The Musicaholics: June 2012

Monday, June 11, 2012

( Unsigned Hype ) Mike Stud - Boyfriend Freestyle

Let's Reminisce : Reasonable Doubt

For every piece of artwork, a certain reasonable doubt about its quality resonates, and sometimes this doubt takes over our belief that is placed in it. Imperfections in a formula or execution run rampart and manage to bring minor or major ruin to these certain pieces. Smooth coherency is a nigh impossible. Or is it? For an extremely rare exception, Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt is one of the most smoothly coherent and easy listens. What actual is laid down on the table may not be downright amazing or perfection at first sight, but how it is done, executed, and delivered is oddly coherent and cool, and though there are many solid rap albums hidden and lost, a fairly few amount of them contain such mastery of craft asReasonable Doubt.

For comparison, Jay-Z possesses the cockiness of B.I.G. and takes it to the very next level, but on a lyrical level Jay-Z possess a prowess for crime tale-ology that occasionally approaches Raekwon, humor punch lines like that of, again, B.I.G., and a soulful demeanor that is like the equivalent Tupac, just for basic rap relate-ablity. Jay’s flow and delivery is all his own, and his hard to compare to any other MC other than that of his own peer that is almost of his level Sauce Money, and his former mentor Big Jaz. Particular lyrics rarely impress (“comes to this cheese y'all like Three Blind Mice” is a fairly average metaphor when it comes to 90s rap), but rather each line fits together perfectly into ace verses and, much more often on Reasonable Doubt, great songs that manage to tell stories of the Mafioso life.

However, what separates Jay-Z from the rest of the pack is his ability to pick collaborations and his fine tuned ear for hooks and lyrics that manages to fit his song’s production backing and his own ego and mold. Unlike what some underground rappers would try, the majestic “Politics As Usual” doesn’t try to place lyrics about actual politics, nor does a track with such a funky backdrop as “Cashmere Thoughts” try to bang with a estranged concept or weird flow. Each track and it’s individual pieces is completely fitting and necessary. “Brooklyn’s Finest” sees B.I.G.’s arrival to bless the track with his presence as welcome, and yet, Jay and him rap to each other as equals. It also possesses a certain necessary competitiveness between the two, with both of them competing for the song title. For another example of Jay-Z perfect choice in guests, Mecca’s chorus on “Feelin It” would be incredibly eccentric and out-of-place anywhere else, but amongst Jay-Z stop-and-go flow and the song’s smooth yet chilling piano line, her flat-out weird voice manages to just blend with the rest of the track and doesn’t take the spotlight away from Jay. Lastly, the collaboration between the only MC’s that sound anything like Jay-Z, Sauce Money and Big Jaz, both appear on “Bring It On”, a posse cut that can only be described as what Beans and Memphis Bleek wishes they could make with Jay-Z. With such a minimalistic, almost DJ Mugg-esqe approach to the sound board, Sauce, Jay, and Jaz simply rip “Bring It On” to shreds with the first to come of the ritualistic salutes to Roc-A-Fella records. Even Foxy Brown manages to sound not completely out of place on the bouncy groove of “Ain’t No Nigga”, although her verse is as mediocre as anything else she has written, her speedy, monotone flow manages to fit in well enough with the beat that it doesn’t take away any of the songs shine at all. Besides, there is a lot of truth in the statment “you can't change a player’s game in the 9th inning”, and that statement remains true on “Ain’t No Nigga”.

To pick out individual songs that strike the bane of perfection in every way, DJ Premier’s cinematic production “Friend or Foe” manages to bring out the rare occasion where Jay-Z switches up his spacey and cocky flow into something that would usually sound awkward anywhere else, but instead, his conversational flow manages to fit perfectly here. “Friend or Foe” tells the hilarious tale of taking over an area trying to be taken over by a little pushover, and with Jay-Z’s flow portraying the perfect mixture of pity, nervousness, and joking-ness in his attempt to move this guy out, it might convince the listener to move out of THEIR area. Another track that particularly stands out is “Regrets”. “Regrets” is the start of ending tracks for Jay-Z albums being solemn looks into his life, with this one being more focused on the negative side of hustling, and while hypocrisy rides even this album, Jay-Z’s point is certainly relatable and appreciated, and although takes a look at the negativity, contains a certain optimistic attitude certainly not found on many rap albums, stating “In order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets”.

There is nothing really more to say about Reasonable Doubt other than the fact that it’s certainly one of the best rap albums ever released. It’s more than solid in quality, it’s smooth going down, unusually perfectionistic, and although Jay-Z isn’t the perfect rapper, he certainly puts more effort in here than he ever would anywhere else. Reasonable Doubt is a purely Mafioso and hood experience, but the truth of the matter is, there are points of relate-ability where everybody can enjoy, not to mention it contains some of Jay-Z’s bounciest and grooviest songs of his entire career.

I mean, Come on…

Let's Reminisce : Illmatic .

