THIS MY MEEK MILL REVIEW!!!!!!!!

What in the fuck...

Yo.  Readers of this blog know I fucks with Rick Ross and Wale...and French, and Meek.  I fuck with MMG.  I like a lot of what they're doing, even though I'm curious as to if they'll ever switch shit up.  Meek's project is the first debut of an MMG member while being signed to MMG.  Meek's dropped hits, bruh...whether it's "House Party," "I'm a Boss," "Work," or "Tupac Back," dude has put in serious work making hood hits.  I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Meek's album, but I guess I had a decent idea...Meek hasn't had too much variety in his material, but it's worked for him, so I was excited for this debut to drop.  After listening to Kendrick's arguable masterpiece, I figured I could listen to anything and still be in a decent mood...so I went ahead and copped that Meek.

This is actually kinda dope

1. Dreams and Nightmares - Man, this is dope.  I like the beat shift, I like the demeanor shift in Meek when the beat changes, I like that he jacked Lil Mouse's shit, I like damn near everything about this track.  Considering what I'm presuming the album is going to be about, even the subject matter is dope.  When people heard this from the listening session, I heard a lot of people saying great things about the intro, and I completely see why...this was a great way to start the album.  - 4.5/5


2. In God We Trust - Never heard of this Black Metaphor nigga before, but his drop was kinda dope.  The beat is typical MMG shit...sounds dark, has some bump, really sets the tone for what the album's gonna sound like...typical Ross/Meek shit.  The formula's worked, so I guess there's no complaint, but this one isn't as good as the intro.  Meek sounds a little tired, which is wild considering...yea.  Also, how many times is Meek gonna rap about field niggas vs. house niggas?  Anyway, this one is cool, but nothing special - 3/5


3.  Young And Gettin It (Ft. Kirko Bangz) - I've listened to the album like 10 times by now and I have yet to finish this track. - 1/5


4. Traumatized - Meek lowkey has nice introspective raps as well.  You don't hear them as often as the bangers, but he's got some sorta deep shit as well.  "You ripped my family apart, and made my momma cry...so when I see you nigga, it's gon' be a homicide"...it's not all "House Party" over here.  He speaks on part of the reasoning behind him getting into the drug lifestyle and such in the first place, and like most people, they aren't exactly bad reasons.  Still though, this sounds like the kind of track that Joe Budden would do better with.  - 3.5/5


5. Believe It (Ft. Rick Ross) - I GOT THAT JUSTIN BIEBER PLEASE BELIEVE IT!  It's always hilarious to hear the new white person that rappers are using to refer to cocaine.  There's no surprise on this track at all, really.  The beat is hard, the subject is drug shit...Meek and Ross are true professionals at making bangers like this though.  At this point, I kinda feel like Ross left some tracks on the table for Meek's debut rather than steal them for his album a la Jay-Z.  Ross really does a lot of shit the right way...this track is another example of that - 4/5


6. Maybach Curtains (Ft. Nas, Rick Ross, and John Legend) - Speaking of shit Ross does right...he really has Nas and John Legend on his payroll.  I feel like Ross just wakes up in the morning, decides he needs John Legend for a track, and John's there by the end of the day, no matter what he's doing.  The funny shit is that Ross has Omarion on the label, but he recognizes that John Legend is much better at what he needs for these tracks.  I don't think I've heard a bad track with Ross and Legend, and adding Nas makes it pretty much impossible to fuck up.  The beat is on some true "Maybach Music" shit, and the bars are typical bars from each of them really...again, nothing phenomenal from a rapping standpoint, but man, John Legend can belt out vocals. - 4.5/5


7. Amen (Ft. Drake and Jeremih) - Oh yea, Ross also has Jeremih on the payroll.  Man, MMG just makes good moves.  This is a dope single...caused some controversy, has one of the "hottest" artists in hip-hop featured, and it's catchy as hell.  Hilarious hearing Drake rap about buying drugs though...this nigga only has 2 settings, and he does both of them on this.  He's either rapping about being a soft Capt. Save-A-Ho or he's rapping about some drug/hood shit that he was never a part of in any type of way.  Somehow though, even Drake being Drake doesn't really fuck this track up.  I like it - 3.5/5


8. Young Kings - Doesn't this just sound like another "Maybach Music" knockoff?  Is that gonna be Meek's lane?  Basically a poor man's Rick Ross (with a little more street tales)?  Hahaha I'm not entirely mad at that direction, but man...that's kinda wack.  There's no real variety between Meek and Ross' beats at this point, but again, Ross has dope beats, so it's not really a huge problem.  Again, noting really special about this track, but it's not bad.  Feeling kinda redundant at this point, but that's probably MMG-fatigue more than anything with the album.  - 3.5/5


9. Lay Up (Ft. Wale, Rick Ross, Trey Songz) - So basically, this is Wale's lane now...I'm gonna do a write up on Wale pretty soon.  I was hoping to get to interview dude, but I've been really slacking on a lot of shit.  Maybe that'll still happen in the future.  Anyway, I knew from the song title that Wale was gonna be on this, which kinda irks me.  Anyway, I don't fuck with these types of tracks at all, even though I see why they're done. - 1/5


10. Tony Story Pt. 2 - And after one of the worst tracks on this album comes this.  Meek's really good at this street tale shit, huh?  The sequel to "Tony Story" from Dreamchasers, "Tony Story Pt. 2" continues the story after Paulie killed Tony...Tony's younger brother came for revenge, but Paulie ends up killing him too.  There's no hook on this, no frills, just some fine storytelling on a minimalist beat.  The windshield wipers going on make you feel like you're in a movie or something...pretty well done.  This might be the best track on the album, to be honest. - 5/5


