[noisereductions]

yeah I use my Spotify to keep track of all THIS YEAR's music. That's like it's primary function to me.

And then of course "I wanna hear THIS album now and I'm in my car" but basically, it's to keep up. IT creates a shopping list for me ultimately. But $ well spent I feel.

[Severian]

 

DIAMOND D - “DIAM PIECE”

Has anyone else picked up this gem? D.I.T.C.'s Diamond D has just dropped himself back into the cutting edge hip-hop conversation out of fucking nowhere with an album that has more killer guest appearances than the entire Naked Gun trilogy, and makes every emcee on board work HARD to avoid being utterly eclipsed by Diamond's production.

Ladies & Gentlemen: We have ourselves a contender here, believe me.

You can preview the album & read about it RIGHT HERE!! so no excuses about not “getting around” to it.

I didn't even know this record was coming out until I saw it on the shelves the other day. It's already surpassed many of my favorite hip-hop albums of the year, so... Shit is dope.

[Severian]

Oh yeah, and A$AP Ferg is in the new SBTRKT...

Where is everyone?

[noisereductions]

I'll check out that Dimaon D for sure. Dood is a legend.

The new Vince Staples EP kills it. Like OMGGOOD. So good. Shocked.

[Severian]

Did you guys know that JERU THE DAMAJA has a new EP out?!

Preview tracks are available via free torrent bundles (like the new Thom Yorke), and I just snagged a digital version because the record stores in town don't have it. I literally just found out about it about an hour and a half ago, and I'm not sure if it has a physical pressing, but it's official and sponsored, and appears (from the front and back JPEG inages) to be either self-released or sponsored by several small imprints, in typical mixtape fashion.

It's called The Hammer and so far it sounds really fucking good.

I'm not sure if anyone in the café shares my love of Jeru, or would give much of a fuck about a new release from such a quintessentially early '90s, conscious rap/positive tip emcee in 2014, but Jeru is behind at least one of my all time favorite hip-hop albums, The Sun Rises in the East.

Anyway, I'm surprised as hell about this one. I will certainly come back with a brief review once I listen to the entire release and learn more about it. But if anyone is interested, check out the preview tracks. Surprisingly fresh, if you ask me.

[noisereductions]

I heard about that Jeru, but haven't heard it yet.

Y'all still sleeping on Wara From The NBHD huh?

[louder]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

The new Vince Staples EP kills it. Like OMGGOOD. So good. Shocked.

yes! but i always knew Vince had the potential. been waiting for years.

[noisereductions]

tbh he never really stood out to me. He was just kind of there. Good, dependable, but never had me like "oh can't wait for an album."

But THIS. Damn. It's so solid. So focused. Love it.



Unrelated, what's this I hear about another Rick Ross album coming?

Also also, new Game album isn't up on Spotify yet. WTF.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

tbh he never really stood out to me. He was just kind of there. Good, dependable, but never had me like "oh can't wait for an album."

But THIS. Damn. It's so solid. So focused. Love it.



Unrelated, what's this I hear about another Rick Ross album coming?

Also also, new Game album isn't up on Spotify yet. WTF.

Wait, the new Game is out? Is that what I'm hearing? Spotify usually only shows the released tracks from an album (much like iTunes) before the album is released as a whole... And like iTunes, it's “subject to change.”

Every once in a while they slip up and somehow get an album up before its release. Happened more in the early stages of the program than it does now. I think Breakup Song by Deerhoof and WIXIW by Liars were the last ones I remember.

Either way, I've obviously not been paying enough attentipn to Game news. I didn't even realize it was about to drop. Stoked!

[Severian]

Never mind. Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf, came out 10/14 in the states. I'm heading out to grab it now.

[noisereductions]

yeah it's out now. But not on Spotify oddly. :\

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Y'all tell me if I should check out Game new album because I didnt much like Jesus Piece aside from the kick a$$ cover art

[Severian]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Y'all tell me if I should check out Game new album because I didnt much like Jesus Piece aside from the kick a$$ cover art

Well, let's see...

I love The Game. Y'all know I am one of Jesus Piece's few staunch supporters. So I'm surprised I lost track of things & bought this new joint after it had been out for an entire week.

So, now that I've been driving around jamming it all night and morning, I can tell you what I think:

Yes- but it. It's a good album. Is it perfect? No. For example, the first song throws some pretty outdated disses at the current rap scene. He calls "new generation" rappers "faggots" (over a pretty sick beat) and basically talks about takings chainsaw to their faces.

He tells Frank Ocean to "go ahead and fuck these niggas," which, considering the "faggot" remark, sounds like a really insulting homophobic dis of one of hip-hop and R&B's most innovative voices.

He talks about "coming up with" Kanye, Jeezy and 50. Which really isn't accurate. He didn't come up with Jay-Z,or Busta, or Nas or Eminem either, but he wants you to know he really likes those guys.
He's closer to 50 and Kanye, having collaborated with them both extensively. But still it's hard to pin down who he hates and who he likes. At one point he says "Fake Ass Kanye, Fake Ass Weezy" and it sounds like he's dissing Ye and Wayne, when he's really accusing someone (??) of ACTING like a "Fake ass" version of Yeezy/Weezy.


Worst of all, he calls himself "THE BLACK MARSHALL MATHERS", which is an extraordinarily self-deprecating comment, and possibly the worst brag line I've ever heard. I really hate the fact that Eminem has become synonymous with "really good rapping" AGAIN. I thought the world was over that. Game's flow is superior to Em's in every way, except for possibly sheer practiced technical delivery, which Em is good at, despite how awful he is overall.

