It's hard to sum up the soul in Brother Ali's album in a short little review, so I'll just save my words, and let you find out for yourself. He wrestles with government, family, and hiphop as so many have before, but when Ali puts it on top of Ant's top-notch production, something clicks and makes for unbelievably good music.
Tracklist: 1. Watcha' Got
2. Lookin' At Me Sideways
3. Truth Is
4. Puzzle
5. Pedigree
6. Freedom Ain't Free
7. Letter From The Government
8. Here
9. Take Me Home
10. Uncle Sam Goddamn
11. Walkin' Away
12. Faheem
13. Ear To Ear
1. A New Man
2.She Gotta Be Loved
3.Dear You Feat Promise
4.Ain’t Much Really
5.All My Life Feat DJ Extremidiz
6.Searching
7.Upside Down Feat Promise
8.Asleep Feat Renaissance
9. Weather
10. Can’t Awake
11.How You Feel
12.Too Late To Be Happy Feat Elohim Marino, Tassnata
13.One Of Them Days
14.Keep Shinin’ Feat N.I.F.T.Y, Promise
15.Oh My Feat John Wilson
Sorry about the break. Now where was I.... In my opinion, this is SonReal's best album(Aside from The Stroll). Since making the Stroll, he has gone on to be all mac millery (Not that there's anything wrong with that). Back to the point, on this album, he maintains a pretty nice acoustic sound, especially on songs like Oh My and A New Man. One of them days breaks it up with some ratatat, but it still works. He touches on all kinds of topics, and the album has a really nice flow to it.
Although this album did not get the critical acclaim that came to Soul Position's first album (8 Million Stories, ill get that one to you later) there is something to be said for this album. RJD2 does his thing on the beats, and they bump hard. Blueprint does pretty well on the vocals, nothing amazing, but he holds it down.
Tracklist: 1. The Beginning 2. No Gimmicks 3. Hand-Me-Downs 4. The Extra Mile 5. Blame It On The Jager 6. I Need My Minutes 7. Keep It Hot For Daddy 8. I'm Free 9. Keys 10. The Cool Thing To Do 11. Priceless 12. Drugs, Sex, Alcohol, Rock-N-Roll 13. Things Go Better
Los Angeles rapper Blu hooked up with producer Exile for this album, which became known as somewhat of a hip-hop classic. Exile produced the entire album, and Blu provides all the vocals, and boy does he provide. If you dont have it already, check it out.
Tracklist: 01. My World Is 02. The Narrow Path 03. Simply Amazin' 04. Juicen' Dranks 05. In Remembrance Of Me 06. Blu Cola Workers 07. Dancing In The Rain 08. First Things First 09. No Greater Love 10. Show Me The Good Life 11. Simply Amazin' 12. Cold Hearted 13. The World Is (Below the Heavens) 14. You Are Now In The Clouds With (The Koochie Monstas) 15. I Am...
Hail Mary Mallon is a hip hop supergroup consisting of Rob Sonic, DJ Big Wiz, and Aesop Rock. All of them kill it on this album, and with signature Aesop style, almost every line on the album leaves you thinking, "what the hell?" However, it's in a good way, not like how you would say, "what the hell?" after Lil' Wayne rhymes the same word 4 times in a row. The question is, Are You Gonna Listen To It?
Tracklist: 1. Church Pants 2. Garfield 3. Grubstake 4. Meter Feeder 5. Smock 6. The Poconos 7. Breakdance Beach 8. Table Talk 9. Mailbox Baseball 10. Holy Driver 11. Knievel 12. Plagues and Bacon
From Rhymesayers: "Together/Apart is the highly anticipated Rhymesayers debut album fromGrieves coming June 21st, 2011. Teaming up with longtime friend and producerBudo, Together/Apart is an album infused with soulful horns, keys, and guitar. Lyrically, the album encompasses both the difficulties and joys of maintaining professional and personal relationships when on the road and back at home."
