Now that the Needle’s tunes have been given ample time to garner votes, its now time for my tracks to get their day in the first round spotlight. To vote, just leave a comment or contact us to let us know who your picks are. Vote early, vote often…and as always, feel free to share.
(1) “Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys
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Tabbed as my favorite track from Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 upon first listen, “Empire State of Mind” has since blown up on the radio and heard worldwide. The perfect balance of quality music with commercial success – the only thing working against the track is the fact that it might be played out to many at this point.
(8) “I’ll Be in the Sky” – B.o.B a.k.a. Bobby Ray
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One of my favorite surprises of the summer was the mixtape release of B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray. As someone who has little respect for most southern artists, I expected this to be no different. Instead, B.o.B delivered a refreshing, alternative hip-hop track. Despite its quality, I doubt it can pull of the upset against one of the most successful albums of the year.
(4) “Grown Simba” – J. Cole
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In the 4-6 Matchup, we have the two newest artists to the scene. J. Cole blew me away when I first heard him at Cat’s Cradle in April. I have never seen an unknown opening act get as much crowd support as he did…instantly got the respect of the room. This track – Grown Simba, is definitely one of my favorites from his second mixtape – The Warm Up.
(6) “The Opposite of Adults (Kids Remix)” – Chiddy Bang
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Chiddy debuted on the scene at the beginning of the summer with this MGMT Remix. In the successful dance/electronica/hip-hop cross-over genre, this is definitely a track that sticks out to me, and its apparent it stuck out to others as Chiddy signed with EMI Music this week.
(3) “Alive” – Kid Cudi featuring Ratatat
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This matchup features two songs I never wrote about on here, but both are clearly deserving of their spot here in the bracket. Cudi’s debut album was incredibly unique, and definitely toed the line between alternative and hip-hop. This track, featuring Ratatat, is easily my favorite on the album – though I know it is not for many. I find the hook amazing and the Ratatat added instrumentation is instantly recognizable.
(5) “Watch My Shoes” – Lil Wayne
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Though I don’t put Lil Wayne in my upper echelon of rappers, his work on No Ceilings can’t go unrecognized. Returning to his critically acclaimed form, Wayne goes in on a number of tracks – “Watch My Shoes” being one of them.
(2) “New Soul” – Wale
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Easily my favorite tune of the year. I recognize my stannery, and couldn’t bring myself to make it the one seed. Though Wale’s Attention Deficit was a disappointment to me, this track reaffirms all my positive feelings for Wale’s future.
(7) “Casa Bey” – Mos Def
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Mos Def released his Ecstatic this summer. Though I am a big Mos fan the album didn’t completely do it for me. This track, however, stuck out to me as an ultimate display of Mos’ talent – both lyrically and in flow. Awesome track all around.
Excuse my absence of late – life is crazy. Anyhow, when talking to the Needle long ago in the process of conceptualizing this blog – the topic of love songs came up. Being the hip-hop head I am, I insisted that hip-hop loves song do exist, and no they don’t all include the word bitch. To start, I’d like to post not a song, but a poem from one of my favorite rappers, Blu. This was posted on his MySpace on Valentine’s Day of 08, forgive the formatting and the length, Blu is weird like that – but it is completely worth it.
I really don’t want to mess that up by adding commentary – I just love that poem.
Common – “The Light”
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Now onto more classics. Erykah Badu has had famous relationships with a plethora of rappers – dramatically altering their artwork in the process. One such case is “the Light” by Common. Produced by J. Dilla, “the Light” was one of those songs I knew I loved the first time I heard it. The line is filled with ‘cute’ lines and really could appeal to girls as easy as guys in a generally misogynistic genre.
Method Man – “All I Need” featuring Mary J Blige
Just another great song. Not nearly as adorable as “the Light” – “All I Need” is revealing of the sensitive side of the typical ‘gangster’ rapper, in this case Method Man. Despite its grittier nature, the message is still the same.
The Roots – “You Got Me” featuring Eve & Erykah Badu
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I’ve fallen in love with this song over and over again – each time I’ve heard it performed live not only by the Roots but covered by multiple bands as well. Featuring a younger Eve and Erykah Badu, Black Though speaks to the long distance relationship aspect of being an artist, but also the necessary trust within a relationship…pretty sweet stuff.
Jay-Z – “Song Cry (Unplugged)”
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Unfortunately, relationships don’t just consist of the great times – they end as well. Jay-Z’s “Song Cry” is a tremendously soulful record rehashing his mistakes in a past relationship and getting caught up in money and women. The live version from MTV’s Unplugged is even better, as he’s backed by the Roots and adds some commentary towards the end.