11. Who You're Around (Ft. Mary J. Blige) - When did Mary get back in vogue?  Now I've heard she's on Kendrick's album, I know she was on Nas' album, and apparently she's on Meek's album?  I guess she's been winning ever since that chicken wraps debacle...the concept of this album is fine...it's a message we've heard more than once, friends turn to foes when you start making money.  Something about this track just feels wrong though.  I don't know if it's the Mary feature, or the beat, or what, but something just feels off.  It sounds a little inspirational or some shit, but this is Meek Mill we're talking about.  Maybe if this was John Legend on the hook, I'd feel a little hype.  Idk.  This isn't a bad track, but it's not something I'm going to go out of my way to listen to either.  It's not even like Mary sounds bad or anything like that, it's just something isn't working.  - 2.5/5


12. Polo and Shell Tops - The beat on this actually sounds similar to the previous track, which has worked for Ross projects before, but since the beat on the last track didn't really work, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this.  Surprisingly, the beat isn't really the problem with this.  I don't know who is on the hook...is that Meek?  So fucking weird, I hope he never does some shit like that again.  This is kinda the same shit he's been rapping the entire album, which makes sense, but it's also boring.  I don't really want to hear this track again either, but again, I know this isn't a bad track. - 2.5/5


13. Rich and Famous (Ft. Louie V) - This is just so fucking generic.  I know I shouldn't expect that much from Meek, and maybe I'm judging him harshly because of Kendrick's album, but christ, is this another track with autotune?  FOH.  When he's rapping, the shit's not bad, but the hook is TERRIBLE.  I'll pass on this as well. - 2/5


14. Real Niggas Come First - Again, nothing really special from this track, but at least it bangs and doesn't have a cringe-worthy hook.  Really generic shit, but again, I guess I shouldn't really have high expectations for a Meek track.  The beat is fucking great though, and honestly, the track's not terrible for ending the album.  I kinda feel like he should've had French on this though...every MMG release needs at least 2 French features, if only for him to talk shit and be all "HAAANH" on the hook.  Anyway, standard fair here, not bad, not great. - 3/5



Overall, I'm simultaneously content and disappointed.  Meek has some REALLY good tracks on here, but he's got some REALLY bad tracks on here...and a lot of mediocre shit as well.  The Kirko Bangz feature was a terrible look, but it was also the only bad track until "Lay Up."  He bounced back with "Tony Story Pt. 2," the best track on the album IMO, but followed that with a bunch of meh shit.  Disappointing.  Also, there isn't "House Party" or even a "Flexing," which disappointed the fuck out of me.  You make room for a Kirko Bangz feature, but not for a banger?  C'mon Meek, you gotta be better than that.  Anyway, it's looking like Meek is really going to be Ross-lite for MMG...like he said, Ross is the general and he's the lieutenant.  So this album is a lot of stuff you could hear Ross doing, but there were a couple of tracks that I feel Meek pulled off better than Ross could have.  Would have been nice to get "Burn" on the album rather than as a bonus track, but whatever.  The album started well, so I'm really disappointed to give it a 3/5, but it  ended so poorly that I couldn't give it anything higher.  Meek's got potential as one of those hood storytelling dudes...and he can make bangers.  He's gotta stick to his strengths on the next album.

NBA Eastern Conference Preview

Salutes my dude

Yo so the offseason is almost over...as with any Olympic year, the offseason was ridiculously short.  So over 2 months after LeBron went off and had a ridiculous year, winning MVP, Finals MVP, the NBA Championship, and an Olympic Gold Medal all in one year, we've got the NBA season starting again.  I had been doing team previews, but I started slacking off on those due to...well beer and football, but I figured I still have enough time to do these conference previews before the season officially starts.  There were A LOT of moves made during the offseason, but I'll try to keep my predictions and such as short as possible (as in not short at all)


Also, I'm not previewing any team that I feel has no shot at making the playoffs (sorry, Toronto Raptors fans)

This is dope

Miami Heat

The defending NBA champions made a pretty big acquisition, and in the doing so, continued to change the way the NBA thinks about basketball.  You could see that when the NBA decided to strike the Center position from the All-Star Game rosters and from the decision of many teams to either create effective small-ball lineups or get a big dominant enough to expose said small-ball lineups.  Adding Ray Allen was just a spectacular move for the Heat; remember all of those Battier misses before the NBA Finals?  Ray Allen won't be missing nearly as much.  Remember how James Jones never really seemed to work out for the Big 3 Heat?  Again, Ray Allen will be an integral part of the Miami Heat offense.  Could LeBron really end up averaging 27/10/10 this year?  It's a possibility.  If Wade's knees prove to be healthy and Allen's ankles hold up, Miami is pretty much set, barring catastrophic injuries to LeBron, Bosh, etc.  Watching LeBron work in the post and kick out passes to Ray Allen resulting in the most open looks he's gotten in his career...is going to be terrible for the rest of the NBA.  (And god forbid that Rashard Lewis actually plays at 75-80% of the level he did at the end of his Seattle/beginning of Orlando tenures...)

Projection (barring injuries): 62-20, 1st in EC

Playoffs: 2012-2013 NBA Champions

Well then.

Boston Celtics

When you think about it, the 2011-2012 Boston Celtics overachieved.  A LOT.  Pushing the eventual NBA champions to 7 games, despite missing Avery Bradley and Jeff Green, despite Pierce and Allen being injured, and despite Miami being healthy except for Chris Bosh, was truly remarkable.  The fact that they took a 3-2 series lead home AND required LeBron to go Super Saiya-jin for Miami to win speaks volumes to the team that Doc has molded.  Boston made some GREAT pick ups...Jason Terry fits everything that they wanted from Ray Allen this year, AND he's OK coming off the bench, no matter who it's for.  Courtney Lee is a young underrated shooter with NBA Finals experience, and gives them depth at both the 1 and the 2.  Jeff Green has returned and by all appearances is as good as he's ever been; getting him to guard LeBron, Melo, and other 3s playing the 4 will be a key to Boston's lineups against small-ball teams, and will free up Pierce to use his energy on the offensive end.  They still have the most enigmatic point guard in the game in Rajon Rondo, someone whose name sparks debate no matter where you rank him among NBA point guards.  Managing to convince Kevin Garnett to sign a 3 year deal was another great move by Danny Ainge.  If the 2012 Playoffs were any indication, Garnett still has a couple of quality years in the tank, and drafting Sullinger and Fab Melo will help them monitor Garnett's minutes, keeping him fresh for the important playoff run.  As I look at Boston's roster, they really might be the deepest team in the Eastern Conference.  A lot of high-quality players...a lot of people with injury history as well.  If you've been watching the NBA since 2008, then you know that you can never really count Boston out, so don't be surprised if you see another Miami/Boston ECF...and if it goes 7 again.

