IT'S THE WORLD!

Dope artwork.

I actually intended to review Lupe's album before anything else, but this project was so much better (to me) that I decided to review this and postpone the Lupe review, and I love Lupe as an artist.  Cold game.

So if you follow my dude Big GhostFASE's blog (which you should), then you pretty much know how I feel about Freddie Gibbs.  In case you don't know, Gibbs is part of Young Jeezy's CTE clique, and he's dropped multiple quality releases, including Cold Day In Hell, one of the best mixtapes of last year, and Shame, an EP with Madlib, one of the most underrated producers in hip-hop.  Gibbs' delivery, flow, and lyrics are at home on any track, whether it's a laid-back number with Dom Kennedy, an underground-sounding track with Madlib, or a street banger with M-80.  Since I've been following and putting people on to Gibbs since I heard Cold Day In Hell, I felt it was only right to review his mixtape.  Once again, we have DJ Drama linking up with CTE to give us "quality street music."  Drama's really been on his deen lately, being a part of lots of dope releases.

But really though. Support good artists.

Side note: while he did release a mixtape that you can get for free, there was also an alternate version released on iTunes for purchase.  Support dope artists, the work this brother produced is certainly worth the $9.99 that they're charging for it, plus you get some different tracks.  I'll be reviewing the mixtape, but again, I encourage you to cop the album.

1. BFK - We jump right into it with this.  A great intro track, it lets you know the sound that you'll be treated to throughout the tape.  Listening to Gibbs call into Elliot Wilson's Keep It Thoro on EVR.com, he noted that he doesn't really give a fuck about making radio music or catering to what the labels want.  Despite that, Gibbs excels at making tracks that really could work anywhere.  This is gutter shit, fam..."Send him to God tryin to rob the Godfather//And if you scared of catchin a murder, then why bother" - DOPE.  Really, out of all the newer rap guys out, I think Gibbs is one of the more complete artists.  I've been hearing a lot of hype for Kendrick Lamar, but honestly, I like Gibbs more.  This shit is cold - 5/5


2. Still Livin' - Now this sounds like something you might hear from Rick Ross, which makes sense considering Ross basically jumped into Jeezy's lane and got his success from dropping similar content.  This bumps, but if I'm honest about it, I've heard better from Gibbs.  I feel like Gibbs can really be a star...like supplant Rick Ross, Jeezy, and T.I. for that style of rap.  So, accordingly, I expect greatness from dude.  This track works, but again, I want more from Gibbs - 3/5


3. The Diet (Ft. Pharrell) - This is a track not present on the album, but it's on the mixtape.  Cylla really crafted a dope beat for Gibbs to float on here.  It's got that Curren$y feel, but again, Gibbs is a very versatile artist, so he sounds quite comfortable here.  Usually I'm not partial to the tracks for the ladies, but when done right (like "That Way" by Wale and Jeremih), the shit works.  Also, Gibbs doesn't drag the track out or try to sing or do anything that these other rappers have been trying to do with these sorts of tracks.  This is the favorite track of the females that I've asked about this tape, but I like it as well.  Kinda surprising hearing Pharrell on this though - 3.5/5


4. Money, Clothes, Hoes (MCH) - Yo Feb. 9 is one of the winners on this tape.  He crafted some nice beats, and I swear I had never heard of dude before this project.  This is one of those tracks you just ride to, or smoke to, or chill to.  Real laid-back shit here, this could actually work as one of those tracks you hear in the club near the end of the night, you know?  Nothing really special here, but it really rides well into the next track - 3.5/5

5. The Hard (Ft. Dana Williams) - This is another joint produced by Feb. 9...again, this is a dope beat.  The difference between this and "MCH" though is that this is also a dope track.  Keep it real...how many rappers could drop a line like "Mob of hungry niggas like we came straight out of Mogadishu"?  How many rappers (excluding K'Naan or maybe Wale) even know where Mogadishu is?  Real shit, I doubt that some of these "socially aware" rappers even know where that is, hahaha.  The sound is real relaxed on this as well, which strikes a contrast with the content, with Gibbs speaking on his (presumably past?) life dealing, which is far from relaxed.  This is one of my favorites tracks on this project...lines like "Guess I'll slang until my grave or take that federal vacation" really relate how...nihilistic or just damn hopeless the hood seems at times - 4.5/5


6. Kush Cloud (Ft. Krayzie Bone and SpaceGhostPurrp) - Last I heard, SpaceGhostPurrp was in some sort of no man's land, being ostracized from the A$AP Mob, and I could have sworn Krayzie Bone was in out of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony or some shit.  Bone Thugs-n-Harmony is a Midwest group, so it's not surprising that Krayzie Bone worked with Gibbs, a Gary, Indiana native.  This actually sounds like some shit that you'd hear A$AP Rocky on, which makes me disappointed that that dispute hasn't gotten ironed out.  While Gibbs' typical subject matter trends more toward street tales and hard shit, it's not like he can't rap on weed tracks.  Obviously, I'm partial toward those types of tracks...I dislike Wiz Khalifa as an artist, but I'll still bump some of his shit simply because I can relate to the shit.  Plus, you have to be a real hater to not fuck with Krayzie Bone's style.  Shit is dope. - 4/5


7. Walk In Wit the M.O. (Ft. Dom Kennedy) - I don't know if any of you fuckers read my Yellow Album review, but if you did, you know that I didn't really like that project in its entirety.  I can recognize the appeal of Dom, it's just not something I can listen to straight through...must be a Cali thing.  Cookin' Soul is a dope producer, and he put together a low-key track that caters to Dom's sound more than Gibbs', in my opinion.  Seeing as how Gibbs was on one of the better tracks on the Yellow Album, it's not surprising that Dom returned the favor by spitting a verse on Gibbs' shit.  Being completely honest about it...this shit is dope.  Dom is REALLY at home on this, and drops a pretty nice verse.  Gibbs kinda stays in the cut and lets Dom rock this track, and it works.  It's hard to keep calling tracks "standout" tracks on this project, since he really hasn't dropped a bad one, but this is one of the more entertaining ones - Dom's "Found out I was fuckin, he was bothered a bit" makes me laugh every fucking time I hear it. - 4.5/5


8. Bout It Bout It (Ft. Kirko Bangz) - I actually heard this track a bit ago...I guess this was the first track released from this project.  I don't know if this is supposed to be on his actual debut, but it's got all the makings of a single, including a feature that you probably wouldn't expect from a rapper like Gibbs.  I agree with Gibbs' feelings on singles and radio tracks...fuck that.  If you make good music, people will listen.  It's ridiculous to me to have great rappers releasing shit worse than their average shit, just to cater to some casual listeners...of course, if people who listened to the shit actually bought albums, then this wouldn't be an issue, but I digress.  This is one of my least favorite tracks on the mixtape, but even then, it's not a bad track.  It's just...completely against everything I expect from Gibbs.  It's sorta like when you heard L.A.S.E.R.S. by Lupe...this isn't anywhere near as bad as the majority of the shit on that album, but the idea is the same.  After two great albums, Lupe dropped some bullshit.  With this, we still haven't gotten Gibbs' debut, so I'm just really hoping he's able to stick to his thoughts on singles and ride out, making his own style of shit.  I can deal with the joints like Jeezy used to drop, but I really don't want to ever hear Kirko Bangz on a Gibbs track again. - 3/5


9. Krazy (Ft. Jadakiss and Jay Rock) - Yo!  Statik Selektah on this shit?  Dope!  Real shit, Jadakiss will always be appreciated for his shit in the late 90s and early 2000s.  An underrated artist.  Jay Rock is probably...the artist out of Black Hippy that I'm most partial to.  I've been listening to dude since he popped up on Game's mixtapes and was dropping shit with Wayne.  Again, another underappreciated dude.  That being said...Gibbs eats both of them on this; "Look at me, I'm the definition of detrimental//Out the driver's side of this rental bustin up out the window//Sendin witnesses to the hospital for my acquittal//And my bullets blind, you ridin wit him, he dyin wit you" is FUCKING DOPE.  Maybe it's because Gibbs is older (30) than most new artists, but dude is really complete as an artist.  Tracks like this really showcase that...his strengths are pretty evident on this.  He's just polished, there's not a sense of staleness like you get from a J. Cole, and he's really flexible, which is one of my knocks against Kendrick.  Also, he's good at getting quality beats to rap on, so he doesn't get drowned out by bullshit background music.  Even though Jadakiss' verse isn't great (although he's got a nice little joint - "Get this income is the outcome"), this is probably a top 5 track to me.  Statik really gave Gibbs a great beat to work with, and he delivered in the fullest.  - 4.5/5


