New Rap Music
Cyssero f/ Beanie Sigel – “Let’s Talk About It“
After an extended silence Beans has been hitting the guest spot rounds pretty hard lately. Here he passes one of his subdued, Scarface style hood landscape verses off to Cyssero. Cyssero is one of the more notable Philly dudes that’s always being filmed freestyling forever in front of carry outs, for those of you who don’t pay attention to these things.
CunninLynguists f/ Khujo Goodie & Killer Mike – “Georgia (Remix)“
from Strange Journey Vol. 1 Mixtape (QN5, Available March 24)
I’ve always had mixed feelings about CL. Their production is pretty impeccable and they seem really earnest in their passion for all things Dungeon, still there’s a sort of a tacky old time revue feel to it. HITS IN THE STYLE OF GOODIE MOB. So there’s a real Hall/Oats/Kendricks/Ruffin thing about whenever they bring those guys in for guest appearances. It’s a nice gesture, but still feels a little empty. Specifically the language of the “clay is running red” refrain sounds like somebody trying really hard to imitate a late in the album Outkast track and not quite hitting the mark. But I’m not going to complain about Khujo & Killer rapping. CL just need to channel that DF influence into a more original voice. And a better name (you already know!)
Jay Electronica – “Candy Man” (Web/Radio Rip)
And speaking of needing a better rap name… Jay kicks a strange style here, for a second it almost sounds like he’s going for a Biggie impression ala that Nas track he did a little while back but then he expands beyond that. Just one verse here, not sure if the DJ cut it off, but given Jay’s track record it’s possible that this is the whole track. In a lot of the recent press for the new UGK record Bun has been talking about their creative process, how Pimp was always the one who crafted the songs, album structure, etc. while Bun was the complex rapping rapper anchor. I think Jay would seriously benefit by joining a dup with that sort of balance. He’s such an intricate lyricist it almost does his verses a disservice to just throw them out there with no structure. Hell a duets album with him and the wifey could be pretty incredible. Or him and Diddy.
Slim Thug f/ Z-Ro & J-Dawg – “Associates“
from Boss Of All Bosses (Koch, Available March 24)
It’s that Rother, mayn! Z-Ro and Thugga should make an album together. Boss Of All Bosses starts off kind of clunky but the second half has some really amazing records, this being one of them.
Street Sweeper (Boots Riley and Tom Morello) – “Clap For The Killers“
from Ninja 2009 EP (Internet, 2009)
Boots has been long been talking up this collaboration album with Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello and it looks like it’s finally about to come to fruition. So it’s sort of depressing how the production is basically cookie cutter ten year old Rage stuff, especially considering the early Prince direction Boots was looking with the last Coup record. I was hoping for Morello to bring some more technical proficiency to that aesthetic. But then again nobody ever listened to The Coup for their beats and “Clap For The Killers” succeeds (or is as successful as rock-rap can be) solely on the strength of Boots’ who’s-the-real-criminal raps. This is from a free EP compilation promoting this summer’s Nine Inch Nails/Janes Addiction/Street Sweeper tour. There is another SS track on that download and a second floating around. Neither are very good.
March 20th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
2009 is startin to look better now. cant wait for the new big boi album, ugk4life, and dat z-ro cracc mixtape.
March 21st, 2009 at 1:25 am
Beans is killin’ it! Dude is like Andre a coupla years ago murdering sixteens on all sorts of cameos. Too bad that Boots and Morello can’t create something better, they are both really talented dudes.
March 21st, 2009 at 7:09 am
yo i was always thoroughly annoyed by the ‘cunninglynguists’ name..the only way they can make me listen to their shit is by
A) featuring killer mike
B) featuring swollen members
March 21st, 2009 at 9:34 am
I’m feeling this new rap music series (and its clever title), not feeling any of these tracks save the beanie verse.
March 21st, 2009 at 9:54 am
Man, the new Boots is disappointing. Collaborating with Morello for one or two tracks might be cool on a Boots solo LP, but I can’t imagine a whole album of this.
March 21st, 2009 at 10:54 am
swollen members?? is this 98??? please i thought(hoped) they were gone forever…antartican rap>>>>canadian rap
morello makes me laugh cuz he thinks he can recreate what rage had..when in reality zack was the backbone of that group …just peep the latese “ONEDAYASALION” ep…that shitt knocks…..this song doesnt….
