Big K.R.I.T. - King Remembered In Time MIXTAPE REVIEW

Fact: Today, the south is hip hop's most dominate region and has been for at least the last decade. Some of hip hop's biggest names in mainstream all hail from below the Mason Dixon. But because southern rap today is mostly known for radio/party/club music, it's really hard to point out the top tier MC's of the south on a more lyrical level. Recently a lot of southern new comers have emerged and become apart of that tier. Example: Big K.R.I.T. Once I listened to his 2011 mixtape Return Of 4Eva, I was extremely impressed and was immediately hooked. That would be followed by his two 2012 releases in the mixtape 4Eva N A Day and his debut studio album Live From The Underground. Both of which I enjoyed. In short, K.R.I.T. has yet to disappoint me with a mixtape/album and it continues here with King Remembered In Time. I thoroughly enjoyed this mixtape. Just like on 4Eva N A Day he shows his creative originality and gives us another themed and/or concept project with the "king" and "royalty" theme. Which is presented on a couple of tracks. In the production department, K.R.I.T. once again doesn't disappoint as he continues with his soulful and jazz influenced production with a little bit of that southern trunk music flavor. Showing that he's just as talented of a producer as he is a MC. Since I have way more positives than negatives to say about this I'll start there. I had so many favorite songs on this tape that it's hard for me to like one more than the others. I absolutely loved the bass in "Talkin' Bout Nothing". He spit some fast dope lyrics over deep and heavy vibrating bass. Prefect trunk music. Speaking of, "My Trunk" is another bass bumper that many would love to blast in the car. Even though Trinidad James verse was weak it wasn't enough to ruin the song. "King Without A Crown" is one of those that I mentioned that sticks to the theme. Another favorite of mine. "Shine On" with Bun B and "How U Love That" were two more dope trunk bangers. But I'ma step away from the trunk bangers and get to the songs with meaning. "WTF" totally caught me off guard. Looking at the title I thought this song would be about something completely left field from what K.R.I.T. normally raps about, but on here he raps about the life struggle in Mississippi and flows in a poetic style. Like those poets that do stage poetry. Done over a cool, relaxed, violin filled bass-less beat (until the hook). The song features a decent collabo from BJ The Chicago Kid. Great song. "Banana Clip Theory" he speaks on why he feels it's necessary for him to posses a weapon. This may be in response to the whole gun control situation that the country is going through right now. Either way it was great. "Life Is A Gamble" is pretty much self explanatory looking at the title. The ups and downs and dangers you'll come across in life. The last two tracks "Bigger Picture" and "Multi Til The Sun Die" are other examples of these meaningful songs that K.R.I.T. knows how to make so well. An area of weakness for most southern rappers. I only have a few negatives about the tape. "Good 2Getha" I wasn't feeling like that. If there's one weakness K.R.I.T. has is songs for the women, which really isn't bad because plenty of rappers have this problem. There's an interlude or a snippet on here called "Just Last Week" which features Future that left me scratching my head. It sounded good by why just a snippet? I didn't like that. Even Future was tolerable on this. Maybe the full song will be on one of his future projects. I hope. "Only One" features Wiz Khalifa and Smoke DZA and this is one I'm on the fence about. After my first listen I thought it was okay then after a second time I lost interest. I don't really know what it is but I guess it will have to grow on me. Well in conclusion, this was yet again another dope project from Big K.R.I.T. I give it a final grade of a B. In my opinion. Big K.R.I.T. embodies and defines everything that southern hip hop is, or should be. As long as he continues to release great mixtapes/albums like this then I can't ever see myself getting off the band wagon. He'll only get better as the years go on. Hopefully, this could be the turning point for a new sound in the south. I'll cross my fingers. End.

