New Decade, New Music!

I haven't blogged on music in a while so I think I'm due up for one. Entering the past year and a half there is no question that the techno house, dance, trance, mixed in with pop and hip-hop has taken off to a popular sound people prefer. Akon, Britney, David Guetta, Lady Gaga, Flo Rida and even Pitbull have emerged with successful songs with a dance feel that topped the charts. I'm not guessing nor assuming but justifying that the start of this decade will produce more of the similar sounds as it is gaining popularity world wide. However, how successful and can everyone that attempts it succeed? NOPE!

I already think Lady Gaga is on top to start out the decade. Besides the rumors of HER being a man, looking past all that she's got the ultimate package: The voice, performance abilities, and music production. I just love her...Lady Gaga will own this year and be a top artist in the decade. Sure her style is different and a bit weird but I like it and so does millions of her fans across this globe. Her comparisons to Beyonce, better yet Madonna, are very justified. Normally you wouldn't dare compare anyone to such high standards, and I don't but Lady Gaga is up there. Now I know some will disagree but you've got to admit to her talent being beyond what a lot of artists try to replicate.

In the Hip-Hop world I see Jay-Z finally putting down the mic but appearing on tracks here and there. I think on the BP3 he finally accepted the new blend of artists that are coming into the game and passing the torch. As for the young new talent I know the first question would be, what about Drake? My opinion is that he has a huge opening to really make his mark in the game this decade. Now I can't lie, I do jam to some of his mainstream stuff but I think he's much better than that. I feel Kanye can have a "bounce back" in his career and set it off right this decade. He's been hiatus since 808s but I'm really looking forward to his music again. Kid Cudi, Wale, and still Lupe all have the doors open for them to make it big in this decade. Also, you can never tell who might come along, as Jigga said, "Everyday a Star is Born".

I'm looking forward to my usual favorites of Lupe Fiasco and Eminem to drop this year, and I know everyone that I listen to in this current time could be done with their careers by the time 2019 comes around. Little by little artists come and go, just the other day I was growing up with boy bands in the 90's now they are a thing of the past. However, as artists change the music is always there, so here is to another decade in hopes of great music and artists!

Lil Wayne-No Ceilings Mixtape

First off, if you didn't know I'm not much of a Lil Wayne fan. There is very little of Lil Wayne that I can tolerate though. I liked Weezy before Tha Carter III session and remember how good of a CD Tha Carter II was. One of my favorite mixtapes ever is the Drought 3. I remember my home boys and I spun that mixtape like hell! We knew almost every song and verse and that's really what helped everyone jump on Weezy for Tha Carter III. So basically I liked Wayne's sound from the Drought 3, anything that he dropped that sounded similar I couldn't hate on. The whole auto-tune and singing like he's about to pass out really turned me away from him.

Moving on as most of you know he dropped a mixtape called "No Ceilings", it leaked a few days before the October 31st release. So basically I've been banging this mixtape lately and most of it was similar to his Drought 3 sound.

My favorite tracks:
Swag Surfin'
Ice Cream Paint Job
Wasted (DOPEST track on the Mixtape IMO)
Watch My Shoes
I Think I Love Her (Shanell killed it!)
I'm Good
Banned From T.V.
Run This Town

The rest are decent but I most likely skipped over them when listening to the CD. I'm still not that much into him as the best or even top 10, but I can't deny that I won't listen to this sound of Wayne if he continues. The word on the street is both Rebirth and Tha Carter IV will drop before 2009 is over. I'm not believing that until it happens though, Wayne has been known to push back continuously.

2007: Hip-Hop Heaven

I have to admit: Blueprint 3 and Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon are the only two albums I'm listening to right now. I've neglected all other music for these two. This got me thinking, when was the last time that I fell in love with more than one album in the same year? Well this dates me back to 2007. In 2007 I was a junior in high school and just turning 17. Five of my favorite artists dropped albums and I was in heaven. Now this may not be the same for everyone but my taste in music was beyond satisfied. You will probably get a more in-depth taste of what I like my music to be like.