March 21st, 2009 at 11:23 am
“But then again nobody ever listened to The Coup for their beats…”
I did, circa “Kill My Landlord”
March 21st, 2009 at 11:25 am
Yeah david i agree
but just imagine the awesomeness of a song cropping up in your winamp with as artist
” Cunninglynguists feat. Swollen Members “
March 21st, 2009 at 11:34 am
fat cats bigga fish>>>that meth and red song with the same beat
March 21st, 2009 at 5:36 pm
that slim thug is dope, i was wondering what was up with him
that cl+mike+khujo is also dope
they produced on witchdoctors album and according to hiphopdx may have joints on killer mike’s grand hustle record and 1-2 of them are from ga. i think the hate is probably unwarranted, maybe they just vibe?
March 21st, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Associates goes hard. Houston Rap loves electric guitars, coincidentally Scarface is the only rapper holding a guitar I can really trust.
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:57 am
is there any consensus on the best beanie mixtape ?
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Public Enemy #1 with Green Lantern.
March 22nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I disagree on Jay Electronica, his lack of structure is part of what makes him so interesting to listen to for me.
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:39 pm
CL – on point description
March 22nd, 2009 at 5:36 pm
CL is the Jurassic 5 of southern rap (J5, of course, being the Sha Na Na of rap)
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:30 pm
THAT BOOTS/MORELLO JOINT WAS TIGHT!
“JUS REMEMBER ALL CAPS WHEN U SPELL THE MAN’S NAME”
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I really don’t want to see Jay Elec gain “structure”, more “The Pledge”s or this and less “Feel Good”s…I think that “Exhibit A (Transformations)” was a good balance though
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Also, comparing Hall & Oates to Cunninglynguists is a bigtime insult to Hall and Oates
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Excuse me for being an ignant ass hater for a moment, but seriously, what’s the hype about Jay Electronica all about? I haven’t been feeling any of the songs you’ve posted of his over the past few years, and I just don’t get it. What separates him from any other “underground” rapper that talks about something other than coke? Personally, I’d take some shitty coke rhymes over his shit any day. Please educate me!
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:56 am
Slim’s gotta check his boy for that verse on “Associates”. If he brings that garbage to the table for such an epic track, he’s gotta Brett Myers him out of the studio.
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Who produced the Cyssero track?
BTW, Beanie Sigel > Cyssero.
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:10 pm
“Who produced the Cyssero track?”
No idea.
“BTW, Beanie Sigel > Cyssero.”
Obviously.
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
i gotta stick up for CL here. the CL of “dirty acres” fits the description here perfectly, especially with the big rube appearance and just the general vibe of the album, trying too hard to be haunting. but prior to dirty acres, CL had a style all their own. their first three albums were them at their best – a group from the south, who repped the south, but had a nerdy backpacker element that kind of let them go a lot farther into left field than most southern undergrounders would dare go. kno seems to be making an effort to tone down the craziness of his samples, and you gotta wonder if it’s because he wants the group to be more accepted in the traditional southern scene
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:28 pm
gucci!
http://www.divshare.com/download/6899035-ec3
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
air max mayn: iss not abou bein more accepted in de traditonal sotuhern scene fo dem mayn. iss about de fact dat traditional southern rap is juss plain betta den “nerdy backpacker” shit mayn. dey reinvented demselves to make betta music dass all. dey prolly felt corny after 5 years uv dat playful shit mayn dey prolly wanna change their name but de rhymesayerz (AKA laziest label in music) crowd wud be confused where dey went
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:17 pm
an dont git it twisted i on’t fuck wit rhymesayaz mayn i juss know dat dey ont like releasin more den wun album in a 18 month period mayn
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:05 pm
i feel you mayn. i agree that a good record with that real southern soul on it beats a QN5 record 7 days of the week (no hate). but for CL in particular, i think they were better with the showtunes samples and shit than acoustic guitar samples, at least as far as beats are concerned. i kinda feel bad sayin that though because i feel like as soon as they started tryin to make some country rap tunes they lost a lot of the backpacker support they had. so i hope they get better at it so they dont have to depend on/make music for that crowd anymore
March 24th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
yo!
when is that willie isz gonna drop? been waiting on that for a while? can you hook me up wuth that sampler you listening too?
cheers from norway