MAY's "FINAL SHEMP" MIX-TAPE # 0

 Ok my loyal hiphop heads,its the end of the month again and with the recession still lingering in the air all I can do is give you a song.Well a bunch of them.Every end of the month y'all would be entitled to a mix tape series called "FINAL SHEMP".It's a compilation of the best of the underground,mainstream,maybe hard to find singles from both known and obscure MCs.So without further ado lets get right to the 1st installment.

                                             MIXTAPE RADIO PRESENTS

MAY's "FINAL SHEMP" MIX-TAPE # 0

1   - Ali Vegas - That's Where I'm From (feat. Beezo)

   Queens representative Ali V takes you deep into the gritty streets of NY on this one,one of the best descriptive lyricist thus far and the hook is catchy too.

2  Raekwon the chef- Want in (freestyle)

    Lex diamonds shows you how the pros do with a banging beat from the Alchemist

3 Camp lo- on smash feat styles p and pete-rock

   The Luchini boys are back with bangers,never thought they could connect with Styles and Pete rock,"sound system booming watts!!"

4 Skyzoo- Hold Tight

     Newcomer S.K rips this hard banger courtesy of Black Milk.Y'all better hold tight

5   Freespeech and ro blvd- Come And Go  

     these dudes are sick with it,I should upload the whole album for yall man.

6  Freespeech and ro blvd- Lovin' Cali

   

7  Consequence-Disperse (Feat. Gangsta L Crisis and Really doe)

     If you aint feeling this..please disperse,please disperse...

8  Mad skillz- T.D.N-

       Taken from the design of a decade mixtape,Skillz emulates the legendary REDMAN on "tonights da night"

9   Royce 5'9- royal flush freestyle f canibus and elzhi

     'Bis,Elzhi and Royce=Way above Super lyrical content

10 Camron- my job (produced_by_skitzo)

    Cam'ron has found a knack of being silly and relevant simultaneously,how is that possible I don't know

11  Big Pooh - Radio

       Big pooh going for dolo

 

12  Crooked-I- I'm Still A MC(Prod by Komplex)

      Str8 ripping to shreds

13 J-hood- letter to the lox

        Ex d-block member pens a letter

14 Joell ortiz - covering the classics 

    Met this guy once,very down to earth dude but very sharp and witty on the M.I.C. He spits fresh writtens on classic beats from sugar hill gang to rakim to chubb rock.

15  La the darkman  willie the kid-world is filled 

         La keeps it gutter shaolin style over Biggie smalls "world is filled"

16 Mos def-Ms. Fat Booty (Story To Tell Rmx) 

    Just had to bring this back.This buckwild beat is sorta like a classic man!!!

17 Nas-If I Ruled the World(Smirnoff_Signature_Mix)(Feat Marsha

       Mr jones going through the cycle to give us a new HIM.Tight

18 Reks - dear winter

      Newcomer Reks is back on his B.I with this conceptual joint

19 '09 Slaughterhouse-fight_club_final

       Royce,Joell ortis,Crooked I and Joe budden-4 sick dudes over a dope beat=fight club

20 Styles P - Kick in the door _Prod. by Cookin Soul

   2009 rendition of kick in the door.Styles P in the building!!!

  

   I hope yall enjoy this selection.Always tune in because I got mad joints  to share with y'all.Till next month.Stay sharp!!

   DOWNLOAD IT HERE NOW

mix-tape-radio-reviews #2

Artist- RHYMEFEST

 Title- MAN IN THE MIRROR_(presented by mark ronson)

Featuring- Micheal Jackson,Jackson 5,Talib kweli ,Wale,Camp lo and Jungle brown

 

         What does Micheal Jackson and hiphop have in common? Yes quote me-they are both “off the wall”. MJ shattered the MTV for whites only barrier with thriller and hiphop followed suit. Ask any rapper who isn’t influenced by MJ and if he/she says no is str8 up fuhgazzy. From quoting him in songs to sampling his music,hiphop has always adored and respected MJ. This album doesn’t fall short of the aforementioned venerations,in fact Rhymefest takes it a step further and gives it a comedic feel.The skits are so well placed,it’s like Rhymefest sat down with MJ to record this album(I really hope MJ hears this,for real).

   The intro starts off with Micheal beat boxing and Rhymefest kicks a verse-easily this could come off  redundant but ‘Fest pulls this off and to add icing to the cake,Micheal finishes with a verse from “who is it?”-a worthy listen I must say.

