As many readers may know, I "turned" 24 years old last Sunday. I'm not much in to my birthday, but I do pay attention to birthdays and other annuals as points of reference in seeing growth and change. I thought I'd write a few posts sharing some of my favorites from my 24th year (because, as we all know, we "turn" the age we are at the end of living that year). This one will be about some of my favorite music released this year.
We all know that I am an apologist for Hip-Hop music, and while 2008-2009 was a "slow" year for some of my usual suspects, we did see some exciting new artists and some breakthrough albums from familiar names. We also saw some drastic changes in style from some popular names.
I know I'm not the first to make this comparison, but the Knux could be to New Orleans what OutKast has been to Atlanta. The Katrina-displaced brothers remind me of why I love the Big Easy--so much eclecticism, all naturally wound-up in angst and a spirited cynicism that doesn't give in to jadedness. Their entrenched knowledge of american music combined with their poly-rhythmic MPC freak-outs make for some outrageously fun tracks that both brothers match with their versatile rhyme patterns and buoyant (if sometimes dark) themes. Check it out if you want to be totally confused yet totally entertained all at once.
K'naan's story begins with his upbringing in Mogadishu, Somalia during their civil war--but it definitely doesn't end there. He spent his teens in Toronto, and emerged as a spoken-word poet. To be fair, he did release
The Dusty Foot Philosopher (06/05) to wide critical acceptance, but outside of the smaller circles he was running in, nobody as far away as the West Coast was hearing it. K'naan sings, raps, and altogether defies un-hyphenated genre distinction. You can call
Troubadour alt-reggae, reggae-hop, whatever you want. He exudes Marley's soul, Wyclef's fire, Akon's appeal, and k-os' funk. That's not to say he should be compared to any of those artists, but he
is that interesting.
N.A.S.A. stands for North Amerca/South America, and is a collaborative project by DJs Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon. They both operate out of LA, but as Zegon is Brazilian, they decided to mash-up their two native sounds and make an album. The sound has been called "Brazilian funk," but don't pay attention to that. It's Hip-Hop, with some new rhythms we Americans aren't necessarily used to, and a lot of horns and crazy singers. Best of all, the MCs and singers they collaborate with: Chali 2na, Gift of Gab, Chuck D, Method Man, E-40, RZA, KRS-One, Fatlip, the O.D.B., Kanye West, M.I.A., Del tha Funkee Homosapien, The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, Scarface, Santogold, George Clinton, Seu Jorge, and my personal favorite: Tom Waits. Also appearing are some legendary DJsL DJ Qbert, Kool Keith, Z-Trip. SO much fun.
The Roots dropped
Rising Down less than two years after their CLASSIC album
Game Theory (08/06), and I have to admit that my expectations were high. I saw that Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli, Dice Raw, Truck North, and Malik B. were featured on the album, and that bolstered the hopes even more. I should have known that they wouldn't match the dark funky miracle that was
Game Theory. Nevertheless,
Rising Down features Black Thought at his very best, especially when listening to "@ 15" (which is a recording of Thought freestyling at age 15--"I have black thoughts/so my name's the same") and "75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)" back-to-back. BT's command of the language is in full display, as it was in past hook-less tracks like "Thought at Work" (
Phrenology) and "Web" (
The Tipping Point). Ultimately, the 10th album from the Legendary Crew is solid and while working through more politics, nihilism, addiction, and hypocrisy, it never depresses.
Common disappointed me with
Universal Mind Control. Okay, let's back up. He disappointed me back when he dropped
Finding Forever (07/07). But since he has a tendency to go up-and-down with each album, I expected that he would pick it up--which isn't crazy, right? Well, I was disappointed. Too many songs about sex, too little discussion of what's actually happening in the world, too much Neptunes, too little of what is left from the Common Sense days. The single "Universal Mind Control" is a loose remix of "Looking for the Perfect Beat" (Afrika Bambaataa), and is ridiculously infectious. Unfortunately the album never builds around it.