Final Grade: B

Tyga - Hotel California ALBUM REVIEW

I must say Tyga has certainly come a long way to where he is now. It seems like just yesterday he dropped his 2008 debut No Introduction which had that god awful single "Coconut Juice". If someone then was to tell me he'd be where is now I'd probably laugh. Well...a Young Money deal and a "Rack City" hit record later, Tyga is one of mainstream lands most popular rising artists. While I myself am not a fan of his music, I can see why a lot of people may like him and his music. Well here he is with his third album Hotel California. Coming off of his sophomore 2012 release Careless World: Rise Of The Last King, which honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I said that this new album would be either a hit or a miss. To me, this was a slight miss. It's definitely a step back from his last album. This album sounded overly commercial and "clubby". Way more commercial than the last album. Production from a mainstream perspective was decent. Had it's ups and downs. Lyrics overall were pretty much basic. I think Tyga actually has some talent but his lyrical content is generic. Your typical money/jewelry/cars/women flaunting "swag rap" lyrics that a lot of these young radio rappers are on now. Plus I never really liked his voice. I just don't understand why he puts that extra strain on his voice. Is he trying to sound hard or intimidating? I would hope not. Anyway, I have more cons than pros with this album so I'll start there. The first single "Dope" really grinded my gears. You don't sample a classic hip hop instrumental like Dr. Dre's "Deep Cover" and turn it into some swaggy club music. That's a sin. I'm sure Snoop Dogg doesn't care because he's probably cool with Tyga but somewhere Dr. Dre wants to choke him with a Beats headphone cord for doing that to his masterpiece. "Show You" was hands down the worst song on the album. For someone who gets a lot of attention from the ladies he sure doesn't know how to make songs for them. Not to mention this is yet another song with a terrible hook by Future. He's starting to annoy me more and more with every song. He tries to deliver a 2Pac like flow on "For The Road" and fails terribly. Chris Brown's average ass hook didn't make it any better. "Enemies" was just too easy to call. You can blatantly tell Lil Wayne wrote this whole song. He even sounds like Wayne. To the point where I had to check the album credits to see if he was on this song. Bad song either way. One song that I'm on the fence about is the song dedicated to hip hop's newest ecstasy nickname..."Molly". Here he borrows the voice of the popular iPhone app Siri in which it repeatedly says "molly" over and over again. Anyone that knows me knows I hate repetitive hooks like this. I can see a lot of people loving this, especially in the club, but this will probably have to grow on me. Plus Wiz Khalifa delivered one of the worst lines I've ever heard from him that went like "I got a whip so fast that I caught a ticket speeding". Really? I didn't know you could get ticketed for that Wiz. Speaking of him, he's on another song called "M.O.E." which I thought would stand for Money Over Everything but apparently it's MUSIC Over Everything. Go figure. It seemed more like Wiz's style of music than Tyga's but again this is one that might have to grow on me because right now I don't like it. "Drive Fast, Live Young" and "Palm Trees" were both snooze fests. He couldn't have picked two more boring songs to end the album with. Now for the few things I did like. "Hijack" was pretty cool. Good beat and good guest verse from 2 Chainz. Is it me or is 2 Chainz starting to get better? His guest verses lately have been pretty good. Anyway, "Diss Song" surprised me because I thought he would be actually dissing or taking a shots at somebody. Turns out he's just dissing past enemies from what it sounds like. Still the song was ok. "It Never Rains" was cool laid back song with a summer time feel to it. Probably my favorite of the whole album. I like the beat, the Tony Toni Tone sample and The Game's verse was cool. It sounded like a summer radio hit from the 90's (back when it was cool to use auto-tune). Made me reminisce a little bit. "Hit'em Up" I probably would have hated had it not been for Jadakiss saving it from disaster. The fact that he basically stole C-Murder's entire hook from "Down For My Niggas" made me salty but I could probably listen to it again because of the beat and Jada's verse. Overall, This album was way more commercial and club oriented than the last one, but I liked the last album better than this and I feel like this was a step back from that album. I give it a final grade of a C-. Like I mentioned before, I think Tyga actually has talent, but his lyrical content and topics are so basic and generic. He doesn't rap about anything special which makes me not like his music. Tyga/Young Money fans will probably enjoy this but if you're not a fan, I doubt you will. Tyga needs to get more creative with his music before I can really start listening to it. While he's at it, get better at making songs for the girls because right now, Black Chyna is not impressed. End.

