Eve - Lip Lock ALBUM REVIEW

Throughout hip hop's existence, many female rappers have come and went. It's quite hard for them to maintain longevity in what is considered a male dominant field. Today, Nicki Minaj may have re-opened the gates for new femcee's to gain stardom and longtime relevance. But only a few before her have lasted long. One of those is Ruff Ryder's first lady herself, Eve. From the very first time I heard her voice on the Ruff Ryder's Ryde Or Die Vol. 1 album, she instantly became one of my favorite female rappers of all time. Her 1999 debut album Ruff Ryder's First Lady I still say is in the top five hip hop albums by a female rapper. She took a long, very long time off. But now she's back with this. Her fourth album Lip Lock. Now it's been ten years since the last time Eve dropped an album (2002's Eve-olution), so with a gap that huge one would have to think that she could be a little rusty or out of touch. Going that long without recording music can do that to you. Not to mention she's been heavily involved in other things like movies, TV, fashion etc. Well after listening to this I think all of that might be true. This album to me was not so great. Just below average. Not saying that it's trash but I can honestly say of all her albums this is definitely the worst one. This overall just did nothing for me. Eve has most certainly changed over the years and this album proves it. Everything from her voice, her flow, her lyrics and overall song content have all took a drastic change from what we heard a decade ago. The album sound is rather...basic. A lot of generic production and not much topic within the songs. It seems as though she tried for a dance/pop/hip hop sound but it kinda just went bad. I have more negatives with this than positives so that's where I'll began. Right off the back, the single "She Bad Bad" is really weird. Well the hook was anyway. It sounded more like it's saying "shababa" instead of what the title says. The remix, which is the last track is a little bit more tolerable because of Pusha T and Juicy J's verses. On "Wanna Be" she had the worst flow of any song on the album. It was too fast and too current of what's popular now. Totally not her. Missy Elliott warps her voice on the guest verse to sound real high pitched and it kinda just made things worse. Not a good song. "Grind Or Die" has this clubby dance sound but it was kinda all over the place for me. A title like that I thought this would be about something else but it's more dumbed down flow and lyrics with a below average hook and a infectious dance beat. Certain clubs might like but me...nah. "Keep Me From You" is yet another track with a up tempo dance beat with another uncharacteristic fast flow. The song really did nothing for me and Dawn Richards hook wasn't all that great either. Her "lovey dovey" track was "Forgive Me" which really didn't even feel like that kind of song. Again, very fast paced and another not so good hook. Though I could see it becoming a single. "All Night" I could see potentially growing on me but right now to me something is off about it. The beat is okay and the lyrics but I don't know. It may grow on me. Well now on to the few positives I found. If I had to pick a favorite track it might be "Never Gone". Simply because it seemed like the only song that actually had a decent topic and held my attention the most. The intro track "Eve" became likeable after a few listens. Even though she switches her flow up a lot on here the beat and hook were kinda catchy. "Mama In The Kitchen" might have been my favorite beat on here. I would have liked to heard Snoop Dogg spit something besides being on the hook but it's still a okay song.  Well overall, as a fan of Eve I'm a bit disappointed in this project and most other fans might be too. I give it a final grade of a D+. I think this album proves that Eve may be past her prime and well...fell off. She may just need to stick to the other activities she's involved with. But there's still no denying that she is in the top ten female rappers of all time. Still the queen of Philly and still the "illest pitbull in a skirt". End.

