Don't let her join the club!

Amy winehouse is dead at the age of 27... Big surprise here. She was popular for a song about refusing to go to rehad; it was only a matter of time before this caught up to her. The thing that bothers me is that she died at the age of 27, and for the reason she will join the "27 Club" or celebrities that died at the age of 27. This list includes Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain (all musical greats). If you look at the work that Winehouse did, it would be a disgrace to put her in the same categories as the others.She was slightly above mediocre at best and should be remembered for that. But no, in our society people will pretend thet give a fuck that she's gone and rant on about how much work we will miss out on by her. Bullshit. Fuck that. I say don't let her join the club and keep it for musical greats only.

Who was actually waiting?

Sorry 4 The Wait came out today and I'm not impressed. It's a tape of Lil Wayne freestyling about the same shit on other artists beats. No originality and not many standout lines. For such an anticipated mixtape I was expecting more, much more. He gets on the Racks beat, which is one of the better songs on the tape, but after the huge remix with 1245235 artists on it it wasn't needed. The same goes for Marvin's Room basically. Also, Lil B is one of the few features which doesn't make much sense to me.

If you're a die hard Weezy fan hit it up but if not you may want to pass.

Waka Flocka Fail

Waka Flocka Flames said he wants out of the rap game.... my thoughts? GOOD, get the fuck out. I have no clue how he became the popular rapper he is (since he sucks), but I don't think many people would mind him leaving the game. Even other sub-par rappers (Gucci Mane & Soulja Boy) will benefit from this loss, since they'd get more airtime. He claims that he'd "rather work at Walmart than rap" and I find that a likely possibility for him, assuming Walmart could lower their standards a few notches. I'm imagining a radio that is free of shit like "O Let's Do It", "Hard in da Paint" & "No Hands" and am quite pleased. Rap is the best thing to happen to Waka. Ironically, Waka is one of the worst things to happen to rap. Rap won't be losing out but he will be. Have a good life dude (as if), good bye and good riddance.

Watch what throne?

I love Kanye. For some reason I have never fallen for Jay-Z though, there's just something about him. Yes, I listen to him on occasion. If he comes up on shuffle I usually won't skip him. But there's just something about that leads me to think he's overrated. It could be the face that I liked Ether the most out of all of the Jay/Nas beef songs. It could be the fact that he's not the most attractive man in the world and he's married to Beyoncé. Maybe it's the fact that Eminem killed him on Renegade, or J. Cole had the best verse on the Blueprint 3 in my opinion. It also could be that he's not out promoting Cole like Kanye promotes Big Sean. I'll definitely have a lot to say about that one at a later date though. So right there I am slightly skepticle about Watch The Throne; this project can be one I love, but just as easily may become one that doesn't make the cut for me. First of all I don't like the album cover. It's essentially The H.A.M. cover art, but gold-plated (might I add that H.A.M. didn't impress me although it coined a new term that I use on occasion). I am pleased to hear that H.A.M. most likely isn't making the cut. But back to the cover art, I'd like to see a more creative and meaningful cover. We get the point that Hova and Yeezy are rich, there's no need to make a golden cover to show us. Also, it will look terrible if the cover is printed on paper, which is how most covers are produced. Next issue: the features. Beyoncé and Frank Ocean are the only two artists featured as of now. This doesn't make much sense to me. This album should be a way to help Roc Nation and GOOD Music take over the world. YMCMB should be cowering in fear after its release. Obviously the artists currently named will be featured on hooks, and maybe Ocean will donate a verse. Scratch them and throw John Legend, Mr. Hudson and Kid Cudi on hooks. Maybe even a little Sean Garrett. There should be a mentor/mentored song: imagine Jay-Z, Kanye West, J. Cole & Big Sean going back to back. Song of the year material right there, especially with a nice Kanye beat and a Kid Cudi hook. I'm getting excited just thinking about it. Next up there should be a song where each artist shows off their signed talent. Roc Nation would have J. Cole & Jay Electronica going in, whille GOOD Music could have Kid Cudi, Big Sean, Pusha T and CyHi Da Prynce killing it. Jay and West would be on both of these songs of course. End the album with a monster collaboration featuring all of these artists and there's a GOOD Nation takeover. This would still leave 10-12 songs of just the two main artists, but my personal belief is that Hov fears being outshined on his own album again (since it happens pretty frequently). Mr. West probably will do this on his own though. This is a very poor business move in my opinion, but we'll see the final result on August 2nd.

Section 80

Kendrick Lamar is a beast on the beats. He's put together an album that is sure to be one of the best of 2011. The thing is it probably won't be heard. This is real hip-hop. He didn't throw this together for the radio or commercial success. There is depth to this album and it will be slept on for this reason. While this is going on you'll be seeing the same mediocre rappers gain huge commercial success. People really need to start listening to intelligent music. This album is dope as fuck; it has the beats, flows and lyrics to get you thinking and just vibing out. No Make-Up goes against the current trend in rap; Kendrick wants to help a girl gets over her low self-esteem and wants to see her true beauty without make-up. Tammy's Song kinda reminds me of Marvin's Room on steroids and with a very interesting twist. There's honestly not one bad song, and quite a few gems on here; don't miss out guys.

Blue Slide Park?

Tonight Mac Miller decided to announce his new album title. After somewhere around an hour of watching him talk on Ustream, he decided to like us to a YouTube video that told us the title. Blue Slide Park. Throughout the video he came across as arrogant and immature and made it seem like the title was ingenious and would be impossible to find the true meaning to. Not exactly the tone you want to give off as a young rapper. Be humble young man, be humble.