  The 2^nd cut-“CANT MAKE IT”  is a str8 up banger,produced by the “best kept secret”.This is really a sick beat and ‘Fest spits jewels all over it and makes this track diamond studded!! “Get up” is another banger and features WALE!!! Together  with ‘Fest they flip the cut like flapjacks, going back and forth like manic sine waves.just peep this

“Covert,am bruce lee with no shirt

The ol bastard with no dirt

I play god,it aint hard,bitch I make soul work

You are like a gang banger with no turf”

    Simply put,Wale and ‘Fest both flow perfectly,without distracting the listener from each other .Fest comes in with his baritone vocals and Wale takes it down with his fast smooth cadence.

  Dancin’ machine is just what it is,if yall can remember the Jackson 5 tune-then 'Nuff said. Quite short  and like what GZA said “half short-twice strong”-don’t skip this

 Am not even gonna comment on the skits because I would love y’all to listen to them yourselves-that’s the key to the album, besides linking all the joints together-just listen and you would fully understand me.

  Never can say goodbye should sound familiar to all Jackson 5 fans. And this version doesn’t disappoint much-beatwise it’s lovable but I’d preferred young Micheal singing the hook than some random chick.Also Talib kweli  comes through with his usual rhyme twisting and  it works well.

 Mike the mentor starts with a long MJ interview ending with a back and forth verse by Fest and MJ..yes MJ’s voice was spliced to finish Rhymefest’s rhymes-you gotta listen to this

 "No sunshine"-nice joint,very familiar-fests comes through and drop tales of woes. Am not really a fan of this song-No thanks to DMX."Foolin around" serves the obvious purpose-dealing with relationships.

  "Set the mood" is just Micheal singing and sets the stage for the next cut “Breakadawn”,a very unique transition I must add. Ok I lied but I have to say one thing about the skit that comes after breakadawn- Micheal FARTS on this one...LOL

 "Higher" samples a J5 song which I can’t seem to find but it has this wierd like live drums playing in it and as usual fest drops jewels all over it. “All that I’ve got is you” is GFK rapping (the same song from his classic IRONMAN album),this is followed by the original J5 song “maybe tomorrow”.makes it a bit nostalgic, especially for me(sob, sob..)

 The next cut “Coolie High remix” happens to be my favourite because it has CAMP LO on it!!Yipeee!! The sample here is infectious-utilizes a smooth boom bap over MJ’s dreamy vocals. Uncanningly the original “Coolie high” samples Janet Jackson. Do you see the trend-No Jackson family, no Coolie high, lol. I highly recommend this cut for everyone.

 The following cut “family reunion” has fest singing with the entire Jackson 5 members, this is str8 up funny.

 The last cut is the title track and it fits the bill. Rhymefest and Micheal go back and forth with the verses and this is a hit.

  Overall this is very innovative, lyrically deep, thought provoking and funny all at once. Rhymefest always comes through with profound and meaningful lyrics and the whole effort doesn’t come out forced or tired.

 In conclusion I highly recommend this for MJ fans, Rhymefest does the beats justice and y’all won’t feel cheated a bit.

 Recommended listen-can’t make it, Get up,Never can say goodbye, Coolie high and man in the mirror 

 

  LYRICS=4/5

 BEATS=5/5

 LONGEVITY=4.4/5

 FINAL JUDGMENT= Highly Recommended

 DOWNLOAD IT HERE

Jump Off Poetry #1

In The Air Tonight

Love in the air tonight

so I called my pearl

and asked...

if she was in the right frame of mind

Tenderness...

engulfed in passion

and when she walked forth

it was beauty in fly fashion

Her hair smelled like jasmine

Lips felt like aspirin

We lust within

embodied in sin

beneath the pale moon

and we're gone too soon

Love in the air tonight

when I said to her...

"You put me in the right frame of mind"

     written by Deck the Nexus

MIX-TAPE-RADIO REVIEWS #1

Artist-Termanology

Title-   If heaven was a mile away

 producer/s- J-Dilla

Am not really a fan of tribute albums made by rappers. Why you may ask. Well taking a cue from history, most tribute albums always come out as half assed attempts to cash in on the post-humous talents of the “insert the name your favourite dead rapper here”. Examples?? Biggie duets!! We all know Diddy needed that paper FAST, I mean gulf streams don’t come cheap nowadays. Next-2Pac, ok lets save that for another review.

