Cocky & Confident drops on December 1st and I’m filling space with videos. In related news: B.G. just got arrested on felony gun charges so don’t hold your breath for that Hot Boyz reunion.

Better late than never, I recently wrote a short feature about the life and unfortunate passing of DJ Roc Raida over at NPR. As with the Bun B piece, I wanted to highlight a few of the interviews I conducted here at CB, to get a little more in depth into Raida’s legacy. First up is Raida’s friend and fellow DMC champion DJ A-Trak.

Noz: How much of an influence did Raida have on DJing?
A-Trak: Raida was a huge influence on DJing especially battle DJing. As a battle DJ he was one of the DJs with the best stage presence. [He had] an air of confidence that when he was doing his routines it looked so easy. He was so fast and it looked like he was just sort of born to do this thing. He brought back a lot of the classic New York hip hop battling, boombastic attitude. On a more technical level he advanced the art of beat juggling a lot. The way that he would freak two copies of a record and make a new beat out of it was really advanced. He was doing a bunch of stuff – playing records backwards, flipping records on 45 and making a whole new beat out of it. That’s a lot of the progress that he brought. [Read more]

This has been out for a while but it’s new to me, first heard it on Frenchie’s Nightmare on Brick Street tape. A few of these names are familiar (Eldorado Red has worked with Rick Rock extensively) but most are lesser known Atlanta rappers (and those that transplanted to the A – Frenchie is from Queens). The track reaffirms both what I was saying a few days ago about the death of the fun posse cut and what we discussed a few weeks prior about the rebirth of crunk. Say what you will about the Brick Squad and their extended family but at the very least they are a welcome antidote to the post-Jay-Z/Young Chris too cool to rap whisper style. Everybody on this track is pretty excited about rapping, whether or not they are actually good at it. And a couple of them are quite good at it. Though Ms. GoHam is definitely no Nicki Minaj.

I’ve been lunchin. Lil B sent over another batch of new joints on Saturday and I fully neglected to post them. Well they’re here now. His Soulja Boy collab “Meet Young Bitch” turned up on Soulja’s Paranormal Activity tape (as well as a skit where the two of them send some shots at the New Boyz) but we’ve got the CDQ for you. Oh yes. I think “7th Heaven” is the standout here. What do you think, readers? More after the jump. [Read more]

Song is still corny but director Gabriel Hart (”My President Is Black”) turns the video bonkers by treating Hype Williams colors with a heavy noise/film grain filter. LA looks something like an alien when this effect hits his awkward haircut at the right angle. It might look like shit on a TV screen but it’s just odd enough to look brilliant in a worldstar window. And “The Choice Is Yours” bumfight breakdown is very Reggie Noble in its irreverence.

It’s good to see these guys survived the TVT implosion. This song is um… something. Their long awaited (by me and probably some kids in Chicago) album is out tomorrow.

Related: Dude N Nem Interview At Gowhere

Jay-Z & Roc-A-Fella – Funk Flex Freestyles (Hot 97, 2001)
State Property – Funk Flex Freestyles (Hot 97, 2002)
Jay-Z & Roc-A-Fella – Angie Martinez Freestyles (Hot 97, 2002) *LINK FIXED*

“Average Cat” is just sad. Beans should have either gone for Jigga’s jugular or just left this dispute between him and the Roc-A-Lawyers. The Game opened the door for these scorned lover rants disguised as diss records and that ain’t cool to be.

But the problem is bigger than just the public airing of family drama, it’s that Beans mistook the Roc for family at all. (Jay predictably responded by talking business.) But can you blame him. Listening to all these old freestyles it certainly sounds like a familial bond Maybe Jay changed his pitch up when he became a business icon a few years later. Or maybe he was just a great actor. Whatever the case these tapes remain some of the better radio ciphers of the decade.

Shouts to whoever ripped these back then, in all their 128 kbps glory. Hit the jump for more commentary and the rest of the video clips of the first session, courtesy of Cipha Sounds. [Read more]

This is what a thousand dollar rap record sounds like. Spooky.

“Monster Rapping” was produced by Dr. Dre and Lonzo from the World Class Wreckin Cru. Larry Goodman aka Laylaw would later figure prominently in the Above The Law production unit. [Read more]

“Grandma probably rise from the grave / heard what I paid for it…“

Gucci Mane has released something close to a hundred songs in the last two weeks or so. I hope Warner doesn’t sue me before I finish giving each and every one a full and thoughtful listen. Here are some highlights from the Cold War saga, plus a few other loosies that have dripped to the web in recent days.

Gucci Mane – “Break Ya Self”

from Brrrussia (Mixtape, 2009)
For UGK being his favorite group, his production is usually far from Pimp’s classical trunk funk. So it’s nice to hear Guch hop on some heavy Hammonds once in a while. It has been a long time since I’ve heard a rapper use the word “dolo.” Of course, rhyming it with “solo” is probably not the most inspired decision but the other rapps more than make up for the slippage.

50 Cent f/ Gucci Mane – “Crime Wave (Remix)“

The biggest secret in rap is that 50 still makes good to great music. Even if every beat he rocks these days has the exact same drum pattern. It’s strange that more parallels aren’t drawn between Gucci and Fif. Not so much musically, though they are both making a killing with a drawl, but morally. Gucci is on the cusp of wearing the rap villain belt that 50 once held. At least since Tupac, every era of rap has had a major villain. A force so evil that the crusaders for real hip hop (no tony d) and detractors against all hip hop must constantly remind us how the mere existence of these rappers is destroying the world. (Until, of course, a few years pass and their detractors either soften with nostalgia or are pandered to directly by a villain who has reinvented himself as a hero.) The vilification of major gangsta rappers is to be expected, even necessary, at this point. [Read more]

Born & Raised is in stores now.