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.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It’s FREE - The fact that a cat like B.o.B put out an album’s worth of free music says something to me, mainly because he didn’t have to. Dude has a big hit song on the radio, and is at the height of his popularity. This means he could have released this for purchase and everybody would have bought it. B.o.B could have made a lot of money off of “No Genre.” But the fact that he decided to give it out for free kinda shows me that he’s not caught up in being rich or famous, and he touches on that point a lot in “No Genre.” In fact, B.o.B drops verses in Feet Don’t Fail Me Now, track of the week Not Lost and American Dreamin that examine his rise from obscurity to super-stardom from a real humble and realistic viewpoint.

One good example of this viewpoint is in the song Feet Don’t Fail Me Now, which features T.I. In that track, B.o.B drops the following verse about how his new found fame hasn’t made him forget about where he came from, and won’t stop him from staying on his grind:

Yeah signed yours sincerely/
I’ve been up on my game, really they just started listening/
So when you talk about the greats you got to mention me/
And if you’re smelling dro you know that I’m in the vicinity/
Flawless with symmetry yeah since elementary/
Niggas bite the style like they trying to swap identities/
Empty refrigerators all I see up in my memory/
Now I’m in the club with complementary Hennessy/
But this a jungle so you hear the snakes slithering/
These niggas fake like a face with no blemishes/
So I’m moving with the force of an Olympian/
So cold with it you would think that I invented it/
Yeah I got a million ways to get it in/
All day back and forth like tennis is/
Another day at the office to handle business/
From the beginning I’m sprinting to where the finish is/

2. It’s conscious – I also always get impressed when rappers who have received mainstream success continue to spit socially or politically conscious rhymes. Especially since that’s not the type of stuff that gets radio airplay or Late Night spots these days. While “No Genre” is a mixtape, and therefore contained a lot of party style group and club tracks, B.o.B also laid down a handful of serious songs with real opinions and messages. Tracks like Shoot up the Station, video of the week The Watchers and quotable of the week Dr. Aden all touch on anti-establishment, conspiracy theory type of themes.

A good example of this type of rhyming can be found on The Watchers, which could be my favorite song on the mixtape. On that track, B.o.B drops the following verse which touches upon all types of deep thought-provoking shit:

Yes I feel the end, the end is close/
The same thing happened eons ago/
To know exactly you’d have to read up some more/
Every day technology speeds up some more/
As is above, so is below/
Some feel the heat yet some feel the cold/
We are the souls, yes we have been chosen/
Some roll with angels and demons and those but/
Hold up Bob don’t go there/
You know that they watching, they all see and stare/
But they can’t stop me I’m already there/
And y’all ain’t seen shit but y’all already scared/
I’m gone, high like fructose, fructose/
You wanna know the truth? Really you don’t, you don’t/
It’ll blow you out your mind like a ufo, ufo/
I’m basically a resident of Pluto, Pluto, you know/
But you’ll probably be the same one hating/
Saying every rapper is in the Freemasons/
While the cops giving out free mace to your face/
Now how do that taste?/
I’m out of my mind/
These videos telling y’all lies bra/
Telling y’all we holding evil hand signs bra?/
Last time I checked I’m from the east side bra/
So do your research and make your own mind up/
‘Cause us musicians have influence on this mic but/
They don’t like that so they conquer and divide us/

3. Storytelling - Y’all know I’m a sucker for hip-hop storytelling, and B.o.B shows off crazy skills throughout “No Genre.” The manner in which he incorporates emotional dialogue into his stories is really impressive. Cold As Ice tells the story of a man who robs a bank with his girl only to end up in prison after she rats him out. Dr. Aden tells the story of a doctor who is unknowingly infecting her patients with biological chemicals as part of a government experiment. And Attraction is a story about B.o.B’s experience with women.

Probably the best example of B.o.B including dialogue in his storytelling can be found in Cold As Ice. In this story, a man plans and executes a bank robbery with his girl, only to be betrayed when the operation get foiled. The following verse tells the story of this man’s reaction to the events:

So I realized it was over when the SWAT team kicked in the door/
So I dropped my gun and the cash and then I got bum-rushed to the floor/
And they took me into the station, and they started the interrogation/
And I said, ‘I ain’t sayin’ a word ’til I get appropriate representation’/
So as I get escorted out to my surprise what do I see/
There’s my baby sitting in cuffs telling the officers everything/
And I stand there in amazement trying to find an explanation/
And the cops come in and restrain me, and they mace me, and they tase me/
I said, ‘Baby, why baby? What did I took to forsake you?/
How could you turn your back on me? You’re selfish, I hate you!/
All I ever wanted to do was love you. Were you faking?’/
So I snatched a gun from an officer, and I cocked it, and I aimed it/
And said, ‘This is for all the pain you done put me through you ungrateful/
How could you? All I wanted to do was save you!’/
And here I am, day fifty-five, with fifty-five hundred to go/
when you love a girl who’s as cold as ice eventually you’ll get froze/

Overall, I highly recommend taking advantage of this FREE download. “No Genre” is one of those mixtapes that sets the bar high for what a mixtape is supposed to be. It’s got a little something for everybody, and it definitely has me looking forward to B.o.B’s next major release. Peace.

