Dr. Dre – Compton

I know more about what happened with Aftermath between 2006-2009 than probably any other human that wasn't employed by them. It makes no sense, in retrospect, why that was. My formative years as a hip-hop listener 2002-2005 were dominated by the G-Unit/Shady/Aftermath conglomerate. As a fan and at that point admitted producer groupie, I paid attention to a lot of different producer-led movements. By 2005/2006 though, Star Trak didn't really amount to anything, and Tim's group didn't pop off until Nelly and Justin's albums. So yeah, I paid attention to what was going with Aftermath.
There was the Aftermathmusic.net fansite/also sort of official site?, DubCNN, HipHopDX, Wikipedia, whatever. There was a point in the summer of 2007 where the Detox Wikipedia page was updated almost everyday. I know this because at the time I had no friends. I remember when Eminem said "We gon' make him do it" on the Encore title track. I remember when Dre said "Look out for Detox" on The Documentary. I remember all the changes that the artist roster went through. Game went to Geffen. Eve never dropped, even after "Tambourine." Stat Quo's single never popped and he got shelved. Busta's album was what it was. Bishop Lamont leaked "Grow Up" and was never heard of after that. Raekwon was rumored to have signed.  Marsha Ambrosius did some hooks but left without anyone realizing it. There was a dude named G.A.G.E., who had a cool song I heard on YouTube song. Joell Ortiz was there for like five minutes. Slim the Mobster was always this mysterious figure. They didn't really push him until 2010 but things got weird and he disappeared.
I remember the producers. Mike Elizondo, who did 50, Em and Game's biggest hits, left to do Maroon 5's second album. But there were still Mark Batson, Dawaun Parker, Focus..., sort of Mr. Porter and technically DJ Khalil even though things didn't really work out like that for him until 2009 when he did singles for Clipse, Slaughterhouse and Eminem. I even remember when Focus... said he wanted his album to be as big as The Chronic even though it was a free download on some random website.
I wrote a cover story on the myth and status of Detox for the A&E section of The Monarch, my high school paper Spring 2009. At the time, it was supposed to happen after Relapse and Before I Self Destruct. 50 used to throw around the phrase "three-headed monster" then. But those albums were what they were and that plan fizzled. But there was a plan in motion. Dre had presented Video of the Year at the VMAs. He signed a deal with a liquor company. He hopped on Kardinal Offishall and the Clipse's "Set It Off." And then his son died of an overdose. I think he has lots of kids, and this wasn't one with his wife. Not that one kid is more important than the other, but you get it.
Then Beats launched. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and Lebron all appeared at a Red Sox game to promote a new color way. Just the week before, there were rumors of a Dr. Dre and Jay-Z song called "Under Pressure." Splash leaked it three months later, and well, that shit was terrible.
But there were the good leaks! The T.I. references - "Coming Back" (Hi-Tek's best beat?), "Topless" and "Shit Popped Off." And they were really great. Literally, nothing to complain about. From what I understand, even as some of those songs went to commercials or a T.I. mixtape, different version were worked on well over time. A year or two later, there were other leaks. A song called "Syllables" with 50, Em and Jay and some more songs, but no one really remembers those.
Then there was a moment in 2012 when it was really supposed to happen. Nottz, Jake One and Bink were involved. This is before the official singles were released. But it seemed like someone pushed the button on "Kush" too early. And then there was "I Need A Doctor"...
Kendrick came along. He did Coachella. Slim the Mobster vanished. At that point I stopped caring. Even if it dropped, it would not have mattered. But it's actually here now.
And it's weird. It's good, probably not that great. But it's weird. In many senses. From what I understand, at least half of this album existed previously. Maybe the verses were re-written but the music was there. "Talking To My Diary" was in a Beats commercial four years ago. After all that I just covered, the names involved with Compton make no sense. Focus... left Aftermath in 2009. I understand everyone came back to work on different iterations of this project, but his name is on more than half of these songs, with mixing credits. Stat Quo and Slim The Mobster only have writing credits on one song each. Marsha's back on a bunch of songs. There's lots of King Mez, Justus and Anderson .Paak. It's not really a reunion album. It's just sort of an album that the people who were around in the past year made.
I strongly feel that the album came out when it did because Straight Outta Compton the movie's release date was the only realistic deadline Dre could have ever given himself for this project. Calling it a soundtrack is a bit of a cop out. The way music works today it would have never been as significant culturally than it would have been if it dropped ten years ago.
The songs for the most part are very busy. So much is going on. Too much. It's unnecessary. Why is there a "For the Love of Money" sample? And what's with all the Eazy references? And the line in that Em verse? There's a weird murder skit that doesn't make any sense in the context of the rest of the album. And the drowning skit?
The credits make no sense. Too much is made of what Dre actually does in studio, but even with his name as lead writing credit on every song, he has production credits on less than half of the album. The Game joint goes though, and "Animals" is very dope.
It's out, so he's off the hook now. That's the point of this album. It will never do what the other two albums did. He doesn't need them too. He just needed this album not to be terrible. Even if it was, it wouldn't have mattered. It's hard to say this album could have been better because this album is probably the best it could have been. I probably wanted something different, but there's no point trying to speculate anymore.

