the dream of hearing some new prem... [this is your life (sort of) part 2]

is DJ Premier the greatest producer of all time? i don't know but i figured i had to post something on him just cause. i'm gathering what i call "Essentials" of the great soul singers and influential Hip-Hop producers and i started with Primo. i will say this: he can make anyone sound good over his soundscapes. no one can make 4-bar loops sound amazing for over 4 minutes better than Premier. shit, he probably could resurrect vanilla ice's career with one sole produced album by him. if you know his work you should agree with me, he's the best at making an average rapper sound good. now i'm not gonna name examples but you probably know who i'm talking about when saying this. when you have your own signature production style, you've reach the mark between a good producer and a great one. now i'm saying that in the perspective of making good music, not having a signature sound like a kazoo or something. there's too many damn songs in his catalog to pin down his greatness, trust i tried to think of one pinnacle track. you can't do it. so you'll probably go with a easy favorite of yours. maybe because your fave rapper is blessed with his sounds. or one everyone will notice and somewhat agree on. or that rare track no one has heard but you, and it's your sole mission on earth to share it with the world. but before i reach in the goodie bag for a song let me ask this question: is there any song that the rapper out shined Prem's production? off top i can't think of shit and i probably won't have a response when the next blog goes 'round. what song i will say is creative in it's own right is NaS' "I Gave You Power" off his now recently-dubbed classic, It Was Written. basing a premise previous used by Organized Konfusion with their song "Stray Bullet", God's Son talks the tale of being a gun (instead of a bullet in O.K.'s case). definitely one of the greatest songs from both parties (when the fuck is their album they suppose to make together coming out? Scratch you owe me $$$!!!). this is probably my favorite song on the LP. so without further ado, and before i run out of shit to say about this man here it is, enjoy:

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NaS - I Gave You Power

bong: this is your life (sort of) part 1ne

we all know The RZA is hands-down top 10 of greatest producers of all time (#4 on my list btw). what we may not know of is his side project from '94-'97, Gravediggaz. composed of himself, Prince Paul, Too Poetic & Frukwan, they were the quintessential "horrorcore" group (the phrase, created by Russell Simmons started with the group The Flatlinerz). what Russell envisioned to be the next big thing in hip-hop was anything but. exceptions sometimes come about and what Gravediggaz accomplished with their debut album broke the mold. 6 Feet Deep (or Niggamortis for U.K. fans) is a guilty pleasure of sorts. mainly produced by Prince P it showcased RZA's lyrical abilities as the alter-ego RZArector. in fact each member formed their own identities: Paul was The Undertaker, Frukwan was the Gatekeeper & Too Poetic was the Grym Reaper. their off-the-wall subject matter is amazing and this particular LP has some of Paul's best production. i strongly recommend this for any hip-hop fan especially those ever intrigued by the "horrorcore" sub-genre. they only had one other album after this as the whole group, The Pick, The Sickle And The Shovel (by this time they left the whole "horrorcore" style to focus more on introspective lyrics) and a couple of EPs. from the goodie bag this time are a couple tracks that didn't make the 6 Feet Deep album. i believe these tracks was from the demo they were shopping around before the actual album came about. also their video for 1-800 Suicide (Poisonous Mix) (Prod. by RZArector featuring the vocals of Wu-Affiliate Blue Raspberry) w/ song song included. as always, en.................joy:

Gravediggaz - 1-800 Suicide (Poisonous Mix)
Gravediggaz - Freak The Sorceress
Gravediggaz - Ashes To Ashes
Gravediggaz - Ahh Here Comes The Gravediggaz

you've been warned...

props to down-south.com for the upload to this shit. this boy on some other shit (had to make the picture BIG just in case you didn't see it).

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The Empire & Lil Wayne - The Drought Is Over 2: Tha Carter III Sessions (psswrd: third-coast)

simply the best...better than all the rest

the peoples over at onsmash got the extended video for the best video of '07 (let alone song) so far, UGK's International Player's Anthem featuring the G.G.O.A.T. OUTKAST (what i can't pick favorites???). as always enjoy:

UGK feat. OutKast - International Player's Anthem (Extended Version)

manifestation of beef? say it ain't so... (r.i.p. 2Pac June 16, 1971–September 13, 1996)

me and my biggest bro. was discussing hip-hop like we usually do and we were talking about 2Pac (i'm not about to provide a link, gky if you don't know who this legend is). my brother was praising his work and we were talking about his beefs with many artists. in particular i asked him why he started a beef with the fugees of all groups. big bro said in the "the sweetest thing" video (a song from the love jones soundtrack) they had some look-alike of 'Pac running around a liquor store. i was like, "are you serious?". big bro said "yeah". i told him bet, i'm gon check it out to see what's up. sure enough 02:34 into the video i see a motherfucker who looks like 'Pac running around the store cause the po-pos' after them. damn, not the refugees too i said to myself. now i only think they "dissed" him in video alone cause obviously that song didn't have shit to do with Pac. damn, everybody was gunning for him. of course Pac retaliated by saying the infamous line "...Heard The Fugees was trying to do me, look bitch I got your fate, this ain't no mother fuckin' movie..." from the amazing "when we ride on our enemies". classic, pure classic. so without further ado, here is the vid in question. comment if you think they were dissing or leave other thoughts on his other beefs. enjoy:

