AIN’T NO SUCH THING AS HALF WAY CROOKS! Hands down, one of the absolute best tracks in hip hop history. Not to mention forever immortalized as the last instrumental beat in 8 Mile. True story: in college my roommates and I used to just skip the first 2 hours of the movie and pre-game to the final rap battles before going out. It’s literally been debated whether we can get away with playing the rap battles at my wedding (probably not). So yea, it’s a song that is burned into my brain for sure.
If you’re even a moderate rap fan, you need to check out Rapture on Netflix. There are episodes on Nas, Logic, TI, G-Eazy, 2 Chainz, and Just Blaze just to name a few. In the Just Blaze ep he actually goes to Havoc from Mobb Deep’s house to show how he literally puts the Shook Ones beat together. Builds it from the ground up. If you’re like me your brain will slowly melt when you see how the iconic beat comes together.
It’s the week of Christmas so you’re either off from work or you’re at work pretending to do work so turn it up to 11 and chill out with this throwback from The Pharcyde. “Passin Me By” dropped in March 1993 so this is going way, way back for some old school rhymes. Even if you don’t recognize the name of the song you will 100% remember once it starts.
Not to be the old man on the lawn, but a lot of the rap thats popular these days I just don’t get. Mumble Rap, if you will, just ain’t for me so lets go back to the 90s when there was nothing more important than telling a good story with your rhymes. It’s what made Biggie, Nas, and Jay-Z the biggest artists in the world. So enjoy this little love story from The Pharcyde.
Wait, no, I did not really pursue my little princess with persistence And I was so low-key that she was unaware of my existence From a distance I desired, secretly admired her Wired her a letter to get her, and it went My dear, my dear, my dear, you do not know me but I know you very well Now let me tell you about the feelings I have for you When I try, or make some sort of attempt, I symp Damn I wish I wasn’t such a wimp ‘Cause then I would let you know that I love you so And if I was your man then I would be true The only lying I would do is in the bed with you Then I signed sincerely the one who loves you dearly, PS love me tender The letter came back three days later, return to sender Damn
Chance the Rapper had been everyone’s favorite unknown rapper for a long time with multiple mixtapes including my personal favorite “Acid Rap” in 2013 before really blowing up with his album “Coloring Book” in 2016, winning 2 Grammys in the process.
I’m sure you heard one of his most recent singles “I Might Need Security” popping on the radio for a bit when it first came out over the summer. Chance is a really intelligent guy and one of the most socially conscious rappers out right now and that really comes out on some of the topics he tackles here like police brutality in Chicago,
And Rahm, you done, I’m expectin’ resignation An open investigation on all of these paid vacations for murderers
he tackles subtle instances of racism he experiences himself,
I got a hit-list so long I don’t know how to finish I bought the Chicagoist just to run you racist bitches out of business Speaking of racist, fuck your microaggressions I’ll make you fix your words like a typo suggestion
and then of course touches on why he’s the most famous and successful unsigned rapper of all time.
I’m the real deal Who taught all these rappers that a big deal’s not a big deal?
While theres no hard release date for Chance’s new album, which was supposed to come out over the summer, I know I’ll be lined up to get that when it finally does drop on Day 1.
It’s cold, it’s raining, it’s an overall shitty day outside so what better time to just slow it down with some chill #RushHourRap. Press play and enjoy a little new Atmosphere with Virgo, the single off their newest album Mi Vida Local.
I can’t do basic math, I’m bad at directions, and I’m terrible with names, but I can still rap Jay-Z’s verse on Frontin’ word for word in my car 15 years later.
I personally would like to apologize to Cole Beasley for sleeping on his debut rap album until just now because I heard it for the first time today and it BANGS.
Released last month, “The Autobiography”, popped up on my Spotify this morning while I was at the gym (no big deal) and I found myself jamming along before saying who the hell is this? Color me shocked to look down at my phone and see its none other than Dallas wide receiver Cole Beasley.
Any time an athlete releases an album I immediately think of Willie Beamen’s failed rap career. We’ve seen so many garbage musical endeavors from athletes over the years from guys like Deion Sanders, Shaq, more recently Lonzo Ball and lets not even mention Bernie Williams’ acoustic album.
But theres a few nuggets in there, hell even John Cena had a couple hits that get played to this day. Seriously, his song “My Time is Now” is featured in the new Toyota Camry commercial.
I can’t say I expected the white slot receiver from the Cowboys to put out such heat, but I should have known better with Cole Beasley. This is the guy who lives for roasting fools on Twitter.
The dude can spit, theres no denying it. He raps a lot about his money, but not in the way you’d expect. He talks about how he doesn’t have a flashy chain because he’s got his money put away for his kids’ college funds. He’s got a song about white stereotypes when it comes to rap, but more importantly how it relates to football. How he’s described as “deceptively athletic” where he says he’d probably just be “athletic” if he was black.
Most importantly, this album has got legit beats and you can tell theres solid production value there. The guys a millionaire so I’m glad he didn’t make it in GarageBand. You can tell its not just a side project for the guy, he wants to be respected as more than just a football player. I gotta say, this is a pretty good rap album. Its not J. Cole’s KOD by any means, but there’s plenty of white space (no pun intended) to be filled in the rap scene today and believe it or not Cole Beasley’s album deserves a listen.
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.
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!”
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?
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
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.
The 300s 