T Dub’s Rant #2- Hip Hop Blogging Is Dead

Every time I skim through the countless hip hop blogs online I see the same thing. Web sites like Hiphopearly.com that have “hot” new hip hop singles are very successful and have therefore attracted all these “leech blogs” trying to steal traffic. These sites always have the same new “XXX Single, Featuring XXX” (Insert any two current mainstream rappers) which consistently prefix the describing word “hot”, “fire” or “hotttt!!!!” but seeing no reason to describe why.

My ever-burning question is since most of these blogs get the music off of top sites (Mentioned Earlier) what do they think they are accomplishing? 

Does the web really need another site to download mainstream rap singles?

It seems that the sites that really give insight and helpful reviews as well as the download link (Like this one) are dying off along with underground rap sites, who like the sub-genre they are promoting, are buried under the sites with “New Exclusive Soulja Boy Singles!!!”.

Check out a guy called Flo Dirt on his site, Hip Hop Ruckus.

I consider this guy the “Nas of Hip Hop Blogging” and definitely check out the F**k Yo Blog post which was the inspiration for mine.

Song Of The Day

Here’s another classic….

Wu-Tang Clan – C.R.E.A.M.

                       

New song: Granite state ft. Evidence

The track is entitled One Shot, and it is awesome. I recommend this to any hip hop fan. This is the first single released off of Granite state’s new [Yet to be titled] album.

“The last couple years we’ve been working to create some of our best songs yet. We got together with our close friends and incredible producers to make an album that was better than The Breaking Point. I think we pulled it off.”

Download

Courtesy of

Recommended Album – Illmatic by Nas

There is one word that can describe Nas’s album ‘Illmatic’, and that is ‘Classic’. Nas spits his heart out one each and every track. He delivers a great flow and goes hard with lyricism.

Nas was only 19 when he recorded Illmatic, and he went harder than some veterans in his era. Illmatic features producers such as DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor and Q-Tip. Nas is a genius when it comes to music and a Nas is definitely legend in the making.

The Album landed number 2 on the Hip Hop and R&B Charts of 1994 and number 12 on the Billboard 200. Its disappointing looking at how much the album sold. Illmatic only sold 59,000 copies the first week.

Other than that Illmatic is One of The Greatest Albums Ever Released. The Album only has 10 Tracks but with only 10 tracks confirmed the album is classified as a ‘Classic’.

Track 2. New York State Of Mind

DJ Premier did an amazing job on the instrumental, and Nas just murders it. Nas delivers a perfect example of lyricism.

The hook in the song is great, Premo sample 2 classic Jazz songs and scratches vocals from ‘Mahogany’ by Eric B. and Rakim. I cant picture someone saying that this song is so called ‘Wack’ because its one of the greatest song ever made.

Track 3. Life’s A Bitch

Life’s A Bitch contains a smooth Jazzy element by Nas’s father ‘Olu Dara’. Nas features AZ in the Track. On top of that, both artist did an amazing job. It took me a while to find out who did a better job on the track, and the results lead to AZ.

AZ verse is highly dense and speaks about his intentions to’Carry On Tradition’ of those who paved the way for him. I describe this track an amazing collaboration between two great artist.

4. The World Is Yours

Pete Rock made an amazing instrumental that lead to Nas spitting Amazing Verse. To be honest, i thought the hook was crappy at first but when Nas starts his verses I hear the hook differently. All the verses were perfect, this song is so sick Jay Z had to sample it!

5. Halftime

This is my favorite track off Illmatic. Nas spits differently on this song and its an A graded track.

6. Memory Lane

This song is memorable in Hip Hop History and one Of the greatest of all time. I cant explain much about it because the track describes itself.

7. One Love

This another amazing track off of Illmatic. The Hook is perfect and flows with the verse. Q-Tip did a great job on the producing and Nas on the lyrics.

8.One Time 4 Your Mind

This is a smoother type of song produced by Large Professor, And Nas kills it once again. Thats one great thing about Nas that he can spit on any beat and still kill it. This is definitely one great track for your mind.

