[louder]

honestly i didn't care for Game after RED, it had some good songs but overall i thought it was a mess and his career was going downhill.. then that cover won me over.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

@suchfriends: are you pumped for the new Game album or hwhut?

Probably. The Game hasn't let me down since he flipped out of that whack G-Unit phase and resurrected that classic West Coast shit. The beats, the cadence, and the inclusion of different rappers is all a refreshing throwback from albums like Doctor's Advocate and LAX Files and even those Mix Tapes bootlegs..

Well, I ain't been diggin the R.E.D album, sounds to 1999 No Limit for me so hopefully he catches that OG westcoast vibe again

By the way Game was shot not too far from my house.

[noisereductions]

word. Though I think we differ a BIT on Game, suchfriends...

IE: I love all 4 major label albums.

DOCUMENTARY - is ridiculous. G-Unit sure, but prob my fav G-Unit album. You got those smooth beats, 50's club hooks, it's all so catchy. And yet Game is barely contained. You can feel him trying to break loose from the Unit already.

DOCTOR'S ADVOCATE - is one of the craziest major label rap albums ever haha. It's so insanely full of ricocheting emotions. Plus f'ing Will.I.Am proves that he's a producer so beyond the wackness of BEP.

LAX - ridiculously awesome album. So overlooked. Shiz sounds like such a throwback to classssssic West Coast to me. Amazing.

RED Album - slept on. I read so many bad reviews. But it's so solid. People want amazing every album or something? I think Game is an artist that isn't going to give you crazy range. There might not be huge artistic growth and minds blown with each album. But he's always gonna deliver. You're not gonna get a siht album eitehr. I'm happy to always get a SOLID album from him.

...indie albums on Get Low don't really count cuz that's basically just JT releasing Game acapellas over some beats he made. They're super hit or miss.

...mixtapes are whatever. THey're mixtapes. There's good and bad - especially considering it took what? 4 or 5 discs just to leak all the unused RED tracks.

----

I listened to Wu-Block y'all. That album is pretty awesome. It should just be released as Ghostface w/ D-Block really. Ghost is the star. He's on every track except maybe 1. Straight kills it. And the beat selection is a bit diff than what he'd put on a solo album for sure. But def even the skits feel like a Ghost album. I think this will fly under everyone's radar for sure. But it's worth seeking out. Probably even more solid than the album Ghost made with Trife (Put It On The Line) for instance.

[louder]

Documentary was carried by G-Unit, but they made it a great album.

Doctor's Advocate was more WC-flavored and Game proved he can do it by himself.

LAX was underrated, really good album. Wayne on My Life is one of my fav hooks ever. pretty much every track is enjoyable.

[louder]

so it turns out i was wrong, Captain Murphy has nothing to do with Tyler. it's just FlyLo, he sounds similar cuz of the vocal effect.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by louder

Documentary was carried by G-Unit, but they made it a great album.

Doctor's Advocate was more WC-flavored and Game proved he can do it by himself.

LAX was underrated, really good album. Wayne on My Life is one of my fav hooks ever. pretty much every track is enjoyable.

Indeed LAX is a supremely underrated, barely noticed album. the beasts on that whole album is one big c-walk (even though its blooded out) I just can't stop grooving whenever I hear it, the key to westcoast rap is that you can boogie to it. In the west we be dancin y'all

 

Let Us Live has got to be one of the best LA rap tracks ever.
Letter to the King is also top notch
Ya Heard is phenomenal

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by louder

Wayne on My Life is one of my fav hooks ever.

hell yeah. You know he did that chorus in a Birdman song first, but the beat was diff so it wasn't delivered the same way. When he did it on the Game track it was just like... woah. Like dude sounds on the verge of tears thru that whole chorus, it's just gut-wrenching. And Game's lyrics on that track are so so vivid. Easily one ofmy favorite tracks of his career.

So Murphy isn't Tyler? WTF? Wierd. I hadn't downloaded yet, but heard about the deluxe mixtape today.

[noisereductions]

I dnt wanna sound like broken record, but I'm gonna champion this Wu-Block album. Like I said, it feels like a Ghostface & friends album more than anything. (And it's basically Ghost, Sheek Louch & friends in all honesty).

There's some standouts I'm feeling already...

"Driving Around" is just amazing. Erykah Badu skatting, Masta Killah & GZA showing up and dropping some excellent flows over this ridiculously chill beat. Feels like the kinda thing you'd listen to driving around with nowhere to go at night. I think it's the only song WITHOUT Ghost on it, but it's incredible nonetheless.

It's impressive though. I felt like I'd consider this just a Ghost-sideproject to tide me over until the proper solo album... but I already have a handful of tracks I keep going back to. It's a super solid album dudes. Look into it.

[tripsk]

Captain Murphy's album was pretty decent. Though I honestly hate that deep voice gimmick.

Anyone listen to Lil Ugly Mane? I'm really loving Mista Thug Isolation. Dopest shit I've heard all year.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Game is having a show in town next week, and e-40 is having a kick ass New Years' party at the Key Club, but I probably will go to neither because in truth, I don't dig live hip hop. Maybe Too $hort, but that is because he brings a band.

By the way, what y'all ninjaz know bout that Suga Free?