Prediction: 58-24, 2nd in EC

Playoffs: Lose to Miami in ECF in 6

It's Hovi baby!

Brooklyn Nets

Man, I was so hyped for Dwight Howard joining the Nets...even though the Nets were gonna trade 3 dudes and 3 picks for it, a lineup that included Deron and Dwight was just too fucking good to pass up on...unless you were Orlando and you weren't interested in keeping Dwight in this conference (...or wanted to give the Lakers what they wanted...or wanted to give Dwight what he ultimately wanted...well played, Dwight, well played).  They ended up not getting Dwight, but they did manage to convince Deron to stay through the signing of...Joe Johnson.  I'm not entirely mad at that trade, but I AM mad that Joe Johnson hasn't been arrested for robbery at this point.  That being said, a Deron/JJ backcourt is nothing to sneeze at, and who wouldn't be happy for the Nets to do well this year?  I'm hyped...they had the Jay-Z concerts (that I couldn't get to), the new gear, the new stadium, the energy is crazy.  Brooklyn is the birthplace of so many legends, man...you can only cheer for Brooklyn.  I'm also partial to Brooklyn because they took up the cause of #3 of the Wizards Redemption Trio, Andray Blatche...he of the misspelled jersey, among other things.  I like Blatche.  I feel like he needed to go somewhere else to really thrive, and hopefully he'll have that chance in Brooklyn.  He's a quality big and he's still quite young.  Moving on from Blatche, the Nets really have some good players...in addition to Lopez/Humphries/Wallace/JJ/Deron, they've got Blatche/Brooks/Watson, giving them a pretty decent rotation.  The Nets won't win the chip, and it's likely that they won't get to the ECF, but they will be pretty exciting to watch this year, IMO.  

Prediction: 53-29, 4th in EC

Playoffs: Lose in 2nd round to Miami Heat in 5

And this is whom you choose to place your faith?

Indiana Pacers

Indiana really got lucky last year...yes, they were (and still are) a good team.  However, you'd be a liar to say that they were the third best team in the EC last year (if all teams were healthy, etc.).  That being said, part of doing well is staying healthy, and the Pacers did that pretty well.  It's not their fault that Rose or Dwight or Shumpert or Amar'e or Lin or Allen or Bradley or Bosh got injured...they just took advantage of most of those injuries and powered through to a second round exit (thanks to some truly inspirational play from Dwyane Wade).  The Pacers largely stayed put, trading away Darren Collison but getting back Ian Manahwlkwefljw, signing George Hill to a substantial deal, and scooping up high-flyer Gerald Green.  They matched Portland's offer to Roy Hibbert, so needless to say, Pacers fans should really be expecting something out of Hibbert.  I got in a debate on Twitter about what exactly Hibbert needs to do to justify his contract, but really...dude needs to step it the fuck up next year.  I don't mean All-Star appearances due to injuries to better-suited players...I don't mean 13/9/2 in like 33min a game.  I mean actual great center numbers...like 20 and 10 to go along with those 2 blocks.  Dude is 7'2", man...I understand that he performs in the context of the team, and that they spread the wealth regarding scoring and such but...fuck that.  Do work, dude.  If Hibbert doesn't step it up (or Granger) then the Pacers won't get any further than they did last year.  

Prediction: 52-30, 3rd in EC

Playoffs: Lose to Boston in 2nd round in 6

Well at least Joe's gone...

Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta was mired in that whole "make the playoffs but never be a threat to do shit" for quite a bit...dropping the $120 million man, Joe Johnson, was the first move they made to get themselves out of that position, and while they'll still end up a middle seed and still end up out in the 2nd round at the latest, it's clear that they were fed up with the direction they had been going in.  Josh Smith is still a top 20 player in the NBA, and having Horford for an entire season can only help.  It's difficult to see how Jeff Teague, Anthony Morrow, Lou Williams, and Devin Harris will work together on the team, but that's a fairly talented group of guards (on paper).  Frontcourt depth is a problem, but the addition of multiple shooters (including one Kyle Korver) was definitely a good look.  I won't be worried about Atlanta until I hear that they picked up Dwight (which was a rumor earlier this offseason) or LeBron, but I think they at least treaded water here.  I'm actually pretty hype to see a team with Morrow, Lou Will, and Kyle Korver...if they stay healthy, prepare for some exciting basketball.

