Monday, December 08, 2003
New hip hop for Christmas and why has Memphis Bleek never broken big?
I'm already on record as saying that, so far, I've felt kind of lukewarm about the new Memph Bleek single and most of the previous joints Roc-a-fella has dropped trying to jumpstart his upcoming third album M.A.D.E. As I've also said, Bleek seems like a good-hearted guy and I'm sorry it looks like his new album isn't getting set up properly although, that being said, I'm starting to hear the single "Round Here" which features T.I. and Trick Daddy on the radio so maybe there's hope for him yet.
You may have also noticed, I've finally figured out how to paste images into this blog (and subsequently gone picture-crazy). That makes it even easier for me to make a point I started to ponder, after picking up a M.A.D.E. album sampler (with the CD label "In stores June 2003") at my barbershop this weekend and seeing an ad for his new album in the new XXL magazine, as to why Bleek has never really blown up.
Here's the covers of Bleek's three albums handily placed side-by-side for comparison purposes:
OK, see a pattern here? Other than a change of color in jacket and hat, it's basically the exact same image on every album cover which, IMHO, kind of symbolizes the reason why Bleek has never broken big the way everyone initially anticipated.
When he first stepped into the game, Bleek really seemed to embody the young n thuggin next generation of hip hoppers that were coming up and getting ready to fill the shoes of rap's reigning big dogs. His cameo on "Coming of Age" from the classic Jay-Z album Reasonable Doubt and his signing as the first artist after Jay on the, then-fledgling, Roc-a-fella Records seemed to seal his annointment as the "next one." Yet three solo albums and nearly five years later, fans are still waiting for him to fulfill that promise. A few club and mixshow banging singles from some competent but forgettably disposable albums have come and gone but neither Bleek nor any of his records have left the kind of imprint on hip hop that could have established him as a major star.
In the meantime, he's been surpassed as the next-to-blow on his own label by more challenging and distinctive artists like Freeway and Beanie Sigel leaving him barely holding onto last spot in the Roc starting five (and that's discounting Jay and DJ Clue) against the arrival of a slew of young un's like the Young Gunz and Peedi Crack in Beanie's State Property crew. And beyond the Roc, over the last couple of years the game has become inundated by countless jersey-n-fitted cap wearing young MC's from around the country like new stars Chingy, Lil Flip and Fabolous to the still-developing Joe Budden, Juelz Santana, Murphy Lee and beyond.
It's an increasingly competitive environment out there for new MC's and it's not clear how Bleek will fit into it in 2004 when neither he nor his music have developed beyond his early promise. Bleek's gonna need a hit single and album to help him make his mark in the Roc, let alone hip hop. Listening to the sampler, which is full of mixtape style remakes and also obviously dropped months ago before his album was pushed back (presumably to record addtional material to tighten it up), it's not clear whether that's going to happen. I guess we'll all learn the answer next week when (on 12/16) we finally hear whether Bleek has delivered the goods that will allow him to finally come-of-age and become a M.A.D.E. man.
Related reading: "Memphis Bleek: Full Circle" (Source: Allhiphop.com)
Meanwhile, here's a selective list of all the other big hip hop releases scheduled to drop from now until the end of the year that Bleek's M.A.D.E. album will go up against in stores:
12/9/03:
Big Tymers Big Money Heavywight
Baby and bounce master Mannie Fresh return with more tales of good times, flossing and blingin' from the N.O. for the dancefloor and radio.
Kelis Tasty
This could be a monster based on the single "Milkshake" and the tracks I've heard like the duet with Nas "In Public" and Trick Me." With additional guest appearances by Andre 3000 and Raphael Saaadiq and a good chunk of the production handled by the Neptunes (with an assist from Rocwilder), look for this to make plenty of year-end Best of lists and be the next album paler hipsters all over namecheck, after Outkast, as evidence that they don't just listen to indie rock.
Leaders of the New South Crunk and Disorderly
The new club sound of the South. Lil Jon's ruled the clubs this year with his productions and numerous cameos.
