thanks largely to Dre’s knob-twisting input, Restless became aural kin to Dre’s own 2001 comeback vehicle, as the head-nod factor is immediately established on “Front to Back,” the heavenly synth stabs “X,” and “Get Your Walk On.” The main Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by admin on May 13th, 2008
Along with Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, the Wu-Tang Clan’s debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), was one of the most influential rap albums of the ’90s. Its spare yet atmospheric production — courtesy of RZA — mapped out the sonic blueprint that countless other hardcore rappers would follow for years to come. It laid the groundwork for the rebirth of New York hip-hop in the hardcore age, paving the way for everybody from Biggie and Jay-Z to Nas and Mobb Deep. Moreover, it introduced a colorful cast of hugely talented MCs, some of whom ranked among the best and most unique individual rappers of the decade. Some were outsized, theatrical personalities, others were cerebral storytellers and lyrical technicians, but each had his own distinctive style, which made for an album of tremendous Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by admin on May 13th, 2008
The week “Run It!” was released, it went straight to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and became the first single from a male artist to debut at that spot. That’s no slight feat, especially for a reheated version of Usher’s “Yeah!” made by a fresh-faced teenager who reps a little town in Virginia that rhymes with “grab a hammock.” On “Run It!,” Chris Brown is boosted by production from Scott Storch and an appearance by Juelz Santana. The song’s way of tempering Brown’s small-town innocence with hard-edged backing and a guest spot from an MC of ill repute is clearly a strategy to make the singer appeal to more than tween girls. (Had Brown been coming up in the early ’90s, Quincy Jones — not Dr. Dre — might’ve produced him and Prince — not Luther Campbell — might’ve assisted, which just Read the rest of this entry »
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Miley Cyrus: Breakout