Scanz

Scanz is a hip hop artist hailing from Philly. His flow, and lyrics are incredible. He has released a debut album in early 2008 entitled “Prelude to a legacy”. The album…It’s dope.



He was first known because of his production skills, production is what put him on the map. But as he grew more into the industry, his emceeing talent became better and better. Once his name was out, he signed with Rawkus. Since then, Scanz has worked with the likes of Premo, Akrobatik, and KRS-One. Pretty soon, Scanz will be in everyone’s ipod.

As for the album, check it out:

01. You Know The Deal
02. Don’t Front
03. Something New feat. Yasin
04. Choose Your Hustle feat. Akrobatik
05. Make It Happen
06. Like This
07. Feel It
08. Bigger Than Rap
09. A Dimepiece
10. Deep End
11. I Am Hip Hop
12. I Can Teach Ya

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The Miseducation Of T Dub

So I recently accuired two insrumental albums, Madlib’s Beat Konducta Vol. 5 and Flying Lotus’ Los Angeles. I have to admit before this I had never listened to an instrumental album all the way through. Actually the only time I had dealt with any instrumentals period is when I was messing around in a music production program. 

I didn’t understand why anyone would want an album full of beats without any vocals. I wondered why the songs on the album even had names. The two albums named above caused my realization of my miseducation.

An instrumental album is a lot like an off period in a high school day. It is a break from the lectures and tests or in this case, lyrics. You don’t have to listen too closely to an instrumental album, there will be no straining or rewinding to catch some insignificant punchline. No looking up words on Urban Dictionary. It is overall an easier, more relaxing experience.

My miseducation is that I was “taught” or rather brought up with the incorrect knowledge that with beat comes rhyme. I thought that beats were created specifically for the purpose of being rapped over and any other way, shape, or form would be incorrect. Listening to just a beat would not be a desire or even an exception of mine until I listened to the two albums mentioned above.

I cannot bring myself to even begin reviewing or rating these albums for this realization has left me feeling an inexperienced hip hop fan. How could I say these albums are bad or good if I have nothing to base the conclusion?

But, from what I know of basic album production I can say that these are two excellent producers and judging by previous work there is no reason why these two instrumental albums shouldn’t be considered good as well.

Download Madlib The Beat Konducta Vol. 5 The Dil Cosby Suite Through Torrent

Download Flying Lotus’ Los Angeles Through MediaFire

Pete Rock

In my opinion, Pete Rock is the greatest producer to ever live, and this instrumental is amazing. This track is regarded by some as the best song ever, and this beat definitely supports that theory.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth- T.R.O.Y. [Instrumental]

01 Intro
02 We Roll feat. Jim Jones & Max B
03 ‘Till I Retire
04 914 feat. Styles P. & Sheek Louch
05 Questions feat. Royal Flush
06 Best Believe feat. Redman & LD
07 Ready Fe War feat. Chip Fu & Renée Neufville
08 Don’t Be Mad
09 Bring Y’all Back feat. Little Brother
10 The Best Secret feat. The Lords Of The Underground
11 Tat’s What I Am Talking About feat. Rell
12 The PJ’s feat. Raekwon & Masta Killa
13 Made Man feat. Tarrey Torae
14 Let’s Go feat. Doo Wop
15 Comprehend feat. Papoose

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Recommended artist: Cronite

Cronite [Crow-night] is a rapper hailing from Europe. He is Of German and Croatian descent. He has released two albums so far in his career [Cronite:2003; Pariah:2007] , and i highly recommend this guy to anyone. Some people may not like him at first, because he does have an accent, but his lyrics drag you into his music. I personally have never heard anything about him, i discovered him myself, and i’m glad i did. If you like him, go out and cop his discography.

Sick of it all [Ft. Masta Ace]

Cronite- Cronite [2003]

01. Remember (4:29)
02. Underdog (3:45)
03. Lifestyle (3:35)
04. Do Or Die (3:25)
05. Love Me (4:10)
06. Nobody (3:19)
07. It Aint In Vain (4:26)
08. Gift To HipHop (3:46)
09. MCees Come and Go (4:06)
10. The Blues (5:42)
11. U Cant Keep A Good Man Down (3:43)
12. Sunshine La (3:45)
13. Friend Of Mine (3:24)
14. Dear God (3:59)
15. The Blues – C.L.A.S. Bros. RMX (3:46)

Download ‘Cronite’

Purchase ‘Pariah’

Album Recommendation: Blackstar

It’s a collabo with Hip Hop stars Mos Def & Talib Kweli. It’s a great album Top 5 albums of 1998. A lot of the songs were produced by Hi-Tek so you automatically know it’ll have great production. The album is a Hip Hop classic.