Prediction: 50-32, 5th in EC

Playoffs: Lose in 1st round to BK in 6

These pictures KILLED me

Chicago Bulls

Yup, despite missing Derrick Rose for the beginning of this season, I still have Chicago reaching the playoffs as the 6th seed.  The defense is still top tier, as is the coaching, and picking up Hinrich was a great move, even if it cost them Korver.  Belinelli is a pretty good 3 point shooter (although not at Korver's level), and really, as long as the defense is still stout (which, even with Asik leaving, they kept most of the reasons why the defense was so great), the Bulls will still win games that most of us expect them to lose.  Obviously, relying on Boozer and Rip Hamilton to shoulder a significant amount of the scoring burden is dangerous, but again, I watched almost this same team get 50 wins in a 66 game season, despite missing Rose for what, 20+ games?  When Rose comes back (I have to think this happens...remember this face?), this suddenly becomes a dangerous team again.  You're no longer relying on Belinelli and Hamilton to give you 25+ppg, you're no longer asking Luol Deng to give you very good offensive production in addition to his defensive skills, and you're not relying on Carlos Boozer to not be...Carlos Boozer.  My dude James basically noted that last year, the Bulls were in full "let's hold down the fort until our fearless leader returns" mode, and that there's a chance that that doesn't happen this year.  I agree to an extent; the Bulls were clearly hoping for Rose to return and lead them to the ECF again (...where they would have lost to Miami anyway) and they played some truly inspired basketball.  I feel like people forget that it took Rose getting injured in Game 1, and Joakim Noah getting injured in Game 3, and THEN CJ Watson passing to freaking Omer Asik at the end of Game 6, PLUS a flagrant foul not being called, PLUS Andre Iguodala (of 61.7 FT% fame) hitting 2 free throws for the 76ers to win in 6.  A LOT OF RANDOM SHIT had to go down for the 76ers to win that series, and if Watson isn't an idiot, I have to take Chicago in Game 7 at home, even without Noah.  The Bulls were still a solid team without Rose.  This year, they won't take teams by surprise with their intensity and effort...and Gibson will have to show that that 44% shooting from 10-15ft last year wasn't a fluke, and that he can effectively fill the scoring void that Boozer leaves when he hits the bench.  I'm still kinda talking myself into this, but I think the Bulls will get the 6th seed in the EC.  They aren't as bad as people are making them out to be.


Prediction: 48-34, 6th in EC
Playoffs: Lose to Indiana in 1st round in 6

I love this dude nh

Philadelphia 76ers

I know a lot of people are excited about the 76ers.  I know that some people have them grabbing the 3rd seed or something because Boston is so dependent on Pierce and Garnett.  I know more people still have them at either the 4 or 5 spot because they have no faith in Atlanta or Chicago.  Luckily, I'm cool bucking against the trends.  I was one of the most excited people for Philadelphia after the Andrew Bynum deal...it was clear that Bynum WANTS to be a #1 guy somewhere, and it was equally clear that despite Buss deciding against trading him for years, he wasn't going to be the #1 guy until Kobe retired.  You've seen the video of Bynum laughing after Kobe missed a potential game-winner...you've seen him laughing when Pau got murdered by Blake Griffin...you've seen him benched after shooting a freaking 3-pointer.  Dude is a very...interesting individual.  By most accounts, he's well-read and pretty smart, but he's weird as hell.  The premature graying of his hair conjures images of Rasheed Wallace, and I really think he's just as odd as Rasheed.  Outside of Bynum, they acquired Dorell Wright and Jason Richardson both passable-to-good 3pt shooters.   In addition to that, they took up the cause of #2 of the Wizards Redemption Trio, Nick Young.  Nick Young is a better 3pt shooter than Lou Will, but for the most part, they're a wash.  I'm interested in how Young performs...will he continue to be a reckless, streaky gunner, or will he take smarter shots this year?  If Nick can be an effective scorer this year, it'll take some of the pressure off Bynum.  Losing Iguodala is a huge loss, IMO, but it forces Evan Turner to develop further in what should be a pivotal 3rd year for the #2 pick of the 2010 Draft.  I think the 76ers have talent, and Doug Collins is a proven coach...but so much of the team's success revolves around Andrew Bynum.  On one hand, I honestly believe we'll see a different Bynum in terms of his focus, but on the other hand, all the focus in the world can't save those knees.  He recently had another procedure performed on them, and suffered a bone bruise this offseason.  He did make it through a rough, lockout-shortened season last year, so he's got that going for him, but chronic knee issues don't generally bode well for big men.  I WANT Bynum to do well...he's a very captivating individual.  With those knees though...you never know.

Prediction: 47-35, 7th in EC

Playoffs: Lose in 1st round to Boston in 5

They really stacked oldheads though...

New York Knicks

If we were to go by talent, I would place the Knicks higher than this...they have a LOT of talent on their squad.  Despite starting the year completely out of shape, Carmelo Anthony still ended up with a PER of 21.1...which is right around his career average.  He had a horrid shooting year (43/34/80 is bad for him), but I have to think that this year he'll at least show up in shape.  He's still almost impossible to defend, and he's still a top 5 offensive talent in the NBA.  That being said, the Knicks are a mess.  Stoudemire is injured...again, and they have yet to figure out how to make the Stoudemire/Carmelo duo work together on the court.  Stoudemire was on a TEAR in December 2010, averaging 29.8ppg and 9.7rpg on 54/50/81 splits.  He cooled down after that, but after the arrival of Melo, his numbers dropped to 23.5/7.3, and the combination of less touches and fatigue caused by D'Antoni riding him so hard in the beginning has led him to not be the same player.  Constant injuries, stupid conditioning mistakes, and poor judgment (HE PUNCHED A FUCKING FIRE EXTINGUISHER CASE) led to Amare simply not being an effective player for his contract last year.  This year, the cries for Amare to be a bench player have gotten louder.  It makes sense; similar to LeBron, Carmelo can exploit a number of mismatches at the 4, and they have the personnel to play small ball.  Amare at the 5 also makes mismatches, and having him do so with the bench unit is a smarter move than moving reigning DPOY Tyson Chandler to the bench.  In addition to the Melo/Stat issues, they've now signed 5 players older than 35 (Prigioni, RASHEED, Jason Kidd, Kurt Thomas, and Marcus Camby), one of whom was freaking retired.  The Knicks are always enjoyable to watch, and if Iman Shumpert comes back and can improve from a fairly impressive rookie season, the Knicks will only be even more exciting.  As always, their dysfunctional players and coaching combine to create a team less than the sum of its parts.  I can't imagine the Knicks not being motivated by the Nets to at least get to the playoffs, but I also can't see the Knicks doing a lot of damage this year.  Lots of miles on their tires, lots of injured/injury-prone players, and they'll be dependent on Carmelo basically being an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PLAYER than he has been for his career.  Maybe the Olympic experience and seeing LeBron have a spectacular 2011-2012 season will inspire some change on Melo's part, but for now, count me among the skeptics.

