Listen Now, Cry Later ...

Peep Noz's on point parallel review of "The Big Bang" and "Laugh Now, Cry Later" over at XXL.

If you haven't heard any of either album yet, scroll down and click away.

Killa...

Cam'ron - Jay-Z diss Remember that song that Tom Cruise was dancing to on BET? Young Joc or whatever. Well, Cam spits over the instrumental calling out Carter once again. I sorta stopped listening to it in the middle, but I think he just sticks his verse in the beginning of the song, and the rest is actually the Young Joc song. Does he talk about Rihanna? If he doesn't, he should.

Spine Magazine did OK this week

Busta Rhymes feat. Nas - Don't Get Carried Away
Busta Rhymes feat. Missy Elliot - How We Do It Over
Busta Rhymes - Get Down
Busta Rhymes feat. Q-Tip - You Can't Hold the Torch

You can go to Spinemagazine to download:

Sadat X - The X Factor (produced by J-Zone)
Busta Rhymes feat. Q-Tip - You Can't Hold the Torch (produced by J. Dilla)
Busta Rhymes feat. Raekwon - Goldmine (produced by Dr. Dre and Erick Sermon)

But I got a better quality version of the J Dilla track and some more from "The Big Bang." The Nas track is produced by Dr. Dre, and the "Get Down" has a got a tribal feel. Also of note: Sadat X compares himself to a bench player on the Pistons. That got me thinking that there are probably a handful of washed up stars whose post-glory careers sort of parallel washed up rappers' post-prime guest spots and whatnot. Gary Payton, Penny Hardaway an' all that.

Pick Your Poison ...

Three 6 Mafia feat. Bow Wow, Project Pat - Side 2 Side
Three 6 Mafia faet. Kanye West, Project Pat - Side 2 Side

I guess when you win an Oscar, you think you can make your career emulate "Choose Your Own Adventure." Needless to say, both verses by guest artists West and ... Wow are unspectacular. And they're both like eight bars.

Just when you think you're out, they suck you back in ...

Large Professor - Wins Tonz
Large Professor - Flushing Queens Day
Large Professor - Good Guy Bad Guy

Zion I - One
Zion I feat. Gift of Gab, Lyrics Born - Yes Yes

The Large Pro tracks are all instrumentals, taken from his upcoming record "Beatz Vol. 1." "Wins Tonz" has a breezy vocal sample. "Flushing Queens Day" takes everyone's favorite B-more house break and makes it not annoying. I swear I heard "Bad Guy Good Guy" before, but I forget where from. I think it was somebody's single.

The Zion I tracks were harder to pick out, with none of them being particularly spectacular or noteworthy. "One" has organs and a beat with actual movements in it, which is always nice. And "Yes Yes" is the catchy posse cut.

What day is it, Smokey?

One of these two will become successful beyond his wildest dreams. The other one is Ice Cube.

Ice Cube - Child Support The chorus to the awesomely violent song is "You want child support? / Get it out yo ass, bitch." 'Nuff said.
Ice Cube feat. Snoop Dogg - Go to Church A Lil' Jon beat. Sounds a lot like that one hit with Mystikal a few years ago.
Ice Cube - Growin' Up The reminiscent song these old guys are apt to do. N.W.A, Eazy, Hollywood all gets covered here. All three cuts are from "Laugh Now, Cry Later."
Nelly Furtado - Maneater When I saw this track, I was really hoping that it would be a reworking of the Hall and Oates song of the same name. It's not. Oh well, I think this is still Timbaland.
Little Brother feat. LEGACY - The Olio A nice 9th Wonder beat. Don't think this one was on "The Minstrel Show."
The Clipse - The Re-up Anthem (Nick Catchdubs remix) Didn't grab the whole Clipse mixtape in that other post? Check this track. It's nice.

dj benzi's gonna be pissed ...

Nah Right has the Clipse mixtape up on Rapidshare.EDIT: RIGHT HURR NOW. I'm not saying you should download it, and I'm not saying it's not not worth getting, I'm simply being informative. Go Paypal this guy like five bucks if you do.

