Charles Hamilton released a project recently featuring MJ samplings, which is cool and all, but I'm kinda weirded out hearing two joints that I already reinterpreted on there. Ha. He obviously in no way was biting off me since he's never even heard of me and my sampling wasn't that original to begin with, but it's still ... weird. Ya know?
Michael Jackson - Human Nature
Chris Campbell - Why Oh Why (feat. Aaronn Ralph)
Charles Hamilton - Kat Stacks is My Oasis Full Mixtape:
Charles Hamilton - Mic Check (LWord3) Tracklisting:
1. Anyone
2. Myongii
3. Kellye
4. SimoneNation
5. Elisa
6. Kat Stacks is My Oasis
7. Ce
8. Celia (Inst.)
9. Tricia (Inst.)
10. [Interlude]
11. Zoe Saldana (Inst.)
12. Rihanna (Inst.)
13. Shanelle (Inst.)
14. Truer Feelings About Shantel (Inst.)
Somehow the BET Awards outdid themselves on this year's incarnation of the Cypher series. No one else in the world, nor I, thought they could one-up the Mos Def/Black Thought/Eminem viciousness, but they did. I'm gonna start by going in on the world renowned G.O.O.D. Music cypher. BET definitely owes Kanye big for wanting to push his collective through their channel's otherwise crappy award show. And just to add a little flavor, I'll rank the performances of the emcees in each one.
Kanye West - Cypher 2010 #5 (feat. Pusha T, Big Sean, CyHi Da Prynce, & Common)
5. Common - Sorry, OG. The sucky thing is that I thought he performed an insanely great verse for seeming to be out of his element amongst these youngsters. The main thing he gets graded off for is the painful "the incomparable ... remarkable ... articles ..." dictionary reading in the early going. Ugh. But then he picks it up even with a recycled ESPYs bar. He personally struck a chord with the hardest with the "cold to myself" line. He ended it as strongly as possible "Requested from the the years I invested/Arrested, developed, addressed it, enveloped/the body of the black party from Farley to Bob Marley/Go home or go hard, at home is life hardly."
4. Pusha T - He did all he could, throwing around effortlessly smooth movie references (Book of Eli, Street Car Named Desire, Jerry McGuire) as well as slickly fluid song weavings of Bone Thugs, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, and even his new label head. But the competition was just that sick. He kinda left it hanging though without that one stand-out punchline that cypher audiences so sickly crave. And it also doesn't help that he was the first to be introduced and everyone else after was able to eclipse him. Newbies first, I guess. "With good company, and better jewelers/to the good life, we G.O.O.D. Music ..."
3. Big Sean - Even though I wholeheartedly disagree with his LeBron-related championship ring prediction, Big Sean killed it as Pusha's follow-up. At that point, I was feeling like Sean was going to go down as the champ, hands down. That's how dope this cypher event was. He even through in a little change-of-pace on his goofy motorboating line, and that's especially notable because Sean is famous for never switching up his flow ever. Add that into his shock "wet dream" opening, his sick banana clips/guerrilla warfare line, admitting he watched last year's cyphers on his couch, and his Mercedes 700 CLK nastiness and you got yourself some pre-debut album hype "I'm Big L, Notorious, Big Pun/Shawn Carter, Sean Combs, and Connery all in one/Whoever told you sky is the limit is lookin' dumb/Cuz I'm 22 and I'm moonwalkin' on the sun."
2. CyHi Da Prynce - While he started off a little too simple with the bread/Quiznos line, he destroyed every bar from there out. Major ups for referencing himself as "MJ with the big nose", making a dually hilarious hanky/lanky rhymed, the "can't bleep it out" genitalia line, and the run-off of eight straight bars of rhymes starting with "flexible" and ending with "federal". Intrinsic rhymers, take notes. This was as big a coming-out party as you could get for a slick street spitter like CyHi. I'm sure 80% of the audience had never heard of him before. Mission accomplished. "Let me stop it, I forgot this was a big show/If bein' dope made ya broke, I am piss po'/I'm Big Poppa plus I'm 2Pacalypto/My mind is a weapon, what I need to pop a clip fo'?"
1. Kanye West - Could it be anyone else? Even though he cheated by spitting a freestyled intro and a sick closing verse (assumingly one from his new album). Just focusing on his closer ... it was perfect. There's not a guy who can put together such relatable and sick sounding bars like Kanye does so consistently. I don't know if it's because he has such gifted lyricists around him again such as Mos Def and Pusha replacing slackers like Jeezy and Wayne, but whatever it is happens to be working. He sets up the sickest childhood metaphor to his life remarking on him being an only child lost in the world, asking where the lonely kids go when the bell rings, and saying if he didn't have ends then he wouldn't have as many imaginary friends. His deeply thought reflection as well as vocal inflection play up the performance to an unimaginable degree. It's not the normal cypher braggadocio, but it definitely is Kanye West. And there's nothing out at the current moment better than that. "Fresh air, rollin' down the window/Too many Erkels on your team that's why your wins low (Winslow)/I sold my soul to the devil, that's a crappy deal/Least it came with a few toys like a happy meal."
