“She Got It” [Snippet]
“She Got It” [Snippet]
“Just A Game (Remix)”
“Jamaican Sh*t”
“Throwaway Cash”
“Get It On”
“Q and A”
On Saturday night, in Austin, TX, Kanye West electrified The Levi’s/FADER Fort at the annual SXSW Music Festival. The FADER hosted this extravagant party/concert to showcase established and emerging acts, within and outside of G.O.O.D. Music.
Interestingly enough, Rick “Bawse” Ross was scheduled to perform early in the evening, but canceled. The disappointment was short-lived when the celebrated Bun B of UGK came out to tear the roof off the venue. The Port Arthur, TX native ran through many of UGK’s hits, quickly raising the temperature in the crowded room.
As Bun finished his set, the newest addition to Roc-A-Fella Records took the party to Yonkers, New York. Jadakiss stampeded through a string of hits by The Lox. About three songs into his set, he brought out a special guest. His Lox brethren Styles P aka “the Ghost” blessed the crowd and shared the stage. The pair went back and forth with chemistry a scientist couldn’t concoct.
Just as the crowd couldn’t envision a more frenetic scene, the “Evil Genius” Green Lantern took over the wheels of steel to keep the crowd energy level high. The New York-based DJ ran through classic songs by Nas, Jay-Z, the Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang and more. Suddenly, Green Lantern said, “We have a special announced performance.” But, it wasn’t Kanye West yet. Militancy personified, dead prez came out and performed a brief three-song set, as the stage crew continued getting the stage set for the closing act.
The lights went dark, and suddenly, the Kanye took over the stage, and ascended the fans to a higher place. After a couple of solo joints, then he brought out Consequence, a veteran artist signed to G.O.O.D. Music. They shared the stage until Kanye coolly walked off stage to allow ‘Quence rap solo. Shortly, Kanye returned to perform “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” with Consequence.
G.O.O.D. Music upstart GLC graced the stage for a brief outing. After GLC, Kanye introduces the crowd to Big Sean, another G.O.O.D. Music artist from Detroit that is extremely talented with the wordplay. Then, Malik Yusef takes his turn to rock the crowd with Kanye. After Big Sean and Yusef, out bounds the newest member of the G.O.O.D. Music Family, UK artist Mr. Hudson and Tony Williams, the singer who sang on Jay-Z’s “History” record. The G.O.O.D.ies just kept coming out with 88 Keys and Mr. Fonzworth Bentley both delivering notable performances.
Kid Cudi, who recently retired and un-retired, captivated the crowd with a five-song outing that included a remix to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Buggin Out” featuring Consequence. And when the audience was experiencing sensory overload, the atmosphere exploded when Common and Erykah Badu blessed the venue with their artistic presence. Common, Erykah Badu, and Kanye ciphered through one sick freestyle session that was met with a rousing applause.
If Hip-Hop is dying, somebody forgot to give the memo to Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music Family.
Below are several video clips from Kanye West and the G.O.O.D. Music Showcase at the SXSW 2009 Levi’s/FADER Fort.
Kanye West and Kid Cudi – “Welcome To Heartbreak” (2009 SXSW Levi’s/FADER Fort)
Kanye West f. GLC – “Drive Slow” (2009 SXSW Levi’s/FADER Fort)
Erykah Badu Goes Freestyle (2009 SXSW Levi’s/FADER Fort)
Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Consequence “Buggin Out” (2009 SXSW Levi’s/FADER Fort)
Kid Cudi – “Day N Nite” (2009 SXSW Levi’s/FADER Fort)
Hip-Hop group N.E.R.D. canceled shows this weekend in Indonesia, after members were detained in Malaysia.
According to reports, N.E.R.D. had just finished a performance at the Sunburst KL International festival in Jakarta, when they attempted to head to neighboring Indonesia, to play another date.
Shortly after the show, the group was held by police for failing to get a permit from the government of the world’s most populated Muslim country, which has strict guidelines for performing.
