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

Brother Ali “Us” Album Review
This is probably the best album of the year. And that’s saying a lot – because a couple classic hip-hop albums have dropped in 2009. I’ve been listening to Brother Ali’s “Us” consistently for over a month now, and it is almost flawless from beginning to end. I believe this could be the definitive album of Ali’s hip-hop career. It appears to be the accumulation of years of hard work, sacrifice and growth. If you haven’t picked up a copy of Brother Ali’s “Us” yet, now is the time.

Why I Like This Album?

1. Shit makes me happy – More so than any of his previous albums, which rested more on a battle rapper’s mentality combined sociopolitical conscious topics, “Us” is a happier and more fulfilled album. Ali has clearly found happiness and enlightenment in his personal and professional life, and it shines throughout this album. The album starts out with tracks like The Preacher, Crown Jewel and Fresh Air, which have a celebratory or victorious feel. The following verse from Fresh Air illustrates this feeling:

I’m the luckiest son of a bitch that ever lived/
I spend life doing shit I love/
Got the world’s most beautiful kids/
And don’t nobody do it like us/
Sunday morning play Al Green/
Make pancakes and watch cartoons/
Sometimes get to change that scene/
Catch a plane and see somewhere new/
Just got married last year/
Treat her so good that it ain’t even fair/
Already got a boy, now the baby girl’s here/
Bought us a house like the Bernstein Bears/
Not two years ago I was homeless/
I mean crashing on the couch of my homies/
Now I’m crashing on the couch with Conan/
Signed the mortgage and bought my own shit/
Should’ve seen when they handed me the keys/
I still couldn’t believe that it was mine/
Like ‘Baby, hurry up let’s leave/
For these damn people change their mind/
What can I say?/
I would’ve made these damn songs anyway/
Some of y’all still listen to ‘em every day/
Beautiful thing, I bow my head and pray/

2. It has a gospel feel – While Brother Ali has always drawn comparisons to some sort of rap preacher, due mainly to the cadence and tone of his voice, the production and lyrics on “Us” pushes this comparison even further. Tracks like Breakin’ Dawn, ‘Round Here, and Us feature gospel-flavored rhymes and choruses. And with this spiritual feel comes a theme of universality and oneness. This can best be seen in the album’s title track, in which Ali talks about Us:

To me all y’all look exactly the same/
Fear, faith compassion and pain/
And try as we may to mask it with names/
Such as your religion or your past or your race/
The same color blood just passed through our veins/
And tears taste the same when they splash on your face/
The world’s getting too small to stand in one place/
It’s like we’re roommates just sharing the space/
Can’t separate and still carry the weight/
Gotta heal, get away from the fear and the hate/
Gotta shake free from them chains/
You see what remains, just a human being end of the day/
Don’t matter to me what name you gave your spiritual plane/
Close your eyes and you’ll see what I’m saying/
I started rhyming just to be somebody/
And found out that I already was/
‘Cause can’t nobody be free unless we’re all free/
There’s no me or no you, there’s just us/

3. The lyrics are crazy dope – Brother Ali covers a wide range of topics in “Us” from a wide range of perspectives. Tracks like House Keys, Slippin’ Away and Puppy Love all tell stories from a first person perspective. In Puppy Love, Ali drops the following verse as a man encouraging a woman to learn to love herself:

The sky all alone is glorious/
We behold it but we can’t hold it up/
When God says that’s it and hits the switch/
It’ll all come tumbling down when it’s bored with us/
Sweet you and all your radiance/
I can please you but I can’t save you sis/
I adore you and might even open up/
But even I can’t love you enough for both of us/
Can’t hold you close enough/
Can’t enter the holes you boarded up/
Close your eyes, concentrate on my voice/
Wanna make your love for me pure? Make it a choice/

Other tracks, like Tight Rope, The Travelers and former HHL quotable of the week Babygirl, speak from a storyteller’s perspective, demonstrating Ali’s ability to view the world from the eyes of others. In Tight Rope, Ali drops the following verse protesting the treatment of homosexuals, a topic that is taboo to say the least in hip-hop today:

Daddy was a preacher/
Mama was a Sunday school teacher/
Big brother football squad leader/
Now far be it for you to disappoint or displease ‘em/
You’re just being what you feel you see in/
The mirror every time you peer in/
Swallow the tears inside that empty feeling/
Her boy terrified to let the world in/
He has girl friends but doesn’t want a girlfriend/
He retreats inside himself where he lives life itself in secret/
Daddy says people go to hell for being/
What he is and he certainly believes him/
‘Cause their ain’t no flame that can blaze enough/
To trump being hated for the way you love/
And cry yourself to sleep and hate waking up/
It’s a cold world y’all shame on us/