A$AP Rocky - At.Long.Last.A$AP

It's not unfair to say that much of what makes A$AP Rocky's music enjoyable is the aesthetic. There are people that for whatever reason still link him to a Houston sound, and while that's not the case, there's definitely a palpable style to his music. The Houston, Memphis and whatever else influences are there, yes, but it is Rocky's charisma that made it worth feeling excited over. Anybody can pitch down vocals over fake Mike Jones leftovers, and that sounds cool until it doesn't. What was fun about Rocky shone through on bright like "Peso" and "Goldie". There wasn't really a formula to follow. The energy was just there.

At.Long.Last.A$AP noticeably lacks any of these moments. Rocky is not a bad rapper, but he hasn't shown much technical improvement at all. So it's really not a good thing that one of his two main qualities - charisma - is blatantly absent and the other - aesthetic - is muddled up garbage. The production on this album is the remnants of a half-eaten scoop of ice cream after being left in the sun. Shit is bland and wholly uninteresting. And when it does hit, Rocky coasts lazily. The LPFJ2 beat sounds like the soundtrack to hell raising. Rocky doesn't seem to get the memo. L$D is wtf?

Why is this album so long? And why is Mos Def on it? After four listens, you can trick yourself into thinking this album is kiiiiind of alright if it's on strictly in the background and you're not really paying attention to it. It's hard for me to believe Yams approved of this. Future's part is fire though.

Jagged Edge - JE Heartbreak II

My earliest experiences listening to R&B have to with projects Jermaine Dupri was involved with. The first Jagged Edge song I heard was the "Where The Party At" remix on the Hardball soundtrack. Needless to say, I've been riding for JE for a while. Even as their career seemed to be winding down, Jagged Edge would come through with songs like "Good Luck Charm" and "Put A Little Umph In It." Those albums didn't make much noise, but that's how the game goes.

With all this said, I find it a huge cop out for older artists to complain about the state of R&B when they're really just mad they're not poppin' anymore. R&B is in a weird place. Every single needs a rap verse, and the genre as a whole doesn't seem to mean as much as it did even six or seven years ago when piracy was already a huge problem. But if you look at Billboard and radio, you'll see names like Jeremih, Miguel, Trey Songz, August Alsina, Drake, The Weeknd, Jhene Aiko. These are artists that — with rap features and without — have established themselves as new and relevant ambassadors of the genre, like them or not.

Jermaine Dupri is heavily involved with both the production on the album and its promotion. He, too, is on the we-must-save-R&B bandwagon. While there's no doubt Dupri is an amazing songwriting talent across multiple eras, he's had a quiet few recent years. Especially with Mariah's album flopping, he needs a win.

JE Heartbreak II is a logical step for both parties involved. Let's bring back R&B. Let's remind people what R&B really is. Let's make it a sequel and invoke as much nostalgia as we can. The songwriting is the main focus. It is focused on global topics – I see my "Future" in you; All I want to do is put her "Hope" back into a man. There's a crowd that probably appreciates this that'll cry, "This is it!" But great R&B isn't limited to slow love songs. In fact, the only criteria for truly great R&B are an inescapable melody and a groove. "Future" and "Hope" are fine, but "Things I Do For You" is it. You can try to prove to the world that "real R&B" is here to stay by making "Getting Over You" a single and including inspiring songs with no drums, or you can give the world songs like "Wanna Be" and "Ready."

The album is not only serviceable, it's pretty good. And there isn't much out like it. That in itself should be enough.

Jessie Ware - Tough Love

Jessie Ware has a magnificent voice. Some of the music on her debut were a little too "big" for my taste, but it was refreshing to hear a white female (sorta?) media darling that wasn't some faux-modern R&B that people would compare to The Weeknd or an overrated mess like Lana Del Rey. While "Sweet Talk" is easily one my favorite songs of the last decade, that album as a whole didn't quite sell me on her as an artist.