Spinemagazine got a crappy quality version of a new Busta Rhymes song with Stevie Wonder.

And I bring you the dirty version of Method Man and Lauryn Hill's "Say." Finally I can find out what expletive Meth emotes during the line that goes, "Radio is the same / Whole lotta speculatin' / These motherf______ defecatin' on the name / Wu Tang." Ah, yes, my Rap Da Vinci Code has been solved.

Uh, are you serious?

Roc C feat. Aloe Blacc, Oh No, Bizzy Bone - Watching U

There has to be a good story behind this one. I recognize Roc C from being on some songs on the MED album, but the bottom line is this is a typical Stones Throw posse track, except for, uh, Bizzy Bone. The song is pretty unspectacular too, save for the weird ass cameo. I had to go recheck twice to make sure he didn't spell it "Bizzie Bone," I was so skeptical. But then his signature double-time flow hits the Madlib-influenced beat, and it was like watching a giant centipede devour a mouse. It was cringe worthy and wrong, but somehow natural and even a little intriguing. At the same time I want nothing to do with either after one consumption.

The skit at the end of the song (as if any of you will make it that far, I don't blame you), is horrible, but probably the only way people are going to get to know "Roc C."

Commercial rap loves the backpacker set. This just further proves it. Kanye and Dilated, Just Blaze and his sentiments, Jay-Z and the Roots. Can't deny it. Look out for Busta and Del, D4L and Atmosphere, Brooke Hogan and Paul Wall, MOP and LFO! Oh, wait.

Weird Shit ...

Dr. Octagon - Aliens Another Dr. Octagon cut off the upcoming album. This one kinda speeds up at the end, making it into some jazz-swing beat. Pretty cool.
Daz Dillinger feat. Rick Ross - On Some Real Shit Uh, Daz Dillinger is back? If you must, go ahead and listen. But this shit's not for me.
Brooke Hogan feat. Paul Wall - About Us Oh god. Hulk Hogan's daughter and Paw Wa'. Can't. Type. Any. More. Too. Painful.

Hot off his lackluster performance with the Roots ...

is Talib Kweli with a new song, Listen.

How do I know it was lackluster? He said so. And he sounds smarter than me.

Insert catchphrase here.

Uh, change the beat and/or add guest spots?

Danger Doom - Sofa King Remix Supposedly from that new EP dropping soon. This isn't that first version of "Sofa King" that was floating around before the album one is it? I can't remember.
Mistah FAB feat. Keak Da Sneak, Mac Mall, Turf Talk, Droop-E .... - Thizz Remix The original song was aiight. Too many people on this, though. RIP Hyphy.
Lil' Wayne - Fireman (A-Trak reggae remix) This is kinda old, grabbed it from the Rub*. The remixes on their page can be hit or miss, but I'm always a sucker for a good reggae remix.


*The Rub remix site. Also thanks to Spine Magazine

New New Man's Theme

Mr. Lif - Ultra/Mega Pretty nice beat, El-P rockin' that "Impeach the President" and showing some restraint on the boards.
Mr. Lif feat. MURS - MURS iz My Manager Some weird fantasy where MURS is Lif's manager. Edan produced.
Mr. Lif feat Akrobatik, Blueprint - Mo' Mega They tell some story about a kid. Akro is simple and Blue is animated.

What happened to Def Jux? I distinctly remember their first wave of artists: El-P, Lif, Aesop Rock, Can Ox. But then it gets kinda spotty after RJD2, with SA Smash and Hanger 18 and Rob Sonic (who?). The only good stuff MURS put out on Def Jux was with 9th Wonder, and Cage had a pretty good album. It seems like its in a sort of sophomore slump, and this album will likely continue the label's descent into mediocrity. "I Phantom" was fresh, and this album ("Mo' Mega," out June sometime) is solid, but isn't spectacular. Sounds about right, which is consistent with Lif's batting average of about .309.

So ... uh, anything new happen this weekend?