Overall: Brother Ali’s “Us” is definitely in the running for best hip-hop album of the year. Pick it up if you haven’t already. Favorite tracks include Us, Tight Rope, Crown Jewel, House Keys, Breakin’ Dawn, The Travelers, and Bad Mufucker Pt. II. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Brothers And Sisters
2. The Preacher
3. Crown Jewel
4. House Keys
5. Fresh Air
6. Tight Rope
7. Breakin’ Dawn
8. The Travelers
9. Babygirl
10. ‘Round Here
11. Bad Mufucker Pt. II
12. Best@it
13. Games
14. Slippin’ Away
15. You Say (Puppy Love)
16. Us

Eyedea & Abilities “By The Throat” Album Review
I’ve been listening to this album off and on for over a month now. To be honest, it didn’t really jump out at me right away, but was good enough to hold a spot on my current rotation. Then after several listens, it really started to come together for me. Eyedea & Abilities’ “By The Throat” is one of those albums you shouldn’t listen to just once: Because once you get past the shock of the duo’s new rock approach, the often-emo lyrical content, and the fact that the album is very short, you’re likely to find yet another amazing work of art by E&A.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It’s another new direction for E&A – “By The Throat” is the third Eyedea & Abilities album that has been unexpectedly innovative. While both the philosophical, self-examining “First Born” and the elemental showcase of lyricism and turntablism “E&A” came as a shock to fans of former emcee and deejay battle champions, “By The Throat” shows the duo take a darker, rock-flavored approach to hip-hop. And while fans everywhere have complained that the group’s new direction is straying from what has made them brilliant, I believe it is E&A’s continued shifts in direction that is an essential part of their brilliance. For me, part of what makes “By The Throat” such a good album is knowing that Eyedea & Abilities have come a far way musically to end up here.

2. The rock thing works for E&A because it is real – I don’t think that Eyedea and Abilities sat down one day and decided to create a rockish hip-hop album. I think the album simply reflects what’s happening in the artists’ lives – and the rock sound fits with the lyrical content. Eyedea clearly went through a painful period in his life and wrote about it in these songs. And showing the duo’s ability to still mesh creatively, Abilities created an album’s worth of backdrops with the same mood and feeling as the lyrics. So while some detractors are criticizing E&A for trying too hard to do something different and cliché, I think that “By The Throat” is a natural musical result of Eyedea’s experiences in the half-decade since “E&A” dropped.

3. The lyrics are great – One of the things that isn’t surprising about this album is that Eyedea continues to be a certified member of hip-hop’s lyrical elite. Yet “By The Throat” shows a much more personalized approach from the emcee, as several songs let the listener in on real life experiences.

Hay Fever, for example, is a song about dealing with the death of a friend or loved one. Abilities’ electric guitar riffs and snare beats blend perfectly with Eyedea’s tone of confusion and fear as seen in the song’s second verse:

There’s no hell more harsh than a memory/
There’s no hole more held than an empty nest/
Winter takes the warm away, spring takes the cold away/
Summer takes the rain away, and fall took away my friend/
I believe there’s never a place better than right where you are/
Although imagining an afterlife can tend to mend a broken heart/
Over someone and it’s a way of coping with loss/
But I don’t need you out there somewhere if I have you in my thoughts/
I don’t envy anyone in a position where they’re forced to chose/
Pull the plug or not, I can’t tell if this is for me or you/
I mean I know you’re sick, tired and confused/
But sometimes letting the tired go to sleep is the best thing to do/
I will hold you head while the doctor sticks the needle in/
I’ll always remember our companionship and what it meant/
And on Sunday, October the fifth/
You took your last breath, and you will be missed/

Another good example of this personalized lyricism can be seen in Burn Fetish, in which Eyedea likens love to having some kind of fetish for pain:

Welcome to my private hell/
There’s no one to fight now, just myself/
Rather drown then ask for help/
I wish I was someone else/
Mr. Perfect misconstrued/
Lead the way, follow through/
Probably hate me I do too/
You’re so much like me I feel sorry for you/
But I think you’re pretty, pretty sure/
You will profit, you will get hurt/
I eat my words they taste like dirt/
I’m only ashamed because I know what it’s worth/
Found my comfort inside plain/
Shove my pride back down my face/
My worst habit’s waking up at least once a day/
Balanced barefoot on a needle, heaven’s just a jump away/

4. The album still manages to maintain a positive vibe – Despite all the pain, anger and sadness that is apparent in Eyedea’s lyrical topics, many of his verses maintain a feel of hope or optimism. While tracks like Time Flies When You Have a Gun, Junk and Factory point out a variety of human flaws, This Story talks about hope for the future of mankind:

