Tag: RZA

#RushHourRap – Wu Tang Clan – Biochemical Equation

Confronted by the devil himself, and stay strong
You think you can take the King, now meet Kong
Strong as the base of a mountain, there’s no counting
How many MC’s, have sprung from our fountain

From the group that needs no introduction, this 2005 track “Biochemical Equation” comes off one of Wu Tang’s massive collaborative efforts, Wu Tang Meets The Indie Culture. This song in particular features verses from both RZA and indie legend MF Doom so there’s plenty of clever wordplay here. RZA really is a five tool player as a producer, rapper, and an actor with dozens of acting credits to his name, including a season on the wildly underrated Californication. Just a quick quarantine binge recommendation if you’re looking for a new show.

Now add this track to your iPod shuffle or just follow the #RushHourRap playlist on Spotify!

#RushHourRap – Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Released 10 years ago this week, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is one of the best albums of the decade and in my opinion the best work of Kanye West’s career.

MBDTF won the Grammy for Rap Album of the Year along with two other Grammys for “All of the Lights.” The album is Kanye’s magnum opus and has contributions from so many heavy hitters in the industry that it really is mind blowing. Across production, features, and writing credits there were contributions from RZA, No ID, Scott Mescudi AKA Kid Cudi, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Bon Iver, Swizz Beatz, Pusha T, John Legend, Charlie Wilson, and Beyonce to name a few.

While I know everyone has heard the singles like “All of the Lights,” “Runaway,” and “Monster,” I cannot recommend enough that you watch the above 34 minute film. It is a glimpse into Kanye’s brain and his love for grandiosity. It is wild, and weird, and beautiful. I always said this could have been a legit broadway play and if you’ve ever been to a Kanye concert and seen his set pieces then you know the thought’s probably crossed his mind.

Introducing the Official #RushHourRap Playlist

Introducing the official #RushHourRap playlist curated by The 300s. Dozens of songs compiled from the past 30 years so you can take my obscure music recommendations with you anywhere. Featuring everyone from household names like Eminem and Kanye to lesser known artists, rappers you need to know, and young guys on the come up.

Just search #RushHourRap on Spotify to add it to your library.

Some of the deeper cuts of #RushHourRap unfortunately did not make the list because Spotify doesn’t exactly have a plethora of obscure mixtapes. So that means you’ll still need to track down hidden gems like Switch by Lupe Fiasco on YouTube.

But if you’re a fan of our morning rap recommendations then make sure you save and share this playlist because it’s a living breathing entity that I’ll be adding to all the time.

Logic Announces His Retirement Following the Release of His Next Album, “No Pressure”

My first reaction is it’s hard to take a rapper seriously when they say they’re going to retire. I mean Jay-Z said he was retiring after The Black Album and that was in 2003. He’s since un-retired and released five more albums. Plus artists in general don’t normally have the ability to just walk away from their art. It’s not like a football player who has to retire because his knees are shot. Look at HOV, Eminem, Ice-Cube, Ice T, RZA, E-40, Missy Elliott etc. They’re all north of 45 and still putting out tracks.

However, Logic has been one of the hardest working dudes in the game over the past decade. He’s put out six mixtapes, six full albums, plus the criminally underrated soundtrack to accompany the freaking novel he wrote, Supermarket. Not to mention five headlining tours.

So while I hope this is more like MJ retiring to play baseball and Bobby Tarantino just needs to take a couple years off to get away for a while, but if not I wish him the best because he has given us a TON of music to bump to.

PS – Logic’s farewell album is being produced by No ID and is coming out in less than a week?