"Tough Love" isn't perfect, but it is a vast improvement. Songs are tighter and more melody driven. The album is mostly produced by Benny Blanco (Katy Perry, Taio Cruz, Wiz Khalifa) but also employs Miguel and Dev Hynes. Her sound — a modern spin on alternative, with drum machines and reverbed vocals — is very much present. There's no pop standout like "Sweet Talk" — "All On You" is close — but that wasn't the song that garnered her attention anyway. This is an album literally full of love songs, like songs and lust songs, and that should really be celebrated.

Elijah Blake - Drift

Elijah Blake has a very capable voice. It's not super powerful, but it definitely has a range. You'll recognize his tendency to stay in the upper portion of that range in Usher's "Climax" which he wrote. Blake doesn't have an extensive writing history. Aside from "Climax," there's a couple credits for Keyshia Cole and a feature for Rick Ross. Even before then he was already signed to Def Jam (eventually through No I.D.'s imprint) as an artist and managed by RocNation. In 2012, he released his first real anything Bijoux 22, a free 8-song EP. It was incredible. Not in years had a male voice made R&B music that was so emotionally significant. The songs on Bijoux were miles ahead of any romance equation that makes up Chris Brown and Ne-Yo songs and whatever hip-hop trends Trey Songz was adopting. The one song that fell into those categories was of course the one Def Jam chose to go with as a single. Close to two years later, this EP has over 40 plays in my iTunes. I really, really like it.

Drift, the first official release from Blake, one that follows Def Jam's EP first until you prove you're hot and then an album unreasonably soon after, is not quite as good as Bijoux 22.  It's a similar structure — 8 songs, including an awful one with J. Cole that was the followup to the awful one with Common. It isn't too sonically impressive. There's a clear distinction between the songs No I.D. did and the ones he didn't. If the writing on Bijoux was an A, the writing here is a borderline B/B+. "Strange Fruit" turns a blown opportunity of a song title into a mediocre club record. The centerpiece is "6," a tale of being physically punished by his father and the effects it had on his life.

The bad news is that this EP isn't making him a star the way it worked for Jhene and August Alsina. The good news is that Def Jam may not care about the numbers. It probably wasn't ever meant for radio, but it's really cool that "6" was the first single. In a perfect world, we see more of the last three songs of Bijoux in the full-length.

Travis $cott - Days Before Rodeo

Travis Scott is culturally relevant because of how famous Kanye West is. Everything Kanye wears, everything he touches, everyone he meets, every musician whose music Kanye potentially, slightly enjoyed matters. Travis exists in this category. Once you remove this from the story, there isn't a lot left to get excited about.

Travis' history exists as follows: a Cruel Summer feature and a few Yeezus production credits. If his first mixtape Owl Pharoah solidified anything, it's that he really is an awful rapper. Take "Upper Echelon" for example, he raps like Shannon Sharpe does football highlights. His enunciation is muddled, his sentences are broken. Some words he used weren't even real words. You can legitimize his raps the same way you could trick yourself into thinking that Gudda Gudda's "got her nigga, grocery bag" line actually made sense, but ultimately nothing he says has much substance.

But hey, his beats are dope, right? Until you realize Owl Pharoah was almost entirely produced by other people, and his biggest production credit was someone else's beat. But the mixes are hot? It's safe to assume we can thank Anthony Kilhoffer and Mike Dean for that. Why were we supposed to like him again?

Days Before Rodeo is a step forward from the last project. Out of context, it honestly sounds good. Earlier this year, Travis helped out with A-Trak and Lex Luger's present day Atlanta-influenced Low Pros EP. Rodeo continues that Atlanta tradition. Featured heavily are some of the city's newest talents – Rich Homie Quan, Migos and Young Thug. Almost too obvious though is their influence on Travis' latest style. His autotuned delivery is literally an amalgamation of those three acts and also Chief Keef, Future and even Kanye. Not just stylistically but in terms of subject matter. There's all sorts of gun talk and drug talk here that we didn't hear on the last project.

The question becomes does the biting matter if the music is good enough? How do we judge something we're not supposed to like? Travis may have found his pocket vocally (the hook on "Don't Play" is great), but the mistakes are still there. Seriously, what the hell is he saying on "Skyfall?" His verse on "Sloppy Toppy" is like madlibs with phrases already heard on songs on the radio.

