Images for Submissions

December 2016 Albums

T.I. Us or Else: Letter to the SystemI'm not sure what I want from T.I. at this point. In theory, this album is a good thing. A rapper of T.I.'s stature and career making a point to craft an entire album to protest systemic racism and police brutality seems like it isn't a bad idea. This album is not it. Maybe T.I. is better off making the music he used to make and just making a charitable donation or something, creating an all-black Atlanta based credit union.

Justine Skye 8 Ounces
I still don't understand who Justine Skye is. She's signed to a major, has had official music released, but does not ring a bell for whatever reason. That's technically the curse of the music business. You can make the right moves and still be susceptible to a label that's confused or a musical climate that's not quite flexible. There's not even that many young, black female pop/R&B singers on the scene at the moment (Tinashe and Sevyn are the only ones I can think of), but Skye is just sort of there. She's friends with the Jenners, makes her way around the trendy NY scene but has no hit. This EP is entirely produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart probably for the purpose of getting that hit, but that's probably not going to happen. The EP is good though, and some of it is great, easily Tricky and Terius' best work in years – somewhere between the Eletrik Red and Mariah albums but nowhere near as good as either. It's nice to see them start to get their groove back together.

Yo Gotti White Friday (CM9)
I understand Yo Gotti's history as an independent musician in theory, but I'm not actually familiar with much of it. Given how long he's been around, it's great to see the recent success he's seen. His albums with Epic seem to be a little too 2010s major label formulaic but he finds a way to breathe excitement into at least a portion of it. "What Happened" a dedication to his manager that just passed is great.

J. Cole For Your Eyez Only
It doesn't make sense that J. Cole is as successful as he is. Not because I don't like him, but because his music shouldn't be popular. The way it sounds with its weak snares and low quality sample reconstruction like an album you'd find in the Tower records dollar bin in 1996 and its content, erections in math class and all, should not be appealing to a national audience. People for whatever reason seem to be attached to him. This album isn't that bad. There's multiple songs from the point of view of someone who thinks he'll die soon and needs to impart wisdom to his family before that happens, but it's hard to tell if that's autobiographical or entirely fictional.

Ab-Soul Do What Thou Wilt.
I don't know what the hell this shit is.

Press Play: A Retrospective

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Diddy's fourth solo album Press Play. This is not the album that determines his musical legacy. Outside of debuting at number one, it didn't really make that much of a splash culturally in 2006 compared to his others. It was an album I definitely found myself connecting with. It was weird. It sort of didn't make sense. It probably wasn't great, but it was good! It was definitely interesting and deserves a look back.

In the fall of 2006, I had just turned 15 and was a sophomore in high school. The kids I went to school with would all freely admit to listening to hip-hop but none of them outside literally one or two people whom I wouldn't befriend until much later actively paid attention to anything going on within the genre. As a result, the albums that I grew attached to at the time – Hell Hath No Fury, King, Doctor's Advocate, Blue Carpet Treatment, Like Father, Like Son, and obviously Press Play – were all ignored by my peers. That wasn't a bad thing. I nerded out in my own way. Press Play though wasn't exactly acknowledged by the culture, maybe because the hits weren't hits or because it was too experimental. What I'm trying to get at is even at the time it felt a little cult classic-y. That sentiment was never confirmed to me until I joined Twitter years later.

By 2006 the early 2000s Bad Boy roster had more or less dissolved. Press Play was a reintroduction for Diddy. The weird thing is the more I listen to it, the more I feel like there's nothing I could really fix. At least not at that time. This was before Lil Wayne got hot, so his verse didn't even make the album (but did stream on Diddy's MySpace page). But look at the lineup: Havoc, Just Blaze, Sean C & LV, Kanye West, Timbaland, Will.i.am, Rich Harrison. The man was trying to make a classic. I think the first misstep was the first two singles. "Come To Me" was pretty ehh. "Tell Me" was better but didn't really connect. We were just transitioning from that kind of sound working at all in the club. In retrospect, the features didn't jump off the page at the time but man: Big Boi, Ciara, Shawnna, Twista, Nas, Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole! There was something there. There was magic there. The timing and the output just didn't quite match.

The purely rap songs are admirable, but I don't want to hear Puff rap words written by Pharoahe Monch and Nas. You have your uptempo section featuring some of Danja's first solo production credits. Then you have the truly experimental section, which was hit and miss both then and now. I think then part of the critique was that music did not allow for this due to general conservatism and maybe even some slight homophobia and masculine issues. If there's one clear miss, it's "Special Feeling." Will.i.am was on a roll but he also religiously underproduces and this one feels like it's at 40% of what it could have been.

The highlight in my opinion is the "Through the Pain (She Told Me)" - "Thought You Said" - "Last Night" arc. All produced by Diddy and Mario Winans, a team that is so under appreciated. Production-wise, melodically, the transitions between them, the gall to have Diddy sing on "Last Night," which peaked at #8 on the Hot 100. They were incredible. Like literal genius. That should have been in the album and in 2016 could be. People front like 808s invented singing when "Last Night" came three years prior.

