Dear Kendrick Lamar (re: 'good kid, m.A.A.d city')

40s next to the baby bottle. It's no question where you are.

I've said it time and time again, but dey don't hurr me doe: The best hip-hop albums are portraits of the time, place, and mindset of the artist behind them. They draw from experiences seen and told to the artists, incorporate the sonic memory of what that artist is experiencing, and draw the listener into a world viewed through the artists' eyes.

Nature versus nurture; it's the oldest conflict in the book of human development and interaction. Is one a product of their environment, or do the sum of those products make the environment? After listening to your debut, Kendrick Lamar, I'm convinced there needs to be an urban studies symposium or class or certificate program regarding it. Holding true to its name 

good kid, m.A.A.d city

, is a portrait of the battle between nature and nurture: a black child whose inborn 'goodness' is chipped away at by his gritty urban surroundings.

The good kid you portray is clearly a smart one, as evidenced by his constant introspection. One of the first things I noticed in the story is the push and pull relationship that comes with groupthink. You muse, "Rush a nigga quick and then we laugh about it / That's ironic 'cause I never been violent, until I'm with the homies." Throughout GKMC, you grapple with your own decision-making because though you're capable of making informed decisions, frequently decisions are made for you. Whether out of circumstance, laziness, or influence of drugs or alcohol, you more often than not seemed to be carried away with a wave of bad intentions. Even in trying to develop a mature relationship with a young lady it is obvious your appetite for sex will ultimately trump your desire for emotional comfort and security:

A fatal attraction is common, and what we have common is pain / I mean you need to hear this / Love is not just a verb and I can see power steering / Sex drive when you swerve, I want that interference / It's coherent, I can hear it... mmhmm, that's your heartbeat / It either caught me or it called me, mmhmm

Kendrick, listening to GKMC is like watching Spider-Man fall victim to the Venom symbiote. You know that the anger that fuels the symbiote will make Spider-Man stronger, but that same symbiote will kill all pure ambitions within him. It's a tough album to critique with a moral compass because the listener can interpret your descent into that m.A.A.d city ambiguously.

Speaking of ambiguity, there's another prevalent theme in this album. While you grapple with acquiescing to your nature or nurture, the ever-reaching grey area between right and wrong rears its confusing head in almost every song on GKMC. You debate whether it is better to be predator or prey in such a vicious jungle, saying "Everybody gon' respect the shooter, but the one in front of the gun lives forever." Neither is an enviable position to be in, dying a hero or living as a villain. You recant on your past trespasses, too, wondering if your present good deeds and intelligence can erase that past on 'M.A.A.D. City':

If I told you I killed a nigga at 16, would you believe me? / Or see me to be innocent Kendrick that you seen in the street / With a basketball and some Now & Laters to eat / If I'm mentioned all of my skeletons, would you jump in the seat? / Would you say my intelligence now is great relief? And it's safe to say that our next generation maybe can sleep / With dreams of being a lawyer or doctor / Instead of boy with a chopper that hold the cul de sac hostage

That imagery is ridiculous, especially in light of the rash of violence in Chicago or the Trayvon Martin killing. No matter the littered past of a teenager, who is to say that the same teen couldn't end up curing the world of epilepsy or become President? Aspirations, regardless of how attainable, seem to all be misguided in your world though, Kendrick.

The title tracks of the album, expertly placed in the middle, give way to the vices in the second half of the album. 'Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst' that shows the true ill of your story: thirst. Thirst for love, thirst for fulfillment, thirst for money, and thirst for direction lead you and your compatriots astray so many times, that the prayers of an old woman couldn't possibly sway you. You can't help but quench it in 'Swimming Pools', because the holy water the woman speaks of isn't feasible in the way you would want it to be. As a good kid in that environment, the visuals of drugs, sex, violence, and crime are much more influential than that of a God whose presence you can't see. The city pulls your gaze in so many directions that it's impossible to tell what deserves attention and what is real. 'Real' details that conflict, making light of the choir of voices begging for your ear:

But what love got to do with it when I don't love myself / To the point I should hate everything I do love / Should I hate living my life inside the club / Should I hate her for watching me for that reason / Should I hate him for telling me that I'm season / Should I hate them for telling me ball out / Should I hate street credibility I'm talkin' about / Hatin' all money, power, respect in my will / I'm hatin' the fact that none of that shit make me real

Fame is a bitter medicine by your tastes, Kendrick. As a good kid from a m.A.A.d city, you're happy to have gotten yourself away from the chaos of that city, yet clubs, credibility, influence and fame aren't necessarily the antithesis to your rough upbringing. They seem more like a different part of the city, rather than an entirely different city. Maybe that's the answer to the nature versus nurture question. You can take the good kid out of that m.A.A.d city, but it's impossible to take the memory of that m.A.A.d city out of the good kid.

