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Audio: Jay Electronica “Jazzmatazz (R.I.P. Guru Sendoff)” feat. Tone Treasure

Jay Electronica, dedicates this new joint to Guru “Jazzmatazz (R.I.P. Guru Sendoff)” featuring Tone Treasure. Download the latest single here.

Jazzamatazz

Big L: What His Future Could Have Been

On February 15, 1999, around 8:30pm, prior to the release of his second album, Lamont Coleman, known to many as Big L, was shot in the neighborhood he called home and the neighborhood we all became extremely familiar with through his lyrics. Prior to his death, Big L was known as the hottest unsigned talent. Roc-A-Fella Records’ then-rapper, Jay-Z and then-CEO, Damon Dash, paid weekly visits to West 139th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenue trying to sign Big L to their label. Big, the young lyrical phenomenon, would not sign. Why didn’t he sign with the growing music force of Jay-Z and Dash? According to Big L’s brother, Donald Phinazee, “he ain’t sign right off the bat because he wanted Herb McGruff and C-Town [to be signed] with him.”

So, what would have become of Big L if he wasn’t murdered? Where would he be placed in the history of Hip-hop? These questions have been asked millions of times. Each answer calls for more speculation on what could have been.

Even though Big L’s killers’ identities are still unknown, what is known is that Big L’s lyrical flow and talents still hold weight in 2010. We see this on a new album released by Big L’s label, Flamboyant Entertainment, called Return of the Devil’s Son. This album is a collection of rare and unreleased tracks that have only appeared on bootlegs, but never on one LP.

Unlike many new albums, Return of the Devil’s Son exemplifies Big L’s ability to change his flow on each track while keeping each metaphor strong. Each beat is relatively simple and you get the feeling Big L could have easily spit to anything.  Like Eminem, he has an ability to make his rhymes fit in each verse. He exhibits this talent in “Unexpected.”

I can go without some of Big L’s homophobic lyrics on this album but I do believe if his life wasn’t cut short, Big L would have matured not just as a lyricist but as a person. His future lyricism would have represented his neighborhood in addition to showcasing his growth as an artist and also his entrepreneurial sprit.

Through this album, we realize Big L would not have been a follower of the rap game but more of a leader. His potential future would have been Jay-Z’s present.

 

Track Listing Below:

1.) “Return Of The Devils Son” (produced by Showbiz)
2.) “Devil’s Son (produced by Showbiz)
3.) “Zone Of Danger” (produced by J-Love)
4.) “Sandman 118”
5.) “School Days”
6.) “Principle Of The New School” (produced by Showbiz)
7.) “Unexpected Flava” (produced by Lord Finesse)
8.) “Tony’s Touch”
9.) “Right To The Top” f/Royal Flush & Kool G Rap (produced by Domingo)
10.) “Once Again” (produced by J-Love)
11.) “Harlem World Universal”
12.) “I Won’t”
13.) “Hard To Kill”
14.) “Power Moves”
15.) “If You Not Aware”
16.) “I Should Have Used A Rubber”
17.) “Doo Wop #5”
18.) “Yes You Can”
19.) “Audition”
20.) “MC’s What’s Going On” (produced by Showbiz)
21.) “Slaying The Mic”

 

Video: Brother Ali “Breakin’ Dawn”

Video: It’s The Real – “My Girl’s A Republican”

Hip-hop comedy sketch duo, It’s The Real, who recently launched their Hype Men podcast, are making their first serious foray into music with an upcoming comedy rap album. Their first single is “My Girl’s a Republican,” a humorous ode to women from the red states, because those conservatives really know how to party.

Video below:

MC Hammer – Better Run Run *Jay-Z Diss* (video)

I don’t think Jay-Z is worried about this guy….

Boog Brown: Shades of (Jean) Grae But She is Her Own Woman

Years ago, before Eminem took the rap game by storm, I asked world renowned DJ, Cut Chemist, why white rappers have to be so gritty, psychotic and downright disgusting in order to make a “splash” in the hip-hop music industry? His answer would probably be something like; this is a male dominated industry so women have to do something different in order to make a splash. Unfortunately female rappers cannot rap as if they are men and about any topic they like.

Either way, the rap game for females appears to be changing.

Detroit native and Atlanta based rapper, Boog Brown, is one of the females who continues to help lead this change. There are zero signs of “Lil Kim-isms” on her debut album, Brown Study, which is a collaboration with hip-hop producer Apollo Brown. From the first track, “Marinate,” to the last, “Understanding”, rather than use her body to sell her lyrical gift, she uses her flow, word play and self confidence to let us know she is a rap force to be reckoned with.

Her straight flow and ability to battle as shown on tracks “U.P.S.” and “Friction” give her the ability to shoot adrenaline into the listener just as any track off of DMX’s first album does.

The opportunity to see that Boog is not a one style rapper is prevalent on each track. Unfortunately many rappers (even the ones I really like) pick only one style of flow.  On Boog’s album, we see a much softer side of her on “Just Be”, which at first listen appears to be about an ex-lover but on further listen seems to be an ode to her love of hip-hop.

The next track on the album, “My Love”, is yet another love song but in a completely different style.  One can picture this played at a club to get the partiers really hyped up once the party has hit a snag.

The final track, “Understanding” gives us great insight into Brown’s personal struggle as an artist. She tells us of the friends, boyfriends, etc., who didn’t have a clue as to why she wanted to rap.  This song is aimed directly to these individuals; however, she manages to include a personal touch on it.

Brown doesn’t use her physical gift as a woman to sell herself, she uses her raw talent as a rapper and poet. With only three years into the rap game, the countless comparisons to the female MC, Jean Grae, are easily understandable but should not last too long. I imagine the next female artist to debut will then be compared to Boog Brown.