9. Represent

Premo and Nas should definitely collaborate together and make an album. Premo and Nas did it again, both the lyrics and the instrumental is hot. Nas verse is unforgettable and amazing, enough said.

10. It Ain’t Hard To Tell

Damn, this is the last track off Illmatic. To be honest, this track didnt really go with the rest of the tracks, may be it was the instrumental. But other than that Nas still did his thing and murdered the track.

Ratings:

★★★★★

Download Link:

Click Here To Download Illmatic

Top Hip Hop Groups Pt. 1 – Public Enemy

A legendary rap group made up of the following members
-Chuck D
-Flava Flav
-Terminator X
-DJ Lord
-DJ Johnny Juice
-Brian Hardgroove
-Professor Griff

They are a Hip Hop group from Long Island, New York. They are known for their political lyrics & media criticism. Public Enemy revolutionized Hip Hop with Political Rap & Terminator X’s scratching techniques in some of their songs.
Public Enemy was also the first rap group to do world tours.

Here are some of the albums I recommend…

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back: 5/5 (excellent album)

Fear of a Black Planet: 5/5 (another classic)

*Click Titles For Download*

Mainstream Fan’s Guide To Underground Rap Pt. 2

If you didn’t see part 1, Click Here, but the basic point of this series is to smoothly transition and expand the hip hop tastes of the average mainstream rap fan.

Step 4: Review

Listening and examining the album Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco was your first assignment. If you didn’t listen to the album go do it now and refer to this article later. The rest of this article is based on the fact that you have listened to and somewhat liked the album, even if it was only 3-4 tracks. If not, please leave a comment.

Step 5: So What Now?

Lupe Fiasco is only the beginning of this whole sub-genre. In comparison, we haven’t even hit the surface yet. From here we’re continue to introduce you to general lyrical rap which is something you will hear a lot in underground hip hop. Old school rap (circa 1994 and before) has great examples of lyrical content and a raw sound that you will also find when listening to underground.

I want you to listen to Big Daddy Kane’s It’s A Big Daddy Thing

This is one of the greatest rap albums of all time and I think any rap fan, mainstream or underground, should listen to it. Again analyze it and decide which of the to albums so far do you like better. Your choice between these two will change the next step.

Look out for part 3 in this series where we will start to customize your music selection and decide what kind of underground rap would be best for you.

T Dub

Song Of The Day

OK this is my second day of hitting you with these classic songs/videos.. The video for today is…….

Eric B. & Rakim – I Ain’t No Joke

                      

AOK (Assault Of Knowledge)

AOK is a 22-year old white rapper from Slave Lake, Alberta. At least that was the first thing I noticed when reading his wikipedia page. I won’t lie either, in my mind I completely wrote this guy off, it’s not that I have anything against white people but after hearing the contestants on The White Rapper Show, I had a good reason for an initially biased view.

Finally a couple days ago I sucked it up and listened to the music he sent me, If You Don’t By This CD The Terrorists Will Win (Amusing Name) and surprisingly it was really good. Im not saying he is the next Rakim but as he says it, “It’s not exactly Illmatic but me mom thinks it’s nice”.

This album can have you shedding a tear from laughing so hard one song and listening with a straight face the next. Songs like “Fake I.D.” and “Planet Grolic” show AOK’s repulsion towards people who dress or act like gangsters when they are nothing close to it.

Then there are songs like “Freedom Is A State Of Mind” which talks about his belief that you control your emotions and freedom depending on how you think.

AOK is an artist you should look out for in the future, not for dope rhymes but for interesting content and maybe a laugh or two.

http://assaultofknowledge.wordpress.com/

T Dub

Song Of The Day

I’m gonna start posting classic songs and videos every day from now on. The first one is….

Jay-Z – Dead Presidents

                             

Top 10 Hip Hop Producers Of All Time

10.Large Professor

Large Professor also known as Large Pro and Xtra P. Large Professor delivers a great instrumental for any musician.

He can go from making a smooth type of instrumental to making a hype instrumental. I cant say much about Large Professor because his instrumentals say everything about him.

9.9th Wonder

9th Wonder is known for using Fruity Loops and not a professional beat making machine. He is also the only producer who has succeed into becoming one of the greatest Hip Hop Producer to use Fruity Loops.

