Bumpin on my Ipod

Lately ive been listening to a lot of CunninLynguists. If you didnt see my post about their most recent projects (strange journey vol 1) then you should check it out and any other album they have produced because it is just pure fire. Also Strange Journey Vol 2 is soon to be released so be sure to get a chance to listen to that also.



Been listening to some Mr J. Medeiros of The Procussions. He joined up with Boonie Mayfield ,who is one of my favorite producers based on his videos on youtube, to created "The Art of Broken Glass". If you get a chance look Boonie Mayfield up, do it...you wouldnt be disappointed.



And of the most underrated rappers is C Rayz Walz who I think is one of the best out there. He reminds me of ODB. His style is just very unique. You might recognize him from the MTV show "Made" when he helps a kid out in his dream to be a rapper. But here is one of my favorite songs.

Hip Hop is in the BUILDIN

Yes I have been away for awhile. Didnt think I was going to ever get back on this, but i feel as if it is my duty to spread the word. So now that I am back lets get it started (again) with some HIP HOP!

Yo! Check This Out

Outerspace - Blood Brothers

Group that does music with Jedi Mind Tricks and Army of the Pharoahs. So you know its going to be good. Check it out, i know you want to.

Marco Polo and Torae - Double Barrel

Very sick album period.

Swann Notty and 9th Wonder - Classic Material

Anything that 9th wonder produces i am in love with because it is such a chill type of music. Swann Notty fits perfectly with his style of production. Check it out.

Main Offenders

Main Offenders can be described as three incredibly tallented rappers influenced by east coast style hip hop.

"Its funny how even though they’re repping Vancouver, Canada, these guys sound like everything you loved about hip-hop before it went all flashy and pop. Each MC is a well-rounded battle rapper and writer in their own right, reminiscent of a younger and hungrier Brother Ali or Mac Lethal. Their live shows are energetic and usually packed while they’re recorded material embodies a contagious rawness similar to that of the U.S.’s, Rhymesayers Ent. " -Cd Baby

Rhymesayers Ent. being rappers/groups such as Slug, Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Mac Lethal and MF Doom if you folks didn't know which is saying a lot for a young group that you probably have never heard of out of Canada. I have intrest in the group because the way each emcee goes with the other perfectly, and when lyrically they sound amazing. Its not just me that is amazed by this talent. I have been reading online of other people really liking their album Depth Perception.

"One of the best CD I own this year. I just have one problem: I'm french so I never could see them on stage... :("

Reflection

When I was told that I would have to blog for class I didn’t know what to expect. My main concern was that we would probably have to type a lot each post. 250 words I think is to much because I have to think of what I am going to type next instead of typing what I wanted to blog about and that’s it. Well before this year, I had never thought about blogging. But now that I have been "forced" to blog it actually is not that bad. I could see myself doing a blog when I get older in my free time. I could also see myself not doing it just because it’s almost a waste of time. The hardest thing that took the longest to decide was what I was going to blog about. I would only get one blog done in the computer lab and find my self scrambling on the weekend to finish my three posts. If this wasn’t an assignment I could find this very fun to do on my own time. If I didn’t have certain deadlines and I could blog whenever I wanted about random topics I could see myself blogging for awhile. I liked posting about music that I really enjoy listening to because it was sort of a way to manage my own music tastes and to reach out to people who may like the genre or haven’t heard this kind of music before to expand their musical horizons.

Reef the Lost Cauze

Reef started battling other rappers in high school and earned a reputation as one of the best battle mc's in Philadelphia. He received a film scholarship to the Philadelphia University of the Arts where he began to visualize a serious career as a recording artist. Realizing his true calling, Reef dropped out of college at the age of 19 and teamed up with Philadelphia-based producer Sleep E to begin working on his first solo project. The 10 track album, The High Life, was released in 2001 and opened doors for Reef as he began performing at area clubs and generating praise from both fans and local media.

In February 2003, Reef released his second solo album, Invisible Empire. He distributed the album himself by way of a national schedule of shows during which he won the Mic Check Battle in Philadelphia and took second place in the Blaze Freestyle Battle in Oakland, California.