He's like Kirby, inhaling the talents of rappers that already made names for themselves but without it leading to any victories. Those other artists provide easy templates to trace, but he still has to fill in the rest of the picture and that's not something he's proven he can do. He's spent most of his career hiding his face, and maybe this is appropriate as the guy has no real identity.

Wiz Khalifa - Blacc Hollywood

If I were in high school, I'd love Wiz Khalifa. I'd listen to the first 45 seconds of a song, claim, "that's sick," and hit the skip button, all while listening through one earbud, doing something on my phone and having a conversation with someone. That's what the music he makes allows for. It's free. It's fun. It's not too serious.

From an alternate perspective, his music isn't very good. His music has incorporated more and more melody over the years and it offers some interesting moments, but his rapping is literally as basic as it gets. Blacc Hollywood is Wiz's third album, and the success he's had (and managed to maintain) allows him more creative freedom than is ever allowed on major label albums today. Still, nothing worthwhile really comes from it. Having Juicy J and Project Pat on a (kinda?) high profile rap album in 2014 is cool in theory, just not the execution. The Nicki feature is a waste. And you'd think having Ty Dolla $ign in your corner would lead to more than whatever this album's intro is.

Occasionally things do work out. "We Dem Boyz" is great. I've decided I know nothing about what will work at radio, but "You And Your Friends" is the one, like "Black and Yellow" status. In both of these cases, things come together. Again, they're free, they're fun. There ultimately isn't much Wiz contributes as an artist, and that's where the discussion around Blacc Hollywood should end.

Iamsu! – Sincerely Yours

While the last few years have blurred the line between albums and mixtapes, rappers insist on stressing the personal importance of their debut album, that is, the first album after the deal comes. Music, plenty of it even, has been released, but this is where your career starts. For Iamsu! it has been an interesting ride. Repping the least celebrated (at least in a rap sense) major American region usually proves fruitless, but a string of beats and verses on some of the most fun regional/Internet hits of the past few years, including LoveRance's "Up," E-40's "Function" and of course, Sage the Gemini's "Gas Pedal," created a buzz unheard of for a Bay Area artist. There was never a single hit song attributed solely to him, but he clearly represented something significant for California rap.

2013 found Su being lapped by his contemporaries YG, Ty Dolla $ign, Problem and HBK member Sage The Gemini, each with multiple radio hits, each fitting into rap's current ratchet/strip club narrative. A growing number of blog posts aside, Iamsu, who had always seemed so poised to take over, had yet to make a dent into the national scene even as rap's go-to sound gravitated toward his home state. With Sincerely Yours Su was set to finally make his mark, to properly declare the start of an outstanding career.

Much of the music on Sincerely matches up with the rest of his catalogue, technically sound and enjoyable. His personality is present but the songs don't scream superstar. He does things you'd expect from his debut – mentioning putting on for the Bay and being the first to bypass that handicap – but this collection of songs feels more like an extension of his many mixtapes. If there's an aspect of the album that leans more towards the modern mainstream, it's the songs that resemble music by 2 Chainz, Wiz and Drake, filled with cliches that sound good but don't really mean anything. The lead single "Only That Real" might have made serious noise two years ago but is generally forgettable in the year of DJ Mustard.

Su's ability as a rapper has never been questioned. He's incredibly capable of putting words together in interesting ways, but he really shows off his ear for melody on many of these songs. He doesn't just sing through Auto-tune. His voice becomes an instrument in itself. Think R&B Future meets Kanye on "Say What's Real." On "Stop Signs" there's no hesitance to hit a higher register and demonstrate a bit of vibrato. Some of the most interesting moments, both from a production sense and a lyrical one, happen on the album's interludes. It's as if Iamsu is at his best when creating in a confined space whether for a 16 bar guest verse or a two minute interlude.

There's plenty to appreciate about Sincerely Yours, but the best debuts of the new millenium – The College Dropout, good kid, m.A.A.d. City, even My Krazy Life – had higher aspirations. Iamsu is from the Bay. He's used to being under appreciated. He just need to change things enough for the world to finally respond.

IamSu! feat. 50 Cent & Jay Ant – Show Me

When 50 Cent hopped on LoveRance's "Up," it was a move meant to keep himself somewhat relevant and help give a local hit some national shine. He had been charitably flocking verses to everyone from Too Short to one-offs like Mann that it had become routine over that time period. So while he actually shouted out HBK on "Up" and appeared in the video, it probably didn't occur to anyone that there was a relationship between Fif and Su or any the HBK kids.