No matter how far you get away from that city, Kendrick, its ills, its vices, and its pitfalls all served to make you the man you are today. You're not ashamed of your city. Kendrick Lamar is a product of Compton. It was so fitting to end the album with a track titled after your hometown, featuring Dr. Dre nonetheless. Just Blaze-produced, it was a horn-laced yet hard-bodied anthem showing the bravado of a bastion of West Coast hip-hop. Though you deride the bad, you know your city is full of good kids like yourself. You would rather show off your city for what it is, 'responsible for taking Compton International', than continue to languish in hatred for the madness that it engenders. It's like I said: your album is a portrait of Compton and your experiences in that city during your formative years. You rose above that m.A.A.d city to show that you can be a product

from

your environment without being a product

of

your environment.

Dear Lupe Fiasco

If there's one thing that bothers me about 'conscious MCs' (the terms sucks, but that's another post), it's that they feel comfortable discussing politics on a large forum, regardless of how wacked out their opinions are. Just because you are an MC that follows politics, does not mean that you have an open invitation to be on a soapbox 24/7. Lupe, I've had it up to here *raises hand above head* with you and your constant diatribes regarding politics, President Obama, or what have you.

First of all, Lu, why don't you vote? Are you out of your mind? You sit there and say that if a politician doesn't represent your agenda then you can't endorse him... WHAT? That's like saying that if a football team doesn't call the play you're screaming from your couch, then you'll cease to become a fan. NEWSFLASH: Politicians aren't your puppets, nor can you dictate the direction that their allegiances lie. You'd be better off trying to teach a doorknob how to bark. That you decry the merits of voting simply because no candidate has dropped a hand-written letter to Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, asking for your endorsement is sickening. Yes, the American political system is fatally flawed. Yes, we have a whole fistful of assholes in places of power. Yet the way to change this system isn't to sit on your ass and talk about why candidates don't suit your needs. The solution is to VOTE! Get up off your ass, vote for your Congressmen, Representatives, Mayors, Attorney Generals, Senators or whoever, so we can get good people in office, instead of talking out of your ass.



Second of all, where do you get off calling Obama a terrorist? You can sugarcoat it all you want, but you said the words. Stand by them. Like I said above, no politician is there to serve your exact needs. If they did, they'd only have one voter: YOU. Either way, calling Obama a terrorist because of some supposed link to war-mongering is not only ignorant, but extremely short-sighted. Do I agree with everything that Barack Hussein Obama has done in his almost 3 years in office? Absolutely not. Yet, not everything is of his decree. As much as I'd love for Barack to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's not like he can pull an 'I Dream of Jeanie', wiggle his nose, and suddenly have every US troop, envoy and diplomat back in the country. As much as I hate the amount of money dedicated to the military, I'm not sure Barack is going to stand in front of a tank and do his best Tiananmen Square impression. These things take time and diplomacy, something that Barack is a lot better than you at. Give the man a break. He's got the GOP putting up a steel-reinforced brick wall in front of all his initiatives, a crumbling economy and infrastructure, and little to no help from his own party. You'd think that being such a polarizing figure yourself, you'd have a little empathy for Barack. Maybe it's all of that hair pulling the nutrients from your brain...

Thirdly, there's a distinct difference between a fact and an opinion, Lupe. It's obvious that you've got the lines blurred to monumental levels. Where have you come up with some of these theories? The last time I checked, every one of your claims is completely unfounded. Did Wikileaks come out of nowhere with a new round of leaks that they only sent out to you? Or has Barack been having secret meetings with you on the weekends discussing foreign and domestic policy? Somehow I think neither of those happened, so where are you getting your intel from? If FOX News is one end of the spectrum, then I'm pretty sure that your recent comments are at the other end of the Loony-o-meter.

Finally, Lupe, I'm tired of you yammering your mouth. From about early 2010, you've been on this 'holier than thou' escapade where you fling mud at everyone who doesn't agree with you. You sound childish. Being one of my favorite rappers, it was an arduous task trying to defend your words, but it's gotten to be too much. It's almost like you're trying to make people dislike you. LASERS might've sold a million and counting, but you're losing supporters at just as fast a pace. As much as you've made good music with intricate social commentary, that doesn't give you a free pass to become a political pundit. No, I'm not sitting here trying to quell your desire for political change, Lupe. In fact, in terms of overall zeal, you're probably one of the few MCs who has the cojones to say what's on his mind. I'm just imploring, begging, pleading with you. Please get your facts and head on straight, man. It's like watching Jack Nicholson being brought into the lobotomy room in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; sad, yet you couldn't help but predict it. Do me a favor, Lupe. Make some good music so defending your outlandish political views doesn't become a case of cognitive dissonance.

