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.

“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”

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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)“

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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. (more…)

This So Icey Ent. freestyle from BET’s The Deal has been making the rounds for the past 48 hours and I think it deserves it’s own post. Juice and Waka pretty do what they do. At this point you’re either a fan or not. (Did they blow up the Nah Right showcase last night? Is New York Alaska yet? No?)

But it’s next generation sex kitten femcee Niki Manaj who steals the show. And not in a good way. In fact it might possibly be the worst freestyle to ever run on BET. Yet I can’t stop watching it. There’s an almost Lynchian quality to the whole image, so viscerally disturbing that it’s actually beautiful. Her appearance is plasticized and she remains almost motionless apart from some jarring head motion. Her elbows are froze perfectly at 45 degree angles, her leopard print tights nearly camel toed, her eyes glazed behind too large sunglass frames. She is rapping with every accent and yet no accent at all. She is a robot mimicking mimicking high society mimicking a hoodrat in a naive attempt to show out on their myspace photo shoot. She might actually make for a brilliant conceptual artist if we were to pile on more context than makeup. But she’s definitely an awful rapper.

Related: Niki Minaj Wants More Cheese

I’m so fucking dumb I wear diamonds on my thumbs
it’s a diamond on my dick, so that’s a diamond on her tongue
I can’t feel you baby, ’cause I’m romantically numb
emotionally drained, I came here just so I could cum

Gucci beats Drake at his own honest misogynist game. Via TNT.

And in world news:

“Gucci wants to flood the streets, takeover,” DJ Holiday said. “The mixtape is called The Cold War, and it’ll be a three-part series, [subtitled] Guccimerica, Great Brrritain and BurrRussia. They’re droppin’ Saturday at 10:17 p.m.”

Flocka has a new tape today as well.