Prediction: 45-37, 8th in EC

Playoffs: Lose to Miami in 1st round in 5

All in all, I believe the conference is Miami's to lose.  The biggest question marks are the health of Wade and Allen, but they help each other by existing and limiting each other's minutes.  I'm confident in the Celtics and Nets, but I'm not sure how Indiana or Atlanta will turn out.  I do believe that Milwaukee and Washington have a chance to get to the 8th spot, but I can't count out Chicago and put Milwaukee in the top 8 when I still don't know what they're gonna do with the Ellis/Jennings backcourt.  I can't put Washington there because of Nene's health, even though I REALLY REALLY WANT THEM TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS, if only so people can get off John Wall's back.  Barring some great play from Ilyasova/Jennings/Ellis or the Wizards not being the Wizards, some combination of the 8 teams that I named earlier are making it to the playoffs.  There IS the possibility that the Knicks fuck up and end up outside of the 8, or that Chicago can't muster the energy from last year to power through their offensive ineptitude, or Bynum could have a season-ending knee injury that derails the 76ers...but I'm willing to bet that those 8 teams will make it to the playoffs.  Other than Boston, I'm not seeing any of the Eastern Conference being more than a speed bump on Miami's road to a repeat.  They can only really hope that someone on Miami's team gets injured and it DOESN'T result in LeBron elevating his game.

Hip-Hop's Savior

I actually think Gaga is a dope person, for the record.

I always have some random story to get into before I jump into the contents of my blog post, smh...

Anyway, so back in 2006, Game was hitting the charts with "One Blood" (and numerous remixes with every fucking rapper ever).  He also dropped a favorite mixtape of mine, The Black Wall Street Journal Vol 1, complete with a number of features from a number of West Coast rappers.  The West Coast rap scene (from an East Coast perspective) was pretty different from today's vibrant one. Tyler, the Creator was only 15, Dom Kennedy was in school, and the old standard-bearers, Snoop, Dre, Too $hort, etc., were already what, 15+ years in?  Game really was the only West Coast rapper getting real mainstream shine, and even Game had first linked up with 50 Cent and the G-Unit juggernaut.  After Game's bipolar nature helped lead to his departure from G-Unit, he started pushing a number of West Coast artists, including Jay Rock and one K Dot.  When people started talking about a Kendrick Lamar, I was wondering who he was, then I realized that I actually HAD heard dude before.  On "The Cypha," you can hear K Dot and Jay Rock, among others, delivering thug raps and shit.  A COMPLETELY different image than what I was led to believe when I started listening to dude last year.

I've always been a guy who goes against the grain, so the more Kendrick got hyped, the more I pushed against listening to his work.  I finally broke down when the homie Big GhostFase named Section .80 as one of the best albums of 2011.  I have to say...I was very pleasantly surprised.  It wasn't perfect, but I'll be damned if there weren't some great moments (my favorites were "Ronald Reagan Era," "Rigamortus," and "Hiiipower"). When word of his linking up with Dr. Dre hit the blogosphere, heads almost spontaneously combusted...could we really get dope albums from G.O.O.D. Music, Kendrick, Jay Electronica, Nas, Killer Mike, etc. etc. etc. all in one year?  GREAT.  So after being disappointed by some of the above artists and being fulfilled by some of the above artists' works, I was pretty hyped to get into a highly anticipated debut.

This is dope. Reminds me of an Ivan Rott cover

I figured I'd try something a little different with this album...if you listen to the entire album, you can tell it's a "concept album"...the entire album revolves around an incident involving Kendrick as a teen.  If you remember when Jay-Z dropped American Gangster, you might remember that he didn't allow iTunes to sell it track-by-track.  His reasoning was that the album was a complete work, and that buying tracks individually would take away from the album's value and overall theme.  Personally, after listening to the album, I kinda felt like that was bullshit, but the album was very dope.  Top 5 Jay-Z album, IMO, but not really a "concept album" per se.

If Kendrick decided to go the same path with this album, I would WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE.  Unlike Jay's album, which I felt had stand-alone tracks that didn't require the album's context to be understood or appreciated, Kendrick really made an entire album in which damn near every track is related.  If I was to listen to the album and break it down track-by-track, it wouldn't really be fair to the album, and indeed when I first listened to the album while at work, I wasn't really blown away by much on it.  Having some time alone to listen to it without doing anything else though...this is dope.  Like...as bloggers and hip-hop heads, I feel like we really appreciate focused works...it's why Rick Ross grew so quickly, it's a reason why Reasonable Doubt and Illmatic are considered classics, and it's why we're so frustrated with the current state of mainstream rap, where you have some singles that aren't related to the theme of the album at all (if we're even lucky enough to have an album with a theme) and there's no cohesion.

Similar to certain movies, (Goodfellas comes to mind), good kid m.A.A.d. city doesn't always flow in a chronological order...you have to listen to the substance of the tracks to realize what happened first and what happened last.  The album starts with a prayer, with a group of Black men praying, seemingly dedicating their lives to Christ...it ends with Kendrick "asking" his mom to let him borrow the van.  The actual intro track depicts Kendrick meeting "Sherane," a VERY important character of the story this album depicts.  On his way to meet up with her again, he encounters a couple of thug brothers...he was set up.  The track ends with his mother leaving him a message, specifically warning him about fucking with Sherane.  This encounter with the two brothers is basically the root of the entire album; Kendrick gets jumped, ends up riding out with his crew for revenge, and his friend's brother is shot.  They comment on being tired of the bullshit in the hood, and Kendrick eventually escapes...he's told to make a difference now that he's going to be successful, and the last track on the album is basically celebrating his successful exit from Compton's hood, yet is also a shout out to the city that raised him.