10. Stay Down - When you get past the laid-back beat on this, you get a solid introspective track from the Baby-Faced Killer.  Going from his grandmother's death to how the music game is, Gibbs really lays down how life has been.  It's kinda depressing hearing another new rapper speak on how fucked up the industry is; "Livin in this industry enemies come with smilin faces//but I feel like fuck all these rappers, they don't want no altercation" is basically how every new rapper has spoken about it.  In light of the death of Chris Lighty's death, it's just really important that prospective rappers are aware of how the game is.  Lots of shady brothers, lots of bullshit beef, and lots of pressure to perform and such.  Thankfully, it doesn't seem like Gibbs is letting the shit get to him; this track is an example of just how consistent Gibbs is as an artist.  I don't think I've ever listened to a project of his and heard back-to-back bad tracks.  It really just doesn't happen.  Now when's that debut coming out?  - 4.5/5


11. Boxframe Cadillac ('83 DeVille Mix) (Ft. Z-Ro) - Even though Gibbs rolls with Jeezy, pretty much the image of a Southern artist, it's still odd to me when I hear him rap with non-Jeezy Southern rappers.  That being said, this actually works, even though it's not a favorite of mine.  I gotta be careful with Z-Ro fans, I don't want that kind of drama, so I'll just say, I like this track, but there are better ones on this tape, hahaha - 3.5/5


12. Middle of the Night (Ft. Wayne Blazed) - Remember when I was saying how I liked how Gibbs did "The Diet"?  Well...this is the only misstep on this mixtape, in my opinion.  I could go without hearing this track again.  Hopefully this isn't one of the joints on his debut album, but I feel like something like this may end up on there.  - 2/5


13. Go For It (Ft. Young Jeezy) - IT'S THE WORLD!  I was waiting for the Jeezy feature, and this didn't disappoint.  Since I haven't been hearing a lot of Jeezy music lately, it's easy to forget that Jeezy really runs the ad-lib game...other dudes have some nice ones (2 Chainz, Big Sean, Rick Ross, and French Montana all have great ones), but man, Jeezy runs that shit.  This is one of those tracks that maybe the first time you hear it, you're kinda "eh" toward, but when you hear it the 5th time, you're like "yo this my shit!"  The more I hear this, the more I want to hear this in a club somewhere (preferably not in Pittsburgh).  The track bangs if you have nice subs, don't listen to this shit without a dope sound system - 4/5


14. On Me (Ft. Problem) - Track sounds a little like a Wiz joint, but thankfully there's no Wiz feature.  I fucks with it.  Really, this brother Problem sounds a little like Dom, and Gibbs and Dom have a good chemistry, so it's no surprise that Gibbs and Problem have a nice camaraderie on this one.  I will say that it sounds weird as hell coming after "Go For It," but that's a sequencing issue rather than a musical issue.  Presumably, the album will be put together better.  On its own, I do like this track though - 3.5/5

15. Tell A Friend (Ft. Curren$y) - Really, this mixtape is full of tracks that you would expect Spitta to be on, so it wasn't surprising to hear him on it.  The Jay-Z sample is both great and surprising...how has that line not been sampled on another track I've heard?  Leaving aside how great "So Ghetto" is as a track, this is a standout on the mixtape.  Spitta and Gibbs have worked together a couple of times in the past, so the work is expectedly cohesive.  I'm always going to be favorable to tracks that sample Jay-Z (especially when the sampled line was spit by B.I.G. in the first place), but really, this is a dope track regardless of the sample.  Another standout - 5/5


16. My Nigga (Ft. G-Wiz, D-Edge, and Hit) - Cookin' Soul is another winner on this...I feel like he's also an underrated producer.  There's been a couple of joints he's laced on this project that are dope as hell.  I've never heard of any of the features on this track, but they all dropped some heat!  I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  Usually when brothers bring their dudes onto a track, the shit ends up wack, but this is dope.  Again, it's hard to keep saying this, but Gibbs drops consistently good-to-great tracks.  I can't really say it better than that.  Consistency is a great trait, and Gibbs has that. - 4.5/5


17. Seventeen (Ft. Young Jeezy and Slick Pulla) - The other Jeezy feature...DOPE.  I've heard some say this is their favorite track off the mixtape...personally, mine is "BFK," but I can see why people like this one.  You can probably tell from the title, but the three trappers reminisce on life at age 17.  The Sinatra sample was unexpected, but I guess after Jay sampled it, I shouldn't be too surprised at what happens in hip-hop.  If you like introspection, if you like hood tales, fuck, if you like CTE, you'll fuck with this track.  - 4.5/5


18. Every City (Ft. YG) - Another surprise here...didn't expect to hear Gibbs spitting over this beat.  He keeps it short here...the track isn't really about shit other than fucking freak heaux, so I'm eh on it.  Could've had a better outro, so I'm disappointed.  Thankfully, as I said earlier, he kept it short (about 2 min) so there's not much for me to be disappointed over.  - 2.5/5



Overall, not many complaints about this mixtape.  The new trend is for rappers to drop album-quality work, and really, just going off of what I heard from the "album" version, he really could have released this as his debut and been good.  Excellent production, some great tracks, and good features as well...my main complaints are the sequencing (I would have arranged it in a different order), the joints toward the females (which I complain about with damn near every release, hahaha), and the LENGTH.  This is a long tape, coming in at 18 tracks.  Even including those issues though, this is a top 5 release for this year in my opinion...I don't know what mixtape was being considered the top of the class this year, but I'd put this up against anything released this year, to be honest.  Overall rating is 4/5, but if you drop like 2 tracks from it (or even make it a 12-14 track album), this is a 4.5/5 album.  Just very dope.  I'm VERY hyped for his debut album.  As much as people complain about the state of hip-hop, there really are rappers who drop quality work.  We just have to make our support known.

A G.O.O.D. Summer?

Dope pic.

Didn't have enough room to say this in the caption to the above pic, but fuck Complex...fuck their hard-on for Kobe, their hatred of LeBron/Chris Bosh, and fuck their constantly stupid comparisons (today I saw Michael Vick and Jerry Sandusky mentioned in the same sentence).  They have some dope work, like the above picture, and some good articles, but still, fuck Complex.


So it finally arrived!  After numerous delays and rumors that this would end up being entitled Cruel Autumn, we finally got the G.O.O.D. Music collaboration album Cruel Summer (disclaimer: the title really makes me think that this is gonna end up like Jay-Z's The Dynasty: Roc La Familia album, as in this will be Kanye's 6th album).  G.O.O.D. Music's line-up is actually pretty fucking ridiculous when you look at it; Kanye, Common, Mos Def, Q-Tip, Pusha T, Big Sean, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Cyhi, etc. etc. etc., they have a big roster.  So when the album leaked and there was only one mention of Common, no mention of Yasiin, no Q-Tip, etc., I was slightly disappointed.  I wanted something crazy ambitious, like a Wu-Tang album.  What we ended up getting was...well I'll give my overall thoughts later.  Additionally, for the first time, I'll have someone else's opinion on this blog!  My dude @Quentin_Haynes let me know he wanted to add his thoughts, and I graciously accepted the offer.  For the record, I welcome any form of collaboration on here, so if any reader out there has their own blog and wants to put something on here, or would like me to contribute to their blog, I'm down.  My work ethic has been fucking terrible, but I'm trying to get better (now if I could stop staying up til midnight catching up on Breaking Bad....)

http://santini-houdini.tumblr.com/post/13432651486/piss-on-youuuu-lol

1. To The World (Ft. R. Kelly) - Nah, R. Kelly isn't still doing music fam.  I know I'm hearing his voice, but that has to be Trey Songz or something.  Not gonna lie, I fuck with this though.  Still weird as hell hearing R. Kelly, but yo, Kanye really killed this IMO...not like he's dropping great bars or anything ("shittin on you, holy crap" sounds like some Wayne shit...gtfo with that) but that "I be all up in Goldman Sachs like 'these niggas tryna hol' me back! These niggas tryna hol' me back!" and "Mitt Romney don't pay no tax, Mitt Romney don't pay no tax" won me over before that wack shit.  I wouldn't have used this as an intro to a collaboration album though. - 3.5/5


2. Clique (Ft. Jay-Z and Tiny Sean) - I will NEVER capitalize Jay-Z's name.  I don't know when that shit got started, but fuck that.  This track put me in the mind of "H.A.M.," but I actually liked this one a lot more. "Yea I'm talkin bossy, I ain't talkin Kelis" LMFAO I swear that Jay and Nas stay taking little potshots at each other.  Jay's verse is hot, but like everything else Jay's dropped lately, it's not up to the level of his older shit *Kanye shrug*.  Kanye's verse is hilarious, as usual; "my girl a superstar all from a home movie" hahahahahaha he really just says whatever the fuck he wants in his verses.  Overall, my main complaint is...what is it with these tracks where the verses have little to do with their title?  Again, this is another one that I'd have liked to hear more of G.O.O.D. Music on. - 3.5/5