   When I first saw this-“yes, it’s a free download so yes-I DOWNLOAD MORE THAN I BUY CDS NOWADAYS-sue me”-I was already beaming from ear to ear-terminology on dilla beats-I mean what could go wrong here. Nothing I guess, well to be honest I really liked the beats here, the beats used on this mix-tape are familiar and tight, so I can’t take away points for that. Now let’s talk about the songs themselves.      

    Starting with OHH, this is really clever-bouncy beat with danzini screaming OHH every bar(a la blackrob’s WOAH). Term took advantage of this and it comes out very very nice-just play this in your jeeps and you would understand what I mean. Next is CIRCULATE. To me this is the best song on the entire mix-tape, the beat can’t be described, it really grabs your attention and holds on to it like a wrestler executing a figure four lock and Term spits a 100 bars too!! SAY IT is a sure hit-we have Joell, Saigon, Sheek, Freeway and Bun B on it and each one doesn’t slack a minute. Weakest link...hmm none here, try elsewhere homey.

        SPAZZ OUT and DOWN WITH THE KING(skit) are two laid back cuts, both come off nicely with no harm done. PAYJAY uses the human nature sample for those that don’t know, it doesn’t really stand out, just a track on the album-don’t get me wrong Big Pooh and them did their thang but it’s just a moderate joint. Same goes for CODE FOR THE ST and WHAT TYPE OF MONEY-dope beats, slightly above rhymes and subject matter. I was really drawn to ENEMIES because it had steele(smif n wessun) on it but steele came through with average rhymes on this phat joint.

HOT 97, MOVIE CLIP and ONLY ONE CAN WIN don’t disappoint but don’t shake your mental foundations either. SHE WANTS A SUPASTAR, uses the same beat from JAYLIB, nicely done, am already accustomed to the beat, am always waiting for Madlib to drop his verse. BOYS ON THE AVE-this is fat, remember the GOBSTOPPER beat from “donuts”-yeah same one, still fresh sound, stale subject matter but the hook is stuck in my brain and overall this is bump-able. Now we have a bonus joint- luckily we close on this very dope song, BARS FOR THE STARS, starring newcomers Skyzoo and Reks and they both KILLED IT. Peep Reks lines...

”...hell’s kitchen, we living in jail cell sentence,

sipping cognaq, till am catching contact

with the furthest galaxy you can name,

am aiming beyond that, this is beyond rap-this is trip taking...”

       In conclusion-I recommend this for die hard-J Dilla fans and non fans alike. But please bear in mind, this is a tribute album so don’t expect any ground breaking songs or what have you. But no matter what you do keep the following tracks in rotation

   Recommended listen- CIRCULATE, OHH, SAY IT,BARS FOR THE STARS

  LYRICS=4/5

 BEATS=5/5

 LONGEVITY=4/5

 FINAL JUDGMENT= Recommended

   CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Lasers or Losers

yes am str8 jacking that sh*t from lupe!! we are LASERS now no more LOSERS,lol. for those that dont know its' an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Am gonna try my possible best to relate that to a more generic situation.ok lets go,LASERS are actually packets of photons....Sorry this is kinda hard.ok,you see light is made up of packets of particles with definite energies called PHOTONS.much clearer right?

 so in another way lasers are like concentrated light!!! Using a torch light as an example you notice when you put it on,the light spreads out,as it does that it loses intensity until it finally fades out(try using a torchlight to see an object in the dark 2km away...quite impossible).

   However for LASERS,this photons are continuosly regenerated so intensity remains the same throughout the whole duration(typical example is INFRA RED).Think of those clones in starwars..they keep coming and coming(get your mind out of the gutter!!!)

      Remember am trying not to go really deep into this here so am just touching the fundamentals.So for all y'all out there what category do you belong in?? are you constantly out for self(which is not entirely a bad idea anyway) or out to help others?? Losers are self centred,bigoted,one eyed kings who live in their narrow minded castles like paupers!!!!

 Lasers are simply......LASERS

   We amplify,we are coherent and directional.We are not self centred,we are not to proud to lend a helping hand(if it's possible) and lastly..we will always radiate like the sun!!!

   MJ said the world wont change until you change the man/woman in the mirror.the same person you see everyday when you take a shower and brush your teeth. 