Intro

April 19, 1994. A single tape of 39 minutes and 43 seconds revolutionizes an art form called hip-hop. No matter what precedes this album nor what comes after, April 20th was a new day for hip-hop. Just like the later predecessors drew influence from innovative artists like Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, and Krs-One, such was Nas’ influence on hip-hop. In many senses Illmatic became a manual of sorts, a holistic Qu’ran for any rapper truly seeking the approval of underground heads. Illmatic was Nas’ Starry Night, the endless ideal that even the architect would never again achieve. Aside from being a cultural bookmark and divisor, this album also clearly marks Nas progression from lazy-eyed freestyle kingpin to someone who truly deserved the cosign from Main Source and MC Serch. Chronicling the rise of a young street dweller who came up in an almost the identical pattern as Big Daddy Kane. Starting off on a classic posse cut – for Kane it was The Symphony, for Nasir it was Back To The Grill and Live At The Barbeque – and then growing to infamy with a classic first album. Both Long Live The Kane and Illmatic also only consist of 10 songs. However, that’s where the comparisons end. Kane entered the history books but Nas re-wrote the history books.

Review

The Genesis

Back in the day when Q-Tip was a teenager, intro’s like these were a dime a dozen. In reality, it may seem like it’s just Nas and AZ bullshittin’ over an prehistoric Grand Wizard Theodore instrumental- Subway Theme to be exact- but this track unconsciously sets the tone for the rest of the album.

N.Y. State Of Mind

This song is why The Genesis is such an effective intro. You expect to hear a lounged-back Main Source (Live At The Barbeque) sound, but Primo and Nas deliver anything but. Those dirty drums start kicking, that bassline just floats along the instrumental, and the one piano key ominously ends the loop. Nas adds a memorable first verse that seems to never end, but still effortlessly seams into the hook. Simplistic beyond comparison, yet all Primo needs is a quick vocal from Eric B and Rakim’s Mahogany and Nas is off. In the second verse, Nas simply unleashes countless quotables until Primo lets the beat go.

Life’s A Bitch

You go from the chill freestyle vibe of N.Y. State Of Mind to the comfortably rushed atmosphere that engrosses this whole song. Regardless, AZ has earned unanimous acclaim for his verse simply annihilating L.E.S.’s jazz-tinged masterpiece. However, Nas answers back with an equally poignant lyrical performance. But, it’s Olu Dara who kills it on the cornet, when L.E.S. allows his instrumental to flow free.

The World Is Yours

To this day, Pete Rock has never bested this masterpiece. As a producer, Pete has an legacy of often outshining the artists that utilize his instrumentals. Not so here, it’s a purely synchronous sound that is made for each other, the hip hop version of peanut butter & jelly. It’s ironic how Nas changes subjects in the middle of the song. First verse is a dead-on Scarface impression that would make Brad Jordan blush, but the second verse is pure brilliance disguised as braggadocio.

Halftime

Don’t ever doubt Large Professor! Who else has the audacity to sample Jaz-O in the presence of Average White Band? Nas, not to be bested, changes up the flow two or three times per verse. Word to Marcus Garvey. Those steely drums are just one of a kind, and are just begging to be sampled. More impressive, are all the cultural tidbits Nas manages to drop in four minute’s time, while addressing his own problems at the same time. Don’t plant that seed, if you can’t feed is the moral of this story.

Memory Lane

Nas changes up from a fast-slow, up-down flow to a consistent one, and simply unleashes a verbal tangent that will never be equaled. This sounds nothing like Primo though, doesn’t fit in with his catalogue by any means, nonetheless Primo comes through with some crazy samples on this one. That ever-present moaning on loop is Get out of My Life, Woman by Lee Dorsey, and perhaps the greatest sample DJ Premier ever used is Pickin’ Boogers by Biz Markie. That was good thinking. I still freeze up a little when I hear the last two bars of this song:

True in the game, as long as blood is blue in my veins
I pour my Heineken brew to my deceased crew on memory lane

One Love

The Abstract comes through with an instrumental of majestic proportions, not at all comparable to the work of Ali Shaheed Muhammad. It’s interesting to hear Q-Tip’s productions, since he could always hold his own on an MPC, but subsequently let Ali Shaheed Muhammad handle the work behind the breaks. On a linguistic tip, this song comes much weaker than the predecessing tracks, but Nas shows flashes of the indirect storytelling that would flesh out later with the ill-fated Firm. From 4:19 and onwards Nas bullies this instrumental lyrically.

One Time 4 Your Mind

A head-bopper in every sense of the word. That slow flow, the effortless rhyming that just simultaneously ensues from this immaculate blunt-head’s paradise. Large Pro comes through again with an deep bassline complemented by twangy drums that just slow everything down. Perfection in the form of audio marijuana ganja.

Represent

This marks the transition of Nas from a spiteful yet protagonistic emcee to an rapper with lyrical prowess nearly unmatched. This song sounds much less Illmatic and much more It Was Written, not in a negative sense, but moreso in terms of stylistics and delivery. Like a posse cut, minus the weed carriers and excess baggage. Did Nas really run with a crew called “The Shorty-Busters”? Let’s hope not for his sake, because that’s just embarassing. Also probably the first time I’ve ever seen Primo simply utilizing one sample.

It Ain’t Hard To Tell

This instrumental alone is all the imagery you need to envision the 90’s in one complete sound. One of those moving send-off’s that puts you in the right state of mind every time. A N.Y. State Of Mind!

Outro

It’s fair to say that Illmatic is the best hip hop album of all time, and therefore this review should be worthless to most people. If you don’t already own this album in any capacity, do yourself a favor.