Well you can hear the break in it’s grown up voice/
You can feel the quiver when you shake it’s hand/
You can give or take, it’s no one else’s choice/
One day you’ll have to quit running and take a stand/
And all the flags at half mast/
Part heavy heart, part pain in the ass/
I was trained not to think just react/
Sometimes when a person goes that far, they’re never coming back/
Maybe we’ll evolve to a point where fear as an experience/
Is no longer instinctual but rather an emotion we use/
To enrich our understanding of why our/
Human ancestors killed each other/
When they could’ve loved each other/
One day we’ll be holding hands instead of grudges/
We’ll eliminate our territorial circuits and know what love is/
One day we’ll be holding hands instead of M-16’s/
‘Til then every human being is controlled by the fight/

You see this same optimism in other tracks as well. Former HHL quotable of the week Smile talks about maintaining a positive outlook despite life’s many challenges. And in the album’s title track, which is about the end of a relationship, Eyedea drops the following verse wishing happiness despite having a broken heart:

And I finally know/
Your kindness, your pride and your past is my only ghost/
Going crazy out of my control/
But there’s nothing I can do, I have no choice but to let it go/
Each day gets a little less intense/
I no longer feel like there’s someone standing on my chest/
You made me more me and I won’t forget/
The times you helped me find my feet when I was buried in my head/
Thank you for giving what you had to give/
Taking what you had to take/
And making me believe in you/
Even though I might be gone forever/
There will always be a place in my brain that will think of you/
You look so graceful when you’re flying/
Keep going there’s a lot of world that you haven’t seen/
You have my best wishes even if only it’s silence/
You deserve everything that you’ve ever dreamed/

Overall: Eyedea & Abilities’ “By The Throat” is one of my favorite albums of 2009. If you’re a fan of the group, you will appreciate their change in direction, continued musical continuity and ability to work through personal issues through their music – all while maintaining their realness. If you haven’t done so already, pick up a copy. PEACE.

Album Track Listing:

1. Hay Fever
2. Spin Cycle
3. Time Flies When You Have a Gun
4. Burn Fetish
5. Sky Diver
6. Junk
7. Forgive Me for My Synapses
8. This Story
9. Factory
10. Smile
11.  By the Throat

Eminem “Relapse” Album Review
Okay – so this album did drop a long time ago. And I am months behind on reviewing it. But being that Eminem doesn’t really fit HHL’s underground niche, I had no plans to talk about “Relapse” on the site. That was until a couple weeks ago when I posted Déjà Vu as quotable of the week and started reading all the negative responses toward it. And it immediately became clear that underground hip-hop fans are hating on Eminem right now – so I had to put in my two cents.

Now I can’t really blame a lot of the people hating on Em right now. After all, the content on “Relapse” is not much different from Eminem’s past albums. He’s basically still talking about his mom, drugs, and celebrities he doesn’t like – including Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Mariah Carey, and even the late Christopher Reeve. And while as an underground hip-hop fan, content is a major factor for me, I still can’t deny the fact that Eminem’s “Relapse” is a dope album. In fact, the beats and rhymes more than make up for the lack of lyrical content – and make “Relapse” a great listen.

Why I Like This Album?

1. Em spits fire – Eminem’s past couple of albums seem to have been more chorus driven and radio-friendly – no doubt in an attempt to get radio airplay and sell albums to the masses. However, “Relapse” is not like that. With the exception of a handful of skits and maybe a track or two, every song on this album revolves around three verses of straight hardcore rhyming in a way only Eminem can do. Some of the rhyme schemes Em throws together are truly amazing on this album – and that is the major reason I like “Relapse.”

One great example is from the track Stay Wide Awake. Now while this song is mad disturbing in that Eminem is talking about raping women in a horrifyingly descriptive manner, the skill with which he puts his rhymes together in various places throughout a single line or statement is simply amazing. It’s that seeming combination of talent and madness we so often see coupled. The first verse from that song pretty much says it all:

Fee-fi-fo-fum I think I smell the center of placenta/
I’ve entered Central Park it’s dark, it’s winter in December/
I see my target put my car in park and approach a tender/
Young girl by the name of Brenda and I pretend to befriend her/
Sit down beside her like a spider, hi there girl you mighta/
Heard of me before see whore you’re the kinda girl that I’da/
Soap and rape and figure why not try to make your pussy wider/
Fuck you with an umbrella then open it up while the shit’s inside ya/
I’m the kinda guy that’s mild but I might flip and get a little bit wilder/
Impregnate a lesbian girl, now let’s see you have triplets and now the/
Disintegrate them babies as soon as they’re out here with Formalde-/
Hyde and Cyanide girl you can try and hide, you can try to scream louder/
No need for no gun powder, that only takes all the fun outta/
Murdering I’d rather go bin-bin and now you see just how the/
Fuck I do just what I do when I cut right through your scalpa/
Wait a minute I mean skull my knife seems dull, pull another one out uh/

