Tag: #RushHourRap

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

By on • ( Leave a comment )

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

By on • ( 1 Comment )

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

By on • ( Leave a comment )

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.

#RushHourRap – Childish Gambino – Sweatpants

By on • ( 1 Comment )

Nothing like some heavy ass bass from our boy Donald Glover to get your Monday (Tuesday) morning going after the long weekend.

“Sweatpants” is off of Gambino’s second official album, “Because the Internet,” which came out at the end of 2013. This whole album was another banger coming off the killer “Camp” debut album he dropped in 2011. I wasn’t a huge fan of his latest album “Awaken, My Love!” but I respect the hell out of a guy who’s got to a point in his career where he’s able to take creative chances rather than just rehashing old shit. And Donald Glover hasn’t been exactly subtle in saying that Childish Gambino is more of a side project for him and he doesn’t anticipate making many more albums, so enjoy him while he’s here folks.

#RushHourRap – J. Cole – Grown Simba

By on • ( 7 Comments )

Couldn’t think of anything better than some J. Cole to start the day as he’ll be playing at the Garden Friday night, which is his first show in Boston since his Dollar and a Dream Tour back in 2013. That was an unreal show at the Paradise as he only announced the venue and released tickets on the day of the show. Luckily I happened to live 2 blocks from where he was playing so I snagged tickets for ONE DOLLAR each. A man of the people indeed. So lets throw it back with some olddd Jermaine off the Warm Up mixtape.

I never change, I’m like a corpse in a coffin, six feet shit’s deep
I was low just a dolla and some hope fixed me
Cause I was broke plus the weed that I would smoke would make it worser
Lord, please let my problems disappear like Ron Mercer
I’m a star, Converses
Conversin’ with them girls with them curves like cursive
They open like curtains because my shit is unheard of
Like curses on the radio
Same bitches used to play me though

#RushHourRap – Kanye West Pt. 2

By on • ( Leave a comment )

In what many described as the first ever crowdsourced album because of Kanye’s multiple tweaks to the album AFTER it had already been released, 2016’s The Life of Pablo is another hit in Yeezy’s catalogue. It was also the first album ever to go Platinum entirely from streams. As most of his recent albums have been, they definitely take a couple listens through to understand, but as he did with 808s and Heartbreak, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and Yeezus, Kanye is ahead of the game — wacky song titles and all.

#RushHourRap – Eminem – My Name Is

By on • ( Leave a comment )

If you’re like me and have to sit through soul crushing traffic every morning and every evening then you know the need for anything to keep your mind off the logjam. Personally, I like to blast rap as loud as possible as early as possible, introducing #RushHourRap. What better way to kick it off than with the Eminem classic “My Name Is”

Especially if anyones recently watched the HBO doc “The Defiant Ones” about Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, where Dre explains how this track was created almost instantly after walking into the studio with Em. MUST watch for any music fan.