Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca and the Soul Brother

Quite possibly one of the best albums I have ever had the pleasure of purchasing and listening to, Mecca and the Soul Brother is one for the archives. This is the true definition of what rap music was and could possibly be again.

Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth didn't really make that crazy burst onto the scene moves that most artists did. They've been around for quite a while as producers. They decided to come together as a group and create they're own music. Pete Rock laced the track and C.L. wrote the rhymes.

Now this album was the first to include ad libs in the middle of the song. You know what those are. MC says a line and then you hear a voice in the background. If you listen to anything Jim Jones, you know what I'm talking about. And now you know where he got the idea. Diddy is now famous for doing this move but you can thank C.L. Smooth for laying down the foundation. Another thing about this album is that it's one of the first "lay back and relax" albums I've ever listened to. It's not something that you are going to get up and instantly start dancing around by any means. This is more of a sit back with a good drink and vibe album. Another note is that the mentioning of black power and appreciation of the African culture is also mentioned. You have to remember the time period in which the more popular groups at the time were groups the developed around black empowerment. Groups like Public Enemy, X-Clan, and NWA among many others. So do not be surprised when all of this is said or implied from beginning to end.

This album is an overall masterpiece from an incredible yet underrated duo in the rap game. Well, I'm done with my part, but there's one more thing i gotta show you...

This is an interpretation of the album put into visual art by my friend Chris Kaplan. Remember that cross blog promotion I was talking about before, well this is it. I do the writing, Chris does his drawing thing. If you want to see more, check out his site at www.artofchriskaplan.com.

UNTIL NEXT ENTRY...

Drake - Best I Ever Had

Now that you have seen this video and formulated your own personal opinion, I'm going to give you mine.

I you have been living under a rock for the past...I'd say six months, you have never heard of former Degrassi star turn stereotypical rap artist known as Drizzy Drake. This kid from the streets of Toronto, Canada (seriously), has made a huge name for himself on the mix-tape circuit. His single is a monstrous crossover hit that you can never avoid. If you listen to the song, you get the main idea of the entire song. With that self-sustained image in hand, you would expect the video to get somewhat close to what the song is. Either that or make a performance video. But, thanks to the director, that was not the case. In fact, it wasn't even close. He's a decent artist and he's definitely going to be signed by some major label. But as a debut music video to a mainstream audience, he really messed this up.

This starts exactly how most videos start. The directed hired every top-heavy model and porn star he could find, put on some less than functional basketball uniforms and says said run. Did I just say basketball? Yes I did. This video portrays Drake as a basketball coach for a very good looking team. The girls do look good, as they are supposed to according to the formula. The video goes on as normal, the girls stretch and bounce around while Drake spits his verse. Nothing out of the ordinary. I noticed something. The mascot for Drake's team looks like a...actually I'm not sure what it is. I think it's a mythical creature or something. My friends says it's a vulture, but I'm gonna stick to what i think. Somewhere in the middle there's a cut-scene with some really REALLY bad acting. It's supposed to get back to the overall view of the song but it fails as expected. After this crap fest, they end up facing another team that looks like they actually know how to play ball, and that's based on looks alone. This other team is ugly as all hell. They even added the nappy-headed ho for good measure. Then they go into another cut scene full of half-ass attempts at sexual innuendos. The team loses because they only know how to stretch and that's it. That's the end of the video.

This is a complete pile of suck to say the least. I've seen a lot of crappy videos over the years and this in my opinion is in the top 15. That's all I have to say about this pile of crap. Email me your opinions. I want to see what you think.

UNTIL NEXT ENTRY...

Micahel Jackson Vids

Before people start asking me what videos I was talking about in my MJ post, here are the videos that I was taking about. Enjoy!!

