RiRi does Rocky. Or the other way round… Anyway: A$AP Rocky knocks a quick 16 on the remix for Rihanna’s remix of Cockiness (Like It). Song is…kinda aight, I guess. It’s nice to see Rocky jumping on songs by artists like Usher and Rihanna and getting the exposure he deserves, I just hope that won’t effect the grittyness of his upcoming album LongLiveA$AP, slated for a Halloween-release.
Alright! Finally! FINALLY! A$AP Mob drop their new mixtape/album/callitwhachuwanna Lords Never Worry. 18 songs of Mob Madness! Stop readin‘. Give it a spin! Link comes courtesy of Live Mixtapes!
DOWNLOAD: A$AP Mob – Lords Never Worry:
Man, everytime Trae seems to fall off, he comes up with something SICK. Remember when he dropped I’m on? Well – he did it again! „I’m from Texas“ features the likes of his cousin Z-Ro, North Side-Representer Slim Thug, Shiny Mouth Paul Wall, Underground King Bun B and Kirko Bangz. And, booooooooooooooooy, what a song this is! Mr. Thompson, hook us up with a lil sum sum, like you did when you dropped Restless, six years ago!
That crazy brother is back! A$AP Ferg who brought us A Hundred Million Roses returns with his new video Work, off of A$AP Mob upcoming mixtape Lords Never Worry. Shit’s hypnotic. Straight druggish. We luv it!
With Bath Salt and Purple Kisses already bein‘ released and this one bein‘ the third straight banger, we really can’t wait for August 28th to arrive, so Lords Never Worry will finally be released!
Also make sure to check out that nice interview I did with Rocky recently: Choppin‘ it up with A$AP Rocky
Let me kick it off like that: this is – hands down – the best Soul-album of the 2000s. No doubt. Anthony Hamilton just brought what it took to take the prize, LIKE THAT! The gutter, the pain, the struggle, the fuck – THE SOUL. Comin‘ from where I’m from is way more than a piece of music. It’s a mood piece. It’s a chapter in somebody’s diary. And it will become a chapter in yours, as soon as you’ve heard it for the first time.
Listen to the title track. Tell me this AIN’T what gangster rap is supposed to be! Tell me it ain’t what Blues used to sound like, back in the days. Tell me you DON’T feel reminded of a Spiritual. This one right here is pure. It’s some of the most honest music ever released. Ironically, this soulful and un-blingish masterpiece was published by Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def-label. Now who said, JD only knows how to handle kids and females?!
12 Tracks take you places. They take you to stations in the life of Anthony Hamilton. To the gumbo kitchen of the South. To the depths of Charlotte, North Carolina where Anthony resides from. This one funky – check Cornbread, Fish & Collard Greens. This does to R&B/Neo-Soul, what Goodie Mob’s Soul Food did to Rap!
It takes you to Anthony’s heartbreaks, as in I’m a mess. „I can’t eat can’t sleep. Bills are piling high ain’t worked in three weeks…“ – we’ve all been there. Yet, it feels so special, whenever this man raises his voices. Whenever he tells his painful tales of love and loss. Seldom have I heard a cover-version of a song, as good as Lucille. When Kenny Rogers did GREAT, Anthony goes fabolous.
This album won’t only make you cry – even though it will! Float is super-sexy, Better Days is an unbelievably heartfelt lovesong and Chyna Black is one of the most epic road tracks ever. But they all bond because of the incredbile production of Mark Batson, Jermaine Dupri, James Poyser and Mr. Hamilton himself. Hammond organs, acoustic guitars and this extra portion of analogue sound in a world of digital music make you feel like home.
You’re not convince yet? Well, listen to the best Neo-Soul song past 1999:
Charlene. You know that song. Don’t you?! If you didn’t, you do now. And I KNOW you’re gonna love it. You’ll find yourself replaying it every now and then. Whenever you‘ feel low, this will be your jam. This will be your sanctuary where you’ll just draw back to and let your soul breathe. I know it will be. It’s been mine. Time and time again.
Anthony Hamilton – best Soul singer since Marvin Gaye. And that you can qoute.
Urrrr-right – 50 done did it! Today’s Curtis‘ birthday but instead of being greedy, he gives away a big present to the audience: his new mixtape 5 (Murder By Numbers) which can be downloaded from his homepage. 10 joints feat. ScHoolboy Q, Kidd Kidd & Brevi. G G G G G Unit/not?
DOWNLOAD: 50 Cent – 5 (Murder By Numbers)
I kind of caught the blues prior to writing this installment of „Throwback Thursday„, which made me chose this certain record. Now, Scratch Master K’s (how old school is that?!) second album really ain’t nothing too sad, but it’s got this mellow vibe, that goes with any kind of emotion. Therefor I found myself playing it countless times over the years.
SMK originally is from Rochester, New York, but you could never tell, judging on the sound of this album. Few producers have helped shaping the sound of Memphis Rap, the way SMK has. He’s made his mark with his soulful approach, relying heavily on funky basslines and mellow vibes, to kick back and zone out to. This here is straight Gangster Walk-music. Bump for the trunk. Gettin‘ Blowed-tracks. Of course it is – the cover depicts SMK not only smoking one, but TWO blunts at a time.