As a complete picture, Kendrick's album accurately reflects how shit just happens in the hood...you can go from riding around with your friends, doing drugs and scheming on fucking some chick...to running into the wrong group of dudes and getting your ass kicked...to attempting retaliation and getting shot at yourself.  Once you get into the cycle, it can feel like something you can't exit; Kendrick wasn't even an actual gang member (if his rhymes can be believed) yet because he rolled with gang members he was always ending up in fucked up situations.

As an album, it's pretty dope.  There are some "why?" moments on here for me (I don't like "Poetic Justice" in terms of the story of the album, but it's not a bad track), but overall, it's great.  I always like when albums trend toward cutting out the extra shit, and at 12 tracks, this is a pretty concise work.  You'll be hard-pressed to find a track released in 2012 that is better than "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst" and "good kid" reminds me of the Roy Ayers sample used in Yasiin's "Brooklyn" (which is a great track by one of my favorite rappers of all time).  The fact that the worst song on here to me is "Real" speaks volumes, really...because it's not a bad song.  I almost feel like I'm nitpicking even typing that I didn't like it.  I haven't checked the production credits, but I really wouldn't be surprised if, being someone who fucks with Drake, Kendrick had 40 work on most of the tracks...one of Drake's strengths is having a cohesive sound, and for the most part, Kendrick has followed that formula.  The tracks that don't follow the sound either have reasons (like "Backseat Freestyle" or "Compton"), or aren't really expected to (like "m.A.A.d. city").  Lyrically, Kendrick consistently laces his tracks with excellent wordplay...while I think he's only really got 2 flows, he does use them well, and he's REALLY good at making sure his production fits.  There's no blatant radio grab (unless you want to count "Poetic Justice," but that's...), no nonsensical features, and not even a "posse" cut including the rest of Black Hippy.  An overall lack of miscues.

I'm not going to go to the extremes that some of his fans have and proclaim him as the "savior" of hip-hop...there are plenty of good "new" artists out and there is a lot of music that I'm looking forward to in the immediate future (I've actually got to work on this Numbers review...).  That being said, I'm glad to say that I was completely and utterly wrong about Kendrick's debut.  After hearing "Swimming Pools," learning that Lady Gaga was going to be on the album, and finding the "Backseat Freestyle" track, I felt it would be convoluted and "extra." I still feel like I like Section .80 more as a musical work; I'm not sure anything on his debut is fucking with "Rigamortus" or "Ronald Reagan Era" (although there is nothing as bad as "No Make-Up" on this...)  Despite that, good kid, m.A.A.d. city is what we've been looking for from a number of artists...focused, concise, dope lyrics, good production, with a nice balance between commercial and underground sounds.  He's set a bar here that could be hard for him to top with his next release, but it's ALWAYS good to have an artist start off really ambitious and just work from there.  Nas may have never topped Illmatic, but it's not like he doesn't have other GREAT works.  I am hesitant to throw the "classic" tab on albums these days, but man...every time I listen to this album, I like it more.  Every time I listen to this album, I hear something else.  Every time I listen to this album, I get excited about his next release.  Shit is ridiculous.  Fuck it, I'll call this a classic debut.

One of the morals of the story here, btw...when you tell YOUR story...and you tell it in an effective, interesting way, it's gonna be timeless.  It's so hard for albums released these days to be "classics" because they're filled with dated references and punchlines that are there just to be there.  In my opinion, classic albums are classics BECAUSE they are timeless.  When I listen to Reasonable Doubt, the lessons and regrets from that lifestyle are still relevant to today.  Black on Both Sides still tells stories of the hood and being Black in America.  When you hear God Forgives, I Don't, for example (and I like Ross), you don't hear timeless shit.  Fifteen years from now, are we gonna still be bumping "911"?  A lot of new (and even some established) rappers could learn a lot from Kendrick Lamar about how to craft an exceptional work.


Rating: 4.5/5 - "Swimming Pools" makes a lot more sense now, but I still don't really like it.  "Real" is another misstep to me, even though again, in terms of the album, it makes sense.  Neither of the tracks are bad enough to make me dock the album more than half a point though.

Standout tracks: "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst," "The Art of Peer Pressure," "Compton"

Team Previews - The Fucking Lakers

Yep, foul on Bibby

A bit of history here.  I'm was born in Washington, DC, so I grew up a Washington Bullets fan.  The first year that I got to see my Bullets make the playoffs (the 1996-1997 season) they were swept unceremoniously by the defending champion Chicago Bulls, sparking my hatred of Michael Jordan.  That year, the Bullets' best player, Chris Webber, averaged 20.1ppg, 10.3rpg, 4.6apg, 1.7spg, and 1.9bpg.  An all-around great year for a power forward; seasons like this solidified Webber as one of the premier 4s in the league.  When the Bullets traded Webber before the 98-99 season, I followed him to Sacramento (in a fan capacity...I'm not a creeper, bro).  While I still rooted for my (now not playoff-contending) Wizards (yea, they changed that too), I was primarily a Sacramento Kings fan, since they had my favorite player.  In the beginning, the team didn't do much (remember that the Western Conference has been strong for as long as I've been watching basketball), but by 2002, they had a championship-caliber team.  I watched with glee as Mike Bibby replaced Jason Williams and Chris Webber played like a perennial All-Star.  I loved watching Peja unload 3s.  I loved seeing Divac perform his obvious flops.  I loved watching Arco Arena on TV with their cowbells and the commentators bringing equipment to measure the decibels in the arena.  Most of all, I loved watching the Kings play the most exciting style of basketball in the league, averaging over 104 points per game in the 2001-2002 season.