Mr. Jackson

OK. Quite a bit has been said by quite a few people about the death of one of the greatest performers in all of music. Whether you liked the music or not, you knew exactly who Michael Jackson was. You would find him well before you would start looking for Waldo. I've been silent on this because of many reasons. The main reason is that I wasn't sure what you people wanted me to say. I mean, how do I talk about someone who has done so much. This guy has been in the music business since single digits. He's got more awards for one album that most artists will ever have in an entire lifetime. an album that came out in 1982 is still in the top three in all time record sales (I'm talking about Thriller for all of you stupid people).

Here's what I remember from my childhood. There were exactly two artists that ruled the world at the time. MC Hammer (Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em!) and Michael Jackson. At the time he was already known as the King of Pop and he made sure you knew it. Now at about this time, he already made that transformation to that Caucasian alien looking thing that we have grown to know and love (it actually scared me a lot). He was so famous that he interrupted regularly scheduled programming during prime time on all major channels to premier his "Remember the Time" and "Black or White" videos. Who does that? You know you rule the world when you can just stop important political conferences just so you can premier a 5 minute video. I don't care what anybody says. That my friends is G status to the fullest extent. Those are some of the good things. Unfortunately there were some bad segments to this story.

When I mean bad I mean a couple of things. The most notable of course is the child molestation cases. There was on that happened in 1993 that he was cleared of. I remember this one because of the statement that he made on all channels. Once again, he is more important than all other news since he was shown on all major channels and most cable networks. There was another time 2006 or something like that where he was accused again. He was cleared again. However, ever since that first accusation he was been pigeon-holed as that guy who loves kids a little too much. Comedians and Neo Conservatives (I'm looking at you Fox News) alike have taken advantage of his plight and very few have created comedy gold. Those are the bad points. Now for my rant...sort of.

I've waited until all the festivities and most of the mourning was over partly because I wanted to observe how the world was going to take this. Most people took it the way I did. As soon as I heard I didn't believe it. I thought it was some elaborate prank created by some hacker that went into Jackson's blog and put this post up saying that the man was dead. Then I saw all of the news networks saying the same thing. I remembered all the good things that he did. The music, the performances, and the humanitarian work that he did all around the world. The bad things did come to mind but when somebody dies, the focus is never on the bad. At least that's what I thought. Some people treated it as if the most evil man on the planet finally passed away. Thus giving peace and harmony a chance to flourish. These people abandoned all the major things that he did for the world and made sure that every single thing that was ever so slightly overlooked was brought to the forefront. And every major and positive aspect of his life was left on the cutting room floor. You bastards!! How could you do that to anybody and think that you can get away with it? Wait...actually you will. People will forget what you said, as well as who you are. Say what you will, but it will not matter in the long run. All your actually doing is wasting your time diving into archives on a music start instead of talking about world affairs. Thanks for keeping the country informed.

In conclusion, we lost a legend and a culture icon. He will sorely be missed and his music will live on forever most likely. Say what you want about the man, but remember that he'll live on so much longer than you ever will. Rant all you want with your Neo Conservative left wing point of view. Remember that you'll be dead before anybody really cares. The only reason I brought it up is because I needed something to write.

UNTIL NEXT ENTRY...

Note: I could be starting a new joint-venture and gaining a little more exposure in the near future. Keep a lookout and I'll let you know what's up.

The 90s

I was talking with my cousin and a bunch of friends about my blog and they all noticed something. I talk about the 90s a lot. That same day, I got an email from a reader who wants to know why the 90s were so good. With that said, here it goes.

In every era of music their influences come from the artists that came before them. In hip-hop there is a shorter lists of influences than that of rock or r&b. However there are quite a few that the lyricists and DJs of today can look back on. Also, you probably would not have most of the artists of today without my dudes from the 90s. You think Nas is hot now? You never heard Illmatic which was created in the 90s. You like what D12 does? You want to be a part of the D12 world? They wouldn't even be a thought if the Wu-Tang Clan didn't create the Nation of Wu-Tang. You think that Eminem does hip hop the right way? Good because so do I. But, if Vanilla Ice didn't come in and do it all wrong, we would say Eminem is trying too hard to be black (BTW. The 90s is very very sorry for all things Vanilla Ice).

