Monday, August 25, 2003
Here's a funny web page I just came up on called the Google Smackdown. The basic idea is that you put in two phrases or words (like "Jay Z" and "50 Cent") and this page automatically calculates which one comes up on google's search engine more and declares them the winner in this internet-based version of a wrestling-style Smackdown. I know it's kind of puerile and stupid but it's also mildly-addictive at the same time.
Just copped a new hip hop mixtape ("Big Mike presents "The Muth-fu**in Champ is Back!!!") from my man down on Fulton Mall in B-K to keep up with what's poppoin' hip hop-wise. I mean, is there any point to buying most of the hip hop albums that come out nowdays? Even at the discount sub-10 dollar price point you can get 'em at Best Buy or Circuit City first week, you can get a mixtape with the hottest joints off upcoming albums months before release with some exclusives and freestyles to boot for 5 bucks or less on the street? You do the math. I'm not hating and I'm not one of those cats who thinks hip hop was just better back in the day. I actually think there a lot of great singles coming out right now--I love the Jae Mills' "No No No," Timbaland & Missy's "Cop That...," the new Kelis single "Milkshake" (yeah I know it's not technically a hip hop record but the Neptunes produced it so that's close enough for me) and the Young Gunz single that came out a few weeks back just to name a few that come to mind right now--but classic albums are few and far between. Two of the better ones this year have been Joe Buddens and David Banner. Inspector Deck's The Movement album was better than I would have expected and what I've heard of the Little Brother album I like and would recommend for those who think early 90's East Coast hip hop was the pinnacle of the music's creativity but other than that I can't think of much I'm real excited about.
On the other hand, this mixtape game is getting real out of hand too. One of the new tapes I looked at had a track listing Tupac dissing Ja Rule called (I think) "F-ck Murder Inc"--WTF? Murder Inc., Ja Rule and Gotti were barely on the radar screen when Pac died but he had the foresight to record and leave a dis track for them in the vaults before he died? If Pac did (or if this track is legitimately about them as oppposed to just being a generic battle track whose target isn't clearly specified), he truly was the greatest MC of all time--lol. Of course tracks like that coming out only fuel the "Pac is alive" conspiracy theorists out there. Needless to say I passed on that tape (although I won't lie, I looked at it for a while). Interestingly enough though the new XXL has an article on the making of the Makaveli album in their new issue which has Afeni Shakur (Pac's mom) on the cover and is dedicated to looking back on Pac's legacy 7 years on (yes, can you believe it's been that long already?) from his death. The fact that Pac's influnce and legacy is so strong within hip hop is only more proof of how weak the game has become.
Speaking of game though, I'm hoping Dre's new protgee The Game lives up the promise he's shown on recent Whoo Kid mixtapes I've heard. Yeah , he sounds like Black Rob a bit but he can definitely spit and with Dre behind the boards you could be looking at a worthy follow-up to 50 from a critical and sales point of view. Hip hop needs some new blood to get people excited again, that's partially why 50 blew up so big this year but, as much as I like a lot of his music and respect his marketing savvy, he's been so over-played this year on TV and the radio that I'm already sick of him. To end, the new Mary album is out tomorrow. While I'm skeptical of her reunion with Puffy and it's stated goal of trying to recreate the vibe on "What's the 411?" and "My Life," if the first single is any indication, the new album should be hot and not the backwards nostalgia trip it might have become.
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Just copped a new hip hop mixtape ("Big Mike presents "The Muth-fu**in Champ is Back!!!") from my man down on Fulton Mall in B-K to keep up with what's poppoin' hip hop-wise. I mean, is there any point to buying most of the hip hop albums that come out nowdays? Even at the discount sub-10 dollar price point you can get 'em at Best Buy or Circuit City first week, you can get a mixtape with the hottest joints off upcoming albums months before release with some exclusives and freestyles to boot for 5 bucks or less on the street? You do the math. I'm not hating and I'm not one of those cats who thinks hip hop was just better back in the day. I actually think there a lot of great singles coming out right now--I love the Jae Mills' "No No No," Timbaland & Missy's "Cop That...," the new Kelis single "Milkshake" (yeah I know it's not technically a hip hop record but the Neptunes produced it so that's close enough for me) and the Young Gunz single that came out a few weeks back just to name a few that come to mind right now--but classic albums are few and far between. Two of the better ones this year have been Joe Buddens and David Banner. Inspector Deck's The Movement album was better than I would have expected and what I've heard of the Little Brother album I like and would recommend for those who think early 90's East Coast hip hop was the pinnacle of the music's creativity but other than that I can't think of much I'm real excited about.
On the other hand, this mixtape game is getting real out of hand too. One of the new tapes I looked at had a track listing Tupac dissing Ja Rule called (I think) "F-ck Murder Inc"--WTF? Murder Inc., Ja Rule and Gotti were barely on the radar screen when Pac died but he had the foresight to record and leave a dis track for them in the vaults before he died? If Pac did (or if this track is legitimately about them as oppposed to just being a generic battle track whose target isn't clearly specified), he truly was the greatest MC of all time--lol. Of course tracks like that coming out only fuel the "Pac is alive" conspiracy theorists out there. Needless to say I passed on that tape (although I won't lie, I looked at it for a while). Interestingly enough though the new XXL has an article on the making of the Makaveli album in their new issue which has Afeni Shakur (Pac's mom) on the cover and is dedicated to looking back on Pac's legacy 7 years on (yes, can you believe it's been that long already?) from his death. The fact that Pac's influnce and legacy is so strong within hip hop is only more proof of how weak the game has become.
Speaking of game though, I'm hoping Dre's new protgee The Game lives up the promise he's shown on recent Whoo Kid mixtapes I've heard. Yeah , he sounds like Black Rob a bit but he can definitely spit and with Dre behind the boards you could be looking at a worthy follow-up to 50 from a critical and sales point of view. Hip hop needs some new blood to get people excited again, that's partially why 50 blew up so big this year but, as much as I like a lot of his music and respect his marketing savvy, he's been so over-played this year on TV and the radio that I'm already sick of him. To end, the new Mary album is out tomorrow. While I'm skeptical of her reunion with Puffy and it's stated goal of trying to recreate the vibe on "What's the 411?" and "My Life," if the first single is any indication, the new album should be hot and not the backwards nostalgia trip it might have become.
