I Don't Think So...

Its finally here, it seemed that all the hype surrounding the album, was squarely aimed at its title and not actually the music that shaped the album.

When you look at it, it's probably the title that set the direction for the album. The concept of doing a whole album around the theory of hip hop being dead, was a very bold/brave and ultimately smart move.

I will say this now......It is the best album of the year bar none, sorry Lupe, The Roots etc.

Lyrically NaS is on another level, his flow on tracks such as Money of Bullshit, You Can't Kill Me, Play on Playa, Black Republican and Let There Be Light, is incredible. His storytelling is unmatched(although give Lupe a few years and he will run him close), Who Killed It? has/will fly over a lot of peoples heads, the title alone will have people going crazy, but please listen to the song 5-6 times and tell me that the track isn't genius....I know the alteration in his voice is going to piss a lot of people off, but that is what makes the track stand out even more.

Beats wise the album contains too many gems(a surprise given that many people think that is the major minus point about NaS' music), I won't run through them all, but I will name the tracks that I like, but am not really feeling, yet. You Can't Kill Me is not a bad track, but the beat seems a little off, although NaS descriptive verses are stone cold, so you have to pay attention. Blunt Ashes is not bad either, but I think it is placed wrong as it is in between two stellar tracks(Hold Down The Block and Let There Be Light) both of which are uptempo compared to the morbid/slow sounding Ashes.......to be honest that's it.........everything is quality.

The guest appearances also add to the quality of the record. Jay Z sounds bright on Black Republicans, Kanye sounds right on Still Dreaming, while Snoop is zoning out on Play on Playa. Yet is Def Jam newcomer Chrisette Michelle who steals the album with a stunning vocal performance on Can't Forget About You and also Hope.


Only time will tell if this album will be a classic, replay factor is the key to that, talk to me this time next year and I will give you the answer, I can tell you now that it won't be far off.

The ironic thing is I know that Nas' knows Hip Hop isn't dead, especially if you've got quality albums like this

"I Done Got In Trouble Again"

Looking Down Over his Kingdom

The hiatus is well and truly over, after 3 and a bit years we now have a new Jay z album on our record shelves.

The hype surrounding his comeback has been immense, from world tours, to TV ads, to making peace with Nas, Jay Z has gone all out to make sure his comeback is a success and with his sales forecasted to be about 850,000 within his first week, you have to say that it looks like the hard work has paid off.

Now to the album....

The internet has a habit of making out that an album is either the best thing you will ever hear or something so bad you’re afraid to actually listen to it. Kingdom Come would come in between those two options. To be honest the hate probably outweighs the praise, but it is an album that you have to listen to in order to cast your own opinion. Don't listen to the praise or the hate, just listen to the album with a clear head and you will be able to appreciate it for what it is, good or bad.

For me it is a very strong album that contains a lot of gems (Prelude, Kingdom Come, Lost Ones, Do U Wanna Ride, 30 Something and Minority Report), even Show Me What You Got starts to sound appealing after a few spins. That’s 7 tracks out of 14 that are very good songs, add Dig A Hole and Trouble which are good diss songs, you have 9 out of 14 songs that stand out lyrically and beat-wise.

There are a few missteps, I made it sounds like it was a left over from the Black Album, Hollywood (w/Beyonce) sounds like it should have been on the Beyonce album and Anything featuring Usher and Pharrell shouldn't be on anyone’s album (seriously the neptunes are falling badly).

A lot of comparisons have been made between Kingdom Come and The Black Album, which is understandable, in all honesty I never liked the TBA as much as most people, and I believe that while the consistency dips on KC it is probably a stronger album minus a few tracks.

To sum it up, just be glad that he is back with fresh material, more mature(although you wouldn't know it due to his constant bragging, but some things will never change I suppose), and most importantly still on top of his game. Kingdom Done.

Its Spidey Time....Well Not Just Yet

Sorry, it has been a while. Been pretty busy, but I'm going to drop another few posts at a later date to catch up.

In the meantime

I just have to mention this

Spiderman 3, brand new trailer. One word. Wow(is it a word)

Anyway it looks amazing, and no doubt will be the biggest film of 2007. May 4th, the countdown has officially begun.


more to follow.
1.

A Toast.....

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I would like to offer a toast to......myself.


Sorry for the ego trip, but at last I have finally got some of my work published. Oh happy days. Check it out here.

Its a start and now at least I have published examples of work to show any future employers.


short and sweet

Will be back soon

1ne

Please Excuse Me....



First of all...





Just discovered this and I have to say Xzibit really shocked me with this performance. Ever since he found worldwide fame with Pimp my Ride, I never really thought that he would be able to discover any kind of form,especially after his last album wasn't that well recieved, but how wrong can I be.

This is a brillant live performance, no gimmicks, no hypeman, just real intelligent hip hop music. Thank You (the name of the song) Xzibit,you have done yourself proud with this.

But wait there's more....