On Wednesday Jay Ant threw out the song, claiming it had not made Su's upcoming debut Sincerely Yours. 50 is also in album promo mode, so it kind of makes you think where his starpower and credibility is at if a great song like this won't even make IamSu's album. This is definitely one of Jay's more accessible beats. It soothes in the way most of his music does without intentionally being extra trippy. Su has been playing around with the auto-tuned flow for almost two years now, and especially in the wake of guys like Young Thug, it's great to see someone use his voice as an instrument as uniquely as he does here. 50 also shines here. He basically follows Su's style, but he's clearly having fun stepping outside of his comfort zone.

The four singles he's dropped from Animal Ambition, while all technically good aren't anything to run home to. Perhaps 50 is in a position, at least creatively, to try these new styles instead trying to recreate feelings from his heyday. While there would almost certainly be a backlash, I would very much appreciate it.

This song is so much more interesting than the single Su actually decided to go with, it's a total bummer it isn't official. But if this ended up on the cutting room floor, I look forward to what ends up on the album.

50 Cent feat. Trey Songz – Smoke

50 Cent feat. Trey Songz – "Smoke"

I feel like it's safe to say we're all still rooting for 50. He's had his slip ups (more than a few since 2007), but he's obviously a very smart man. He also seems to have an answer for absolutely everything, which makes watching his recent interviews almost impossible because he goes on these tangents for what seems like hours. You ask him why he's been quiet for so long, and it's because this or that or Interscope or because Lloyd Banks is lazy or whatever. But now really is his last chance to pull a rabbit out of his hat and prove not only to himself but to the rest of us that he's still got it and that he's still culturally relevant.

The thing about 50 is that he's always been mainly an entertainer (and probably even more of an entrepreneur), but we don't really know much about him as a person. He reps New York, but he chokes up when you ask him to pick between the Giants or Jets. He keeps his relationships private, but you wonder if he thinks about getting married at all. The artist-fan relationship is so much more about buying into the artist as a person, and it's odd to see 50 confused to realize that. Even his moves outside of music right now are somewhat baffling. He'll (I assume) brag about his new show on Starz, a network not known for groundbreaking original programming or impressive ratings. He's hanging out with Rachael Ray, who hasn't actually been a thing since her show on the Food Network (#TeamGiada tho). And while I'm sure he's made millions off these decisions, it's almost like who cares?

He's dropped a few songs recently, but "Smoke" is the one. It's supposed to be anyway. On first listen, especially once the synth kicks in, it's easy to think the song is special. But maybe I just want it to be so. It's kind of forgettable, but for some reason I find myself listening again. The smoke metaphor probably came from the time he kept outwardly legitimizing the popularity of Wiz Khalifa and Frank Ocean's "Novacane"as hippy culture. In today's radio climate, it might have made more sense for the song to feature Chris Brown but that probably doesn't change much.

This video really sucks though. As do all of his videos. They're all directed by Eif Rivera, and they're all just footage of him reciting the song. This one tries to be interesting, but falls flat all while ripping off Kanye's "Flashing Lights" video. He also has the most horrendous album and single artwork, but I'll save that for another post.

Sage The Gemini - Remember Me

During the ringtone rap era, labels would repeatedly sign acts with a local-turned-crossover hit. In some cases, the label would force a second single out of the artist and hope it would match the success of that initial hit. In even more cases, that initial hit would run its course and the album the artist was promised would end up shelved after the label decided it could do no more with him.
This is what's so amazing about Sage The Gemini's story. He could have easily become "the guy with that 'Gas Pedal' song." Not only did he follow up the bass-heavy hit with "Red Nose," Sage was able to parlay his hit songs into the start of a serious career, a feat few Bay representatives can claim to have conquered. Even IAmSu, his HBK cohort and the leader of the region's youth rap movement, has yet to earn even a fraction of Sage's accolades.
Remember Me's release is a victory in itself, considering the history of artists from the under appreciated region, but let's be clear. This shit has some bangers on it. Sage has a gift for writing hit songs. "Gas Pedal" and "Red Nose" will continue to dominate mix shows for the foreseeable future, but then you have "Bad Girls," "Just A Kiss" and the infectious, sure-fire hit "Go Somewhere." Every one of the HBK kids makes an appearance, but this is very clearly Sage's album. He commandeers nearly every hook and produces half the album.
It's easy to call this a fluke. To dance and sing along to Sage's music and still contend he won't be around next year. To pretend that all his success is still not as significant as some of his competition's. He's already gone from one to two to three to potentially four-hit wonder. A successful career really isn't all that farfetched at this point.