[Severian]

You guys are talking about stuff I don't know about. I know Young Thug, but most of the other people you're name dropping are Lansing way beyond my head.

But, Kanye turned his album in this week? Awesome! Where'd you hear that, and did you happen to see any other details? That would be one short news story if that's all it said. Lol

[noisereductions]

sev, Rich Gang is just a really stupid new name for Young Money Cash Money supergroup.

[noisereductions]

 

Illmatic was a classic from the moment it was released. One intro. Nine songs. Only one real guest. No filler. It sounds like the definition of New York hip hop in 1994, yet also sounds completely timeless - reaching far back to the roots of the genre's breakbeats and poetry as well as looking forward as a blueprint for an entirely new generation to come. It opens with dialogue from the film Wild Style clashing with Nas' own verse from Main Source's "Live At The BBQ," before bursting into an insane narrative over bursting horns, an almost broken piano and dirty drums with "NY State Of Mind." Instantly it becomes apparent how important this record, and our narrator will be. He brings in AZ as well as his trumpeter father Olu Dara on "Life's A Bitch," bridging a gap between two generations. At the literal "Halftime" of the album he warns to never put him "in your box if your shit eats tapes." On "One Love" he saves a stamp and writes a letter to a friend in prison over a Q-Tip beat, catching him up on the neighborhood. It's storytelling at its finest. Whether it's the heart-pounding realism of "NY State Of Mind" or the banality of "One Love." He evokes Scarface and T-La Rock on "The World Is Yours" and ultimately ends the record on one of the highest points of his career, "It Ain't Hard To Tell." Using a Michael Jackson sample so amazingly crafted by Large Professor (therefore starting and ending the album with nods to Main Source) he creates a track that is as timeless as exactly how I've described the record itself. Illmatic is perfection. And here, Nas truly is "half man, half amazing."

 

With the threat of a sophomore slump on his hands, Nas had a difficult decision to make. His debut had been critically acclaimed and his peers place him in the pantheon of legends, but the record sales were a major label disappointment. Illmatic had been commercially overshadowed by Biggie's Ready To Die, an album that brought the glamor and glitz of Bad Boy to spotlight. So what was Nas to do? Stay the course and release a follow-up that stayed true to his first album's vision, or explore newer radio-friendly territory? The answer was a little of both. Ultimately this meant that fans of Illmatic cried 'sell-out' while the Bad Boy crowd still found it a little too poetic. Though it did do some major sales numbers thanks to the singles "If I Ruled The World," featuring Lauryn Hill and an excellent Whodini sample, and "Street Dreams," which interpolated the Eurythmics and even got the remix treatment with R. Kelly. But if you were only paying attention to the singles, you were missing the greatness of this record. Opener "The Message" rides an incredible Sting sample and perhaps the greatest opening lines of any Nas album: "fake thug, no love, you get the slug, CB4 Gusto." Meanwhile "I Gave You Power" has Nas rapping from the perspective of a gun. Although a similar approach had been taken on Organized Konfusion's "Stray Bullet" two years earlier, it's still a great narrative. "Nas Is Coming" was a bit monumental as it paired up Nas and Dr. Dre and aimed to heal some of the East Coast/West Coast rivalry that was in its height. And "Affirmative Action" would be the first track by Nas' new crew, The Firm. Over an awesome baroque sounding beat, Nas, Cormega, AZ and Foxy Brown introduce themselves as an entity to be excited about. It Was Written is not the classic that Illmatic is. But very little is. Instead, it's a worthy follow-up and welcome addition to his discography.

 

Illmatic is of course an undoubted classic. The 10th Year Anniversary edition is not the greatest celebration however. Ignoring the first disc - the original album - this edition boasts only six tracks on its supplemental disc. That's really a bummer considering the entirety of Nas' demo tape that could have been included, or early appearances like "Straight From The BBQ" or "Back To The Grill" or even his appearance on the Street Fighter: The Movie soundtrack. Instead what we get are four remixes - "Life's A Bitch," "The World Is Yours," "One Love," and "It Ain't Hard To Tell" - none of which do much to shed new light on the originals. They're just sort of there. The last two tracks are the ones worth hearing, but they're not actually outtakes from the Illmatic sessions. "On The Real," produced by Marley Marl finds Nas recording a (supposedly) ten year old lyric. And "Star Wars" is a Large Professor track that samples "Fly Like An Eagle" without being as annoying as that would sound on paper. Ultimately this reissue is a letdown though. The bonus disc is far too brief, and not really worth replacing the original release with, and the liner notes don't even offer up any sort of retrospective.