That picture of Busta Rhymes is from the It Anit Safe No More booklet and is one of my favourites from the Busta catalouge, and it helps to sum up my feeling(s) for todays post.

I've come to the realisation that I officially hate MTV and their so called "reality" TV shows.

Here it is, I was at work today watching a little bit of TV, channel hopping as you sometimes do(I know, but it was a slow day)and I caught a bit of MTV. In fact it was a show called My Sweet 16, the title says it all really, it is a show about rich parents planning show stopping Sixteenth birthday parties for there already spolit kids. This particular show featured a black kid who had invited Rihanna to be the special guest for his party.

I wasn't paying that much attention, but they showed a clip of the kid sitting in an empty room, behind a big screen while all of his invited friends were in the next room partying away. The reason why he was sitting in an empty room, was the fact that Rihanna was late and she was meant to be part of the kid's big enterance to his own party. After she eventually turns up, making the kid late for his own party, they share greetings and are whisked away to make their special enterance...now I swear I only turned away for a second, next thing I know the two of them are heading to the party on the back of a..................camel..................a camel.......where the hell did that come from, all the rich kid's rich friends were all jumping around in totally disbelief, I was just sitting thier in disbelief.

Now there is a small part of my mind that tells me If MTV's cameras were not around, there is no way that the poor camel would be subjected to the task of carrying Rihanna, although I would have gladly volunteered. The thing is, that cannot be reality. Why do MTV make these kind of shows, I don't understand why anyone would want to watch that kind of rubbish, but it seems that MTV is the home of rubbish TV.

In an attempt to make a quick get away from that I made the grave error of turning on Simon Cowell's X Factor show. Oh what a pointless, sham of a show that is. Everyone on their has a role to play and by no means is a true reflection reality. How can three people, tell you what you can and can't do...admittedly there are people out there who go on the show and can't sing a lick, but they are the stars of the show in its early stages. The winner of the show is picked by the audience at home, so talent might not even come down to it.

Sorry MTV I take back the I hate you qoute, instead.....All Reality TV Shows.....I Hate You, no matter what channel you are on.



I think I'll have to go and watch that Xzibit video a few times to try and calm down

Signing Off

The Sequel

Just less than two weeks till this is released now, and no doubt it will be bootlegged before then. The songs that have leaked so far only whet the appetite for what is to come. Hi Tek for me is probably one of the most underrated producers in music. No doubt he will be remembered for producing two of the best hip hop album of all-time in the shape of Train of Thought together with Talib Kweli and Blackstar album with Kweli and Mos Def, but he has also made beats for people like 50 Cent and Common.

His first album in the Hi Teknology series showcased his abilities as a producer, the album featured appearances from Common, Kweli, Cormega and Singer Jonell, who had a hit with the Hi Tek produced track Round and Round taken from the album.

His latest effort features rap heavyweights such as Nas, The Game, Jadakiss and Raekwon, it also sees him reunited with Talib Kweli and Mos Def. Hi Tek also raps on this album as he surprisingly did on The Blast from the Train of Thought album, while he is not noted for being a rapper, he still brings a little flavour to his beats and is by no means poor. Yet it his soulful and melodic beats that he is famous managing to create something that you have to bang your head to while trying to take in everything else that is going on in his tracks.

That’s it though; I’m trying not to listen too much to the songs that have already appeared on the net, hoping that they will stay fresh for when the album is released. If you like your hip hop perfectly crafted this will be the album for you.

Dreams....

I know they said it wasn't going to be easy but I never knew it was going to be this hard


Finding a job is getting on my nerves, to the point of pain and feeling like I need to slap (Go and cop that new Luda album) someone. I mean my folks haven't really been on my case. I've been trying, believe me I've been trying. I knew that once I had finished uni, there wasn't going to be a job at the end of it, but I at least thought that there would be certain opportunities out there for me....Looks like I was wrong.

Now I'm getting down about not working at all, and my dad is getting on my fruckin nerves, yeah my mom&pops have supported in terms of shelter/food and what not, but at this most important crossroad stage of my life, there begining to flip, especially pops, No friggin words of encouragement just frucking failure talk, which I really don't want to hear right now, even though I know there's truth to some of his words, I need positive thoughts, I'm trying to do something good with myself, not ending up working in a dead-end job for the rest of my life struggling to justify to myself that everything is cool.

The thing is you never really know what to expect from this strange world untill you fully experience it yourself. People will tell and you can listen to them, but lets face it, you want to find out for yourself, everyone makes mistakes its part of life and the cycle in that it produces.

Looks like I'm going to have to get my grind on, paid or unpaid,I've got a couple of options, both of which are unpaid, I'm going to have to pimp myself to prospective employees...something I have said I would feel uncomfortable doing, but if means that I will eventually get to live out my dream of becoming a top entertainment journalist then I suppose so be it.


Peace&I'm out

B




I'm pretty down so I've chosen a video/song whose theme doesn't really relate to me a great deal, but its the chorus that can keep me going.