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You read the headline correctly. Madlib’s alter-ego Quasimoto is making a comeback. Not much information out there, but I figured I would spread the news anyway. The new project was announced on Quasimoto’s Facebook page (see snapshot below). The new release will be called Yessir Whatever, which comes eight years after the 2005 album The Further Adventures of Lord Quas. Madlib’s other album under the Quasimoto pseudonym was The Unseen, which dropped in 2000. I can’t wait to see what Lord Quas has been brewing in the past eight years. Stay tuned for updates.
Three legendary hip-hop producers will be speaking about the, “Music of Hiphop,” according to the Hiphoparchive.org. The event will be held Harvard University’s Memorial Church, and the event begins at 5pm with doors opening at 4:30.
Pete Rock and Dj Premier are widely regarded as two of the best hip-hop producers of all time. Both producers contributed to one of the best hip-hop albums of all time, Nas’ Illmatic.
Besides Illmatic, Pete is mostly known as half of the duo Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth and his instrumental album, Petestrumentals. But Pete has also collaborated with Smif-N-Wessun, ini, and Boston native, Edo G. Dj Premier is most known as the producer for the duo, Gangstarr from 1989-2003. Both Pete and Premier have collaborated with many other artists, which would be unnecessary to list here.
9th Wonder has been in the game since the late 90s. Premo, Pete Rock, and the deceased J dilla are some of his influences. The grammy-winning producer (from production on Mary J. Blige’s album, The Breakthrough) has worked with a ton of artists such as Erykah Badu, Drake, Murs, Mac Miller, Wale and many more.
For more information on the Harvard event, visit http://www.hiphoparchive.org/node/9561
Jermaine Cole, known as rapper J.Cole has announced the release date [June 25th] of his new album is via Twitter. The album, titled Born Sinner is the second studio album released by the 28 year-old rapper. He also has three mixtapes on his resume, and also some productions under his belt.
Had to start off Mixtape Monday with a recent discovery. Traum Diggs knows smooth, crisp and classy. I stumbled upon this song, Sax Fifth Avenue Flow, on the rapper’s Twitter page. I’m all about this song and video. Diggs has the voice and flow for rap. The Brooklyn MC’s vocals float over the sax nicely. I’m looking forward to more stuff coming out from this dude, and you can bet I’m following him on Twitter from now on.
The MPC master, Pete Rock, does hip-hop and jazz a favor with this beat. This track is off the legendary 1992 album Mecca and the Soul Brother. Pete sampled one of my favorite Kool & the Gang funk tracks, “N.T.” but the jazz comes from Freddie McCoy’s “Gimmie Some!”
And what is Mixtape Monday without some Dilla? Here’s a nice jazzy tune for your eardrums. It’s hard not to like anything that Dilla churned out in his time. One of the most beloved (and missed) producers of all time, Yancey dug up some of the best music for his crates. In the above track, he sampled a 1970s jazz group called Placebo, which is actually a really popular group in the world of hip-hop samples. The song is called “Humpty Dumpty” off the album Ball of Eyes, if you’re interested in youtube-ing it. Pete Rock and Madlib have also sampled it.
Why not stay on the Dilla train? It changes weekly, but this track is one of my favorite Dilla productions at the moment (along with “Don’t Cry” – solely for the sentimental value and emotion behind it). But this one here, “Didn’t Cha know” is gold; especially with the grace of Erykah Badu’s beautiful voice serenading our ears. Dilla samples another little-known artist, Tarika Blue, off their 1976 album Downtown. Digging up that sample was a testimony to Dilla’s knowledge of music. What a great collaboration on this. Overall Mama’s Gun is a phenomenal album – so you should peep the whole thing while you’re at it (there’s a gang of great producers on it).
