September 2009: The "Real"ness

Okay, pretty much every blog does this shit, but it IS sort of needed, as I DO want to spread the word of otherwise little heard of albums and artists. Although I'm hardly going to go out of my way to avoid a mainstream/successful release if I believe it's worth looking into.
You should have seen this one coming, as half the shit I reviewed in the beginning of this blog is Wu-Related, but whatever. Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 had been in the works for 3 years, as Rae obviously knows how shit his second and third offerings Immobilarity and The Lex Diamond Story are and obviously wanted to eliminate any memory of them, hence why this is titled as a direct sequel to the undisputed classic Cuban Linx, it may also help that this is the first album since Part 1 that features RZA and other Wu-Element involvement with aid from other name brand producers, something that, excluding the Pete Rock produced Sneakers from Immobilarity, is something that's been handicapping The Chef ever since. In theory the idea of a sequel to my second favorite rap album of all time is a wonderful idea, and with the magnitude of producers and guest spots revealed a month prior to the release record sales and favorable reviews were guaranteed.

Cuban Linx 2 features production from Dr Dre, Pete Rock, J-Dilla, Marley Marl (!!), The Alchemist, and most importantly Robert "RZA" Digital, as well as guest spots from Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Method Man, GZA/Genius, Masta Killa, Busta Rhymes, Slick Rick, Jadakiss and Styles P (from The L.O.X.). You can imagine the big grin on my face as I read that line up. So imagine my disappointment when the album DID drop and I found a few things:

• Marley Marl only produces a track that's 50 seconds long (Pyrex Vision - which is admittedly a really fucking cool title), and while the subdued beat intertwines perfectly with the Chef's eloquent verse detailing the process of cooking Heroin, it's still a major let down.
• Pete Rock's contribution (Sonny's Missing) is recycled from the NY's Finest Compilation as is apparently J-Dilla/Jay Dee's 10 Bricks, although I'm not as avid a follower of Dilla's work as I am Pete so I can't be arsed to confirm that, which detracts hugely from my enjoyment of the otherwise brilliant tale Rae weaves.
  
• Slick Rick (We Will Rob You) only provides a(n) (admittedly menacing) hook, in which he utilizes the power of the English language to replace 'We will rock you' with 'We will rob you', which SHOULD have sounded gimmicky as hell but came off sounding pretty damn dark. The track still rocks though.

Now, as anyone who was interested in the project should know, two singles were released; the RZA-produced New Wu and J-Dilla's beyond the grave masterpiece House of Flying Daggers, which was a GREAT move as these are two of the best tracks on there, especially Flying Daggers; New Wu grew stale. As a result, my expectations of this album flew up. Which is rather unfortunate.

The album picks up where the CD version of Part 1 with Return of The North Star, once again featuring Papa Wu who big ups his man as if Immobilarity and The Lex Diamond Story were works of art. However, once you get that bullshit out the way the speakers are shaken by the aforementioned House of Flying Daggers, to then be followed by Sonny's Missing, which would have sounded soo much better if Pete gave Rae a fresh beat. The energy level drops for Pyrex Vision which leads into Cold Outside, which is effectively ruined by the singing and it takes almost a minute for Corey to start spitting, by which time the listener has lost interest. Black Mozart follows, RZA's average beat is effectively demolished by Raekwon and Inspectah Deck, who turns in one of his best verses in a while. Necro is given a chance at mainstream exposure with Gihad, which he produced, but unfortunately doesn't appear on (Necro's great in small amounts), I suppose it's a good thing as Tony Starks' vivid verse would have blown anything to shit anyway, the first single New Wu sounds a bit dated as I've banged it enough times, but it's not without merit. Penitentiary is next, which proves Rae and Ghost can still work fluently with each other, Baggin' Crack then kills the momentum built by the previous tracks but The Alchemist's contribution: Surgical Gloves which is the song that half the internet will have already heard, gets shit back on track, aided by Broken Safety with it's Kung-Fu samples. Canal Street sounds like a leftover from The Lex Diamond Story but the following song; Ason Jones, a tribute to ODB which is indeed touching, not as much as 8 Diagrams's Life Changes, but touching none the less. Beanie Sigels' verse, combined with Blue Raspberry's rasping ruins Have Mercy but 10 Bricks certainly earned it's e-acclaim and RZA's 3rd contribution; Fat Lady Sings, sounds boring as hell, not aided by the wailing at the start. Dr Dre steps in with the production on Fat Lady Sings, which is a decent enough song alone but it just sounds out of place on a Wu album. We Will Rob You, featuring Slick Rick, a Duracell Ultra-Charged GZA/Genius and an up-tempo Masta Killa comes next, and the beat, provided by GZA's son; Young Justice/Allah is a BANGER, perhaps this was the cause for GZA's inspired verse. Dre's second and final track, About Me, fares better than Catalina but not by much. (Allah) Mathematics then gives us the majestic Mean Streets followed by Kiss The Ring, which celebrates the Wu's Legacy, rounds the album off nicely.