Reef took his freestyle skills to another level early in 2004 with an arousing performance at the Beat Society production competition in New York, and a fierce win in the Riddle Records Mic Control Battle. He was also the End Of The Weak (EOW) Challenge Champion at the Rock Steady Crew 27th Anniversary in July 2004, and went on to take the EOW Grand Championship title in 2005. Mindful of his stunning battle prowess, Reef places a determined emphasis on balance with his songwriting and performance abilities.

Feast Or Famine, Reef's third solo album, was released in 2005 to critical acclaim. Also in 2005, Reef was a member of The JuJu Mob whose debut album, Black Candles, was lead by fellow Army of the Pharaohs rapper Chief Kamachi. The debut album from Army of the Pharaohs entitled The Torture Papers, was released in 2006 and featured two songs with Reef as a featured member.

A Vicious Cycle (fourth album) was released on November 18th, 2008. This is a very good album with SICK production. Again im in love with a rappers opening song. This one is called "Back At It".

Dont listen to at work. Unless you could give two sh*** about your job.

Immortal Technique

Immortal Technique, is an American rapper and political activist. He was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Harlem, New York. Most of his lyrics focus on political issues. The views expressed in his lyrics are largely a mixture of commentary on issues such as politics, poverty, religion, social class and racism.

In 2001, Immortal Technique released his first album Revolutionary Vol. 1 without the help of a record label or distribution. Instead using money he had made from winning various rap battles. Revolutionary Vol 1 also contained the underground classic 'Dance With The Devil' which in my opinion is the one of the most "messed up" songs ive heard in awhile. In November 2002, he was listed by Source as the month's featured "Unsigned Hype", which highlights artists that are not signed to a record label. Consequently, since he did not have a record deal or distribution at the time, Immortal Technique is the only rapper in history to have a "Hip Hop Quotable" while being unsigned. He released his second album Revolutionary Vol. 2 in 2003 and The 3rd World in 2008.

But Revolutionary Vol. 1 is my favorite album by him because of the first song "Creation and Destruction". This song is so sick with the production by Marly Marl. Just listen to his lyrics and determine for yourself. And if you get a chance check out "Dancing with the Devil" which is a long song but it is a great/messed up story being told.

Not to be listened to in public places. Unless you really dont care haha.

Big L

With the Notorius B.I.G. overshadowing the whole New York Scene almost, a person you prolly never hear about, was(still is in my opinion) probably one of the most underrated rappers in New York. This is probably caused by a drive by shooting that left Big L dead after his first debut album release. He was sort of a rapper ahead of his time if you know what i mean.

This is my favorite song by Big L called Put it On off of his first album Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous.


He also was in a group called D.I.T.C.( Diggin in the Crates). He had many previously recorded songs before his death, not sure if this is one, but this is another song i like with Fat Joe. Trust me, Fat Joe was better back then, than he is now......

A.O.T.P.

Army of the Pharoahs is a group started by Vinnie Paz consisting of rappers Apathy, Celph Titled, Reef the Lost Cauze, Chief Kamachi, Demoz, Des Devious, Doap Nixon, Esoteric, King Magnetic, Jus Allah, King Syze, Planetary,and Crypt the Warchild. They really caught my attention when they released their second album, Ritual of Battle. This song in particular caught my attention with Celph Titled in the first verse with his unique flow. But this group is very violent and talk about murdering people a lot. Other than that, you can't say they are not good. They are most certainly a really talented group and one of my current favorites.( I just realized how many favorites I have.)

Not to be listened to at work or school.....unless you have headphones!

Atmosphere

One of my favorite rap groups is Atmosphere. The lyrical half of the group, Slug is the main MC. Ant (Anthony Davis) is the other half of Atmosphere, and is the producer of the group. With the exception of Overcast!, he has produced every Atmosphere record by himself. They have had six albums that in my belief got better with each one. Slug never lies in his songs, but does tell stories. He usually raps about depression, and peoples problems. I think it is almost the perfect music to sit down after a hard day of work or school and just fall asleep. To me its the definition of beautiful music.

