Single Review: MMMMMHMMMMM - Four Fists

I'm sure if you've seen my reviews that you know i'm a big P.O.S and Astronautalis fan, So you could only imagine my face when i saw that they were collaborating on tracks like "HandMade HandGun", "Story of My Life" and "Wanted/Wasted". Now let's take a moment to imagine my face when i heard about a year or so ago that they had planned on becoming a group titled Four Fists.

Well time passed, with each releasing their own solo album and me still gleefully anticipating the duo. That was until today while i was checking my phone that i saw an email, since i'm subscribed to the DoomTree website, with the title, "FOUR FISTS 6666 P.O.S x ASTRONAUTALIS". Skimming through the email, anticipation began surging when i realized that they had released a track that i couldn't listen to.

So once i got home i watched the first 1 minute teaser video with a song that sounded vaguely familiar. In fact, anyone who has seen the live performances, be it live or YouTube video, which for whatever reason i can't find now, could recognize this song, at least the chorus. This reminded me that this album has been in development for years, and that all that waiting would finally be appreciated soon in what i think will be an incredible project, and this new track, in the sense that it's finally recorded and mastered, helps back my thoughts.

The track "MMMMMHMMMMM" is a heavy hitter, incorporating the Electro-Punk sound that P.O.S' used in We Don't Even Live Here. Although the production reminds me of WDELH, there is this fresh feel coming from it, and while some people may be reminded of modern pop artists, to me this has enough of a experimental feel to not come across as merely using a gimmick.

Along with the production the Lyrics also lack that gimmick feel. Both artists are playing well to their strong parts with Astronautalis delivering a great sung/rapped verse and P.O.S pulling from his Punk Rock skills to deliver the chorus and verse breaks then returning to his Hip-Hop style to deliver a dope verse.

While the chorus itself is rather simple to understand and repeat, you can tell that a lot of thought went into the words. (No Calm/ No Hesitations/ No Alarms/ No Self Preservations/ Just Nerves and Ashtrays and on and on/ No Sleep/ Without Assistance/Got to Bash the Weight into Submission?/ Just Close the Windows and Lock the Doors) The concept once again feels reminiscent of We Don't Even Live Here, yet the delivery is so fresh and feels different.

Astronautalis' verse comes as expected, well thought out, brain teasing and lyrical impressive. Although the lines don't totally blow me away like other tracks have, lines like "Good Fences make Good Neighbors/ Go ahead friend, Call my Bluff" still help expand the concepts being displayed.

It's at this point that P.O.S jumps in and dopely delivers his perspective. Even off the first listen you pull great quotable's that only get better. "Workin the Nerves of a little birdy/ Told you what? Lies Right?" and "This head seeks yours/ and you should not explore the depths of it/ Just re-collect your common sense and run/ Period". Which is funny cause while Lupe also had a punctuation line in "Bitch Bad" ("First he's relating the word bitch with his Momma - Comma"), but the delivery in comparison comes across so much better when P.O.S did it, at least in my opinion.

The biggest thing here is that neither artists feels like they are pulling the project. It feels rather symmetrical in my mind on how things were split, especially when it was co-produced by the duo. P.O.S dominated the chorus and had a sweet sixteen while Astronautalis backed the chorus and had a great verse as well. While it may look unbalanced there, listen and see what i'm talking about...or maybe i'm crazy.

All in All i'm coming to love this track the more i listen. Everything feels like it took time to get it as perfect as possible, and although there are some lines that are kinda hard to hear, it still sounds really good the way it's said. Oh and for those looking for the Mhm's, they're towards the end of Astronautalis' verse.

If you couldn't tell...I'm excited for this album.

Rating: Listen Soon

Album Review: Back for the First Time - Ludacris

Ludacris, for those that don't know, is an Atlanta-based rapper known for many things whether it be his music, his record label, Disturbing Tha Peace, or his various movie roles. Chances are, anyone who's been alive since at least the 90's knows who Ludacris is for any one of these reasons, however this album came out right before his more popular appearances. Not saying that this isn't a very popular album, considering it's gone at least 3x platinum, but that his more notorious works appear a bit later.