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 wasn't the sequel I as a Wu-stan wanted to hear, but for a New York Rap album released in 2009, this blows that bullshit the South has been pissing out for the last 5 years straight out the water.

Go pick it up, or go download it illegally and have Rae's goons with Joe Budden's blood on their Armani suits show up at your front door.

That was a bit longer than I planned but, whatever, next up we have...


Skyzoo made a name for himself in the underground by releasing a stream of much-talked-about-on-blogs mixtapes to pave the way for his debut album: The Salvation, and Wikipedia mentions that Jin beat him on freestyle Friday a few years ago, which I'm sure managed to get the man a few extra hits on Google. I spent too much time on the last one so I'm just going to shoot into it.

The Salvation is one of those albums that when you frequent other blogs you'll find this plastered all over the place, so of course I had to check this out; if I didn't trust the opinions of my fellow bloggers what would be the point in my doing this?

I don't know much about Skyzoo because when it comes to 99% of underground artists I really don't give enough of a fuck. I've listened to the man's mixtapes and they were good enough for me to give this a download a week before it's release (don't worry after hearing it I decided to go out and purchase it, as is the case with most of my underground albums - I've wasted too much money on bullshit!), and I was pleasantly surprised.

Skyzoo seems to actually care about his output, as a result the man fills the album with introspective thoughts and on point lyricism, as well as a bit of social commentary. The album features production from both unknowns and heavy weights, most notably underground stalwarts 9th Wonder, Illmind and Black Milk as well as the sometimes shitty sometimes decent Just Blaze.

So let's go.

The choir singing at the start of The Opener was entirely unneeded, but when you get the bullshit out of the way we're taken into a melodic piano key introduction, and some decent drums, although you're left waiting for the drums to hit properly, the piano loop throughout the track is a nice touch though, and Skyzoo's lyricism is on point. Just Blaze's beat is far better than I expected and certainly does signify a 'Return Of The Real'. The first 9th Wonder beat on The Beautiful Decay - which was the first (and only) single, is decent enough, but the vocal sample gets pretty fucking monotonous. My Interpretation is faar too busy and Skyzoo is nearly drowned out when the looping mesh of vocal samples and instrumentation reaches it's peak, Popularity's drums are just begging to be taken up a notch and the hook needs deleted ASAP, 9th Wonder beat two gets us back on track on Like A Marathon. The Shooter's Soundtrack from Cyrus The Great (he also produced The Opener) sounds like it was recorded in an abandoned train tunnel at 2 am, which is a good thing. 9th Wonder's beat on Under Pressure is comparatively cheery, albeit in a 'Shit sucks now but it's gonna get better' way, aided by the general theme of the lyrics. Penmanship is a masterpiece, the simplistic drums from Black Milk allow Skyzoo to just do his thing, Dear However is far slower and can't help but sound poor in comparison. For What It's Worth reminds me of a sunset in an inner city ghetto, and is a very pleasant listen, although the hook is just begging to get wiped from my memory. The Neccessarily Evils is filler in it's purest form, Easy To Fly is the only track featuring a guest; Carlitta Durand, but as 9/10 times I can't stand the presence of singing on a rap song that essentially ruins any enjoyment of this song I may have had. Bottom Line is a return to form with Metal Hearts providing support for that claim. Maintain ends the album on the exact same note as Organized Konfusion's song of the same name on Stress: The Extinction Agenda hence forcing a comparison; it can't hold a candle to Prince Po and Pharaohe Monch's, which is a shame as it IS a good song.

Skyzoo is a highly skilled artist who rightfully earned the top notch production work he's given for his debut album, thanks to experience gained on his mixtapes he's already a fully functional artists with no real flaw, other than when the beats fail him. What's more is he handles the whole thing by himself, other than the female vocalist on Easy To Fly.

Give this one a buy, the man CLEARLY put in the effort to provide us with an album 'real' heads can nod their heads to.

Here's a slightly less celebrated album, Sojourn's Sojournalism: The Summer Articles hasn't quite been talked about as much as say Cuban Linx 2 or Blueprint 3 even that fucking Brother Ali album that I'll get to very soon, but that's not to say it's not worth looking into, quite the opposite.

Sojourn is one of the lesser known artists in the underground, in fact, the man even managed to allude me until very recently when I was visiting a hip hop site and noticed a topic with 2 pages discussing the man's latest album and I heard good things, so I went with the usual routine of underground albums from artists I know little about; burned it and gave it a spin.

I was impressed, VERY impressed. So impressed that I actually retraced my steps and purchased the album from the man's site, since good artists deserve the support. Read on if you're not already burned out from the last 2 albums.

It helps that the album cover is the BALLS.