Final Grade: D+

Ghostface Killah - Twelve Reasons To Die ALBUM REVIEW

For over 20 years, the Wu-Tang Clan has been one of the most dominant lyrical forces that hip hop has ever encountered. As a group and individually. You be hard pressed to find any new young MC that hasn't been influenced by one of the members or the whole group. While my favorite member of the group will always be Method Man, right behind him is my second favorite. Ghostface Killah. I always thought Ghostface was a stand out from the other members because of his unique voice and his lyrical story telling ability. Which is brilliantly displayed here on his 10th album Twelve Reasons To Die. Going into this I wondered how would he match his previous album Apollo Brown which I enjoyed. But man I did not expect this to totally surpass that album. This album is short was fantastic. Ghost brings to us a perfectly done narrative concept album telling a very deep and in depth horror/mafia story. Done like the vintage Italian horror films. Like I mentioned before Ghost has always been known as a great story teller and this album shows the proof. Before I break down everything I liked about this album here's the plot of the story. It takes place in Italy in the 1960's. Ghost plays his alter ego Tony Starks. An enforcer for the DeLuca crime family who after leaving and becoming big on his own, is set up and murdered by that same family. Then gets his revenge after resurrecting from the dead as the Ghostface Killah. Setting out on a killing spree after the girl that set him up and all twelve members of the DeLuca family. Very interesting plot right? Now on to my positives with this. First off the production. I honestly believe the real kudos for this album goes to Adrian Younge for the brilliant production he put together on this album. Though he's not a household name, his style of production was perfect for the story this album tells. A lot of dark, haunting, horror movie sounding beats with the eerie chimes and organs and all of that. Ghost knew what he was doing getting Younge for production as apposed to The RZA or somebody. Nothing against RZA but this album needed Younge. Outstanding production overall. Now as far as the tracks I didn't have any real issues with any of them. Maybe minor ones but I'll address that later. Since these songs are telling a story I'll go in order with the tracks. "Rise Of The Black Suits" is where he talks about his ties with the DeLuca family and why he ventured out on his own to become his own boss. "I Declare War" is where he is now a big time boss that has his own gang and plots war against the DeLuca family. "Blood On The Cobblestones" features U-God and Inspectah Deck and its here where a violent shoot out is being described. I'm assuming between the DeLuca's and Tony's new gang. "The Center Of Attraction" is where Tony meets this girl that he really loves and caters to. The track features Cappadonna who's character warns Tony that the girl shouldn't be trusted and was seen with the DeLuca's. Of course, Tony isn't buying it. Now the plot thickens. "An Unexpected Call (The Set Up)" is where shit starts to get crazy. Here he is lured into a car by the girl where laying in wait is the DeLuca's ready to kill Tony. They do. As it turns out, she was working for the DeLuca's the whole time. Inspectah Deck plays a member of Tony's gang explaining how he knew it all along and plans on putting a price on the girls head. This is where the album's mood changes as Ghostface Killah begins to rap with more anger and vengeance. "Rise Of The Ghostface Killah" is where Tony returns from the dead as Ghostface and has one thing on his mind...payback. "Revenge Is Sweet" and "Murder Spree" is where Ghost has now came after the DeLuca's along with his posse who are all featured on "Murder Spree". He describes killing them in the most brutal and torturous ways. Like mafia/mob style deaths.  "The Sure Shot (Parts 1 & 2)" is where the dust has now settled. Ghost finds himself alone in a room thinking about all that has transpired. Losing his friends to shootouts, should he kill the girl that set him up as well as many other thoughts of regret and guilt. The album ends with "12 Reasons To Die" which is an eerie and haunting instrumental that perfectly ends the story. It's like the mafia music you hear during the end credits of a mafia movie. The RZA also gives a short closing narrative along with it (he did a good job of that throughout the whole album). My only negative with this album, which is nothing major is the track lengths. As great of a concept and a story as this was I would have liked to hear longer songs going further in depth with each scene. A lot of the songs are on average two and a half minutes long. I'm fine with it being 12 tracks because that sticks to the story but I wish a lot of these tracks wasn't so short. Overall, this album was nothing short of fantastic. A brilliantly done story telling concept album that made you feel like you were literally watching a movie. I give it a final grade of a A-. I'd have to put this third behind Supreme Clientele and Ironman. With Kendrick Lamar also dropping an album similar to this in concept, I hope this is a push for what may now come in hip hop. More album creativity. But for anyone that follows Ghostface Killah or the Wu-Tang Clan you know this is what he does and it's nothing new. Ghostface at his best. This is why he and the Wu-Tang Clan will forever be on the high tier of lyrical legends in hip hop. Mean time, I'd like to see this album turned into an actual film. Make it happen. End.