I shall now reveal what was so good about 2007.


Lupe Fiasco-The Cool: Lupe Fiasco is my top favorite artist right now. I love anything he puts out and I'm sure anyone familiar with the Hip-Hop game knows Lupe is pure talent. After his debut album "Food & Liquor", The Cool was his sophomore album and lead singles, "Dumb it Down" "Superstar" feat. Mathew Santos and "Paris Tokyo". My favorite track off this one would be "The Coolest". I love this whole CD though, and could recite to you almost all of the songs. What is interesting about this album is that Lupe told a story about "The Streets" and "The Game" two fictional characters he made up and it was a continuation from the boy referenced in "He Say She Say" from Food & Liquor. His ability to tell a story and connect through real life experiences with great music production made this album a top five favorite of all time.


Common-Finding Forever: Common is one of my favorite artists likewise Lupe. I can't make up my mind so I love them all equal. This album dropped over the summer when I was really in a drought of some dope music. I took one listen to this CD and was hooked. The beats and production are amazing as he uses one of J Dilla's track on "Break my Heart". This album is almost near perfect, with his singles "The Game, "The People" and "I Want You" and Kanye's production that mirrored J Dilla as an honor really set it off. "Southside" and "I Want You" are probably my two most listened on the album but I can listen to the whole thing any day of the week. I'm praying that Common puts out something similar to this again, he saved my ears during the summer with this one.


Kanye West-Graduation: Well this is probably the most recognizable album in 2007. All-around nothing but pure greatness and a top 5 album in my book. "Can't Tell me Nothing" and "Stronger" are some of the greatest songs ever made. I remember very well, the hype behind this was Kanye vs 50 Cent both dropping on September 11th. Now of course 50 Cent will do almost anything to sell some records, but the battle was won by Kanye easily. I enjoyed this album overall. "Flashing Lights", "Homecoming", "Big Brother", and "Champion" all deserve some honorable mentions. Great producing and lyrics. Kanye, Ima let you finish, but this is your best album of all-time!


Jay-Z-American Gangster: When I first heard Jay-Z was debuting with this album, I thought it would go along very well with the movie. He did to "Heart of the City" for the movie but this album was not the soundtrack for it. Instead Hov was inspired by the movie to do an album about it. I loved this album instantly and the occasional Frank Lucas/Denzel Washington snippets through out the album. Features with Nas, Lil Wayne, Bilal, Bennie Sigel and the usualy productions from No I.D., The Neptunes, and Diddy were great. What's even more supportive of how good the album is, the eventual President Obama being a fan of the album!


Chamillionaire-Ultimate Victory: For anyone that loves Chamillitary knows this is a dope album. The Mixtape Messiah went back on his grind and produced some great tracks on this album. His ability to sing through hooks with a good flow (without Auto-Tune) makes his tracks even better. I wasn't feeling "Evening News" as the best track or first single but " Industry Groupie" a better one. "Rock Star" Ft. Lil Wayne was one of my favorite songs from the album along with "Welcome to the South". Cham covered everything from falseness in the industry to female love interests. "You Think I'm Crazy" was one of the sickest lyrical tracks he has in my opinion. Overall I hope Chamillionaire drops another album soon!

All of these albums I listen to two years later to this current day. I guess I can have some experience that my parents have when they hear an oldies song from back in their days. So no matter how old these albums get I will always listen and be a fan of them.

Honorable Mentions:

Alicia Keys-As I Am: While I wasn't entirely into this album, I took a few listens to it every now and then but it is one of the top albums debuted in 2007. Alica Keys, besides being my wifey, is full of talent from producing, singing, and acting. "Superwoman", "Teenage Love Affair", and "No One" are the top tracks I listened to from this album. Only reason I didn't list it above is because I didn't listen to it as much. It could be because Graduation, Finding Forever, and The Cool overshadowed it but this one definitely is a top album.