My brand new full length project, the third and final one in my "laptop trilogy", is now available to the public on this 1st of March in the year of 2010 featuring original production by Chris Campbell and Charlie Hilton as well as retakes of tracks produced by DJ Khalil, Mr. DJ, Elite, & Just Blaze. I do have to throw out the word of warning that the epic "Hold On (Remix)" listed as track 12 is not currently in the zip file for download. It's still pending completion with some amazing emcees lending their verses to the Charlie Hilton reinterpretation of my lead single from I Get That a Lot, but trust that I'll get that joint out the minute it's ready. I just didn't want to hold back this project any longer that I'd started producing for as far back ago as July '09. So here's the follow up to The Laptop Mixtape and Vol. 2, A Laptop Chronicle that have defined my progress as an emcee since 2007 to where I am today in this whole music thing.
Chris Campbell III: Laptopical [alt. Mediafire link] [alt. bandcamp link] Tracklist
1. Fear Freestyle (feat. Aaronn Ralph) [originally by Drake; prod. by DJ Khalil]
2. The Reason I Smile [prod. by Chris Campbell, sampling "Pretty Wings" by Maxwell]
3. The Disorder [prod. by Chris Campbell, sampling "Brand New Start" by Alter Bridge]
4. MJ is Hip Hop (Interlude) [mixed by Chris Campbell]
5. Why Oh Why (feat. Aaronn Ralph) [prod. by Chris Campbell, sampling "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson]
6. Giving In (feat. Aaronn Ralph) [prod. by Chris Campbell, sampling "Give In to Me" by Michael Jackson feat. Slash]
7. No I [prod. by Chris Campbell, sampling "Wicked Game" by Chris Issack]
8. Probably Won't [prod. by Chris Campbell, sampling "Cooler Than Me" by Mike Posner]
9. Me [prod. by Chris Campbell, sampling "Let Me Be Myself" by 3 Doors Down]
10. B.I.G. (Interlude) [mixed by Chris Campbell]
11. Da Art of Storytellin' Part 2 Freestyle [originally by OutKast; prod. by Mr. DJ]
12. Hold On (Remix feat. brandUn DeShay, LaVish, Mike Dreams, Chris Barz, & Aaronn Ralph) [prod. by Charlie Hilton, sampling "Hold On" by Chris Campbell feat. Steven Gilpin]
13. Oh So Much [prod. by Chris Campbell, sampling "No Other Love" by John Legend feat. Estelle]
14. Pseudo Making It [prod. by Chris Campbell, sampling "Not as We" by Alanis Morissette]
15. I Can't Win Freestyle (feat. Aaronn Ralph) [originally by Pack FM; prod. by Elite]
16. Exhibit A Freestyle [originally by Jay Electronica; prod. by Just Blaze]
Somehow he's still doing it. Chris Rivera has released two more freshly put together volumes of unreleased Charles Hamilton music. This now makes five full length collectives. Wow.
The only reason we even know Charles is still alive is because there were pictures of dude at the rapper Esso's release party for his Off the Wall mixtape a lil' while back. [For the record, Demev producer Woody went all out on his Michael Jackson beats for that tape, but Esso is such a boring emcee that it didn't really matter. Sorry.] And CH was still full on in his usual pinkness and Beats headphones, so that let's you know he's still for sure himself. Then there was more recently a heavy video with his former boo Briana Latrise where she discussed that he was doing really well. She said it was a personal and executive decision for him to stay away from the internet and straight focus in on his music. So who knows if This Perfect Life is ever gonna get a proper physical release, but, knowing Charles, he's gonna come with mad material fully immersed in conceptual projects lined up for awhile. So until then ... here's the unreleased ish.
Just got back from a week of volunteer roofing in South Carolina. Dead tired. Got nose surgery at 6:00 in the morning tomorrow. Yeah. And in honor of that ... I'm posting some Michael Jackson ...
So I got put on a version of this song way before I heard the original because of Fest's Man in the Mirror mixtape. It took me forever to actually look up where that original a cappella sample came from for dude's tribute, even though it had been one of my most played songs on my iTunes. I was even more crazy impressed once I saw it performed on this Oprah interview back in the day, prompting a quick change-up of making this the next big single.
MJ had more talent than could possibly be fathomed. It's absolutely insane. Edit: I had to change the clip of him beat boxing and singing a cappella on Oprah to the bootleg music video because that whale takes down everything off YouTube. The music video is still sweet though.
So, understandably, I've been listening to a lot of Michael Jackson lately. I don't care if you're tired of the coverage or whatever, that's definitely a deserved opinion by now, but for the rest of my life I will never be tired of putting his albums back on repeat.