Final Grade: A-

French Montana - Excuse My French ALBUM REVIEW

In an era where the south is for the most part dominating hip hop, isn't it about time that the east coast makes a triumphant comeback? To show the world where this hip hop thing started. Not saying that the east coast has been dead but let's just say it got thrown at the back of the bus and forgotten about. It's time for the new wave of New York MC's to take a stand and reclaim their dominance from the past. Could French Montana be one of the ones to lead the charge? Only time will tell I suppose. Though French has been in the game for about six years, he's very new to mainstream world and can be heard on a lot of radio favorites today. After 21 mixtape releases since 2007, here he is finally with his major label debut album Excuse My French. Now I'll admit, my expectations for this was kinda low. I'm not a big fan of his and based off of music that I've already heard from him I wasn't expecting this album to be anything great. But honestly, this album wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Still however, it's just average. Other than three specific songs which I'll mention in a moment, the production was basic and generic. The same old repetitive trap beats. On top of that, French Montana's flow is not all that great either. He's sounds like he's lagging at times. Like he's lazy rapping or something. Constantly yelling out that "hahhh!" ad-lib doesn't make it any better either.  It also sounds like he says the same shit on every track. Word for word. Lyrically his vocabulary is limited apparently. Well here's what I did like. Right when I heard the intro track "Once In A While", that's when I knew this album might exceed what I expected. It was pretty good. It's actually the most aggressive he sounded on the entire album. His flow kind of sounded like 50 Cent back in the day. If he sounded like this throughout the whole thing it probably would have been a much better project. My favorite track overall definitely was "We Go Where Ever We Want". He had a lot of interesting samples on this album and this was one of them. He samples the instrumental from Raekwon's classic hit "Ice Cream". So it was only right for him to get Raekwon himself as a feature on the track. He delivered a dope verse. Ne-Yo delivered a great hook as well."Fuck What Happens Tonight" really surprised me. The track features Ace Hood, Snoop Dogg, Mavado, surprisingly Scarface and ad-libs from DJ Khaled. I thought this was sound like typical DJ Khaled foolery but it was far from that. Beat Bully puts together a fantastic instrumental, Mavado provides a good hook, and everyone for the most part delivered good verses. Songs like "Paranoid", "Throw It In The Bag" and "Marble Floors" I had to listen to a few times each before I could say that I actually like them. Each one has those same trap beats that I mentioned before but to an extent they were all tolerable. "Throw It In The Bag" would have to be my favorite out of the three if I had to pick. "Ocho Cinco" I only like because of the hilarious hook that went like "told that bitch to give me head...Ocho Cinco". I got some entertainment out of that and found myself actually liking it. Now on to my dis-likes. Right off the back...the singles. "Freaks" was poorly done. Honestly I actually like the sampling of Chaka Demus & Pliers's "Murder She Wrote". But the hook was not that good to me. Nicki Minaj's horrible guest verse just made it worse. I could see club hoppers and people into dance hall/reggae liking it but it does nothing for me. "Pop That" was in short...bad. Terrible lyrics from everyone featured and a below average beat. The Luke sample is the only thing that made it a hit. Speaking of, apparently French must be a huge fan of Luke because he samples him again on "Bust It Open". If you put two and two together, the title and the Luke sampling then you pretty much have a idea what direction this song goes in. The song was an epic mess. Too many breaks or pauses between lines and again, another generic ass drum beat. This is so uncharacteristic of a east coast rapper. "Ain't Worried About Nothin" basically told me that French gave no fucks about making a good song. I absolutely loathe repetitive hooks and this is one of the worst ones yet. The whole song is nothing but "nigga I ain't worried about nothin" repeated over and over. Terrible. "Gifted" sounded more like The Weeknd featuring French Montana. Dude took up the whole song singing. Kinda like what he did to Drake on "Crew Love". I really don't like his voice that much so that kinda grinded my gears. Overall, like I mentioned this was a slight bit better than what I was expecting but still borderline average. Average beats, average lyrics, average everything mostly. I give it a final grade of a C. There's no doubt that French Montana is a hit maker. This album proves it. For that, and also for him being under Diddy's wing, he'll be around for a while. It's just people like myself want more, or better from what I'm hearing now. Let's hope as he grows his music grows and matures too. End.

