RSSNew Rap Music
Does this series work for people? I know I’m a few days or even weeks late on some of these joints, and probably costing myself some oh so valuable page impressions by not making these separate updates, but this approach makes it a lot easier to organize my thoughts and make sure I am getting you records that are actually good or at least significant. I can go back to the one post per song frantic Nah Right pace if that’s preferred. But I probably won’t.
D-Lo f/ E-40, Jacka & Beeda Weeda – “No Hoe (Remix)“
Spinning off last nights jerkin’ post [||] here some real grown rappers jump on one of the scene’s early inspirations. Hyphy may have officially lost its way when so many of its principles decided to cues from Atlanta on their signature singles. Suddenly it was high energy crunk, low fi snap, strip club bass anything but the synth madness Rick Rock freak outs that the bay fell in love with. “No Hoe” side steps such distinctions by basically being all of these things at once. According to the email it was attached to it clocks in at 100 BPM (I’ll take their word for it, I forgot how to count beats around the same time being a DJ became a less relevant pursuit than being a janitor) but it’s so spacious it seems like it is crawling. Also some of the rapping is close to excellent.
Young Dro – “Dro Rock Diamonds“
Blogs are loving this right now and rightfully so. It only took two solo tracks for me to admit that I spoke too soon. Dro has done the opposite of falling off. He is standing on. Here he’s supported by a pretty complex Al Green chop. Really he should stop trying to make hits and get ready to go into his Freeway era where he just gets really great production, raps well and throws tracks out to blogs. The likelihood of him producing another “Shoulder Lean” is getting slimmer and slimmer. If his album ever comes out it needs to be on this tip and devoid of “futuristic swag”. He is a goddamn grownup, after all.
Rodney f/ Fabo – “Work Da Jelly“
Fabo has finally found a beat spastic enough for his personality. No clue who Rodney is.
Lil Wayne – “How Can Something“
from My Face Can’t Be Felt (Mixtape, 2009)
Wayne has spread himself so thin as of late that it seems like he can’t simultaneously be great at all the things he is great at. Here he’s writing at full strength. “Love never dies / but it will kill you”, “if the pro-tools stop recording I’m still balling”. These are the type of raps that would slay dead all of his haters that want to pretend that he’s some sort of drug addled unfocused mess. This is the type of personal stuff he was slipping into the end of mixtapes 2-3 years ago, the type of shit that would have been a great anchor for the back end of The Carter III. The beat is tailor made for that too. But his actual delivery just sounds so distant and empty. Which is weird because emoting has never been Wayne’s problem. The whole Wayne/Juelz tape has this almost great vibe to it and in a sense that’s probably worse than if it was genuinely bad.
Derty Den f/ Gorilla Zoe – “Fly Shit“
Between this and his Lil Ru remix Zoe has been building with the Carolinas hard as of late. Like “Nasty Girl”, “Fly Shit” shares that sort of moody vibe that Don’t Feed The Animals was shooting for and mostly missed. Both rappers lean on the beat a little too much, but I don’t really mind. (via Hotnewhiphop.com)
Bohagon f/ Sean P & Young Capone – “Millie Look Like“
Deej at The Shrimp (incidentally) briefly mentioned the “subconscious influence” of Young Dro and I’ve since been obsessed with spotting that. Here Bohagon, who has one of the best voices in rap is bragging about “alligator shrimp”. Yeah, thank Dro for that.
Level f/ Box – “Hustle Everyday“
from Street Credit (Mixtape, 2009)
New joint out of Baton Rouge. Not sure who is Level and who is Box and google is only taking me to different aisles in Home Depot. One of them is a little bit Boosie-lite but the other has a pretty unique style and raps like he cares about the world. (via Traps N Trunks)
Young L – “In Here”
Young L – “BASED“
from Cutty Row/Based Sensation (Internet, 2009)
Lil B – “My Baby”
Here’s a where are they now run down to complement yesterdays . (They are still here.) Producer/rapper Young L put out a new double album a couple of months back The first half is exactly what you would want from a Young L solo album – off kilter post-hyphy with childlike punchline rap. The second finds him in unapologetic and awful wayne/autotune/alt rock territory. At least he had the decency to split it down the middle. Cutty Row is a fantastic EP and “N*ggas is going dumb on violins” might be one of the best adlibs I’ve ever heard. On “My Baby” his Pack partner Lil B is basically rapping over IDM (or “dubstep” if you started listening to electronic music in 2005 or “lazer bass” if you really like Dilla?). Serious Global Goon moves on the first half and then wait for the beat change at the halfway mark. It’s not exactly good but good for him. Anyone have a CDQ? (Lil B via: digitaldripped)
Lil Boosie f/ Webbie – “Fuck The Police“
Boosie is the most political.