[noisereductions]

 

Nas - The Lost Tapes - 2002 - Columbia
You know how it goes with outtakes collections. Considering the amount of leaked recordings that Nas had built up in the archive, this could have been monumental. Unfortunately it comes off as sounding like the mish-mash that it is. According to the liner notes, the tracks are culled from sessions for I Am and Stillmatic. Considering how different those two records were thematically, it serves to reason that this collection will lack balance. And it does. The opener, "Doo Rags" is gorgeous. It features a wistful piano part that brings up feelings of nostalgia and loss. "No Ideas Original" has a great Barry White sample and classic breakbeat. Meanwhile "Purple" has a really smooth production that seems out of place, along with "My Way" considering how mediocre most of the other beats are here. Having said that, if you can put up with the inconsistent production, there's some interesting and solid rapping by Nas here, and with its lack of skits the dozen songs hold together pretty well without wearing on your patience. It's certainly not a terrible record, but you can't really shake the feeling that it could have been much better.

 

Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt - 1996 - Roc-A-Fella
Jay-Z's debut is ambitious as fuck. I mean, where did he come from? Virtually nowhere. Though in reality he came from a tiny one room office that he was renting with friends as they formed The Roc. He was selling his only single out of the trunk of his car. And then this. It is a defining record in the so-called mid-90's "mafioso rap" movement. Yet what's really interesting is all the nods to his predecessors and peers. For instance he jacks the same beat used on Tha Alkaholics' "Only When I'm Drunk." A West Coast group! He samples the same bassline as Artifcacts' "Wrong Side Of The Tracks." He samples Nas, Mobb Deep and Snoop Dogg. He invites Foxy Brown from Nas' The Firm crew for a guest shot. He name checks A Tribe Called Quest. In a sense, he's taking all of his influences, blending them up and attempting to create something completely new from it all. Creation via destruction. It's also interesting just how into language Jay-Z was out the gate. He approaches a lot of these cuts with the eye of a poet. And I don't necessarily mean a poet in the words he uses, but rather in how he chooses to use them. Such as the abundance of "to/too/two" on "22 Two's." But perhaps the greatest thing about this record is how he invents himself. Again, he was trying to upstart an indie label, yet creates this persona of a man larger than life. In a sense, this a study on the American Dream from a man who had yet to receive that big paycheck. But look at the early tracks: "Can't Knock The Hustle," "Politics As Usual," "Brooklyn's Finest," and "Dead Presidents II." He was creating the myth that he was already huge. And then we get to "D'Evils," an astonishingly brilliant track about money and greed and excess eating us from the inside out. "We used to fight for building blocks, now we fight for blocks with buildings that make a killing." These observations levied by the Snoop sample in the hook - "dear God, I wonder can you save me." It's heavy stuff. And that's only the first half. This is an honest to goodness classic that has a sort of ambitious lo-fi charm to it. It's somehow humble and grandiose at the same time.

 

Jay-Z - Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life - 1998 - Roc-A-Fella
Hard Knock Life is such a record of its time. Sadly, its time was a confused era of hip hop. The end of the millennium. Much of mainstream hip hop seemed obsessed with materialism (see: the car on the cover) and felt a bit like a disposable art form. In many ways this record is fast food. It's got some awesome flavor, but it's also cheap and doesn't keep you filled for long. But let's focus on the good for a minute. The title track is a straight classic. Subtitled "Ghetto Anthem," it is indeed an anthem. It's a fight song. It's motivation. You hear those piano plinks and you feel good. That alone makes this record hard to hate on. The proper closer "It's Like That" is excellent as well, and feels like it could have felt at home on Reasonable Doubt perhaps. But everything in between is a mixed bag that feels mostly mediocre. "Money, Cash, Hoes" is horrible. The beat alone is tough to listen to. The sequel to "Comin' Of Age" just doesn't have the intensity of the original. "Paper Chase" is another low point - again pointing out the so-called "Big Willie Era." While production from Timbaland and Erik Sermon helps this album rise out of its blandness, pretty much all of Swizz Beats' tracks works against it. The bonus tracks - "It's Alright" (recycled from Streets Is Watching) and "Money Ain't A Thing" from Jermaine Dupres' project close things out pretty good. But it's just ultimately not the strong album that Jay-Z had already proven he could pull off.