B.o.B “No Genre” Track Listing:

1. Beast Mode (prod. by Infinity)
2. So So (prod. by Jim Jonsin)
3. How U Do That (prod. by Kutta)
4. Feet Don’t Fail Me Now (feat. T.I.) (prod. by Kutta)
5. Higher (feat. Playboy Tre x CyHi Da Prynce x Bun B) (prod. by Polow da Don)
6. Shoot Up The Station (prod. by Kutta)
7. Not Lost (feat. T.I.) (prod. by JR Rotem)
8. Cold As Ice (prod. by Mike Caren & B.o.B)
9. The Watchers (prod. by B.o.B)
10. Batman Flow (feat. Donnis) (prod. by Dr. Luke)
11. American Dreamin’ (prod. by Mike Caren & B.o.B)
12. Grand Hustle Kings (feat. Young Dro x T.I.) (prod. by Quincy Jones)
13. Dr. Aden (prod. by Jack Splash)
14. Attraction (prod. by B.o.B)
15. Game Time (prod by J. Lack)
16. All City Chess Club: I’m Beaming (Remix)

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.

Why I Like This Album?

1. Shit is mad funny – Probably ninety percent of Celph Titled & Buckwild’s “Nineteen Ninety Now” consists of battle raps. Some are serious diss tracks, while others are comedic compilations of hilarious punchlines and clever rhyme schemes. Half the shit Celph says on this album has me geeking out uncontrollably every morning on the train ride to work. Tracks like The Deal Maker, Swashbuckling, Mad Ammo, Tingin’, Step Correctly, and Where I Are are all funny ass songs that contain countless laughable quotables.

One good example is from the song F*ckmaster Sex, in which Celph Titled lays down the following verse that cracks me up every time I hear it:

Got a groupie on my jock, and she want me to bang it raw/
The tramp is a stankin whore/
She’ll give you a canker sore/
She give up ass often/
And it wasn’t a MySpace time stamp that she had the last log in/
Not an assumption, and it ain’t complicated man/
‘Cause she gon’ blow either way like an oscillating fan/
I’m like James Bond in a tricked out Viper/
And you’re just Pierce Brosnan in Mrs. Doubtfire/
Yeah I am fuckmaster sex, no split personalities here/
I go from pimpin’ to being weird like Outkast’s career/
Bitch I’ll stick the fork in it and won’t spoon later/
They will find the stains on Room Raiders/
I’m in the kitchen with a Ruben Studdard/
Reuben cutter abuse your mother won’t use a rubber/
The damn bitch is like a sandwich all stuffed and greasy/
Bust a nut in a hoagie and create a new subspecies/

2. The diss tracks are hard – While some battle tracks on “Nineteen Ninety Now” are funny, others are more hardcore diss tracks that are just plain mean. And you know what? I like that shit. I’m tired of the polite nature with which rappers battle each other nowadays. Back in the ’90s, there was none of that – and several songs on this album are reminiscent of that style of battling. Tracks like Eraserheads, Hardcore Data, There Will Be Blood, and Styles Ain’t Raw are all more serious and rude diss tracks that will have you battling your rear view mirror in the car with no regard for it’s feelings whatsoever.

One good example of this type of diss track is Wack Juice, an ode to the scores of shitty self-proclaimed Internet sensation rappers. The following verse by Celph Titled really hit home with me, because he seems to be talking about half the people that send me their music these days:

Motherfucker I came to set it off/
What you mad for?/
These amateurs destroyed the whole rap platform/
Think I’m wrong? Check the facts/
You’d be hard pressed to find a fan that’s just a fan that don’t rap/
Everybody got a song, everybody got a mixtape/
Bragging ’bout the verses that they purchased off of MySpace/
They ain’t buying records/
They working on their records/
And posting bulletins the make sure you heard their records/
I get fan mail, you write SPAM mail/
All about your CD that for some reason just can’t sell/
I wonder, ‘Why is that?’ Is your flow not hard?/
Lyrics ain’t on point, production not up to par?/
Or ah you don’t spit hot enough bars?/
Or ’cause you’re little Timmy and you’re just fucking soft?/
Your voice sound lame as hell/
You can’t command the track, plus you use the mic that came with your Dell/
Made an Internet music page, posted some songs up/
Beg people to check ‘em, but then they say they all suck/

3. Celph can rhyme conscious too – Despite the overly battle-ish vibe on this record, Celph Titled still manages to show his versatility as an emcee by including a couple serious tracks. Being a fan of conscious, lyrical, content-based hip-hop, it makes me look forward to the possibility of Celph ever dropping some sort of concept record that goes beyond battle rhymes and punchlines. Or even if he doesn’t, tracks like the autobiographical quotable of the week I Could Write A Rhyme or the nostalgic track of the week Miss Those Days prove to me that he is indeed capable.

