French Montana. I seriously have no idea how he blew up. He seemed to be doing his mixtape thing one day...Mac and Cheese, Coke Boyz, and Lockout with Waka Flocka then all of a sudden has become one of the three main go to guys for hooks in rap nowadays, shoutout to Future and Drake. He signed to Bad Boy but has Rick Ross as the executive producer along with Diddy. He even hustles two of the richest dudes in the game. All this coming from a Moroccan born kid who became a legit self made millionaire through dealing coke. Well after all those nice things he is a terrible rapper. His only good quality is selecting beats which is a very underrated talent and necessary for French's survival since he tends to make tracks for strip clubs. His claim to fame, which is being "one of the best hook writers in the game today" isn't true to me because i find his shit annoying as hell but whatever. I did like Pop That though so maybe there are some gems on this. P.S., i'm not expecting there to be any. Alright here we go.
First thing i'm going to say is that i was surprised by this. Because it was a studio debut, i was expecting at least half the album to be strip club anthems but there only turned out to be 2 maybe 3 of those. Definitely Pop That and Freaks were and you could make an argument for Bust It Open to be the third of the trio. None of these tracks are good to listen to when you're sober so i advise you to be drunk if you want to listen and preferably have some cash in your hands to make it rain even if you're just by yourself in your room. Not only was the album surprising because it wasn't full of strip club anthems but also because he had some good stuff on here. I actually really like the first two tracks: Once In A While (with Max B on the jail phone) and Trap House. If French could change the hook up on Once In A While then it would get more play on the personal speakers. Here is the hook..."Cold Blooded Murderaaaaa" over and over. And Trap House could be a radio single except the track is called Trap House and every other word in Rick Ross's verse would get bleeped out. But shout out to Officer Ricky for showing French some love and not jumping on a single off the album. Then he hit Ain't Worried Bout Nothin and all i could think was that everyone was right because French can't make a hit by himself. Not only was this hard on the ears but it was Lil Wayne's No Worries. The same exact thing. Same as in if he jumped on No Worries like a year ago no one would blink an eye but that shows how creavtive and what his range of topics can reach. And whoever crowned French king of hooks is retarded because his shit is annoying as fuck. Just repeats a couple words over and over in autotune aka not a good hook writer. I only liked two other songs on the album which were Fuck What Happens Tonight and We Go Where Ever We Want. On the former it pretty much is a DJ Khaled style track with a bunch of features and i don't know what Snoop was doing there but he sounded way out of place. All you need to know is skip the first and third verse. Ace Hood and the legendary Scarface went in. Idk how or why Scarface keeps popping up on these DJ Khaled tracks but at least he is staying relevant in the younger generation's minds. And as for We Go Where Ever, props to the 3 producers on the track for flipping the Ice Cream beat. Obviously the original is better but anytime Raekwon drops a verse you gotta take notice. No one knows why Ne-Yo is on there since i doubt this is getting radio play but they needed a hook i guess.
As for the other tracks on the album i didn't mention i don't want to say that they were terrible but they were terrible. One of the tracks features a guy named Young Cash. These dudes must literally spend two seconds on thinking about their names nowadays. French is what he is. He's too old and been in the game too long to change up his whole subject matter. He is going to make strip club anthems for the radio which is very ironic and is going to make trap rap (whatever that is) with great production. I don't think Flocka gets enough credit for bringing trapping to the mainstream but i digress. Anyways if you like the rap you hear on the radios you would like this album. If you don't then you won't fuck with it. I like 3 or 4 tracks on the album but i don't even know if would go out of my way to look for them. But since i don't really remember what i gave Indicud i'm giving this a C- because this was definitely more enjoyable than Cudi's last project. Oh and if you're really debating on whether or not to buy this album or download it for free just download it. Normally i don't advocate that but this dude is rich as fuck from a previous tax free profession so i don't think he's sweating the dollar he makes off of your album sale.
Earlier this month i listed the best songs to the some of the wackest artists out right now and promised i would come back with the big brother post. So this right here is the best projects that these wack rappers have done in their careers so far. This shit is rare that dope stuff comes out of these people's mouth so cherish it. Time stopped while they were recording and everything just seemed to fall in the right place for them. It was lightning in a bottle for these guys and to their credit they took advantage. So in honor of OJ Da Juiceman i give you the Best of the Wackness Part Deux. This was tough for me to go through all their stuff so please don't piss on this post.