3. Mercy (Ft. Micrometer Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz) - I've seen a lot of hate for this track on Twitter...fuck all of you, this shit bangs.  I love the entire track, man...from Sean's "ass"-libs to his "swerve" ad-lib, to Pusha's verse, to the beat change when Kanye gets on, to 2 Chainz' HILARIOUS verse. The energy is great, and the video is pretty unique as well.  This is a hit.  You've heard this 1000 times if you listen to the radio, so I don't have to get into it - 4.5/5


4. New God Flow (Ft. Ghostface Killah and Pusha T) - The original of this, without Ghostface, was already a solid track.  Throwing Ghost on it (whose "Mighty Healthy" was sampled for this track) made this a standout track.  I honestly think this is one of the top 5 tracks released this year.  Ghostface (and really the Wu as a whole) has the best forms of boasting imaginable; "I got soccer moms paying for cock, Asians get it from behind while they cleanin their wok" lmfao man, when's our next Ghostface album?  Pusha's verses are actually great, but Ghost clearly stole the show...completely.  The moment the original "New God Flow" was released, THIS is what we were thinking of. - 5/5


5. The Morning (Ft. Raekwon, Pusha T, Common, Cyhi, Kid Cudi, and D'Banj) - Dog I have no idea who D'Banj is, but I guess he's the dude doing the singing in the beginning.  Earl Sweatshirt noted on Twitter that this should have been a Raekwon track...I can kinda agree, he killed this, but at the same time, the beat's not something I'd like to hear on a Raekwon album.  I'm pissed that Common's verse was short, but I guess that's what happens with a posse cut...I got over it, but when I realized later that Common didn't have any other verses, I got pissed again.  I also really didn't know that Cyhi was still with G.O.O.D. Music; I hadn't heard any tracks with him on them in a while.  I'm not terribly happy about his appearance, but I guess it's cool to know that if someone gets booted out of the crew, we'll know about it.  - 3/5


6. Cold ("Ft. DJ Khaled") - Can Khaled be a feature when all he did was talk?  Fuck Khaled Khaled lmao.  This track is another old one, with no new spin or anything...I like the track, but it's not anything special, and again, we heard this a long time ago.  It was funny that Kanye spoke so candidly about Amber Rose, Wiz Khalifa, and Kim Kardashian, but...again, I'm done with that entire situation.  This isn't bad, but it isn't great either.  - 3/5


7. Higher (Ft. The-Dream, Pusha T, Ma$e, and Cocaine 80s) - I've been seeing people say they fucked with this, and that they liked Ma$e's verse...I'm going to be honest and say I don't really like anything about this track.  Why's The-Dream on this when you have John Legend at your disposal?  Ironically, this would have been better as a Dream track.  The 2 Chainz ad-libs pissed me off because I was expecting a 2 Chainz verse!  Fuck.  It was interesting hearing Ma$e talk about Loon though...last I heard about dude, he was threatening to hit niggas with shovels.  Anyway, I could go without hearing this ever again, which is unfortunate since this was one of the new tracks.  - 1/5


8. Sin City (Ft. John Legend, Travi$ Scott, Teyana Taylor, Cyhi, and Malik Yusef) - Oh snap, Teyana Taylor's got a nice voice...I'm annoyed that they did that distortion shit on John Legend's voice, but eh.  Cyhi had a long verse on this one...which is an insult to all of us.  You have Common on your roster and Cyhi is getting verses?  FOH.  There's quite a bit of spoken word on this....which eh, I don't really fuck with that, but at least it's not Wale doing his "poetic" shit.  This really shouldn't be a bad track, and I guess it's not, but man...fuck Cyhi.  - 3/5


9. The One (Ft. Millimeter Sean, 2 Chainz, and Marsha Ambrosius) - Am I the only one who thinks you should use the talent on your roster on these things?  Again, you have Teyana Taylor...yo I fuck with Marsha, but why is she on this?  This really sounds like it's supposed to be some sort of inspirational shit, but it's really not.  Yeezy is talking Yeezy shit, Sean drops his "I'm 5'9" fuckin 9 to 5" shit, and 2 Chainz is....2 CHAAAAAAAAAINZ.  This is a lullaby track, definitely goes against all of 2 Chainz' strengths (and really those of Sean and Kanye as well). - 1.5/5


10. Creepers (Ft. Kid Cudi) - Hm.  So other than Kanye, it's Cudi who gets his own track?  I ain't mad at that at all.  Cudi said a long time ago that he's not a great rapper, so it's cool to just let him do his thing.  After the lullaby track, it's nice to have a something with a little bit of energy (even if it's Cudi-style energy).  There's no crazy bars on this; dude really said "If I had one wish, it'd be to have more wishes...duuuuuh!  Fuck tryna make it rhyme" so there's no way you expected any bars.  Nice sound though, and that's really what you're looking for with Cudi shit anyway.  - 3.5/5


11. Bliss (Ft. John Legend and Teyana Taylor) - So the two singers get their own track together...truuuu.  This is actually one of the better tracks on the album, and definitely the best "new" track.  I feel like if Teyana had been on more songs, she would've won on this album bruh...she's really better than I gave her credit for. John Legend is John Legend, so I don't have to get into him killing the shit.  This is one of those tracks that gets better every time you listen to it as well.  The singing on here is better than the rapping, smfh. - 4.5/5


12. Don't Like (Remix) (Ft. Pusha T, Chief Keef, Nanometer Sean, and Jadakiss) - Jadakiss, R. Kelly, and Ma$e on the same album...in 2012.  Sigh.  Despite that, I still like this track, the energy is great, and really, the idea of some 16 year old kid WHO CAN'T RAP being able to get Kanye on his track is ridiculous.  Chief Keef didn't seem grateful, but he won.  Pusha T stole the track from the beginning...man, I'm feeling like I should eat my words about Malice being better.  Obviously we haven't heard new music from Malice in a while, but Pusha really has bars.  Damn.  I was never a huge fan of him individually, but he won on this album.  The Ric Flair shit just made this even better.  They really didn't need Jada on the track, but I guess it's better than trying to force Cudi or Common on this.  Would have been interesting as hell to hear Yasiin Bey on this though.  - 4/5



Overall, this is a disappointment.  There's no overarching direction, most of the features are wack, the best members of G.O.O.D. Music don't even get much (or any) playing time, and I heard 5 of the 12 tracks before the album came out.  Most of the 7 new tracks weren't anything special at all.  The highs of this ("New God Flow", "Bliss") are fucking excellent.  The lows ("Higher," "The One") are skip-worthy, which is simply unacceptable considering this is a Kanye-headed project.   Similar to Watch The Throne, this project had ambitious beginnings, but ended up being a disappointment.  WTT had more than a few good tracks though, and for the most part, they came as a surprise.  Most of the good tracks on here were songs I had already heard, and I don't even listen to the radio...I can only imagine how much of the music had been heard by those who listen to the radio.  Overall, this isn't terrible, but considering the talent on the G.O.O.D. Music roster, I'm extremely disappointed.  - 2.5/5 considering the roster, 3/5 on its own merits.

My dude @Quentin_Haynes' thoughts below

"My thoughts on Cruel Summer..... a good album. Personally, I think everyone not named Cyhi Da Prince came out like winners on this album. My problem with this album is two pronged. The first is the track order. It seems like the album was just put together, instead of having an ideal order. From " To The World" to " New God Flow", I thought the album was going down this road, and "This Morning" completely flipped it, for a good way, but I felt like it flipped. From that point on, the album lacked that stability for me to zone out on. Let me say this, I love "Bliss". The way G.O.O.D Music is going with this all white thing, I could see that as a throwaway video for them.

The second issue is simple: Not enough songs. To me, this should've been a double disc album. 22 tracks of pure fire. First off, this 12 track album had 6 new songs on it. That's lazy to me. With Kanye West dropping an album next month, 2 Chainz dropping a (terrible) album a couple weeks ago, and Big Sean dropping a mixtape a couple weeks prior, I can understand their lack of work on the album if it went 18-22 tracks, but Pusha T isn't out here dropping a project anytime soon. Even though he had the most impact on this tape, there's no such thing as too much Pusha. What's Common doing? He couldn't throw two more tracks on there? Teyana Taylor and John Legend could've easily gave us a couple more choruses, and the way people talked about Kid Cudi's "Creepers", you could've given us two or three more tracks, and no complaint would've came our way. Hell, more Cyhi struggle bars. Anything to keep the album going. 

