"The Marshall Mathers LP 2 received acclaim from music critics".

hahahaha what? no way, those must be paid reviews. Jimmy Iovine is the fucking devil.

I have another friend who says he likes MMLP2 more than Relapse, Recovery.

Hmm.

Acid Rap is PROBABLY in my Top 10 this year. I don't like at as much as some of you guys. But shit grew on me for sure.

I'm still feeling Summer Knights, too.

i like Earl (the self-titled tape) more than Doris. it has that horror element into it, which is dope.

I think Earl is the best OF release period.

apparently, a lot of people seem to like the album. i deleted it after 1 listen, but the positive feedback made me wanna give it another chance just to make sure i'm not missing something.. will keep you guys updated.

Severian we've had this chat before, and the last time you asked me to do that, I took you up on it, and I spent over an hour listening to Kanye West on youtube, and I only reaffirmed all that I didn't like. I don't like his flow, its not my kind of beats/production. I never meant to imply that there was not technical skill or talent, rather that its just not my cup of tea. Music is a matter of taste, and I don't shit on the concept of talent, and respect even the Miley's of the world who have the balls to put out terrible records, but according to my taste, I just can't dig it, and yes, I've given it several sincere tries. Folks keep telling me the same thing about Kendrick Lamar, and yes, I listened to his record too, and I just wasn't impressed.

yeah, still sucks.

If Emenim's albums always sucked, and yet always had critical acclaim and positive feedback, why would you trust these anyway? Grantland.com was raving about it today, I read Grantland for sports, not music. Fuck them, Grantland always has terrible taste in music, I'd rather read Spin!!

There is a place for white rappers, but Eminem is a cliche, no I agree with you, a caricature.

listen to Roc Marci's new tape: http://manbitesdogrecs.bandcamp.com/...e-strikes-back

beats by Roc himself, Madlib, The Alchemist, Evidence, etc.

what a great prequel to the album. seriously one of my fav rappers out atm.

I'm over Acid Rap. It's just not impressive enough after repeated listens to make any top ten lists.

But fuck yeah, Summer Knights. Glad someone else noticed that tape this year.

Summer Knights is great. "Sky igh, sky igh!" Def above Acid Rap for me. I like half of Acid Rap and find the other half borderline annoying. The new Drake is growing on me for sure.

his voice does seem to annoy a lot of people. doesn't bother me though, i like every track.

kinda excited about Rick Ross' new album.

Deeper Than Rap and Teflon Don are great.

Rich Forever bangs, one of the hardest tapes in the last few years.

God Forgives I Don't was underwhelming when it came out, but some of the tracks grew on me.

copped Pure Heroine today. fantastic album.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new contender...


Doley Bernays - Just In Case

Everyone must listen to this. As far as mixtapes go, it's single best based on first listen that I've heard this year.

This motherfucker goes hard as hell, but the production hits like an ASAP record. The cover is ludicrously iconic too.

Check this shit out. Just search for the artist and title in Google. It's free as hell.

By the way, When did MellowHype become "MellowHigh"?

What a curios development this has been. I've yet to hear an explanation, or even a question, about how this came about.

It's... lame.

MellowHigh is Hodgy, Left Brain and Domo, i think. not sure.

will download soon, thanks.

Yo Louder, what the hell is up with MIA? You're right- the new album kills. It's a bit beat redundant, but it's the best thing she's released in years.

yeah man! like i said, it's my 2nd fav album of the year. gonna buy it today.

aTENTion and Exodus = wow.

Yeezus still #1 by a landslide though.

oh and Blue Chips 2 is my choice for mixtape of the year. :)

http://www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes...e-chips-2.html

MMLP2 is pretty boring. Shut it off after 3 songs.

Nothing Was The Same is pretty good. Need more listens. A lot of it blurs together.

OLD is awesome.

How did we miss this new MC Tree shit "32 Shots" in September?? Shit is sick. Those are some straight RZA beats yo! Dude needs to get serious so we can actually buy his records already, these mix-tape downloads are getting harder to find!

Sky Ferreira's album is dope.

was curious.

God dammit, I saw that references somewhere but thought it was another "tree"
(There are many green thumb musicians out there it would seem).

Anyway, hook us up!

Anybody going to bother telling me what they think of Doley's "Just in Case" mixtape, or is this just going to be "Event II" all over again?

(I still cannot believe that after all the hand rubbing, nobody else even bothered to comment on Deltron II... I have no one to bounce thoughts off of!)

SERIOUSLY when someone says something is dope in this thread, I do my duty and listen to/buy/pirate the thing as soon as possible, so I can rant and rave over the release like crazy with you guys.

Yet, for some reason, new releases by Joey Basa$$, Doley, Deltron, and even Black Milk (!!!) have gone largely undiscussed, if ever mentioned, despite my overly wordy initial impressions, and eventual stamp of approval. Well... No stamp for Deltron yet, because I have no one to talk about it with, so I've barely listened to it myself! When a simple "yeh Sev, you're right. Too many comedians, not enough dramatic production" would have put the matter to rest then and there.