After a quick Google search, I determined that Frick Playground (in Pittsburgh, where he grew up), was the source of this title. Most likely he played there as a child, and maybe even rapped as he grew older. I'm assuming this was significant in his development, and I'm assuming that I cracked his "deep" title. Close but no cigar Mac, hate to break it to you.

Lil B changes my mind... again.

Like I said in my previous post, Lil B has had me on the fence, leading to constant alterations of my opinion on him. I think a recent comment has made my position concrete. Yes, his album was better than expected, partially because of the extremely low expectations and partially because it was a decent album. At best it is slightly above average. But of course, The Based God has a high opinion of it.

In a recent interview with Vibe magazine he claimed:
"I'm Gay is going to be one of the most classic albums to ever touch down in hiphop. Once you hear the music and see the measures I'm going through for the people, it'll be one of the Tupacs, the Biggie Smalls, the Lil Waynes, the DMXs, the Black Robs, the Beanie Sigels, the Jay-Zs, the Commons, the Kanye Wests, The Lupe Fiascos. It's just goin' to be real hard, the real love, the real struggle, the real pain. It's goin' to be somethin' that uplifts people. Let me be the human sacrifice for the people. If I got to be the person that helps the world get better, let that be. If I gota go through pain so the next generation can be free and happy...let that be." Dude come on. Don't go comparing yourself to the greatest the game's ever seen because of a decent project. Get out of here with that shit. You're not Gandhi, you're not MLK; you're not a martyr at all. To further that thought, Biggie and Pac were both shot down for their beliefs and music so maybe they could be considered martyrs. Lil B without a doubt cannot be. I retract my positive statements about him, at least until he does something mind-blowing on the opposite end of the spectrum.

OJ all over again?

This is obviously not rap related but I couldn't help it. With the verdict coming in on the Casey Anthony trial, I was appalled by the fact that she's essentially walking away although the majority of the evidence points to her. Of course, implications are not enough in our legal system so the jury has to declare her not guilty. Sounds like a similar case back in the 90's.... So this day ends with no justice for Caylee and a potential murderer facing a maximum sentence of 4 years. There's a better chance she'll be out within a year since she's been in jail during the whole trial. I personally think it's bullshit and would like to see some new legislation as a result, but that's doubtful. Sorry America, but your system failed us in this case.

Journeying into the mind of Lil B

I really don't get this guy. Maybe some people do but I sure as fuck don't. I can't tell if he's a genius or an idiot and just as I begin leaning towards one end of the spectrum, something pushes me in the opposite direction. He first gained popularity when his group, the Based Boys, released the unexpected hit "Vans" in 2007 but soon feel off the map.In 2009 he resurfaced and released over 1,500 songs on Myspace within the next few years. Some of these songs are ridiculous (See Wonton Soup & Ellen Degeneres), but have helped his name spread around the web nonetheless. After hearing these songs I thought this man was a brain dead rapper, maybe even a few notches down from Soulja Boy. However, they do say that no publicity is bad publicity, which hold true in this case. The self proclaimed "Based God" planned to release an album entitled "I'm Gay (I'm Happy)" which was met with hatred and death threats. Once again, he got his name out there. On June 29, his album was just released to iTunes accomplishing something rare: it wasn't leaked beforehand. In this day and age of music, an average album leaks about 2 weeks before it hits the marketplace but somehow Lil B managed to avoid this. How? I'm not quite sure. Furthermore, the album went on to receive some positive reviews, including a write up by Lupe Fiasco, praising him as a revolutionary artist. Even odder is the fact that Lil B posted a link to download the album for free on his twitter. Does this mean he doesn't care about sales and money? Once again, I'm lost. I was pleasantly surprised to hear an intellectual side to the Based God on this album, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. It will be interesting to see what path B's career takes, and if he sticks to the swag act or decides to go for the act that will leave people thinking. Maybe he'll continue to do what he's been doing: act like he knows nothing and then take us for an occasional loop. What do you think?

You can download the album for free here or from iTunes to show true support.

Young Money did what now?

Everyone knows Young Money, the conglomerate of rappers run by Lil Wayne. Other notable members of the group include Drake and Nicki Minaj. Recently there have been new additions that have been questionable to some extent, but the signees have met the unofficial criteria of the group: they are young and they get money (at least after signing). A few days ago, new rumor surfaced on Twitter with minimal factual backing so far. Apparently Petey Pablo will be joining YMCMB. Remember him? He's the guy that made the hit songs "Freak-A-Leek," "Raise Up" and "Vibrate" in the early 2000s. Sure, he's a pretty talented rapper but I wouldn't exactly consider him young. He was born in 1973 which puts him at nearly 40. So Wayne, what's considered young exactly? I'd like to see a concrete number where Young Money becomes Middle-Aged Money. Hopefully this isn't true, but we shall see within the coming days.

Did Big Sean take it too far?

First off, I love Big Sean. He gives us "line after line after line after line after line… barcode" (See Supa Dupa Lemonade) and has potential to be a great rapper. While listening to his debut album Finally Famous, I was jamming out to every song; each one has its own unique vibe to it. As the song "High" featuring Wiz Khalifa and Chiddy Bang came on, I knew I was in for a treat. Based on the title, song length (4:20) and featured artists, I knew I was about to be listening to a smoking anthem. A few seconds in to the upbeat song,I was already enjoying myself. Then, as the first verse began, a shocking line came up. As a matter of fact, the rewind button had to be touched to make sure I heard that correctly. "Now I'm in the building like two planes bitch." Woah.... was that really a 9/11 reference in a song about being happy and high? I didn't know what to think, and actually still don't. This line seems to be one that could offend many, especially those who lost loved ones on that tragic day. On the other hand, the line is a very creative way to show his presence. So the question is, did Big Sean cross the line with this line or should the line be looked at with the playful tone that he intended for it to have? Any opinions should weigh in below!