Any time Jermaine drops new music I am all ears and his latest track Middle Child does not disappoint. For a guy thats been putting out bangers for over a decade now (holy hell I feel old) he is still at the top of his game. I missed his most recent show in Boston, but I will never forget seeing him at the Paradise in 2014 for $1. Seriously, he was on his Dollar and a Dream tour and literally sold tickets for a dollar. He then proceed to kill it.
I caught some old Lil Wayne on the radio driving into work this AM and it sent me down the rabbit hole. Lil Wayne is obviously still very popular, but it’s different than how it used to be. The guy was an absolute monster with everything he touched turning to gold. Maybe it just seems that way to me because I’m washed, but seriously it’s different.
I went to the Drake vs Lil Wayne concert a couple summers ago and I was stunned at how many people didn’t know the words to LOLLIPOP. I felt like my uncle at a New Kids On the Block concert because I suddenly felt very dated. All the drunk children at that show knew nothing prior to I Am Not A Human Being and thats a shame because Lil Wayne was an absolute megastar back when I was in high school/college. I would say from 2006-2008 Lil Wayne was not only the most popular, but the most lyrically dominating artist on the planet. I think he’s tailed off hard in recent years, but you cannot deny the guy’s resume.
If you want to start even a little earlier in 2004 Weezy dropped Tha Carter with Go DJ being the main hit, followed up by a pretty legit feature on Destiny’s Child (holy shit I’m old) Solider. Then in 2005 he released The Carter II, which was the first Lil Wayne song I remember being a huge hit in Fireman, but also had Hustler Musik and of course Shooter (introducing Robin Thicke). In 2006 Wayne had the collab with Birdman Like Father Like Son, which was fine with the main single being Stuntin Like My Daddy.
BUT, thats when the guy absolutely took off appearing on anything and everything from features to mixtapes to albums. In late 2006 we got Dedication 2 and then in early 2007 Lil Wayne released, in my opinion, the best mixtape of all time with Da Drought 3.
Then the guy really got hot appearing on *all* of these songs:
“Despite no album release for two years, Lil Wayne appeared in numerous singles as a featured performer, including “Gimme That” by Chris Brown, “Make It Rain” by Fat Joe, “You” by Lloyd, and “We Takin’ Over” by DJ Khaled (also featuring Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, and Birdman), “Duffle Bag Boy” by Playaz Circle, “Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)” by Wyclef Jean (also featuring Akon), and the remix to “I’m So Hood” by DJ Khaled (also featuring T-Pain, Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Rick Ross). All these singles charted within the top 20 spots on the Billboard Hot 100..Wayne also appeared on tracks from albums Getback by Little Brother, American Gangster by Jay-Z, and Graduation by Kanye West.”
That was before he even got around to releasing his own work. Released in 2008 after a delay, Tha Carter III is still one of the best rap albums of all time. 3 Peat, Mr. Carter, A Milli, Dr. Carter, Mrs. Officer, Shoot Me Down, Lollipop — all bangers more than 10 years later.
In that time span Lil Wayne won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance for A Milli, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for Swagga Like Us, Best Rap Song for Lollipop, and Best Rap Album for Tha Carter III.
Hard to top that stretch.
I heard on CBS today that the average American spends 42 hours a year in traffic. This is why us “East Coast Elites” can’t relate to the “average American” because I spend more than 42 hours a MONTH in traffic. So I couldn’t help but think of this old Michael Bolton scene from Office Space because this is me in traffic every day. Now, without further ado, the original track from Scarface.
We’re jumping into the way back machine, way back before I was even born, all the way to 1986. Back when the Beastie Boys ruled the early rap scene. And for all the millennials reading this, no that is not Eminem’s album cover. Em’s most recent album paid tribute to those that came before him with the Kamikaze cover.
Some days I bring you introspective, insightful rap music. Other days I bring you B-side tracks from some of the most popular albums that you may have forgotten about. Today? Today I bring you the one and only Ricky Rozay. It’s Thursday, the weekend isn’t quite here yet so I need something that bangs to get me through the day. Now lets go back to 2006 before everyone knew that Rick Ross was in reality about as big of a drug dealer as I am, but don’t let that phase you because Maybach Music still brings the heat THIRTEEN YEARS later.
PS – This song will never not be associated in my brain with the old Katt Williams bit. THATS MY SHIT!
Tom Brady and I must have a mental connection because on Saturday night I went deep down the rabbit hole of 2000’s rap and got into a debate (at a 30th birthday party because I’m washed) about how Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is one of the best rap albums of all time. So what does Tom bump for his celebratory Monday workout? Many Men from Get Rich or Die Tryin’ of course. It’s been 15 years, but this album still goes hard and *nothing* beats the over the top style of early 2000’s music videos.
One of the first great concept tracks in hip hop history was Common’s human personification of the rap game. A classic song and a precursor to Common’s calling card; incredible story telling mixed with socially relevant themes throughout.
I’ve been on a Lupe Fiasco kick this week after yesterday’s CRS post. Today I bring you Lupe’s first mega hit in the rap world with Kick Push, his ode to rebellious youth in the form of skateboarding. Lupe dominated the mid-00’s with his albums Food & Liquor in 2006, The Cool in 2007, and probably his most commercially successful album Lasers in 2011. The Cool is without a doubt my top Lupe album, but it’s hard to beat Kick Push in terms of individual tracks.
Before he knew he had a crew
There wasn’t no punk in they spitfire shirts and SB dunks
They would push till they could skate no more
Office building lobbies wasn’t safe no more
And it wasn’t like they wasn’t getting chased no more
Just the freedom was better than breathing they said
Without a doubt, the most underutilized rap group of my lifetime. CRS aka Child Rebel Soldier was made up of Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, and Lupe Fiasco. Us Placers was released in 2007 and that was just about all we ever heard from CRS. To be fair this came out *right* before Kanye’s Graduation, and Lupe’s The Cool, which are two of the best rap albums of all time, so I can see how this may have gotten put on the back burner.
However, Kanye is known for collaborating with all kinds of artists, but is also infamous for boasting about forming rap super groups that never come to fruition. Some of these groups turn into classic platinum records like Watch the Throne with Jay Z. Another is just beginning as Ye has most recently teamed up with Kid Cudi to form Kids See Ghosts. Others result in an absolute fire single only to never be heard from again like CRS.
Kanye, Pharrell, and Lupe were also credited on the 2008 N.E.R.D. remix for Everyone Nose as CRS, which still bangs to this day, but is definitely more of a N.E.R.D. song than anything else.
Technically CRS had one other song that came out in 2010 called Don’t Stop, but it was a G.O.O.D. Fridays release so I don’t really count it. If you remember, G.O.O.D. Fridays was a free weekly music drop back in 2010, which was a godsend in college, that Kanye launched leading up to My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy. Kanye utilized the full roster of his label GOOD Music to release music every Friday for several months, including hits like Power, Don’t Look Down, and a number of tracks that eventually made their way onto MDBTF like Devil in a New Dress.
Black Star was a rap group consisting of Mos Def and Talib Kweli with K.O.S. being released in 1998 and was the duo’s only album under the shared name. Do yourself a favor and go give this entire album a listen then do what I did and go down the rabbit hole that is the career of Mos Def. One look at that guy’s career is a great way to inspire yourself to get off your ass and go get it.
At exactly which point do you start to realize
That (life without knowledge is death in disguise?)
That’s why, knowledge of self is like life after death
Apply it, to your life, let destiny manifest
The 300s 