The theme today is guest spot (and "don't be a fag in the mob"):

Kanye West feat. Pharrell - Number One
T.I. feat. Q-Tip - Why You Wanna Remix
Lil' Wayne, Freeway, Replacementz - Cannon Remix
Juvenile feat. Mike Jones, Paul Wall - Way I Be Leanin'
Mistah FAB feat. Y.S. aka Thizz Kid - Da Yellow Bus This one is kinda retarded, you have to listen to it. (Not retarded meaning good, retarded meaning retarded ... although it is kinda funny)

Oh, and I stole this from Stereo Gum. It's Jodie Foster giving the commencement speech at UPenn where she quotes Marshall's "Lose Yourself." It made me so uncomfortable that I couldn't finish the clip, and then I giggled.

It happened overnight ...

As other people are wont to point out, rap sucks these days. That crappy Mobb Deep album fell outta the Billboard Top 10 and now there aren't any rap albums atop the charts. Wah. To that, I say--good. Rap did/does suck.

My tastes seem to move back and forth between the independent and commercial rap worlds every few years, starting with the beats I heard on the radio when I was a young'un, and then moving to the independent records (through Dr. Octagon and the Skratch Piklz) and then to and fro a couple times.

It seems, however, that the independent movement has vanished in recent years. The problem is, I'm ready to embrace underground music again, and commercial rap is becoming tired. Dipset and the South can only hold my interest for so long. I'm thinking a lot of (intelligent) people feel the same way.

RapInjustice will try to quell this need, through finding good (or really, really bad) independent music or otherwise. But the whole time Hip hop slowly descends down the road to hell, we'll take a look at all the tourist spots along the way (freak shows, minstrel shows, disappointing hall of fame spots, the worlds largest watermelon). Because you can't just pass up a tourist spot. Oh, look, there's some now.

A-Trak - Knucklehead Man, they grow up so fast. This is one of those DJ-tracks to promote A-Trak's DVD "Sunglasses are a Must." It seemed like just yesterday I was watching my Turntable TV 6 with A-Trak rippin' it up at his home. Now he's Kanye West's DJ. *sniff*
Kashmere Stage Band - Super Strut (Kenny Dope remix) Fiya! For those who know, the mention of the high school funk group "Kashmere Stage Band" is enough for a click. But now Kenny Dope adds breakneck drums! Boom! (Kenny Dope's remix drums all sound the same, though. And I kind of lost respect for him when I found out he was a house DJ)
Trillville feat. Three 6 Mafia - Stackin' This sounds EXACTLY like you would imagine a collaboration between Three 6 and Trillville would sound. For better or worse. Mostly worse, though.
Shiest Bubz, Agallah, Steel, Tek, Buckshot - Hustlers Oh god. Apparently Dipset is branching out a la Wu Tang, and Purple City is one of the second stringers. How are the Diplomats such a viral rap group, snaring appearances from NY hip hop legends such as CL Smooth, LL Cool J (,Rakim?) and now half of the Boot Camp Clik? And they're all past their prime. When's KRS gonna do something with Hell Rell?
Visionaries - All We Need The sad thing is, I had to Google Wikipedia "Visionaries" to remind myself who is in this group. Didn't they have more members? I always thought they all kinda rap the same, with that similar cadence. I guess they have an album coming up. And 2Mex makes an M.I.A. reference.

Nah Right does it again ...

Rick Ross feat. Jay-Z, Young Jeezy - Hustlin' Remix (via Nah Right)

I have finals to study for. Eff Rapidshare. Eff Jackie.

Just rub some of that on your cut ...

Aloe Blacc - One Inna
Aloe Blacc - Untitled II
Aloe Blacc - Dance for Life

Some of you may recognize this name as the vocal half of the He's-the-deejay-I'm-the-rapper duo of Emanon. Some of you even know his name from a couple of 12" he recently released, one of a cover of John Legend's "Ordinary People" (in Spanish!!) and another one in promotion for his upcoming album "Shine Through." There is barely any rapping on this album (which is on Stones Throw, July 11) though, so don't expect any Emanon type cuts. Think Gwen Stefani solo, not Dave Matthews. "One Inna" is a soft soul song produced by Madlib. "Untitled II" is a Latin dance monster. "Dance for Life" is the broken-beat, catchy single.

