Best of 2009: Beat Drop Leftovers

Here are a few more beats that stood out to me this year but that I didn’t submit to the Beat Drop for one reason or another, none of which had anything to do with the actual enjoyability of the beats.

G-Side “Rising Sun” [prod. Block Beattaz]
I knew Brandon would pick this one and he writes way better than me so I figured I better not even try lest I sound completely retarded in comparison. He pretty much covers it in the Beat Drop and on No Trivia. But one detail I’m partial to is the times during ST’s verse when Block Beattaz throw a quick effect onto the end of his line. Like when ST raps “Methadone music, crack gone rap/Syrup in a song,” the word “rap” has this screwed up effect which morphs into a chipmunk effect for “syrup,” signifying Southern rap music and its reliance on drugs as a topic and as an aesthetic. They use the same effect when ST spits “You ain’t a G, you a dude(?) do boy, I’m a W-2 boy” and “W-2 boy” is screwed. It’s like trying to usurp the musical language of crack rap for the purposes of responsible hustler rap. Obviously, I’m overthinking it but it was a small detail that I appreciated nonetheless.

Mos Def ft. Slick Rick “Auditorium” [prod. Madlib]
Another joint I figured Brandon might choose. Not much to this here, it just happens to be this extremely dope, Mid-Eastern, trek-across-deserts sample, wrapped in as much mystery as Madlib himself. I actually kinda want to hear Rakim on this since he’s got this similar mysterious, mythological vibe emanating from him. Definitely would’ve been better than anything on The Seventh Seal, but I digress.

Metal Lungies: Beat Drop – Best of 2009

Metal Lungies hosted a massive two-part (and possibly three-part) Beat Drop to wrap up the year. All contributors chose their 5 favorite beats of the year and just gushed over them. I chose the first 5 that came to mind …… which coincidentally all come from albums off my Best Rap Albums of 2009 list (yes, you are correct, I’ve really only listened to like 3 and a half albums all year, I’m a simple man). I chose Alchemist’s “That’ll Work,” G-Side’s “In The Rain,” Juicy J’s “Purple Kush,” Diamond District’s “Who I Be,” and DJ Quik’s “Do You Know,” though the last one didn’t make the cut (I guess ML thought my 140-character write-up was just plain lazy and they’d be right). There’s lots of good writing in the entire piece and plenty more good music to be heard that I’ve only barely scratched the surface myself. Here’s what I wrote for the Alchemist joint:

Three 6 Mafia is perfect for this track because this Alchemist beat is along the same lines of Satanic hip-hop that Three 6 came up on earlier in their career (and the style they went back to this year). The difference being that Three 6 beats sound like gargoyles, church steeples, and bloody goblets and shit. This beat sounds like a record being played backwards, twisting a nice sunny melody into a secret message from Lucifer.

Jezebel Music: Best Rap Albums of 2009

I posted my list of top 10 rap albums of the year up at Jezebel Music in two parts. There’s plenty of unnecessary writing but the list rundown and links are below. Looks like I skewed towards regional rap and pretty obscure shit. But then isn’t everything besides like Jay-Z, Eminem, and Raekwon pretty obscure these days? My apologies for the duplicated intro paragraphs on both parts 1 and 2. I didn’t think there needed to be an intro for part 2 but I guess my homie did. Download links provided for the album-mixtapes that were released as free downloads by the artists themselves:

Best Rap Albums, Part 1:
10. Lil Wayne & Juelz Santana – My Face Can’t Be Felt [Download]
9. Alchemist – Chemical Warfare
8. Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx … pt. II
7. Gucci Mane – The Movie 3-D: The Burrprint [Download]
6. Ghostface Killah – Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City

Best Rap Albums, Part 2:
5. Juicy J – Hustle Till I Die
4. Playboy Tre – Liquor Store Mascot [Download]
3. Diamond District – In The Ruff
2. DJ Quik & Kurupt – BlaQKout
1. G-Side – Huntsville International [Download]

G Mane – Sunday On Da Porch

G Mane – Sunday On Da Porch

Well, it’s still Sunday on the West Coast so I’ll run with it. I finally got around to checking out G Mane’s mixtape, Sunday On Da Porch, and it’s some really solid country rap tunes. Like his Huntsville brethren G-Side (hmmm, I wonder what the G’s mean), G Mane is a reformed hustler trying to spread the wisdom he’s accumulated by experience to lead others into a better direction. Except his lyrics are set to some decidely country rap beats (courtesy of Mick Vegas), guitars whining and twanging and everything, almost like he’s the missing link between UGK and G-Side. G Mane even sounds a lot like Bun B with his deep bass voice and accent. It definitely hit the spot on a quiet, contemplative Sunday afternoon.

Jezebel Music: Huntsville is so fucking international!

I wrote a review of Huntsville International for my friend’s blog. It came out not as great as I wanted it to be. Sometimes, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around something that’s too epic. Pulled close to an all-nighter trying to churn it out, recalling my school days minus the Gameboy Advance emulators and bootleg movies that I’d use to distract myself. But whatever:

On Starshipz & Rocketz, G-Side used the idea of outer space as a metaphor for escape – escape from their past lives as drug dealers and towards…something better. Huntsville International turns that metaphorical escape into a very real escape out of their hood into cities across the world. Sure, the drops from the nationwide bloggers are a little gimmicky. But G-Side’s elation over their success is not gimmicky. These guys take great pride out of anything from being able to travel and meet new people (on “So Wonderful,” Clova spits: “Jimmy said ‘Your network is your net worth’ so I’m on this plane trying to touch the whole universe”) to something as mundane as finally being able file their taxes, y’know, legally after leaving a life of crime (ST brags “I’m a W-2 boy!”).

G-Side – Huntsville International

G-Side – Huntsville International Project

Holy fucking shit. This mixtape kinda made me almost cry today, it was so good. Eventually, I might have something halfway coherent to day about it. For now, all I could think of is how this is like a real-life corrective on crack rap. Contrast it with, say, what Ghostface and Raekwon have been doing the last few years, taking the popular crack rap genre and treating it as writers, exploring the ins and outs of the genre, like showing off to rappers how you’re supposed to write good crack rap. On Huntsville International, G-Side doesn’t even consciously deal with crack rap as a genre of rap writing. They deal with the reality of selling crack with both the weight of experience and also a strong moral compass, reacting against the glorification of drug dealing, reminding you that drug dealing was merely supposed to be a means of providing for family and that the goal should’ve always been to abandon it as soon as possible. All of this over some amazing fluttering synths on some space age gloriousness. Okay, I’m thinking too much about it and kinda ruining it for myself now. Just get the tape.

Also, as a heads up, I’m gonna be experimenting with more of an aggregator style. Not so much NahRight but maybe akin to Rafi or Noz just putting up interesting videos or songs with minor commentary. Because some friends called me out for not entertaining them enough. And I’d like to experiment with this new WordPress Tool I just discovered in my admin menu.