Hip-Hop Reviews

  Rating:
  Review Date: December 22, 2010
  Website: B.o.B Website
  Label: Grand Hustle

B.o.B “No Genre” Album Review
This mixtape is the first time I’ve ever really listened to B.o.B. I mean, we all know that Airplanes track from the radio and television. And I’ve heard a couple song from his last album. But I never really sat down to listen to B.o.B until this week. I guess the fact that “No Genre” was available for FREE download made it easy to get, and once I had it in my rotation, I just couldn’t take it out. “No Genre” is one of those free mixtapes that is much better than most albums I pay money for these days, and it has made me a big B.o.B fan pretty much overnight. (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: December 13, 2010
  Website: Celph Titled Website
  Label: No Sleep Recordings

Celph Titled & Buckwild “Nineteen Ninety Now” Album Review
Celph Titled & Buckwild’s “Nineteen Ninety Now” is the perfect album for this type of year. Since I spend the majority of the year covering serious hip-hop, I always find myself around December thirsting for some of that fun, battle-ish, masculine braggadocio type of shit I used to listen to back in high school. That type of hip-hop feeds into the nostalgia of the end of the year, and gives me party bumps to play during New Year’s Eve celebrations. Luckily, Celph Titled & Buckwild’s ’90s era throwback album “Nineteen Ninety Now” hit the top of my review stack right in time for this December mode I’m in. (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: December 5, 2010
  Website: Eligh Website
  Label: Legendary Music

Eligh “Grey Crow” Album Review
Eligh’s “Grey Crow” is my type of hip-hop album. I’m a lyrics guy – hence the website Hip-Hop Linguistics – and this album offers intellectual, motivational and quotable lyrics from start to finish. So much, in fact, that Eligh created a YouTube collection where he explains the meaning behind each song on the album, which you can view here. Unfortunately, most hip-hop fans don’t take the time to listen to and interpret an emcee’s lyrical content, so this album is unlikely to become a commercial success. Regardless, Eligh’s “Grey Crow” is one of the most stand out albums of 2010 for me, and I highly recommend it to anyone who sees hip-hop as a form of conscious thought or poetic wordplay, as this record contains both. (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: November 28, 2010
  Website: 7L & Esoteric Website
  Label: Fly Casual

7L & Esoteric “1212″ Album Review
I’ve been waiting for 7L & Esoteric to drop another album since they released “A New Dope” back in 2006 – which became one of my favorite albums of that year due to it’s innovative experimentation with a new brand of electro hip-hop. The duo’s latest effort, “1212″ shows them going back to a more strictly hip-hop sound, but is no less innovative or enjoyable an album. In fact, 7L & Esoteric’s “1212″ will easily make my top ten of 2010 list, and is the first hip-hop album I’ve really enjoyed in the past couple of months. (more…)

PEACE. Whether you’re one of HHL’s daily visitors or someone who has stumbled onto HipHopLinguistics.com for the first time, thank you for visiting this website. Unfortunately, I am currently on vacation. Due to a summer filled with travel and time off, I have decided to take my first break from this website in more than five years. I will be back in a couple months, but in the meantime, check out my four vacation posts below. These will catch you up with my favorite music of the first half of 2010, as well as what I’ll be bumping during my travels:

1. My Vacation Albums
2. My Favorite FREE Album Downloads of 2010
3. My Favorite Videos of 2010
4. My Favorite Tracks & Quotables of 2010

Have a great summer! And stay up on real hip-hop! PEACE

I’ve been so caught up in new posts, tracks, videos and downloads this year that I haven’t reviewed an album in more than 3 months now. Therefore, I’ve decided to spend my vacation listening to my current favorites, and catching up with music I never got around to bumping thoroughly. Below is a list of the ten albums that have either received the most rotations in my iPod over the past couple of months, or have become recent favorites of mine. Each album on this list is sure to get a lot of play during my vacation. I highly recommend checking them all out.

1. The Roots “How I Got Over” - Although I’ve only had this album for 10 days now, I’ve been unable to listen to anything else since I picked it up. Possibly the best album of the 2010. For a preview, check out former HHL tracks of the week How I Got Over and Dear God 2.0, as well as this nice little live performance from the Jimmy Fallon show.

2. Reflection Eternal “Revolutions Per Minute” - I had actually been going around saying this was the best album of 2010 for more than one month before The Roots came into the conversation. Either way, this is definitely in the running. For a preview, check out City Playgrounds and my current favorite In This World.