Final Grade: C

Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap MIXTAPE REVIEW

If hip hop had a rule book, one of the first rules that would have to be listed is that you have to be different. Stand out. Bring something new to the table to gain notoriety. Develop and interesting character or persona that hip hop isn't used to seeing. Many rappers throughout the years stuck to this rule and the end result was a successful career. The ones today who follow this rule may very well be on the same path to success. But out of all of them today, no one is quite living up to this rule more than Chance The Rapper. Now not only is this my first time hearing a project from him but this is my first time being introduced to him period. So I really didn't know what to expect before listening to this. Just based on his name and that crazy face he's making on the mixtape cover I thought this would probably sound very different from everything else. Boy was I ever right. This is his sophomore tape Acid Rap. I thought overall this tape was just okay and that's after multiple listens. First of all I must say this tape is appropriately titled because that's what his music sounds like. Acid rap. The entire tape sounds like one big ass acid trip. From his bizarre voice to the strange production. His flow is even so weird and off beat (but yet somehow he makes it work). This sound is so far left that it's hard to even compare him to someone else. No one else has a sound like this. Artists like Kid Cudi, A$AP Rocky and sometimes Schoolboy Q have  music somewhat similar but definitely not the same. Chance may just be in a lane all by himself. That said, I'll start with what I liked. The title track "Acid Rap" maybe my favorite on the tape because it's really the only song where he had an actual topic and stayed on it. Throughout this entire tape he really sounds drugged up to the point where his voice sounds whiny like he's crying or something (somewhat Danny Brown like). On this song he's venting about his past but sounds very drugged and emotional. But like I said he makes this voice and flow work somehow and I found myself liking that song. "NaNa" after first listens I thought was a joke. The hook alone was a utter mess. But that quick it grew on me and it got stuck on my head. Plus I enjoyed Action Bronson's dope guest verse. Another song that ended up stuck in my head was "Juice". Again his awkwardly sounding raspy voice made this difficult to listen to at first but I ended up liking it after more listens. "Everybody's Something" kinda had a soulful feel to it with the production. A back-in-the-day like sound. His singing on the hook wasn't even that bad compared to his singing on the rest of the tape. "Favorite Song" wasn't my 'favorite song' but I did enjoy it. The beat was more happier than the rest and it sounds like it may do good as a single. Although I wasn't quite feeling Childish Gambino's verse. I was hoping he would have came harder than that. The beat and hook on "Smoke Again" sounded very A$AP Rocky like. It was enjoyable but again, disappointed with Ab-Soul's verse. Why do I get the feeling some of these guest features held themselves back from really spitting because of the kind of rapper Chance is. I guess they didn't want to murder him on his own shit. Moving on, "Lost" I suppose is his song for the ladies. Don't know if ladies would be turned on by how he sounds on this but the song was okay. The beat is what shined the most. I guess if you like acid tripping with your girlfriend then this song is perfect for y'all. Well...on to what I didn't like. Right when I heard "Good Ass Intro" I got scared immediately. This was a poor, very poor intro. I prayed the rest of the tape didn't sound like this. What made it worst is that he's sound exactly like Lil Wayne when he's RUI (rapping under the influence). But it wasn't until Chance said "please say the rapper" (Wayne says "please say the baby") when I thought he might be just purposely mimicking Wayne. Either way I didn't like the intro at all. The very next track "Pusha Man" had me so confused. First off it's a seven and a half minute track which is quite weird to put as your second track. The song starts off good but then it goes into this awkward ass pause in the middle of the track. It left me saying "what the hell". Little did I know it was two songs in one as it went into I guess an untitled track that was terrible and messed up everything. I don't know what he was trying to do here but whatever it was it didn't work. "Cocoa Butter Kisses" I can tell may grow on me but right now....I don't know. Something about this is rubbing me the wrong way. The outro song "Everything's Good" was everything bad. I know I keep mentioning his awkward flow but this displays it perfectly to the point it was hard to like. He was dragging his words and sounding all slurred. But again, that could be the drugs taking over. Well in conclusion, I think this tape is just okay. You have to have a certain taste in not just hip hop but music to like this I think. I give it a final grade of a C+. I could easily see a lot of people not liking this. He's not lyrical, he's too weird or it may be just too "different" for many people's liking. But again, it all matters what music you're into. This new acid trippy style of hip hop may not be for everybody, but one things for sure is that it's getting stronger. Chance The Rapper may very well be leading the charge. End.