2. Em is a funny dude yo – Eminem is one of those entertainers that always makes me realize how sensitive people are. I mean, hasn’t dude been around long enough for you to realize that most of what he’s saying are just off-the-wall jokes and attempts to get under your skin? To me, the majority of what he says is just funny, and I continuously find myself cracking up at various verses in “Relapse.” One great example is in the track Hello, as the second verse about hooking up with a girl at a party could be the funniest shit on the album:

My equilibrium’s off must be the lithium/
I don’t need to buy any drugs man people give me ‘em/
It just becomes every day extra curriculum/
No reason in particular it was strictly fun/
A fifth of run and two bottles of one fifty one/
Fifty-one people are sleep in my damn living room/
Excuse me hun but what is your name, Vivian?/
I woke up next to you naked and uh did we um?/
Of course we did, but didn’t I strap jimmy hun?/
I’m looking for the torn wrapper but there don’t seem any one/
No offense baby girl I don’t mean any harm/
But disease is something I’m trying to keep my penis free from/
I find the package and I’m cool, I immediately run/
Like Speedy Gonzales to see if I see anyone/
Who might have a couple of threes, I’m feening for some/
My head is pounding to the beat of the drum/

3. There are some great lyrics in “Relapse” – Despite what I referred to earlier as a lack of intellectual or conscious lyrical content, Eminem does drops some great verses and conscious songs on this album. Tracks like My Mom and Insane, in which Em talks about his mother-influenced drug addiction and being sexually molested by his stepfather, are no less brilliant just because he’s talked about those topics before in different ways. Beautiful is perhaps the most heartfelt track on the album, as Em talks about his trials and tribulations in a more straightforward and less sarcastic tone. And former HHL quotable of the week Déjà Vu shows the inner dialogue of a drug addict and how one can rationalize drug use. The following verse from that song is about this rationalization:

So I take a Vicodin splash it hits my stomach and ahhh/
A couple weeks go by it aint even like I’m getting high/
Now I need it just not to feel sick, yeah I’m getting by/
Wouldn’t even be taking this shit if DeShaun didn’t die/
Oh yeah there’s an excuse you lose Proof so you use/
There’s new rules it’s cool if it’s helping you to get through.
It’s twelve noon aint no harm in self inducing a snooze/
What else is new? Fuck it what would Elvis do in your shoes?/
Now here I am three months later, full blown relapse/
‘Just get high until the kids get home from school holmes, relax’/
And since im convinced that I’m insomniac/
I need these pills to be able to sleep, so I take three naps/
Just to be able to function throughout the day let’s see/
That’s an Ambien each nap, how many Valium? Three/
And that will average out to about one good hours sleep/
Okay so now you see/
The reason how come he/
Has taken four years just to put out an album B/
See me and you we almost had the same outcome Heath/
Cuz that Christmas you know the Pneumonia thing?/
It was bologna, was it the Methadone ya think?/
Or the Hydrocodone, you hide inside your pornos?/
Your VCR tape cases with your Ambien CR/
Great places to hide ‘em ain’t it?/
So you can lie to Haley/
‘I’m going beddy bye Whitney baby good night Elaina’/
Go in the room and shut the bedroom door and wake up in an ambulance/
They said they found me on the bathroom floor, damn/

4. Eminem is experimenting with his flow – One of the major complaints I heard from this album was that Eminem’s voice was annoying and that his flow sounded Caribbean. But personally, I like what Eminem did with his flow on “Relapse.” I thought the whole accent thing wasn’t forced, but more a product of the way he was trying to flow differently over the beats – and it worked out pretty well for me. While we might be able to complain about Eminem’s inability to evolve into more serious or advanced subject matter, we definitely can’t accuse him of not evolving his flow and rhyme style on this album. And one evolution is better than none, right?