Dear T.Shirt (re: I Should Just Chill)

T.Shirt - I Should Just Chill

When a rapper starts off a song "this album is just some hip-hop shit / next one I'll make you groove" it makes you expect a lot more from them. Given the current state of hip-hop, where few can straddle the line between making strippers butts shake and making backpacks' zippers unzip, it's cool to hear someone express that duality of hip-hop. T.Shirt, I'd heard your name sprinkled about the blogosphere and even in my e-mail box, but never had given you a listen. I rue the day I slept now, having listened to your LP I Should Just Chill.

I'm gonna start with your diss to 88-Keys 'Don't Take it Personal'. Ironically, this track is about as personal as it gets, and I love it! You made the once-protege of Kanye West look like a nobody with this one, claiming your greater mastery of Ralph Lauren style, and ultimately dismissing him as a passing fancy. You ethered him for trying to charge you to get on his mixtape, called him out for being money-hungry and pointed out how badly the man would flop (where is 88-Keys now, anyway?) I'm not even sure where the beef came from, but you ended it before it could really begin in my eyes. Next your 'Ode to Raekwon' was beyond dope. The flow you put on the bass-heavy instrumental was reminiscent of the Chef, but shows that influence doesn't have to insinuate imitation. On 'Lana, Kim and AMK' you alluded to the universal truth that seeing a woman dance gives you direct insight into how well she 'performs' otherwise. It's little tidbits like that that made you interesting to listen to.

What threw me for a loop in your music though, was the 'rawness' that it engendered. Every song had a grimeyness to it that was only overturned by the next. I Should Just Chill, while very 2011 in its content, sounded fresh out of 1994 in a lot of respects. On a track like 'Art Bully' it's evident that you grew up in the Golden Era, from the flow down to the cacophonous beat you go over. Chants of 'New York' keep your origination in the listener's mind, while verses talking about the dissemination of art and the differences between art and imitation show your intellectual acumen. It's clear you've taken a hint from both the old and new, all while making it your own, which is what good hip-hop is made from. Even by using the instrumental from Kendrick Lamar's 'HiiiPower' on the title track of this LP, you show where your head is at in an introspective verse and tip your cap to the Compton MC. Like I said earlier, there is a duality to your work that cannot be denied. You claim you need time to 'just chill,' while embodying a hunger that won't allow you to. I suppose this goes without saying, but I'm excited to hear what's coming from you. The track 'What They Said' is an ode to naysayers, and exemplifies every negative opinion an artist can hear, from family to friends to love interests. You clearly want to leave a lasting impression, and ending on that track is the impetus for you not to chill. I know you won't...

Chiddy Bang - Guinness Flow

Chiddy Bang - Guinness Flow

Jumpy Xaphoon Jones instrumentals? Check. Chiddy spitting venom about his Guinness World Record-winning longest freestyle ever? Check. With the summer coming, there seems to be another wave of new music on the horizon, and Chiddy Bang is one of those acts that has been delivering the funk as of late. Their new project Peanut Butter & Swelly is off to a swell start, if I do say so myself. Like I said before, great production and dope lyricism are a simple combination, but make for excellent hip-hop. There's not much more you can say about it. Check out the first release from PB&S, and stay tuned. Summer is going to sound awesome...

Kendrick Lamar - HiiiPower (Music Video)

Gee golly wilikers... I know not whether to go outside, guns ablaze and start a violent revolution, or to go inside and read more books to start an intellectual revolution. Kendrick Lamar has been a mainstay in my rotation as of late, with his OverlyDedicated mixtape growing on me daily. Add to that, the J. Cole-produced banger HiiiPower??? Come on, son... K. Lamar (as reluctant as I am to claim this) might be the next to blow. Forget the West Coast that is primarily about gang-banging. This Compton representer has conscious crossover written all over him. Not to mention, his visuals have been as compelling as I've seen in the past year or so. The video for HiiiPower juxtaposes an army behind K. Lamar with a barrage of images championing the revolutions going on in the Middle East, and those that went on in our own country over half a century ago. Enough talk, though. Check the video, and be on the lookout for #Section80...

Dear Kardi (re: The Valedictorian)

"F*ckin Shaft music, nigga... No homo"

DOWNLOAD: Kardi - The Valedictorian

There's certain MCs that you can't help but feel. Not because they grew up around the same conditions and in the same circles as you, or because of random references that fly over the heads of most. Some MCs make you feel what they're saying. It's because of their gift for words and ability to paint a picture that draws you to their work and keeps your ears perked up and head nodding. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of listening to your sophomore offering The Valedictorian which arrived in my inbox promptly this weekend. I saw all of the blogs and websites posting it, as per usual with music nowadays, yet no one offered any perspective on it (also becoming the sad norm). Kardi, let me say this: This album made me pine for a time not long ago in time, but far far away in my mind. Being a senior in college and recanting on my time, I can't help but be nostalgic listening to The Valedictorian.