Drake- Thank Me Later
I summed up why I prefer Thank Me Later more than his other projects here but i'll refresh your guys memory if you don't wanna look back. This was his album that made me want to throw up the least and i was actually feeling some of the tracks but nothing that would make me wanna go back and listen to them again. Let's put it this way...at no point since i listened to the album have i though to myself "oh shit what was that drake track called?" I also don't like how he won Best Rap Album when his latest wasn't even a rap album meanwhile Killer Mike's Rap Music didn't even get a nod but i digress. It seems like he is getting back to the Thank Me Later sound though with Started From The Bottom but who knows how the rest of the album will be. I, like the rest of the male population, will not be anticipating it so it makes no difference to me. But if i see it gets reviews i'll check it out for sure.
Wiz Khalifa- Kush & OJ
The choice for best Wiz project was actually a lot closer than i thought it would be. I almost forgot how much i enjoyed Burn After Rolling but Kush & OJ was just too good to be denied the top spot. That is the tape that put Wiz on the brink of superstardom and later that year he dropped Black And Yellow to signify he had indeed broken through to the mainstream. I heard a couple stuff off of Taylor Alderdice and O.N.I.F.C and was just like "nah, i'll pass on that." Even though a lot of people hated it i fucked with Cabin Fever heavy before it eventually fell out of the rotation. That had some bangers on there i don't care what others say. Anyways I wrote about Kush and OJ on a previous post and to sum up what i said about real quick is that i liked the beats more than anything and how they flowed together with his words. He wasn't trying to drop knowledge or anything like that and he did what he set out to do which was to let the world know how much weed he smokes and how much he parties. Wiz may get knocked around for being soft or corny or an idiot sometimes but he stays in his lane and does what he does. Also he is a good live performer so bonus points for him there.
Wale- More About Nothing
Like the Wiz one, deciding which project for Wale was the best was closer than i initially thought. Looking back on A Mixtape About Nothing made me realize it was actually a clever breath of fresh air incorporating Seinfeld into all the tracks. Who would have ever combined Seinfeld and Wale into one project? More About Nothing continued the nothing series and Wale fine tuned it. He gets a lot of shit nowadays for being soft, a pussy, corny, and whatever else but at the end of the day the man can spit and if you need evidence just check these two and his Back To The Feature tape with 9th Wonder. That would have been the one to make the list except for the fact that it wasn't really a Wale project. Even his cliche smokers song The Breeze with Wiz has some real good wordplay and multi rhyme schemes. And with Wiz on the track it showed how much inferior of a lyricist Wiz is to Wale whatever that means. I like that Wale touches on a bunch of topics and even has some songs for the club. Shit i mean he has Roscoe Dash's Billboard number 1 hit on here. To sum it up short if Ambition was your first introduction to the man from DC then give the guy a mulligan and check out either The Nothing series or Back To The Feature because the MMG debut didn't do him justice. Being honest i haven't heard Folarin or The Eleven One Theory yet because who has time to check out new Wale stuff. Have you ever heard anyone say Wale is your favorite rapper? But maybe i'll check it in the future and if those can top More About Nothing i'll be sure to change my opinion. Although as i write this i am listening to the intro on Folarin and i feel like i want to cross kick Wale in the chest Charlie Murphy style. If you're going to be hard go back to Retrosuperfuture. Like chyea ima chill right chyea.
Asher Roth- Rawth
I do not think Asher Roth is wack in any sense and i feel he just fucked up with I Love College because he has not been able to shed the stigma that he is still the same guy that he was back in 2009. That being said this was a tough choice between Rawth and Pabst & Jazz. I enjoyed Rawth more so than the latter because i felt i was skipping too many songs with Pabst & Jazz. Although i do feel Asher's future projects will sound more like P&J more than anything he has done in the past, his joint project with Nottz was just dope. His storytelling was on point, his flow was on point, the tracks were sequenced well, the production matched what he was going for and i feel like i learned more about Asher in this project than in any other thing that he has done which is always a bonus.There wasn't anything i disliked about the project either. I don't feel the need to skip any tracks and the only minor gripe i could think of is that Asher still hasn't proved he could hold down a project of his own because Nottz spit on every track. But it was a collabo and it was damn near flawless. I fuck with this and still stays in the rotation.