My favorite song is Sad Clown from the CD Sad Clown Bad Dub II. In the song he talks about a depressed clown.
"Hey daddy tell me why the clown is crying."
"Well son he's got the task of cheering up the ill and dying.
On top of that everybody thinks that he's insane.
Can't fathom why he'd wanna ease their pain."


My second favorite song is Modern Man's Hustle off of the album God Loves Ugly

Random

I always find my self looking for new music trying to find something that is the next big thing or something that has not been brought to the whole world yet like unknown rappers / producers. This is just something I found amazing about youtube as it helps me the most to expand my knowledge and mind with new music. Here is a song that I was not looking for, not expecting to find which really makes me more appreciative of the music that is out there.

Al Tarba is the producer which in my belief is a really good one. So check it out

Note: do not play at work

Detriot Rappers

Detriot in my mind has given birth to many successfull rappers in the past 20 years. It all started out with the legendary producer and rapper J Dilla a.k.a James Yancey a.k.a the best that ever did it. His work with Slum Village brought Detroit music some love. But it sort of blew up when Eminem started out in the late 90's. Eminem could be called the best rapper ever, but has recently fell off my list due to his lack of effort and mainstream garbage. But for his work done before(Infinite, Slim Shady LP, Marshall Mathers LP, etc)...easily in the top five best rappers in my book. He has done some work with D12, Detroit Dozen or dirty dozen. The Group Consisted of rappers Proof, Bizarre, Eminem, Eye-Kyu, Killa Hawk, Fuzz Scoota. They could not find six other rappers so they decided to create alter egos to make twelve. I never was a fan of them but they were a known group throughout the nation with their psychotic lyrics. Black Milk is making a name for himself as a producer and rapper recently. Guilty Simpson is most certainly talented and has a big career ahead of him(hopefully). But my favorite that has come up lately is Elzhi from the group Slum Village. He is amazingly good with his lyrics. Using differnt acronyms for D.E.M.O.N.S. Please decide for yourself.

YO! Check This Out

For some reason, this week I havent been compelled to download any music. But some stuff I found a couple weeks ago include an album The Foundation, produced by Shuko with featuring artists. One of the most emerging artists from the midwest, Tech N9ne, brings out his best in his recently released album Sickology 101. Earlier I posted two songs by Jedi Mind Tricks. Their most recent album A History of Violence could be documented as one of their best albums. And

YO! MTV Raps

I really wish instead of reality shows shown on MTV( Music Televison), they would bring back a classic TV show by the name of YO! MTV Raps. It was a two hour televison program, which ran from August 1988 to August 1995. It was the first music hip hop show to be shown in the United States. The arrival of Yo! MTV Raps in the late 1980s was a key component to the spread of hip-hop around the world. It created a worldwide appreciation and interest in hip hop. But nowadays, as i turn my television on and turn to MTV, I start wondering where the music went. Even if there was hip hop on TV it would be that crappy "stanky legg" garbage. I just hope sometime soon that MTV realizes that they aren't really playing music that much and brings this type of show back.

For the last show Yo! MTV raps held a freestyle session with some of the greatest rappers of the time. Rappers came to support hip hop on television for the last time. Such rappers as Rakim, KRS-ONE, Erick Sermon, Chubb Rock and MC Serch, Redman, Method Man, Extra P, Craig Mack and others. There are two parts on youtube, and the first one is hard to hear but the second part is a little bit more clear.

Jedi Mind Tricks

Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) is a hip hop group with two members from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and one from Camden, New Jersey. The group was founded by two high school friends rapper Vinnie Paz(Vincenzo Luvineri) named after boxer Vinnie Pazienza and producer DJ Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind (Kevin Baldwin). In 1999 the New Jersey rapper Jus Allah (James Bostick) joined the group to record the album Violent by Design but left shortly after for reasons that remain unexplained. He recorded a song in 2006 with Jedi Mind Tricks which marked the return to JMT since the split. He returned in time to start their new released album "A History of Violence" which in my opinion is the best album they have made yet.