The sad thing is that Diddy's later albums seem to hit right before they're meant to. Was this as good or at least as progressive as Last Train To Paris? Probably not. But if it came later it would have been a different album, an arguably better album and a much more appreciated work of art.

Book Club: Before The Fall

Noah Hawley is most famous at this point for creating FX's TV show Fargo and while I enjoy the show and loved the first season a lot, there's nothing about the show that got me extra excited for its head writer's latest novel. But since it was on sale on Kindle, I thought why not.

Before The Fall explores the pasts and present of a private plane crash's passengers and survivors. It's told mostly from the point of view of the one adult survivor except when it explains life occurrences and backstories for the other passengers on the plane. We, as the reader, along with the survivors and the general public in the story don't know how or why the plane crashed, and I liked that. I thought it was a story of these seven passengers, their pasts, their flaws, what made them unique, what led them to this flight, how they knew each other (not in a Lost coincidence way, just how they'd met, etc.). It does a fine job of doing that. They are interesting enough characters, and you obviously feel for the child who survived and lost his family. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at some of the descriptions of the women characters' thoughts and behaviors, but what are you gonna do?

About 70% of the way through, you see the storylines converging, the FBI investigation, the Bill O'Reilly-type news host getting more and more screen-time (the book equivalent?). And then in the final pages you find what caused the crash. The reason is so dumb, so insensible that while you're given 300-something pages of this world that was constructed, you kind of regret reading it in the first place. To only explain the flight attendant and the co-pilot's chapters at the very end and then to show that the crash was caused by a SPOILER crazy co-pilot mad that a woman dissed him SPOILER is one of the dumber things I've read. Whether that's a comment on how random and ridiculous these events can sometimes be or on how crazy men can be doesn't matter because the book just ends with it. If it continued, I imagine that the same Bill O'Reilly-type would (after retracting his terrorism assumptions) sympathize for the still-drunk co-pilot who was sad that the woman he used to date didn't want to see him anymore.

Top 25: Bink

Young Guru was a guest on the Juan Epstein podcast last month and as he was going through the history of the Dynasty and Blueprint and how Kanye West and Just Blaze got their starts, Cipha Sounds asked why Bink is never brought up in that discussion. Guru admitted that he should be part of that discussion and then danced around why that isn't the case. There were a couple theories. Bink chose not to sign to the same management that grabbed up Kanye and Just right after The Blueprint. Based on twitter scuffles from a few years back, Bink and Just had some issues. Regardless, Bink wasn't on any Jay-Z album after The Blueprint and as a result his career went in an entirely different direction.

Today Bink showed up on Juan Epstein. It unfortunately is a pretty short interview but he addresses this issue directly. According to him, he didn't get anymore placements after 2001 because he didn't sign with the same management team. But he says he didn't sign because he felt like he and Just Blaze had too similar a sound, and that is where his real problem lies. He feels that the Just Blaze sound is really just the Bink sound, specifically that you don't get "U Don't Know" without "1-900-Hustler." And if the narrative tells that Rocafella's sound was architected by Kanye and Just only, you can see why he would be bitter. I actually don't agree that they're that similar. On the surface, sure. But I think Just's stuff is generally much more grandiose and their drum patterns are distinct. And it's probably not fair for him to assume that Just ripped him off specifically, although Kanye's stuff sounded nothing like Bink's. It's also very possible that this is only his side of the story, and he was not offered any work because how difficult he was being, both with Just and otherwise.

His sound throughout his career has been pretty consistent. He leans towards the uptempo, organs and horn stab "1-900-Hustler" type beats, but there's ones that he's done that are smoother than any Just or Kanye soul beat. His drums are definitely his signature. He has maybe the most crisp drums by any rap producer ever.

He is an essential part of Rocafella's history based on his contributions to the Dynasty and Blueprint alone. His songs on The Blueprint might be the best on the album. He deserves his props as a producer generally but also, especially given the above story, for his longevity.  He started with Teddy Riley in the 90s, worked with The Lost Boyz, was signed to Stevie J and later partnered on production with Missy Elliott all before the Rocafella stuff happened. The placements after that are with pretty random major label mid-level artists until about 2010 when he finds his way into both Kanye West and Dr. Dre's camps. I'd like to hear him with so many artists today – imagine Vince Stapes over a Bink beat – because the music is still top notch. Here are Bink's 25 best beats.

Listen on Spotify.