Refugee Allstars feat. Lauryn Hill - The Sweetest Thing

early graduation present

Kanye West's Graduation is shaping up to be the premier album of 2007 (it's only rival might be Common's Finding Forever, ironically with West's production talents). i was recently searching for any new information on the album after listening to his "Can't Tell Me Nothing" single for the 26th time today. i saw his Hype Williams-directed vid on Youtube yesterday thinking to myself, "damn, he already has a vid for this shit?" i kind of like the theme of the video in the sense that there isn't a theme at all. the video is suppose to evoke you listening to the lyrics rather than being amazed at the scenery. the club lights add to DJ Toomp's assisted atmospheric sound scapes. could it be Kon went the south route cause it's the flavor-of-the-month or because it's safe to the radio listeners? uh, maybe, but not entirely. i think it just might be he's a fan of Toomp's catalog (he's honestly the most consistent and decorated producer from the south right now). anyway, i read Kanye had a new mixtape, something like the prequel to Grad that was out. after searching i came across kanyetalk.com and in their forums they had the link. i think i'll save you the time by providing the link here. the mixtape is called Can't Tell Me Nothing (The Official Mixtape, Mixed by Plain Pat) and features tracks from the upcoming album, collaborative efforts with people like Lupe, Pharrell & Talib Kweli, and spots from his G.O.O.D. Music artists Common, Consequence, GLC, & Fonsworth. i'm listening to the tape as i write this so i can't give an opinion on it. if you're a Kon fan or just looking for something new, here's the link. enjoy:

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kanye west - can't tell me nothing (the official mixtape, mixed by plain pat)

the coast with the most

you know in all honesty i don't think there are that many classic southern hip-hop albums. at least not in comparison to the east coast. but even then there is a east coast bias when carefully placing albums with the certification of being "classic". i'm sure if you asked an east coast person what they think a classic album from the south is, they'll probably say something from OutKast over 50% of the time. shit, even then you have people debate which Kast album is the best. when i read interviews with southern artists or artists from other coasts i really don't hear a specific album mentioned from the dirty (Ridin' Dirty might be the exception). my brother told me one of the members from d4l said Goodie Mob's masterpiece Soul Food is one of their favorite albums. you know, for some reason, i find that hard to believe (now if they said ying yang i would be like "OK", now we're getting somewhere). but maybe i'm being hard on them. i like many different types of music, it ain't like i'll cater to one and stick to that particular one. all in all hearing my bro. tell me that shit was funny. so in conclusion, while on my continuing discovery of classic albums, instead of the old guaranteed, on every body's top ten list or whatever, i'm gonna try and dig deep and find the lost classics of yesteryear. these are the ones seldom heard and never really mentioned in current hip-hop circles. damn, maybe it all started for me with my recent discovery of Cru's lost one.

straight from the lip

Cru. or CRU. Or The Rhythm Blunt Cru. either way you get the picture of who i am talking about. what could i talk about this group that is clearly on every blog out there? (note: this sentence is straight sarcasm). or what i should be asking myself is why hasn't anyone talked about this group at all. it all started for me with the recent issue of scratch magazine and the feature on Cru's monster-of-an-album Da Dirty 30 (already provided links in previous posts, but it'll probably still be in the album rotation if need be). there they broke down some of the samples used on the album. i immediately grew interest because it stated Yogi produced all 30 fucking tracks. 30 tracks!!! i ain't seen that much dedication since Drama & Wayne (had to go there). i'm thinking to myself "i have to hear this". after acquiring the album i recognized "just another case". the melancholy sample, the whole summertime vibe, it's an instant classic, a reminder of that time you did whatever (to whoever, perhaps). my only regret was not getting this album when it came out. what's the excuse? did Def Jam put money into the project? i couldn't tell you but maybe it had something to do with the "shiny suits" and whatshit (even though they put out masterpieces compared to today's standards). i could give a break down of all the tracks and all that bullshit but i'm gonna save face and recommend this album to anyone with the slightest taste in hip-hop music. this is the only album from them, it ain't like i'm recommending their whole discography (wait, i think i am).

before or after? part 2

before...

...and after

trick question muthafuckas, Ghost Deini still one of the most consistent mc's in the game period. i think a helping from the goodie bag will win me my claim.

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ghostface killah - mighty healty (silk remix)

ghostface killah - the champ (original version)

ghostface feat. raekwon & cappadonna - wu is here

back from the grave with something to say

i'm back. it was a long time coming but anyway, let me start discussing some hip-hop shit. what's news? what's new? what's current. not my musical taste. i think i reached the point where i'm sick and tired of rap music (damn, a couple of months into this blogging shit and now i hate it). no, i'm still going to talk about classic hip-hop and shit i hold dear to my ears, but i think as far as current shit goes, i'm through with it. i remember i had an episode like this in 2004. i only bought two hip-hop albums: college dropout and street's disciple. i don't know what happened in '05 & '06 but i kind of went crazy and starting buying a whole bunch of shit. now i might go by the 10 year rule: if the shit ain't at least ten years old i ain't buying it. now i might have exceptions but hopefully i'm trying to set this goal where i don't buy at least 3 albums this year. bear with me cause these might be the 3 i do buy this year:

1. lil wayne: tha carter III

2. ugk: underground kingz

3. ????????????????? (can't think, uh, how bout a CRU Reunion album? :)-

p.s. i'm probably not going to do a review on Cru's classic album Da Dirty 30, but best believe i'm writing something on one of the most slept on albums ever.