Category: Music

#RushHourRap – Eminem Just Dropped a New Album Called Kamikaze From the Clouds

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I went to bed last night after another victory on the battlefield that is beer league softball only to wake up this morning to see Eminem released a new album, Kamikaze.

No warning. No hints. No viral marketing campaign as he tends to do. Nope. Just a brand new album to close out the summer. I haven’t listened to it yet so we’ll be in this together, but the Spotify link is embedded below to put some flava in ya ear.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/3HNnxK7NgLXbDoxRZxNWiR

The only heads up was a tweet from Em featuring a sample of a song he made for the new Venom movie. Dope, but did not prepare me for 13 new tracks from Marshall.

I thought Em’s last album, Revival, was pretty good, nothing amazing. It was enjoyable, but it didn’t have the unforgettable raps that you’ll save to your memory bank. A tall task for a guy with so many classics over the years for sure. The surprising collab with Ed Sheeran on “River” was my favorite track of the album and the one I revisit the most. There was the anti-Trump anthem “Like Home,” the Cranberries’s Zombie sample “In Your Head,” the tributes to his struggle with addictions and his relationship with his daughter on “Castle” and “Arose” back to back, the Pink feature “Need Me” and of course the opening track “Walk on Water” featuring Beyonce.

All pretty good, but nothing to get people buzzing as critical reception of the album was lukewarm. I think Em took that to heart too. Rather than go on the campaign trail promoting the new album, he dropped it in the middle of the night with a brief and seemingly unburdened tweet.

Here’s to hoping this album is a smash and it inspires Em to go back on another world tour. I saw Marshall at Boston Calling, which was an amazing experience watching the GOAT rapping under steady rainfall.

It was his first time performing in Boston in nearly 20 years with the only other time I’ve seen Eminem live being at MetLife after a 5 hour drive back in 2013.

Do the right thing people, buy the album and force Marshall’s hand.

A+ Video: Jay-Z Reaction to Hearing Dirt Off Your Shoulder for the First Time

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I live for videos like this. Nothing beats behind the scenes footage of your favorites actors and artists in their element seeing how they react to certain things. In this case we have Jay-Z hearing Dirt Off Your Shoulder for the first time, before it became the all-time classic that is today.

The Black Album really was a defining rap album of our generation. Watching Jay’s first reaction to hearing the beat from Timbaland and then seeing him get legitimately excited and jump in the booth is awesome. Thats why these guys are artists, they get inspired and then they absolutely crush it. If that doesn’t inspire you to find something you can feel the same way about then you’re probably already dead inside.

Bonus – This reminded me of a similar video where Jay first heard the Lucifer beat that a young Kanye made. Back when he was still on his polos and backpack. A+ stuff.

#RushHourRap – Eminem – Walk On Water

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A much more somber and reflective Eminem than we’re used to is on full display in “Walk On Water.” Its something that every artist grapples with as they get older and further removed from their biggest hits. Em is a rap legend, but as he has referenced in several songs in the past few years, he’s not as big as he once was, which is something he’s coming to grips with.

“Walk On Water” is a much more mellow song than you normally hear from Em, which is why I worry most people won’t give it the proper attention and actually listen to it. Its not a heavy ass beat like Rap God, its not full of blind rage like Stan, and its not full of jokes like Without Me, but its definitely one of his deeper tracks. It also explains why we don’t hear much and why this track came out of nowhere. He seems to be struggling with trying to create perfection as he battles the perception of being older and past his prime, which is exactly what Dr. Dre struggled with for years in search of the unachievable “Detox.” Not a huge Beyonce fan, but this is a damn good song with some great wordplay and her chorus pairs well with the somber tone of the song. Pumped for the full album to drop, hopefully sooner than later.

It’s the curse of the standard
That the first of the Mathers discs set
Always in search of the verse that I haven’t spit yet
Will this step just be another misstep
To tarnish whatever the legacy, love or respect
I’ve garnered? The rhyme has to be perfect, the delivery flawless
And it always feels like I’m hittin’ the mark
‘Til I go sit in the car, listen and pick it apart
Like, “This shit is garbage!”

#RushHourRap – YEEZUS

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Get fired up this morning with Kanye at his most Kanye. Yeezus, as most of Kanye’s albums, was looked at as pretty “out there” by most when it dropped in 2013, but now people look back and say that album was ahead of its time. Same thing happened with 808s & Heartbreak when Kanye basically brought autotune into the mainstream before anyone else. But thats why I love Kanye. He’s the definition of an artist. He’s an absolute fucking maniac, he’s always trying new shit, and he’s usually ahead of the curve with his sound. Yeezus still absolutely bangs.

Not to mention, I saw Kanye on the Yeezus tour in Boston and that concert was completely mental. Who needs Broadway when you get a show like this every couple of years?

Eminem Just Teased His Upcoming Album With a Fake Medicine Prescription Website

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I was just passively scrolling through my Twitter feed when I saw this tweeted out by Em:

At first I thought maybe it was an album cover preview as the guy has a penchant for rX artwork (Relapse, Recovery etc.). Notice the backwards E too.