“Following investigations, we found that the group did not receive permission from the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry to perform at the concert,” Immigration Director-General Datuk Mahmood Adam told local media. “After their statements were recorded, they were released with assurance from the concert organizer.”
The Associated Press reports that the promoter of the show failed to obtain the proper credentials from the Arts, Culture and Heritage Ministry, resulting in the group’s detention.
A host of local acts performed during the 12-hour concert, which featured a number of local acts, along side internationally known group like N.E.R.D., They Will Kill Us All, Korn and others.
The views expressed in this column are not the views shared by AllHipHop.com.She walked on stage in black leather knee boots with four
inch heels – without them, she was about 5’3, I’ll bet, maybe less. Her hair was also black – it was
straight and shiny; it looked healthy like her. She
had a young pretty face coated, like the rest of her
self, with Hershey chocolate skin. Her b###### were perky and her
coochie, pierced.
She had a dirty rag in her hand and used it to wipe down the
pole several times. My loud ass
friend said, “Is there coochie juice on the pole or something, does the
b**ch
have OCD?”
BAM! We looked up and there the “b**ch” was, hanging upside
down on the pole, then on the ceiling. Then,
she just showed out for like fifteen minutes. It
was awesome. It was art. It was Cirque de Soleil. It was
gymnastics, it was ballet, it was grimy, it was sexy and seedy.
Now on her knees bent over, she did this dance that made
her booty go up and down and side to side at the same time, like a wave in a storm. I had never
seen anybody do that before. My loud ass friend
said, “I wanna learn
how to do that!” She said, “Maybe that’s why I can’t keep a man, I
can’t do all
them damn tricks!!”
I wondered to myself, is that where the word “trick,” comes
from? Is a trick a girl that does
tricks? Would all the dudes in here, call her a trick? Cuz my loud ass
friend
was just calling her b**ch. And if learn how to do some tricks, will I
then be
considered a trick by every man that I show my tricks to? And what if you are the best “trick?”
Are you still a trick?
This girl was the best I had ever seen. She had mastered her
craft. She was determined and
precise and confident. She stood out like me. She had a strut like
Naomi
Campbell. She looked happy like Stevie Wonder, and like Obama, all eyes
were on
her. She was the greatest like
Muhammed Ali – the greatest I had ever seen.
She came to our table a little bit later and we asked her to
teach us that booty dance. She tried and we tried, but we were
hopeless. She finally
gave up and said, “I can’t teach you, but it’s all in the ankles.” Now that she had taught me something, I
wondered about her name. I knew it wasn’t b#### or trick. My loud
friend said, “What’s
your name?” She said, “My name is King.”
The sparkle in
her eye lingered after she took our money and walked away. We had called her all kinds of names,
but her name was King.**To get the latest AllHipHop Alternatives Features, follow us on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/AHHalternatives**
“We got a whole song in auto-tune, but it’s a like Kweli and Hi-Tek kind of auto-tune
song,” says Talib Kweli,
one half of the musical duo known as Reflection Eternal. As this statement was muttered from the
lips of an MC who has contributed to underground Hip-Hop’s rebirth in the late
90’s, one could only think, “Has it really come down to this?”
But before a follow up question seeking clarification could
be asked, Reflection Eternal’s leading mouth piece burst into laughter, and
remarked, “Nah I’m just f**king with you.” The warm feeling of relief that shot
up my spine was almost as satisfying as when Fiddy
(Curly) greeted Tia at JFK airport.
“There ain’t nothing wrong with
auto-tune just like there’s nothing wrong with gangsta
rap, underground rap, etc. But anything that is
overdone becomes corny and everybody is doing it. All these underground Hip-Hop
fans getting mad at auto-tune, stop it’s not auto-tune’s fault! I’m a fan of
T-Pain’s music, and I think he gives a great lesson with what he did with his
career. But if you ask me if auto-tune is played out?
At this point, yes!,” says Kweli
as he tries to explain and reiterate his previous comical statement.
Refection Eternal fans need not worry though, after keeping
the masses waiting for nearly a decade, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek are on deck to
release their sophomore LP and put some fun and true lyricism back in the
scandal ridden and WWF-esque game known as Hip-Hop.