Final Grade: C-

Papoose - The Nacirema Dream ALBUM REVIEW

To say that it's been a long time coming for Papoose would be quite the understatement. For nearly a decade, Papoose has been a fan favorite for many underground east coast rap fans. With countless mixtapes, memorable guest verses and a laundry list of other songs, it's very easy to see that this debut album of his has been eagerly anticipated by fans. Well now the wait is over. I know for some, including me, it seems so strange that Papoose has been in the game for so long and he's just releasing his major label debut in 2013. But after listening I can honestly say the wait may have been worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed the majority of this album. The overall sound made me reminisce back to the late 90's/early 2000's New York sound. The production was solid for the most part. Your typical hard, grimey, head nodding east coast style beats.  Lyrics were obviously dope as Papoose is one of NY's dopest lyricists. Here's some notable tracks for me. First of all, it wasn't until I listened to the intro of this album that I realized Nacirema is actually American spelled backwards. In that intro he explains why he titled the album that way. That totally went over my head. By far the track that stood out to me the most was "Cure". Here he plays the role of both cancer and AIDS and breaks down how both can harm and potentially kill you. It's basically a cancer/AIDS awareness song. Very creatively done. Speaking of creativity, another favorite was the last track "Alphabetical Slaughter Pt. II". The follow up to the first one that was released in 2005. One of the most lyrically creative hip hop songs of all time in my opinion.  For those that never heard the first, this is where he takes every letter in the alphabet and every time DJ Kay Slay, who provides the ad-libs, yells out a letter Papoose rhymes with every word beginning with that letter. This time on part 2, he does it backwards from Z to A. Not only that, the beat is reversed so it sound like it's being played backwards. Extremely dope. "Turn It Up" was another favorite simply because DJ Premier is one of my favorite producers ever and this was another dope beat done by him. He calls upon Jadakiss and Jim Jones for "6 AM" which samples the opening line from the classic Ice-T song. Cool sample and song. Speaking of samples, Lloyd Bank's voice is borrowed for "Aim Shoot" which features Mobb Deep. This track is so dope and it just sounds like early 2000's New York. "Get At Me" caught me by surprise. I thought this was be a commercial attempt because Ron Browz is on it (remember him? "Pop Champagne", "Jumpin' Out The Window" etc.) but it wasn't. It was actually not that bad. "Motion Picture", "Nacirema Dream" and "Faith" were other favorites as well. There were a couple flaws to me however. The two singles I really wasn't feeling at all. The first one was "On Top Of My Game" which features Mavado. This was the only song on the album that sounds like what hip hop sounds like right now. The generic bass bumping repetitive drum beat. For any other rapper or album I would be find with this song but it didn't mesh with the sound of the rest of this album. The second single "What's My Name" features Remy Ma, who of course he has a history with, and is probably the most awkwardly sounding song on here. The song samples the timeless 1974 classic "For The Love Of Money" by The O'Jays and samples it poorly. The entire beat is the same as the old song. The flirty lyrics from both Papoose and Remy (I'm assuming towards each other) just seem so awkward. Like a weird romance type thing. This sample could have worked but it doesn't here. On "Pimpin' Won't Die" I kinda see where he was going with it speaking about troubled young black women. I like the topic but the song itself just had a poor sound. The hook is bad and the beat sounds too "happy" for a song speaking on such  a serious topic. That could have been done better. Well, overall I was very pleased with this album. Great lyrics, good production, good collaborations and more. I give it a final grade of a B. If you're a fan of hip hop's new sound, which is all about beats and hooks than you won't like this. This album is for those fans of lyrical rappers on hard east coast styles beats. You all will love it. A lot of folks wouldn't have thought Papoose could put together a solid debut after such a long wait. I knew he had this in him. Just don't keep us waiting next time Pap. End.

