Music inspired

Heh i love a good pun- inspired. 

For a while I haven't been as heavily into music as I used to- the excitement of finding new artists/groups died down for a while as I stopped looking. But now... it's like a breath of fresh air. It feels good. Now I have so much new music that I'm genuinely excited to listen to I don't know how to fit it all in.

Shout out to Sharebee- so many great websites use this service to host files for free (legal!) sharing.

And for the first time, I'm gonna start giving ratings for albums. WOW, excitement. I can feel it.

Anyway following on from my previous post, listened to Kid Cudi's album "A Kid Called Cudi". It was a fairly solid effort, decent production values, but there aren't any memorable tracks other than the single "Day n Nite". A lot of mileage is taken from the same beat as well, which makes the album sounds a tad monotonous after a while. The singing-rap style Cudi has is fresh, but like milk left on the counter, only for a short dose before going stale. 6/10.

It may have taken me 2 whole days of searching, but I copped the Tanya Morgan album "Brooklynati". The trio members hailing from Brooklyn and Cincinnati (hence the album title), met through an online forum okayplayer.org. They hooked up back in 02/03 and have slowly been gaining momentum since then, with an EP release.

"Brooklynati" is hot. You can even take a tour of their virtual city here. Fresh beats, fresh rhymes with interesting use of jazz instrumentation, their flow is assured and addictive. Their sound stands out in today's hip hop market, by reaching out to the old school and encapsulating how hip hop used to sound like. Maybe because they're not constantly brand-dropping (hello, Kanye), and maybe because ADDITIONALLY, they've also avoided constantly talking up some fake braggadocio gangsta/hustla/pimp/smackin' bitches BS (ahem...Half a dollar...). The measure of a man isn't whether they're driving a Cadillac/Range with or without D's on that bitch, whether they're rockin' LV and Gucci. Man, these days rappers rap about what brands they can buy their GIRL (Usher's "Love in this Club" for example). 

TM's sound has been critically acclaimed as this decade's De la Soul/Tribe Called Quest. High praise indeed. It is no surprise then that their record is reminiscent of De la Soul and The Roots of the mid-late 90s. Production is very tight, and the key is that each song focuses on something different musically. Their use of instrumentation in their hooks- a horn section here, a bassline there, a different beat everywhere, is testament to their real talent and musicianship. Their rapping style is flexible and feels like the glove to the beat's hand, such is their flow. The album is diverse but subtly so. No pop formula here ie. here's the single, here's the slow jam, here's the gangsta song. The focus is on the music and the rhymes together, which is a weakness of alot of hip hop albums that focus too much on posing and spittin' game.

The one criticism that can be levelled at Brooklynati is that a lot of the songs are around the same mid-tempo beat. If you're not in the mood for this, then the album can grow tired after a while- like after listening to half the album. But I bet most people find a song that they will bang on repeat, and the funny thing is it will be a different song to other people's selections. My current faves are "On Our Way" because it draws you into the album, and "Bang & Boogie". Album of the year so far- 9/10.

Currently listening to-

Tanya Morgan- Brooklynati

Looking forward to-

Lynwood Rose (yep, haven't listened to it yet)

Ocean's 7 (a supergroup including Jermaine Dupri, Usher, Nelly, Trey Songz, Johnta Austin...) are releasing a mixtape at the end of the month. Youtube them. Hot.

Busta Rhymes- Back on my B.S.

Johnta Austin- will you ever release your album Ocean Drive?!?!?!?!?! FFS I got "Turn it Up" in 2006 and you still haven't released the album yet!