The album starts out on a melodic note, with 'Convocation' sounding off on the aspirations of a high school senior with rap as a goal, but college as a fall back. You sound so hopeful, so filled with joy that one part of your life is closing and another is set to begin. There's an air of arrogance to everything you're saying, clearly derived from being 'America's nightmare: young, black and educated'. At the same time, theres humbleness because you know there's so much more to accomplish, both in rap and school. As a freshman, the possibilities can be so distracting, but there's a main theme to this tape. In being a 'valedictorian,' you espouse focus as a tenet in your rise to the top, something no one seems to talk about. On the track 'Busy' you offer an apology to the people missing you, simply claiming the rigors of a burgeoning rap career and college tenure. It's endearing, especially for anyone who has aspirations that college classes get in the way of.

There's also a nature of duality that The Valedictorian comes with, based on that same battle between academic and non-academic success. Whether in the battle between classes and performances, or trying to keep a steady girlfriend who wants more time than you can give her, balance is necessary, not only as a freshman but as a college student in general. On tracks like 'Black Ferris Beuller' and 'Joke', you don't forget to flex your lyrical muscle, so that it's clear your talent belies your freshman status. Making light of the generation of 'swag' rappers who deem it better to copy than create, you outshine them, showing the Prep for Prep pedigree (P4P stand up!!) that helped to get you to college in the first place.

See, I'm something like a black Ferris Beuller, getting medulla from my tutor while I'm pulling Buddha

Quick bars like seem to roll off your tongue effortlessly, which was impressive. You definitely have a gift for spitting fast. Yet, at times you seemed to get ahead of yourself to the point where I had to rewind songs to catch the full gist of your statements. That's not a bad thing for heads who enjoy listening to rap, but for the untrained ear this might get laborsome. Try and slow down, and with purpose, so we can get the full benefit of hearing what you have to say.

Overall, The Valedictorian put older MCs to shame because it was reminiscent of the freshman perspective, yet showed a wisdom beyond your years. It's not the soulful kind of hip-hop J. Cole puts out. It's much more charismatic, like a freshman extending his hand during orientation. This album had a sound, a feel and a theme to it. It wasn't just a mish-mash of songs thrown together for the sake of it. Much like an undergraduate course of study, there is a plan, and it's clear you're sticking to it, Kardi. Excited for more work from you? I am. Who knows where you'll be in four years, much less one? Just make sure to enjoy the ride, because college moves fast, as do rap careers, though yours doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon...

Fresh Daily - Say Yes (prod. by Shuko & Fonty)

Fresh Daily - Say Yes

Fresh Daily, out of Brooklyn, has been missing off the scene for over a year now, after his promising Tomorrow is Today mixtape. I suppose he's one of those rappers who works better when he takes little hiatuses from music to actually live life. No worries either way though. Dropping off the face of the earth and then coming back with heat like this is completely excuseable. 'Say Yes', laced with cacophonous, organ-y beat, is almost like a blueprint for making it. Fresh urges the listener to accept the change that life chucks in your direction, then to monkey punch that change when it tries to claw your eyes out. It's a nice way to start the spring, April showers and all. Keep a look out for Fresh Daily's The Quiet Life EP. Maybe I can delete my earlier tweets about there not being any new good music coming out...

Emilio Rojas - Breaking Point

Emilio Rojas - Breaking Point

If you want to talk about powerful music, then this might be one of the best tracks I've heard in a good minute. Emilio Rojas kind of missed me with his Life Without Shame EP, but with another EP set tro drop in June, and this being the first single, consider me excited again. 'Breaking Point' talks about how exactly Emilio got into the rap scene and why failure isn't an option for him. From trying to explain his profession to friends and family, to his own Latin brethren not accepting him, to the situation surrounding his birth, the drama pushed Emilio to his eventual 'Breaking Point'. This is what I like to call 'mood music'. Study to this. Struggle to this. Whatever you do, just feel it.

eLZhi - Detroit State of Mind

Elzhi - Detroit State of Mind

It seems like everyone's favorite album is Illmatic now. The past few years, I've seen so many _______ State of Mind tracks, it's sickening... And here's another. But it's eLZhi, though. The Slum Village member has always been one of the more underrated MCs out, despite his knack for falling off the radar for months on end. I suppose prodigious talent needs time to breathe, much like Nas. For his ELmatic LP, eLZhi decided to take on the gritty instrumental that makes you want to blow cess in front of a bodega wearing fronts, tan Timbs, and an army suit. He doesn't disappoint either, delivering a performance worthy of an even more underrated Detroit rap seal. He paints a picture few could claim not to visualize. Just listen. ELmatic drops May 10th...