Final Grade: B

Tyler, The Creator - Wolf ALBUM REVIEW

In the history of hip hop, there hasn't been many rappers who made quite the controversial impact like Tyler, The Creator did in 2011. When viewer's took a look at his video for "Yonkers" and gazed upon the bizarre and sick imagery mixed with his graphically obscene and disturbing lyrics, it made everyone turn heads. It was even enough for him to win the best new artist award at the MTV VMA's. Since then, he and his group Odd Future have gained quite a large fan base. Which only meant an eager anticipation for this. His third album Wolf. Going into this I wondered where Tyler would go with this. Though I never got to hear his first album Bastard, I did listen to his second album Goblin which I did enjoy. So I figured Wolf would be either the same or a bit watered down. Thankfully, it wasn't that. What it was was a more emotional side of Tyler. A side I personally never seen from him. It's displayed on a lot of the songs on here. But I'll get back to that. Production for the most part was your typical Odd Future style production. Those weird, eerie and distorted sounding beats. Although there are a few that have somewhat of a commercial attempt. I for the most part thought the album was good. Not great but good. The positives and negatives are pretty much even. I'll start with the positives. I mentioned the emotion that Tyler displays on a lot of songs on here, one of those songs which is one of my favorites on here is "Answer". This is where he again speaks on the pain of not having his father in his life and being a "bastard". There was so much emotion in this song to the point where I feel like if it came down to it, Tyler would trade all this rap shit in just to have a father in his life. "Colossus" showed his emotion towards nagging and obsessed fans and speaking from their point of view. Kind of like Eminem's "Stan" but darker. Cool song. The emotional roller coaster continues with "Awkward" which to me sounds like a continuation of "She" from his last album. Expressing his feelings for that same chick. By far my favorite track on here was "Rusty". Excellent beat. Domo Genesis had one of the dopest verses I've ever heard from him. I was a little disappointed Earl Sweatshirt didn't have a longer verse but he was good for the time he was on it.  They both may have out did Tyler on his own shit. "Trashwang" is another one of those wild and rambunctious tracks where he, Taco and Jasper Dolphin are just yelling the most rude and ignorant shit imaginable on a trap-style beat. Just like "Bitch Suck Dick" on Goblin and "We Got Bitches" on The OF Tape Vol. 2. Most people would hate this song but it's fun to me. Well...now the negatives. There were songs on this album that felt like they just did not belong at all and were made just to be made. Case and point: "PartyIsntOver/Campfire/Bimmer". I have no idea what Tyler was trying to do here but it failed. Here he merges three songs into one track and none of them are really that good. Especially the second portion of it where it sounds like more instrumental then vocals. This was nothing more than a album filler. "Tamale" just sounded extremely weird and awkward which is saying something when talking about Tyler, The Creator. I mentioned a few beats that sounded a bit commercial for Tyler's taste and "48" is that. I want to believe Pharrell had a hand in producing this along with the ad-libing which is why it sound like it does. On "Treehome95" he links up with Erykah Badu for a very laid back and calm track. This has to grow on me. It overall sounds like Sunday afternoon jazz. The fact that Tyler didn't rap on it is what probably drew me away from it. Well...overall, I did like it but coming off of Goblin I kinda did expect more from this. Tyler/Odd Future fans may still like this regardless but the album in a lot of areas will have to grow on me. I give it a strong C+. No matter what though, Tyler, The Creator will still have a huge following of fans and praise form hip hop peers. As long as he stays true to who he is, he can't do no wrong. Well...that is if he can learn to control Wolf Haley, Goblin, Sam and all those other personalities of his. End.

