Saturday, October 13, 2012

WHAT YOU WANNA HEAR THIS WEEK: OCT. 13, 2012

WHAT YOU WANA HEAR THIS WEEK!!!!
Donjuan (@Mono_Recordings) new video for “Redlight”
youtu.be/m2QzNH9BDEc

Roxxie (@RoxxieMusic) covers Demi Lovatos’ “Skyscraper”
bit.ly/TIuDZw

Anoyed (@Anoyed_RRT) released the video for “Murder feat. Beres hammond”
youtu.be/JXb2kxWJebU

Bigg Pupps (@biggpupps) “Struggle feat. Lady Shocker and The Dark One”
youtu.be/pSeVlIGL5GE

Mz E Baby (@mzebaby) luanches “What I Like REMIX feat. Milly McJaggurr and Hotflame”
hulkshare.com/w1w9psfgk83k

Lil Shakur (@lilshakur) performs at Future Stars Studios in New Jersey
youtube.com/watch?v=HvC5pH

Saturday, September 15, 2012

What You Wanna Hear This Week: Sept 15, 2012

WHAT YOU WANA HEAR THIS WEEK!!!!
Hop Da Great (@HOPDAGREAT) new video “Who Are You”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPuPAOEmWvI

Rajah (@RawLifeRajah) first single off the album Raw Life Diary: Chapter One: “Something Real”
http://rajah.bandcamp.com/

Just Josh (@RealJustJosh) brand new track “Beautiful Tragedy”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBKgx188ook&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

Dice (@DICEsoOfficial) new track “Liu Kang”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPnQqDbaTZU&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Saturday, September 1, 2012

D-Ash - Smokaholics (Review)

D-Ash-Smokaholics

Lyrics: 7.2/10
Beats: 9/10
Features: 5/10
Production: 9/10
Content: 7/10
OVERALL RATING:  7.44/10

            The Smokaholics mixtape by, hip hop artist, D-Ash was quite a hit and miss record for me. By the title, you can tell that the theme of this mixtape is going to be smoking up, living the life and getting high theme which D-Ash captures with many of the songs on the mixtape. With a tracklist that is 15 long, D-Ash compiled this mixtape of short songs and single verses, commonly found on mixtapes, and included a few full length tracks, and even a prelude skit, which, I must say, I have not seen most underground artists do.
            As mentioned before, D-Ash establishes the ‘smoke up and live the life’ tone of the mixtape with various tracks such as “Smokaholics Everywhere” featuring, rappers Elroy Jets and Young Mighty, and “Lifted” featuring, singer, R-Squared. However, the mixtape also includes some deeper tracks such as “Memory Lane”, a song in which D-Ash talks about his life, and “In The Evening”, in which he expresses his feelings after a rough patch with a woman. D-Ash even shares his dreams and aspirations with his fans on the song “4 In The Moanin”. The addition of the skits adds a nice humorous touch to the mixtape, especially, in my eyes, with the addition of a skit from the movie “Friday”, to add the comedic styling of Chris Tucker.
            Lyrically, I feel this mixtape started out a little weak, however this was mainly attributed to the work of D-Ash’s features. In the first three songs, there are two in which D-Ash, himself, is mentioned in the chorus. In “Lifted” R-Squared was put in charge of singing for the hook, and he could not complete it without putting his and D-Ash’s name in it. I feel his vocals could have been much better lyrically. In “Smokaholics Everywhere”, not only were D-Ash and his features integrated into the chorus, but into the rhymes of all three artists in this song. There were also many tracks where the mixtape title was integrated into the rhymes. I feel as if this could have been improved with the use of a mixtape host, so that both D-Ash’s name and the mixtape title could have been turned into drops on the songs, instead of the artists having to integrate it into their lyrics, which would allow them to expand their lyrical content further.
            I feel, also, as if there are a couple songs in which the hook does not quite go with the lyrical content of the verses. In “Criminal Minded” the hook is about a person whose criminal mind is all that they have, however, D-Ash focuses, mostly, on him creating and spreading his music. Perhaps he meant this as to say “I’m making music so I don’t do criminal things”, but that message is not plainly evident. This isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, because it gives the listeners incentive to think about what they’re listening to. I also feel as if “In The Evening” had a hook that did not quite go with the verses. The verses have lyrical content based on the theme that D-Ash is struggling with a hard time with a girl, and is trying to cope. However, the hook is more of a cocky style, which appears to take the stance of “I can do you better than your man can”.
            Despite these qualities, the Smokaholics” mixtape is a definite ‘must listen’ for hip hop fans who enjoy music with the ‘smoke up’ theme, as well as those who live that lifestyle. D-Ash expresses his versatility on a number of different beats, never sticking with the same style of instrumental, and including different styles of lyrical content in his music. You can download a copy of this mixtape on Datpiff.com, or contact @SwaggerFloe on Twitter for more details.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

WHAT YOU WANNA HEAR THIS WEEK: AUG. 25, 2012

WHAT YOU WANA HEAR THIS WEEK!!!!