 

Jay-Z - The Dynasty: Rock La Familia - 2000 - Roc-A-Fella
So this was intended to be a Roc-A-Fella compilation album, showcasing the various signees - Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel, Freeway - but along the way it turned into a Jay-Z album, likely because of the fact that "Jay-Z" on the cover would sell more copies. With that in mind, it sounds like a compilation. Jay-Z is featured heavily, but he's not really the star. It's not his show. But the supporting cast holds their own very well, and that includes guest shots from Scarface and Snoop Dogg as well. The big single here is the Neptunes-driven "I Just Wanna Love You." And while not the most interesting song in Jay's career, it's certainly fun as hell. "This Can't Be Life" featuring Scarface sounds like a precursor to his own "Guess Who's Back" with Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel from two years later. The problem with this record is flow. It starts off strong - from the intro through "Get Your Mind Right," it's a pretty strong opening third. But the middle section is boring and weak. Luckily, the last third pulls the album out of its own funk. Much of the best production here comes from Just Blaze - not surprisingly. And the single Kanye West track, the aforementioned "This Can't Be Life." It's not a great album, but it's a good one with enough keepers to justify mining for your own personal Best Of Hova mixtape.

[Severian]

Your review of It Was Written is more generous than most.

I love "If I Ruled the World," and feel like the album has always been overlooked.

Btw: what's the theme here? NYC hip hop from 1994 forward? Chronologically? If so, you're skipping around a bit

I continue to be impressed by your knowledge of hip hop and the intelligence of your reviews. You'd do an excellent job. Keep up the good work.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by Severian

Your review of It Was Written is more generous than most.

I love "If I Ruled the World," and feel like the album has always been overlooked.

Btw: what's the theme here? NYC hip hop from 1994 forward? Chronologically? If so, you're skipping around a bit

I continue to be impressed by your knowledge of hip hop and the intelligence of your reviews. You'd do an excellent job. Keep up the good work.

I think I was a lot harsher on It Was Written in 1996. I've had a lot of years to grow more attached to it, and sort of understand it more. I think it's a really, really good album that most folks didn't give the attention it deserved (deeper than the singles anyway).

No theme... anything I review is from my physical CD collection. I've just been making it a goal to actually listen to the CD's that I'm buying and then giving them the proper attention so that I can jot down some thoughts on them. For the most part it's been skipping around randomly (literally going to my discogs collection page, and hitting the "random item" button to decide what to listen to next). But last night I just decided I was in the mood for Nas and Jay, so grabbed a handful I hadn't reviewed yet. So I might start to just do little clusters of 3 or 4 albums by a single artist - not necessarily chronological though cuz again - it's just the ones I happen to own physical copies of.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

I'll be checking out for a toke break and coming back after we finish the Gay-Z and Nas section of noisereductions discography...

 

Y'all can't wait until I post mine

[noisereductions]

You dont even like nas???

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Actually I dont but I more or less respect Nas

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

I wrote a bad ass write up on Busta Rhymes Extinction Level Event, Celly Cell The G Filez, and Dead Prez We Free Again but my phone fucked up so fuck it

[louder]

loved your Reasonable Doubt and Illmatic reviews, NR.

by the way, i'm gonna revisit No Said Date soon.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by louder

loved your Reasonable Doubt and Illmatic reviews, NR.

by the way, i'm gonna revisit No Said Date soon.

No Said Date is awesome. Such a great album.

[noisereductions]

for the heck of it, and to appease suchfriends' fickle taste, the next few reviews I write up will be of West Coast artists haha.

[louder]

need your Doggystyle review.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by louder

need your Doggystyle review.

this one?

Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle - 1993 - Death Row Records
Snoop's debut is an undeniable classic. Though it serves as a sort of companion to Dre's The Chronic it succeeds just as well - and perhaps slightly better seeing as how Dre always seems far more comfortable behind the boards than in front of the mic. Snoop on the other hand was a showman from the get-go, and it's hard not to hang off every word here. Not only is the record full of classic singles - "Who Am I (What's My Name)?," "Gin & Juice," "Murder Was The Case," "Doggy Dogg World" - it hangs together incredible even when bouncing from style to style. It also helps that Death Row at the time was an impressively large crew that was bursting with energy and ideas. With that in mind it's not so surprising that the first verse on Snoop's solo debut would be from Lady Of Rage rather than himself. Or that he'd do a straight of cover of Slick Rick's "Lodi Dodi." Or that such a chill track would then lead in to the one-two punch of "Murder Was The Case" and "Serial Killer." Really there's a lot of take note of here when considering just how creative and confident Snoop was coming out of the gate. But ultimately all that needs to be said is that it's a bonafide classic that epitomizes the sound of the 90's West Coast "G-Funk" sound. This and The Chronic are absolutely mandatory listening.

^posted this a few weeks ago.