Final Grade: C+

2013 XXL Freshmen REVIEW

Well here it is. The 6th annual freshmen edition of XXL magazine. One of the most anticipated things in hip hop every year. It's so crazy how popular this list has gotten amongst both fans and the artists. The XXL freshman list since 2008 has done a lot for artists. For some it help their name get out there thus giving them a little more notariety and/or popularity. But for some, it...might not be such a good look, which is why a few rappers have turned it down in the past. Still there's no denying the lists popularity and hype every year. Last years class which consisted of Kid Ink, Machine Gun Kelly, French Montana, Don Trip, Future, Iggy Azalea, Danny Brown, Hopsin, Macklemore and Roscoe Dash got plenty of mixed reactions. But this years class seems much more interesting. Here's my break down of each freshman of the 2013 class:

Ab-Soul

- Carson, CA

Hands down my favorite MC of this year's class. To some people, including myself, Ab-Soul was pretty much guaranteed a spot on this list after gaining some notariety last year due to his ties with Black Hippy. I first took notice of him as a guest feature on Kendrick Lamar's 2011 mixtape Section.80. Then went on to listening to his solo project Longterm Mentality which dropped that same year. But I wanted something more. So then he comes with his 2012 album Control System which got plenty of great praise. Probably in my top 5 favorite albums from last year. His intelligent word play and  his dark toned story telling of life in LA makes him a stand out. Not traits you normally see from a typical west coast rapper. He deserves a spot on the list and I can't wait to see what he does in 2013.

Action Bronson

- Queens, NY

Another MC I was very happy to see make the cut. Reppin' Queens, New York, and armed with a throwback and somewhat Ghostface Killah-like flow and sound, it's so easy to see why he stands out and why he made the list. I was put on to him through a friend and ended up getting his sophomore album Well-Done in 2011. Which featured excellent production from Statik Selektah. Most recently I downloaded his latest mixtape Rare Chandeliers which released in November of last year. His clever, funny and witty lyrics made me a instant fan. With upcoming releases like his next mixtape Blue Chips 2 and his third album Mr. Wonderful, 2013 should be very intersting for "Bronsolini".

Angel Haze

- Detroit, MI

She's only the second female rapper ever to make the freshman list (the first was Iggy Azalea last year). The 21 year old Detroit femcee is armed with a aggresive, fiery and raspy-voiced flow. Something you would expect from your typical D-Town battle rapper. Though last year she dropped 3 mixtapes, most recently Classick back in October, I have yet to hear a full project from her. I've only heard verses and guest features. Like on the Dizzy Wright track "Can't Trust 'Em (remix)". But myself and most people took real notice of her when she participated in the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher. She spit a dope verse there. Hopefully she makes major moves this year because I'm slowly becoming a fan.

Chief Keef

- Chicago, IL

Voted by the fans as the 11th freshman and/or "bonus" freshman, he is probably the most controversial new artist not only in this freshman class but in hip hop period. His violent gang life image, wild and rambunctious music, recent arrests and his overall "I-don't-give-a-fuck" attitude have many people in a uproar about his belonging in hip hop. But then again, these are typical actions you would expect from a 17 year old kid born and raised on the crime infested streets of Chicago. Last year his name became big once he called upon Kanye West (who gives him major co-sign), Jadakiss, Pusha T and Big Sean for the remix to his hype track "I Don't Like". It was featured on his March 2012 mixtape Back From The Dead. In December he dropped his debut album Finally Rich which featured that song as well as his much bigger hit "Love Sosa". Me personally, I'm not a fan. Nor did I enjoy his album. But his fan base is quickly rising. Thus the reason he was voted on this list by fans. Hopefully he can stay out of prison the rest of this year.

Dizzy Wright

- Las Vegas, NV

"Tell XXL I want the motherfuckin' cover". That's what the 22 year old Las Vegas MC yelled out on his 2012 mixtape Smoke Out Conversations. Well...ask and you shall receive. As a member of the up and coming rap group Funk Volume (which also consists of Hopsin, SwizZz, Jarren Benton and DJ Hoppa), he's a new artist that I personally have been keeping a sharp eye on since early 2012. In fact, it may be because of his affiliation with Hopsin, who's now gotten popular, that Dizzy is now getting a little notariety and popularity. He's very talented. With an arsenal of different flows and sounds. I think he may be the one member of Funk Volume that I could see making it mainstream because of his sound. Let's see how that will go in 2013.