I really like this song, but the whole "Fuck Yall Niggas" thing (he says it approx. 800 times in the first two songs alone, so I guess he really hates these "niggas" because they're not "them niggas," who he apparently feels quite a kinship for)

So apart from the redundancy of some of the lyrics, and his fanboy gushing over Nas, Jigga, Eminem (Hmmm - someone doesn't belong in that group... *chin-scratch*), and the (possibly) homophobic disses against Frank Ocean and other "faggot" rappers (UHH... I've heard Rocky swings both ways, but I'm not sure I believe it), it's a good solid record.

Some of he guest spots are half assed. Lil Wayne is barely recognizeable in "Fuck Yo Feelings." 2 Chains doesn't give a very inspired performance. Ty Dolla Sign is a welcome contributor; he continues to build his reputation as a producer and performer, and when he finally drops a full length LP, it's going to fucking explode.
Also, Freddie Gibbs lends his inimitable skills to "Hit 'Em Hard," and is probably one of the main reasons why it's the album's dopest club banger.

Overall, I have to say it's not as forward-thinking as Jesus Piece, which will hopefully one day be recognized as the classic that it is. But BLOOD MOON: YEAR OF THE WOLF is consistent, and full of the kind of satisfying, bass and beat heavy, sample-light production that should make west coast fans happy. These are direct, hard hitting tracks. No chipmunk soul samples (but of course, there's no Kanye on board to lay them down). I find this a bit disappointing, because I love what Kanye and The Game create when they work together.

Something about the album makes me think there will be a sequel. Don't ask me why.

I think you need to buy it. If Rick Ro$$'s Mastermind is a must-have 2014 album, then so is this.

Too many pictures of his fucking kids in the foldout though. It looks like an Ice Cube family Comedy on the inside, and the cover would be really tight if it didn't have a girl in a ballerina outfit.

Oh, he does *approach* chipmunk soul on "Bloody Moon" where he vividly describes watching his half-sister being sexually abused by... Somebody's dad. Explicit references to the "tip of his penis" rubbing against her face, and something about his semen that my psyche blocked out. It's just the kind of thing that makes a song unlistenable. He could have discussed the topic in a less super-disgusting way, and the result would have been more powerful.

But give it a listen bro. For sure. It's Game. It's good shit.

[Severian]

Wow, I wrote a lot.

I've been through the entire album several times now, and I think it's got a certain "presence" that a lot of high-profile 2014 hip hop records have lacked. Some of these breakout albums by folks like Sage the Gemini, and YG, and Kid Ink, etc. just sound like nothing. I kinda felt that way about B.O.A.T. II #MeTime by 2 Chainz, and even Oxymoron to some extent.

At the very least, Game (like Ro$$, The Roots, Rocky and precious few others in the middle-ground between Kanye/Jay-Z-level superstardom and lesser known/underrated/stuck in mixtape-level artists) has a distinctive and unmistakable sound of his own. Love him or hate him, he commands his records, and he puts his mark on his music... Like Zorro. Swish-swish-swish

:|

[noisereductions]

I came here to talk about the new Game album, but you said everything I wanted to. The homophobia. The Eminem thing. The horrible Weezy hook. You nailed it all.

It's "good," but it's easily the worst major label Game album. I'll still be spinning it to see how much more it grows on me, but first listen is that it's just ok. It's autopilot. Beats are all good though.

Mastermind is better.

But I mean yeah - bottom line, it sounds like Game. He's always exactly what he wants to sound like and doesn't care of the shit sounds relevant. He might as well record in vacuum. So I still gotta give him props.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Homophobia is part of rap music, effeminate males are derided in black culture mercilessly.. However if you're listening to a gangsta rap album chances are either (a) you've gotten over that or (b) you're possibly listening to the wrong album

So Game is back to just shit talking all these fake a$$ new rappers? I'm interested..

[Severian]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Homophobia is part of rap music, effeminate males are derided in black culture mercilessly.. However if you're listening to a gangsta rap album chances are either (a) you've gotten over that or (b) you're possibly listening to the wrong album

So Game is back to just shit talking all these fake a$$ new rappers? I'm interested..

Yeah, pretty much. But as much as I like the album (and I must like it because I keep listening) I've got to agree that it's probably one of his lesser major label albums. I don't know if I'd go as far as to say it's the worst, but it's probably not going to blow the mind of any long time fan.

That said, there's one song in particular (forget which.. Maybe track 3?) that has a very "west coast" beat, and I thought of you (SuchFriends..) when I first listened to it. It's got a beat that could break glass at the right volume... Like a Dre beat straight out of the Chronic sessions. West Coast gangsta to the core, and I knorw you'll appreciate it.

[Severian]

OH! Speaking of Game and Game-related thangs.... He mentions a G-Unit reunion on the new record, and I saw this in the store the other day:

 

???
So what the fuck did I miss? I didn't read the article, but I am super intrigued... What kind of reunion are we talking here? Tour only? New record? Tour AND new record?

Why in God's name is the café not positively buzzing with excitement about this? Am I so out of touch with things that I missed this entirely, and it's already fucking OVER? Or is this something that's in the works?

NR, I'm staring right at you with some seriously downcast "12th Doctor" eyebrows...

[noisereductions]

which of these would you say is not better than this album?

-Documentary
-Doctor's Advocate
-LAX
-Red Album
-Jesus Piece

(answer: They are all better than this)

Again, I like it. I do. But still.

[noisereductions]

the G-Unit reunion? They've already released an EP this year son. And another on the way.

They did at least one live show recently too.