Then I went to the website and was like oh wait its some kind of medicine. Then I started actually reading through some of the stuff on the website and doing my research. REVIVAL treats Atrox Rithimus, which is not a real disease, and is actually rumored to be the title of his new album so we are in BUSINESS. Looks like “Walk on Water” will likely be the first single off the new album.

Em is back and just as weird as ever. The man has an eye for the details too. Call that number on the Revival website and you get this recorded message with “I Need a Doctor” playing on the piano in the background.

Not to mention all the little references sprinkled throughout the Revival website.

Plus another reference to his 2011 collab with Dr. Dre and Skylar Grey.

And of course the sneaky tagline hidden at the bottom

Popsomp Hills (“pop some pills”) was the fake rehab center that Em used to market Relapse with a viral campaign in 2009. Impressive.

So we’ve been hearing a “November” release date being mentioned for when the new album would drop, but no real concrete details have emerged. Most artists have seemed to all but nuked the pre-announced release date after years of albums leaking before they’re supposed to launch. Apparently he’s going to be doing a huge performance at the MTV EMAs to kick everything off.

‘Revival’, as the record is rumoured to be titled, will get a ‘massive’ airing at London’s SSE Wembley Arena as part of the annual MTV celebration, taking place this year on November 12. The Sun report that Marshall Mathers’ ninth studio LP will be ‘dropped’ at the event. “This is Eminem fully relaunching his career after a few years out and gathering his thoughts. It will be a massive performance,” says the tabloid’s source.”

Sign me the fuck up. We are just a few short days away from some fresh new Marshall Mathers kicking around in my ear drums.

#RushHourRap – Atmosphere – Trying to Find a Balance

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One of my all time favorite artists, these guys have been around for a longgg time, dropping their debut album, Overcast, back in 1997. Since then they’ve released 7 additional albums, plus countless mixtapes and side projects. So there are a ton of tracks to pick from with these guys, but here’s a good intro for the uninitiated; Trying to Find a Balance.

Life, love, stress, and setbacks.

#RushHourRap – KYLE – Remember Me

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If Sammy Adams and Mike Stud embodied the frat rap movement, KYLE is leading the way for the introverted guys who take drama classes and play video games. Seriously. Listen to his first album, Beautiful Loser, and you’ll notice how he works in sound effects from games like Star Fox into his music. This is the next guy to pop as he’s been piling up hits the past couple of years and on “Remember Me?” he collabs with Chance the Rapper for a fire flames track.

KYLE signed with Atlantic Records earlier this year so the big guns are now behind him and he had his first radio hit this summer with iSpy, which was one of the biggest songs of the year. Hell the guy was even on AskGaryVee so he’s far from an unknown, but I feel like most people still aren’t in on him. Load up your iPod kids, KYLE bangs.

#RushHourRap – Kendrick Lamar – m.A.A.d. city

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After a particularly soul crushing edition of Monday morning traffic, #RushHourRap is coming in right around lunch time. So yesterday was the 5 year anniversary of “good kid, m.A.A.d. city” dropping. Not only was it Kendrick Lamar’s coming out party (his second studio album, his first to go Platinum), but it is also one of the best rap albums of the past decade. It was not easy picking just one track from this album, but I had to go with the hard hitting, frenetic, titular “m.A.A.d. city.”

m.A.A.d. city had yuuuge singles including Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe, Swimming Pools, Poetic Justice, The Recipe, and the bass monster Backseat Freestyle. All absolute bangers that still kill it today.

I remember seeing Kendrick open for Kanye at TD Garden in Boston back in 2013 just as he was starting to take off. Now the guy is headlining his own shows at the Garden touring for his latest work, DAMN,  what might be my favorite album of the year. Keep killing it k-dot.

#RushHourRap – MF Doom – Accordion

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As the resident white boy from the suburbs who grew up listening to entirely too much rap, part of my role here is to introduce you to different things. Expand your horizons if you will. Aside from the ringtone rap that is all over the radio, lets try something new. Today’s #RushHourRap is one of the most lyrically technical rappers; MF Doom. And while this guy has been around since the late 80s with his first album dropping in 1999, I feel like a lot of you have yet to really dive into his music. Plus how many artists out there today could rap over an accordion?

#RushHourRap: Logic – Alright

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Logic only recently landed in the public eye with his suicide prevention radio hit “1-800-273-8255” that he dropped earlier this year. Before that though he had two excellent albums in Bobby Tarantino (2016) and The Incredible True Story (2015) and before that of course was his fire flames debut studio album, Under Pressure (2014). Off that album is one of his best records to date, “Alright” ft. Big Sean.

If you still aren’t fucking with Logic, get on board now because this guy is going to blow up. Not to mention he just seems like a genuinely down to earth guy. Check out this video of Logic rapping toe to toe with a diehard fan of his on stage, who just also happens to be a parapalegic. Good guy Logic.