Chuck L.I. - Office Space (prod. by Stefan Ponce)

Chuck L.I. - Office Space (prod. by Stefan Ponce)

As a senior in college, the number one question you get every day is 'What are your plans for graduation?" The first few times it's cool, getting to toot your own horn with a quick speech on whatever plan is currently brewing up in your mind. After around December, though, you almost want to walk around with a shirt that says 'When I know what I'm doing after graduation, I'll tell you." If there's one thing I can wholeheartedly say without reservation, it's that I will LOVE anything I'll be doing. The working world is full of people who hate their jobs, and simultaneously hate their lives. This track by Chuck L.I. is for those people who don't want to get caught in the 9-5 rut... the ones who'd rather work for a passion than a paycheck... the ones who'd trade in their cubicles and generic business attire for some jeans, a t-shirt and a clean slate... the ones who want space, not office space. Chuck definitely made a fan of me with this one. Check the track out, and keep looking for your passion that hopefully provides a paycheck...

Props: Fake Shore Drive

Pusha T - My God (Music Video)

Say what you will about Fear of God (yes it was a bit of a let-down), Pusha has a way with those coke raps, and his music videos are no different. He doesn't really have to be doing much in his videos to make them hot. The younger Thornton brother recruited a children's marching band, some of his Re-Up Gang constituents, a sexy Lambo coupe, a funeral hearse, and a bad light-skinned biddie to accompany him in his video for 'My God'. The cut-scenes of church revivals and people catching the spirit line up perfectly with the lyrics detailing his dealings with fiends, and one can almost taste the juxtaposition between drug addiction and religious fervor. I'm not sure if that's what Pusha or the director Nabil Elderkin were going for here, but I suppose it's just something to marinate on for heavy thinkers such as myself. Check the video out and get hyped for the Fear of God EP.

PS: I'm tired of rappers putting out EP's of mixtapes/albums we've already heard. If Pusha doesn't switch it up a little, I will be severely disappointed...

Dear B.o.B. (re: 'No Future')

Attaway, Bobby Ray!! Point 'em out!!!


B.o.B. - No Future

BEEF is such a watered down version of what it used to be. Gone are the days when rappers would get at each other on their own tracks, like Canibus on LL's '4,3,2,1'. No longer are funny looking caricatures and long monologues using names utilized like 50 Cent in his all-front assault on Ja Rule in 2003. Rappers nowadays may devote passing lines to rivals and keep it moving. Such is the case today Bobby Ray. I woke up this morning to a new track from you entitled 'No Future', and gave it a cursory listen, as I do most music that enters my periphery. Immediately, I heard a B.o.B. that I hadn't heard in years. You sounded angry. You sounded vicious. You sounded like someone had insulted your mother, or better yet you. Then I remembered the OFWGKTA frontman Tyler's track 'Yonkers' where he famously said:

I'll crash that f*cking Airplane that f*ggot nigga B.o.B. was in

Ahhhh! Now the 'No Future' title makes sense. But then I thought more about it and realized that your retort, while lyrically dope, was reminiscent of why rap beef today is so lame. There were no names, there were no personal attacks... Just vague indicators of the nameless foe you were attacking... whom everyone already knew. That said Bobby (and any other rapper that wants to clap back), make sure you make your diss tracks clear. Seriously... It's like handing in an exam without a name on it. You might have aced it, but no one's going to know who it is for. The teacher could use elimination to decipher who it is, but the thought that a kid so smart could forget to write his name almost erases the good grade, in terms of common sense.

I'll say it again, Bobby. The track was kind of hot. You dropped that sing-songy 'I'm trying to be Eminem and talk about obstacles I've overcome' flow, and RAPPED. Too bad it was undirected and vague. If we were keeping score, Tyler would be up 10 with 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter, and I'm the furthest from an Odd Future fan. I just respect when a rapper has the cojones to put a name out there and stand by it. Hell, I'd rather you not even throw out a diss track if you were going to keep the adversary anonymous. Take a hint, Bobby. The next time someone disses you (and Tyler has since backed away from his comments), take one of two routes: Either A) Pull a 50 and call your rival out like a man, or B) Pull a Jay-Z and don't even regale the comment. Hip-hop was never about sitting on fences. Either you hop over and give your neighbor a piece of your mind, or stay on your side, lament about how his grass is greener and look up at the Airplanes...