A good example of Celph’s ability to write deeper and more thought-provoking rhymes can be found on Time Travels On, when he drops the following verse about ceasing the day and appreciating your friends and loved ones:

As I get lost in a cloud of smoke/
I just started my day, but it ain’t your normal hours though/
Most of the time the mics rip/
I’m on the night shift/
Seems to be the only time I write shit/
Easier to say to cease the day/
They was here yesterday but now they gone away/
I hope it ain’t lights out/
I hope it’s something nice on the other side/
Even though I spit lyrics that make mothers cry/
Memories fade every minute that pass (by)/
But when I’m gone you’ll still hear my voice when the song blast (right)/
So make the best of your time here/
Let your loved ones know that you care/
‘Cause they ain’t always gonna be there/
Better plant seeds for your future to grow/
Don’t procrastinate, bullshit or move too slow/
I used to be depressed about this life of mine/
But now the clock is my medicine, I get better with time/
Time travels on/

4. The beats are dope – Despite the fact that I’ve spent this entire review talking about Celph Titled’s rhymes (what can I say, the site’s called Hip-Hop Linguistics), the thing that put this whole album together and made it work was Buckwild’s beats. Being a fan of ’90s era hip-hop myself, the production on this album really hit home with that nostalgic vibe of groovy samples, hard kicks and snares, and boom bap backdrops. When I found out that these were not new beats, but a bunch of leftovers Buck made back in the day, it made sense. Either way, pulling decade old beats out of the cellar for use on a new record turned out to be a great idea in this instance.

Overall, I highly recommend that you check out this album. Celph Titled & Buckwild’s “Nineteen Ninety Now” offers something for you whether or not you’re a fan of ’90s era hip-hop. And if you aren’t, maybe you’ll be after hearing this record. Peace.

Celph Titled & Buckwild “Nineteen Ninety Now” Track Listing:

1. The Deal Maker
2. Out To Lunch (feat. Treach | Naughty By Nature)
3. Eraserheads (feat. Vinnie Paz | Jedi Mind Tricks)
4. F*ckmaster Sex
5. Swashbuckling (feat. Apathy | Ryu & Esoteric)
6. I Could Write A Rhyme
7. Hardcore Data
8. Mad Ammo (feat. F.T. & R.A. The Rugged Man)
9. Tingin’
10. There Will Be Blood (feat. Sadat X | Grand Puba | AG | OC & Diamond D)
11. Miss Those Days
12. Step Correctly
13. Wack Juice
14. Styles Ain’t Raw (feat. Apathy & Chino XL)
15. Where I Are
16. Time Travels On (feat. Majik Most & Dutchmassive)

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.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It is motivational – I think that a big part of the direction behind Eligh’s “Grey Crow” was motivational. A lot of songs seem to be based on making something happen in life instead of staying stagnant and wishing for good things. Soul On The Road talks about staying on the move and not allowing yourself to get old mentally by continually evolving your mindset and keeping your thoughts new. Wish I Would talks about eliminating the tendency to sit around wishing about something and making the decision to get up and do it. Shine talks about defeating darkness in life and allowing your inner light to shine. And Wake Up! encourages the listener to get up out of bed and make things happen in life.

A good example of this mindset can be found in one of my favorite tracks, Soul On The Road. The following verse from that song showcases Eligh’s motivational lyrics:

So many young folk lost on this Earth/
Walking over glass, leaving blood in the dirt/
Don’t wanna finish school, rather smoke than work/
That was me ditching class, getting beast too on the turf/
I never should’ve been on, I was fucking over friends/
But if I had it back, I’d probably do it all again/
‘Cause if I had the facts I’d still be thinking with my sins/
A time when she could never fix my age, I was a kid/
Nope, doing dumb shit always on my plate I had a grin/
Nope, and I always looking for some where to hide again/
Yup, the night my sis hits me that I need to get to class/
My teacher cared too much, so I knew she would kick my ass/
Right back into the past, I write to get reprieve/
And now I tell the truth so all my people can believe/
That they can make it too in any dream, in any league/
Like Pac said, fuck enemies, and ride on to the dees please/

2. Storytelling – I’ve always been a fan of emcees who can tell good stories through rhyme. While rhyming and sounding good is a difficult thing to do, it’s even more difficult to be able to incorporate stories into those lyrics. Eligh does a great job using his lyrics to tell stories throughout “Grey Crow.” Find Yourself is an autobiographical track in which Eligh tells the story of his past with hip-hop and drug use. Miss Busdriver is a storytelling song about Eligh’s aunt who passed away. And Whirlwind tells a story about current feelings of love, and how those emotions seem to be taking over Eligh’s world.

