Sep 20, 2020

 

Sep 9, 2020

@King V

#45: Ratking - So It Goes [8.4/10]​

It's sort of weird these two never got the same push as the likes of Flatbush Zombies and other NY contemporaries during their short-lived run. I was still starting college when I stumbled onto Ratking's 1993 tape, couldn't help but feel excited that the 90's dusty sound was experiencing a resurgence of newer rappers, before Joey's aptly named 1999 came in and redefined Neo boom-bap. Wiki was always a pretty decent rapper, wouldn't have sounded too out of place next to Wu-Tang or the Fugees, meanwhile Sporting Life was honestly one of the most overlooked producers of this decade with a DITC-like penchant for reconstructing samples for a break loop. This was their *debut* album and I honestly forgot how this even sounded.

Feel like I'm a lot more impressed this time around compared to when this actually dropped 6 years ago. The production was by far the highlight of this; it's more than just the typical formula of NY boom-bap as there are hints of electronic & psychedelic rock scattered on the record, even in a couple of instances Sporting abandons the formula and opts for hi-hats and faster drums. The samples are cleverly reworked, I still get a kick when I hear Dipset Anthem looped into a jittery electronic beat. It's a project that takes immense pride in its indie identity--King Krule, way before I even got into HIS music, showed up on here for hook duty. While Wiki's raps aren't reinventing the wheel or even closely matching up to the lofty heights of his NYC predecessors, it's still good enough to warrant your attention and the record itself is cohesive and dense with ingenuity, a brilliant take on the classic NY sound without it becoming steeped in redundancy.

 

Sep 1, 2020

@Enez

#37: Sweet Trip - velocity : design : comfort [9.0/10]​

When I first saw the cover I thought "Oh cool, this looks like some soothing ethereal s--- that I can kick my feet up and vibe to". Next thing you know the intro kicked in with it's distorted chirps and drum & bass loops and I got s----d into my Mac on some Freakazoid s--- into this cyberspace utopia where this kick a--- band is performing to an acid trip induced audience. I literally just got back from it, still readjusting to being plugged back into matrix and seeing Technicolor 3-D prisms flying around.

I'm not even kidding when I say this band kicks serious a---. There's probably a handful of acts I've ever listened to that could cover such an infinite array of different electronic/rock sounds and make it all blend together. I'm still blown-away at how this came out in f---ing 2003(!!?!?) and still sound futuristic, this is like an anti-Kid A from Radiohead. The reason I say so is that the music itself can be mellifluous, and then formless, but easy to adjust in spite of it's industrial influences, there isn't much melancholy to wallow over. The progression is flawless from track to track, it wouldn't be so implausible to believe you're listening to a hour-long song. It's one of the few instances where in spite of it's length, the long trek into this whimsical, dissolute universe is completely worth it. Great band, great choice, huge thanks once again good sir!

 

Aug 27, 2020

@Genysis

#30: A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory [10/10]​

I knew at some point I'd get one of the seminal rap albums thrown into my direction. I think all of us can recall that mesmerizing first listen, mine came sometime as a kid back in the early 2000's, shoutout once again to my uncle and his fervent love for NY Hip-Hop. Since then, I've never been tired of listening to this jewel, every year you gotta come back to give your flowers to the memories that Phife Dawg & Q-Tip left us.

They had one h--- of a debut with People's Instinctive...Q-Tip ripped through the hip-hop atmosphere like an asteroid, we knew what he was capable of with his stuffed nose delivery and nimble poetry, he meant business when Excursions kicked things off. But then this followed right after, was this the same Phife from the first LP!? It was one of the most striking improvements you'll ever see in the genre, together, The Abstract & The Five-Footer deliver a telepathic chemistry for the rest of the album, where they drop quotable after quotable and play off each other's lines effortlessly. Dovetailing with some of the most memorable performances behind a microphone was Muhammad & Tip's jazz-sampling beats, I swear to God this still sounds distinct even 29 years later: the snares & drums still pound and the samples are perfectly integrated into each time signature, it's a rare combo of something sounding so rugged & equally soothing. That's just what Hip-Hop can do, and The Low End Theory accomplishes that combination to a powerful effect, crazy to think they replicated, and if you ask me, the Tribe improved on when Midnight Marauders dropped after!