27 Comments, Comment or Ping
mush
yeah it works, don’t change it
Apr 3rd, 2009
booise & paris hilton a carmel sundae
no “i get toe -i get toe – i get toe up under city lights”?
Apr 3rd, 2009
duncan
keep it like this please. its nice. :-)
Apr 3rd, 2009
wes
nah noz i’m down with this format
Apr 3rd, 2009
Jay Deff Kay
Solid list as usual.
“the synth madness Rick Rock freak outs”
I miss those so much. Those Turf Talk and Federation albums made me a full blown stan. Wht is dude upto these days? Last I heard him was on G Unit’s Rider Part 2. Not what I was hoping for.
“Deej at The Shrimp (incidentally) briefly mentioned the “subconscious influence” of Young Dro and I’ve since been obsessed with spotting that. ”
Great point from an absolutely great writeup. I disagree with regards to his point on Wayne though – I actually do hear Wayne’s influence on today’s rappers waay more than I hear Gucci’s influence.
Apr 3rd, 2009
Joseph
Nice to see The Pack getting some love from a more established site. Maybe it well help people to take them seriously? *holds breath*
‘Based Boys’ is one of the best rap albums of the ’00s. And these new Lil B tracks that Nation of Thizzlam has been posting are great. They out-Wayne Wayne.
Apr 3rd, 2009
Joseph
**2009 too-high-to-rap Wayne that is
Apr 3rd, 2009
Detroit P
I actually do hear Wayne’s influence on today’s rappers waay more than I hear Gucci’s influence.
^^^^^^^
Are you refering to how today’s rappers compare themselves to/mention “shit” more and more(see: Gorrila Zoe) or…I don’t even kno how to finish this question…..what’s the difference between having an influence on a generation of rappers vs. Having rappers mimic your style just because it’s the new hot thing?
Apr 3rd, 2009
Parodi
DRO!
Apr 3rd, 2009
Jay Deff Kay
“what’s the difference between having an influence on a generation of rappers vs. Having rappers mimic your style just because it’s the new hot thing?”
Well, the idea of influence from a broader perspective and the idea of merely mimicing styles don’t have to be mutually exclusive concepts do they? I’m sure Biggie’s influential in more ways than one, but people jocking his flow is part and parcel of Biggie’s influence right?
As for Wayne’s influence, I’m not saying its good, but it does exist, and quite easy to spot as well. In terms of obvious stylistic influence, there’s flow-related stuff like that whole choppy over-enunciation he’s popularized. His success probably has also encouraged rappers to indulge more with weird personas. Plus, I’m assuming the work and mixtape ethic that he’s translated into mainstream success is atleast partially responsible for the gazzillion amount of mixtapes some of these artists are saturating us with right now.
I’ve come around to appreciate Gucci’s work after So many Shrimp’s classic post, but I can’t as easily pinpoint Gucci’s influence yet or name a rapper beside OJ who seems to be picking apart Gucci’s style.
Apr 3rd, 2009
Detroit P
@Jay Deff Kay
Truuu…Okay I understand then, yea I agree with you…..as Far as Gucci’s influence is concerned..I’d say look at Soulja Boy, he has Gucci Mane written all over him…I can’t think of anybody else at the moment…but to the rest of the world he’s “just”(in the loosest sense of the word) getting hot so time will tell
Apr 3rd, 2009
walkmasterflex
i like the new site but i’m still so sad you killed the message board :’(
Apr 3rd, 2009
gillesenteuse
“that sort of moody vibe that Don’t Feed The Animals was shooting for and mostly missed”
totally agree I’ve got space issues on my mp3 player and for all the months I waited for that album it got rotated out in like 2 days once it dropped. And I’m way pro-moody, pro-autotuner and pro-rappers singing.