“I don’t believe I’m the best rapper alive but I think I might out work and
have more ambition than a lot of the dudes who came out with me,” talks Kweli from the Warner Music building. Fresh off the
international “Rock The Bells” tour and after rocking two consecutive nights at
NYC’s legendary Jazz club the Blue Note, Reflection Eternal took some time to
give AllHipHop some insight on their new train of thought.
AllHipHop.com:
It’s been nine years since the last Reflection Eternal album, what’s different
about your mentalities now opposed to when y’all recorded the first album?
Hi-Tek: Musically and business wise I’ve grown a lot, but
when it comes to actually going back in the studio with Kweli,
it just feels like going back to right where we left off. I realized our sound
is one of [the] voids in Hip-Hop right now, and the game needs Reflection
Eternal.
Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek “The Blast”
Video
AllHipHop.com: Some
fans have the perception that you guys haven’t been working together…
Hi-Tek: It’s a difference between “kicking it” with each
and actually being in the studio together versus me just sending Kweli beats through email. It’s just not the same thing.
Talib Kweli: I agree,
the process is totally different with the Reflection projects, and it’s going
to reflect in the sound. I’ve done plenty of records with Hi-Tek from “Back Up Off Me,” “Work it Out,”
and he did the title track on Beautiful
Struggle. And I heard people saying that Beautiful Struggle was a departure from my original sound, but every
one doesn’t [know] Hi-Tek did the title track to the
album. But really this new album is about us as Reflection Eternal.
Allhiphop: With Hip-Hop in the state that it’s
in right now, what’s the agenda you guys have with this album?
Talib Kweli: My
agenda for the first Reflection Eternal album was to prove that I was worthy
for the position I have. We were like underground Hip-Hop royalty at the time
from Rawkus and Black Star. People just acknowledged
us in a certain way because of our association with Mos
Def and Rawkus as a powerhouse and not because of our
talent. And I think we set out to prove that we had the talent with the first
album.
But things are just different now, T.I. and Lil Wayne are at
the top of the game, and that’s not to disrespect them. I’m just saying the
game is changed a great deal since we came out with the Black Star album. Now I‘m only interested in making timeless music.
I didn’t want that early in my career, I just wanted to make you think I was
the best MC.
AllHipHop.com: I
heard the album is going to be self titled, why did y’all chose to do that for
your 2nd album?
Talib Kweli:
Actually, I don’t know about that but it might be a good idea because actually the
correct name of our group on paper is Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek like on iTunes
or in stores. But our fans know Reflection Eternal as what we call ourselves as
a group. So that might be a great idea to do actually…
Hi-Tek: I always felt like that’s something you do for
your first album.
Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek “Move
Something” Video
AllHipHop.com: Is
there a particular underlying theme or concept you stuck to?
Talib Kweli: I
think there’s a theme in the music and sound but there isn’t one concept that
we stuck with.
Hi-Tek: To be completely honest, we just letting the music
create itself, and I think that our chemistry makes everything just come out so
naturally between us. Even with the first album I never thought that any of
those songs would have the effect on people that they did. I mean, I always put
everything I got into the records, but I always second guess myself because I’m
a perfectionist.
AllHipHop.com: The
first song released from the album is the Bootsy Colins assisted track “Internet Connection”, and honestly
the sound kind of confused a lot of fans, how’d did that record happen?
Hi-Tek: Bootsy is from my
hometown of Cincinnati, and every once in a while we’ll kick it in the studio,
so we have a relationship. And I always just loved that sample, shout out to my
man Dave who came up with the concept, but we just wanted to show people how to
have fun again on records. “Internet Connection” shows our personalities.
Talib Kweli: The
sound of that record is exactly what Hi-Tek said it
was, it’s not, “Oh we going to go in and make our first single,” but it was
just us having fun. And I enjoy the fact that some
fans were thrown off by the record because there’s a lot of pressure of having
to come up with an album as great as Train
of Thought. For me I just wanted to alleviate some of that pressure
(laughs). I just read a 50 comment argument online about the record, so I’m
happy with the response it’s receiving. It creates a discourse, and wait until
you hear the next record. Then you’ll really have something to say.