The best example of storytelling in “Grey Crow” can be found in Eligh’s autobiographical Find Yourself, which gives three verses about different periods in Eligh’s life. The following verse tells of his experiences as a youth which created a mindset that eventually led to drug use:

He was a child of the eighties/
Used to bat his eyelash and smile at the ladies/
Said it falls round single file like a crazy/
Boy with a small frame, parents called him lazy/
Used to entertain himself, his drawings were amazing/
Come up in the backyard, trees for a gazing/
At the skies over Echo Park, a live education/
Gunshots blazing, he would hide in a station/
Taught imagination he would rise to occasion/
When it embarked his interest and pride with no patience/
Kid couldn’t wait, used to steal what he wanted/
Learned karma quick, he could feel when he fronted/
Didn’t feel good but he wanted to be part of/
Didn’t know behavior like this would be the start of/
No self esteem and a dream deferred/
Started making stories didn’t mean the word/
Writing became the art that he preferred/
He liked to assemble, manipulate verbs/
He was shy and sprung/
Got took advantage of and didn’t mind once/
Just a little boy feeling hurt like a man/
Played like a toy violin in her hand/
Mom used to take him to buy them some gifts/
Never once got him a kiss on the lips/
Only got smashed on the floor when they dissed/
He liked girls young and he didn’t know why/
Didn’t know himself, yet couldn’t even try/

3. Metaphorical lyrics – While Eligh’s inspirational lyrics and storytelling tracks relied more on straight forward thoughts and words, other tracks on the album spoke more abstractly. Angel of Death is a song about the lack of good hip-hop in which Eligh compares himself to the Angel of Death in that he’s emerging to bring death to bad hip-hop. Track of the week Love Ov My Life speaks of hip-hop as a woman, while Stuck On You personifies the voice in your head that beats you down. And Beneath The Sea uses aspects of the oceans as various metaphors for life.

One great example of Eligh’s metaphorical lyrics can be found in his verse from Stuck On You, where he addresses the voice in his head with the following verse:

You see wherever I go, there you are/
I seen your face since I was a child in the car/
Getting dropped off at the bus stop man from the store/
From the beginning man I was involved so deep with the heart/
And if the way I didn’t think well with my head/
I spent my days under a spell with my lead/
Pencil number two drawing my way out the class/
I often wonder what would I be without the path/
I remember my little third grade ass loved to dance/
But somewhere along the way lost that in a trance/
Of insecurities, the older I got they advanced/
All my impurities flying my block took a stance/
A hard nosed belief, brick wall and some vans/
Beat my ass up and down the block til I couldn’t stand/
Why don’t you leave me alone?

4. Good Choruses – While I do think the overwhelmingly lyrical content of “Grey Crow” may turn some listeners off, I also think Eligh did a good job of softening this with great choruses that keep the songs flowing together well. I found many of the songs’ choruses stuck in my head throughout the course of the week, and I’d be singing along in my head while at work or on the train. Tracks like Soul On The Road, Love Ov My Life, quotable of the week When I’m A Dad, Wish I Would, Miss Busdriver, Shine, Stuck With You and Beneath The Sea are all sing along type of tracks that make the album memorable for non-lyrical listeners.

Overall, Eligh’s “Grey Crow” is a great solo album featuring seventeen good songs, quotable lyrics, and a chill vibe. I highly recommend picking up a copy for anyone who is a fan of the Living Legends crew, or of good hip-hop in general. Peace.

Eligh “Grey Crow” Track Listing:

1. Sad Of Eye (Intro)
2. Angel Of Death
3. Soul On The Road
4. Love Ov My Life (Ft. Luckyiam)
5. Find Yourself
6. When I’m A Dad
7. Wish I Would (Ft. Inspired Flight)
8. Miss Busdriver (Rachel)
9. Shine (Ft. The Grouch & K-Flay)
10. Stuck With You (Ft. Aesop Rock)
11. Desire (Ft. Inspired Flight)
12. Skitzo (Ft. Ellay Khule & Basik)
13. Whirlwind (Ft. Pigeon John)
14. Wake Up! (Ft. Brother Ali)
15. Beneath The Sea (Ft. Zumbi of Zion I & Scarub)
16. Maybe So
17. Suffocate (Ft. Marty James)

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.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It is complete – It seems harder and harder these days to find what I like to refer to as a complete hip-hop album. I like albums that take the listener through a journey, so to speak, instead of just being composed of a bunch of individualized tracks thrown together on one disc. 7L & Esoteric’s “1212″ flows very well from start to finish, and seems well thought out and structured for the listener.

“1212″ starts out very laid back, both in terms of production and rhyming, with the first four or five tracks, including Retrospects, Run This, Aneurysm and 12th Chamber. From there, the second part of the album picks up the pace a little, featuring heavier beats and lyrics with head nodding tracks like For My Enemies, Drawbar 1-2, No Shots and Bare Knuckle Boxing. Then the duo slows it down a little again, ending off with more lyrical, concept style songs like I Hate Flying, The Most Rotten and New Rapper.

The format and structure of 7L & Esoteric’s “1212″ demonstrates a more cerebral approach to constructing this album from both rapper and producer, and makes the album flow from beginning to end quickly and enjoyably.