This album should put Aloe (pronounced ELL-oh) on the map as a serious singer and musician in a more conventional-unconventional sense, if you know what I mean. Queen Latifah steez. Look for this to have some indie mass appeal (i.e. a post on Music for Robots and maybe a review at Pitchfork).

I met this guy once (real chill), and it was surprising to see that this Latin-soul singer/rapper had a posse about nine or ten deep. I mean, seriously who's heard of Emanon outside of college radio nerd circles? It wasn't Snoop Dogg entourage big, but it had me thinking that I should have a posse.

Things will never be the same ...

... but that doesn't stop people from trying

Malik B - 7 Minutes This is a song from the Phife Dawg of the Roots. He should not have ever left (or was he kicked out?). But I guess he's the reason they made "Water," and I think that was my favorite track offa "Phrenology." This is the best song off his "Psychological," which isn't saying much. (He is rumored to be on "Game Theory" though)
CL Smooth - American Me The vocal half of ... Pete Rock & CL Smooth is back on a track that doesn't feature a member of the Diplomats. Eh.

In other news, I got me one of those feed thingies, if you'll scroll down on the right. You can now subscribe to RapInjustice, all 4 of you.

Also, I tried some of the older Rapidshare links and they are really troublesome now. If you want me to re-up something for you, leave a comment and I'll see if I still have it.

Free Meth ...

Sorta like Free Yayo, but not really.

Method Man feat. Lauryn Hill - Things They Say
Method Man feat. Fat Joe, Styles P - Yah Mean
Method Man - Take the Heat (Dr. Dre produced)

Three new Method Man songs were leaked these past couple weeks (for you piracy junkies, this is old hat). Looks like he's bringing out the big guns for this one: Dr. Dre, Fat Joe, Lauryn Hill for his ballad.
I'd say this upcoming album looks sorta promising (though that song with Dre production is weeeeak). Throw on a Ghostface guest spot and s'more of that NY production, I'd already give it three mics. Needless to say, my expectations are not high. (Thanks to Spinemagazine and Nah Right and other bbs I frequent)

The Roots Died ... ?

The Roots - Don't Feel Right (via Spinemagazine)

Lay off the Neo Soul, guys! When Black Thought jumps in it feels all right, but I really don't know about that chorus. Off the upcoming "Game Theory."

Oh yeah, are you guys going to keep naming your albums after books? Because if so, I have a few suggestions for your next one:

a. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
b. "Lincoln High School Yearbook 1998"
c. "Compton's Encyclopedia 3: B-Byzan"
d. "Hop on Pop"
e. "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"
f. "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"

Thar be muzak!

Da Back Wurdz feat. Bun B - I Don't Like the Look of It OK, so remember that Oompa Loompa song from a few months ago? If not, check the video*. Did you see the Fanta girl? Mmm, Fanta. Anyway, this Bun B remix has a different beat (is that Dragnet?), it's not as hot, but it exists, so here it is.
Mekalek feat. Percee P - The Gritty Bop Who the hell is Mekalek? I have no clue, but this track is aiight. Sounds like he hails from the MF Doom/RJD2 school of beatmaking. I like fast rapping Percee P better, though.
Danger Doom - Korn Dogs (via Spinemagazine) So instead of sampling annoying "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" voices (word to AJ Soprano), this uses (way more) annoying "12 Oz. Mouse" voices. Off a new upcoming EP.
Motion Man feat. Gift of Gab - One For Your Mind The FedEx King is back. Shoulda jumped on that Bay wagon, Motion. You already had Fortywater on that one cut offa "Clearing the Field." Let's hear a "Tell Me When to Go" remix with Motion and Gift of Gab. That would be genius. I would post that.
7L & Esoteric feat. Kool Keith - Daisycutta I think some other sites had this up, but it was off the annoying promo with the voice. Anyway, Kool Keith needs work so bad he's resorted to rapping with post-stroke-Jay-Z.
Busta Rhymes feat. KRS-One - New York Shit Marley Marl remix (via Nah Right) Too much New York Shit! Too much! It's not that good. I mean, it's Swizz Beats! Come on!
Aries Spears - Jay-Z, DMX imitation (via Nah Right) So apparently Aries Spears from MadTV goes onto Shade 45 a lot and does rapper imitations. My friend put me on a bunch of mp3s of him on the radio, but this is the first one that is a fake-song. It's a diss to Cam'ron, and it "features" DMX. Some of the lyrics actually come correct, but by the end it kinda breaks up, and Spears sounds more like Esoteric than Iceberg.
Kanye West, John Legend, Consequence - Grammy Family Kanye says "faggot" again. Is he trying to prove something? Oh, and I can see Legend and West with Grammys, but Quence? Isn't he Q-Tip's cousin or something? If Tip had to wait til 2005 to grab one, we can give one to Consequence post-mortem. Deal?