Reek DeVille - 10 Mack Commandments

Reek DeVille - 10 Mack Commandments

As far as remakes of classic songs go, remixes to Biggie's '10 Crack Commandments' come a dime a dozen. That's no knock on anyone who tries, but simply a sign of the times. That said, if you're going to make a list to BIG's rulebook to the crack game, make sure you do it well. Such is the case with Reek DeVille, formerly known as Reek da Villain. His remake, entitled the '10 Mack Commandments' is about as exhaustive a list as possible when dealing with females in this life. In fact, I think more relationships would stay the course needed if men used their heads (not that one). Reek is preparing to drop his How to Be a Player EP with OnSMASH soon, and if this is the first track, consider my ears perked up. Check it out...

Dear Lupe Fiasco

Buy Lasers HERE

It's been well over 3 years since your last album, The Cool. That album was a dedication to hip-hops obsession with... well, being cool. It painted a picture of the game and what's cool as being these destructive, yet enticing entities, that would tempt even the most righteous among us. I suppose that is one of your appealing traits as a rapper: your ability to reveal what we celebrate in this 'game' for the detriment it is. When it was revealed that Lasers would finally be released, I rejoiced, not only as a fan excited for new Lupe, but also because it would be a far cry from your usually pithy tone. No longer would the listener not be subject to the thought of how much we're losing. We're lasers, not losers! We don't have to be all melancholy about the way hip-hop is going! We can protest in front of Atlantic Records and get your album released! We don't have to let the labels decide what we have to listen to! That's what I thought Lasers would champion. It turns out we were wrong. Lasers was a disappointing reminder that no matter how much 'we' push, there's a huge chance 'we' won't get what we want. And you were the first person to learn that, Lu.

I won't get into the fact that you derided the album after it leaked or have been lambasting your own effort. That's for you and only you to live with, given the high standard of work that you usually hold yourself to. As a listener and fan, that happening is a bit disconcerting. Even if you weren't doing that, the album still doesn't live up to the height. It starts with a rousing piano solo on 'Letting Go', then delves into an abyss of half-baked choruses and muddled verses. You spoke a lot about war on this song and did a lot of introspection, but not in a palatable way. It was almost like you were writing an angry letter to yourself about everything that grinds your gears, but the letter had no direction and no point.

Lasers continues with probably the best song on the album 'Words I Never Said', a powerful political statement reminiscent of the Lupe we know and love. The song was persistent, unyielding, and unashamed, reminiscent of what I imagine you wanted the album to sound like. You definitely threw that in second so that you could get it off your chest, and then the album takes a nosedive from there. Between 'Till I Get There' and 'I Don't Wanna Care Right Now' the pop-esque instrumentals seem better suited for Flo-Rida than you. Hell, he might as well have been on one of those songs. This is clearly where Atlantic had their way with you. The Trey Songz feature couldn't have been more misplaced, and the track, 'Out of My Head', had the depth of a Jersey Shore reunion. Given how easily you tended to speak about love on your other albums, this was a huge disappointment. You rapped in circular monosyllables, all about superficial things and not the romantic minutiae that endeared you to the fan (think 'Sunshine'). I felt horrible bopping my head to the song. You and Trey could've definitely collaborated and come up with a better song, though I'm not sure Trey has the capacity to go 'deeper' anymore. Even so, 'The Show Goes On' saved Lasers from the dreaded 'halfway point pause-and-never-play-again curse'. Its uptempo vibe brought the listener in and while you didn't RIP your verses, it was hard not to like them.

After that, the album takes another nosedive. It seems like you were sleepwalking through those next two tracks featuring MDMA, and it was hard for me to keep awake during them. You talked about the future constantly, but had a flow sounding like it was stuck in the mud:

They like 'how come you don't rap that' / Cause that's a backtrack / and I ain't tryna back back

Really, Lu? We're taking it back to preschool? This is coming from the guy that wrote 'Dumb it Down'. What happened to digging deep for conceptual greatness? What happened to challenging the listener? What happened to the type of tracks that make you rewind them dozens of times just to catch one line or metaphor or punchline? It seems like you're faking the funk, or just simply f*cked the funk up. 'State Run Radio' got some brownie points back, but the irony of the track was hilarious considering the puppet strings pulling you throughout the whole album. 'Break the Chain' and 'I'll Never Forget You' were snorefests. By the time I got to 'All Black Everything', I had had enough, regardless of how good a song it was. The damage was done. You had successfully shown how 'conscious' hip-hop could have its manhood taken from it and served on a platinum plaque.