Now, many people may know that Back for the First Time was pretty much a re-releasing of Incognegro, considering that they came out almost months apart from each other, except through a major label. Since Incognegro was a pretty popular independent release, it was decided that Back for the First Time would be the "updated" version for the world to see. Incognegro would lose 3 songs, "It Wasn't Us", "Midnight Train" and "Rock and a Hard Place", and instead gain 4 new songs, "Stick Em Up", with UGK, "Southern Hospitality", produced by The Neptunes, "What's Your Fantasy Remix", now featuring Trina and Foxy Brown, and a previously released track, "Phat Rabbit", produced by Timbaland.

While i have not listened to Incognegro to know what i'm missing, i do know that i enjoy Back for the First Time. One thing about me is that i rarely listen to party music alone, i always get that feeling that "if i'm not partying, party music is merely a tease", and so you'll find me instead listening to lyrical artists. While Ludacris isn't the most lyrical and is very much party music, i can't pretend that i wouldn't listen to Luda alone, for various reasons.

As many people already know, Ludacris is a funny person and that shows in this album. Luda's hilarious persona is out in full view for the majority of this album, and i enjoyed every minute of it. Now while this album isn't as hyper as some of his later works, I'm looking at you Word of Mouf, it still packs that Luda punch, with some surprisingly lyrical sucker punches.

This album is one of those truly impressive south albums where the chorus' are catchy as anything while the lyrics are straight nasty. And this isn't just Luda, but his cast of features. While some lines came across rather weak, at least in my standards today, every verse was legit and brought the right energy to it. While there were very few lines that caught me off guard or wowed me, Ludacris was easily able to hold my attention throughout the entire project.

I'm sure the assistance of the production made this easier, as well. The production was so hyped with beats made by Bangladesh, Organized Noize, Jermaine Durpi, The Neptunes, Timbaland, and even a couple by Luda himself. There were times where the beat was in your face like "Game Got Switched" and "What's Your Fantasy" while time's that they were just plain jammin like "Hood Stuck", "Southern Hospitality" and "Get Off Me" then there were other times where they were just plain spitteriffic tracks like "1st and Ten" and "U Got a Problem". No matter what the purpose of each track, all of them will bang in your speakers somehow, even the dope laidback "Mouthing Off".

Speaking of "Mouthing Off" , which is almost like a street corner cypher, my favorite feature comes from this track. 4-Ize absolutely kills it, infusing pop culture with his dope lines, i'll explain in more detail on the Track By Track Review. There were about 10 features on this album and all were well placed and well used. I-20 and Fate Wilson, from DTP, had great verses rivaling Luda in the tracks "1st and Ten", a lyrical countdown, and "Catch Up", A realization yet defiant response concerning their bad habits. And while Shawnna only sang the chorus in "What's Your Fantasy", she receives back up in the remix from Trina and Foxy Brown, who do a good job showing the female perspective of the sexual anthem. Another good feature was a fresh Pastor Troy on "Get Off Me", an elbow throwing track where Troy and Luda occasionally traded off lines with each other in their verses. The final, somewhat surprising, feature were the UGK verses on the banger "Stick Em Up", which were as Trill as ever.

All in All, there isn't much to dislike about this album, when you except it as it is. It's not a lyrical album, although it does have it's fair share of lyrical moments, it's a young mans party album that plenty of people can enjoy. The hooks are catchy, The verses are nice, and The production makes you want to move. There's also 3 hilarious skits throughout this album to help set-up some of the songs. It's fun and you know what you're getting out of this album, and it delivers on that completely. There's no regrets in having this in your collection.

Rating: Must Buy

Stand-Out Tracks: Game Got Switched, 1st and Ten, What's Your Fantasy, Get Off Me, Mouthing Off, Ho, Catch Up, Southern Hospitality

Mixtape Review: Earl - Earl Sweatshirt

As a quick return to reviews i've chosen Earl Sweatshirt's Freshman mixtape, Earl. Earl Sweatshirt is notorious for being a fan favorite of the Odd Future posse. Similar to Tyler, Earl's sound and lyrics are very dark with inclusion of concepts such as Rape, Murder, and the like. Whether or not you like or agree with this content, very few people can deny Earl's lyrical excellence. This all may come across surprising when you realize at the release of this mixtape, Earl was merely Sixteen years old.