Overall: I think a lot of people hated on Eminem’s “Relapse” simply because that’s what we do – we hate on shit. But if you’re one of those underground hip-hop cats who is talking all that shit, take a minute to listen, or listen again. When you really take a minute to hear this album, and perhaps try to pretend that it’s not Eminem so that you can dispel some of your preconceived notions, I think you’ll find that it is definitely a quality hip-hop record. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Dr. West (Skit)
2. 3am
3. My Mom
4. Insane
5. Bagpipes From Baghdad
6. Hello
7. Tonya (Skit)
8. Same Song & Dance
9. We Made You
10. Medicine Ball
11. Paul (Skit)
12. Stay Wide Awake
13. Old Time’s Sake f. Dr. Dre
14. Must Be The Ganja
15. Mr. Mathers
16. Deja Vu
17. Beautiful
18. Crack A Bottle f. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent
19. Steve Berman (Skit)
20. Underground/Ken Kaniff

K-os “Yes!” Album Review
K-os is an artist who is just constantly evolving. His first three albums, each a classic in my mind, showed K-os on a different musical journey. And after where he took his last effort, “Atlantis: Hymns for Disco,” I couldn’t really imagine what he had left in him. Where could K-os possibly go next? Well, with “Yes!” K-os has proven that his evolution is not yet complete, and that he is incapable of making a less than spectacular album. And even better for HHL followers, “Yes!” seems to be more hip-hop based than his past couple of albums.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It’s electro – I’m a hip-hop fan who doesn’t want to hear the same thing over and over again. Maybe that’s why I’m such a big fan of K-os. To me, K-os’ production – which despite his array of past sounds has always been very instrumental and perhaps even folk-ish – is much more futuristically electronic this time around. Tracks like Zambony, Astronaut, Eye Know Something, The Aviator and Mr. Telephone Man demonstrate this electronic feel and will have you bumping your head. This sound works out well for K-os, who rhymes more than he sings on these tracks. And while I can dig both, there’s nothing like listening to emcees spit over tight beats.

2. It reps Vancouver – Right before I picked up this album, I read an article about how K-os moved to Vancouver to record most of the tracks for “Yes!” Some of my favorite albums were recorded and clearly influenced by being created in a place away from home (the best example that comes to mind is the Living Legends’ “Classic” which was created in Maui). So when I hear a lot of the songs, I envision dude in the city living the fast life and shit. Or maybe that’s because I’m in the city living the fast life and shit. Either way, I like the influence Vancouver has apparently had on K-os’ music.

3. It makes me dance – Yeah I’m gay. But a couple times recently, I’ve jumped the train home from work, smoked one (I’m quitting tomorrow), and thrown on this album. I cook dinner and dance around the house like Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club (like you never have), because there are definitely some cranks on this album. Tracks like Burning Bridges, Uptown Girl, I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman, 4321, FUN!, WhipC.R.E.A.M and The Avenue might have you busting a move for real.

4. Rhymes are dope – I gotta relate at least one of my reasons to the music itself. And as usual, K-os’ lyrics and flow are on point. There are dope rhymes, sing along choruses and quotable lyrics all over this album. One good example is the following verse from Burning Bridges:

Turn on the light/
‘Cause the left hand knows what you’re doing with your right/
When the right hand glows, left is jealous of the light/
So you put ‘em both together and you clap for your life/
Time – that’s why I’m back in the building/
To burn through flame the thing that I was building/
Get off the bridge all the women and children/
Fire pros/
Sheep’s in wolves clothes/

The Aviator is a self-reflective track in which K-os drops two dope verses off inner dialogue and questioning. The following verse from that song is a good example of this:

Who am I using?/
Who is abusing?/
Who isn’t choosing?/
Who am I sleeping on that I’m confusing?/
Who is my muse? She probably plays the guitar/
Probably 4th dimensional, probably living bars/
So many scars young black boy in my room/
Made my style animated, call my style cartoon/
That you bump when you’re driving up the coastline/
The closed mind exposed by the sunshine/
Designed by the most high/

One of my favorite songs lyrically was former HHL track of the week Mr. Telephone Man. In that song, K-os drops the following verse that seems to point to how human relationships are being affected by improving technology.

We went from pagers, beepers, phones, to creepers/
Ringtones, text messages, not reaching/
Speaking close all up in my receiver/
Afraid to meet in person the dial tone deceiver/
Pick up, hang up, break up, banger/
Man I wanna press every button Atlanta/
Area code South Beach number I forgot it/
We cross bionic style exotic forget about it/
Now here’s what I’m thinking/
Is this ship sinking?/
While we’re dancing and drinking/
Could we be at the brink and?/

Overall: Probably my favorite album of 2009 – and that’s saying a lot. I like every song on this album, and I have a different favorite daily. If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of this album. Favorite tracks include I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman, Mr. Telephone Man, Uptown Girl, Eye Know Something, The Aviator. Really all of them. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Zambony
2. Astronaut
3. Burning Bridges
4. Uptown GirL
5. I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman
6. 4321
7. Eye Know Something
8. The Aviator
9. FUN!
10.  Mr. Telephone Man
11. WhipC.R.E.A.M.
12.  The Avenue

Mr. Lif “I Heard It Today” Album Review
I’ve got to admit, I’ve been a little disappointed with hip-hop’s lack of awareness recently. While everybody came together in support of Obama, we all just seemed to drop off in the months following the election – as if there was no economic instability, housing crisis or social injustice being done in this country. Luckily, Mr. Lif stepped up with “I Heard It Today,” an album intended to create dialogue about various problems that plague our nation today.