3. B. Dolan “Fallen House, Sunken City” - I was pretty amazed upon checking my iPod stats to find that this was my most bumped album of the last four months. I just can’t get enough of this album, which contains some of the best tracks of the year. For a preview, check out Earthmovers, Marvin and 50 Ways To Bleed Your Customer.

4. Sage Francis “Li[f]e” - This album took a couple listens to grow on me, as it is more spoken word than hip-hop at times. But once it caught on, it has been among my regular rotation for almost two months now. Another work of brilliance from Sage. For previews, check out former HHL quotable Best of Times and former HHL track of the week Slow Man.

5. Core Rhythm “The Ecology” - I’ve been bumping this album consistently for more than six months now. Core Rhythm is an NYC emcee who has been one of my local favorites for years now with his previous albums “Ronin” and “Nat Turner Reloaded.” For a preview, check out Core’s video for King, or his FREE download Metropolis.

6. Rhymefest “El Che” - I’d been waiting for this one to drop for years, and it was worth the wait. Possibly the perfect combination of underground and mainstream. For a preview, check out Prosperity, T.M.S. and Say Wassup.

7. Everliven Sound “Freedom 2” - This duo has been one of my favorite underground collaborations since they dropped “Freedom” back in ’08. The follow-up is even better. For a preview, check out Get Up Stand Up, Elements and Crack and The Electric Chair.

8. ScholarMan “Fatherhood Dreamlovers Mix” - This is the only mixtape to make my vacation list, but I just can’t stop listening to it. Although only seven tracks, this album is a heartfelt tribute to ScholarMan’s pops – who sadly passed recently. For previews of Scholar’s other music, check out Hopes & Dreams, Reap, Sow and I Love Hip-Hop Music.

9. Homeboy Sandman “The Good Sun” - The NYC emcee’s third album is among his best work to date, and that’s saying a lot considering how much I liked “Actual Factual Pterodactyl.” For previews, check out Yeah, But I Can Rhyme Though and Angels With Dirty Faces.

10. Zajazza, Hired Gun, Rabbi D “Skillz To Take Brazil” - This is a compilation by three emcees out of the local NYC underground scene. If you like that underground sound with raw lyricism and high energy, this album is for you. For a preview, check out Thank Hip Hop.

  Rating:
  Review Date: March 23, 2010
  Website: Bisco Smith Website
  Label: Ivee Studios/So Valid

Bisco Smith “The Broadcast” Album Review
This is my subway album. I say that about an album maybe once or twice a year, and this is the first for 2010. Basically, my subway album, also known as my morning commute album, is something that I listen to in the morning while I’m riding the train to my daily grind. My subway albums generally have four attributes: 1. they make my head nod; 2. they’re motivational; 3. they’re lyrical; and 4. they don’t last longer than my commute. Bisco Smith’s “The Broadcast” meets each of these criteria. (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: February 15, 2010
  Website: ScholarMan Website
  Label: Soganic Music

ScholarMan “Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul” Album Review
“Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul” is probably the perfect title for this album. ScholarMan has created a happy, feel-good, relaxing, soulful hip-hop record. While most of the albums I’ve been bumping recently have been ones I listen to on the train to work, shit that helps get me amped up for the hustle, this is the one I listen to every night when I come home to unwind from often busy and stress-filled days. It’s got a real peaceful vibe that helps me relax, and we all need that type of hip-hop from time to time. (more…)

  Rating:
  Review Date: February 1, 2010
  Website: Kats Website
  Label: Free Ice Cream

Kats “I Can Levitate” Album Review
I’ve really enjoyed following the progression of NYC’s Free Ice Cream crew over the past year. A local collective of underground emcees and beatmakers, Free Ice Cream throws Maker’s Mark sponsored barbeques in Williamsburg every weekend during the summer, featuring free food, free whiskey, and free CDs. They drop a new free album monthly, highlighted by the “Almost Fameless” series which feature a huge list of local rappers, producers and deejays. And they follow up most of the releases with concerts featuring a dope roster of artists and, yup, free whiskey. Kats’ “I Can Levitate” is the latest free album by the crew, and definitely worth checking out. (more…)

Rating:
Review Date: January 13, 2010
Website: Sleep Website
Label: Strange Famous Records

Sleep “Hesitation Wounds” Album Review
I heard of Sleep a couple years back when somebody emailed me some material from a Northwest hip-hop collective known as oldominion. But I never got around to listening to his music. Then recently, one of my connects over at Strange Famous Records sent me Sleep’s track Lothar, which I posted on HHL. Then about a month ago, when I stumbled across a video for Sleep’s Orchestra of Strangers, I was so impressed that I immediately picked up a copy of “Hesitation Wounds.” And I’ve been bumping the album regularly ever since. (more…)