I've personally been waiting for this album since the announcement of the album, so its been a while. A quick listen through quickly told me that it delivers in full. My only gripe about this album is that pretty much every song sounds the same. Its kind of like the TV show house, it follows a formula, and you know what's coming, but its still a good use of time. check it out
Tracklist: 01. Lightspeed
02. Bloody Poetry
03. Falling From You
04. On The Rocks
05. Sunny Side Of Hell
06. Tragic
07. Boogie Man
08. Pressure Cracks
09. No Matter What
10. Vice Grip
11. Heartbreak Hotel
12. Speak Easy
13. Prize Fighter
14. Wild Thing
15. Growing Pains
16. Against The Bottom
This is the second Atmosphere album on the blog, so if you want to read about him, see "The Family Sign" post. I believe that this is his best album, and he dives into all sorts of subjects from prostitution to poverty. Worth the download.
Tracklist: 1. Like The Rest Of Us 2. Puppets 3. The Skinny 4. Dreamer 5. Shoulda Know 6. You 7. Painting 8. Your Glasshouse 9. Yesterday 10. Guarantees 11. Me 12. Wild Wild Horses 13. Can't Break 14. The Waitress 15. In Her Music Box
Cool Calm Pete is a korean-american rapper/producer. Lost is his only official studio album as of now. However, more mixtapes and such are out if you're willing to find them. He raps slowishly and uses a doom-esque amount of sampling in his album. Make sure to check it out especially if you're lost.
Tracklist: 1. Intro 2. Lost 3. The List 4. Cloudy 5. Wind Spirits 6. Cool Calm Science 7. F@#$%&!*k Yooouu (ft. Thirstin Howl & Lathia Black) 8. 2 a.m. 9. New Jack Biddie (ft. Jaymanila & Jungle Mike) 10. Tune In 11. Lost Interlude 12. Dinner And A Movie 13. Brush P.S.A. (ft. Jungle Mike) 14. Wishes and Luck
Australian producer M-Phazes has worked with tons of MCs and rappers around the globe, but for Good Gracious, he pretty much kept it native. The album features mostly if not all Aussie rappers doing their thing. Super well produced and pretty damn catchy.
Tracklist: 01 - For What It's Worth (Feat. Solo) 02 - Where's Elvis? (Feat. Drapht) 03 - The Freak Show (Feat. Mantra) 04 - Goodbye Gravity (Feat. Muph N Plutonic With Candice Monique) 05 - Home (Feat. Delta) 06 - Blind Man (Feat. Pegz) 07 - Long Winding Road (Feat. Spit Syndicate) 08 - Music Box (Feat. Phrase) 09 - The Club Song (Feat. Forthwrite) 10 - Keep Running (Feat. NFA) 11 - Triumph (Feat. 13th Son) 12 - Walk On Clouds (Feat. Bliss N Eso) 13 - The Facilitator (Feat. Dialectrix) 14 - That's What We On (Feat. Nine High) 15 - Take It From Me (Feat. Illy)
The Chicharones are a duo of MCs consisting of Sleep (of Oldominion) and Josh Martinez. I found out about these guys from Pandora, when Little by Little came up, and after that, I had to look up the rest. The intro is good, the lyrics are strong, and the production is pretty good.
Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Pork Rind Disco
3. Surf Rock
4. Little By Little
5. Breaking Point
6. Fiesta
7. Freeze Up
8. Ring Ring
9. Bully Bully
10. Guys Like Me
11. Red Carpet Treatment
12. Can't Find The Time
13. Keep It Moving
14. Take It Easy DJ Moves (Moves)
Recently available for digital download but set for a physical release on june 14th, Cinemetropolis is Blue Scholar's third LP. The album is almost completely sample-free, or at least sounds so, and has heavy synth use by producer half Sabzi. The album has the same sound and feel of the OOF! EP by Blue Scholars, released in 2009.
Hilltop Hoods are a group consisting of Suffa, Pressure, and DJ Debris. The Hard Road kills it with top notch production and raps on the same level from Suffa and Pressure. Listen to the crowd-rocking album here.