The title of this album is A History of Violence. So as a warning there is some cursing being done in this song.




But the song that got me hooked to Jedi Mind Tricks, was I Agianst I of the album Violent by Design. This song is still my favorite that I almost can go a day without thinking about.

Pharcyde

This is a song off of The Pharcyde's 1996 album Labcabincalifornia which is one of my favorite albums of the 90's.

One of the craziest videos that i have ever seen is Drop by The Pharcyde which was directed by Spike Jonze. It is really hard to understand how they made this video (please watch the video first). In this video you can see the group saying there rhymes as everything in the background of Los Angeles like the people move backwards and them move forwards. The way the director did this was by putting the song in reverse, so the words are like jibberish. The rappers had to memorize this "jibberish" and say it as they were making the video forwards so it looked like they were saying actual words. Its really cool seeing them jump on to vans, water come from there clothes and fall into the sky, walking down the stairs as dodgeballs go up the stairs.

Its a shame that we dont have any creative minds that think of good videos like this nowadays. I am saying this on the videos i have seen not all videos in general. So if any of you have found some really good videos please email me or comment.

Yo! CHECK THIS OUT

Here is another set of albums that you should really check out. I just cant stop listening to these albums. Do not look at these if you do not like songs that don't "BEAT".

My favorite of these albums is Strange Journey Vol 1 by CunninLynguists. This album is full of great "chill" beats that you could almost fall asleep to because they are so soothing. But i advise someone who likes well structured songs and a relaxing theme to check it out.

CunninLynguists - Strange Journey Volume One

This is another great chill album with great rhymes by Son of Ran

Son of Ran - Tribute to Sky City


These guys are not rappers but have underground artists such as Guilty Simpson, Black Milk, Edo G, Planet Asia and others. Jr and Ph7 have emerged as great producers after this album.

Jr and Ph7 - The Standard



Intel Agents is one of the most lyrical groups that i have heard in awhile. Blackout is a really good song by them so check it out. Again not for those who like bass pumping songs.

Intel Agents - Intelligence

New York Rappers

When I started listening to hip hop music I got into New York origin rappers like Notorious B.I.G. , A Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang Clan, Onyx, Mos Def, The Pharcyde , Heltah Skeltah and many others. Each group or artists had their own style but it had that same East Coast "grimey" feel. Rappers who reside in New York will most be remembered for their lyrics and never their beats. One of my favorite rappers from New York has to be Mos Def. Started out rapping with Talib Kweli to form the group Blackstar. He has had four album releases(Blackstar, Black on Both Sides, The New Danger, True Magic) and working on a 5th, The Ecstatic. He mainly talks about his experiences in life, and how he feels about the rap/hip hop game.

In this particular song he talks about the value of family

J DILLA

Producers usually dont get as much credit as they should. Im pretty sure out of every producer, J Dilla gets the most credit for his work. One of the best that ever did it. He began rapping and producing with a group from Detriot called Slum Village. He had produced for some famous artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Pharcyde, and Busta Rhymes. Some of his most famous work was his instrumental cds that he produced including Donuts, and The Shining. Three days after his release of Donuts, J Dilla died on February 10, 2006, three days after his 32nd birthday from a rare blood disease. Some projects were dedicated in his honor. This including a mixtape of previously unreleased tracks featuring Busta Rhymes over Dilla's production, Dillagence was released in November 2007. Busta was one of Dilla's most passionate supporters. Yancey Boys, by J Dilla's younger brother John Yancey, was released in 2008 on Delicious Vinyl Records. It is produced entirely by J Dilla and features rapping by his brother, under the name Illa J. Dilla has created a big impact on the hip hop community, his name and work brought more intrest after his death, but still he is "The Best That Ever Did It"



This song and album was produced by J Dilla

Is he WHITE? CAN HE RAP?!