Let's try to maintain a level of discourse here, ok gentlemen?

I didn't even realize that Deltron was out dood.

word breh. starting to really feel it.

Yeezus
Matangi
Old
Long.Live.A$AP

yes!

I made a number of posts about it on the day of its release.

I'm not really pissed or anything. I just don't get to do much talking about hip hop in my day to day life.

I did assume that you were all stoked as fuck for the release, and that you'd be on it as quickly as I was. But it seems as though no one's even heard it.

ah well

great interview with Action Bronson - http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...woman-20131101

about his major-label debut: "I got Kool G Rap on a song. I'm hoping to get Nas on a song. There's another one with all the Mobb Deep guys – Havoc, Prodigy, Big Noyd, Big Twins". WOW!

---

also, bad news about Wu-Tang's final album (it may never come out):

http://pitchfork.com/news/52960-rza-...ay-on-raekwon/

Raekwon's response: "Yea i just read that rza article? Shit is funny to me". :(
https://twitter.com/Raekwon/status/399248000179904513

Bronsolinio is bringing NY back, not Wu-Tang.

Louder, come on man. Have some respect for the Wu, man.

This is kind of heartbreaking to hear. Mixtape virtuosos come and go, but Wu Tang is supposed to be forever. He'll, they already are. This is just a damn shame. Twenty years into the best group career in hip hop, and it sounds like it's either going to end closer to the 15 year mark, with an epic peter-out, or with the most boring Wu album ever recorded (sorry U god, MK) because not even Meth's most tenacious input can make a true Wi Tang album if Raekwon, Ghostface and Gza are not going to be present.!

We must keep the faith!

Ghost, GZA and Rae are the most interesting rappers in Wu-Tang, by far.. to me, anyway.

don't care about an album with Cappadonna and U-God all over it.

such a shame, i was hoping they'd go out with a bang.. just like their debut, except with more modern production and relevant subject matter (now that they're rich, popular, etc). imagine how good that could be.

i bet Ghost was disappointed cuz RZA didn't let him executive produce the album: http://theversed.com/2013/03/22/ghos...ng-clan-album/

Aw c'mon man. Ghost has earned his stripes. Throw the guy a bone. Don't be some kind of militant production nazi. All it would mean is that Ghost would get a title for spending more of the dough, and since he surely has more dough, At this point, I see no harm in it.

Though I can also see Rza wanting to end the legacy (btw: is this really their last album? I had no idea that was already a foregone conclusion, but I'll morn them later) in the exact same way he started it. Wu Tang has always been his baby... He created the sound that stood out among the gangsta rap records that dominated the '90s, while also kind of being part of that very scene. In a sense that makes him something of a counterculture figure in hip hop... But I digress.

Point is, Dre was an amazing producer. Puffy--unfortunately-- is credited with for the definitive gangsta statement, Ready to Die, and Without ever having an entire corporation/mafia to back them up, Wu Tang essentially became the third party hip hop sound of the '90s all because of Rza.

Call him the Ross Perot of hip hop. Actually, don't, but you know what I mean... Maybe. Never mind. Scratch that. I'm just saying the Wu sound is as iconic as the "west coast" '90s sound (or the east coast one- even though Wu Tang was clearly about as NYC as you can get) as a whole, and they were just one fucking group. Twenty years later, Dre may be referenced from time to time, and certain NYC artists from that era (or shortly thereafter) are, of course, now reigning over hip hop like a puppet master, but who's sound is ALWAYS heard in the best new underground rap music? Snoop and Dre? Nas? Jay-Z? With all due respect, fuck no. The only thing all brilliant new emcees and producers seem to agree on is that Wu Tang was, and is, the gold standard for daring and innovative rap music.

Uh... Lost it there. Oh yeah... I can see rza wanting to have complete control over the last will and testament of his life's work. GFK will have more than plenty opportunities to produce should he choose to take them. Maybe everyone should just shut up and let Rza do what Rza does.

But yeah... Only if Raekwon, GFK, and Gza are going to be ruling the mic. That is the way of the Wu.

Old is so amazing, i'm starting to wonder if i like it more than Yeezus.

don't sleep on Cappadonna. And you don't think Masta Killa is interesting?

But yeah, you need them all there to call it a Wu album proper.

I did some research. Turns out you don't. ;)

Of all the great rap albums this year, ( mixtape not included) I think Yeezus, 12 Reasons, Long.Live.A$AP and My Name... Are the only ones that will end up in my cross-genre favorite albums of the year list. Sorry, but noise, classic indie, dance, and heavy-type-stuff have been too strong this year.

Wait... Doris might make it. So might the new Black Milk. Y'all are mo def than Mos if you still haven't given that one a spin.

...

Anyone else listen to this crazy good Botany album yet? I've dropped it in the "most recent album purchases" and " what are you listening to?" Threads. It has made a very very strong impression on me and I haven't been able to stop bumpin' it. It's only hip hop in places, but holy shit is it good.

You heard it here folks. Botany - "Lava Diviner (Truestory)"
Wait till kids get a load of this one.