UPDATE Nick Cannon Nick Cannon
Urban Teen pop is not my bag but homeboy got called out on Hot 97 this morning after bragging about his freestyle mic skills and didn't embarass himself so his album being in-stores today gets a mention too.
Westisde Connection Terrorist Threats
The return of the pimp, the gangsta and the dope dealer. Is there much heat around this project 'cos it feels like nobody cares plus I'm sure that album title isn't helping any?
12/16.03:
Goodie Mob Dirty South Classics
One of the most underappreciated acts in hip hop period and the group who coined the term "The Dirty South." Their debut album Soul Food is an essential purchase and the follow-up Still Standing warrants serious attention too.
Raekwon Lex Diamond Story
With the Wu seemingly all but confined to the hip hop history books, the saddest individual story within the Clan (outside of the you-could-have-seen-it-coming ODB saga) is probably the lost promise of Raekwon the Chef. Unlike M. Easy (above), Raekwon did manage to bless us with one classic album before pretty much falling off. Tip for the Chef: follow the Tony Starks recipe on his first three albums and just add more of your cinematic drug dealing lyrical content for flavor and you should be fine.
Various Artists Roc Files, Vol. 1
Learn why this label has become one of the preeminent forces in major label hip hop with this round-up of early tracks.
12.23.03:
Bravehearts Bravehearted
Debut album by Nas affiliates ucharacteristically preceeded by a crunk banger produced by and feauring Lil Jon. This is what classic QB hip hop has come to in 2003? Will the album deliver more traditoinal fare or should we go directly to the next Alchemist produced collection for satisfaction of our hunger for the grimey?
Juvenile Juve The Great
Will Juve heat it up 600 Degrees and become the comeback kid for 2004? Haven't even heard a single myself so I'm a llittle skeptical if multi-platinum dreams are still in the offing for Mr. "Back dat Azz Up."
David Banner MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water
Hot on the heels of the great Mississippi The Album, one of the best hip hop albums this year, comes the follow-up. Again, I know nothing about this but hope it's as good as its predecessor.
Finally, I can't even believe Eminem was almost investigated by the Feds for his track "We as Americans" (like they have time for that nonsense in this day and age) but it's good to hear Joe Budden rockin' in the Spalding Infusion TV ad's that have been running recently.
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You may have also noticed, I've finally figured out how to paste images into this blog (and subsequently gone picture-crazy). That makes it even easier for me to make a point I started to ponder, after picking up a M.A.D.E. album sampler (with the CD label "In stores June 2003") at my barbershop this weekend and seeing an ad for his new album in the new XXL magazine, as to why Bleek has never really blown up.
Here's the covers of Bleek's three albums handily placed side-by-side for comparison purposes:
OK, see a pattern here? Other than a change of color in jacket and hat, it's basically the exact same image on every album cover which, IMHO, kind of symbolizes the reason why Bleek has never broken big the way everyone initially anticipated.
When he first stepped into the game, Bleek really seemed to embody the young n thuggin next generation of hip hoppers that were coming up and getting ready to fill the shoes of rap's reigning big dogs. His cameo on "Coming of Age" from the classic Jay-Z album Reasonable Doubt and his signing as the first artist after Jay on the, then-fledgling, Roc-a-fella Records seemed to seal his annointment as the "next one." Yet three solo albums and nearly five years later, fans are still waiting for him to fulfill that promise. A few club and mixshow banging singles from some competent but forgettably disposable albums have come and gone but neither Bleek nor any of his records have left the kind of imprint on hip hop that could have established him as a major star.
In the meantime, he's been surpassed as the next-to-blow on his own label by more challenging and distinctive artists like Freeway and Beanie Sigel leaving him barely holding onto last spot in the Roc starting five (and that's discounting Jay and DJ Clue) against the arrival of a slew of young un's like the Young Gunz and Peedi Crack in Beanie's State Property crew. And beyond the Roc, over the last couple of years the game has become inundated by countless jersey-n-fitted cap wearing young MC's from around the country like new stars Chingy, Lil Flip and Fabolous to the still-developing Joe Budden, Juelz Santana, Murphy Lee and beyond.
