Benz and a Backpack

Every now and then things happen that remind us of the fragility, preciousness, and complete and utter randomness of our collective life. Recently, two incidents (both involving pedestrians, vehicles, and alcohol) stung people I love so acutely that they’ve been debilitated. It’s the height of irony that someone can serve several years of required military duty in a constantly war-torn nation, and then die when a drunk American driving too fast glances down to change the song on his iPod and forgets to look up because he’s too fucked up.

There are certain truths we all acknowledge: if you work hard in school, you’ll get good grades; if you show love to the people around you, they will undoubtedly show you love back. But many parts of our lives escape our control no matter how hard we try to grasp them. They are dictated either by the coincidental nature of the world or fate, depending on which theory you espouse, and no personal responsibility should be self-imposed by friends and family of victims of senseless tragedy, although it is often unavoidable.

What we can and should impose upon ourselves is an apologetically cliche question that nearly every hip hop artist has had to confront in his or her time: if I die today, tomorrow, or in three weeks, will I be happy with what I’ve done? BIG knew before he was 25 that his trajectory was short, and when the end came he was ready for it. Hip hop was built on the cold, hard foundation of braggadocio, which doesn’t exactly inspire love in opponents, but rather competitiveness, jealousy, and other violence-inducing sentiments. Couple that with the abnormally high presence of guns in poor, urban, largely black communities at the inception of hip hop (gee, I wonder how that happened), and you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster. It’s no wonder then that death is more than a minor ingredient in the hip hop kitchen.

Hit the skip for 20 of the most recent tracks that you GOTTA have, including Wu Tang’s ‘Early Grave’ and Jay Rock’s ‘Life is a Cycle.’ Other notables: Freeway, Raekwon, & Styles P, Lupe, B.o.B. & Asher Roth, Preemo-produced Evidence, and:

J. Cole – Knock On Wood Freestyle

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Redlight Boogie ft. Sean Price – Heat [prod. Killingskills]

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Two summers ago I was lucky enough to catch the Paid Dues Tour at New York City’s Nokia Theatre in Times Square. I was particularly excited for it because the lineup included a bunch of artists I’d never seen in concert before: Kidz in the Hall, dudes from Boot Camp Clik, Blackalicious, GZA, all culminating in what I hoped would be a satisfying set from the godfather of hip-hop, Rakim.

I remember the show with particular clarity because my boys and I endured an hour-and-a-half-long train ride that should’ve only lasted twenty-five minutes. The stifling June heat had us sweating our shirts out while we were held in station after station by train dispatchers. People in our car were fanning themselves with whatever they had: Yankees and Mets fitteds, celebrity gossip magazines, folded-up copies of the Daily News (with a picture of a smiling Barack Obama- who’d just secured the Democratic Presidential nomination- under a headline that read: ‘HISTORY!’).

Once we pulled into 42^nd Street, we bobbed and weaved through swarms of people in the station and on the fume-filled streets (hustling because we were already way late), and by the time we got to the Nokia Theatre we’d practically melted. Making it through security felt like clouds parting to allow us entrance into a very well air-conditioned heaven.
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For the most part, Joe Young is your typical street rapper, rapping about the obstacles he overcame in his hood and his credentials on the street. He just released this new track that features Inspectah Deck, the underground legend from Wu Tang. Deck and Joe Young didn’t make this song to attain commercial success, and it is noticeable. Both rappers spit with sincerity that makes the listener firmly believe that neither wants to go back to guns and crack or roaches and rats. Not to mention, the beat bangs like cacerolazo…

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Looking back, this summer was filled with a lot of good music. We counted OB4CLII as a summer release (mostly because it’s so dope that we thought it should go in our Summer Wrap-Up AND our Fall Preview).

