Like you’ve never seen before.
I’m sorry it has been soooo long since my last post, but hopefully this will make up for it.
I was going to post all three, but wordpress is still in the embedded video stone age. Oh well, give RapRadar the hits, they deserve it.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blueprint 3, clipse, jay-z, Joe Budden, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, Raekwon, Till the Casket Drops
Here is a first installment of some releases I’m looking forward to in ’09. This list is far from comprehensive, these are just the ones you can probably expect to see within the next three or four months (fingers crossed).
Jay-Z The Blueprint 3: Rumored to be produced entirely by Kanye and may feature the best beat ever. I’ve been a little disappointed by some of his flows recently (“I Do It for Hip Hop“, “History“, “Jockin’ Jay-Z“), but a few others give me a touch of hope (“Brooklyn Go Hard“, “BK Anthem“). Plus, Kanye has been known to get the best out of Jay in the past. Release Date: Unknown. I’m guessing it’ll drop sometime this summer.
Clipse Till the Casket Drops: Fresh off the release of a clothing line (Play Cloths), a decent mix-tape commemorating the launch (Road to Till the Casket Drops), and the embarrassing release of the first and last Re-up Gang Album (Clipse Presents: Re-up Gang), the duo returns with their first album since Hell Hath No Fury and the first official release featuring production not from the Neptunes. For a group that has regularly put out some of their best material on free mixtapes (see the We Got it 4 Cheap series), the blandness of RtTtCD is alarming. However, it’s not without its highlights (“Intro“, “The Haters Wish“), and word is that Kanye will be seen rapping on this record. Release Date: Likely April.
Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II: Follow up to the original OB4CL, here’s another album that’s been in the works for some time. RZA’s back on board, but will face some stiff competition with Dr. Dre, J Dilla, Pete Rock, and Marley Marl all alleged to have produced tracks for the album. Ghostface will undoubtedly be on half the songs, and you’ll see some other Wu Tang members too. A few tracks have been leaked (“Criminology II“, “Wu Ohh” “Yes Sir“), and they’re a mixture of classic Wu and interesting collabs (Crooked I guests on “Yes Sir”). Which is about what you can expect out of the album. Release Date: Supposedly March, but I haven’t seen much promo yet, so maybe as late as April or May.
Joe Budden Padded Room: Looks like this first list is the delayed album edition. This one got pushed back, so Budden released the free mixtape Halfway House to make up for it. That’s the type of move I can respect. Say what you will about Joe Budden—while he’s not quite on the level of the other guys on this list, I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve listened to (which admittedly isn’t too extensive). He doesn’t seem to command the hottest beats, and with the list of producers primarily made up of no names like The Klasix and Blastah Beatz, it’s looking like more of the same. However, Budden has been getting pushed lyrically by the likes of Saigon (“Letter to Saigon“, “Pain in his Life“) and his pals in Slaughterhouse (“Move On“), so expect at least some notable punchlines. Here’s the second single from the album, “In My Sleep“. Release Date: February 24th.
Well, class is ending so I’ve gotta run for now, here’s some other albums you might be excited about:
Jadakiss The Last Kiss: March 10th. Busta Rhymes Back On My B.S.: March 24th. Big Pooh Rapper’s Delight (Delightful Bars Version): March 24th. Aceyalone The Lonely Ones: March 31st.
Kanye apparently thinks so. Fortunately, Kanye isn’t one to be known for hyperbole. No release date yet, but allegedly all but three or four songs are done.
Doubters be damned, I’m putting all my faith in this album…
I’m thinking of doing a most anticipated albums of 2009 list soon, so keep an eye out.
Big L- “Put it On”: R.I.P. Big L died on today’s date in 1999. This track is the first off his debut disc Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous. Good stuff.
Raekwon- “Verbal Intercourse” (ft. Nas & Ghostface Killah): Classic. Check out Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.
Edan- “Syllable Practice”: From Beauty and the Beat. Some good samples on that album.
Clipse- “Comedy Central” (ft. Fabolous): Best Virginian duo I know of. Off their first album, Lord Willin’. Better without Re-Up Gang counterparts, btw.
Slum Village- “Tainted” (ft. Dwele): I don’t know too much about these guys, but they’re from Detroit and are associated with J Dilla often. A quick wikipedia check shows that he used to be their DJ/Producer, and now his younger brother is in the group. From Trinity (Past, Present and Future).
A Tribe Called Quest- “Check the Rhime”: From the acclaimed Low End Theory. Not the hugest ATCQ fan, but Q-Tip’s newest is pretty good.
Blackalicious- “Chemical Calisthenics”: Blazing Arrow. Got sick of playing “Paragraph President” every week. Great album.