The 2002 playoff season was supposed to be the Kings' time.  They had gotten all of their pieces in working order, no one major was injured (for long), the offense was working seamlessly, and they had all the confidence in the world.  When they got to the Western Conference Finals to face the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, there was palpable fear at the time on the part of Lakers fans that they might not finish the 3rd three-peat for Phil Jackson, and for good reason.  The Lakers ended up taking a 2-3 series deficit back home in an elimination Game 6.

I won't go into the details of the game, but numerous observers have noted the dubious nature of many of the fouls, and the fact that the Lakers shot more free throws in the 4th quarter of that game than they had averaged in entire games throughout the series.  Somehow all of the Kings' big men fouled out, yet Shaq was in the game.  Somehow Bibby got called for a foul after being elbowed in the nose.  Whatever.  I'm not over it, but I won't go into detail here.  So basically, since Game 4 in that series (when a halftime "buzzer-beater" 3 was allowed even though it was clearly late) I've hated the Lakers.  I hate everything about them.  I hate that they're routinely gifted top bigs.  I hate that the refs cheat for them.  I hate that their fans think they're legitimate fans of a team when half of them only started rooting for them when they started winning chips again.  I hate that they win chips.  I hate that they have probably the most selfish star of all time in Kobe Bryant (this summer, Kobe said that even if they had beaten the Pistons, they couldn't have kept the team together due to what HE wanted to do with HIS career.  Really?).  I hate that the critique of Kobe ends with "well he won 5 rings, so fuck you."  I hate that Orlando in 2009 basically rolled over and gave them the series.  I hate that they got THE WHITE HOWARD for nothing more than getting rid of a guy they screwed over multiple times anyway.  I hate that players who have valid reasons to hate them just end up playing with them (I'm looking at you, Ron-Ron).  I hate that even Steve Nash, who battled them for years, was sucked into playing for them.  FUCK THE LAKERS.  Forever.  There's literally no way I'll ever root for the Lakers.

That being said, you'd be hard-pressed to find a team with a more interesting offseason than the Lakers.  They attained the best center in the league.  They also got a Hall of Fame point guard in Steve Nash.  They picked up former Wizard and career 19.5/7.9 guy Antawn Jamison.  When you look at their starting line-up, every one of those players has at least 1 All-Star game.  Two have won MVPs.  Two have won DPOYs.  All while keeping the majority of their pieces AND scooping up half of the 2005 Wizards' coaching staff to incorporate the Princeton offense.  A lot of teams have made moves, but the Lakers have arguably made the best moves.  Steve Nash definitely has at least 1 more good year in him, as does Antawn Jamison.  As much as it annoys me to say it, the Lakers definitely put themselves in the championship conversation with these moves...

I had heard that the Artest Formerly Known as Ron stated that the goal for the Lakers this year was 73-9 (that is, one more win than the 95-96 Chicago Bulls team that set the record for most wins in the regular season).  Without a doubt, that would be a great feather to put in Kobe Bryant's cap when comparing him to Michael Jordan (again, let me reiterate that even if they did go 73-9 or 75-7...Michael Jordan is better than Kobe Bryant), but I was obviously skeptical that that could even happen.  I asked around on Twitter about what teams had even won 65 games recently, and friend of the blog Quentin Haynes laid out the ones who had done so:

The 2006-2007 Dallas Mavericks won 67
The 2007-2008 Boston Celtics won 66
The 2008-2009 Cleveland Cavaliers won 66
The 2008-2009 Los Angeles Lakers won 65


Some of these teams were exceptionally built; the 07-08 Boston Celtics in particular seemed unbelievably good right out of the gate, and indeed, they ended up winning the championship.  However, thinking about those teams, the 08-09 Cavs/Lakers each played in shitty divisions, so they benefited from playing 16 games against teams nowhere near their level; the Celtics also played in a division with teams that were no match for them.  The Mavericks at least were in a tough division (3 teams won at least 50 games) AND they started the year 0-4 (making that even more impressive to me), but they ended up losing to the Warriors in the playoffs anyway.  Out of the four teams, two actually did win the title, but two lost fairly embarrassingly.

Moving to the Lakers, before considering Dwight Howard possibly missing the beginning of the season, Quentin stated that he felt the Lakers would win 68 games (IIRC, I could be wrong, but it was somewhere around there).  I felt like that was nonsense, so I looked at the Lakers' schedule and...

Let us consider how NBA scheduling is done.  A team plays the other four teams in their division 4 times a year (16).  They 4 games against 6 other non-division conference teams (24), 3 games against the remaining 4 conference teams (12), and 2 games against each team in the opposing conference.  Off top, you can see that playing in a weak conference or weak division is very beneficial to a team, and helps explain how 3 of the 4 teams I named achieved such great records.  Additionally though, if you are just a better team, you are going to probably win those games against the teams outside of your conference, etc.  So...I looked at the Lakers schedule to give a rough estimate...

Lakers' Schedule


Good fucking grief.  Their schedule is easy as fuck.  Honestly, running through it, I estimate them winning 69 games, even with Howard's questionable status.  69 fucking games, and that was with giving them losses in some situations that they could pull out wins.  They really could start the season 19-0 and end the season with 20 straight wins.  Could they also lose to the Clippers, Spurs, Nets, or Nuggets in those first 19 games?  Yes.  Do they have a rough stretch where they play BK, Boston, Miami, the Clippers, and Boston again in a 7 game span?  Yes.  Do I still think they win 65 games?  Yes.  They really have the talent to do so, and I honestly think that without Dwight, their offense will look ridiculously good.  They have shooters now (including Nash, possibly the best shooter of the last 10 years), Gasol has always been an exceptional offensive big, and we know that one of the things Jamison does well is score.  The bench will be pretty bad with Howard out (I have to think Jamison starts at the 4 during that stretch), but when he comes back, having Jamison, Meeks, and Jordan Hill is good.  It's not a spectacular bench, but everyone can't be Denver and have 2 starting line-ups.  Of course, this is all barring injury to any major component.  If they lose Nash...or Howard...or Kobe, this team will turn to non-championship material pretty quickly.  If they stay healthy though, they'll be in a solid position to do better than they did last year.