10 Best Albums from the Summer of 2009

Honorable Mention: DJ Quik & Kurupt – ‘BlaQKout’
Quick and Kurupt combine adventurous production with east coast lyricism soaked in west coast swag. Kurupt, born in Philly but made famous because of his affiliation with Snoop and Tha Dogg Pount, offsets Quik’s explorative musical selections with consistently. In part an homage to an album by one of the greatest rap duo’s ever (Meth and Red’s Blackout!), Quik and Kurupt shine brilliantly despite having never achieved commercial success equivalent to the quality of their music.
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10. Alchemist – ‘Chemical Warfare’
With a wide array of old school and new age artists, the Alchemist’s second solo album dropped to widespread acclaim. In his own words, Alchemist describes the album title: “But basically, it’s Chemical Warfare because the first album was 1st Infantry and this is a futuristic version. Chemical Warfare is the type of war that isn’t fought with sticks and bats type of shit, where people start dropping. There is a power you don’t see. You don’t know where it is and that’s basically the concept.”
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9. La Coka Nostra – ‘A Brand You Can Trust’
The supergroup La Coka Nostra, comprised of Everlast, Ill Bill, Danny Boy, and Slain, also put out a mixtape called The Audacity of Coke this year, presented by Statik Selektah and DJ Eclipse. There is talk of another mixtape that could drop in the last couple months of 2009.
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8. Wu Tang – ‘Chamber Music’
Except for a few misguided interludes, Chamber Music bumps from top to bottom. With guest spots from Sean Price and Cormega (among others) and production from Lil Fame (of M.O.P.) and RZA, hip hop heads and Wu Tang fans were pleasantly surprised by Chamber Music. For in an in depth look at the album, peep the review.
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7. J Dilla – ‘Jay Stay Paid’
Any hip hop head who’s a fan of Dilla will be a fan of Jay Stay Paid. Produced by Pete Rock and featuring Blu, Havoc, Raekwon, Doom, Diz Gibran, and Dilla’s brother Illa J, Jay Stay Paid is a collection beats previously unreleased or unfinished by Dilla, some off the immortal and elusive 3 Beat Tapes and some from the depths of Dilla’s lab (which Pete Rock got access to thanks to Dilla’s mom, Ma Dukes Yancey). Two tracks in particular, Mythsysizer and KJay and We Out, make this album a must-have.
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6. Mos Def – ‘The Ecstatic’
Brooklyn’s native son put out his fourth solo album this summer to mass consumer delight. With guest spots from Slick Rick and Talib Kweli, The Ecstatic achieved much of its sales success online. More importantly, the production was done largely by Madlib, the famed producer behind Madvillainy and Jaylib: Champion Sound. The Ecstatic reached #9 on the Billboard Top 200 and #2 on the Billboard’s Top Rap Albums.
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No Masta? No GZA?? And no Meth??? No problem.

When the tracklist and album artwork dropped in mid-June, I was more than a little skeptical of how Chamber Music, the sixth studio album from the Wu-Tang Clan, would sound. Most critics proclaimed 8 Diagrams was wack. Even Raekwon the Chef and Ghostface acknowledged that they weren’t comfortable with the way 8 Diagrams came out. To make things worse, there have been rumors that beef wedged itself between parts of the ridiculously talented eight member crew.

But how has beef not been a roadblock already? Meth, GZA, Ghostface, and Raekwon each boast a top-notch album (Blackout! and Tical, Liquid Swords, Fishscale, and OB4CL respectively) that could, depending on who you talk to, put- if not themselves, then- their albums in the Top 5 of all time. Either way, there was the distinct possibility that Chamber Music would flop like Public Enemies (foreal, do not go see it).

To my delight, it didn’t. On the contrary, Chamber Music marks a return to form; strong performances from Inspectah Deck and U-God (whose third and arguably best solo album, Dopium, also just dropped), Raekwon’s guttural- and always New York City- flow, vivid realism and Ghostface’s high-pitched edginess coalesce around RZA’s classic production (which sparked an entire decade of derivative beat making) to create something both unique and yet familiar.

Like Pau Gasol did for the Lakers, the stellar guest spots on Chamber Music push the album to the next level. Cormega and Sean P drop lyrical and funny verses on Radiant Jewels (see Cormega’s “fuck a flow/this is a lyrical aqueduct” and Sean P’s “two shots/gimme the ball back/you got shot/get off my ball sack”), while Havoc, Masta Ace, AZ, Tre Williams, Kool G Rap, Sadat X and M.O.P. also make excellent guest appearances. Despite the album’s serious overtones (again, no Meth) and, at times, tendency towards preaching (there are a few too many RZA spoken interludes), the album is tight. It provides meaty production that showcases and enhances the lyrical prowess of each emcee. Shouts to The Revelations, the studio band from BK that made Chamber Music sound so good.

Sound the Horns – Inspectah Deck, Sadat X and U-God

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Radiant Jewels – RZA, Raekwon, Cormega, and Sean P

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Ill Figures – RZA, Raekwon, M.O.P., Kool G Rap

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And, for kicks, the video for Wu Ooh, off the Chef’s upcoming OB4CLII:

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