Sweet as bro

I just got given this CD to review at work (along with Kid Cudi) and damn if it didn't take me by surprise. Smashproof's "The Weekend" is a top notch album full of club-ready production and neat rhymes. I know Scribe is the biz, but these NZ boy have put together a great effort.

Here is "Brothers", which was at number one in New Zealand for 11 weeks.

The rest of the album has absolutely great beats, and pretty good rhymes. Some of the tracks are at Timbaland's (before he got crap) level, Just Blaze, or even Kanye (circa Graduation, not 808s and Heartbreak). I'll have to give the rapping a bit more of a listen.

Elucid - Bear Trapz

I've been meaning to post this for a bit but I'm lazy. Rock the Dub has put out Bear Trapz, Elucid's latest release. It's really refreshing to hear Elucid taking hip hop in a different direction but it's not easy listening. Creatively Elucid seems to be to be in a similar zone to Kool Keith but is less weird about it. Yum Yum is my favourite track, it's got a bit more structure and drive than the other two tracks but overall it's a great little release.

Nas - Got Ur Self a Gun

Just been watching Sopranos and had to post this.

The last Jay-Z post for a bit

Okay, so I know I've been talking a lot about Jay-Z recently, so this will be the last one in a while. But here some excerpts from the interview he gave XXL about The Blueprint 3. My favourite parts:

On attacking "gimmicky" Auto-tune use:

A trend is a trend. I follow trends. I set trends. Now, when a trend becomes a gimmick, it’s time to get rid of it. As far as hip-hop. Like, when they were saying “bling bling” on CNN, it’s time to never say that word again. It was just about the aggression of everything. I saw everyone, ’cause it was successful, following one path. You turn on the radio, and that’s all you hear. I’m not saying I hate T-Pain. What I’m talking about is a trend that’s becoming a gimmick. And if we continue down this path, we’re going to open the door for another genre of music. Same way when rock was doing hair metal it opened the door even wider for hip-hop to come through and put rock music in trouble for 10 years and more. Right now, there are a lot of indie bands coming out, which is making rock more exciting: the MGMTs and the Kings of Leons. You keep messing around, making generic music, people are going to start turning off one at a time. And if these guys [keep] making great music, guess what? [Fans are] gonna go to them. If you look back in the history of music, that’s what happens all the time.

On being conscious of his position as someone who stretches the subject matter in hip-hop:

Whether Kingdom Come was your favorite album or not, “30 Something,” you have to deal with that subject matter [in that song]. If [the target audience is] 15 to 25, that’s too narrow. What am I going to listen to at 26 and beyond? That’s a quarter of my life. That’s such a small slice of the pie. We have to expand the genre. I would love to listen to hip-hop all day. Of course, now there are other things making their way into my CD changer or iPod, because of the lack of material. It doesn’t speak to me. Everyone is speaking to the kids, thinking that’s the key to success. The sad part of it is that all these [rappers] saying it are 30 years old, at least. Sometimes 35. It’s misleading. It’s that lack of growth that will keep us in a certain place.

I think that, as long as the heart is in it. Because even if you miss it, it’s art. Like, Kool Keith, he may not sell any records, ever. But I think his type of art is needed, and there are people who follow his music.

On making "D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-tune)"

It really just happened in the studio. We were just having a discussion about the game and music and where everything is going. So No ID plays this track, and Kanye jumps up. Actually, Kanye gave me the idea. He jumps up and is like, “Man, this is hard. This is against everything.” I don’t know if he knew where I was going to take it, but he sparked the idea. I came back the next day and did the record.

 Super keen yes. A bit more here.

Empire State of Mind

I've heard good things about this song, but Kanye just posted it... and it's great. I actually got excited listening to it.

Jay-Z - Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)

Soaring, very New York.

So, in other words, I'm excited for the Blueprint 3. Apparently it will be available in Australia on September 11, same date as the US. Although that could just be for the online store.

UPDATE: HA! Aziz Ansari, an American comedian who is on Parks and Recreation, does his own remix of Jay-Z's "Hate (feat. Kanye)". And it's classic.