AllHipHop.com: Did
you guys work with Mos Def at all? Any chance we’ll
ever get another Black Star album?
Talib Kweli: I would like to work with Mos on the album, but we haven’t yet…the songs decide
themselves, which artists should be on them. But we don’t have a Mos Def record yet on the album, but he would be a welcome
addition, and there isn’t going to be a lot of guest features.
Hi-Tek: “Yo Mos,
what’s up man?” It’s your boy Hi-Tek, let’s do this
man!
Talib Kweli: How about
that joint he just played for us last night; Mos Def,
Just Blaze, Jay Electronica, T.I., and Jay-Z on a
track together. Mos got some crazy joints about to
come out man, I promise you.
Jonell f/ Method Man “Round and
Round” Video (p###. by Hi-Tek)
AllHipHop.com: How
do you guys feel about the climate of the game right now, is there room for Souljah Boy and
Reflection Eternal on the same 106 & Park countdown?
Hi-Tek: Well, our music is going to speak for itself, the marketing just has to be right. First and
foremost, we on a major label now. Like with the last album Rawkus
had major label budgets, but they still were considered an independent label
and presented themselves that way.
Talib Kweli: We
just need the balance with artists out now like Maino
and T.I., they at the top of their game. They both have huge records with
T-Pain and Rihanna, and really those records are pop
records with somebody rapping on them. And more power to them, not to say I
wouldn’t do it either, but I just can’t with the Reflection Eternal album
because we are creating a particular sound that makes us who we are. If we are
thinking like, “In order for us to compete with Souljah
Boy, we got to make a record with a dance to go with it…” If we did that, that
means we lost our cause and integrity as artists.
AllHipHop.com: Is
Mr. Chapelle making any appearances this time around?
Talib Kweli: Dave’s going to be on the album definitely. And the reason
why he was all over the first Reflection album was because Dave was in the
studio sessions with us every single day. He was living in New York at the
time, doing little comedy clubs in the village, and before he would go do his
sets, he’d come to Electric Lady [Studios] and just sit in all our sessions.
Dave is a part of that album, for real.
I remember I met Dave through this girl that I was going out
with and she had just broken up with him. He used to come over to the house
every once in a while, and they used to get into arguments, so I used to not
like him. And then one day she left me and got back with him, then I really
didn’t like this muthaf**ka! (laughs)
AllHipHop.com: What
year was this?
Talib Kweli: Right
after like Nutty Professor came out [1996]. But after all that I went to a De
La Soul Concert in Ohio in the same town that Dave lives in. And he’s a huge De
La fan and, we run into each other at the show, so we start chopping it up, and
I’m like, “Me and you have history.” He didn’t even know what I meant, it
ending up being a conversation like, “Oh you know her too? How?” (laughs) That goes back to making the first album, two years
after meeting in Ohio, I see Dave again walking down the street in New York. I
just told him to come and kick it with us, and Dave loved it he said he always
wanted to see how an album was made. He ended up coming every day after that,
so when you hear Nelson Mandela, Rick James; that’s Dave Chapelle.
Hi-Tek: I remember that, he was half baking us too! (laughs)
AllHipHop.com: After
traveling the world, and working with an array of different artists, Kweli you’ve worked with artists who are so different than
you like Fabolous and Justin Timberlake. Hi-Tek, you produced joints for Estelle, and remixed artists
like Gym Class Heroes. Do you still feel the urge to half to satisfy the
backpackers and your core fan base?
Hi-Tek: That’s what this album is about, in my opinion. We
also want to teach through our music too though. I always been a hater of the
word “backpacker” because you got people who think they are so called Hip-Hop
purists that try to teach you what they think a record should sound like. With
this album we are just giving you Hi-Tek and Kweli, and nothing else.