Overall, good album, but it lacked that run allowing me to zone out, and I would've liked more songs. Random note, I've never heard the Jadakiss verse on "I Don't Like". "

For the record, I concur for the most part...the strength of a Rick Ross project, for example, lies in the sequencing.  The amount of talent on this roster means it should've been longer than 12 tracks.  Since Kanye was involved with it, I was expecting a lot more, so I guess that's why I think it's less than average.  Look forward to my collaboration posts in the future, I'm still trying to figure this thing out.  I'll try harder, people




SIDE NOTE: WHAT THE FUCK, THE GIANTS ARE DEMOLISHING THE PANTHERS.

Team Previews - Boston Celtics

"It's my team, nigga."

So during the 2012 NBA Playoffs, Boston took a 3-2 lead over Miami home, hoping to close out the series in 6 games.  LeBron had other plans, going off for 45/15/5 on 19/26 shooting, resulting in a laugher, Miami winning 98-79.  He also notched 31/12 in Game 7, sending Boston home without a title yet again.  While disappointed, Boston took solace in the fact that they took Miami to 7 games, despite Avery Bradley (probably their best perimeter defender) missing the series, Ray Allen suffering from bone spurs, Pierce having knee problems, and Mickael Pietrus also suffering from an injury.  Most people I had talked to noted that Boston is a tough matchup when they're healthy, but that next year would be an 82 game season, and Pierce/Allen/Garnett aren't getting any younger.  While they would again have a good regular season, it was unlikely that they would be able to challenge the Heat again, especially after LeBron seemingly reached another level.  

Ignoring the naysayers, Danny Ainge and the Celtics management set out to make another team that has a chance at winning the NBA Championship, and I think they did an exceptional job.  Some key additions have put Boston in a better state than what they were in last year, and with vital components getting healthy, it's probable that Boston will yet again be the Heat's opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals.  I have to say that personally, I was shocked that they didn't just double down and attempt to win the chip with their 2011-2012 lineup...this is a team that refused to acknowledge that they lost the 2010 Finals to LA simply because Kendrick Perkins was injured and couldn't play.  Contrary to my belief though, they really made moves.

Smh, niggas calling dude "Judas Shuttlesworth" now

After the unceremonious departure of future Hall of Famer Ray Allen to the hated Miami Heat, Boston's first order of business was attaining a replacement.  Preferably, this replacement would be OK coming off the bench (a point that Ray Allen was miffed about), would be able to score more unassisted baskets (Ray's ability to move with the ball is certainly not what it was in 2005, or even 2008), and still be able to give you the shooting that Ray gave.  While I'd argue that their replacement is not as good of a shooter as Ray Allen, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one than who they got...

I still have good memories of this vs. the Lakers

Yea...they got Jason Terry.  You know, the guy who helped Dirk Nowitzki shoot down Miami in the 2011 Finals, even after LeBron had claimed that rather than looking at his offense, we should look at his defensive effort when judging his performances.  So you get someone who is definitely disliked by the Heat (at the least, they remember what he did to them), and does everything that Ray did, except he's PERFECTLY OK with coming off the bench.  He pretty much made his name in Dallas by coming off the bench as a sort of "instant offense" or, in Bill Simmons' words, "irrational confidence" guy, dropping nearly 20 points a game off the bench.  Granted, he's not as good a shooter as Ray is, but really, it would have been difficult to get someone as good as Ray (for all of the shit people talked, Allen was 45% from 3 last year).  He's fine with being a 2nd option (although he'll be the 3rd option here), and really, how easy is it for dude to get the crowd into the game and to get your team hyped?  Allen is a great player; I think that Miami picking him up and convincing him to come off the bench (really, it has to be easier to come off the bench for Dwyane Wade than for fucking Avery Bradley) was a coup for Miami.  However, for what Boston is trying to do, Terry is better; he's younger, less likely to have recurring injuries, and easier to work into the lineup.  This was a VERY good pick up for Boston, especially since they made further moves to show that they're not simply relying on Avery Bradley as their shooting guard.

Stupid fuck.

This is my primary memory of their other guard acquisition, Courtney Lee...I remember that bullshit miss that gave the Lakers Game 2, and that added to their bullshit performance in Game 4 pretty much gave the series to LA without Orlando getting any semblance of momentum.  I'll forever acknowledge that I give Kobe credit for that Finals (he dropped over 32 points a game), but man, Orlando really could have won that series.  We all know how bad Kobe is in elimination game scenarios; it's likely that Orlando would have won in 5.  However, this is 2012, and maybe it's time to forget about that.  Last year, Courtney Lee averaged 11.4ppg on 43/40/83 splits (that 3pt % is key), and he's a career 39% 3pt shooter.  Basically, the addition of Terry and Lee replaces Allen's 3 point shooting, and gives them floor spacing that was sorely lacking when Pierce and Allen's injuries lowered their performance.  Additionally, Lee is younger (turning 27 soon), meaning he can be a partner with Rondo for the future, and he'll likely defer to Rondo much more than Allen did.  He's 6'5", which is good for them, considering Bradley is only 6'2" and will sometimes have problems matching up defensively with other 2-guards.  Honestly, if I ignore his fuckery in the 2009 Finals (he was only a rookie), I can acknowledge that this was a great scoop by Boston.

Presumably we won't see this next year

In addition to the new players who joined the Celtics, they also retained Brandon Bass, re-signed Kevin Garnett, and signed Jeff Green to a 4 year, $36 million deal.  While Jeff Green will probably never fit the traditional 3 or 4 position, he's a versatile offensive talent who causes matchup problems at the 4.  He's only 24, and with the loyalty that Boston has shown to him throughout his heart ailments, I'm assuming that he will go above and beyond for as long as he plays in Boston (side note: he's from Cheverly, making him a fellow PG County resident...it took me a while to put 2 and 2 together that this was the same Jeff Green I had been hearing about in high school.  I was more of a Chris McCray fan, so I wasn't really following dude like that). I was never terribly impressed with him in OKC, but I really think he will prove to be a smart signing for Boston, even after the bullshit of his first two years.  Rondo's a much better distributor than Russell Westbrook, and when Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett inevitably retire, I have to think that Jeff Green will be the primary offensive weapon on the team.  We could see some pretty good years from dude, provided his heart doesn't give out. 

Their draft moves were also savvy, drafting Fab Melo (who gives them size to replace Greg Stiemsma and possibly gives them an actual starting center pending Garnett's retirement) and Jared Sullinger, who really could be good if his back doesn't become an issue.  Looking solely at depth, Boston might be the best team in the league; they've got viable backups at every position, and people who can fit multiple positions (Garnett, Green, Lee), and despite notions about Boston being an old team, they really do have a lot of young players now (although none of them are really "good" right now other than Rondo).  With the Allen/Rondo element now out of the locker room, I wonder just how good Boston will be this year.

I'm excited for Boston, if only because it's about damn time that the Eastern Conference was competitive.  While their success is still contingent on Pierce and Garnett making it through the entire season without getting injured or being overworked, this is their best supporting cast in the Big 3 era.  I'm hopeful for their draftees, and really, Rondo being an official member of the Big 3 has to be a good thing.  If they stay healthy, I've got them grabbing the 1 spot in the Eastern Conference and losing to Miami in 6 in the ECF.  Pretty good for a team going through a sort of "active" rebuilding process.  

Extra Medium Sean

Been a bit since the Pistons were relevant...

This week, Smedium Sean dropped his latest mixtape, Detroit.  For the record, I didn't fuck with his debut album, Finally Famous, nor did I fuck with his Finally Famous mixtape series...he's had some tracks, but for the most part I don't fuck with dude.  His verse on "Mercy" was meh, although "swerve" was probably the best part of the track, lyrics-wise.  Even though I had been aware of dude since his track on Kanye's Can't Tell Me Nothin mixtape, I really never set out to listen to Small Sean.  After hearing Sean P call him "Medium Sean" and hearing Ludacris get at him, I really didn't care about him.  That being said, there's been a relative lack of projects that I've felt like reviewing recently.  I started working on a 2 Chainz review, but at like track 4 I realized I had nothing to say about his music.  I tried working on an A$AP Mob review, but while I liked the tape, I kept falling asleep (or calling my weed guy) when trying to listen to it...it's not conducive to reviewing, hahahaha.  So when I heard that Lil Sean came out with a new project, I decided to listen to it and attempt to get out of this reviewing slump.  Luckily, it wasn't boring or repetitive, so I was actually able to do so...