 

Aug 21, 2020

@Thy

#27: Max B & French Montana - Coke Wave [1000/10]
​

Junior year of high school feels like forever ago. College wasn't even a thought, life was moving like molasses, my classmates were bumping Wiz Khalifa of all things in the parking lot. Dipset was slowly slipping out of the status quo, we were looking for another iconoclastic messiah that represented us, we needed...a new wave. The first time I heard of Max B was on those random Jim Jones Byrdgang tapes that used to float around the internet, instantly I was hooked by his captivating flows and off-kilter yodeling, it was reminiscent of what Bone Thugs did but with NY bravado & charisma. Next thing you know I was shouting Wavey in school and it spread like wildfire, it was the same whenever I went back to my old neighborhoods where Max B was becoming an underground hero. Sadly, his explosion was defused with his legal troubles, all we were left was all this untapped potential that was never fulfilled.

But in that last year of being a free man, he left us with enough music that could last a lifetime. Coke Wave with a burgeoning French Montana, is probably alongside LiveLoveA$AP & Friday Night Lights my most played mixtape of all-time, I could probably recite this whole thing backwards. Biggavel was at his zenith with his confidence brimming out of every line, while French mirrored his sensei so it was like having a Max doppelgänger on every song. It was a chemistry that reminded me of Puff & Ma$e, where they just reek of charisma and the flows are so d--- mellifluous. Max followed old school 50's formula of tweaking songs with his own twist, the freestyles and original pieces all on here blend together so well that give this whole project a cohesion that we didn't see too often in his other mixtapes. It helps he chooses some of the most brisk instrumentals that allow him & French to effortless glide over.

The resignation that Max was heading to jail only heightened the stakes of what this tape represented, it was his encore at his final performance, but what a standing ovation he left with. I miss Junior year, but I'm glad things worked out better than I could have ever envisioned, I just want this dude to still have a 2nd chance to run this game.

 

Aug 14, 2020

Yoo you doing mixtapes too? What you think about this classic?


how u been btw it’s been a minute lol

 

Aug 14, 2020

I get to listen to Porno b------s again

 

Aug 14, 2020

Bizzare debut album

 

Aug 14, 2020

@the kid on mars

#14: Blu & Exile: Below The Heavens [8.7/10]​

Guys, pretend that score I gave it doesn't exist, this is like a 10/10 for me in a vacuum. It was the summer right before my sophomore year of high school (2008), one day I was just combing through the net where it occurred for me to search "best rap albums of last year". This was the peak of my Lupe Fiasco standom, The Cool was the soundtrack to my life the year before and Wayne/Kanye were the figurative bonus tracks. Somehow I stumbled onto this from I think an About.com review lol, it was like I discovered some deserted treasure stranded out in some desolate island as this album felt like an anomaly to anyone I knew. Luckily the almighty Limewire had a file for it, so later in that humid night with the AC turned up, I just kicked back and hit play...

I'd have to attribute my desire to search for gems entirely to this album to be honest, from that point on I was addicted to scour every single piece of hip-hop I could humanly find. This album has this misty-eyed vision of someone trying to find his way in this belligerent world we inhabit, to a young, impressionable teen like me at the time it felt like it was me in Blu's shoes. Blu is entirely cynical of everything around him, even 13 years later some of these stories still ring so true. His performances on each track are spotless, the other half of the equation comes from Exile's barebones, soulful production that gives this such an antique sound, like it truly does belong in 2007.

It'a an album that's very dear to my heart as you all can see, as great as his recent collaboration with Exile was, it's impossible to capture that same lightning in the bottle. This album is magic, a time machine to a simpler time in my life personally, if you haven't listened to it before please do.