Hope these songs could change some perspectives out there.
Since the Needle and I started this blog, I’ve been meaning to post about my favorite local band, The Urban Sophisticates. Based out of Greensboro, NC Urban is officially composed of six members, two on vocals, and others on trumpet, trombone, drums and bass guitar. Brothers Benton & Aaron James perform the vocals – Benton tackling MC duties, while Aaron brings an R&B and soul influence to the tracks. Due to the sound and size of the group, they naturally gain multiple comparisons to the Roots.
The Urban Sophisticates – “3 Minute Promo Video”
At a Talib Kweli show my senior year of high school I was able to catch the group open and was captivated by their unique, professional sound. Live, the group brings incredible energy and enthusiasm to their performance – some songs are outright dance parties, others become much jazzier, smoother and mellow. After the performance, I picked up both a cd and a t-shirt – in large part because I was hooked by their song, “Chapel Hill.” As a proud Chapel Hill/Carrboro native, I loved the song dedicated to marrying a girl from my hometown.
The Urban Sophisticates – “Chapel Hill”
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On disc, their sound is much more laid back and darker – but equally addicting. The album I picked up, “Coward’s Anthem,” is my favorite output of theirs and truly deserves acclaim. Each song fits well within the sound of the album and its completely void of filler. Refreshingly, Benton’s lyrics are not laced with arrogance and anger like stereotypical hip-hop lyrics – but rather speak to insecurity, struggles, and topics more relateable to a wide-spectrum audience. Since being put on to the group I’ve tried to make the majority of their concerts at the Cradle – and traveled to Greensboro to see them open for Talib Kweli a second time.
The Urban Sophisticates – “We Can Watch It All”
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By far the most impressive part of the band to me is they are truly great people. I don’t know them at all personally – though I did have a run in prior to a show. I had shown up much earlier than the band was supposed to perform, early enough that the club they were performing at was still serving dinner. Recognizing I was out of place and there for the show, the band invited me to eat dinner with them before they performed. Needless to say, their hospitality was much appreciated. Its obvious from their shows that this large group of diverse musicians truly just loves making music together – and the crowd definitely feeds off it.
The Urban Sophisticates – “I’m Feelin’ It”
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I’m not going to post too much of their music – as you can buy it on iTunes – so I greatly encourage you to pick it up. Also, for local readers – they’ll be playing a show February 17th with other local hip-hop acts Inflowential, Kaze, & the Beast.
So one thing I had a lot of time to do in India was listen to music. Unfortunately, I had a terrible internet connection and zero access to my full music library – which led me to listening to a lot of stuff I had played out already. Fortunately, I had just added Chiddy Bang’s first mixtape Swelly Express to my iPod two weeks before I had left. I loaded up the album in anticipation of seeing them open for Mike Posner’s show at Cat’s Cradle (a great show, but Chiddy only had a 20 minute set). I had given it significant play during exam week, but having it on repeat for about 7 straight days allowed me to really appreciate it.
Chiddy Bang – “Kids (Remix)”
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I had first heard of Chiddy over the summer when they released a remix of MGMT’s “Kids” to much critical acclaim. I withheld judgement until they had a catalog bigger than 3 songs, and since then the group has recorded a very successful premier mixtape in Swelly Express. The duo from Philly – Xaphoon, the producer, and Pro the emcee, are both highly talented, and it shows on tape. Xaphoon producing the majority of the material is a highly refreshing deviant from the prototypical Lil Wayne style mixtape. Swelly chronicles -through music and skits – the group’s journey from Philly to New York, as they meet with record labels and prepare for their future. For me, the most annoying part of the album are the numerous skits that often come at the beginning of tracks and diminish the replay value of some of my favorite songs.
Chiddy Bang – “Pro’s Freestyle”
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The first song to make me say, ‘wait a sec, this group is pretty good’ was “Pro’s Freestyle”. Pro just goes in on a verbal exercise, unleashing a wide array of metaphors, similes and creative lines – my favorite of the bunch being, “People ask me how you make the world feel it, I say it’s DNA – it’s just in my double helix”. The line isn’t too spectacular or flashy, but for some reason – the way its set up or something – its my favorite line on the album.
Chiddy Bang – “Slow Down”
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The next song that particularly stuck out to me was “Slow Down” featuring Black Thought. Black Thought, a fellow Philadelphia native, – though never discussed here – is one of my favorite emcees in the game and easily one of the most underrated. He delivers the most memorable verse on the album (understandable, he’s been doing this for over two decades) giving advice to the young group.
I know it now, wish I knew it then
Diminished returns, I burned through a few a them
Remember when I was in the position you were in
Shit’d be different if I had it all to do again – oh to be new again
There is something about the way BT rhymes – its so effortless but packs more meaningful content into the lines, its just remarkable.