2. Great guest spots – I’ve always felt that hip-hop artists walk a thin line by featuring other rappers on their albums. It’s difficult to have multiple feature spots without being overshadowed on your own album. 7L & Esoteric’s “1212″ features verses from a handful of great rappers without taking anything away from Esoteric’s dominant lyrical performance.

The duo seemed to accomplish this by featuring other emcees in more of an old school, rhyme trading format. Tracks like Run This, 12th Chamber, The Handle, Drawbar 1-2, and Bare Knuckle Boxing show Esoteric trading equal verses with several legendary emcees, including Celp Titled, Inspectah Deck, Sadat X, Evidence, Alchemist, Ill Bill, Vinnie Paz and Reef the Lost Cauze. Every guest verse is tight, and each fits well within the flow of the album – a feature that adds to the overall quality of “1212.”

3. Dope production – “1212″ might be my favorite 7L production job ever. While it is a huge 180 degree turn from his exceptional work on “A New Dope,” 7L’s production on this album is much more of a boom-bap hip-hop style, featuring great turntablism and sampling. Good examples of 7L’s sampling and turntablism skills include Retrospects, Aneurysm, and New Rapper, while good examples of his boom-bap head nodding beats can be found on For My Enemies, Drawbar 1-2, No Shots and Bare Knuckle Boxing. Overall, 7L showcases a wide range of beat-making talents throughout the course of “1212.”

4. Lyrics – Esoteric continues to improve as a rapper with each and every project he works on, something very few rappers can say these days. In “1212,” Eso’s flow is what really stands out as evolving, while a handful of lyrical and concept tracks show his ability to continue to make relevant content-based songs.

Lyrically, my favorite song is HHL quotable of the week I Hate Flying, which you can listen to and read along with by clicking the link. Other great lyrical tracks are The Handle, which consists of Esoteric and Sadat X spitting verses about old school basketball players, and New Rapper, in which Esoteric drops two verses to the new rappers who ask him to do guest spots for them on their songs.  In that track, Eso drops the following verse that helps you see the perspective of an old school emcee and the requests they receive from up-and-coming rappers:

New rapper I don’t want you to get upset/
But how the hell can we be fam if we ain’t never met?/
And how the hell does someone like you expect/
Me to lay a verse for you out of respect?/
All I hear is, ‘Esoteric will you rap for me?’/
When I was nineteen, dog, I used to rap for free/
But now I’m thirty-something, my words are worth something/
You got to come up with some cash for me to murder something/
As far as your reputation, I’ve never heard of nothing/
Send me a link, a website, let me refer to something/
Show me a flyer, a track, give me a shirt or something/
Show me you’re serious and maybe we can work on something/
I’m not your brother, your uncle, or your perverted cousin/
So don’t come at me with that ‘Fam, spit a verse or something’/
It ain’t all love, take that shit to church or something/
And get the fuck out my store unless you plan to purchase something/

Overall, I highly recommend checking out 7L & Esoteric’s “1212.” I’ve bumped this record for like two weeks straight now, and I continue to like it more and more. I haven’t been listening to as much hip-hop recently, but this album has definitely got me back into checking out new stuff. Maybe it can do the same for you.

7L & Esoteric “1212″ Track Listing”:

1. Retrospects
2. Run This (Feat. Celp Titled)
3. Aneurysm
4. 12th Chamber (Feat. Inspectah Deck)
5. The Handle (Feat. Sadat X)
6. For My Enemies
7. Drawbar 1-2 (Feat. Evidence & Alchemist)
8. No Shots
9. Bare Knuckle Boxing (Feat. Ill Bill, Vinnie Paz, & Reef The Lost Cauze)
10. I Hate Flying
11. The Most Rotten (Feat. Statik Selektah)
12. New Rapper
13. Zoo

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.

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.

1. The Production
Probably the most important aspect of my commute album is the production. At 8 a.m., the exact halfway point between my 7 a.m. wake and bake and my 9 a.m. cup of coffee, I’m normally less than half alive. The addition of some beats in my headphones that make me nod my head inadvertently are like my morning calisthenics. Some motherfuckers go running in the park, I listen to hip-hop. The production on Bisco Smith’s “The Broadcast” serves this purpose well, with grimy warped beats featuring gritty baselines, heavy electronic synths and digitally-enhanced electro effects. Some of that shit that just makes you move and wakes you up in the morning.