It’s straight underground. In a way. But you could still play Slow Down or Yo! It ain’t EZ for your girlfriend or even your mums and they will most likely feel it. While SMK might not be the most lyrical rapper of all time, he catches atmosphere and bumps it through the speakers.
M-Town is one of those songs. While the intro plays for about 50 seconds and is totally different from the song itself, you’ll find yourself bopping your head and moving your behind like a muuuuuuuh, as soon as the beat kicks in. SMK makes gangstas not only boogie. He makes them dance! And that’s what makes this album so special: it’s straight forward, you can tell by the cover, this is some explicit ish. But at the same time it’s diverse as can be, in it’s own right.
K takes on social criticism (All I know), reps his town (M-Town), his crew (B.P.P. in Yo Trunk), raps about smoking and getting drunk (Who’s got the Fi), dancing (Gangsta Walk) and – of course – women. Still it won’t leave you puzzled. This is one you can leave playing without skipping. Throw away your remote and activate replay-mode. Because that’s what you will find yourself doing: replaying the ish out of this record.
I told you I caught the blues. That’s why I’ll wrap it up with Hoes got me boned. To me this is the jam! SMK’s masterpiece. The bass takes you in zone. The drums make your neck hurt. The chorus gets you amped and the flow just makes you FEEL it.
Yupp – Aint nuttin shakin is a Gangsta/Thug/Drug Rap album. But there way more to it. So many personal aspects, facets and tweeks that it won’t leave your playlist for a long time!
A few weeks ago I received an eMail from the fellas of Classic Tattoo Berlin. They brought the Miami Ink-guys over to Germany and wanted us to have a lil‘ interview-thing with them at the radio station. Sure thing – why not?! The mail also mentioned some unknown Cypress Hill-vocalist they’d bring over. Mr. H.C.I.C. (Head Cracker In Charge that is) John and me were wondering. Who could that be?! Would they bring B-Real or Sen Dog? So we asked them and reply was „Mr. Psycho Rylm“ [sic]. SAY WHAT?! They’d bring Sick Jacken wit‘ them?! HELL YEAH, they did! Now THIS was a big thing for me, since I’ve been a Sick Side-listener for the past 15 years. Only a listener though. Never a soldier, which was obvious, when a non-familiar-looking guy in a blue shirt complimented me on my South Central Cartel-shirt. Little did I know it was the person I spoke about later. Jacken and me chopped it up on the chit-chat-tip when I told him „How long’s this Terror Tapes 2 been out?! I just LOVE Cynic, his voice and his flow are off the chain“ – Jacken laughed and pointed over to the guy sittin‘ on the couch „That’s my brother over there“. Ice was broken.
So we got our interview on. Jumpin‘ off with an explanation on what the whole „Sick Side“ is all about and where that came from.
This directly led us to the meaning of all this military vocabulary in the Sick Symphonies-Movement. Sick Side Soldiers/Uniforms, Street Platoons, War Story… Check out how Jacken explains all the military imagery.
Since Jacken and Cynic came to Berlin to promote their new collaborative effort Terror Tapes 2 (which, by the way, is pretty dope, so GET IT), I had to ask Cynic how it feels working with Jacken…
Next on the agenda was a question that I asked myself countless times over the years: how did that collaboration between 2Mex and Jacken happen?! It was FAR from obvious, even though both are of Mexican descent (ooooh – get the wordplay?!). Mr. Jacken shed a lil‘ light on that one.
Alright, since I had the chance to speak to Jacken, you know I would have to touch on the accident that happened to his brother Duke, destroyed Psycho Realm as a group and the most sad thing: his ability to walk and way of livin‘ the way he was used to. I really didn’t wanna go all dramatic and insightful on it though. It’s been done a billion times already. Also, it was written. By the man himself. So those that know know and those of you who don’t, READ IT UP. This easily is one of the most honest and saddest things I’ve ever come across. You think you know anything about courage, pride or manhood? You don’t know jack until your read this.
So I asked Jacken in what way it changed his take on music when Duke left. He kept it professional, touchin‘ on a very emotional topic which really impressed me.
Accidents like this one teach you to live without regrets, I guess. Which would explain Jacken’s answer when I asked him what he would have told the Young Jacken, 15 years ago, when the first Psycho Realm-LP dropped…
To wrap it up, I asked Cynic what a picture perfect morning in the life of Cynic would look like. And his answer was just as honest and humble as his rhymes are. Those dudes are real – 100.
To all of those that kept on readin‘ up until now: there’s a lottery this time. You want a signed copy of Terror Tapes 2? Of course you do! Like the facebook-page to register for the lottery and grant your chance to win a copy of the CD!
Thanks to Jacken, Cynic, Classic Tattoo, Miami Ink and anybody else I might’ve forgotten, that enabled this interview!
Hot 97’s own Funkmaster Flex drops the newest gem off of 50 Cents upcoming Free LP 5 (Murder By Numbers). To me it’s eeeeeeeeeeeeeh – what about y’all?!