Why I Like This Album?
I’ve always been a big fan of Lif. I just like his unique rhyme style and conscious lyricism. And I could go on and on about that if I wanted to. Instead, kinda like my reviews for his last two projects “Mo’ Mega” and “Black Dialogue,” I’d like to point out some of the topics Lif talked about in “I Heard It Today” which few emcees seem to be tackling these days.

1. The Housing Crisis – It amazes me that no one in hip-hop has talked about the housing crisis, despite the fact that it affects many hip-hoppers. But then again, this is one of those problems that are beyond the understanding of many of us who aren’t economists. So in the title track I Heard It Today, Lif manages to explain the housing crisis in everyday terms, and basically attempts to tell why it happened. The following verse blames the crisis on greedy lenders and lack of government intervention:

They were willing to give people with bad credit loans/
‘Cause they knew within a few years, we’re out of our homes/
And they could buy up all the same properties they sold us/
For the wealthy and maniacal, the shit was a gold rush/
They told us rates could fluctuate, but they didn’t say they could spike/
Now our credit is like/
How we gonna get another place/
Look at our face/
Distress at best and yes anger manifests/
When our president knows we’re drowning in the elements/
And really doesn’t give a fuck, so we ask for hesitance/
Bush offers only one-tenth of us pompous relief/
They may or may not decrease grief/
He’d rather help the lenders/
Original offenders/
Then send us off to get job number three/
Humbly sacrificing education and healthcare/
He’d rather just perpetuate the war ‘cause there’s wealth in it/
Health benefit it heavily tinted/
Windows of CEOs rooms remained closed/
So they never have to listen to those who oppose/
The path that they chose to slow economic woes/
They prey upon our desperation/
Instead of seeking elevation/
Shit is catastrophic in my estimation/
It happened during the Republican reign/
And some of y’all still went and voted McCain/
I heard it today/

2. The Economy – Lif has always been an emcee that speaks for the people. Therefore, it came as no surprise to me that many of his lyrics discussing the faltering state of the U.S. economy revolved around the belief that the wealthy trick the lower and middle classes into complacency by dangling monetary gains in front of them like a carrot in front of a donkey. The following verse from What About Us? stresses this point.

Is this in our best interest/
To infest the world with stress/
Just so you can dress best/
I guess you answered yes/
As we linger at the precipice/
Just to hear from dying – hear the crying?/
That old couple with the hopes of retiring/
About to clap you with the iron/
Trying hard not to let go/
Old goals are set from the get go/
Lost they power and the price of petrol/
And now they Petro/
And so the story goes/
Death with no memorials/
Editorials on this don’t exist/
Income tax is just a myth/
To make the bankers richer/
So they can sell you half the picture/
And seize your assets quicker than you can go acquire them/
We have the right to fire them/
Instead we co-conspiring/
Through silence, through science that’s social/
And economic/
They manufacture our consent to make a profit/
The papers been powerless since they left the Gold standard/
They using currency to woo the whole planet/

3. Police Brutality – So yeah, this isn’t exactly a topic that nobody talks about in hip-hop. But nobody talks about it like Lif does – who often stresses the deeper causes and effects of police brutality. The following verse from Gun Fight talks about the social consequences to families and communities, the lack of judicial response, and the belief that police brutality is just a small part of America’s system of modern day slavery.

Lorenzo, Darby, now let’s bring it back to Rodney/
Cops ain’t sorry they never small like a safari/
They viewing us as three-fifths human so they guns booming/
Death is glooming ain’t no punishment pursuing/
Them cops got off scot free, it doesn’t shock me/
Until they use their Taser to shock me/
They use Freeze Plus to seize us/
Dogs and leave us is dark alleys/
Protest they beat you with balies/
Families don’t recover/
From the loss of a brother/
Mother, sister or father/
It’s outright slaughter/
Emancipation Proclamation just some documentation/
To rock you to sleep, knowing your cell is waiting/
This nation is a plantation/
The government it’s slave master/
Police are trained to gather slaves faster/
Ask them brothers down in Alabama/
They brought the chain gangs back in ‘95/
Slavery’s alive/
Housing crisis, oil prices/
Low pay and high prices/
As the desperation rises/
They’ll be ready to fight us with shields and snipers/
Kill your kid in diapers, they’ll murder anybody like us/

4. Spirituality – One of the things I love about Mr. Lif is that, despite his political agenda and anger toward the powers that be, he maintains a level of positivity and spirituality in his rhymes. In fact, I often sense that it is Lif’s deep belief in a common spiritual purpose or energy that has helped to form his social and political stances. The following verse from former HHL track of the week The Sun illustrates this spiritual vibe.