2. Motivation
Sometimes it’s hard in the morning to ride the train into work. Sometimes the sun is shining, and the ladies are rocking their summertime gear, and there are a million reasons to take the day off. It’s good to have a subway album that motivates me to hit the day running. Tracks like Circuit Breaker, Fresh Water, Morning Breath, Transmission Live and Vibrations are very positive get up, get out, get motivated types of tracks. I normally hit the song Morning Breath about 8:15 a.m., and the song’s vibe always inspires me to keep moving. I always catch myself rapping along on the train:

This one’s for all of those who ever had a dream/
Chase it like a crush, find out how real it could be/
And this one’s for y’all already been here cashed out/
Pushed yourself too fast, too tired and bounced/
This one’s for y’all going grizzly grinding tough/
Don’t forget why you first messed with this love/
And this one’s for y’all who’s here super live/
Feeling better than ever not getting trapped with the times

3. Lyrics
Another important thing I need in the morning is to get my brain moving. So a subway album has to have some words and topics that make me think. In “The Broadcast,” Bisco Smith utilizes a lot of metaphors and lyrical twists that will have you thinking and rewinding to listen again. One good example is the following verse from Fresh Water:

Under the imprints influence/
Words are powerful instruments/
Some for protected instances/
Others suggestions/
Footprints to step in/
Got ‘em following them leaders/
Corrupts and crippled the teachers/
A fast food nation of eaters/
Needs more substance, I wonder where it leads ya/
Gotta see the real for yourself/
Stand behind what you about/
Slow serving up them doubts/
Increased the pen, in the end they see zeros/
Pacino got himself a Scarface/
Just like the moves that they make/
Luck is from a fantasy place/
No lighter shelter/
Misusing wish will help ya/
To the young and the restless/
Times swallow the misconceptions/
Reality’s some perspectives/
Here’s the prescription/
Go get the right medicine/

Another good example of Bisc’s lyrical abilities is in Transmission Live, which could be my favorite track on the album. This track focuses not only on the necessity of change, but on expecting and embracing that change. Check the following verse:

The road is long, so many ways to move/
No point if what you do don’t help you grow and improve/
I chose to let ‘em listen with no sort of regard/
Seems like everybody wanna get their face on a player’s card/
Things flipped up looking straight, like that’s strange/
Everybody needs victory and they spell it out with fame/
Victory’s a mystery for whatever that means/
I guess it’s different for each of those that stitch their own seams/
Does that grind seem to be fading your dreams?/
For the paper and the schemes/
Turning us into hustling fiends/
Nah mean? It’s like the green money got you/
Only so many plans ‘cause life hands will stop you/
So while I’m here I hold my head like it’s the ammo/
Speak through these wires, slide by dipped inside camo/
They outside like ‘Everybody look at me!’/
I’m in the cut with these beats, peace/
Paint a picture, go travel the globe/
Spread thoughts, plant seeds so we can watch it grow/
Detrimental, the whole world is looking treacherous/
And I’m just trying to navigate my cityscape effortless/
These days my breath is Atlantis deep/
Had to cut out them cancer sticks, you know get myself free/
Years in the tracks had me feeling all numb/
Now I feel better than ever off the tongue/
Off of the mind clearing them clouds out of the sky/
Blue as you ever seen at the beautiful day that you die/
Lost thought – see it all at once/
Chains inside my world, we still burning them blunts/

4. Time
The last criterion for a good subway album is length. If your shit is 21 tracks and 80 minutes long, I’m only gonna hear half of it before I’m forced to turn off the music and work. And it’s hard to start where I left off nine hours before. Bisco Smith’s “The Broadcast” is ten tracks and just under forty minutes long, making it the perfect length if you’re commuting from the vicinity of Prospect Park to the vicinity of Times Square. Most mornings, I hit ‘play’ right outside my door, and am finishing the album as I walk into the office.

Overall:
Pick up this album. Bisco Smith is one of the most talented underground hip-hop artists in the NYC underground, and “The Broadcast” is a great album on many levels. My favorite tracks include Morning Breath, Railroads, Time Zones, Transmission Live, and Vibrations. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Tune In
2. Morning Breath
3. Vibrations
4. Time Zones (247365)
5. Railroads
6. Transmission Live
7. Never Know
8. Crooked Hearts
9. Fresh Water
10. Circuit Breaker

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.

Retrospection
One thing I noticed about this album lyrically was that ScholarMan drops a handful of retrospective verses surveying past events and experiences. And I guess that his ability to look back on this positively is one of the things makes “Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul” a feel-good album. One good example is in Just Me, where Scholar drops the following verse about his beginnings as a hip-hop artist:

Remove the line in the sand/
Climb to advance/
Execute plans/
Maintain your stance/
Not easily swayed, sometimes I’ll cold stubborn/
Other times Superbad McLovin/
Penny for your thoughts/
Lyrics of all sorts/
I remember the first on e of the records I bought/
The small Casio cassette deck I used to record with/
‘Cause studio time, yeah I couldn’t afford it/
Recorded in my room over hip-hop tunes/
Mic hanging from the ceiling, from the streets hear the boom/
Boom bap, boom bap/
I reminisce back/
The Earth spin like wax/
I’m writing on my Maxwell tapes, my first demo/
Dreaming of the camera and lights, and yes the limos/
Now my music’s more mature for the things I endure/
Reach realistic goals is the things I look for/

Storytelling
ScholarMan is one of those emcees that was just blessed with a good rap voice. His voice, his flow, his cadence, his rhyme patterns – all just sound very natural over his soulful production. So when he tells stories in his tracks, it makes them very easy to follow and comprehend. Tracks like Hood Stories Vol. 4 and Remember When, which could be my two favorite tracks on the album, tell good stories. For an example, check out former HHL quotable of the week Hood Stories Vol. 4.