DISCLAIMER:
All
content within this section is pure rumor and generally have no factual
info outside of what the streets have whispered in our ear. Read on.THE DAILY TWO SENSE
The weekend is over and I am back. I didn’t get to do what I wanted to do, which was get back to people regarding illseed.com. LOL! I know y’all been waiting a couple months or something. I am slowly getting through and have been talking to a couple people about working with me. I hope you all had a great weekend and an even better week.
The rumors are a bit scant today, as is the case every Monday, but I’ll be adding stuff as I plow through the day. THANKS!
SXSW RUMORS
Nothing crazy has come out of SXSW as far as I have heard. I have heard a lot of good stuff regarding performances and whatever. I heard Kanye West and G.O.O.D. Music had a nice show, but there was a shocker. All of his artists were there and some that weren’t his artists. Erykah Badu got on stage with Common and Kanye and she killed a freestyle. If you have that on video, let me know, because I am interested! I heard Kanye forgot his lyrics to “Good Life,” but he just laughed it off. It was humorous.
I heard there was a show with the dude B.O.B., Mickey Factz and a number of others popped up. But what happened was B.O.B was there with a band. Well his drummer was rocking hard as hell…so hard his drum sticks kept breaking. The flimsy rumor is one of the drumsticks flew up and busted some girl in the crowd. I know that’s not much of a rumor, but its the best sxsw I can muster.
The cops have been rumored to be messing with U God in a negative way. Is there a positive way for the cops to mess with a person?
LUPE FIASCO RUMORS
This is what I like about Lupe Fiasco. He goes away. You get a chance to miss him as an artist and then he comes back out. Now, his fans are ready and Lupe is working, I heard that Lupe Fiasco has completely cancelled lupEND and that his next album is called We Are Lasers. There is supposedly some live DVD that is on deck, but I am not too sure about that. I’m gathering that there are about six songs finished and he’s doing some of the production work. On the low, I heard that lupEND is still going to come out at some point…nobody knows when. Nobody, but Lupe.
Oh yea…he still hasn’t cut his hair.
I’m starting to this Lupe might be the future of Hip-Hop – AGAIN. Hahahahaha – go Lupe, get busy!
TUPAC’S ONE NATION CD A FAKE?
There have been many reports on this Tupac Shakur/Duck Down One Nation album and it might all be fake! Arrrrrgh! We’ve all wanted this thing come out so that Pac’s real vision could come true. But, we saw on AllHipHop News that these guys might be trying to pull a fast one. These people apparently are the new owners of Death Row or something, but Duck Down is reportedly going to block any attempts to release this album by A.E.G. A.E.G. ia a nickname for Affiliated Entertainment Group. This label is also reportedly working on a new Tupac CD and want to do some “fun remixing” of the legend. I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about this.
WHY IS TUPAC AT A LIL WAYNE SHOW?
A better question is why is dude dressed like Pac at a Lil Wayne show?
GUNPLAY (RICK ROSS’ HOMEY) RESPONDS TO 50 CENT
This guy named Gunplay is a pretty scary character! Whew! Just take a look at this video he had for 50 Cent!
Here is the raw footage of 50 Cent when he got his chain snatched. 50 jumped right in the crowd and mixed it up. You gotta give him his propers for that!
This is the original video that got Gunplay mad.
LIL SCRAPPY IS OUTTA THERE!
Here is a rumor that makes very good sense. I am hearing that Lil Scrappy has left Warner Brothers and inked a label deal for his Gz Up imprint through a label based in Atlanta. I don’t know the name of the local label, but I know that Lil Scrappy has had it pretty rough! Dude was signed to Lil Jon and G-Unit, right? When things don’t go wrong with that muscle behind you (pause!), you know its a tragedy.
MORE HEART BREAK!
Shout out to DJ Santo Valentino. Check out this hourlong mix of 90’s music, R&B and Hip-Hop. He calls this “206 & Heartbreak.”
CHARLIE MURPHY INTERVIEWS LIL WAYNE
LIL ZANE’S COMEBACK!