50 Cent-Curtis: I was about to give up on 50 before this album. He came out with some real BS and everyone wanted his "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" type of flow. I have to admit this was a solid album. I really have no complaints about it except for the few lame singles (Straight to the Bank and Amusement Park) he put out. Kanye out did him but only because of the quality Kanye managed to put out. This is a CD I could jam to if I wanted to hear some hardcore stuff. The production was decent and 50's lyrics weren't as bad on most of the tracks. "Ayo Technology" was more commercial but the feature of Timberlake and Timbaland's production put this track over the top. The other featured guests weren't a bad selection as well so I was impressed.

Jay-Z & Oprah

I will be the first one to admit that I don't really like Oprah that much. However, I can probably soften that issue of dislike upon her after this show with Jay-Z. It's fair enough that she doesn't like rap music for certain reasons, some of which we both might agree on. I shouldn't hate on that really, so no hard feelings for Oprah.

Now on to the interview (can be read here) and show (watch here), I have to say first off Hov was very humble and outspoken. This is one of the reasons the guy is up there beyond rap artists, celebs and a public and American icon that will live on. Compared to Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, Jigga's comparison goes beyond his own genre to Elvis and The Beatles. Both Oprah and Jay-Z come from poor urban areas and are now two of America's current icons, so to see them connect is an epic happening as thousands showed up outside of Hov's Grandmother's house where the interview was held. I admire what he has done to represent his city and state. This is a man that can positively represent where he's from and have the support of his home state/city but even more the world.

Beyond music, I didn't know Jay was so passionate about his fashion. Seeing where his CEO headquarters was is inspiring to me because I envision myself at his level some day, maybe not on the rap star side though. Having his office in the heart of his city overseeing it and pictures of of his inspirations around it was also something I admired about the inside look. The guy has taken his success, expanded it and became an American icon for our generation. For that I have a lot of respect for Hov, and (cue a Kanye here) he is one of my favorite artists of all-time! Music wise he's now on 11 number one albums, 7 Grammy's and also he paved the way for Kanye West and Rihanna, two big time artists today that should pay some homage to Hov-almighty.

Shawn Carter is truly a class act and one guy in the books of Americans that should be up there with the Elvis', Presidents, The Beatles' and Michael Jordan's. There will be many compared to him, want to be like him, and try to go against him. Blueprint 3 is on it's third week of what I'm only listening to right now and one I'll listen to in a year from now. To the rap game, we need more like this man, we'd all be better off.

Jay-Z: Blueprint 3

HOV! He's back as the messiah of the Hip-Hop game. Nothing better than installing a 3rd (and FINAL?) edition to the Blueprint series. Now I'll be honest here, I didn't really dig this CD until about the 3rd-4th listen. I first felt the CD would be over hyped as people claimed Jay-Z would come as his classic top hit albums. I can't really say where this album is on the list of his overall productions but that's another discussion!

Production wise I loved "Empire State of Mind", "On to the Next One", "Hate" and "Already Home". Those songs caught on to me faster than others did. Lyrically Hov did it again, there is no question in that of course. I wasn't a big fan of D.O.A. really, I thought it was too much of a gimmick and something he wanted to sell records with. As I always say lead the way don't bitch about the game! Besides D.O.A. I can't really complain although I would of liked to hear Lupe Fiasco and Nas featured, and was surprised Drake got a feature (Although not a verse). The second single "Run this Town" sort of got me interested in hearing the album although I also took a while to get into the song.

"A Star is Born" is one hell of a song. I'm feeling Jay on this one all the way. Giving "shout-outs" to those successful in the rap game from their respective areas. "On to the Next One" had some dope lines from Jigga, and it's a bit similar to the next track "Off That".

Overall I'd give a solid 9/10 and it will probably recognized heavily through the next few months and year with different awards. Much love to Hov and his accomplishments, and I will never believe this guy will retire...