One of my all-time favorite songs from my all-time favorite duo, The People Under the Stairs from L.A. On this track, Thes One and Double K cut up Billy Wooten’s xylophone rendition of “We’ve Only Just Begun.” The song came off Wooten’s 1972 album The Wooden Glass – a live set recorded in Indianapolis, and re-released on CD in 2004. I’ve been looking for the ’72 vinyl for a while now, but the cheapest price I’ve found is $90 (yes, it’s a rare record). Oh well, I’ll find it at some thrift shop for 99 cents sooner or later. I digress. Anyway, the People Under the Stairs looped a piece of the xylophone jam, threw a hot beat and groovy filter underneath, and sprinkled some vocals over it. Some of the lyrics on the song are my favorite from the duo, such as when Double K spits:
“I’m a fan of hip hop since E.U. and ‘Da Butt’ was in /
and my n***a Doug Fresh ran the show /
Three Times was Dope, and MTV was ‘YO!’ ”
Ahhh, those old-school references are refreshing. E.U.’s “Da Butt,” Three Times Dope (hip-hop group), and MTV’s ‘YO! Raps.’ And then Thes One gets all up in the second verse with more:
“Something for sophisticated 8th grade hip-hop taste /
For heads that remember the breakup of 3rd Bass /
Tribe, EPMD, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth /
Hear immense influence, they’re congruent in my grooves”
K. Dot’s currently the best rapper doing it right now, in my opinion. This one is off Kendrick’s first album Section 80. The album didn’t even sold 100,000 copies, but the hip hop world loved it. Especially with tracks like the [J. Cole-produced] “HiiiPower” “Poe Man’s Dream” “F**k Your Ethnicity” and this track here. On this cut, Kendrick goes off on the beat, laying down bars rapidly. Not much else to say here – just admire Kendrick’s flow over the upbeat trumpet.
Tyler the Creator has eased back on the aggressive approach with Wolf. He has made it clear with his new album that he’s moved on from his younger, pre-fame self. His first two albums consisted of dark, violent, gruesome, provocative lyrics. The 22-year-old rapper proved his versatility and creative ability with his latest project. In addition, there is more of an emphasis on production over lyrical content. In fact, Tyler handled all of the production.
While there are still many pugnacious tones and lyrics, Wolf has lighter points throughout. The album sheds a portion of the angry, murderous, devilish temptations that Bastard and Goblin consisted of. Softer is a good thing. So is hostility. But it’s a matter of timing; and at this point in his career, Tyler needed to throw a change-up.
The rebellious attitude in his first two albums was needed to reach success. Now that he is accomplished, he can ease back on the attack, and become more reflective. As Tyler said in SPIN Magazine back then he was broke. Now he has money. Now he is hanging out with celebrities. His life has changed and therefore so will the content of his music.
This is apparent in the second track off the album, Jamba, where he raps:
“I’m animals, Noah’s Ark, and all from this rapping nonsense /
Four stories in my home like “what the F**k’s an apartment?”
And the song Cowboy, where he tells more about his newly acquired fame:
“That’s how it goes – designing clothes, cats on everything, cats on everything /
You think all this money will make a happy me /
But I’m about as lonely as crackers that supermodels eat.”
The humorous references remain in tact, and there are plenty of them, but the delivery is not as aggressive.
More fame references show up in Rusty:
“Hated the popular ones, now I’m the popular one /
Also hated homes too, ‘til I start coppin’ me some”
In the song Colussus, Tyler elaborates on the annoyances of fame – in this case he vents his frustration with fans approaching him. The song has a very similar vibe to Eminem’s Stan – perhaps it may have influenced Colussus. Tyler raps from the perspective of the fan:
“My life is just like yours, no father /
My momma must have forgot to stop with a pop condom /
In school I was the one thinking outside the boxes /
So everybody in them would say I got problems.
…
Tyler, I love you, I wanna be just like you (alright) /
I think about your face and I don’t even f**king try to (no homo) /
Wish I had a basement mitt for me to hide you /
We could play X-Box and listen to ‘In Search of…’ and eat donuts
Over conversating about what church does.”
Besides his fame-influenced lyrics, we also see a more reflective side of Tyler when he speaks about his father on the song Answer:
“Mom was only twenty when you ain’t have any f**ks to spare /
You Nigerian f**k, now I’m stuck with this shitty facial hair /
Also stuck with a beautiful home with a case stairs /
So you not being near f**king fire-started my damn career.”
