Let’s be specific (peace Funkmaster Flex), the other day I dropped my 10 most underrated rappers of 2011, so it only made sense to drop my best rapper too. This isn’t an all-time list, it’s current and I could only award this to a rapper who is, well current. Andre 3000, you might be on another level and universally accepted as the greatest rapper living and who am I to disagree? You are, but these once every few years cameos on these bullshit R&B tracks ain’t cutting it.
It ain’t Jay, shame on you for even thinking that. It isn’t his apprentice Mr. Electronica, who by the way he should be dropping his once-a-year track in December to continue giving your iTunes blue balls. His lack of new material and a Saigon(ish) career pattern is not helping matters. I can you assure you it’s nobody who would rock a smedium t-shirt. Nobody that you would consider a hipster or vegan. It isn’t a new radical skater. It isn’t lazy self-absorbed artists who continues to produce lo-fi albums for your listening displeasure.
Who does it leave then? Nas, maybe, but we all know he lost a step or two over the years. Could it be Jada? Sure, Jadakiss is like the New York Jets, he looks great on paper but when it comes down to business he can’t close and I’m still waiting on that great album from him. So the argument could come down to Pusha and the man who I awarded it to. Pusha is just getting better with age, but when you see who is #1 it’s hard to dispute facts.
Maybe 2012 will be different but there isn’t a rapper IMO who has deliverer quality time and time again than this man. I hate the word swag, so I will just say this man’s style is just too damn cool. It sounds effortless like the way DOOM spits, but it’s extremely layered with witty lyricism and tons of rewind material If the Dos Equis guy was a rapper he’d be this one. –Philaflava
Click to see who is the best rapper of 2011. (more…)
Elmatic Instrumentals is pretty dope, very good for dayjob listening (ie keeping it real without getting fired). Will Sessions interpolate and riff on the originals subtly but enough to make these new versions interesting on their own terms. At it’s best points this album reminds me of El Michels Affair’s The 37th Chamber.
I’m singling out “Represent Intro” because it’s the album’s most significant deviation from the original Illmatic tracklist, and it’s good enough to make me wish the band did more like it. And “It Aint Hard To Tell” is getting posted simply because it’s “It Aint Hard To Tell”.
A good little primer to set up the Compton rapper’s Red Album release today. If you’re unfamiliar with Game’s music or are one of the stubbron heads who still don’t rate him as a rapper, check it out. Best ear for beats around or just a beneficiary of circumstance? Shouts to Dirt Dog for the artwork. Download link and tracklist after the jump.
Nothing we haven’t heard before but its good to be reminded why this lazy, stubborn, sometimes extremely idiotic rapper was once the greatest we had in the 90′s. It’s also a good testament to anyone who ever thought Jay-Z was a better rapper. Definitely a cool compilation for the weekend. Enjoy! –Philaflava
01. Queens Day feat. Run DMC & Prodigy
02. Can’t Fade Me feat. Cassidy & Quan
03. In Between Us feat. Scarface
04. Calm Down feat. Noreaga & Tragedy Khadafi
05. Verbal Intercourse feat. Raekwon
06. Fast Life (Buckwild Remix) feat. Kool G Rap
07. Live at The Barbeque feat. Main Source
08. Success feat. Jay-Z
09. Stay Chiseled feat. Large Professor
10. John Blaze feat. Big Pun, Jadakiss, Raekwon & Fat Joe
11. Eye For An Eye feat. Mobb Deep & Raekwon
12. Music for Life feat. J Dilla, Common, Busta Rhymes & Marsha Of Floetry
13. Rough Around The Edges feat. Busta Rhymes
14. How Ya Livin’ feat. AZ
15. Heartbeat feat. Nneka
16. Wake Up Show Anthem ’94 feat. Pharoahe Monch, Prince Paul, Ras Kass, Dred Scott, Shyheim, Chino XL & Saafir
