The world of hip-hop hasn’t been all that captivating lately. Well, at least not to me. Apparently the rest of ‘Merica can’t stop lapping it up like so many pussies to milk.
Luckily, all rappers aren’t tattooed up, thugged-out pieces of untalented ghetto trash. Take for instance, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Lyrics Born, Kanye West, Common and Ludacris. All have released or will release new albums, and all of them have a bit of talent.
Mos and Talib dropped new albums late last year, Dangerous and The Beautiful Struggle, respectively. Mos’ Dangerous is infused with rock and blues licks and shows that more and more rappers are taking cues from the world of rock. Key tracks include “The Boogie Man Song†and “The Rape Over." Talib’s Beautiful Struggle is pretty straight forward, with decent beats and good rhymes. There is some rock here too, plus Talib's insightful lyrics. "Going Hard†is pretty indicative of what you will find on the rest of the album.
Instead of putting out something new, both Kanye West and Lyrics Born released remix albums. Normally, I’d call them money-grubbing chumps, but there is enough new material and great new mixes on both albums to make them worthwhile.
Lyrics Born, from San Fran - running with the West Coast clique that contains Jurassic 5 among others, makes some great, melodic and funkified hip hop. The remix album, Same Shit Different Day is full of fresh funk. Key track here is Dan "The Automator" Nakamura's take on “I'm Just Raw.â€
Kanye released Freshman Adjustment, it looks to be an import release available everywhere but here. The disc contains some new stuff and some of the original demos he shopped around and got rejected before Roc-A-Fella picked him up. There is even the origianl version of "All Falls Down" featuring a Lauryn Hill sample that she wouldn't clear because Kanye was a nobody. Yeah, who's feeling stupid now?
Common’s soon to be released album Be has some gems, but there is just a bit too much R&B for me. If that's your thing, then that's your thing. Check out “Go (feat Kanye West and John Mayer)".
And finally, there is Ludacris. I know what you’re thinking, “Luda? Does he really fit in with the rest of these guys?†Well, maybe. But I really dig the new album. I just put off listening to it, but thinking back, he has never done anything to disappoint me (except for the appearance on that god awful Ciara song “Ohâ€) and I should have known the new disc would be the shit. And it is. Luda’s Red Light District is funny and irreverent, plus lots of bass. Key Track: "Get Back"
Stuff to Sample: Nothing here . . . sucka!
No mention of Word of Mouf? I know you gotta go new, but Luda take you back to Duck Hunt and Double Dribble. I think you need a hip-hop consultant on this motha'. A-Out - S
mmmm-eehh. I dunnooo . . . I just . . . *wakes out of apathetic stupor* I'll consult you right in your Word of Mouth, MoFo. Try me, G'head! Try me!
You're probably right though. I've been wrestling with the idea of outside consultation for awhile now. But who would volunteer their hard earned time to eLarceny? You get nothing out of it. I do it because I'm a nerd. What would your excuse be?
I would love to go big with this and offer a huge swath of music with multiple daily updates but I kinda like being small. You can get away with so much more.
And besides, think of the pressure. Right now it's just the same four people stopping by every day. I feel like we're married. I can be fat and lazy and not shave for three days. If i had thousands of people stopping by every day i'd probably crack. More then I already have. In the head. I'm nuts.
You know what I mean?
Hmmm. You really are a strange fella. My code has always been onward and upwards, as anyone that knows me can readily attest.It is your sort of small thinking that gets one in trouble, I believe. We can even take our main man Luda as a prime example - what is one of the best tracks on Red Light? Number One Spot. Luda doesn't say #2 spot now does he? Go ahead and marinate on that for a minute, yo.
[3] Scheme, scheme, plot, plot.
I'm just offering a tiny public service here. Being #1, and i have schemed and plotted, would require much more then just your consultation. Although that would immediatley push me into the upper echelons of MP3 blogdom.
It has a lot to do with the money issue. I dont like to talk about it but bandwidth is expensive. I will give you an example. Figure it like this. If I average four songs a week at four mb a piece, that is 16 mb a week, 64 mb a month, per person who downloads everything I put up. Multiply that by 1,000 and i'm way over my one gig a month bandwdith limit.
eLarceny would then shut down till next month or I'd be forced to purchase more bandwidth. To finance that I would have to go back to working the streets (Ich arbeit um die ecke) or become "legit" enough to accept advertising, thus negating everything this blog stands for.
This business model could be very successful. But nobody trusts a blog with corporate sponsors.
[4] If you went corporate, I would call you a sell-out, unless I was in on the cut. Than I would call you a genius.
I must admit that I have done a 180 since my ignorant angst driven days of adolescence. Luda has a lot of great tracks on Red Light District
Here is my prediction, Put Your Money is going to be heard on College Gameday and Monday Night Football this fall. And not a moment too soon. I hope I never have to hear Trick Daddy's bastardizes version of Crazy Train again!