"Hes white?!" or "Are you sure your not talking about Eminem?" are some of the questions that make me laugh. Since black people started the culture of hip hop, white people can't jump in the fun? If your white, you cant rap? The skin color of rappers are sometimes the first thing that people look for or the first thing they assume. If hes not black, hes not good. If hes rapping he must be black. But the first person(maybe not the first but most notable) to break that trend was Eminem. And if you have never heard of Eminem, then just stop reading and go listen to country. But like everyone else, Eminem is following 50 cent to the radio rapping and making half decent songs and putting little effort.

What other white rappers do you know and like? All i know is that it is probably a small list. I probably listen to more white people than I realize. Atmosphere is probably my favorite group in all of hip hop in general. But it isn't the fact that hes white is what makes him good. I like his delivery and the way the words flow off his tongue that appeal to me more than other rappers. Think Twice is a very good group also. Brother Ali who raps with Slug(of Atmosphere) raps about how he is a fat, albino who is blind in one eye and doesn't care what people think of him. That is not the reason why hes good, it is the reason why he has confidence in his music and he isn't scared to rap because he is the way he is and music/rapping is his pride and joy.

I'm not stating that white people are better at rapping nor am i stating that black people are better at rapping. What i am saying is that please, hold your judgment on a person for the way he looks, or the color of his or her skin.

YO! CHECK THIS OUT

As suggested by one of my peers, every week i am going to suggest some albums that you should try to check out. If you don't want to download something without hearing it first, look up the artist on youtube. That youtube sure does come in handy.

INPUT - PICTUREFACE


STOUPE - DECALOGUE


CHIEF KAMACHI AND THE JUJU MOB - BLACK CANDLES


BROTHER ALI - THE TRUTH IS HERE

Problemaddicts

The question isn’t who killed hip-hop, but who will revive it? You can find the answer in the Problemaddicts, a team of 5 emcees from western Massachusetts including Executive Producer Tone, Vorheez (of Lords of tha Fly), Force (of The Alchemystics), Black Buddha (multiple freestyle tournament winner and former WSKB DJ), and 1ne Man sound (of Lyke Minds). In 2007 they released The First Step, a 16 track LP. This is one of my favorite CD's that i listen to. The theme of there album, is taking the first step to take hip hop back to its 90's status. All throughout the album they rap about the problems with rappers these days and starting the movement to bring hip hop back and take over the present hip hop industries of fake rappers.

"Hurting" featuring Masta Ace is one of the best songs on the album in my opinion. For all you MAINSTREAM hip hop fans, please do not listen to the music first and judge, because you will find that the strength of this group is the message that they are trying to send. Instead listen to the lyrics. I am not telling you what you should listen to, rather i am trying to persuade your interests.




If you like this group, check out their newer album The Dark Side of OZ

R.I.P. Mainstream

No longer is the mainstream hip hop music that people used to listen to in the 90s, mainstream. It has moved to the underground selling music for free or selling music to locals and not making songs for the radio or T.V. Mainstream is what everyone listens to, whats popular. Its what u get when you turn on your car radio, or turn on the televison. You can tell the difference in what hip hop is now, and what it used to be. It started as poetry over music. It is now repetitive with a different music in the background. Now they all talk about is money, and all the nice things they buy and wear. What i hear on the radio and T.V. now in my opinion is terrible. I was reading another blog, and the person said "Mainstream hip hop now is like the little boy who discouraged the family name."

But you know what, I would like it stay that way. The fact that people who do listen to mainstream dont know about the underground hip hop scence makes me satisfied. Its the fact that I am listening to something different.I like being different from everyone else. How stupid would that be if we all listened to the SAME music, the SAME artists who all sound the SAME.

When i do my homework, i listen to music. People walk up and ask "Hey Cameron, what are you listening to?" I reply the same everytime. "You've never heard it before." I LOVE talking about music. That is the only reason i would want underground hip hop to return to the top of the charts, instead of the dark hidden websites of the internet. When i hear a good song, i have no one to talk to it about. But as i see it, and how everyone is making music now, i feel that 90's style music will never return. It is just non-talented speakers who talk about the same thing over a bass heavy tune rule in todays age.