I came from the wind, came from the seas/
Came from kings, came from queens/
Provided means to express what’s seen/
I’m the hope that will gleam/
When things seem useless/
Futile, fruitless/
I’m hoping you can use this, the truth can be ruthless/
You’re launching your attack, then you need some theme music/
Expressing your emotions in sync with the oceanic/
Tide – believe but gonna grind, don’t panic/
I could be frantic or maybe mellow and soothing/
No matter what tempo, with form I’m still moving/
I move Bob Marley and I moved Etta James/
Then they claim when the fire breaks out, I’m to blame/
Same people who raised hell in their youth/
Now they got all types of advice to tell you/
Do what you feel if your actions are real/
Then you shall find glory when the truth is revealed/
Just follow your call and when your visions are done/
Then wander …/

Overall: Ridiculously dope. I just can’t stop listening to this album, and it just keeps getting better. Mr. Lif’s “I Heard It Today” is easily among the best hip-hop albums of 2009 thus far, and definitely a must have for any hip-hop fan. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, I highly recommend doing so now. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Welcome To the World
2. What About Us?
3. Breathe (feat. Bahamadia)
4. Collapse the Walls
5. Folkore (feat. Dumbtron)
6. Police Brutality (Scene)
7. Gun Fight (feat. Metro)
8. PNN 1
9. Hatred
10. Homecoming (Scene)
11. Head High
12. I Heard It Today
13. The Sun
14. Dawn

Rugged N Raw “Truth Serum” Album Review
For me, Rugged N Raw’s “Truth Serum” is a perfect example of how music videos and free track downloads can help artists find fans in this new age of the hip-hop industry. I picked up this album from RNR at a local show almost a year ago. Being a big fan of his previous release “Another Level,” I listened to the new album right away, and even picked Life’s Purpose to be HHL track of the week in October – before getting caught up in other music. But recently, RNR dropped consecutive videos for I’m Broke and Proud and The Ultimate, and I was so impressed with them that I gave “Truth Serum” another listen – and I’ve been bumping it nonstop ever since.

Why I Like This Album?

1. It’s very personalized – In the album’s intro, RNR tells us that he is “liable inside the booth/ to make complex contents simple as tying shoes.” I got that statement more and more as I worked my way through this album, because several tracks tackle serious topics by explaining them in the light of everyday stories and personal experiences. I’m Broke and Proud turns the struggles of a starving artist into a series of amusing personalized stories, What A Night tells two stories that describe the common feeling of not having enough time to do everything, Life Purpose deals with both life and death and the emotions that surround them, I’ll Stay is another in a long line of RNR relationship analyzing songs, and I Can’t Take It talks about avoiding anger and retaliation despite being surrounded by negativity.

2. Rugged N Raw is still rugged and raw – You’ll find in hip-hop that a lot of emcees who start out as raw underground hip-hop lyricists eventually polish their flows to make them more mainstream accessible. And following his last album, I guess I expected the ruggedness to disappear over time as RNR polished his flow. But it hasn’t. While Rugged N Raw has obviously improved his skills as an emcee and producer, he has also managed to maintain the raw style that makes him who he is. RNR just has this crazy raw in-your-face flow that doesn’t sound like anyone else. And it worked out brilliantly in this album.

3. This is smashmouth music! – I jacked that line directly from the album’s opening track, but it‘s true. Most of the tracks on “Truth Serum” are hard-hitting lyrics laid over hard-banging production. Tracks like Smashmouth Music, All The Way, That’s What It Is, New Life and The Ultimate are the type of tracks playing on my iPod when you see me heavy metal dancing while pumping my fist on the subway during rush hour. And we all need to pump our fists from time to time, right?

4. The verses are dope – The more I listen to this album, the more I notice different verses. In fact, I can’t think of a single verse on the album that doesn’t stand out as quotable or well-written or humorous. One great example is RNR’s second verse from I’m Broke and Proud, which starts off with the following hilarious rhymes:

I ain’t posting latte chis/
I don’t go on shopping sprees/
I don’t even buy Tropicana/
Tropical Fantasies’ fine for me/
There’s not a lot I could make possible/
Only cheap ideas in the arsenal/
I’ll take a chick to the museum/
Looks nice and admission fee’s optional/
When stress does weigh down heavy/
Vacation is necessary/
What do I do? I pack my bags/
Weekend cruise on the Staten Island Ferry/