Could be worse, I guess

1. Higher - I've never heard of keY Wane, but he floated on this beat.  This actually sounds like an A$AP-style beat, or something you could hear Curren$y on.  The "Mercy" sample was appreciated, I was immediately in the zone following that.  This is a laidback intro, and Sean just kinda spits a bunch of punchlines.  It's not meaningful rap, but he's not bad.  We already knew that though...his problem on his debut wasn't shitty raps, it was the overall sound.  This track is a step in the right direction.  "Niggas 7 feet tellin me I'm who they look up to" - the short niggas dream (chyea!) - 4/5


2. 24K of Gold (Ft. J. Cole) - As Big Ghostfase so aptly noted, J. Cole has this bad habit of fucking up every song of his with one outrageously bad punchline.  That trend continued on his feature on Dedication 4 (the only mention of that piece of shit on THIS blog), but overall he's been killing it lately.  "Grew Up Fast," "Visionz of Home," "They Ready," and "Green Ranger" show that he isn't a bad rapper...he's just a limited rapper.  Limited subject matter, limited flows, and limited ways of showing out on tracks.  Rick Ross has the same limitations, yet he managed to climb on top of the rap game (figuratively) because he was aware of his weaknesses and avoided those.  J. Cole basically acts like he's Jay-Z's heir apparent but ignores his weaknesses, and thus makes shitty tracks at times.  Anyway, on to the track itself, it's not the sort of track that Cole thrives on, and it definitely sounds like something off of XS Sean's debut.  Harmonic rap generally annoys me, so the beginning of this was...ugh, but really, it's not a bad track.  Interestingly enough, Sean also visits the 44" waist punchline, but it doesn't come across as weird.  Even though he drops some stupidity with that trigonometry line (trig IS mathematics bruh), his verses aren't bad.  I don't really like it a lot, but I recognize that it's decent - 3/5


3. Story by Common - The first of three "stories" by three rappers about their relationship with Detroit.  The beat on these is pretty nice...on some So Far Gone shit.  Common has a particularly strong connection to Detroit, considering his location in Chicago as well as his work with Detroit's own, J Dilla.  Common comes across as hilariously old while telling his story ("I wasn't all into the strip clubs at the time, so I'm like yo, I'll just be like, I'll just sit there and be like 'I'm bout to write this rap', then one time I was like 'man I'm goin to the strip club wit y'all" lmaoooo) but really, that's kinda Common's spot right now.  Common's still that dude, but man, hearing him refer to the wings at the strip club before talking about the women was fucking hilarious, hahaha - 5/5


4. How It Feel - I'm feeling the Barry White sample.  Not enough of that in hip-hop, in my opinion.  To be honest though, his verses on this aren't worthy of the sample or even the beat.  Standard bragging and pimpin raps...again, he's not bad at it, it just sounds tired.  Maybe I'm just disillusioned, or maybe I really wanted a Common feature, smh...again, not a terrible track, but I don't go out of my way to listen to it. - 3/5


5. Woke Up (Ft. Like 5 people) - This one isn't my speed, but it bumps.  I don't like Mike Posner...at all, but this is an OK generic track.  Around this point of the tape, I was really thinking this shit was gonna be Finally Famous all over again.  Couldn't even bother trying to review this song. - 2.5/5


6. Experimental (Ft. Juicy J and King Chip) - You say no to rapper features, Juicy J can't.  WE TRIPPY MAYNE!  Thankfully Juicy J shows up to drop some ad-libs and add a bit of energy to the tape.  Parts of this remind me of a track that Tyler, the Creator produced, but overall, this is a drug ballad.  I fuck with Juicy J though, so that makes up for how generic the track is.  Would've been nice to have Curren$y or Domo Genesis on this one.  TRIPPY! - 3.5/5


7. Mula (Ft. French Montana) - HAAAANH!  After getting a Juicy feature, we get a French feature?  It's like Tiny Sean could tell that I was about to turn this tape off and do something with my life.  I'll never disapprove of a French feature, so...yea.  "Shorty snorkel for that crab, eating lobster on my dinner plate" hahahahaha you can't say French isn't entertaining.  I'm not going to act like this track had lyrics galore, but it's French, man!  It's got some blasphemy too, so that's right up my alley.  Despite my love for French, I can't really rate this too high, it's not a great track - 3/5


8. Story by Young Jeezy - The second in the "Story" series, we learn about Jeezy's past with Detroit.  I'd have rather had a Jeezy and Freddie Gibbs feature, but it's interesting that Detroit fucked with Jeezy.  When I think of Detroit, I actually think of lyricists and "real hip-hop"...I don't like Eminem, but he has bars.  Royce, Black Milk, Dilla, Guilty Simpson...there's a lot of that sound in Detroit.  Odd that they'd fuck with Jeezy.


9. 100 (Ft. Royce da 5'9" and Kendrick Lamar) - "Speak of the devil and he shall appear." (Fuck what you heard, Bane was a good villain)  Shortly after thinking about Royce, he shows up on this track.  This part of the tape is the best in my opinion, he's got a few nice joints in this part.  This is a standout track on the tape, with all three rappers dropping good verses, but Royce and Kendrick clearly stole the track from Sean (which is fine, we already know both are better rappers than Mini Sean).  Kendrick's on his social commentary/spiritualism shit, Royce is dropping knowledge and love for his fellow Detroit native, and Sean's speaking on where he came from.  The beat is proper, but it's a Don Cannon production, so we were already expecting that...best track thus far. - 5/5


10. Sellin Dreams (Ft. Chris Brown) - Man...I hate Chris Brown and his perpetual petulance, but he floated on this one.  No matter how much I try to hate this track, I fuck with it.  In fact, Micro Sean is the worst part of the track, and his raps are good on this - "we had that independent love, you tried to bring a label in"...how many of us have been caught in that, hahahaha.  Real raps all around.  Just ugh.  It's still fuck Chris Brown though. - 4.5/5

It took me over 2 months to throw some sex appeal on here...

11. I'm Gonna Be (Ft. Jhene Aiko) - I'm not high on the Jhene Aiko bandwagon (yea, she's bad, and...?) but this one is OK.  I hate that harmonic rap shit that Miniscule Sean does on this, but overall it's got a nice vibe to it, so I don't hate it.  I'll never play this one willingly again, but I know some people will like it.  Drake's a lot better at harmonizing, and this would be a better track with Drake on it.  Jhene is aight, I just hate the hype wagon that follows people like that.  There's not a lot of substance to this track (as far as variety, etc.) but again, it's not a bad track - 3/5


12. FFOE - "I got the best drinks, good tree, and bad bitches" - This part of the hook pretty much exemplifies the entire track.  There's a bit of imagery with the different portrayals of the west side and east side of Detroit, but overall this is just a swag track.  I feel like that's not Pygmy Sean's best area, but it's definitely the one he turns to the most.  This sounds like one of those Drake tracks from when he was first coming out, really...it's just missing a Lil Wayne feature.  Pretty dated, but I guess not terrible.  Another one I could never hear again and be cool with. - 2.5/5


13. Do What I Gotta Do (Ft. Tyga) - The other day, I was saying that Tyga really isn't a bad rapper, he just dresses like a dumb fuck and has some wack tracks...apparently I was completely wrong, because his verse on this is wack (kudos for the Milli Vanilli reference though).  This track is wack, but I guess it's supposed to be a club joint.  Meh.  Maybe I'll have a different attitude when I hear it in the club and see the girls twerking :-/ For now, this is another joint I'd skip.  I'll give Bantam Sean props though, he doesn't drag this track out too long; 2 and a half minutes isn't bad at all - 2.5/5


14. Story by Snoop Lion - This is the last of the "stories" about Detroit.  Snoop Lion is on some...what the fuck is this nigga on?  The nigga calls himself Big Snoop Dogg on this shit but he's Snoop Lion now, right?  The story is kinda funny because I know a tall skinny dude who worked the grill at McDonald's, smoked weed, and was about the same complexion as Snoop...but other that that, we've got Snoop treating us to some old bars...better than anything he's dropped in years, but aight.  Crazy that all of these dudes have connections to Detroit.