17. Road to Zion feat. Damian Marley
18. Bring It To You Hardest feat. Slick Rick
Disc 2
01. Fast Life feat. Kool G Rap
02. Rich And Black feat. Raekwon
03. The Essence feat. AZ
04. Grand Finale ft. Method Man, DMX & Ja Rule
05. Dog Shit ft. Mobb Deep
06. Holla Back ft. Kool G Rap, AZ & Tito
07. I Do It For Hip Hop feat. Jay-Z & Ludacris
08. It’s Mine feat. Mobb Deep & Jadakiss
09. Letter to the King feat. Game
10. Analyze This (No Love Lost) feat. Jay-Z & Lord Tariq
11. Classic feat. Kanye West, Rakim & KRS One
12. Finer Things feat. Jon B
13. Don’t Stop, Keep Goin feat. Daz & Kurupt
14. Why (Remix) feat. Styles P, Jadakiss, Common & Anthony Hamilton
15. Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It (Remix) feat. Ice Cube & Scarface
16. Usual Suspects feat. Rick Ross
17. Give It Up Fast feat. Mobb Deep
18. Help Somebody (Remix) feat. Maxwell (more…)
The greatest rap band and the greatest rapper of (92-94) combine like a pair AJ True Blue‘s and jeans. Link contains ALL of The Roots and Nas tracks from the show. Enjoy! –Philaflava
The sequel to 2009′s Memory Man Presents Raekwon – Cuban Revolution, this remix project reinvents Nas’ 1999 album with golden era-style production. All of the original guest appearances remain intact, with the exception of Puff Daddy’s chorus vocals on Hate Me Now which are performed here by MC Paul Barman. Cover art by Lazy Eye Graphics.
These kinds of remix projects are very common these days, and the majority of them are poor. But Memory Man is way better at this than most others, his work bearing obvious marks of craftsmanship and obsessive attention to details. His last effort, Cuban Revolution, ended up superior to some of the ‘official’ Raekwon mixtapes released that year. So considering Memory Man’s skills and the fact that ‘I Am’ ihas a lot that could be improved on, I have high expectations.
Remember Space Jam? Yes, you do. And before I go any further, yes, this is an article on Steady Bloggin about Space Jam. Because it was an instant classic to the 9 year old me, and the 24 year old me wants to tell you about it.
Well it’s the 15 year anniversary of Space Jam, and Austin Kent over at The Good Point (who, interestingly, I went to University with – shouts to Sam Joynt who I roomed with in third year and also writes for GP) decided it’d be pretty cool to celebrate the occasion by recasting The Monstars in 2011. I agree.
So educated reader, who might already know where this is going, basketball and rap music have gone hand-in-hand for the better half of two decades now. And for someone like me, that’s awesome since basketball and rap have long been interests number 1 and 1A, in no particular order. Naturally, including hip hop in films about basketball made sense, whether culturally within the movie itself, or accompanied by way of the soundtrack. For instance, White Man Can’t Jump had Cypress Hill and Queen Latifah, Hoop Dreams had Ice Cube, Above the Rim with Tupac, He Got Game had an entire soundtrack crafted by Public Enemy, and even a masterpiece like The 6th Man had Doug E. Fresh on a Stevie Wonder remix. But the cream of the crop, my friends, was The Monstars’ anthem known better as Hit’Em High.
Stealing the idea from Austin (it’s hip hop, we steal shit right?) and applying it to what Wikipedia suggests is “generally regarded as the greatest rap collaboration of all-time” (seriously, it says that), I thought it’d be thumbs up to figure out who could represent The Mean Team in the studio in 2011.
Our friend Vaporized has been cooking up some marvelous shit over at the TROY forum on Philaflava, putting some Group Home instrumentals to really good use. Observe:
As utterly derided as he was for his Escobar personna during the late 90s, this is still one of my favorite non-album joints by Nas. The clean version received a wide release on the Men in Black soundtrack, but check the dirty flip from the 12″.