“Black Star deals with modern day issues, ideas, and life in Brooklyn, New York City as the two artists know it.”
The album deals with issues today in Hip Hop like in the song ‘Definition’ they refer to Pac & Biggie
“One two three / Mos Def and Talib Kweli / We came to rock it on to the tip-top / Best alliance in hip-hop, Y-O / I said one two three / It’s kind of dangerous to be an emcee / They shot Tupac and Biggie / Too much violence in hip-hop, Y-O”

Most of the album is about the struggle, violence in Hip Hop & they dedicated a song to black women

1. Intro
2. Astronomy (8th Light)
3. Definition
4. RE:Definition
5. Children’s Story
6. Brown Skin Lady
7. B Boys Will B Boys
8. K.O.S. (Determination)
9. Hater Players
10. Yo Yeah
11. Respiration
12. Thieves In The Night
13. Twice Inna Lifetime

CaPuT’s Review

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Albums Of The Year- 2004

2004 was a pretty good year for hip hop but there were no real standouts among about 20 or so good albums so I won’t rank this time… Click Link To Download

No Order

Street’s Disciple by Nas

The College Dropout by Kanye West

The Tipping Point by The Roots

Madvilliany by Madlib & MF Doom

The Pretty Toney Album by Ghostface Killah

The Grind Date by De La Soul

Recommended Album – The Best Part by J – Live

The Best Part is J-Live’s first solo debut album. The Best Part took 4 years to be complete and an extra 2 years to be officially released. The album includes Production done by Prince Paul, 88 Keys, DJ Spinna, DJ Premier and Pete Rock.

Due to a controversy between J-Live and his record company The Best Part was shelved. J-Live later on switch labels and the album was officially released in 2001 through his own record label ‘Thriple Threat Productions’.

The Best Part includes many Interlude, which J-Live speaks to random individuals asking them if they know ‘What It Takes To Be A Great Emcee’. Due to many interludes, the tracklist listed below isnt 100% accurate.

Track 3. Got What It Takes

In this song, J-Live is stating to everyone if ‘They Got What It Takes’ to do things he can do or has accomplished. J-Live delivers a great flow and spit some great punchlines as well.

Track 4. Dont Play

To be honest, I didnt really like the hook in this song, it gets annoying after a while as well. But other than that J-Live does a great job.

Track 5. Vampire Hunt

This song is amazing. Vampire Hunt contains a great piano element and J-Live delivers another great example of what flow means. This song is excellent, Point Blank Period.

Track 6. Yes

This is my favorite tracks off of The Best Part. ‘Yes’ contains a Jazzy sampled element which goes perfect with J-Live’s flow. As always, J-Live murders this track with his amazing flow.

Track 7. Them That’s Not

Another Jazz sample! The funny thing is that I could’ve sworn that the first 5 seconds of when J-Live starts rapping, I thought he was Lupe Fiasco for the way he flows. At the beginning of the song J-Live states that the Lyrics of a track is important but if the production isnt good then the lyrics arnt important as much.

Track 8. Kick It To The Beat

Ha another great track but this time the production is handled by the great ‘Pete Rock’. J-Live features to guest rappers known as Probe.dms and Asheru. All 3 emcees do a fantastic job and of course Pete Rock does an amazing job with the production.

Track 9. Wax Paper

Wax Paper is a story, J-Live speaks about a Street Legend name Nic and speaking about the crimes Nic has done. This is an amazing example of one of Hip Hop’s storytelling element. On top of that, Prince Paul did a great job producing this track.

Track 10. Timeless

Chris Catalyst takes this one, Chris created a incredible smooth instrumental the J-Live would easily murder. Timeless is great plain and simple.

Track 11. Get The Third

Get The Third contrasts casual sex to real relationships. Great Song, Great Production enough said.

Track 12. Raw Footage

This song is great, one of my favorites. J-Live delivers great lyrics and yet again another great example of a ‘Great and Unique Flow’.

Track 13. R.A.G.E

I love this instrumental, its a plain, smooth instrumental thats great to freestyle on. DJ Spinna produced R.A.G.E, and J-Live Multi – Rhymes through out the whole track. Great song.

Ratings:

★★★★★

Available Links:

Click Here To Purchase ‘The Best Part’
Click Here To Download ‘The Best Part’

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

Recommended Album – Searching For Jerry Garcia by Proof

Searching For Jerry Garcia is the second official album by the late D12 member Proof in 2005. Proof’s first album hadn’t garnered much success so was still yet to prove himself and step out of Eminem’s shadow although he had previously shined on D12’s albums and mixtapes. This 2005 release is generally overlooked but I think it is a really great album. The album has an impressive guest list including 50 Cent, Method Man, D12, B-Real & Nate Dogg. And it features production by Mr. Porter, Emile & Fredwreck. My favorite tracks from the album are Purple Gang and Kurt Kobain. I highly recommend this album.

Track List:

1. Knice
2. Clap Wit Me
3. Biboa’s Theme
4. When God Calls
5. Forgive Me feat. 50 Cent
6. Purple Gang
7. Nat Morris
8. Gurls Wit Da Boom
9. High Rollers feat B-Real and Method Man
10. Rondell Beene
11. Pimplikness feat D12
12. Ali feat MC Breed
13. No.T. Lose feat King Gordy
14. Jump Biatch
15. Mom And Dad feat Rude Jude
16. 72nd & Central feat Obie Trice and J-Hill
17. Sammy Da Bull Feat Nate Dogg and Swifty McVay
18. Back Wrist Bro’s feat. 1st Born
19. Slum Elementz Feat T-3 Of Slum Villiage and Mudd of 5ela
20. Kurt Kobain

Download Searching For Jerry Garcia here

If necessary, password: albumhunt

DJ Premier: Beats That Collected Dust, Vol. 1

This was just released today. A compilation of unreleased DJ Premier beats.

Track listing:

1 Spin Live
2 Sing Like Bilal
3 Blow Horn Joint
4 Pee-An-Oh
5 Mysterious
6 Dadaa
7 Dink
8 B-Line
9 Trackhorn
10 Waaaaaa
11 Droop
12 Original Represent

Download here