Tyga
I'll be honest. I wasn't about to waste my time listening to all his shit so Hotel California wins by default.
J. Cole- Truly Yours
I was going to put The Warm Up on here but then i remembered i haven't checked out his Truly Yours release from earlier this year. So i gave it a chance and i was surprised. It sounded like that hunger came back and he went back to making music he wanted to instead of pressure music he had to make for Roc Nation. He has always been a personal/third person writer when making songs but he usually had some very bad lines in his verses. On Truly Yours he kept the same storytelling ability but left off the wack lines. Oh and i didn't know this before but i guess J Cole really HATES his step dad. Anyways Truly Yours has some competition. Like i said The Warm Up was going to take the spot before i gave the former a listen and i also enjoyed The Come Up and to a degree Friday Night Lights. I'm still convinced Friday Night Lights was supposed to be his label debut but Jiggaman said nope and it got released as a free project so i lightweight kinda feel bad for him. Well Cole Summer comes out in June so who knows if that project can top this one in terms of quality. It's going to be tough if he follows the same formula as his debut.
Mac Miller- KIDS
I know Mac explored his "creative" side with Macadelic and has been doing more production stuff lately as Larry Fisherman but his most enjoyable project was the one that put him on the map back in 2010. The High Life was cool but this perfectly described Mac as a person. Don't let his recent "dark" moody stuff fool you, we all know KIDS is like an autobiography. That being said, when i figured out that was the best he could do i decided to say fuck it and haven't really given him a listen since then. Although i see that he has been working with some real artists lately so i just might have to give him another chance but i would have to be real bored and literally have nothing better to do but we'll see.
Chris Brown- Chris Brown
I mentioned in part 1 that i wasn't too fond of this guy's [woman beater] music and i admit i have never listened to his album so this is what i did. I went on to wikipedia to look at his discography and looked at each album. Whichever album turned up with the most tracks that i liked, i would claim that to be my favorite album. And the winner is...Chris Brown. His self titled debut at the age of 16 had 3 songs on there that i liked which were Gimmie That, Run It, and Excuse Me Miss. The common denominator in these 3 is that Chris Brown does not appear on the song writing credits, surprise surprise. I pray to God no one feels sorry for Rihanna when she gets another beat down.
Big Sean- Finally Famous 3
Was it just me or did anyone else find it weird that only did Big Sean ironically name his first three mixtapes Finally Famous 1,2, and 3 when he wasn't even famous but then he named his debut album Finally Famous as well. Shouldn't that be Finally Famous 4 or maybe i missed class on the day they taught us to count but i digress. I'll be honest, i couldn't stand this guy's voice so my confession is that i never actually listened to a whole project of his. And it is something i do not regret one bit. This tape has the world famous hashtag flow he claims he created on Supa Dupa even though Cam'ron said "i throw my two arms up...touchdown" a decade earlier yet he doesn't claim to be the inventor so idk. If you are one of the rare people to actually sit through one of his projects, you have my sympathy.
Lil B- Based Boys
I know i'm cheating here but let's be honest. I don't even think Lil B himself has listened to all of his projects so i'm going with The Pack's debut album. If you don't know who The Pack is aka you didn't grow up in the Bay circa 2005 that's okay. Along with Lil B there was Stunnaman, Lil Uno, and Young L. They combined to make some of the most ignorant teenage anthems at the tail end of the hyphy movement. They got national attention with Vans, had Tyga in their video for In My Car and pretty much defined the scene going around for Bay Area teens at the time. Booty Bounce Bopper is a slap and my personal favorite is I'm Shinin. They needa reunite. What's Uno and Stunnaman been up to these days?
Nicki Minaj- Beam Me Up Scotty
This was probably the easiest choice for me out of all the artists. Not only were Roman's Revenge and Roman's Reload just straight terrible and unbearable if you are a hip hop fan it was sad to see because she showed on Beam Me Up that she can flow. I understand she is signed to Young Money so they are in the business of making dollars which means we shoulda saw it coming. But she said her next album is going back to her roots or some shit like that so hopefully she comes up with an album's worth of Monster verses. Anyways i don't wanna get too deep into it so if you wanna check the tape out you guys know what it's called.