   I know it's not all peaches and cream but come on..your life could have been WORSE than you think it is.No matter HOW bad you think your situation is..there are a BILLION people worse off than you are so stop BITCHING and MOVE like a LASER

 I can't hear you!!! SCREAM..AM NOT A LOSER..AM A F&*KING LASER

ok enuff,,get back to work before your boss sees you...LOL..but seriously be a LASER for a day and you would enjoy it

F.R.I.E.N.DS,phones and the truth

This exercise just ocurred to me while I was having trouble in getting some sleep few days ago,ever tried  getting in touch with everyone on your contact list? I mean scroll down alphabetically and text or call so and so just to say hi till you get to the letter Z?your answer is as good as mine bro(sis).Its possible but quite ludricous!

  Approximately 20 years ago,I thought my friends in primary school will always be with me till the end of time,that we would always share our goodies doing break,always laugh at the same jokes and never have to go to worry about adult stuff.Dammit janet,I was so wrong.I knew there was something fishy about the whole thing but I was too young and naive to put a finger on it.It was just too good to be true. By the time I was in primary 5,I had new friends,a new crush(ok,maybe 1,2 and a third..lol) and was ready to face a whole new world.

  By the time I got to secondary school,I realised it was a whole new ball game.different rules,same game though but thats a topic for another day.The thing was,and it just didnt occur to me like that lightbulb towering over a generic cartoon drawing,is there a such thing as a limit to  the volume of friends you should have in a life time? its kind of funny because I meet new people everyday I sometimes find it hard to keep up.Now,I tend to classify people into three groups.Family-they will always be there wether you like it or not,Friends-people not related to you but who you like to socialise with,sympathiser,helper and thats about the size of it and lastly People-you may refer them to as acquintances etc,you meet once in a while or have a short stint of  "psuedo" friendship or caramadiere with.

 Ok should I start?I will go with a bar chart type grouping to make it easier to get my drift.Besides those I listed before,there exist another group of circles within inner circles.Am I making any sense at all?ok check this classification,take for instant when I was undergoing my NYSC(National Youth Corp Service) in far away kano(ok,just a lil' upnorth),I formed a circle of friends with a set of UNILAG graduates that flew on the same plane with me(group 1),as we settled into our respective rooms,I immediately formed another tight set comprising of some of the aforementioned 'Lag graduates and some new boys(we actually dominated that room for the rest of the 3 weeks we spent on camp) and according to camp rules we were once again segregated into divisions(a'la military style) and once again formed a new clique.This is a contuinuum that doesnt end(I think it shouldn't anyway unless you are dead) 

 Now you see where am heading,now that I have gotten that out of the way.check this scenario,I got a call from a friend of mine only after I text him saying "you have gone A.W.O.l on your buddy,thats not the way man!",we spoke,all gravy then he related another incident where he was accused by another mutual friend of ours for not keeping in touch,his defense was it was a 2-way thing,the "mutual friend" could have picked up the phone and dialled instead of laying the blame on one side.

 The truth is,I wish I could keep in touch with everyone but its not so possible,even I would be surprised if some pal of mine keeps calling me back to back everyday(helloo!!...now I know how you girls must feel...ring,ring...that bugaboo again,doesnt he get the message..I mean E.T got it and went home,duh!!).The truth is we got issues with school,work,relationship,family and for some it's mental .I gotta admit,I dont expect to find my name on your top call list(the possibility is there but am keeping an opened mind),I dont expect you to think of me all day(for the ladies).From my perspective,I think calling someone out of the blue is the best thing you could do...as long as you dont b*tch about the other not calling you!!!.sometimes,peeps call sjut to apologize for not buzzing sooner and I feel like,that talk is just out of courtesy. My thoughts,I have learnt not to whine anymore.

  I know some reading this would be like who is this self righteous person!! look am not trying to vindicate or justify anything,I myself is guilty on all accounts but that's life and we all have to deal with it in our own unique way.Like I said before on the scrolling contact list thingy,I actually sometimes do that....well just to see the names of people on my phone man..never have the time(to get to the letter Z) or enough credit(am not a miser o,am just prudent) to call everyone but I would surely not forget each and everyone last one of them.

 So once in a while scroll down,look up and smile to your self...oh sugar,wonder what this dude's doing now?.. just a little thought goes a long way.