Lupe Fiasco- “Pressure” (ft. Jay-Z): Not the biggest Lupe fan either (and I’m from Chicago too…), but I love me a good Jay-Z guest verse. He’s got to be the best guest rapper of all time, right? From Food & Liquor.
Murs- “Lookin’ Fly” (ft. will.i.am.): Off his new one, Murs For President. Haven’t gotten to listen to this whole album yet, but Murs is usually all right by me.
Talib Kweli- “Get By”: That’s right, I do play requests, so call in! From Quality.
Brother Ali- “Forest Whitiker”: Everyone’s favorite albino rapper (I think). Off Shadows on the Sun.
Kanye West- “School Spirit”: This song is actually edited on the album so that he can use the names of the Greek organizations in the song. Saves me some trouble! A College Dropout track.
The Roots- “Birthday Girl”: Fun little song about a girlfriend turning 18 (you know why 😉 [does girlfriend seem too strong a word?]). Off their most recent Rising Down. Any guesses on how long they stay on the Jimmy Fallon show?
Big Daddy Kane- “It’s a Big Daddy Thing”: From the album of the same title. Check out “Show & Prove” from Daddy’s Home, it’s got BDK, Jay-Z, and ODB trading bars with a few others. Oh and it’s from ’94 so it’s early Jay, and you know how much I love that :).
Jurassic 5- “Verbal Gunfight”: Another group I’ll admit that I know almost nothing about. They’ve put out a fair number of albums, I’ve just never listened to any of them. Off an EP we have here in the studio called W.O.E. Is Me.
Big L- “Deadly Combination” (ft. 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G.): The album version of this track is on The Big Picture, but I believe that it is missing the Biggie verse. How many dead rappers can you fit on a song, am I right?
Hu$tle Simmons- “Evacuate” (ft. Al Mighty): We just got this in the studio, and I have no idea what it is. From what the internet tells me, it’s a group made up of MC Dave Ghetto and an up-and-coming DJ Tha S Ence. The album is self-titled.
The Knux- “Bang! Bang!”: I’ve heard of these guys from some music mag’s (website?) buzz column. We just got their debut album Remind Me in 3 Days… in the studio. Based on this track they sound pretty decent.
Scarface- “One”: Used to be in the Geto Boys, this was a random single we’ve got in the hip-hop catalogue. I have no idea where it came from.
UGK- “Real Women” (ft. Talib Kweli & Raheem DeVaughn): Courtesy of MC Chris Barnes (R.I.P.). From the Underground Kingz album.
Nas- “Bridging the Gap” (ft. Olu Dara): This one is from the Cadillac Records soundtrack. Non-traditional rap song, but totally cool.
GZA- “Duel of the Iron Mic”: This is from Liquid Swords, an album I’m allegedly going to see him perform live in the near future. You should come too.
Canibus- “2000 B.C.”: Canibus is someone people love talking about as a great lyricist, but I don’t know enough about him to comment on that discussion. Scratch that, I’ve heard two songs now. One was good, one wasn’t so good. Jury’s still out. I think this is from the album called 2000 B.C.
AZ- “Quiet Money (Blood Money)” (ft. Halfamil & Animal): I’m not sure what the story behind this song is. The group might be called the Union, from a record called Organized Rhymes. It’s a cool song, and I’m a fan of AZ (check out his debut Doe or Die). Btw, he’s the other dude on Illmatic.
Ghostface Killah- “The Champ”: When I first got Fishscale I would listen to this song three or four times in a row. If you haven’t listened to that album yet you should.
Cam’ron- “Hey Ma” (ft. Juelz Santana, Freekey Zeekey & Kay Slay): Cam’ron bringing his crew in tow with a great little romp through a night out on the town. Spoiler alert: these boys know how to pick up women. Off Come Home with Me.
Ludacris- “What’s Your Fantasy”: I assure you I wasn’t having sex in the station during this two song set, but it sure felt like I was! Does anyone not know this song? From Back for the First Time.
Joell Ortiz- “125 Pt. 3 (Connections)” (ft. Ras Kass, Stimuli, Grafh, Gab Gacha): I like Joell Ortiz, and a lot of people don’t know much about him. His debut that this is off of, The Brick: Bodega Chronicles, is a good album. And I love a good posse track.
Big L- “Da Graveyard” (ft. Lord Finesse, Microphone Nut, Jay-Z, Party Arty, & Y.U.): Speaking of posse tracks… One last song for Big L on what is no longer the anniversary of his death. Oh well, he deserves it. Oh yeah, and some more early Jay-Z. You can figure out how I feel about that song. Btw, Party Arty is dead as well. Lots of death on tonight’s show, and that’s saying a lot for a hip-hop show.
I enjoyed myself, and I hope you non-existent listeners did too. Remember, every Sunday from 11pm-1am. 88.7, the Edge.
-john
The Hip-Hop Hour 