*"I Don't Like the Look of It" video

Some stuff to tickle your eardrums ...

Warning: If used to clean ears, stroke swab gently around the outer surface of the ear without entering the ear canal. Do not use swab in ear canal. Entering the ear canal could cause injury. Keep out of reach of children.

Ghostface and Ne-Yo feat. Kanye West - Back Like That remix (courtesy of Spinemagazine) This is nothing special. Just a point of interest.
Mr. Lif - Brothaz (produced by El-P) I have nothing to say about this, except it's nice to hear Mr. Lif again. El-P is still making noisy beats.
Moka Only feat. MF Doom - More Soup Looks like Canada's own dropped his Nate Dogg impression.
Lil' Scrappy feat. Lil' Jon - Gangsta Gangsta Is this Crunk Rock? Hmm. Not as horrible as I thought.
Lifesavas - Happiness (courtesy of Music for Robots) As if you could get any more indie than Quannum, Lifesavas go ahead and cover Elliot Smith.
T.I. feat. Lil' Wayne, Papoose - What You Know remix Lil' Wayne sounds like a crippled old man rapping here, even moreso than usual. What is Papoose doing here? Just get this over with and make "Why You Wanna" a single already. (Also, if El-P made beats for the South, they actually might sound like this)
Talib Kweli and Jean Grae - New York Shit (courtesy of Nah Right) Who are you kidding with this shit? Jean Grae is from South Africa and Talib is from Cinci. Still the best beat either of them will rap over this year.

Misc., man ...

Mistah FAB - Red Light, Green Light How many songs in the history of rap music have been named "Red Light, Green Light"?
Mac Dre feat. Keak, Miami - Thizzle Dance Remix Yeah, this screams of marketing scheme. Luckily, you don't have to buy it. Here ya go.
Rhymefest - Fever No I.D. beat. Convince me him and Dug Infinite aren't the same person.
Farnsworth Bentley - Laid Back I think we can expect a plague next week. And, uh, blood and frogs from the sky.
WC, E-40, Christ Bearer - When the Guns Come Out Did you miss the Blade: Trinity soundtrack? Yeah, so did everyone else.
E-40 feat. Spice-1, Tupac, Mac Mall - Dusted n' Disgusted Just cuz I like this song.
Blackalicious - Excellent You haven't heard this yet. Probably.
Psapp - Everybody Wants to Be a Cat A pretty dope (indie, electronic) cover of the Disney almost-classic from "The Aristocats." Don't hate.

Today's mp3 elephant in the room

Cam'ron - He Tried to Play Me
Cam'ron - Something New
Cam'ron - White Girls

Please choose the answer that best fits the analogy.

1. Hell Rell:"Killa Season"::

a. Ghostface Killah:"Only Built 4 Cuban Linx"
b. Sen Dog:"Cypress Hill"
c. Flava Flav:"Fear of a Black Planet"
d. Jarobi:"People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm"

Close your books and put down your pencils.

Cam'ron getting all Benny and the Jets on us on "He Tried to Play Me" is the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. The sample for "Something New" is actually Nothing New (did the Heatmakerz do this and "Oh Yes"?). And "White Girls" I think has been floating around the Internets for a while now. Have fun.