Final Grade: C+

Logic - Young Sinatra: Welcome To Forever MIXTAPE REVIEW

There is certainly no denying that today in hip hop, the mixtape game does wonders for new artists. Today's most popular names in hip hop (too many to name) all started successfully in the mixtape game which launched them into immediate stardom. With the amount of hype and buzz generated around Logic, he most certainly is next. Having released a mixtape every year since 2010, the fan base and popularity that Logic has gained is to me quite amazing. Simply because I had just found out about him in the middle of last year. Right around the time he released his third mixtape Young Sinatra: Undeniable. His popularity was even enough to land him on this year's XXL Freshman list and also inking him a deal with Def Jam. On top of all of this, I was also surprised to find out he's reppin' Maryland. My home state. So yeah just like the Los review, there may be some hometown bias in this review. Forgive me. Anyway, here we have his fourth mixtape Young Sinatra: Welcome To Forever. It's also the third mixtape in the Young Sinatra series. This tape was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. To me Logic is a perfect example of mainstream hip hop done right. Lyrically he's incredibly dope but at the same time his voice and music sound is good enough for radio. Not many super dope lyricists being played on the radio today. Although throughout this tape he sounds like a combination of both Kanye West and a more lyrically aggressive Drake. But it's not bad to the point where he's not listenable. That said, here's some stand out tracks for me. Hands down "Walk On By" is the best track on here to me. This had a vintage 90's sound where he laid down a smooth fast paced lyrical flow that sounded like a mix of Nas and Big L. It took me back for a minute. He jacks the beat to Outkast's "Ms. Jackson" for "Roll Call". I was amazed at the heartfelt lyrical execution he dropped on this. This is the type of song that would get people to take notice of this guy. I mentioned he sounded like Kanye West on a few tracks on here and most notably it was "925". I liked the song but his flow was so Kanye like that Kanye himself would be flattered. "On The Low" became cool to me after a few listens. The song features Kid Ink and Trinidad James and is one of few bass booming trunk bangers on here. If it wasn't for Logic's lyricism I probably wouldn't have liked this (especially considering who he put on the track). I love the collaboration between him and Dizzy Wright on "Young Jedi". Though I think Dizzy Wright may have out did him on this track in large part because his verse was so much longer. Great song. "Feel Good" is appropriately titled because that what it sounded like. A feel good track with a happy sing-a-long type of feel to it. It might even do good as a single. On "The High Life" he basks in the life of fame and speaks on it's joy but at the same time speaks on the bad that comes with it. A topic that has been done hundreds of times but not to this degree. "5AM", "The Come Up", and "Nasty" were also pretty good tracks. I have a couple issues with this tape. I mentioned that there were times where he not only sounded like Kanye West but sounded like Drake. No song displayed that more that "Life Is Good". On here he's singing in the exact tone and rhythm of Drake. It's so identical to the point where if someone who didn't know Logic was to hear this song they would swear it was Drake himself. For that reason alone I couldn't feel it. It continues on "Man Of The Year" which kind sounds more like 2009-2010 Drake. Like a single or something. Didn't like it though. The beat was a little plain and dull and the song had no life at all. It seems like towards the end of the tape the songs got slower and more sentimental. Kinda took away the energy the tape had going. There were a couple good songs in that stretch ("The High Life", "Common Logic/Midnight Marauder") and not so good ones ("Just A Man", "Man Of The Year"). All the songs were softer though and I didn't like how he bunched them all together at the end. Should have spread them out more. Overall, I'm very impressed with this tape. Lyrically Logic has it. No doubt about it. Production may need to get a little bit better which might happen now that he has a deal. I give it a final grade of a B+. After listening to this I can see why Logic has all this hype surrounding him. It makes me happy to see that finally lyrical hip hop is starting to become relevant again. As a fellow Maryland'er I'll continue to show hometown love and support to Logic. Do you thing and make us proud. End.