Bink Top 25:

1. Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek & Freeway - 1-900-Hustler
2. Jay-Z - All I Need^
3. Jay-Z - The Ruler's Back^
4. Jay-Z - Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)^
5. Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek & Amil - You, Me, Him And Her
6. Freeway - When They Remember
7. Pusha T - I Am Forgiven^
8. Kanye West - Devil In A New Dress (feat. Rick Ross)
9. Rick Ross - We Shinin'
10. GZA - Animal Planet
11. Young Gunz - Future Of The Roc
12. Method Man & Redman - Four Minutes To Lock Down (feat. Raekwon & Ghostface Killah)
13. Amerie - Paint Me Over^
14. Beanie Sigel - Raw & Uncut (feat. Jay-Z)
15. Tamia - Can't Go For That
16. Blackstreet - Don't Leave Me
17. P. Diddy & The Bad Boy Family - The Last Song
18. Freeway - Victim of the Ghetto
19. Currensy - What It Look Like (feat. Wale)
20. John Legend – Who Do We Think We Are (feat. Rick Ross)
21. Cassidy - Damn I Miss The Game
22. Memphis Bleek - The One (feat. Rihanna)
23. Skillz - (for Real) He Don't Own Me
24. Mr. Cheeks - I Apologize
25. Dr. Dre - It's All On Me (feat. Justus & BJ The Chicago Kid)^

^Not on Spotify

Previous Top 25 Lists:
Cool & Dre
Hi-Tek

Drake – Views

We're officially eight years into Drake as a thing. That's pretty amazing to think about. Views is Drake's fourth album, fifth if you count So Far Gone, seventh if you count If You're Reading This It's Too Late and What A Time To Be Alive. With those first four projects (up until NWTS), everything seemed to go as planned. By Take Care, he was a legit superstar and with NWTS he didn't stumble. The Drake train kept on going and I was mostly there for the ride. I can't say the same for IYRTITL. It was way too long. It had a bunch of missteps and that doesn't even include the gun talk. Culturally though, nothing seemed to change. When Meek spoke up about the ghostwriting, the world took Drake's side. (We don't have to acknowledge WATTBA.)

Views is the first time the general consensus for a Drake album is as mixed as it is. It's hard for me to reconcile if Drake has regressed or if my taste has dramatically changed. It's probably both, but I listen to So Far Gone and sometimes it's hard for me to take any of those lines seriously. Maybe this is what Drake was all along? Or at least, you know, partially.

It's possible that Views is as long and sprawling of an album as it is because of the RIAA streaming rules and sales equivalents. The album's long but songs are also long. Vocals end and then the track doesn't end for another 18 seconds. This seems very much on purpose especially if streaming services pay out more if you listen to 4+ minutes. But jesus man, it's like he wasn't even trying with this one. Or this is the result when he writes rhymes by himself again. There's no Quentin Miller. There's no Hush. Maybe there should have been?

I find it very annoying how aware he is of his memeability. He's also aware of his demographic and their listening tendencies. Views is an incredible passive listen – while you're reading an article or studying for midterms. It's a pretty not-so-good active listen. And while I love "Find No Ways" and the dancehall tracks, this is not an album that someone who implies he's more significant than successful conventional rappers like Kendrick and Jay should be able to drop. This is a very pivotal point in Drake's career because the sales are still in his favor, but does he off and decide to become Flo-Rida or does he take his next chance seriously?

Film School: Art of Organized Noize & Iversion

I can't say that I've seen countless documentaries, but with streaming and digital rentals I've gotten the chance to watch more than I typically would otherwise. I still can't quite put my finger on what makes a great documentary, but I can definitely tell when the subject of a documentary is more interesting than the quality of the documentary. The two docs I saw recently, The Art of Organized Noize and Iverson, covered people I wasn't quite old enough to follow properly but whose stories and careers are practically legend. 

The Art of Organized Noize

My experience with OutKast started when I was eleven with Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, and while I still discovered the singles from the previous three albums on my own at a younger age, Organized Noize were not on my radar. I didn't know who they were or that they were responsible for those OutKast albums, but unfortunately they weren't largely celebrated by the media that covered and documented that era as they probably should have been. 

It seemed like they were pretty closely involved with the making of this documentary. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad the story was told. I'm glad it's out and accessible. If they can get a resurgence from it, that's wonderful. I still wish it was directed by someone else. The right people are interviewed and the general story is told. It would have been cool there was more video footage. I'm sure there were tons of photos from the time. There was no focus on Aquemini or Stankonia. What I liked about Michael Rappaport's Tribe doc was that it told a story while presenting a narrative of the present day's tour. The Organized Noize doc had Rico, Sleepy and Ray tell the story from memory, in what looked like only one or two sittings. The music nerd in me wishes there was a bit more detail to it all.

Iverson

My dad never watched basketball or baseball, only football. The NBA wasn't something I even acknowledged until the 6th grade when I went to a school of basketball fans. That was 2002-2003, so I already missed the Lakers - Sixers finals. And I didn't really watch much basketball then anyway. I knew of Iverson from different pop culture references, Sportscenter mentions and NBA Live 2003, which is unfortunate because realizing an athlete's greatness in retrospect is never the same as watching it happen. There was a lot I learned about his life from this doc. I didn't know about the high school arrest or that the Sixers almost traded him the summer before they went to the finals. I feel like the Reebok deal was a bit too overlooked. Those were a huge deal at the time. And I wish there was something about the stories of the crazy money he spent, buying clothes when he reached a city and leaving them at the hotel. Overall, I enjoyed it.