You didn't believe me, did you ...

Hey, MOP did a track with LFO, remember?!

Well, check out Jadakiss' new gig. This is the second time this week I've heard 'Kiss get this close to a real Scott Storch beat.

Anyway, listen to this ...

Nightmares on Wax - You Wish
from "In a Space Outta Sound" (2006)
produced by Nightmares on Wax

does it remind you of anything*?

Rappin' 4-Tay - Playaz Club
from "Don't Fight the Feelin'" (1994)
produced by Franky J

*also: William Bell feat. Judy Clay - Private Number, but it's not required for the course

Nah Right

Nah Right has to be one of the best hip hop blogs out there.

They got the new Outkast song.

In fact, I implore you all to check out the ... blogroll (is that what they call it?) to the right. It's guaranteed good. Except for Beautiful Hustle. They insist on changing the layout like once a month, and it's down more than it's online. I might be finna take it off.

Clickity-clank, clickity-clank ...

Flipsyde feat. Jadakiss - Someday (Urbanix remix)

This song is horrible. It's a Scott Stoch-wannabe remix of that song that was the theme to the Olympics. And it's worthless, other than to serve as a reminder to not mess with 50 Cent, because these are the kind of gigs you'll be bagging afterwards, apparently.

Is O-Face guy having the Best Week Ever?

I was watching ESPN the other day and I saw this guy in two, count 'em TWO commercials. Back to back, no less. He's one of the guys in the Coors ice chest commercial where they cut off the bride's head from the ice sculpture at a wedding reception to chill their beer, and then some commercial for Chili's or TGIFridays where everyone yells "Beef." Yeah, don't ask. Nice to see O-Face getting some work, though.

Music (music, music, music) makes the bourgeoisie and the rebel.

El Michels Affair - Walk on By This is from one of those Ubiquity series Rewind! comps, number 5. El Michels Affair has been chillin, doing shows on XM Radio with Wu-Tang, for instance. I don't really know too much about them but the world can always use another good funk/rap band, even if it is French. The song is a cover of "Walk on By," oh, but not just any "Walk on By." It's a cover of Isaac Hayes' rendition of the song, which is credited to planting the creative seeds that would eventually become Portishead, and indirectly, create the cringeworthy term "trip hop." Awesome.

GLC - Chi State of Mind I'm sure I've posted this song before, and I think it's been around the Internets. Oh well. This is straight from the single, not some mixtape. I think it's produced by A-Trak, if I can recall correctly. A-Traaaaaaaain!

8 Ball and MJG - Ridin' High Has this been on the Net for a while? I've been sleeping. All I know is that they keep yelling Bad Boy South. Maybe this is old news, but Bad Boy has to be doing the worst job at jumping on this South bandwagon. Didn't they lose Young Jeezy to Atlantic, when they had Boyz in Da Hood before anyone?


Meeting of the Minds. "Side by side, you are my amigo, negro."


Oh, God. Meeting of the Minds. "You are black and I am white, life's an Eskimo Pie, let's take a bite."

Otpourripay ...

Sleepy Brown feat. Pharrell, Big Boi - Margarita
Mars Ill feat. Cappadonna - Too Strong to Change Remember Mars Ill? Christian rap or someshit? What's Golden Arms doing here?
Suga Free feat. Snoop Dogg, Mannie Fresh - So Fly Remix I'm not down with the Internet streets as much as I'd like to, but I know I heard this on E-40's show on KMEL last Sunday.
Suga Free - What U Want Another cut off that new Suga Free.
Unknown feat. Bicasso - Don't Sleep Weird, huh? MP3 whitelabel? Anyway, chalk one more up for the Living Legend
Potzee feat. Mistah FAB - Dat Girl (Bay Area Remix) I'm fully aware that at first listen this sounds like it sucks. But it grew on me.

and one to grow on...

Sun Ra and the Blues Project - Batman Theme

Let me know if zshare sucks. Rapidshare was giving me problems last week, and to be truthful, I never liked it. Peace.