While I was expanding my MJ library past all the common singles that get regular play, I found a crazy pattern going on. For every song I added, I gave it a full and honest listen and what killed me was that darn near every new tune became one of my favorite Jackson songs. It happened over and over and over again. Mike killed his competitors and pushed his relevancy because he was literally able to take any and every form of song possible and mold it into his distinctive signature style. Dance, ballad, funk, radio pop, hard rock, old school R&B, edgy soul ... it didn't matter. But what ultimately became my favoritest favorite MJ joint (for now) was the Slash-assisted "Give In to Me" off his Dangerousalbum. To me, it's song writing at its finest. The dude could even ride any guitar riff he wanted to a perfectly constructed chorus that absolutely engraves in your brain. I love it. No one messes with Mike's pen skills.
This one makes me sad. The full story hasn't been uncovered yet, but most likely what happened was this song was slated to have Michael Jackson either replace the demo's reference track or lay an entirely new verse altogether. But, at least with the latest version, that never came to be. I hope more information comes out about it specifically, but until then, here's the original leak and the one that just came about. MJ would have out-shined them all. Easily. No one could have touched dude's proper presence on this track.
While it kinda bothers to hear Chris Brown all over the chorus, everyone had their problems (MJ obviously included) and the world has to take in the whole picture of a troubled human being and try to respect someone's contributions positively to the world that they tried to make. So I can deal.
Every site and show in the world will be throwing out tributes and whatnot constantly for the near future and they really should. MJ is definitely not my generation of music, but I just checked last night and I got 55 songs from the king in my iTunes. And they've all gotten constant run. The man, musically, was unequivocally a genius. His voice, trademarks, dancing, composition, vision, and presence was irrefutable. He literally ushered in the era of mainstream, comercially-viable black artistry. It's impossible for us who weren't there to truly understand, but he started in the music industry as a child in the '60s. And he somehow transitioned that into his youth and adulthood leading up to literally being the single biggest music figure in the world in 1982 with Thriller. The biggest artist in the entire world. Only the Beatles and Elvis could even touch his level of success and influence.
Yes, everyone knows and has even told all the jokes. The allegations of child molestation, the facial reconstruction, the skin disease destroying his complexion, his prescription drug addiction, the marriages, everything surrounding Neverland Ranch, and even the erradic appearances with his own children. But what the majority of us can't speak to is the mental and physical abuse he himself took from his father as a child and all the tolls being a cultural icon since the age of 6 enacted upon him. We can never understand his mental state or world view from being one of the most recognizable and polorizing people in all of humanity. It's impossible. He was never for a moment in his formative years a normal human being. He never had an ounce of the privilege of privacy, subtlety, normality, or anonymity that we enjoy daily. That's why I pray in his passing that we can try to respect and not demean his legacy. He had serious issues, as we all do, and while we may not have enacted his alleged sins, we have no right continually harp upon, tarnish, and judge who we think he was and what we think he did. At least don't throw it all out perpetually into the world.
Michael Jackson somehow was able to funnel every bit of his soul into a body of music that no one in the coming age will ever be able to touch again. He is an historic treasure that was exposed to the world from the age of 6 to the age of 50. He took a very interesting and controversial journey through those years. But no one can deny his impact. He was given the title as "King of Pop". And he will forever be that. He was just about to restart his performing career with 50 already sold-out shows in London in the coming months. We, the world, are the ones who missed out.
... put 'em both together and you got yourself a super spork.
Yeah, that's verging on the side of retarded. So supposedly there was a freestyle battle at some point and Charles even professes to have lost like Eminem did to Fest waaay back. So then, completely unrelated, CH has an impromptu battle at SOB's with Serius Jones (who is that dude who never blew up, in my opinion), and CH drops a one liner with Rhymefest's name in it. Never touched on it again in the battle, on his blog, or anything. Just an off-the-dome rhyme. So a day or two later after some Twitter threats, Mr. Jesus Walks dropped this:
Personally, I hope Charles hits him back, cuz that track right there is weak. Weak. And Rhymefest is dead nice. I don't know if he just mentally hasn't recovered from the Blue Collar flop or what, but that was a crazy good album. And besides the alright Michael Jackson mixtape, he hasn't been heard from for real since. Just threatening to drop El Che the last few years. I don't know. But that doesn't make up for the complete lack of quality in the diss track. I'm disappointed cuz I can't stress enough how ridiculously great Fest can be.
Fest explained in this MySpace post, but still. It all sounds like a dual misunderstanding on all incidents involved and, as most rap beefs turn, it seems more street threats occur than actual conversation. We'll see what happens.
... this was whatcha all been waitin' for ain't it?
This site is my commentary and promotion on what you should or shouldn't be paying attention to in music and basketball. I make no money off this site and I claim no ownership or rights of any of the images unless specifically noted otherwise. All images are for demonstrative purposes only under fair usage. No full retail music albums will ever be linked to on this site. All songs posted are for promotional usage only and the majority are released by the artist for free, regardless, though I will remove any and all content with no question if you believe I am infringing on anyone else's property. Besides all that, have fun reading my thoughts. UK Wildcats, Lakers, and OutKast for life. My email: cdcamp3@uky.edu