It's an increasingly competitive environment out there for new MC's and it's not clear how Bleek will fit into it in 2004 when neither he nor his music have developed beyond his early promise. Bleek's gonna need a hit single and album to help him make his mark in the Roc, let alone hip hop. Listening to the sampler, which is full of mixtape style remakes and also obviously dropped months ago before his album was pushed back (presumably to record addtional material to tighten it up), it's not clear whether that's going to happen. I guess we'll all learn the answer next week when (on 12/16) we finally hear whether Bleek has delivered the goods that will allow him to finally come-of-age and become a M.A.D.E. man.
Related reading: "Memphis Bleek: Full Circle" (Source: Allhiphop.com)
Meanwhile, here's a selective list of all the other big hip hop releases scheduled to drop from now until the end of the year that Bleek's M.A.D.E. album will go up against in stores:
12/9/03:
Big Tymers Big Money Heavywight
Baby and bounce master Mannie Fresh return with more tales of good times, flossing and blingin' from the N.O. for the dancefloor and radio.
Kelis Tasty
This could be a monster based on the single "Milkshake" and the tracks I've heard like the duet with Nas "In Public" and Trick Me." With additional guest appearances by Andre 3000 and Raphael Saaadiq and a good chunk of the production handled by the Neptunes (with an assist from Rocwilder), look for this to make plenty of year-end Best of lists and be the next album paler hipsters all over namecheck, after Outkast, as evidence that they don't just listen to indie rock.
Leaders of the New South Crunk and Disorderly
The new club sound of the South. Lil Jon's ruled the clubs this year with his productions and numerous cameos.
UPDATE Nick Cannon Nick Cannon
Urban Teen pop is not my bag but homeboy got called out on Hot 97 this morning after bragging about his freestyle mic skills and didn't embarass himself so his album being in-stores today gets a mention too.
Westisde Connection Terrorist Threats
The return of the pimp, the gangsta and the dope dealer. Is there much heat around this project 'cos it feels like nobody cares plus I'm sure that album title isn't helping any?
12/16.03:
Goodie Mob Dirty South Classics
One of the most underappreciated acts in hip hop period and the group who coined the term "The Dirty South." Their debut album Soul Food is an essential purchase and the follow-up Still Standing warrants serious attention too.
Raekwon Lex Diamond Story
With the Wu seemingly all but confined to the hip hop history books, the saddest individual story within the Clan (outside of the you-could-have-seen-it-coming ODB saga) is probably the lost promise of Raekwon the Chef. Unlike M. Easy (above), Raekwon did manage to bless us with one classic album before pretty much falling off. Tip for the Chef: follow the Tony Starks recipe on his first three albums and just add more of your cinematic drug dealing lyrical content for flavor and you should be fine.
Various Artists Roc Files, Vol. 1
Learn why this label has become one of the preeminent forces in major label hip hop with this round-up of early tracks.
12.23.03:
Bravehearts Bravehearted
Debut album by Nas affiliates ucharacteristically preceeded by a crunk banger produced by and feauring Lil Jon. This is what classic QB hip hop has come to in 2003? Will the album deliver more traditoinal fare or should we go directly to the next Alchemist produced collection for satisfaction of our hunger for the grimey?
Juvenile Juve The Great
Will Juve heat it up 600 Degrees and become the comeback kid for 2004? Haven't even heard a single myself so I'm a llittle skeptical if multi-platinum dreams are still in the offing for Mr. "Back dat Azz Up."
David Banner MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water
Hot on the heels of the great Mississippi The Album, one of the best hip hop albums this year, comes the follow-up. Again, I know nothing about this but hope it's as good as its predecessor.
Finally, I can't even believe Eminem was almost investigated by the Feds for his track "We as Americans" (like they have time for that nonsense in this day and age) but it's good to hear Joe Budden rockin' in the Spalding Infusion TV ad's that have been running recently.