I’m always happy to help a brother out. Lil Zane has been the topic of discussion for a couple of days. Here is his latest song. Looks like he changed the style up a bit.
RICK ROSS COMES CLEAN
TAKE US TO FLIGHT SCHOOL, YE AND GLC!
BIGGIE’S LAST PARTY!
This is a sad scene.
That was no rumor.
PEACE!
Email me at allhiphoprumors@gmail.com …tips, information and other stupid stuff.
For more, go to illseed.com. Or just follow me at http://twitter.com/illseed
DILLA, WE LOVE YOU!!!
They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry!
-illseed
WHAT: Rumors
WHERE: AllHipHop.com, MySpace.com/TheIllseed
HOW: Send your rumors and ill pics to illseed at allhiphoprumors@gmail.com.
Welcome to Tale of the Tape, the one column you know that will give you the raw grease, hate it or love it. We’ve been moving through the trenches for 6 months. In that time period, I kept it honorable with over 100 mixtape reviews. Who else keeps it that funky?
We keep the show moving with some new cats, some veterans, and a mixtape that defies normal Hip-Hop convention. Tiron wants us to Ketchup to his catalogue. Kayo & John Mayer deliver The Kayo Mayer Experience. Mike Posner And the Brain Trust tell us it’s A Matter of Time. Newcomer cARTer tries to get his place with some heavyweights with The Carter Family Reunion. Hip-Hops CNN, or Capone N Noreaga to you ham-and-eggers come through with their prequel, The CNN Channel 10 Mixtape. You can’t stop us now.
Tiron
Ketchup
Heavy Rotation
The internet has allowed people the chance to showcase their talents in a more open arena. Even so, with the influx of so much material, it is still a tough job for someone with no support to get anyone to lend an ear. Can’t blame the people who need to hear things, we get an influx of bad music every day. Tiron is the reason why it is still worth giving people a chance. Ketchup works as a great primer to the music that makes fans out of your standard Hip-Hop head. With nods from the likes of Blu (“All the Kings”) and Pac D## (“Paper”), as well as holding it down himself (“The High”), this is pretty honorable, so catch up.
Kayo & John Mayer
The Kayo Mayer Experience
Peep It
For a bonafied rocker, John Mayer seems to be in tune with Hip-Hop. From his appearance on the Chappelle show, to the “Waiting For the World to Change” remix that featured some seriously lyrically inclined rappers, he has shown love. Rapper Kayo felt that way, and teamed up with John Mayer to deliver The Kayo Mayer Experience. There are some pretty good mashes here (“Gone Gone Gone”), but John Mayer pretty much steals the show with his songs. This could have used a stronger performance from Kayo (“Waiting”), but he is serviceable, holding this back from the Heavy Rotation crown.
Mike Posner And The Brain Trust
A Matter of Time
Peep It
It’s somewhat funny. When the introduction (“Tick”) comes on for A Matter of Time, DJ Don Cannon comes on and the full out expectation Is a Hip-Hop mixtape. What the tape ends up being is more of a hodgepodge of singing and rapping, reminiscent of Colin Monroe’s Unsung Hero. Instead of the likes of Wale and Drake, G.O.O.D Music artist Big Sean (“Smoke & Drive” & “Cooler Than Me”) is the captain of the rap segments here. While it isn’t as full as Unsung Hero, A Matter of Time does satisfy. Worth a look.
cARTer
The Carter Family Reunion
One & Done
When you’re a new artist trying to get in the game, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. When you have the same last name as some of the games heavy hitters, it is a decent concept on paper to try to match them up. cARTer has tried that, and while it sounds good on paper, when it seems slapped together, it has the tendency to backfire. It isn’t that cARTer (“$1000 Fit”) is a bad rapper, it’s just that the way the tracks are positioned, you are waiting to hear another Jay-Z track(“My President is Black”) or Lil Wayne track(“Every Girl”). You have to be selfish to stand out and it seemed like he was just happy to be around them, even if it was just music he wasn’t affiliated with.