Well there you have it. I'm sure you guys hate my picks so tell me which of their projects are the best, i'm open to all opinions. Just please don't try to convince me that Chris Brown has made an album that is worth taking time out of my non busy day to sit and listen to. AYE...OKAYYYY
Andre Nickatina- The Ave
if the beat sounds familiar you will notice that it is the one Puffy stole for Biggie's Juicy.
I know you guys are looking at this and fixing your glasses because you aren't sure you read that title right. Don't worry your eyes aren't fooling you. I'm reviewing Berner and Ampichino's 2009 collaborative album Traffic. Again the policy is you ask and you shall receive. The homie asked "review this for me bruh i'm been on a reminiscent train the last couple of days." you guys already know i love listening to new music and especially if it's stuff from the Bay i haven't heard yet and lord knows there is a lot of that. First things first is that i have never heard of Ampichino in my life so i have no idea what to expect from him. Berner on the other hand is a dude i would probably hate if he wasn't from San Francisco but he doing good for himself so i gotta show love to the local dude. I have only heard about three songs of his (Yoko, No Handcuffs, Colder Blood) and never have they been solo but he sticks to his lane so props to him. A couple things...How long is Wiz going to let Chevy eat because i swear he been stuck in neutral for at least 6 years and why is Playaz Club (No Handcuffs beat) not the anthem for California. If the Star Spangled Banner defines America or whatever i don't see any song, anthem, poem or whatever that defines California better than Playaz Club but what do i know. Jerry Brown dawg you were mayor of Oakland...you know wassup. Make it happen. Anyways here is my two cents on the album. Shout out to Rappin 4 Tay.
If you don't know what mob music is this is it. Just real straight to the point, there isn't any bluffs lyrics. Berner and Ampichino will NEVER be mistaken for a Mos Def or Aesop Rock but that is the appeal to them. The Bay if you don't know is built on being real as fuck. Not saying they don't appreciate metaphors and allusions and all that but they're feeding the streets music. And when the streets are your audience they don't have time to take apart each bar word for word and decipher triple entendres so that is why mob music is straight to the point, no middle man music.
People can hate on this type of music for the fact they don't educate the youth, glorify drug dealing and partying and all that other blah blah blah but this shit is as real as it gets and you can't hate on these dudes for just spitting what they live. They sound like they got off the corner at 10pm then jumped into the booth by 10:15. You either like this music or you don't. Me personally i can't be listening to this everyday but i can appreciate it so when i do happen to be in the mood to listen to mob music i bump it.
Now on to the actual music. Like i said this is that street corner rap. They're showing you their cards. No rabbit punches are being thrown. They're telling you their plays so its no surprise as to what they will be spitting about. However, there is a reason these two are hood superstars, well Berner semi blew up since he now fucks with Taylor Gang. They sound like any other local rapper out there. There is no quality that separates Berner and Amp from the pack. They aren't lyricists, don't have charisma, or even have flow. However, whoever laces the tracks is the shit. The production is some Bay shit with the soul and r&b vocals backed by some of the most gully topics getting spoken on.
I'm conflicted with this album because i really want to like it because i love supporting the local artists but honestly it just isn't that good. Other than Ballen Out i can't really say there are other standout tracks. When people say "how come bay artists don't get any love" they aren't talking about Berner and Ampichino. They're talking about The Jacka, Young Gully, and J Stalin. But at the end of the day its all love because at least Berner and Amp spit stuff that comes from the heart and if they fail, they're failing on their terms. I give this a C mainly because of the production. I'll still listen to this over Spaceghost Purp or Rob Banks or Chase N Cashe or Travis Scott because honestly those dudes try so hard to be different they need to embrace themselves. And i'm talking about Travis and Purp when i say that because idk shot about the other two other than they show up on all the blogs and i hate them based on their names. Word.