DJ Mafia House interviews Vaig (@OfficialVaig), live on the Q Online.net
Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtDtPP0ZDRs
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D6SkBiouqA&feature=plcp
Off-Rip’s (OffRip) new mixtape, “Meet Off-Rip hosted by Don Cannon, DJ BJ 3525 and DJ Ray”http://indy.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/17743/_offrip_meet_offrip.html
DiiJai’s (@thisisDiiJai) release “Rehab EP”
DiiJai.bandcamp.com
Pretty Dreek (@itsPrettyDreek) “OMG”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M5qnwT1hrU

Bluntz (@IlikeFatBluntz)
http://soundcloud.com/bluntzmusic

K-Fonk (@Fonkhouse) feat. Stress Dollaz (@StressDollaz) “i Ain’t Playin”
http://www.hulkshare.com/w44fsagwtqm8

Meat 205 (@Meat_205) new music video for “Thin Line”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSuNm9pNrP4&feature=youtu.be


Friday, August 24, 2012

Off-Rip - Meet Off-Rip (Review)

Off-Rip-Meet Off-Rip (hosted by Don Cannon, DJ BJ 3525 and DJ Ray)

Lyrics: 8.75/10
Beats: 9/10
Features: 9/10
Production: 10/10
Content: 8/10
OVERALL RATING:  8.95/10

            When Drake said ‘Dropped a mixtape, the sh*t sounded like an album”, he was talking about Off-Rip’s mixtape “Meet Off-Rip”. In fact, I wouldn’t have even known it was a mixtape if it wasn’t for the brilliant hosting abilities of Don Cannon, DJ BJ 3525 and DJ Ray. From the title itself, you can tell that this mixtape is going to take an arrogant tonality throughout its content, which may draw a lot of criticism to this Detroit rapper, but the critics will be quickly silenced once they hit play.
            This mixtape contains 14 full tracks, none of which being half-songs, random verses, or freestyles, normally found on mixtapes. Lyrically, Off-Rip delivers fantastic punchlines with repetition happening very rarely in any track. The only criticism I have, lyrically, is there is an abundance of Scotty Pippen references throughout the entire mixtape. This isn’t a bad thing, but occasionally, with many other rappers coming up with similar lines regarding Jordan and Pippen, it becomes tedious. However, Off-Rip also delivered, what I consider, to be the most hilarious punchline in his track “Cocky and Arrogant” where he was able to fit the line “I’m a motherf***er, no Delonte West” in.
            In terms of content, this mixtape contains many tracks that present Off-Rip’s cocky attitude that, as mentioned before, most critics would take from the title of the mixtape. Cocky and Arrogant”, ‘My Time”, “Don’t Show Up When I Blow Up”, and even “Swiper” are just some of the songs in which you can see Off-Rips serenely confident attitude. However, there are also some deeper tracks on this mixtape, such as “They Say”, and “Best of Me”, which provide a good balance.
            When it comes to features, “Meet Off-Rip” has some of the best I’ve ever heard. Not one of the features on this mixtape take away from the songs, or pull Off-Rip down with their lyricism or flow. This shows a fantastic level of musical maturity from Off-Rip because he clearly recognises his music ability and limitations, and does not try to attempt things that would not work with his flow. In fact, by including R&B/pop singers, such as Bobbi in “They Say”, Delo Cotton in “Give It All”, and Parje in “Best of Me”, it shows musical diversity, and he was able to improve his music with the people he brought in. He showed off his diversity even further with his own audotuned hook in “Show Up When I Blow Up”, some rappers just can’t pull it off, but he did.
            Overall, it is safe to say that this is one of the most professionally made, and most developed mixtapes I’ve ever heard come out of the underground, and is a definite must listen. If you’re interested in checking this out, you can find the link in the August 25th edition of “What You Wanna Hear This Week”.

DJ B Knockin - Cali Weed, Cali Love (Review)

DJ B Knockin-Cali Weed, Cali Love

Lyrics: 7/10
Beats: 8.5/10
Features: 7/10
Production: 10/10
Content: 8/10
OVERALL RATING:  8.2/10

On Cali Weed, Cali Love, DJ B Knockin brings rap back to what it used to be by making his lyrical content about real experiences. He raps about his life, things he's seen, and things he's done and about himself. He doesn't spit fake rhymes about having sex with a different girl in every song, or having incredible amounts of wealth, or being the biggest rapper ever to lace up a track. Using a variety of instrumental styles, from simpler beats in ‘Cali Weed, Cali Love’, to complex bouncier instrumentals in ‘Light Out’ and ‘Love You More;, to slower beats in ‘I Got What You Like’, he paints a vivid picture of what it means to be DJ B Knockin and reps California strong.
Knockin starts off this record strong, bringing a great rhyme scheme with a very unique, ethnic instrumental in ‘Cali Weed’. Though he doesn’t always maintain this lyrical strength throughout the entire record, tracks like ‘iStack’ are notable, especially for the features of J Mac and John J who also bring fantastic rhyming to the track. ‘Light Out’ is also a notable track because of its interesting beat, and the addition of B Knockin doing vocals for the chorus, an effort which is, in my opinion, not incredibly suited for his normal hip hop tone and style. The addition of vocalist Jacq Riot in ‘I Got What You Like’ is a very nice touch to this record, and shows Knockin’s ability to be diverse in his rhymes and style. ‘Cali Weed, Cali Love’ was also a notable track, at least from my prospective, because the “the force is strong in this one” Star Wars reference was amusing.
With an array of great instrumentals and with none of his features taking anything away from his music, but bringing their own unique touches, ‘Cali Weed, Cali Love’ is a definite MUST HAVE record if you’re a hip hop fan. DJ B Knockin creates 16 tracks full of himself, and although rapping about life and experience can become repetitive, Knockin is, not at all, tedious with his lyrical content.