9th Wonder produce for rappers such as MURS, Mos Def, Jean Grae, Black Moon and much more. Many individuals dont put 9th in their list of ‘Producers Of All Time’, but He is definitely one of the greatest of all time

8. Madlib

Many know Madlib for collaborating with rapper ‘MF Doom’, but he is also one of the greatest producers out right now. Madlib is a big influence to the new generation of producers and musicians.

Madlib has an Abstract style. He is very creative wise, maybe from smoking weed all day. Madlib stated that Weed doesnt influence him but it does bring creativity to an individual. Madlib is another producer that is known for his ‘Sampling’ skills.

7. Kanye West

Kanye West of course he had to be in my list. Kanye dedicates his heart and soul to the production table. His perfectionism is matched only by Dr Dre of producers on this list. Kanye is highly known for ‘Sampling’ tracks.

His strength is definitely in utilizing soul samples extremely well and incorporating memorable melodies into his songs. Kanye West produced for many artist in any genre. My Favorite Top 3 tracks he produced are ‘Birds And Bee’ by Lupe Fiasco, ‘I Wonder’ by Kanye and ‘Heart Of The City’ by Jay Z.

6. Pete Rock

As you may know by now Pete Rock is known for collaborating with rapper ‘CL Smooth’. Pete Rock & CL Smooth are known for their Hip Hop Duo. Pete Rock is known for sampling ‘Jazz’ and ‘Funk’ music and converting them into Hip Hop Tracks.

An example of Pete Rock’s ‘Jazz/Funk’ sample is ‘They Reminisce Over You’ (T.R.O.Y). T.R.O.Y is also a memorable song in Hip Hop History. Pete Rock also loves remaking Instrumentals from other musicians and remixing them by himself.

5. J Dilla

Before I begin I would like to say Rest In Peace To J Dilla. He was truly one of the greatest producers of all time. Jay Dee was making a name for himself before he passed away. J Dilla’s production is very unique separating him from other producers. J Dilla made such dope music.

We should be thankful for J Dilla for making such great music. Jay Dee produce for many artist such as Lupe Fiasco, ?uestlove, Busta Rhymes, Q – Tip and many more. I can truly say ‘J Dilla is your favorite Producer’s Favorite Producer’. R.I.P J Dilla

4. RZA

RZA, Wu Tang’s Finest and of the greatest to produce. Many tracks RZA Produce that contains great lyrics and reach a high spot in charts is mainly cause of RZA’s Production as well. RZA is also known for producing full albums by himself.

RZA also loves ‘Sampling’. “C.R.E.A.M”, “M.E.T.H.O.D Man and many more of RZA’s production contain samples. In Wu Tang’s album ‘Enter The Wu Tang’ RZA made incorporating skits consisting samples of clips of old kung fu movies.

3. Dr Dre

Dr. Dre, many of you have heard of em’ I’m positive. Dr. Dre is an amazing producer. He relies on his drums. Dr. Dre has one of the greatest drums a producer can have. On top of that, Dr. Dre also relies on sampling. Tracks like ‘California Love’, ‘Nothing But A G Thang’ and ‘Still Dre’ consist samples from other musicians.

Dre can make any musician from wack songs to an amazing hit. We are still anticipating for Dre’s new album ‘Detox’ and I’m 100% sure he’s making every single song in it a hit.

2. DJ Premier

DJ Premier is definitely one of the greatest producers ever. Premo always produces tracks like it was his last one. Premo is known for using his MPC 40 which well give you one of the greatest platform to rap on.

Premo produced various classics such as ‘Classic’ by Rakim, ‘New York State Of Mind’ by Nas, ‘The Best Part’ by J – Live and many more. Premo will give a perfect instrumental that will let Emcee’s spit their heart out.

1. Marley Marl

Marley Marl is one of the most influential and important Hip Hop Producer in Hip Hop History. Marley Marl help many rappers succeed in Hip Hop.

Marley Marl influenced many great Producers like Pete Rock, DJ Premier, RZA And many more. Without Marley Marl Hip Hop would by different.