The 90s also had a lot more diversity in terms of music. And this does include within genres. With hip hop you had the party jams, the hardcore, and the lyrically savvy. Only in this decade could you find almost any party play list involving, MC Hammer, Souls of Mischief, 3rd Bass, The Fugees, Arrested Development, A Tribe Called Quest, TLC, Changing Faces, 112, Jagged Edge, Next, Boyz II Men, SWV, and Michael Jackson. Also, the 90s brought back some great songs for bboys to use today. Some of the artists that I mentioned have created some of the most popular dance anthems ever created. Saying that in a world where most songs were made in the 70s? That's one hell of an accomplishment.

I could go into more detail about this but I'll leave that for you all to do. Here's your homework. Use the Internet to look up other things besides porn. Check out iTunes and see what you have been missing. Type in any artist on YouTube and i guarantee you will love what you hear. Check out a decade of fun, controversy, and evolution. The 90s are where it's at people!!

Note: If you do not know who any of the artist or groups I mentioned in this post are, you're either young are extremely stupid. I'm betting on the latter.

Rick Ross - Deeper Than Rap

Before I start this, I would like to say that this was a request from someone. The name doesn't matter. Under any circumstances, I would not bother listening to anything Rick Ross related. But, since his album was #1 in the country for a little while, nameless person wanted my opinion. With that said, here goes nothin'.

This is the third studio album from the so-called "boss." Supposedly he is supposed to talk about more than just his "mafia" lifestyle, how much money he has and spends, and the girls he tries to get with by using his drug money. Let me just say that he accomplishes none of that. It's just another generic rap album that follows the same old formula that I can't stand. Here's how I analyzed each track

1. Mafia Music - The track that caused all the crap with 50 cent. Crappy track talking about his mafia lifestyle.
2. Maybach Music 2 ft. T-Pain, Kanye West & Lil' Wayne - The cameos are the only thing that make this track tolerable and the only one I actually listened to more than two times. It's the generic "I got more money than you" track.
3. Magnificent ft. John Legend - Refer to the last sentence in Track 2. Also, he takes about the girl he wants to f***.
4. Yacht Club ft. Magazeen - Refer to the last sentence in Track 2.
5. Usual Suspect ft. Nas - Refer to Track 1.
6. All I Really Want ft. The Dream - Talking about the girl he wants to impress with his drug money and eventually f***. It's Track 2 with and ATL R&B feel.
   
7. Rich Off Cocaine - Track 1 with and R&B spin. He's showing how proud he is of his drug money. This is the track that pisses me off the most. If I were somebody who is trying to show a positive image in the public I would never be proud of the profits I made while setting a culture back and killing off a majority of innocent people.
8. Lay Back ft. Robin Thicke - Refer to the last sentence in Track 2.
9. Murda Mami ft. Foxy Brown - Here he says that women can just as stupid as he is. It's Track 1 with a diva spin.
10. Gunplay ft. Gunplay - Refer to Track 1.
11. Bossy Lady ft. Ne-Yo - Refer to Tracks 2 & 9.
12. Face ft. Trina - Refer to Tracks 1 & 9.
13. Valley of Death - He addresses the corrections officer situation. After that, refer to Track 1.
14. In Cold Blood - Refer to Track 1.

The only thing that saves this album from being a complete disaster are the beats and cameos. I'm guessing the beats are so good because he had absolutely nothing to do with them. The cameos make the tracks worth listening to. Who really wants to hear what Ross has to say anyway? My advice on this one, skip it and then call Def Jam and tell them to drop this guy. In my eyes he's a complete waste of time and money. I would find someone who is different and positive in some way. Go back to corrections Officer Ricky!!

UNTIL NEXT ENTRY...

5 elements...the DJ

DJ Babu of Dialated People Tearin' it Up!!