Those lines were from the first verse where Tyler shares some bitter feelings towards his father, noting that his absence helped inspire his early albums. But the chorus indicates a Tyler who is torn between feelings, as he raps:
“I hope you pick up your phone /
I’d like to talk to you /
I hope you answer.”
Aside from lyrical progression, Tyler’s growth as an artist is noticeable in the amount of guests who contribute to the album. Of course, most members of Odd Future such as Hodgy Beats, Frank Ocean, Domo Genesis, Earl, and Jasper among others make routine appearances. But for the first time ever on a Tyler album, features extend beyond the Odd Future crew. Most notably, Neo-Soul queen Erykah Badu practically has her own song on the album, and veteran rapper Pharrell shows up on the track IFHY. There is also an intro/outro where Nas speaks, on the song 48.
Tyler made an impressive move when he allowed Erykah Badu to do most of the singing on the track Treehome95. Tyler has a few vocals but mostly linger behind the hooks and verses from Badu and another female artist, Coco O. Tyler, meanwhile, handled the production on the song with a smooth, soulful jazz vibe.
The production throughout the album was impressive. Tyler made great use of the piano/keys on Wolf, Colussus, Cowboy, Awkward, and Slater. But overall, the music was diverse enough to maintain a firm grip on the listener, while not completely losing the ‘Odd Future’ sound.
Whether you like it or not, this is the album that shows Tyler’s progression. Goblin and Bastard brought him into the game, and Wolf will keep him there. Solid stuff from Tyler lyric, production and delivery-wise.
Ray J’s desperate attempt to have the spotlight back on him comes in the form of a pathetic rap (if you can call it that) aimed at Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s relationship. Now I don’t intend to turn this into a gossip blog – and I won’t. But I had to speak on this.
I picture Ray J being the chump at the bar with little man syndrome seeking a fight, and finding the opportunity when another customer (Kanye) just happens to knock over a beer as he stood up from his barstool on his way out the door. It just happened to be Ray J’s drink so he approaches Kanye and starts mouthing off. Kanye laughs, shrugs, and exits the bar.
Anti-climatic, right? That’s my point.
Ray J will get a few days-worth and a handful of youtube views out of his latest shenanigans. Then it will be back to being a fame drop-out. Temporary gratification is all this amounts to.
And he got the spotlight alright – but not the one he was looking for. What he got was Kanye flashing a spotlight out beyond the walls of his kingdom looking for intruders. Ray J is the intruder. An intruder, but not really a threat.
Here’s a piece of free advice, Ray J: stay away from microphones – or any piece of equipment that will broadcast your unnecessary and sordid messages. Can’t believe I took time to write about this, let alone pay any attention to it.
Anyways, check it out for yourself:
I woke up this morning, and as usual opened the Macbook. NHL.com, then Facebook, then Grantland, reddit, the New York Times. Then Twitter – and caught something on my feed:
???
Being a fan of both artists, I had to open up that conversation. 9th Wonder eventually tweeted:
Happy Thursday everybody! I know mine will be, thanks to these two hip hoppers striking up twitter conversations. This is great.
You have an up-and-coming rapper, Cam Meekins, potentially pairing up with a top-notch producer. If they collaborate it won’t disappoint.
Meekins is a Massachusetts native who’s been rapping since high school. He has a couple of albums and mixtapes ( ‘:) 
: (‘ being his most recent), but also has a string of youtube videos that have really helped boost his notoriety.
I caught onto him shortly after he started working with Matty Trump – who I knew about through Sam Adams. But unlike Sammy, Cam Meekins is more of a hip-hop guy. Dude can rap, and he’s creative with it (I’ll post some youtube videos at the bottom). And if he is getting props from 9th Wonder (who, in another tweet referred to Cam as “#dope”) then you have your credibility right there.
9th Wonder is a veteran producer out of North Carolina. He has quite the impressive resume, including work with Pete Rock, Buckshot, David Banner, Murs, and Erykah Badu. 9th is as smooth on the beat as any producer doing it right now (check the videos at the bottom). His style reminds me a lot of Dilla. He has a plethora of collaborations under his belt, and Cam would be a great addition. Both are creative in their respective arts (rapper/producer). I’m excited if this happens. I hope the two follow through.