Introspection
When listening to this album, I got the sense that “Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul” was ScholarMan’s response to some hard times in his life. While the album maintains the vibe of positivity and hope despite potential hardships, Scholar devotes a handful of verses to observing and examining his own mental and emotional states. One good example is the following verse from Love Potion:

Sometimes I feel like I’m living in the arctic/
My destination mark it, focus stay on target/
Switch lanes to gain and bring change/
My thoughts rearranged to cope with this pain/
I talk with my pops ‘cause wisdom he has lots/
And life’s a gamble, we all got a slot/
At times we take risk to bring joy and bliss/
Like that precious new kiss from that sweet new miss/
Or from that new child/
Watch her grow for a while/
I lead by example so mimic my style/
Repeat my words, truth that is unheard/
Something new for the kids to learn/
Nothing absurd but it’s there/
Something real that they can all engage in/
It’s so amazing to journey through these phases/

Motivational
Above all, ScholarMan’s “Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul,” like all his past records, is a motivational album. Tracks like Just Me, Set Above, Nowhere to Run and Love Potion all contain positive vibes and motivational rhymes. One good example is the following verse from Nowhere to Run:

Sometimes to move forward take two steps back/
A game plan you attack/
Gotta stay on the map/
Underneath the radar/
Show ‘em what you made of/
True faith determination is the state of/
My state of mind/
PG my county line/
Paint pictures for the blind/
Through the use of the rhyme/
Regardless the time/
I spit it for broken clocks/
Can’t stand back and watch/
Good deeds to help the block/
I’m not content with the game so I’ma speak it/
My thoughts are the link and the truth to those who seek it/
And elevate my mind with something new/
New place to travel to/
You’re welcome to come too/
New lives passing through/
New recruits for the crew/
Hard times we subdue/
The past we hold true/

Overall
ScholarMan has never disappointed me. Through five albums and more free mixtapes than I can count, all of which were among my favorites of the time they dropped, Scholar is easily among my favorite underground hip-hop artists. I definitely recommend picking up a copy of “Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul.” My favorite tracks include Just Me, I Love Hip-Hop Music, Babydoll, Hood Stories Vol. 4, Hopes & Dreams and Remember When. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Just Me
2. So Explosive
3. I Love Hip-Hop Music (feat. K-Mynez)
4. Set Above
5. Reap, Sow
6. Babydoll
7. Hold Me Back
8. Hood Stories Vol. 4
9. No Where To Run (feat. K-Mynez)
10. Hopes & Dreams
11. Love Potion
12. Remember When (feat. Teisha Marie)

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.

Battle raps
I don’t know what it is, but I’ve been into more battle style rapping recently – funny lyrics, shit-talking, punch lines and old school hip-hop braggadocio. Perhaps it’s an inner backlash against years of listening to overly-serious conscious rap. So when Kats started “I Can Levitate” with a three-minute-long intro verse just spitting lyrics with no chorus, I had a feeling I was going to like the rest of the album. Kats starts the record with all battle style tracks, including The Warmup, Another Level and Levitate, which feature dope beats, hard hitting lyrics and funny rhymes that demonstrate impressive lyrical skills, several of which had me laughing hysterically on multiple occasions.

Clever Wordplay
Despite the fact that I’ve grown quite fond of dude’s unique rhyme style, Kats will admit to you himself that he doesn’t have the world’s greatest rap voice. But what he lacks in voice, he makes up for in clever rhyme schemes and innovative wordplay. Tracks like Keep It Movin’, Put Your Hands Up and Outro show Kats experimenting with his rhyme style, playing with new rhyme patterns and new ways of stretching words around beats. This experimentation prevents “I Can Levitate” from being repetitious or boring, instead offering a different vibe on each and every song.

Lyrics
But as usual, my favorite part of this album was the lyrics. While Kats’ intention with “I Can Levitate” was clearly fun, party-style rhyme-punching underground hip-hop, he still managed to squeeze in a couple dope serious heartfelt songs on the album. Tracks like Lord Knows, Do You Feel Me, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and Out Of My Head range from motivational, to personal, to analytical, and demonstrate Kats’ ability to rhyme about virtually anything.