15. RWT - This doesn't even sound like a fucking Diminutive Sean track, it sounds like a Rick Ross/Waka Flocka joint.  This has the "shots at Drake" that people were kinda hyped about ("I made a mill before 25 and I ain't even no lie"), but since he shouts out Drake on the tape, and raps with Tyga...I can't really see it as shots at Drake.  Not to mention the fact that they shouted each other out on Twitter as well...all of this subliminal shit is pissing me off; I'm blaming Jay-Z.  Anyway, if swag talk doesn't really work for Sean, Rick Ross tracks DEFINITELY don't work for him.  Luckily, once again he doesn't keep this going too long.  - 2.5/5


16. Once Bitten, Twice Shy - I don't know if it's because Drake bit a lot of his style, but Puny Sean really is trying to do this rap/sing thing...I'm not fucking with it at all.  When he's not pseudo-singing, this is actually a good track.  The sound is in tune with the majority of the tape, as do the bars.  The pros of this song outweigh the cons, so I can see myself playing this again (really I played it like 5 times for this review to make sure I liked it).  He REALLY needs to stop fucking "singing" though.  - 4/5


17. Life Should Go On (Ft. Wale and Wiz Khalifa) - The final track on the tape, this is a two-parter (in the vein of "Murder to Excellence" off of Watch The Throne) featuring two rappers who buzzed at around the same time, Wale and Wiz.  Wale floats on this one, which just reinforces my opinion that he's been focusing on filling a role for Ross rather than trying to get his own music out.  The part with Wiz sounds like the sort of rock star bullshit that I could see Wiz gravitating toward...it's also got Dwarfish Sean doing his rap/singing thing, so that pissed me off, but even that half of the track isn't that bad I guess.  Real talk though, Wiz is spitting real weed shit on this; "if I ever hand you some weed, it's free, you don't owe me none" is real stoner life.  I don't think I've ever told someone they owed me weed for smoking my shit...weed brings us together, it's not divisive /weedtalk.  Anyway, this track is a solid end, even though neither Wiz nor Sean need to be fucking singing.  - 4/5





OK, so I got tired of downgrading songs just because Molecular Sean was "singing" on them, which inflated a few of the tracks' ratings.  Overall, I think this was a very solid effort.  Not the best hip-hop release of the year, or even the best mixtape of the year, but a very solid effort from someone I wasn't sure would give us a solid work.  It fucking shits on that lean-sipping skateboarder's shit, which is something I needed after listening to that POS.  I'm not gonna overhype it like Twitter was doing, but this is good shit.  I'm biased toward particular types of rap that don't include fake singing, so if you like that sort of stuff, you'll think it's better than I did.  The real winner on here is keY Wane, in my opinion...I had never heard of dude, but he went off on this mixtape.  This didn't hype me for Cruel Summer, but maybe Sean's next album will be worth buying.   -  3.5/5

Truthfully I Wanna Rhyme like Common Sense

Where'd this guy go?

I'm big on Twitter...not in the sense that I'm important or anything on Twitter, but in the sense that I love Twitter.  The constant stream of consciousness on Twitter keeps me coming back daily for more.  Random "slander," funny PhotoShops of people, and the same tired debates keep me fairly interested in that social network.  So one day while on Twitter, I noticed someone talking about Common as a rapper...asking how does his catalog measure up to others of his era, and whether he's actually been a dope rapper.  For me, it was an easy question; The Dreamer, The Believer is critically acclaimed and was the best Common work since BE.  As far as his credentials, this is the guy who did "Come Close", "6th Sense," and "The Light," so that was just a stupid question.  However, since I am working on a post comparing the discographies of Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, and Nas, I figured that I might as well dive into Common's rap record and see if he actually does have enough albums to be mentioned in the same breath as rap's greats.

Common's debut album, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, is something I first heard with a different set of beats.  Maybe if I had heard the original first, I would have a higher opinion of it, but as it is, I think that the beats are a little dated.  If your introduction to Common was BE, then you will be pretty surprised by this album; it has a much grittier sound, with a lot more youthful swagger than one might expect.  His rhymes are ridiculous (in a good way), tripping over themselves and stumbling through the tracks...it really puts me in the mind of a younger Jay-Z to be honest.  When you think about it like that, that Jay line "truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense" makes a LOT more sense.  Their original styles are pretty similar, even if the content is different.  As you can tell from the name of the album (and the cover art), this work really represents the hood.  There are stories about girls, about common occurrences in the hood, and just general shit talking, rather than materialistic raps about Benzes, mafia ties, and ice.  Overall, this is a solid debut, but it's no Illmatic or Reasonable Doubt.  I think the production hurts it a bit, so overall, it's no classic.

Rating: 3.5/5

Standout tracks: "A Penny for My Thoughts," "Blows to the Temple," "Soul By The Pound"

Resurrection starts off with an entirely different sound from Can I Borrow a Dollar?, and this is a very good thing.  The title track is quite strong, and we really get to hear Common's lyrical dexterity over beats worthy of his bars.  The album is also notable in that it represents the beginning of the Common/Ice Cube beef, with "I Used to Love H.E.R." being seen as a salvo fired at Ice Cube and his camp.  As we remember later, Common was no bitch, so when Cube fired back, we got to see Common's response later.  Even taking away that element from the track, that is the best Common record we had heard at that point.  It was this track (and this album as a whole) that really pushed Common into the critical forefront, and gave him the reputation he has to this day.  For me, it was really easy to see once again how Jay-Z and Common were so similar as rappers; "Communism" is basically "22 Two's", with Common using words starting with "com" instead of the words "to, two, too" to get his point across.  We still get social commentary, but it's not as slick as on Can I Borrow a Dollar?; instead of being a smart-ass about the realities of the hood, Common is a more direct on tracks like "Chapter 13 (Rich Man vs. Poor Man)".  This album also has the first of the "Pop's Rap" endings that became a mark of Common's albums, which was pretty interesting.  Overall, I think it's slightly better than his debut, but it has a couple of interludes that disrupt momentum.  Additionally, despite a couple of strong efforts, it isn't as consistent as I would like.

Rating: 3.5/5

Standouts: "I Used to Love H.E.R.," "Communism," "Resurrection"

Released in September 1997, One Day It'll All Make Sense was the beginning of Common's change into the Common that we know.  He began working with the Soulquarians and other "conscious" artists, and the edge from his debut was all but gone.  His voice was different as well; gone were the random cracks and squeaks that filled his debut and parts of Resurrection.  This was a new artist, and the album plays as such.  From the opening track, "Introspective," we know that we are journeying into the mind of a new man; indeed, Common was to become a father, and this album helped represent his growth into a mature adult.  This coincides with the features...instead of just Ynot, other hip-hop heavyweights provide assistance to Common.  It's easy to forget that Cee-Lo was actually a good rapper at one point, but he drops a killer verse on "G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition)", and Lauryn Hill provides an EXCELLENT chorus on "Retrospective for Life."  Erykah Badu and Black Thought also make appearances on the album, giving it that "backpacker" sound.  In case you thought that Common lost his lyrical ferocity though, he drops "Hungry," a short and poignant track filled with gems like "flashbacks of past raps make me so glad I made it" and "came in this rap life nude, now I'm fully clothed in flows."  Canibus adds to this sense of boom-bap with his appearance on "Making a Name for Ourselves." This is Common's first classic in my mind...it was focused, full of great tracks, and really represented the beginning of a new movement.  It set the groundwork for excellent works released by Mos Def, Erykah Badu, and indeed, Common himself.


Rating:  4.5/5

Standouts: "Retrospective for Life," "Hungry," "1'2 Many..."...really, this entire album is great.  I REALLY recommend "Retrospective for Life" though.

Personally, Like Water for Chocolate is Common's best work.  It came during his time working with the Soulquarians, was laced with beats by the late, great J Dilla, and was very consistent overall.  The cover art was something unique; in a time where we were typically getting rappers posing with cars or jewelry or women, Common was busy using a stark image from America's past.  If you remember other albums from 2000, Country Grammar comes to mind, as well as The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, in addition to Stankonia and Supreme Clientele.  While the Soulquarian movement was in full swing (so we got a Reflection Eternal album, Common really grabbed the standard for "conscious" rap in 2000 with this work.  In terms of content, Common is at his Afrocentric finest, with lines like "most sell out, like a dread with a white girl," and a dedication to Assata Shakur, a former Black Panther currently residing in Cuba.  From the tribute to Fela Kuti in the intro track "Time Travelin," to the smooth love song "The Light," to the DJ Premier-produced "The 6th Sense," Common was at the top of his game here.  J Dilla and Common made a very formidable pair, and really, there isn't one bad track on this album.  The rhymes aren't anywhere near as slippery as on Resurrection or Can I Borrow a Dollar?, but in terms of composition, focus, and production, this album was far superior.  Twelve years later, this album retains its classic status, being a work that is timeless.


Rating: 5/5

Standouts: "A Song for Assata," "The 6th Sense," "A Film Called (Pimp)"  Again, this entire album is great, you can't really go wrong.