Overall: I slept on this album for almost a year, so the best advice I can give you is to not make the same mistake. Rugged N Raw’s “Truth Serum” combines hard-hitting beats, raw underground lyricism, interesting subject matter, and RNR’s unique way of viewing his surroundings to provide fifteen tracks of great underground hip-hop. It’s one of those albums that I find a new favorite song on every day. Pick up a copy and check it out for yourself. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Truth Serum Preface
2. Smashmouth Music
3. Drama
4. I’m Broke & Proud (feat. Hasan Salaam)
5. All The Way
6. What A Night
7. That’s What It Is (feat. HiCoup)
8. Life’s Purpose
9. New Life
10. The Ultimate
11. Love Man
12. NY to NC (feat. URL)
13. Locked Away (feat. Homeboy Sandman)
14. I’ll Stay
15. I Can’t Take It

X-Clan “Mainstream Outlawz” Album Review
X-Clan is one of those groups that always makes me realize how far my musical tastes vary from the norm. I guess I realized this back in ’07, after I gave “Return From Mecca” five stars while pretty much everybody else dissed it. Two years later, all I can find is negative reviews of X-Clan’s “Mainstream Outlawz,” yet I think this album is super dope – and has been bumping on my iPod for over two weeks now.

Why I Like This Album?

1. Brother J is the fucking man – A couple of my dogs clown on me about this from time to time, saying I’m Brother J’s biggest fan. And I can’t really deny that. I don’t know what it is, but I could sit and listen to J flow all day long. Something about the manner in which he wraps words around beats is just ridiculous to me; I once characterized the style as “quick-paced baritone vocals with a complex rhyming scheme that uses syllable accentuations to enhance flow and lyrical emphasis” – and I stick by that. In fact, if I could rap, I’m pretty sure it would sound something like Brother J.

2. It’s like a fourteen track cipher – I ain’t going to lie to you, “Mainstream Outlawz” isn’t quite the concept album that “Return From Mecca” was. Not as many tracks have a clear and specific purpose or theme, and the verses aren’t as easily quotable. Instead, what makes this album dope is its spontaneity and hard-hitting lyrical attacks, which when combined, create the feel of one of those old-school conscious ciphers where cats are just spitting hot shit over hot beats and working off of crowd interaction. Whatever it is, it definitely works for me.

One great example of this cipher feel can be seen with the following verse from The Wanna Know:

Conscious writing pounding rap bosses/
Lending enlighting minds weed out all my losses/
Hip-Hop is bugged out straight rapper ho biz/
Ain’t nothing changed son it is what it is/
I don’t rap with a vengeance I’m spitting the outer limits/
Guerilla stank bill pure roots with no gimmicks/
Before zeitgeist before Dianetics /
Ancestors stalk tones you translate phonetically/
I’m alphabetically the symbol for justice/
Speaking the king’s language but I slang it for substance/
Nothing but the rawness, treating this cordless/
Like a prison for life for the mentally jaundice/
With flawless precision/
Statement for my mission is one love/
Digging indeed with long gloves/

3. It’s different – One review I read claimed that X-Clan has “survived on a steady supply of Zapp and Parliament samples,” then seemed to question why the group strayed from that sound in “Mainstream Outlawz.” I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t want to hear the same thing over and over again. I thought Brother J redefined his sound and flow nicely over the new beats, and enjoyed the fresh vibe the group presented in the new album. With this in mind, I think I understand what X-Clan was trying to say with the title “Mainstream Outlawz” – that they’re going to rebel against the mainstream by doing what the mainstream doesn’t do – trying something new.

4. This is my subway album – I come across a perfect subway album every once in a while: an album that seems to perfectly fit my daily 45 minute train ride into Midtown. I put it on as I’m leaving the crib, and it is finishing up right about the time I’m walking into the workplace. It’s important to have a good album for this time of the day, to keep rush hour traffic and a packed Q or B train from driving you insane.

Overall: Pick up this album. While it may not be X-Clan’s greatest work to date, “Mainstream Outlawz” takes what I feel is a refreshing direction into a new-school cipher-ish type of hip-hop album, created of music that is consistent and fun while remaining conscious and unique. And during a month-long period during which I had trouble finding good shit to listen to, X-Clan’s “Mainstream Outlawz” definitely stood apart from the rest. Peace.

Album Track Listing:

1. Down By Law
2. Night 2 Day
3. Thru My Eyez feat. Tony Henry, Bun B
4. Primetime Lyrics
5. The Lord Spits
6. Pipers Poetry
7. Orientation
8. Still Up In The Game feat. The Smuggalaz
9. They Wanna Know
10. Do It Like You?! feat. Bobby Fine
11. Keys To Ur City – Feat Medusa
12. Wiz Degrees
13. Armageddon DNA feat. Supernatural, Phoenix Orion
14. Stop, Look, Recognize