Christmas-time mixtape number two! This time from the former CH understudy.
In all of 12 hours, brandUn DeShay started and finished this side project to hold all of us over until Volume: Three! comes around in approximately February. He says at the end that this is kind of like his version of Lupe's Enemy of the State and it's definitely got that vibe going for it. He goes the old route of simply going in over other rappers' beats and lyrically demolishing them. Not a lot of hooks. A couple features. And some dopeness. That's what you'll get here. And once you see the tracklist, you can guess for yourself which instrumentals he's going over. I'm partial to the "Good Kanshay West" joint since I thought I was the only one who knew how insanely classic the original "Apologize" joint is. All of it's great, though. brandUn raps better than your favorite rapper raps. And he can produce better than your favorite producer, but that ain't what this tape is about. You should download it, regardless.
brandUn DeShay -
Your Favorite! MixTape
Tracklisting:
1. Gucci DeShay
2. Shayke
3. Lil' Shayne
4. Good Kanshay West
5. LupShay Fiasco (feat. Cameron Ryan)
6. Shay-Z
7. New KanShay West (feat. Merciless)
8. D*E*R*D (feat. H! Cl@s)
9. LL Cool Shay
10. camdUn
... but do take my word for it.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Your Favorite
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Bringin' Normal Back
So I got three Christmas-time mixtapes that I need to update my occasional readers on. They're all insanely dope and if you don't download each of them, then [insert fatal threat here].
The first one is ... Charles Hamilton. Finally. It was only over six entire months since his last project. Which is absolutely no deal when discussing anyone else, but this is CH we're talking about. His blog is still deaded so there's no daily unfiltered updates, but he's on Twitter. For whatever that's worth. Regardless, this is all Charles rapping over all Charles production. Who knows what else he's working on at the moment, but I'll take this any day. It doesn't disappoint. I don't wanna say it's "growth" exactly, but you can definitely tell a slight direction shift in how he put his music together for this project. Any previous connoisseur of his catalogue will be able to tell. DOWNLOAD IT.
Charles Hamilton -
Normalcy
Tracklist:
1. New Music From Charles Hamilton
2. Enter The Scope
3. WorkinInTheLab
4. Coodies
5. August Rush
6. Air Agains
7. Loserville
8. She's Purrty
9. Laptop Therapy (Jackie Blue)
10. Suicides
11. Baby Says I Want
12. See & Say
13. 20Hamilt10
... but do take my word for it.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Classic: Exhibit C
I just bought this two seconds ago. So I think you should too.
Literally the only reason that Jay Electronica isn't the most hailed emcee out today is because, for whatever reason, he doesn't frickin' release full projects or anything for purchase. Welp, him and Just Blaze put this single up for sale. And it's monstrous. I swiped a picture of Jay Elec transcribing the lyrics himself off of Rappers I Know. Some people don't get what the dude's about and some people would kill someone for talking sideways about his music. I mean, half his appeal though is the mystery surrounding his surreal presence on the mic. So maybe it needs to be like this for him to keep that cult presence. On the other hand, the other half of his appeal is better-than-everyone-elseness, so it's all good.
Jay Electronica - Exhibit C [iTunes Link]
... but do take my word for it.
Love on a Two-Way Street
Hey, you heard of Macklemore? ...
I don't know if Ryan Lewis used the original "Love on a Two-Way Street" by The Moments or if he straight messed with Jigga's Al Shux beat, but I do know that I sweat it. The very first joint off the instantly classic The VS. EP is called "Vipassana" (... which is an insight into the nature of reality, courtesy of the all-knowing Wiki ...) and it's tinged with the same notion of gorgeous accompaniment that made "Empire State of Mind" the most anthemic single of the year. It's gotta completely different aura to it, though. You know Macklemore ain't gonna be on the same wave as Hov. Psh. Decide for yourself which one you like more. You might be surprised.
Macklemore - Vipassana
Jay-Z - Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)
... but do take my word for it.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Best Thing Out in Years
Easily, the best new artist that I've been introduced to this year is Seattle's Macklemore. He's a straight poet. I feel like I'd be degrading the dude by calling him a rapper. He brings the gruff voice of a weathered spoken word artist and crafts the most important stories you're going to hear this year onto the interpolated compositions of his producing counterpart Ryan Lewis. He's got some older material, but I've never heard it before. All I know is that this VS. project is pretty much better than anything else you're listening to. Experience it. And then attempt to talk about it afterwards. I'm having trouble doing so.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The VS. EP
It's absolutely insane. Spoiler: I thought that nothing could possibly eclipse the impact that Cudi's Man on the Moon had on me this year. But I was wrong. And that will be reflected in my "Top Ten" features this month or whenever I write 'em up. This is musical crack and hits on every topic you could ever imagine telling a story about. Cuz Macklemore doesn't rap. Rappers don't make music this good. Damn. I gotta get myself caught up. If his catalogue is anywhere near as impressive as these seven tracks, then I might have a new favorite ... poet.
... but do take my word for it.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Build Me Up Buttercup
In my book, no one beats an ODB hook. No one. But a similarly acronymed artist decided that he'd give a pop classic chorus a rendition, even though Dirt McGirt already had pretty much retired it to perfection years before. B.o.B (interchangeably noted as Bobby Ray now, I guess) dropped what could possibly be a joint off of his proper debut album The Great Adventures of Bobby Ray. I've already chalked the LP up as a classic simply from the perfect "Nothing On You" that you should search for and obtain right now. Back last year and earlier in this one when Hi! My Name is B.o.B and Who the F#*k is B.o.B? dropped, this man was up in my essential newcomers category with Charles Hamilton. And that's about as high praise as I can give him. Uff a hater. It all comes back to CH, doesn't it? And that doesn't even take into account that the first joint below is from Rhymefest ...
Rhymefest - Build Me Up (feat. Ol' Dirty Bastard)
Bobby Ray - Don't Break My Heart
... but do take my word for it.
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