Most artists have that point in their career where they go off the beaten path and get critiqued heavily for it (think 808s and Heartbreaks or Kingdom Come).  Depending on the strength of the artist's career, this can be devastating or be something that they move on from.  For Common, this moment was Electric Circus.  Personally, I like the album; the sound is obviously very different from his previous efforts, but Common has been in a state of constant change, so that isn't a big deal to me.  The production is largely handled by ?uestlove and J Dilla, both familiar names for anyone who had been following the Soulquarian movement.  Overall, the problem for me was that not only was the album different in sound than his other albums, but even within the album there wasn't a uniform sound.  While has worked for some others, on this work, it comes across as cluttered.  There are great moments on here, but there are also those ones you instantly skip, such as "Electric Wire Hustler Flower."  Really, you can see influences of this album on Janelle Monae's The Archandroid, and the overall bend is similar to The Love Below, and both of those albums are great.  For this album, though, it seems that the eclecticism is dialed up to 11 at some points, and that's what brings the album down.  While not a bad album, this stopped the momentum that Common had been building, and was probably his worst work overall.  However, let me state that the highs on this album are EXCELLENT. "Between Me, You, and Liberation," in particular is an all-time great hip-hop song.  If you don't listen to this album in its entirety, at least listen to this track.


Rating: 3/5

Standouts: "Between Me, You, and Liberation," "Come Close," "Aquarius"

Following Geffen's acquisition of MCA, Common went 3 years without releasing an album.  Signing with Kanye West, who had catapulted into stardom through his debut The College Dropout, Common released BE, an album considered by some to be Common's greatest work.  I'll listen to that argument without immediately dismissing it, as the combination of Common and Kanye West produced yet another classic for Common.  Touching on familiar subject matter such as inner city violence, love, and Afrocentricism (which resulted in a riff with some UK artists), BE is a return to the soulful, hip-hop sound that Common had before Electric Circus.  While some (including myself) think the beats are a touch too commercial, the results were Common being exposed to a larger crowd and making him relevant to the present state of hip-hop, both of which are good for hip-hop.  In terms of punchlines and wittiness, this album isn't up to the standards of Resurrection, but rather than adding filler songs, Common releases a lot of content in a short (it's only 43min long), incredibly focused work.  The worst track on the album (in my opinion "Faithful") is still better than the vast majority of hip-hop released in 2005, and the best track (in my opinion "The Corner") has The Last Poets on it...what other popular rapper could you see having The Last Poets on his/her album?  As an entire work, the fact that most of this is produced with that signature Kanye sound circa 2005 makes BE an easier listen than Common's other classics.  Overall, I think it's his 2nd best work.


Rating: 4.5/5

Standouts: "The Corner," "Testify," "Real People"

After BE, it was hard to imagine what album would come next from Common.  Still working closely with Kanye West, the sky seemed to be the limit for his next project, and when the first single, "The People" came out, excitement for the album grew.  In the end, it came off as BE Pt. 2 than as its own project, and some of the more pop-sounding records had some cringe-inducing bars ("driving herself crazy like that astronaut lady" is a double entendre, but...man, what an "ugh" moment).  I don't really approve of will.i.am touching any hip-hop record at this point, and the "stadium status" sounds of Kanye West's Graduation (in my opinion, his worst work) permeate the album.  As with any Common album, there are some very strong moments; "Southside," "The People," and "The Game" provide plenty of that boom bap sound, and "Black Maybe" gives us an introspective look into what being Black is.  Overall, Finding Forever is a solid release, but it amplifies the "too commercial" complaint that some fans had of BE by 10.  I love Lily Allen (especially around that time), but her on a Common record just seemed forced, and there was a little too much love talk and not enough social commentary.  Again, not a bad album, but not up to the standard he set with BE.


Rating: 3.5/5

Standouts: "Black Maybe," "Southside," "The People"

Usually, when an artist goes too far from what made him/her successful, and they receive backlash, they refrain from doing that again.  However, every so often, there is an artist who ignores prior negativity and experiments again.  Common is that artist.  Despite negative ratings of Electric Circus, Common went back into that territory with Universal Mind Control.  I think the track "Make My Day" featuring Cee-Lo pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the change from the One Day It'll All Make Sense days to the UMC days...Cee-Lo dropped a pretty killer verse on his feature verse for "G.O.D." but is singing the hook to an upbeat track on "Make My Day."  Evolution is good; one of the complaints about Eminem is a lack of change in his subject matter.  People complain about Jay-Z still dropping materialistic raps rather than ones suiting someone of his age, like a Nas.  However, the answer to that probably isn't spitting over electronic Neptunes production.  Overall, I've had no need to keep this album in my library.  I can understand that it's not a bad album, but it doesn't speak to me at all.  Definitely not a necessary part of the Common discography.


Rating: 2/5

Standout:  "Gladiator"

Once again, after receiving backlash from a "different" style of album, Common went back to his roots and worked primarily with one producer, in this case Kanye West's mentor (and former Common collaborator) No I.D.  The Dreamer/The Believer is as different from Universal Mind Control as BE was from Electric Circus, which is good for those of us who didn't like UMC.  Overall, the bars aren't the best that Common has ever spit, but the production more than makes up for it.  It's weird hearing the artist responsible for "The Light" or "Come Close" getting at Drake, but it really felt necessary for someone on the team to get at him after all of the sideways talking.  Even better, he actually drops "Lovin' I Lost" two tracks later, showing he has no problem with the love songs, but rather the way Drake does them.  The overall sound is a little glossier than BE, but less so than Finding Forever, so there's a nice balance there.  The track with Nas, "Ghetto Dreams," is a collaboration that hip-hop heads had been waiting on since Nas started doing joints with Jay-Z and Kanye.  We've got John Legend getting his croon on, and Pops returns for another dope outro.  On BE, it was The Last Poets feature that made heads turn on; on this, Common has Maya "And Still I Rise" Angelou on the opening track.  Wow.  There are no classic tracks like "The 6th Sense" on here, but all of the tracks are solid.  It's a little...too happy for me, but really, even after the Serena break-up, Common looked to be at a pretty nice spot in life.  He's on a team that supports him, working as both an actor and a rapper, participating in celebrity basketball games, just overall having a good time, so I guess expecting some depressing stuff isn't fair to dude.  This isn't a classic, but it's another solid contribution to Common's discography.


Rating: 4/5

Standouts: "Ghetto Dreams," "The Dreamer," "The Believer"



So in a 20-year period, Common has released 9 albums.  Out of these, I'd argue that 3 (One Day..., BE, and Like Water...) are classics, and 3 others (Finding Forever, Resurrection, and The Dreamer...) are very good.  There's really only one dud (UMC), and the last two are still above-average works.  In terms of classic songs, Common has plenty of them, especially considering he's only dropped 9 albums.  Personally, I think his discography is both more prolific and consistent than Eminem's, and some argue that Eminem is the G.O.A.T.  While he hasn't released enough albums for me to consider him for my later post comparing Jay/Nas/GFK, it's difficult to argue with someone who has arguably dropped 3 classics in addition to other high-quality albums (a reason why I think Jay is the G.O.A.T., but that's another post).  To those who say that Common's rhymes aren't as good as they once were, I wholeheartedly agree.  The flow he uses now is much different from what he came in the game with, and even the imagery is different.  However, I believe that what he lost as a rapper, he gained as an artist.  His works got more focused and consistent, and outside of Universal Mind Control, he really never dropped an album with more bad songs than great songs.  Compared to Mos Def and Talib Kweli (two artists he's commonly compared to...*rimshot*) his discography is spectacular, even though I think Black on Both Sides is as good as any work that Common has released.  He served as an inspiration for Kanye West, and 20 years after coming into the game, retains some level of relevance...an example for these new rappers to follow.  Once that Nas.Com drops, I think we're going to be discussing where we place Common in the hip-hop pantheon - his albums are really that good.

Team Previews - Dallas Mavericks

Shut Skip the fuck up

If you've been watching the NBA the past few years, then you know that the Mavericks won the 2010-2011 NBA Championship.  They did so in a decisive manner, defeating the Thunder in 5 games, the Lakers in 4, and the Heat in 6 (you know I was very excited watching them beat LA 122-86 in Game 4, LMAOOOO).  The moves made after winning the Finals baffled the casual viewer, since they refused to spend any sort of money to keep the team together.  Tyson Chandler, considered the glue that kept the defense together, was allowed to join the New York Knicks.  Caron Butler, who had been injured for much of the season, was allowed to join the LA Clippers (where he broke his hand late in the season).  Peja Stojakovic retired, and JJ Barea decided to join the Timberwolves for more money.  While they did pick up Vince Carter and Lamar Odom, both players proved to be shells of their former selves, and neither had the effect that was probably envisioned.  The result?  Dirk never really looked invested in the season (to be fair, he basically vindicated his career by winning the title against LeBron and Wade), and the Mavericks were swept in the 1st round by the eventual Western Conference Champion OKC Thunder.