Tracklist: 1 RECAPTURING THE VIBE 2 CLOWN PRINCE 3 THE HARD ROAD 4 STOPPING ALL STATIONS 5 CONVERSATIONS FROM A SPEAKEASY (Feat. OMNI) 6 WHAT A GREAT INTRO 7 WHAT A GREAT NIGHT (DNR) 8 CITY OF LIGHT 9 OBESE LOWLIFES (Feat. MYSTRO & BRAINTAX) 10 CIRCUIT BREAKER 11 BREATHE 12 THE BLUE BLOODED (Feat. THE BLUE BLOODED ALLSTARS) 13 MONSTERS BALL 14 AN AUDIENCE WITH THE DEVIL 15 THE CAPTURED VIBE Feat. DJ REFLUX
It's hard to describe or label Aesop Rock with a short description. He's white and raps fast-ish, and with tricky wording. It's easier to just listen.
Tracklist:
1. Keep Off The Lawn
2. None Shall Pass
3. Catacomb Kids
4. Bring Back Pluto
5. Fumes
6. Getaway Car (feat. Cage and Breeze Brewin)
7. 39 Thieves
8. The Harbor is Yours
9. Citronella
10. Gun For The Whole Family (feat. El-P)
11. Five Fingers
12. No City
13. Dark Heart News (feat. Rob Sonic)
14. Coffee (feat. John Darnielle)
M.I. self produced this 15 track album by chopping up Jack Johnson and slapping some hip-hop beats over the samples. It makes for a unique sound that mixes super well. Listen up.
Tracklist:
1. All at Once
2. A Dream
3. I Swear
4. Time
5. Gone Away
6. I Saw U
7. I Know ft LQ
8. Do u Remember
9. These Ideas
10. Home
11. Wasting Love
12. Feels Like
13. Understand
14. Rearview
15. Time (Radio Edit)
Understand:
Its a Free Mixtape, so share the love
Download: Mediafire
It's easy to write off Asher Roth. There are many reasons to do so as well. You can say he is a sellout, or a shitty rapper that just talks about parties and girls, or that he is a fake Eminem. Whatever you chose, just take a second and listen to the other songs on his album. He is actually a skilled rapper who does pretty well on the rest of the album. Also the production is pretty good if you ask me. At least listen to the songs posted.
Tracklist: 1. Lark on My Go Cart (prod. by Oren Yoel and David Appleton) 2. Blunt Cruisin (prod. by Oren Yoel) 3. I Love College (prod. By Mike Carren and Ben Allen) 4. La Di Da (prod. By Don Cannon) 5. Be By Myself Feat. Cee-Lo (prod. by Oren Yoel) 6. She Don’t Want A Man (prod. by Oren Yoel) 7. Sour Patch Kids (prod. by Oren Yoel) 8. As I Em (prod. by Oren Yoel and David Appleton) 9. Lion's Roar (feat Busta Rhymes)10. Bad Day Feat. Jazze Pha (prod. by Oren Yoel and David Appleton) 11. His Dream Feat. Miguel (prod. by Yoel) 12. Fallin 13. Perfectionist 14. The Lounge 15. Y.O.U. (feat Slick Rick)
Like most other people who have heard this album, I first heard of Watsky as the "Pale kid raps fast" kid. However, he's not just some one-hit wonder. George Watsky has been doing rapping and spoken word contests for more than 5 years, and he has gotten pretty good at rapping. Since the album, he has put out some more songs on Youtube, such as Stupidass. In his album, he covers topics from epilepsy to racial issues, and does so over well-produced beats with a unique style of rapping that keeps you listening.
Tracklist: 1. Headphones 2. Amplified (feat. Rafael Casal) 3. Fuck an Emcee Name 4. G.O.A.T.(W.G.M.F.M.C.) 5. Waking Hour (feat. Mariami) 6. The Girl Next Door (To Everybody Else) 7. Run My Mouth (feat. Danny McClain) 8. Who’s Been Loving You? 9. I Got This Love (feat. Passion) 10. Fight! Fight! Fight! (feat. Dahlak Brathwaite) 11. Color Lines (feat. Catch Wreck) 12. Hercules 13. Two Blue Moons 14. Everything Turns Gold (feat. Gift of Gab and Mieka Pauley)