Chiddy Bang – “Truth”
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I can’t get this far without mentioning “Truth” – a type of track I see Chiddy being highly successful with. In a style very similar to their “Kids (Remix)” – has a dance/electronica vibe – “Truth” is catchy but doesn’t cause Pro to step down his game lyrically either.
Chiddy Bang – “Never”
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Just another favorite track of mine (but you get the idea regarding skits…) I highly encourage you download the tape here.
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It’s that time of year again, and Skillz has released the ‘09 Rap-Up. For those unfamiliar, Skillz has been releasing these yearly Rap-Up;s for what seems like forever – recapping almost everything essential in mainstream and hip-hop culture from the year. Skillz doesn’t disappoint again, so enjoy and reminisce on the last year. Hope everyone had a great holiday!
Today’s post is definitely something different, as I, The Groove, begin and end my music career. First, let me explain. Duke, like a lot of other schools around the nation, has a course dedicated to hip-hop; however, unlike the other courses that mainly focus on hip-hop culture, Duke’s is a music course: Hip-Hop/Rap Music Appreciation. The course is taught by professional rapper J. Bully and is easily one of the most desired classes at Duke.
The term project is to create your own song with four classmates in one of the five genres of hip-hop delineated in the course. My group got “Jazz/Bohemian/Granola” the genre made famous by De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and okayplayer. We managed to get a beat from my friend Al (big things on the way from him) and went to a basement studio to record with our professor. The creative/recording process was much more difficult than I expected it to be, but a ton of fun. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out so without further adieu, I present Maximum Prophet’s first single, “Pendulum Theory”.
Maximum Prophet – “Pendulum Theory”
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Well, it’s that time of year again when everybody gets swamped with work, and inevitably develops a case of ADD, ADHD, or Senioritis. So what better activity to occupy my time than review Wale’s Attention Deficit? I’ll admit it, I desperately wanted this album to be an instant classic that I spun on repeat, but unfortunately, it was a bit of a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, the album is very good, but it didn’t quite appeal to me, someone who has followed his career upwards of 2 years now. I think its biggest fault is that it is not on the same level as A Mixtape About Nothing which concept, production and content-wise trumps his debut effort. I don’t mean this to come off overly negative, it really is a quality album – but I just don’t think it could meet my year of expectations.
Wale – “Mirrors” featuring Bun B
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Content and production wise Attention Deficit very much reflects its title. As Wale frequently stated, he attempted to have one of ‘every type of song’. The album intersperses radio/mainstream type tracks – “Chillin”, “Pretty Girls”, “Let It Loose” – with tracks that take on a more serious note – “90210″ discusses eating disorders, 9th Wonder produced “Shades” tackles black-on-black racism, and “Diary” tells a story about a girl that has been in bad relationships and takes it out on her current love.
Wale – “Diary” featuring Marsha Ambrosius
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I believe by starting off this review in a negative light might have been unfair, in that, I really don’t dislike any song on the record. Wale was substantially criticized for featuring Gucci Maine on “Pretty Girls,” but that didn’t really bother me considering the intent and market intended for the record. After the original was released sans Gucci, I definitely felt like the track needed another traditional hip-hop verse to make the change up at the end of the track more powerful – and Gucci’s verse definitely aided that.
Wale – “TV in the Radio” featuring K’Naan (production by Dave Sitek)
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That being said, there is no track that really stands out among the rest – and when it comes down to it, I’d rather listen to A Mixtape About Nothing if given the choice. I really wished the album had included more skits or Wale talking or something that would have allowed his personality to shine through a little bit more. On all of his mixtape efforts, the listener came away not only impressed by his skills – but genuinely liking Wale and thinking he’s a pretty funny guy, regardless of music talent. On his debut effort, I feel like the buyer was deprived of that – and it could potentially hurt Wale’s likability down the road. I’ve interspersed some of my favorites (they are all very good) from the album, that try to highlight his tremendous range of flow, content, and production on the record. If you have liked any of Wale’s 5+ mixtapes in the past (and got them for free), I highly encourage you to go out and buy the album – its worth your 9.99 on iTunes. Again, I’m critical simply because my bar was set so high, it still trumps the other debut efforts from other XXL Freshman this year, and is definitely one of my favorites of 2009.
Wale – “Beautiful Bliss” featuring J. Cole & Melanie Fiona
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You know it gets no better than this,
Its like sunshine on a rainy day,
Its like a high could you take me a way…
When you feel like this, When you spill out hits,
When you ridin’ with tints, and you ain’t bothered a bit…