HOWEVER.  I think that they still didn't address two of the main reasons they weren't able to get past the Thunder in the playoffs last year; Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.  Looking into the numbers of the Thunder/Lakers series last year, it's easy to see who was beating them:

Durant's numbers against the Lakers

Westbrook's numbers against the Lakers

Honestly, as good as Steve Nash is, defense has never been his forte...his career defensive rating (estimated points allowed per 100 possessions) is 110...putting that into perspective, someone like Rondo who's considered a good defensive point guard has a rating of 101; Chris Paul has one of 104.  It's a pretty sizable difference, and you can only imagine that it will get worse as he gets even older.  Stopping Westbrook with Nash is...probably not going to happen.  Even worse, Dwight Howard is fairly foul-prone, averaging 3.2 a game in his career.  In the playoffs, where manipulating foul counts and taking effective shots is even more important, I can easily see multiple situations where Dwight isn't a factor at the end of games.  On one hand, he will definitely be in foul trouble.  Considering that the Lakers' other main players (Nash, Kobe, Jamison, hell, even Gasol) aren't known as exceptional defenders in 2012, it would be even more imperative to remove a 3-time DPOY from the court with haste.  On the offensive side of the court, Dwight is a terrible free throw shooter (career FT% of 58.8%...Shaq's was 58.2%; the Thunder are an exceptional free throw shooting team at 80.6%) and having him on the floor at the end of games gives the Thunder the opportunity to use the "hack-a-Shaq" strategy on Dwight.  We saw them utilize that on the Spurs' Tiago Splitter last year, so Scott Brooks clearly isn't opposed to doing it, and Dwight is a worse FT shooter than him.  Considering how the Lakers' offense will probably flow by that point of the season, doing whatever you can to disrupt that tempo would be imperative, even to a team with athletically gifted defenders like Oklahoma City.


While the series between OKC and LA was closer than the 4-1 margin suggests (Games 2-4 were decided by a combined 8 points; the Lakers were -2 in those 3 games), it was pretty obvious that the refs gave the Lakers Game 3 and that the Thunder were the better team, period.  Removing Bynum for Howard isn't as close to a wash as some people have suggested, but really, Howard is one of the few centers (or people playing center) that Perkins still matches up well against, so the difference offensively won't be that different in my opinion.  Defensively, the difference will be massive, especially if Howard really did fake that injury last year and is healthy.  In terms of effort, rotations, athleticism, and even just defensive IQ, Howard is leagues ahead of Bynum, and it will be noticed, even against a great offensive team like OKC.  I don't even have to get into how much better Steve Nash is than Ramon Sessions, but in terms of stopping Russell Westbrook, they might as well be the same player.  All-in-all, the Lakers may win 2 games due to getting homecourt against the Thunder, but if they make it to face the Thunder in the WCF, they will lose in 6.


A lot of people have been focusing on the Lakers/Thunder matchup (myself included), but after taking more looks at the rest of the conference, I feel that the Lakers could easily be unlucky and get Denver in the second round.  Last postseason, the Lakers and Denver slugged each other in a 7 game series, with Kobe Bryant going 7 for 16 for 17 points in the final game.  Luckily, Gallinari never discovered his shooting touch (he ended up shooting 36.2% in the series) and he combined with JaVale McGee and Andre Miller to go 3 for 26 in the deciding Game 7.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Miller (a career 46% shooter) won't shoot 1 for 10 that often, and I honestly believe McGee will have a better season this year than last year, having had some time to get acclimated to the team and Coach Karl.  Gallinari was injured for a lot of last year, and wasn't the same when he returned in March (from March to the end of the season, he averaged 11.2ppg on 36/35/83 splits; from December to February he averaged 17.0ppg on 45/31/89 splits).  I think having an entire offseason to recover will do wonders for him, and offensively, he's probably their best weapon.  The addition of Andre Iguodala gives them another playmaker with EXCEPTIONAL defense; if Kobe thought that playing against Afflalo was a pain in the ass last year, he'll be begging for those days back if they meet Denver in the playoffs this season.  Denver is also one of the few teams with bodies to throw at the Lakers bigs; in addition to Mozgov and McGee, they have Kosta Koufos, giving them three 7 foot players.  I believe the Lakers will continue to have problems with speedy point guards, and Lawson gave them fits last year, scoring at least 24 points in 4 of the 7 games in their series.  Lawson is young, talented, and growing into the starting role on the team, and having Iguodala there will prove a great help in my opinion.  Like last year, I think they just match up well with the Lakers.  Don't be surprised if a postseason meeting between the two teams goes to 7 again.


Overall, the Lakers made a lot of moves that caused a splash in the league.  However, they didn't really address the defense deficiencies they have at the 1 and 3 spots, and whether it is Denver wreaking havoc with Lawson, OKC slicing their defense with Durant and Westbrook, or Miami exposing weaknesses with LeBron, Wade, and Allen, I don't see the Lakers winning the championship.  I think they will lead the league in wins during the regular season (I don't trust Wade's knee, and I think Spoelstra will play with lineups throughout the year.  Doc has shown that he doesn't care too much about getting the 1 seed, so I think that despite Boston making good moves this offseason, there's a chance he errs on the side of caution and focuses on keeping his team healthy rather than pushing them harder.) but I can pretty much guarantee that unless some ridiculous injury (like Lebron blowing his knee out) occurs, it will be another Miami vs. OKC finals, which really...is great for the NBA.  Two teams with nice-sized championship windows, different playing styles, polarizing players, great superstars, and young coaches.  MUCH BETTER THAN KOBE HAVING A CHANCE AT EQUALING MJ'S 6 RINGS (OR *SHUDDERS* SURPASSING HIS 6 RINGS).  FUCK KOBE, FUCK THE LAKERS.