I think both Gucci and Wayne have had a huge influence on rap formally, both rappers and listeners, and I don’t think it’s that necessary to get polemic about championing one or the other. Like Shrimp said, Gucci has any of a million ways to approach his space on a track, and so does Wayne, and you never quite know what to expect. I think formally Wayne is even more adventurous, and they’re both good for rap IMO. Wayne can’t stop haters from jacking autotune for a gimmick–his commitment to it goes way beyond that to the point where it’s almost an essential or organic (tho it’s obviously mechanical, that’s the point) part of his voice.
and PS Wayne does rap in ‘09. Tell me his verse off Unstoppable on the Drake mixtape (which IMO is excellent Noz you need to give that another spin) isn’t fire. Or “Ignant Shit” on the same tape. To name just a few.
Apr 3rd, 2009
hotbox
there’s a rapper name box? that’s my shit yo
Apr 3rd, 2009
Nordy
Don’t change a thing! I love getting these in one shot. Keep it going. Those blogs on the “I was first shit” just ends up posting a bunch of bullshit. Take your time, and keep posting QUALITY music!
Apr 3rd, 2009
mark p.
Figured it was only a matter of time before you blogged D-Lo! Check the remix with Mistah FAB and The Jacka* as well, as well as the Nation Of Thizzlam blog for some bonus D-Lo joints.. Dude has allegedly been “working” on a mixtape for ages but I doubt it’ll see the light of day any time soon.
*Speaking of which, “The Jack Artist” is possibly in my Bay Area top 10 this decade. Dude is pretty close to being the Bay Area’s Z-Ro, except maybe not quite as good as that makes him sound. He’s dope, though.
Apr 4th, 2009
MLD6
The guy who doesn’t sound like Boosie says “Box been this fly”, so I guess the guy who does sound like Boosie is Level.
Apr 4th, 2009
Bobby
Yo NOZ you heard this new SLIM THUG album? Its the real deal!!!!
Apr 4th, 2009
daws
sweet like the pussy in which i eat. good post.
wayne’s held sway over eybody’s style for many seasons, now. drake’s rap on “so far gone” makes for the best example i can scare up, bouts of post-grad introspective stunting notwithstanding.
Apr 4th, 2009
andy hams
this format is the best thing ever. please do not switch to the one song per post style. this is much more interesting, and affords me the opportunity to jam out to a few new songs every week at work without having to dick around with the browser too much.
Apr 6th, 2009
Supreme Neck Protector
This format is bangin’ ‘cos when we get to listen to more than one new rap joint at a time and there’s thoughtful commentary on ‘em an’ they’s all dope or at least interesting then it is bangin’.
Apr 6th, 2009
Supreme Neck Protector
W/r/t references to shit, Wayne’s don’t work in my opinion. The ‘poo stains’ bit from the Shawty Lo remix and “Dear Mr. Toilet” both = yikes wack in my opinion. See also Bun B “Still On Tha Grind”. Worth a try but it’s not working as a trend/motif imo. If you exempt Method Man, the only time I can think of that it worked was “I’m the SHIT, ’cause I come from the BOWELS!”
Apr 6th, 2009
k
i like the new format too.
i’m also not mad at the forum disappearing…even though i was happy when it came back from the dead the last time, it’s been re-dying for a while.
Apr 6th, 2009
EWOULDBLOCK
This works. And I am way further behind internet time, apparently.
Apr 17th, 2009
kID oKI
i was reading a blog bout spice 1 speaking on the new artist and how they aint bout shit. i love dro music but the Pack n D-Lo even Fab are garbage and ya’ll been hearing the bullshit sooo long that ya standards dropped…wtf
May 26th, 2009
modi
i just downloaded every song on this page except the big L joints.
Sep 2nd, 2009
sandra742
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.
Sep 9th, 2009
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