This year, it appears that Mark Cuban is again invested in producing a winner.  Despite letting Jason Kidd move to the Knicks and Jason Terry move to the Boston Celtics, they have made a number of acquisitions that seem to coincide with Dirk's final years of being able to produce at a high level.  Obviously, they are banking on both Vince Carter and Shawn Marion being able to produce a bit more than they did last year, but even with those question marks, the Mavericks have put themselves in a position to do more damage next year.

Harden-lite

The most important addition in my opinion is one OJ Mayo.  While Mayo has underperformed in a bench capacity the last two years with the Memphis Grizzlies, his rookie and sophomore years in the NBA show there is great potential there.  A rookie year of 18.5/3.8/3.2 on 44/38/88 splits is nothing to ignore, and if he can bring production at that level to Dallas (whether off the bench or in a starting role) he will have filled the void that Jason Terry left as that sparkplug that supplements Dirk's scoring.  Unless Vince Carter will be relegated to the bench, it is likely that Mayo will have to come off the bench, a role that he at times seemed dissatisfied with in Memphis.  However, being on a 2 year/$8 million deal pretty much shows what Dallas thinks of his value at this point. This is a good opportunity for Mayo to show that he is an All-Star talent that the Mavericks can look to build around when Dirk retires (since they've missed out on Deron Williams and likely will not get Dwight Howard or Chris Paul).  Honestly, I think that Mayo has just been out of sorts for the last 2 years...I think he can give you James Harden/Jason Terry-like numbers off the bench, but he needs to have that sort of role as well, where he will be allowed to take a certain number of shots and play significant minutes.  In Dallas, that role exists, and Mayo is well poised to take advantage of it.

Gonna be hard to prosper, bro....

Dallas also picked up a decent PG in Darren Collison.  While he's coming off of a bad year, Collison isn't a bad player, and the competition between he and Rodrigue Beaubois may be a good thing for both players.  Either way, they're really only replacing the production of an almost-40 Jason Kidd, so I can't imagine their PG play getting worse.  Collison's contract is also expiring, which gives them flexibility in next year's free agency market.  I still don't think they get any of the big players, and they lost their chance at Deron Williams when he signed with Brooklyn, but having space for a good pick-up is always a good thing.  For the immediate future (as in next year) Collison is a good addition to the team.

Other important moves made were the acquisitions of former All-Star big men Elton Brand and Chris Kaman.  While Brand was once a 20/10 machine, injuries and age have reduced him to a serviceable 4 with good defense.  Kaman has struggled with injuries and has seen a decrease in production since his All-Star appearance, but there is the chance that he can show a slight return to form.  Obtaining the two for 1 year each at a combined 10 million is a bargain that again gives Dallas room to maneuver during the next free agency market.


Overall, I was a lot more excited about the Mavericks until I actually looked at the team.  The majority of the pick-ups are only going to be around for this year (or at the most the year after), so it's obvious that Cuban is gearing up either for a big haul in free agency, or he's going to remake the team, as he's done so many times (remember all of the stars and decent talent that has gone through Dallas: Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Josh Howard, etc.) and gear up for another deep playoff run in the near future.  Mark Cuban has already proven himself to be one of the better basketball minds in the NBA, so don't be surprised if his strategy works.

Team Previews - Minnesota Timberwolves

We get money longer than AK's arms...

There's been an overall dearth of albums and mixtapes that I've wanted to review...additionally, since I've been working, it's been difficult to allocate time properly to actually write.  Basically I'm lazy as fuck and I prefer to use my free time playing League of Legends, trolling on Twitter, and drinking beer.  I have been (very) gradually working on a couple of posts, but both of them will be long as fuck and I don't even know if I'll finish them before the year is over.  This 3 day weekend might help, as long as I don't get stuck watching LoL tournament games.

However, one thing that I've been interested in lately has been the offseason NBA moves.  A lot of teams have made A LOT of moves and I figure that I should do some posts about some of them.  Obviously the offeseason isn't over yet, AND there will be moves made up until the trade deadline (which is during the season) so some of the thoughts and such I express may well end up outdated.  Still, some of these teams have made transactions that I simply can't wait to talk about.

One of these teams is the Minnesota Timberwolves.  I've been a fan of the Timberwolves (not like...a fan fan, but I keep up with them) pretty much since they drafted Kevin Garnett.  Their jerseys are legit, and they've had some interesting and good players play for them (Garnett, Latrell Sprewell, Stephon Marbury, etc.).  They haven't had good luck in terms of playoff success, and since dealing away Garnett to the Celtics, they've pretty much languished near the bottom of the Western Conference.  Last year, behind the strong play of Kevin Love (really, he was putting up ridiculous numbers in January) and Ricky Rubio, the Wolves looked to be in contention for the final playoff spot in the West.  Then...Kobe's knee launched a tactical attack on Ricky Rubio's knee and the Wolves promptly fell out of control, ending the season losing 13 of their last 14 games.

Probably can't do this anymore....

Attempting to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2003-2004 season, the Timberwolves have made a number of maneuvers, the most interesting of which could be the acquisition of former Portland Trailblazer Brandon Roy.  In his best season, Roy tallied 22.6/4.7/5.1 on 48/38/82 splits, earning him an All-NBA Second team spot.  Of course, this was all before Roy made it known that his knees had no remaining cartilage, and subsequently retired.  If Roy can return from his retirement (and Kobe's knee procedure) and play at a level anywhere near that, then the 2 year/$10 million contract will be more than worth it, and we can look forward to an interesting season.  Roy is an elite talent, and we are all hopeful for his recovery and return to high-level play.

Fucking Awesome.

However, the Timberwolves didn't stop there.  They also picked up former Utah Jazz All-Star Andrei Kirilenko, who just helped lead Team Russia to a Bronze Medal in the 2012 London Olympics.  6'9" with a long wingspan, Kirilenko once led the league in blocks per game with 3.3, and at 31, still probably has another 3 years of good play left in him.  In a league filled with good offensive 3s (LeBron, Durant, Melo, Granger, Pierce, Deng, etc.), it is absolutely essential to get a versatile 3 with defensive qualities (hence the Nets signing Gerald Wallace, Denver springing to get Iguodala, and now Minnesota acquiring AK-47).  Presumably, AK would be a third option (behind Kevin Love and Brandon Roy), but it's also possible that Minnesota chooses not to overwork Roy, getting AK more touches.  His defensive ability would be more than welcome on a team that allowed over 100 points a game last year, and he really fills the stat sheet like few others.  I'm very excited to see how this move works for them.

The Timberwolves kept rookie Derrick Williams and picked up Alexey Shved, who was on the Russian Olympic team with AK-47. The acquisition of Chase Budinger gives them depth at the 2 and 3, and picking up Greg Stiemsma from the Celtics helps boost the frontline defense that they lacked.  Kevin Love didn't have his most efficient shooting season last year, but 26/13 is nothing to scoff at.  Nikola Pekovic showed much promise last year, and could be due for a breakout offensive season.

Now...when the rumors of Pau Gasol going to Minnesota to play with Rubio were floating around, I was VERY excited about the possibilities, even though defense would be pretty much nonexistent.  Rather than working that route, Kahn attempted to acquire Nicolas Batum, another versatile 3 (with pretty good shooting ability) and when that didn't work out, he made multiple good moves...not something that anyone really expected, to be honest.  While their success is probably still contingent on Rubio's return from the knee assault, I honestly think that Shved could help them in that capacity (instead of them having to rely on J.J. Barea, who I'm not sold on as even a backup 1).

Looking up and down the roster, there is a lot of talent, and if they can just get solid play from the point until Rubio comes back, this will be a playoff contender.  They will be very interesting to watch, especially since, despite his showing last year, one of Derrick Williams' best attributes was supposed to be his outside shooting.  If he can regain the shooting touch he showed at Arizona (he shot like 57% from 3 there), you're looking at a line up with multiple decent 3 point shooters (Love, Williams, Roy, Budinger, and even AK-47), and with versatility on offense.  I'm not sure if Love will have another 26/13 season, but even without that, the scoring that AK and B-Roy bring should be enough to make up for it.  Assuming that Love plays at a 20/10 level, the biggest keys for the Wolves in my opinion are health (they'll be relying on Brandon Roy and Ricky Rubio's knees), and Derrick Williams' development.  If both go smoothly, I wouldn't be surprised at the Timberwolves taking a middle seed in the competitive West.  If both go poorly, the Wolves, despite their talent, will miss the playoffs again.