Final Grade: B+

Talib Kweli - Prisoner Of Conscious ALBUM REVIEW

Conscious hip hop. There are many ways to define it. Most just see it as positive hip hop with meaningful messages. With mainstream/radio hip hop in full control today, it seems as though conscious hip hop has taken a back seat and doesn't get talked about as much. Well fans of it, including myself refuse to believe this. Here we have Talib Kweli with a new project to show that this form of hip hop is still alive and kicking. Since 2000, Kweli has been one of the biggest names in conscious hip hop. You can even go back further than that to his days as a member of Black Star with Mos Def in the late 90's. He's also recognized by peers and true hip hop heads as one of the best lyrical MC's in hip hop today. We all can remember that classic track "The Blast" from the 2000 album Train Of Thought which was with producer and rapper Hi-Tek. Following that of course was his solo debut Quality in 2002. My favorite from him. Well 11 years later, here he is with his fifth album Prisoner Of Conscious. I thought overall this album was great. Loved it. I could probably put this at number three behind Quality and Train Of Thought. Now before I begin to give my pros and cons with the album I want to address the concept I see in it. The title of the album is very interesting. Being a prisoner of conscious could mean many different things (some of which are quoted by poets in the album booklet). It all depends on your interpretation of it. In my opinion, it's basically being imprisoned in your mind, thoughts, beliefs and dreams and being too insecure or afraid to share these things with the general public. On the album, I believe Kweli is sharing a lot of what's going on in his mind that he hasn't shared before. In an attempt to show it's not all just about being conscious. Even though Kweli is known not to shy away from speaking his mind at anytime. That said, here's what I enjoyed on the album. The overall production was neutral. Decent for the most part. You had your east coast style beats, your soulful and jazzy beats, and a few uptempo ones. "Rocket Ships" would have to be my favorite track on the album. The beat was beautifully don't by The RZA and sounds like vintage Wu-Tang styled beats. The songs features what is probably the best guest verse from Busta Rhymes I've ever heard in my life. The lyrical intensity and energy he brought to this fantastic track was amazing. The track  "Push Thru" was more mellow and smoother. It features two guest verses from Curren$y and Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick was good, Curren$y not so much. Still a cool song nonetheless. "Turnt Up" immediately had me scared. When I saw that title and thought about how that's the radio and clubs favorite saying now, I was praying that Kweli would not make a dumbed down radio attempt. Thank God that it wasn't. What it was was a throwback. An old school sounding track that samples Rakim's classic "Paid In Full". Loved the sample and the song. On "High Life" he goes back and forth with bars between him and Rubix. I thought that was dope as well. "Hamster Wheel" was interesting. Here he's speaking on a trouble young black woman stuck in these tough situations like being a single mom, troubles finding work, messing around with guys that eventually play her, mixed up priorities etc. Basically how she runs the streets doing this and that but is getting nowhere in life. Running in place basically. Stuck on the "hamster wheel". Good song. He teams with Melanie Fiona on "Ready Set Go". A more uptempo beat that sound like it has single potential. I liked this one a lot. "Upper Echelon" was the only song, production wise, that sounds like what's poppin' in hip hop today. But it wasn't bad at all. Talib Kweli with some bass banging trunk music how bout that. "Before He Walked" really caught me by surprise. This was a more emotional song speaking on the passion he has for this music. I love Abby Dobson's hook and even Nelly's verse wasn't bad. "Hold It Now", "Delicate Flowers" and "Human Mic" are all great tunes as well. My cons for this album are very minimal. The two songs for the ladies. The first was the single "Come Here". The song itself isn't really that bad but it's probably the poorest hook Miguel has done yet and he's usually good with those. "Favela Love" was a little weird for me. It might just be because of the hook by Seu Jorge. I guess because he was speaking another language and it was hard to understand what he was saying. I may Google Translate the lyrics later but overall this song will just have to grow on me. The last track "It Only Gets Better" I actually liked after a few listens, my problem is Kweli's flow on this. He sounds like the same guy that produced the track...J. Cole. Right now this doesn't sit well with me but I might get over it later. Overall, this album was great. Flat out enjoyed it. The lyrics, the concept, production even the collaborations we're well done. I give it a final grade of a B+. No matter what you may define as conscious hip hop, it is clear that even in the age of clubby dance rap, conscious hip hop is still alive and strong. With Talib Kweli and others like him still around, it will remain that way. End.

Final Grade: B+