 

Aug 12, 2020

@BIGFOOT

#11: Onyx - Shut 'Em Down [8.1/10]​

As soon as I saw you recommend this, I marked the calendar red since Onyx is such an essential group here in NY. Onyx is peak dusty timbs music, this the type of s--- you listen to when you want to suplex a random pedestrian onto a car windshield for no g.d. reason. This is what the cold-blooded OGs sitting outside on the project benches listen to when it's summertime. If any of you are looking for that brutal, chewing food with your mouth open NY hip-hop, Onyx is for you.

I've gone back and forth between their 3 Def Jams albums as far as which is the best. Backdafucup was the one that had the most influence, All We Got Iz Us is even more filthy and then we have this. What Shut 'Em Down has is practically the group at it's commercial zenith: sometimes they eschewed their usual hardcore route for something at times more relaxed (ffs they did a spin of I Believe I Can Fly lmao) but still with a bit of an edge. The record however feels monumental, it's like your witnessing NY '98 at it's apex, all the more with the features this s--- had--Pun on the remix, Rae & m---, DMX, a young 50 Cent even. Overall, this is still a nostalgic look back to what once was, the capital of hip-hop at it's best, with some of the most notorious rappers in Fredro & Sticky Fingaz making some of the grimiest music of its time.

 

Aug 11, 2020

@OwI

#8: FKA Twigs - Magdalene [8.8/10]​

Twigs was another artist I discovered thanks to those aforementioned Plug.DJ sessions. Her discography up to this point is spotless, even that feels like I'm selling it short. LP1 and the rest of her EPs are essential listens to any fan of R&B or Avant-garde pop, think of if Massive Attack/Portishead had delicate Aaliyah vocals on each track. She's a multi-talented artist that truly appreciates this craft, her music videos are pretty much a trip to this abrasive, twisted dimension of unfiltered ingenuity.

I had high expectations when this dropped last year, luckily she conjured her witchcraft once more and pushed the envelope once more. Her music has always had this uncured scar, on Magdalene she continues to open those wounds all the more, it makes the listen all the more compelling whenever these artists expose their vulnerabilities all the more. The production remains as sparse and haunting as it's always been, Twigs has a great ear for finding the aesthetic that best fits her vision. I think it's Twigs best album so far, everything we heard from LP1 is turned to another notch on here, heck it arguably was the best album of last year. Thanks Owi for making me listen to this for the 100th time again!

 

Aug 11, 2020

It’s crazy they’re one of the greatest bands of all time and yet they were only together for about 5 years.

I saw John fogerty perform at the Houston rodeo back in the mid 2000s and it was PHENOMENAL. He played all of CCR’s greatest hits. I don’t venture away from hip hop all that often but CCR is one of the few bands I truly love with a passion. They are legends.

 

Aug 11, 2020

Great idea for a thread. Here's an album to rate

 

Aug 11, 2020

Onyx - Shut Em Down

 

Aug 10, 2020

@hargydon

#3: Lowkey - Soundtrack to the struggle [7/10]​

I'm not proud to say this is the first time I've listened to a UK Rapper's album in full. It's something I've been wanting to explore, especially considering I've explored most of the known frontiers of Hip-Hop. With that being said, I was pleasantly surprised by the direction this album went: reminded me heavily of the mega-politicized raps of JMT, Dead Prez, etc. (should have seen it coming once I saw an Immortal Technique feature listed). There is no semblance of sunlight here; every line packs vitriol and the skits make this feel like I'm watching an episode of Vice. If you want something completely unflinching and direct to the point, this is it.

Although It's a bit clunky at times, the problem when it comes to making these kind of records is it can get pretty repetitive regardless of the well-intended meaning of the themes. It's compounded even more by the length, sometimes less is more which in this case it clocks over 90 minutes to those wondering. Still, I am willing to listen to more UK Rap so I am grateful you slid this in my direction!

 

Aug 10, 2020

PJ Harvey - Rid of Me

 

Aug 10, 2020

Lowkey - Soundtrack to the Struggle

or

R.A. The Rugged Man - All My Heroes Are Dead