 

I been thinking since it is the 20th Anniversary of the Chronic coming out, and a lot of folks is chatting about 90s rap, my Top Four High-Impact 1990s West Coast Rap Albums

(1) The Chronic/Doggiestyle- I put these together because essentially, they are a singular album of all the exact same artists and beats. These albums also singularly changed pop music, introducing both (1) gangsta and (2) that West Coast backyard boogie to the entire country. Yeah, there was gangsta rap before, but it was mostly intimidating to a foreign audience. NWA is one of the funnest groups in rap history, if you really know what a gwan and hang out with low-lives in Compton. The casual listener might not get that noir kind of humor. There wasn't a motherfucker in America that didn't understand the fun of a track like Gin And Juice even though that shit was also straight low-life gangsta.

(2) Warren G Regulate..G Funk Era- 213 was already on the map because of the Chronic but Warren G brought an even fresher sound. This was more accessible with a Mo-Town feel, but that is that G-funk which is ubiquitously backyard house party Long Beach/South Bay. Who else could win a Grammy for a Gangsta track like Regulators? Sampling Young Guns? That is almost a cross-over track!

(3) Too $hort Cocktails- Riding that WestCoast wave, Too $hort more properly introduced America to its future, pimp rap. How could there have ever been a No Limit era if Too $hort hadn't made rap about misogyny somehow romantic? A lot of what is today popular and mainstream rap music is heavily influenced by the swagger of Too $hort. Even better, that brother has always insisted on performing and recording with a live band, predating groups like the Roots. Black music practically invented American music, and it was a shame that after the rap explosion suddenly instrumental black music was in decline.

(4) DJ Quik Rhythm-al-ism - This is one of the last great WestCoast albums from the 1990s which came out in 1998. It solidified to perfection everything that was the WestCoast particularly LA vibe. It was party, it was intelligent, it had great beats. It brought gangsta rap OUT of the gangsta era and put it into Hip Hop purely. In that regard, rap could become something bigger than low-life music, and the subjects of rap music could get out of the streets and into the club. Sort of like the Nirvana of rap. Nirvana had a harsh punk edge but rarely delved into political substance in an era where it was either hair bands or hardcore. Suddenly Alternative was born, edgy distorted and heavy music that was about nothing in particular. I think dj Quik helped to do what Dr Dre had initially envisioned before DeathRow blew up, the idea that rap music could be bigger than gangsta shit. Like Sam L said in Pulp Fiction, "Bonny can't come home and find a bunch of gangsters in her house doing a bunch of gangster shit." Most Americans aren't cool with gangs, so when rap music got out of the gang world, it made it modern, accessible, mainstream.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Game is having a show in town next week, and e-40 is having a kick ass New Years' party at the Key Club, but I probably will go to neither because in truth, I don't dig live hip hop. Maybe Too $hort, but that is because he brings a band.

uh... The Roots ??

The Roots were my first concert ever. I was 16 and they hadn't put out Illadelph yet. Shit was exciting for me man. I adored Do You Want More and had imported From The Ground Up and Organix at that point. Show blew my little high school mind.

And in truth, it was The Roots back Hov on his Unplugged album that fully turned me on to him as more than just a dude who had some pretty good singles.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

uh... The Roots ??

The Roots were my first concert ever. I was 16 and they hadn't put out Illadelph yet. Shit was exciting for me man. I adored Do You Want More and had imported From The Ground Up and Organix at that point. Show blew my little high school mind.

And in truth, it was The Roots back Hov on his Unplugged album that fully turned me on to him as more than just a dude who had some pretty good singles.

Uh, yeah, so is Game or e-40 the Roots? I didn't say I don't dig live band hip hop, I said I don't usually dig live hip hop unless there is a live band

[noisereductions]

true true. Just wanted to hear teh props haha.

[noisereductions]

a thought: why wasn't "Tie My Hands" a single for Weezy?

You listen to a track like this and it's clear why he's the superstar he is. He earned it making tracks like this.

I often think about shit like this... how young dude is. How famous he got. I tie him into people like Kurdt and Lindsay. He's self destructive. He's too smart for his own good. Bored. Sensitive. Numb.

It's sad.

I'm still a hardcore fan and love his straight party shit. But seriuosly, he's so lyrically gifted on shit like this. He could be so far above everyone lyrically if he wanted to make full records like this.

[louder]

wow, powerful post.

i'm so fascinated with his personality. even though i reckon there are a few rappers who are better than him, he's still my fav. i'll be sad when he retires.

[louder]

Carter 4 broke my heart. 80% of the album sounded half assed, like he wrote/recorded all of it in one take.

the beats were made by some unknown motherfuckers and sounded like garbage.
and he didn't even bother to show up for the interlude/outro tracks.

Blunt Blowin' & 6'7" were the only tracks i liked.

then i see him fronting in interviews like he thinks he's still the best rapper alive. this is fucked up.

[noisereductions]

when I first got Carter 4 I felt really let down. Now I throw it on and I'm like "ok this is the only song I like... and this one... and this one... oh and this one too... oops, forgot about this one..." etc.

It's def not on the level of Carter 2 or 3... but I like it enough to keep coming back.

Weird on the interludes though. Would have loved hearing him getting on those tracks with Nas, Andre, etc.

[louder]

i actually find myself bumping a few songs from each one of his recent projects quite often.

Rebirth had Ground Zero, Get a Life and Knockout.
S4TW had Rollin'. Dedication 4 - Same Damn Tune and No Worries.

the pre-Rebirth sessions had some gems. No Quitter No Getter, Told Y'all, Yes with Pharrell, etc.

when My Homies Still just dropped i thought it was the worst thing ever, but now i'm cool with it.

i wish he could give us at least one great full project before his retirement though.

[noisereductions]

hell yeah, I was still bumpin Rebirth and Human Being all this past Summer man. Those are great Summer records.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

so no love for Suga Free then?