[noisereductions]

guess I lied, but here's a West Coast and East Coast

 

The Game - Untold Story - 2004 - Get Low
By late 2004, The Game was creating a big buzz. He had dropped various mixtapes and earned a big enough name for himself to be recruited by G-Unit. His major label debut had been announced and attached to names like Dr. Dre, Eminem, Just Blaze and Scott Storch for production along with his G-Unit brethren as guests. Yet, it wouldn't drop until 2005. So the timing was perfect for JT The Bigga Figga, head of Get Low Records, and the dude that (self-proclaimed) discovered The Game to drop an album on his behalf and cash in. The crazy thing is, this sounds a lot better than the obvious cash in I've described. On the intro JT claims that these verses were recorded in "8 or 9 days," which should make the project feel much more rushed than it does. But really, this is a pretty good album to tide fans over for Game's proper debut. While Mr. Taylor represents Compton, JT and Get Low are from the Bay Area, and the beats make that known. This album is completely produced by in-house producer Sean T. They have a definite Bay Area sound, they're clean and minimal yet for the most part sort of unforgettable. But for the most part that's fine. In a sense that puts Game's lyrics up front. And that's the stuff worth hearing here. Even at the start of his above-ground career, all the trademarks are in full effect. The constant name-dropping has been a turn off for many a critic, but I find it endearing. This is a guy who recovered from a shooting by boning up on classic hip hop albums in his hospital bed, determined to become a rapper. And that's what you hear in his words. Utter fandom. I can appreciate that. And while the beats never get in the way, there's a few tracks where the mixing isn't great. Take "Bleek Is," for instance. The vocals feel way too low, which is a drag. It's one of the best beats on the album, and it goes for a hardcore "Takeover"-style diss track aimed at Memphis Bleek (though the chorus is a throwaway). There's also a heck of a lot of guest shots from the Get Low camp, though Young Nobel from The Outlawz also shows up here, which is cool considering Game's adoration of Pac. This is not a great album, but it feels like it was destined to be so much worse. Instead it's kind of an awesome artifact of an artist right on the brink of finding his voice and becoming a real icon. So for that alone, it should be heard by anyone who claims themselves a fan of The Game.

 

A$AP Rocky - Long.Live.A$AP - 2013 - Polo Grounds
Wunderkind. That's what I'd call Rocky. After his brilliant Live.Love.Rocky mixtape, he scored himself a huge major label deal and the stakes were high. So what does he do? More of the same? Well kind of, except also totally not. Long.Live.A$AP is full of twists and turns, all the while reminding of you of why he got signed in the first place, or why you (and he) both love hip hop anyway. That slow, druggy chopped-n-screwed shit is here for sure. But Rocky's not afraid to branch out. On the opening track (THE OPENING TRACK!) he sings the chorus himself in a lazy falsetto. "PMW" and "LVL" both have brilliantly slow, purple beats and then a few tracks later you're hit with "Fuckin' Problems" which was somehow a single featuring 2 Chainz, Drake and Kendrick Lamar over a pretty upbeat electro backdrop. But that's nothing, because "Wild For The Night" has Skrillex re-imagining Birdy Nam Nam as a late night on the town with A$AP Mob. Then you've got "1Train," which is a posse cut of the magnitude of "Protect Ya Neck" or "Leflaur Lefleh Eshkoska" and featuring a veritable Who's Who of current hip hop with a lineup of (ready?) Kendrick, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson and Big KRIT - all spitting what I'd consider some of their finest stray verses. "Fashion Killa" is this total 90's-styled radio track that was weirdly never a single and then the album shifts gears for its closing with "Phoenix," a haunting Dangermouse production and "Suddenly," a self-produced track that goes on without a drumbeat for most of its existence, teetering on self-destruction until finally erupting into celebration. There's also deluxe edition bonus tracks totally worth hearing - among them a diss track at SpaceGhostPurrp as well as a duet with Florence from Florence And The Machine. Whereas Live.Love.A$AP was amazing for its focused vision, Long.Live.A$AP is amazing for taking that vision and stretching it out in as many directions as possible while sounding like Rocky.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

I got a lot of eastcoast in my shit.. slick rick, black star, killah priest,tribe called quest, fugees, kool keith, dead prez, outkast, busta rhymes, rza, ghostface, scarface, talib kweli solo, redman, I even got some Tru To Da Game... probably several more I cant think of

[noisereductions]

I'm just razzing ya. But what you think of that Game album?

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

I actually dont got that one, just the stack of mix tapes that preceded it.. but Untold Vol 2 is one of my fav game mixtapes EVER

[louder]

news:

1.) so L.O.R.D. got scrapped and they're gonna put out an A$AP Nast tape instead.

2.) the Rich Gang tape is probably just an appetizer for the album that comes out next month.