Kid CuDi announced through the airwaves of L.A.’s Power 106 radio that he’s decided to move on from Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music label.
I have mixed feelings about this decision.
On one hand, I don’t think anybody would deny that CuDi has fallen off the radar. He has taken a backseat to artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Meek Mill, Mac Miller, Joey Bada$$, Tyler/Earl, Action Bronson, Macklemore and others who have recently come up and made a splash in the hip hop (and for some, mainstream) community. Somewhere along the line, CuDi slipped on the Crisco-greased fame slope.
Since the ‘Man on the Moon’ package, CuDi worked with friend and producer Dot da genius on a rock-rap album titled ‘WZRD’. The album peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and #1 on U.S. rock and alternative billboards; but that is deceiving. Those peaks were most likely due to the hype surrounding CuDi after the success of Man on the Moon I & II, along with his successful 2008 debut mixtape A Kid Named CuDi.
After the release and initial wave of excitement that resulted in 66,000 first-week sales [Source 1], WZRD dropped from #3 to #34 on the U.S. Billboard 200 [Source 2]. Furthermore, with three and two star ratings from Allmusic and Rolling Stone respectively – it’s safe to say that the project wasn’t a success critically, nor in among the public.
It’s clear that something needed to change for the 29-year-old rapper. It seems like CuDi agrees with that, given the no-hard-feelings departure from Kanye’s label. He had to make a move, and he did – I applaud him for that.
He told Power 106, “We [him and Kanye] were talking on the phone the other day, and these are things I’ve been wanting to talk to him about – about me starting my own direction. And he got it, because he’s trying to start his new path –try new things as an artist. And he was just like, ‘man, I feel you. It’s cool, whatever.’”
But was it the right move? I’m nervous for CuDi. He’s undoubtedly talented. But he’s leaving, arguably, one of the best producers in hip-hop. In fact, WZRD, CuDi’s only disappointing record is the only one that wasn’t released under G.O.O.D. Music. Man on the Moon I – CuDi’s most successful album – was executively produced by Kanye.
To be fair, CuDi made quite the impression on West after appearing on “Already Home” off The Blueprint 3. West brought in CuDi to help write his popular 808s & Heartbreak. CuDi co-wrote “Heartless,” “Welcome to Heartbreak,” “RoboCop,” and “Paranoid” [Source 3].It’s clear that Kanye was inspired by CuDi – so the partnership went both ways. They helped each other – But that’s just it!
Can CuDi be successful on his own? That’s the burning question. After WZRD, I have my doubts.
Man on the Moon was a success because it related to adolescence – the lost, trying-to-find-his-way tone; along with smoking weed resonated with his crowd. Of course, it is much deeper than my brief description, but what I’m getting at is that CuDi could level with his listeners. But at 29-years-old, how is CuDi going to relate to his audience at this point in his career? I’m not saying he is fresh out of ideas and concepts, but I don’t know how he is going to surpass or meet the expectation that Man on the Moon will always be his shadow on the sidewalk. And now, he’s going to have to do it without the help of Kanye.
Indicud drops on April 23rd. It’s the last album under G.O.O.D. Music. This one is make or break, but even if successful, I’m afraid I’m more pessimistic this time around with the Cudder.
Mixtape: A Kid Named Cudi (2008)
Album: Man on the Moon I (2009)
Album: Man on the Moon II (2010)
Album: WZRD (2012)
Nasir Jones, better known as rapper ‘Nas’ has tweeted that he will announce the title of a new album next month.
This will be the 11th solo studio album from the Queensbridge native. His ’94 album, Illmatic, of course, is regarded as one of the best albums of all time. His most recent project was Life Is Good, released in July 2012. Life Is Good was compared to Marvin Gaye’s 1978 album Here My Dear, as both works detailed their respective failed marriages, and subsequent divorces. Life Is Good was widely regarded as a success. It sold 149,000 copies in the first week, and has sold nearly 350,000 to date.
This new album (or at least the announcement of it) from Nas comes less than a year after Life Is Good, and will undoubtedly gain humongous attention from the hip hop community. I cannot wait for more details regarding this album. Stay tuned for any updates.
codymarcroft
92 'til Infinity 
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