Ultimately, Lupe, Lasers failed because you failed to paint the vivid picture that your manifesto for the album did. Rather than champion 'substance in the place of popularity', you got a #1 spot on the Billboards with what was your least substantive album. Rather than 'think (your) own thoughts', Atlantic spoon-fed you 9 concepts and you choked. Lasers wasn't the revolutionary work of art you promised, and no matter how much you downplay your involvement, it's your album. I'd rather you take ownership for this and come back harder with LupEND or Friend of the People or whatever your next work is (you never know now with you, especially with your precarious label situation). To say this was a bad album is a bit much, yet I can't give this one my stamp of approval. It'd not only be going against my better judgment, but your own words. So, Lupe, enjoy your platinum plaque. Like I said, ironically your best-selling album was your worst content-wise. Lasers or losers, this album proved that it is possible to win and lose at the same time. If that's not enough reason to come back with a vengeance, then this should be your last album just like you said 2 years ago, Lupe...

Kanye West - All of The Lights (Remix) (ft. Lil' Wayne, Big Sean & Drake)

Kanye West - All of The Lights (Remix) (ft. Lil' Wayne, Big Sean & Drake)

Huge props to Karen Civil for letting this one loose, even though I had to rip the audio myself so you guys could download it. Everyone (and by everyone, I mean the internets and Twitter) said that Drake killed his verse, and now we get a chance to hear it. The remix to Kanye's 'All of The Lights' is pifftastic, splendiforous, and a bunch of other made up words for awesome. The only weird part about this track is Sean's use of onomatopoeia. He has a unique flow that works sometimes, and other times seems out of place. No worries, though. Wayne and Drake do enough heavy lifting to counteract Sean's snafu. Check out the remix and have a happy Monday, people!!

EDIT: Apparently, 'Ye has a verse lined up for the remix as well. Be on the lookout for an 'official' version...

Curren$y - Soundbombin'

Curren$y - Soundbombin'

One reason that I respect and love Curren$y's music so much is because the man is the closest thing to a lab rat in hip-hop today. Shante' (I wonder how many jokes he's gotten about his name?) is set to release 4 albums in the past 2 years. That's more albums than most rappers can even dream of. Muscle Car Chronicles probably isn't going to be a concept album, though it seems like there will be a lot of car talk, as per the usual with a Spitta release. 'Soundbombin' sounds like a bomb of sound. Funk-a-mafied guitars, angry drums and an exceptional bass undertone lace the intro from Muscle Car Chronicles. Check the rhyme, people...

Lil' B - Base For Your Face (ft. Jean Grae & Phonte) (prod. 9th Wonder)

Lil' B - Base For Your Face (ft. Jean Grae & Phonte) (prod. 9th Wonder)

Dun dun dunnnnnnn. Isn't it ironic that one can gain mainstream success by rapping badly only to be accepted, then rapping halfway-decently. Lil' B is the poster child for upwardly mobile rappers and now the borderline backpackers have another reason to hate the man. I won't go on record saying I'm a fan, because sometimes being #based gets to be too much. Even so, I respect Lil' B's work ethic and can't throw salt on his game. Linking up with 2/3 of Little Brother and Jean Grae is something most rappers will never get a chance to do. AND it's actually a decent track? Oh boy... Even with Lil' B taking the headline, Phonte proved that he's still a heavyweight on the mic. Jean Grae disappointed me with her flow, even though she had some quotables. All in all, the #based movement is catching fire as we speak. Which side are you on???

SIDENOTE: On the anniversary of the Notorious BIG's death, what does this signal for hip-hop's direction? Does this mean the convergence between 'good' hip-hop and 'rap' is closing? I wonder how Biggie would look even at a song like this. My guess is he'd nod in acknowledgment, but would not be down with the #based movement. To each his own, I suppose.

Dear Pac Div

DOWNLOAD: Pac Div - Mania!



Life is crazy. Life is unpredictable. Life is... controlled mania. Yeah... 'Mania'... Pac Div, your first album is tentatively called Grown Kid Syndrome. The title is self-explanatory. Grown kid: a person stuck between true adulthood and adolescence or childhood. You know, that 18-to-20-something age bracket. From college to jobs to friends to relationship to parents to religion, the things our demographic deal with are an organized mania orbiting our minds. As members of Generation Y, it's your right to speak your peace on the state of your personal mania.

Mania doesn't start out maniacal. Smooth pianos lace the first song, 'The Mirror', where you urge the listener to look to himself for answers. Amid midtempo snares, clearly stated gems galore:

"You don't get nothing if you don't work hard / You can't earn stripe if you never have scars / There's way more to life than money and nice cars / You are who you are, You could be a bum."