Kanye West. Remember when I wrote
this about Yeezy? Me too. But hey--let's all try to suspend our judgment of his past and examine
808s and Heartbreak by itself. Is he still in love with his reflection? Yeah, sure, probably. The comparisons with Narcissus could go on all day. But let me get one thing straight: This Album Fascinates Me. For so many reasons. Let's look at the artist first: Genius. Sonically, did with
The College Dropout and
Late Registration what so many have been trying to do before and since. Everyone you hear now has a little Kanye in them (or at least tries to). Nevermind the million collabos he did on albums for Jay-Z, Dilated Peoples, Slum Village, Lupe Fiasco, etc., you get the idea. So what does it mean when after Kanye drops a pitiful pseudo-pop-electronica album I won't even name in this post, he drops an album that gets buzz for what he
doesn't do on it: rap, or use samples in his production? It means....he sings with an auto-tuner, and produces purely out of reorganized sounds? Umm...what? Granted, the 808 has long been a staple of hip-hop, and the auto-tuner is as much a part of hip-hop's current mainstream sound as the digital clap (thanks a bunch, Akon and T-Pain), but this sure seems to be a boring stretch for the self-proclaimed "Best International Male" to Barack Obama's "Best Interracial Male." Let me just tell you: give the album a chance. This is the way hip-hop is going. Clearing samples is getting to be such an impossible business--totally de-regulated, full of shady lawyers, greedy obscure producers from the '70s. Artists now are draining their entire production budgets on clearances, and have no funds left for studio time or for bringing in artists to collaborate with. So the only way to stay in the black is to forgo samples. The only problem is that most people left to their own devices with their 808 or MPC make boring, plastic-y sounding music. The challenge is to create a digital sound that translates well in to the live show. Kanye succeeds. "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless" (the two lead singles) seem simplistic, but wait until you see them in full orchestration, played by the instruments that the sounds he used were derived from. You'll be dancing.
As far as the auto-tuner goes, it does add to the over-digitalized sound that pervades popular music now, and I can't defend it. It's there to auto-tune because the singer can't tune himself. It fits with the sound he's got on the tracks, but that's about the best thing I can say about it.
What I will defend is Kanye's lyrical expression. After losing his best friend and Mother in 11/07, and then splitting up with his long-time girlfriend and fiance of 18 months 7 months later, it sure sounds like he just locked himself in the studio and made this album. It's true, I believe, that suffering breeds creativity, and Kanye had to suffer here while making this album. Having split up with a long-time girlfriend myself just before this album released, I connected with Kanye's confusion, his pain, his self-doubt, but ultimately his belief that he could go on. That's going to come off pretty cheesy, but if you've broken up before, you know what I'm talking about.
I am giving 808s and Heartbreak some time to determine how relevant I think it is to hip-hop overall. Hip-hop doesn't really seem to know what to do right now, and I see 808s as Kanye stating his case for where it could go. Nobody will argue what his influence has been--now we will just have to wait to see what his influence still can be.
Along with those albums, I really enjoyed the return of the Abstract: Q-Tip (
The Renaissance - 11/08), the long-awaited full-length from what's left and still rapping from ATCQ. Deft and non-stop rhymes layer the updated drum-and-bass style that once was ATCQ trademark on "Won't Trade" and "Manwomanboogie." Overall, a fun album, and a welcome release from an ageless personal favorite of mine.
I should also mention T.I. (
Paper Trail - 09/08), which is a surprisingly revealing and apologetic album from a gifted M.C. on his way to the Penitentiary. Check out "Ready for Whatever," "No Matter What," and "Dead and Gone" to hear his side of his latest charges, and prepare to be convinced that he is truly on his own road to redemption.
Also to be heard: Grandmaster Flash (
The Bridge - 03/09)!!!! Yes, you read that right. Flash is back! Far from being the most innovative of
this decade, Flash nevertheless displays his trademark precision and creativity with the resources he is given. Every song bleeds NYC adrenaline, carried through the late '70s, '80s, '90s, and all the way to 2009 through Flash's fingertips on the turntables he still spins. He brings in legends: KRS-One, Q-Tip, Big Daddy Kane, Grandmaster Caz, Busta Rhymes. He brings in underground superstars: MC Supernatural, DJ Kool, Mr. Cheeks. He brings in relative unknowns....he does it all. Overall a VERY fun album from the one and only GMF--you won't be disappointed.
That was the best hip-hop of my 24th year. I'm sorry for not mentioning the new Nas album, but ya know....I'm not a big Nas fan. Heard the album, it was interesting, now I forgot about it. That's my review.
I'm looking forward most to a new Mos Def album in my 25th year, and maybe some new projects out of the Quannum Crew. Haven't heard from Blackalicious in a while! Would love to hear something out of the Coup, Jurassic 5, even dead prez. I'm curious what they have to say about our black president.
Check back for more of my favorites from my 24th year!