Capone N Noreaga
The CNN Channel 10 Mixtape
Peep It
It really is tough to keep your relevancy. Unlike other genres, Hip-Hop is youth driven. When you reach a certain amount of time in the game, it becomes harder to reach out to new fans. The latest from Hip-Hop’s CNN, The Channel 10 Mixtape is a mix of both old (“Shine”) and new (“Rotate”). It also has some of their album cuts from Channel 10, which may catch the ear of the public with some of its tracks (“Grand Royal”). They don’t deviate from their roots, and seem to have kept an ear to the streets, something both fans old and new can appreciate.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
Tale of the (Mix)Tape w.3 03.09
Considering the turmoil that has befallen the Infamous camp, for Havoc to drop an album seems right. His main homey Prodigy has been sent upstate for a short bid. Havoc already has the experience to drop a solo attempt, as witnessed by his “debut” The Kush. His latest, Hidden Files, should be enough to tide over people who wanted a signet of the Mobb, but not much else.
Perhaps rightly so, one of the best offerings of the disc happens to be with his longtime partner, Prodigy. “On A Mission”, is a sordid affair filled with the G s*** fans would like. Prodigy goes in, and Havoc supports him well, enough so to remind anyone who has felt they have fallen off as a duo to back up and reconsider.
Another offering that captures the spirit of the disc is “You Treated Me….” Havoc seems to take a backseat as Cassidy makes the most of the beat. The Philly rhyme slayer rips the beat as best he can. “This Is Where It’s at” is in the same vein, this time with Infamous squad member Big Noyd doing his damage to the track.
Havoc’s production is still noteworthy when he’s on point. He has the credit for the entire album, and takes the chance to show his range. With tracks like “That’s My Word” and “Walk Wit Me” he really gets busy with him MPC. Even so, tracks such as “The Millennium” come lame, as the production feels basic at best.
Many of the titles that feature Havoc on the solo tip feel forgettable. “Can’t Get Touched” doesn’t the open the album with a bang. “Heart Of The Grind” is the same in kind, as it doesn’t feel more than filler to round out an album.
Both songs that feature an R&B singer seem out of place as well. The first, “Watch Me” doesn’t feel much more than a track that tries to cash in on the auto-tune craze. The supposed crooner on the track, Ricky Blaze, misses the fact that although the auto tune fixes the voice problems you may face, it doesn’t make up for a weak hook. “Tell Me More” feels just out of place. Instead of closing the album it leaves the listener in a weird place, wondering where the next track is.
Hidden Files isn’t a bad album by any means. Fans of The Kush will find enjoyment with it, but, those who were expecting a tour de force of emotion that explains the current situation of Mobb Deep, prepare to be disappointed. This album ends up just as forgetful as his last offering, and once another Mobb album appears, we won’t remember it.
Havoc Featuring Cassidy
“You Treated Me”
On April 4, superstar Eminem will induct Hip-Hop icons Run-DMC into Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Eminem’s participation was announced via a press release from the ceremony’s organizers.
Although recognized as one of the biggest acts in Hip-Hop history, Run-DMC has also been acclaimed for fusing the culture with rock music.
Their 1985 album Kings of Rock earned them that unofficial moniker courtesy of the seminal title track, and “Can You Rock It Like This.”
The former earned the group regular video rotation on the then Hip-Hop reluctant MTV.
The clip showcased the rebellious trio wrecking a mock representation of a Rock and Roll museum, which visually emphasized their desire to destroy the genre barriers in popular music.
The following year, Run-DMC would further cement their music legacy courtesy of their classic collaboration with Aerosmith, “Walk This Way.”
The remake of Aerosmith’s 1975 original became Hip-Hop’s first Top 5 single, and laid the blueprint for future rock-rap hybrid acts in Faith No More, Korn, and Limp Bizkit.
Joining Eminem as presenters will be Jimmy Page, Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, and soul legend Smokey Robinson.
The Detroit emcee is tentatively set to release his long-awaited sixth album, Relapse, on May 19.
“Watch How You Talk”
“I Run (Remix)”
“Chillin”
“You Make Me Say”
“Secret Lover”
“Flight School”