I haven't heard rappers come this straightforward in a while. Everything is veiled in 'swag' (#based and diet). The mania isn't straightforward. According to you, only SuperNegroes can sift through. No one can doubt your credentials though. You took the Lyn Collins sample (more recently Rob Base, and sadly Lil' Romeo) and turned it into your own exhibit of bravado. The mixtape reeks of it, yet your's isn't misplaced. Grown kids aren't supposed to take themselves too seriously, because if they did, they'd actually be grown. That is exacly how you portrayed yourself here. It made the music easy to listen to. You never failed to engage me as a listener and it gave the music a very homey feel compared to the 'out there' feeling that mania usually entails.

You guys don't seem to be affected by the mania around you, and continued to show how clear your view as grown kids is. There is kind of a dual consciousness that comes with being a resident in two different demographics. While one might dabble in the refined and stereotypically 'adult', one still revels in the indulgences of childhood. This mixtape did just that. You lauded the assets of the female gender, while revering their grace on 'Show You'. You examined the eerily close relationship between money and God, noting how sometimes we mistake one for the other on 'Saved'. And still, you managed to keep the charisma and wit that makes you grown kids in the first place. Tracks like 'Same Ol' Shit' and 'Chief Rocka Freestyle' (over the Lords of the Underground instrumental) come complete with our generation's smart-mouthed mentality, and enough punchlines to have you listening to this mania all week (and still

"Y'all stutter, all butter, call me Or-i-val / Redenbacher, bet I shock ya, like a morning call / record-settin nigga, started as an underdog / Nobody cares like you fightin on the undercard / you going 'Wood,' it's the lumber yard / we positioning for green like a summer job."

It's clear that you guys weren't just twiddling your thums since your last release, almost a year ago. 'Don't Mention It,' while a good work, felt rushed, and thus had a short shelf life in my iTunes. That you talked about your shortcomings on 'Nobody's Perfect' was endearing, coming after that previous effort. Your perpetual absence, outside of shows, made me wonder if you had hit the wall that a lot of 'blog rappers' (for lack of a better term; *throws up in mouth*) run into.

The lull between fame and stardom often suffocates rap acts. They either regress and evanesce because too much is expected from them without a veritable body of work like Jae Millz, or they explode with an industry-changing ebullience, a la Drake. Ending the Young Money motif, you guys seem poised to sift through the mania surrounding the music industry and create your own. On 'Out,' you envision the world that you, the Grown Kid, could create amidst the mania. It's the perfect ending to a mixtape that's a great prelude to what's hopefully a great debut album. You guys have penned the best mixtape of the year thus far. If there's mania around you now, the sky is the limit for how strong the Pacific Division can become...

Pusha T - Cook it Down

Pusha T - Cook it Down

"Sophisticated street hip-hop." That's what the younger Thornton brother calls his unique style and content of rhyme. I can't say that I disagree. Pusha has a way with words that puts him in an echelon with some of the greats. He's not your typical coke rapper, dropping gems that apply to regular life, including those of honor, respect, hard work and knowing the place of one's relationships. If those not sophisticated, not much else is. Pusha T's revealed that 'Fear of God' is dropping on March 21st. 'Cook it Down' is a Boi-1da-produced his take on Drake and Bun B's 'Put it Down', and is a masterful effort. Check out a leak from what could be an epic mixtape...

Singing Telegram: Ol' Dirty Bastard - Brooklyn Zoo

If you are an Odd Future fan, then you need to pledge your allegiance and your swag to the man immortalized in the video above. In the midst of the golden era of hip-hop, rife with its complex rhyme schemes, witty metaphors and loopy wordplay, one movement stuck out as being able to reach music fans who didn't necessarily like hip-hop. That was the Wu-Tang Clan. While the group boasted a host of accomplished rhymesayers and producers, the true surprise was their Clown Prince, the one we affably call Big Baby Jesus. Ol' Dirty Bastard left the physical realm of our celestial body in November 2004 at the hands of a drug overdose. Before meeting his maker, he lived life within a foot of the edge, as evidenced by his music, which became an outlet for his larger-than-life and almost psychotic persona.

Today, ODB lives on in the shadows and minds of acts like Odd Future and Lil' B. Nonsensical, sociopathic and deranged lyrics pervaded his work, and do the same in theirs. If there was a way to direct lineage in hip-hop, I'm sure that the ODB would have more than a few seeds planted in today's hip-hop generation. Today's Singing Telegram is a commemoration of that. 'Brooklyn Zoo' (also the title of a good amount of my fantasy teams) is a cacophonous warning to those that deemed it safe to throw shade at Ol' Dirty and his Wu-Tang crew. Threatening his adversaries with Lysol, among other strange pieces of weaponry, ODB has his way with the beat and surprisingly makes more sense than he usually does. That the video is as gritty as the man himself is simply a sign and testament to the times. While we may never truly know the extent of Russel Tyrone Jones' affliction, we do know that it birthed some memorable hip-hop. RIP to ODB and let his raucous incantations rile you to a new level of hype...