The Jacka- Glamarous Lifestylefeat Andre Nickatina
What's happening everybody. First off let me apologize for not doing this thing as frequently as i have in the past. Just got a massive case of writers block aka laziness and haven't really come up with any fresh ideas lately. Anyways let me get this started by saying Big Krit is my favorite artist point blank. A big reason as to why he is my favorite is because i did not really get into hip hop until mid to late 2010. And by that i mean i was a radio/pandora guy. I didn't look too hard for artists and my favorites at the time were Waka Flocka, Gucci Mane, etc. There's nothing wrong with liking them but at the same time i kind of took a step back and realized "no wonder people hate on rap." There was no substance to it. Its like how everyone makes fun of abstract painters because those Flocka/Gucci/Young Money types just throw shit against the wall and see what sticks (i got love for those people btw, although not so much young mula). Then, looking at various lists for Best of 2010 mixtapes i kept seeing one project listed over and over again. It was called Krit Wuz Here and the mixtape cover was just the words over some faded blue background and it got me wondering wtf was this. So because of the intrigue i downloaded it and it took a while but eventually i fell in love with the dude's music. Despite him being a country boy from Mississippi and me being a city boy from San Francisco there was so much i could relate to him with. So long story short i love every one of this guy's projects with the exception of Live From The Underground which i like and definitely have to give a few more listens to before deicing if it stays in the like category or moves up to the love category. Here we go with the King Remembered In Time review.
First off dope album cover as always from my man Big Krit. Album art is such an underrated aspect of the music game and i just have an appreciation for the people that take their time with this craft. I have no idea what in the world is going on but if i saw this in a record shop and didn't know who Krit was, i am buying this solely based on the cover. Now onto the music. I don't know why but for some reason whenever i listen to a Krit project i can't get into it right away. It takes me a while to give his projects their due but eventually i come to love them. For example it took me almost a year to really get into 4Eva N A Day but when i did i played that for like a month straight. So much so that Red Eye is my second most played song in itunes but i digress. The reason i mentioned that was because i knew i liked King Remembered In Time from the moment i heard it. I don't know where i would rank this yet with his other projects because it has to pass the time test that his other projects have already but it is not far behind. I actually think this project could have passed as an album. I don't know about clearing samples or whatever but let's just say hypothetically this was his next retail project, i believe Krit would have done well on the radio. He has beats that are great for riding and could bang in the club. If All Gold Everything could do well in the club then so can My Trunk with Trinidad James. I think he could have gotten his song for the ladies hit too with both Good 2getha and The Bigger Picture with the latter being my favorite track on the whole project. But as we all know Krit is dope as fuck and the radio don't like that kind around their neck of the woods, c'mon Def Jam you got a star on your label...push the man.
Anyways he has something for everyone. He has those aforementioned relationship tracks, he has the introspective tracks that he is great at like REM and WTF. He has the bangers with How U Luv That (shout out to Big Sant) and King Without a Crown. Then he has the smooth just gotta shimmy like you're possessed track with the legendary Bun B on Shine On. It's weird because i like a lot of the tracks by themselves versus his other projects where i just liked them as a whole project.
I want to say something bad about the project just so it doesn't seem like i am riding his jock but i can't say anything. The only things i can say is that i wish he gave us the full version of Just Last Week or left it off completely. I also wasn't feeling Only One but i have no reason for that so it may just end up being an invalid point. It's like the man is hater proof. The only bad things i have ever heard about him is that he sounds repetitive. Notice how no one ever says his shit is bad though.
I admit this was tough for me to give a grade because i really tried not comparing it to his other projects which are all A+'s in my opinion but i will give this an A- for right now. I am sure in due time it will be bumped up but as of right now that is where it is. Although the competetition is thin the only one that can challenge it for project of the year so far is Chance The Rapper's Acid Rap which i have been fucking with heavy lately. I know the worst thing an artist can have is people telling him or her that their project's shit doesn't stink stink because it builds overconfidence or whatever but i don't know what i could say. I have no criticisms other than those two half ass ones i said earlier. Well to summarize it, King Remembered In Time was yet another great project from the man from Mississippi. In my opinion he is the most creative and most talented hip hop artist out right now. I would say in all of music but i don't know that much about other genres. Last thing is that i feel like he and Starlito would make some great music together.
Since no one asked for it here is my rankings of Krit's projects. I know he had other stuff before Krit Wuz Here but i think even he would understand that i haven't gone that far back. Also please note that the top 3 could go in any order. If i could have done a three way tie for first i would have but i gotta show some kind of balls.
1. Krit Wuz Here
2. 4 Eva N A Day
3. Return Of 4eva
4. King Remembered In Time
5. Live From The Underground
And here is my list of most played songs in my iTunes. 13 of the 25 belong to Big Krit. I am not trying to portray myself as a Krit groupie or Krit's biggest fan but i just thought it was funny that i unconsciously listened to him so much. I also have no idea that i played Chance The Rapper that many times.
