Busta Rhymes - World Go Round

Busta Rhymes - World Go Round

Swimming in the mainstream

I don't mind a bit of mainstream gangsta pop rap. And Game does a pretty good job making a gangsta rap track with a poppy sound. Not quite as successfully as 50 Cent (or, painfully, Ja Rule), but Game has delivered a few crossover hits.

A friend gave me his most recent album, LAX, after they reviewed it for the newspaper. I've enjoyed listening to most of the tracks, even if he features more artists than songs. But the criticism that has always been leveled at Game is still in play here. Namely, that he drops waaaaaay too many names.

Let's have a run through of "Money", a track with a surprisingly cheesy and catchy hook.

Names dropped:
Kanye West (rapper)(in the first line)
Kobe Bryant (NBA basketballer)(indirectly)
Frank Lucas (70s drug kingpin, inspiration for American Gangster)
Baby (from Cash Money Records)
Slim (from Cash Money Records)
Pablo Escobar (Colombian drug kingpin)
LeBron James (NBA basketballer)
Shaquille O'Neal (NBA basketballer)
Flava Flav (rapper/reality tv star)(indirectly)
Deelishis (Flavor of Love 2 winner)
50 Cent (Game's old boss)
Snoop (fellow West Coast rapper)
Freddy Kruger (fictional serial killer)
Jason Voorhees (fictional serial killer)
Jacob (diamond salesman)
Dwight Howard (NBA basketballer)
Louis Vuitton (designer)
Alpo (Puerto Rican drug lord)
Martha Stewart (homemaking queen)
Tony Parker (NBA basketballer)

That's just in one song. And he doesn't really slow down at all for the rest of the album.

If you're looking for a great example of what Nick was talking about with the progression of rappers towards singing rather than rapping, track five, My Life feat. Lil Wayne, says it all. Wayne is there to sing the hook - the self-proclaimed 'Greatest Rapper Alive' doesn't provide a verse.

Black Milk - ELEC Mixtape

In preparation for his upcoming album. There's some great stuff on this tape with Busta, Pharoahe Monch and others as guests but Black Milk's flow is not totally doing it for me.

Black Milk - ELEC Mixtape

Rap's Post-Lyrical Phase

Brandon Soderberg has made a series of posts in reflection on Rap's Post-Lyrical Phase (pt II, III, IV). It's really interesting to see him trace through how rap lyricism has developed and think about the trend exemplified by Kanye and Weezy. It helps connect golden era fans with Kanye, Weezy and co. or at least understand the difference. Get your rap geek on.

Spec Boogie and Elucid Freestyle

These guys are just dope. I love the contrast between their voices.



The song playing at the start is 'Lessondary Nose' by Elucid, Che Grand, Spec Boogie and Von Pea. It's totally worth the listen.

The Knux interview

Check out this interview of The Knux with Jeff Weiss. They've got passion, creativity and lots of opinions and I like that. I'm looking forward to their album which is out 28/10.

Dancing with the stars

I thought Arab Money was pretty ridiculous to start with but the dance just perfects it. Now you need to video yourself doing the dance and upload it onto youtube.