One good example is from the track Do You Feel Me, where Kats drops the following verse about the need to break out of self-destructive behavior:

I woke up in a cold sweat like oh shit/
I’m so stressed, this whole thing got me so sick/
It’s no walk in the park, it’s a slow crawl/
Everyday about the same, you know so-so/
And I wonder should I pop pills and pep up/
And walk around with a cloud from my neck up/
I guess not ‘long as the weed can do the trick/
A couple drinks, all I need is a few to sip/
And you would think I’d have my shit together better yet/
You’d think a better man would’ve already left/
His comfort zone/
But I stay stoned, stay at home/
Stay with the same old song that keeps playing on/
They say I’m wrong, I say they wouldn’t know what’s right/
Been working more than half my life to blow up overnight/
It’s overhyped, this whole chasing fame thing/
Getting your name known and success ain’t the same thing/

Another good example can be found in former HHL quotable of the week Rich Dad Poor Dad, in which Kats drops the following verse questioning the irony involved in a rich man working to support his family:

The rich dad had a power lunch that lasted too long/
Downed a couple martinis that were a little too strong/
So by the time he got home/
He was a little bit drunk/
The driver opened his door, retrieved his bag from the trunk/
And off he goes, leftovers cold in the fridge/
Wife at some social function, nanny watching the kids/
He lights a Cuban as he takes in the view/
From his balcony, finally nothing to do/
He should talk to his boy, tell him about some grown things/
How he should own things/
But then the phone rings/
Back to business, stocks moving ‘round the clock/
One has gone through the roof, another’s down a lot/
So much as stake, he takes another sip of his drink/
A deep breath, not even a minute to think/
The nanny tucks in the boy, daddy is bound to run/
Hoping one day he’ll find time to be proud of his son/

Overall
Download a copy of this album. It’s free, so you got nothing to lose! “I Can Levitate” fits ten tracks into about 30 minutes, which is great for anyone tired of all the 2-hour-long albums these days. It is quick, entertaining and fun. My favorite tracks include The Warm Up, Lord Knows, Out Of My Head, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and Put Your Hands Up. And if you’re in the NYC area, hit up some Free Ice Cream barbecues this summer. Free whiskey, son!

Album Track Listing:

1. The Warmup
2. On Another Level
3. Levitate
4. Lord Knows feat. Rennaisance & ScholarMan
5. Do You Feel Me
6. Out Of My Head
7. Rich Dad Poor Dad
8. Keep It Movin’ feat. Domer
9. Put Your Hands Up feat. Ryan-O’Neil
10. Outro

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.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It has a purpose – Very few emcees make albums with a purpose these days. Most just string together twelve to twenty tracks and call it an LP. But Sleep’s “Hesitation Wounds” came across as a well thought-out and planned album with direction and meaning. In the album’s Intro, Sleep drops the following verse about who he made this album for:

I made this record for the eager/
The weary, for the believer/
The dreamer, the future leader/
The living, the one beneath us/
The thinker, the timeless feeling/
The needy from an album meany/
The people without a means to an end and the system seeking/
For the mourning, the stressed out/
For the underpaid maxed out/
For the underdog, for the single mom in her mom’s guest house/
For the guy on the couch/
For the family who’s lights are out/
For the supporters, for the people who’s minds are in doubt/
For the down and out/
For the ones who got off route/
For the ones who are on course to find out what I’m talking about/
For the people living with regret/
For the people dying with it/
For the people trying to get by in these hard times we live in/

2. This album is motivational – One of the recurring themes that I picked up from “Hesitation Wounds” was motivation. Sleep talks a lot about the importance of working hard and staying on the grind. Tracks like Day Dreamer, Spent, Lothar, and Get It push this motivational vibe. The chorus from Day Dreamer talks about staying motivated despite hardships:

I’ll never lose all of my hope/
My dreams, my power, my heartbeat and the words that I wrote/
I had a dream of overseas before I could go/
And it’s a long way from New Mexico/
I’m a long way from New Mexico/
I’m a long way from everything that I used to know/
And I’ll never be the same once I chose to go/
I’m going only where my dreams can grow/

3. This album is self-analytical – One of the other things I noticed about this album was that Sleep uses his rhymes for a lot of self analysis, including taking responsibility for his actions and not making excuses. Tracks like Who To Point The Finger At, Hesitation Wounds, and So Far all touch on personal experiences, including both the trials and tribulations Sleep has experienced while chasing his dreams. The chorus from Who To Point The Finger At shows Sleep talking about his realization that he himself is the only person standing in the way of his dreams:

I’ll never run away from what I’m supposed to be/
Don’t let it control my destiny/
Won’t let the same things keep holding me back/
I notice these patterns, I had to dictate and try to counter react/
To think about what was keeping my dreams at arm’s reach/
What could it be?/
It was me! It was me! Me!/

4. Dude can spit! – It only took me a half-listen of this album before I realized that Sleep has some very impressive skills on the mic. He often raps fast, something very few emcees can do, while mixing it with conscious and intelligent lyricism. Tracks like Talk About It, Ginelli, Orchestra of Strangers, and Roll Call display up-tempo, battle-ish style rhyme spitting that have made me think that Sleep is definitely one of the more talented rappers in the underground today.

Overall: Pick up this album. It’s definitely a recent favorite of mine, and another in a long line of dope hip-hop releases from the Strange Famous crew. My favorite tracks include Ginelli, Orchestra of Strangers, Who To Point The Finger At, Get It, and So Far. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Day Dreamer
3. Talk About It
4. Who To Point The Finger At
5. Ginelli
6. Spent
7. Orchestra of Strangers
8. Hesitation Wounds
9. Commercial
10. Lothar
11. Get It
12. So Far
13. Roll Call