After the irritating instrumental introduction we're properly introduced to Sojourn in No Expectations, he apparently produced this track, which is impressive considering the fact that it's actually pretty good, but what's more impressive is how much of a monster the man is on the mic, and his creativity, the track plays as the title says. Get Back isn't quite as good, as the hook on this Oh No production sounds like that track Diverse did with Lyrics Born on One A.M (can't be bothered getting the name for it) where the tempo of the first verse is fast, only this song then contrasts into something rather soft, which I'm not big on. Art Versus Commerce is FAR better, Sojourn discusses the difference in making creative, introspective music and making trashy club bangers and talking about such mundane subjects as 'bitches' and guns, and he does it sounding REALLY fucking good too. Fool's Gold is a masterpiece, the minimalist beat by Choice37 serves as the perfect partner for Sojourn's opinion on bling (my word not his), this is without a doubt my favorite song on the album, his lyrics are fucking inspiring. Human Resources is a simple track with Sojourn rhyming over someone (Big Rec I assume as he's listed as a featured guest but there's no hint of another artist) beat boxing, rhyming fluently over varying tempos. Say Something comes next, in which Sojourn urges artists to include a message in their music, not huge on the beat but it serves it's purpose. Cause & Effect retains the prime lyricism of the previous tracks but is derailed by PNS's instrumental, thankfully it's short. Then we're taken into the first song featuring actual guests; Solutionists, it's a nice change of pace but it's never a good thing to be an underground MC's personal bench warmer, it's clear that Sojourn is far more skilled than his guests. The Craving is essentially Sojourn talking about what he gets the urge to do, from watching the sun set to making music; as he says it "Painting colorful images to hang up in your frame of reference." Civil War is a great expansion to The Craving with a similar instrumental and more intellectual lyricism, the vocal sample on the hook is rather irritating, though. 10,000 is a nice change of pace from the last two tracks, with a far more upbeat track, another plus is that this time Sojourn's boys can hold their own on the mic. Definitely Special sounds like an out-take from A Tribe Called Quest's Beats, Rhymes and Life which is hardly what you want, seeing as that IS the worst album in their catalog after The Love Movement although Sojourn's a bit more skilled than Tip, Phife and Ali Shaheed. Road Less Traveled is a decent enough listen aside from that shitty hook, All Things Considered is chill as fuck and the title track (that would be Sojournalism, for the mentally deficient) ends the track on a positive note, the melodic beat allows Sojourn to bring the album to a close with his lyrical mastery.

As you may have noticed from the above love letter regarding Sojourn's Sojournalism: The Summer Articles, I believe you should buy the fucking thing.

Two things

• I know this isn't the official cover for the album but it looks so much better, although it IS just the proper one trimmed, I still prefer it.
  
• I'm surprising myself by doing this, upon first listen I despised this album, but I sat down and FORCED myself to not start drawing the word 'Fuck' repeatedly in paint after tracks 2-5 and I found myself enjoying it.

Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City is the 8th opus from Mr. Ghostface Killah, and it was intended to be a bit different from his other albums for two reasons.

• It's an "R&B Inspired" album, meaning softer beats and a high number of shitty hooks.
• This essentially means every song, in most un-Ghostish fashion, is a love story, or a story revolving around a woman in some way shape or form.

That out the way I'm ALSO going to adjust this write up (and the template of each review henceforth) accordingly, you see it's boring for both you and I if I just tell you the same thing describing each song:
Tony Starks describes an encounter with a woman/bitch, hated the R&B hook, beat is as far removed from Wu-Tang as possible.

That being said, this album still manages to be enjoyable without any real Wu-Elements involvement, the highlight being Guesthouse - which, for some stupid reason, features Fabolous (who only ever made one song I can condone listening to; Breathe) who actually does alright for himself, playing the role of the man fucking Ghost's wife in his own house - where Pretty Toney's vicious side comes out, the tale woven in this track is fairly similar to Gihad from Cuban Linx 2.

The tracks to avoid are definitely Do Over and Baby: They both feature Raheem "Radio" DeVaughn, which is one of the worst monikers ever, but he also derails any momentum built.

It's impressive that Ghostface Killah managed to make a whole album about one of my least favorite subjects (love songs and bitches) and featuring a lot of involvement from R&B artists and yet managed to keep my attention for the whole thing, mostly, and yet STILL managed to make an album I could just sit back and relax to. It's no Supreme Clientele or Fishscale but fuck it I'd listen to this over Bulletproof Wallets or The Big Doe Rehab so in that sense Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City was a success.

This isn't for everyone, fans of raw boom bap or vivid crime stories from Ghostface Killah and partner in crime Raekwon will be disappointed, but for hip hop fans with an open mind and an a good attention span can probably find something to enjoy here. So fuck it, give it a burn and if you feel that it deserved your money, go out and buy it, it's not the most accessible Ghostface album but most fans of hip hop can at least appreciate his vivid imagery and shit, even the kind of scum (no offense intended) that listen to Lil Wayne or 50 Cent may find something to enjoy in the form of the production, although if you are a fan of Lil Wayne or 50 Cent, the fact that you're reading my blog is pretty fucking questionable.

I'll make this a monthly thing, an expansion on this will be out tomorrow, also, if I find that KRS-One/Buckshot collab to be more enjoyable upon a third listen I may add that here, as it wasn't too bad.