Joey Bada$$

- Brooklyn, NY

Probably the most intriguing artist to me of this year's class. Last year after I heard his mixtape 1999, I was blown away. Joey is bringing a style of rap to the table we haven't seen in a long time. His lyrics, flow, production and overall sound is identical to the classic 90's New York sound. The boom-bap era of rap. Hence the title of his mixtape. You don't see too many 17 year old rappers with this kind of a sound if not at all. It's why for the most part he has gained tons of recognition. He and his group Pro Era deliver cool and relaxed throwback lyrics that takes you back. Well takes me back anyway. I'm sure Joey is poised for big things in 2013.

Kirko Bangz

- Houston, TX

Honestly, I've never heard any projects from him. Not a mixtape, album nothing. But the Houston native had by far one of the biggest if not THE biggest club record of 2012 in "Drank In My Cup". That lone song is what gained him notariety and more than likely it's what landed him on this years freshman list. The song was featured on his 2012 mixtape Progression 2: A Young Texas Playa. At first listen I got confused as to who he is. Is he a rapper? A singer? A rapping singer? A singing rapper? I still don't know. But whatever case he's becoming very popular. I think he has to grow on me some more. Hopefully he drops a bigger project this year.

Logic

- Gaithersburg, MD

Again, another one who I never heard an album or a mixtape from. Just a couple verses here and there. But based off of what people have said about him and from what I have heard, he's very talented. Plus he's representin' my home state of Maryland so he gets cool points for that. It was his two mixtapes in 2011's Young Sinatra and 2012's Young Sinatra: Undenieable that gained him all this praise from lyrical hip hop heads. In fact, some of his co-signer's are raging that he's JUST making the freshman list after being a finalist for it since 2010. Well...he's here now and let's hope that's this pushes his name out there even more. He's scheduled to drop his fourth mixtape Young Sinatra: Welcome To Forever this year. Let's hope this year is good to him.

ScHoolboy Q

Los Angeles, CA

After I listened to his second independent album Habits & Contradictions, I was immediately hooked. Like Ab-Soul, he too is a member of the west coast clique Black Hippy. Althought I didn't get to hear his debut independent album Setbacks, the second one was enough to tell me everything about him. With a very gritty voice, he speaks of mostly addictions that plague him. Drugs, sex, money etc. But talks of it in a more grimey and "haunting" like tone and attitude. The album was enough for people to take notice of Q and land him on this list. This year he's scheduled to drop his major label debut Oxymoron which is on my most anticipated list. 2013 is shaping up to be good for the Schoolboy.

Travi$ Scott

- Houston, TX

Out of every freshman in this year's class, I know absolutely nothing about Travi$ Scott. Never heard a mixtape, an album, a song, not even a verse. In fact, this is my first time even hearing about him. So I really don't have much to say on him. Hopefully him being on this list will gain him some more notoriety and open me up to looking up some of his music. 

Trinidad Jame$

Atlanta, GA

Well....I gotta admit, I saw this one coming. It really shouldn't be a surprise to no one else either that he made the freshman list. When I was told that James had only been rapping for ten months (which basically means he started this time last year), I was in disbelief. It's quite a head scratcher as to how he got signed so quickly. But with aruguably one of the biggest records on the radio right now in "All Gold Everything", it makes sense why XXL took notice. The video in which he shows his outlandish character, bizarre taste in fashion, and well...not so lyrical lyrics also made folks turn heads to say "who the hell is this". Which probably was followed by lots of laughter. Still nonetheless, that and his debut independent album Don't Be S.A.F.E. was enough to land him a spot with this class. 2013 should indeed be huge for Trinidad James. Don't believe me...just watch.

Overall, I would grade this class with a B-. Good luck to all of them in 2013.