With that introduction, let's talk about the mixtape itself. It's very interesting trying to think of how i want to talk about this, just because of what it is. This mixtape is in no way bad, Earl basically creates an intro to his persona portrayed in much of his music. The beats and lyrics are dark with this teenage twist, since it's quite obvious that much of it is unrealistic and rebellious, most blatantly "epaR". This journey through Earls mind is scary in a strangely understandable way (Or maybe i'm just weird).

Not everything that Earl says is completely ridiculous and in outer space, rather the more you listen the more sense it makes. The reason this is interesting is that Earl likes to rhyme sounds together, and does it rather well, especially when his lines seem to incorporate a lot of concepts that all somehow tie into the same topic. There are few dull lines with all the outlandish verses, and it's hard to point to a specific example since almost every track is like this.

Earl reveals all his dark thoughts, in a way that's reminiscent to old Eminem, in multiple ways.  The flow's changing from song to song, and how he approaches a track is very distinct. Which actual is the best way i can describe this project, one big experiment. Despite this, Earl feels like an older cat who's found a sound that almost fits him perfectly.

Almost every song feels different from each other sonically , with a dark, grunge-like undertone. The only way i can really describe it is plain and simply Odd Future's sound. Sometimes it's poppy like "Kill", "Luper" and "epaR", other times it's gloomy like "Moonlight". I'm having trouble describing this just because of how different it feels to me, where i can only really compare it other Odd Future artists.

Speaking of the GolfWang, another alias of OF, Earl has three featured artists, two of which are part of the collective. In the first and last feature, "Couch" and "Pigions", is the lead member of Wolf Gang, Tyler the Creator under the pseudonym's of Ace Creator and Wolf Haley. Tyler, in both songs, shows off his lyrical ability in the same dark manner as Earl and, like Sweatshirt, does just as well while adding some humor to his verses, which is rarely seen in Earl. The second feature is long-time Odd Future collaborator, Vince Staples. In "epaR" he shows his lyrical ability next to Earl's and, although he didn't outdo Earl, was great to hear, even though the lyrics were almost as dark. The final feature is another OF member, Hodgy Beats, in the track "Moonlight". Just like the other features Hodgy sounded great on the production and fit his purpose very well.

This is the type of review i'm constantly thinking about while typing, and will continue to question myself after i release it. It's hard to say what i want without just summarizing it all into one spot. Basically, this album is dope, from the production to the lyrics. There's never a dull moment, rather my only problem is that the pacing is rapid considering that this mixtape is only 10 tracks, two of which are either skits or skit-like. But for eight tracks to come across so diverse yet so united is very impressive.

Earl hit the ground running with this mixtape and, while not everyone will enjoy this mixtape or appreciate the sound, gained mad respect for how well it was arranged. It's reasons like this that Earl remains my favorite OF member and why i'm syched to hear whatever else he releases.

Rating: Must Buy (If it wasn't already free)

Stand-Out Tracks: All of them (Earl, Couch, Kill, Luper, epaR, Moonlight, Pigions, Stapleton)

Update #1: Plans for the Future

Hello Everyone,

It has been quite a while since my last post and i apologize to anyone who was actually following (maybe too optimistic of a comment). Honestly, 2013 has been a slow progressing year musically, for me. It has only been recently that i've returned to my constant prowl of new releases and such (Hope i'm not the only one jamming too hard to Acid Rap). With this new energy coursing through i've been inspired to continue the blog and hopefully have shorter, or no, hiatuses.

In order to commemorate this return i plan on doing two full discographies. The first of which will be Ludacris due to his birthday coming up on September 11th and his upcoming release Ludaversal, which is also set to appear on the same day. These will be both Album and Track-By-Track reviews for his seven, ending on the eighth, studio albums and six mixtapes, This will not include Incognegro merely for the fact that the majority of it is just Back for the First Time. 

Considering that this will be a rather "mainstream" discography, at least in comparison to the albums i have reviewed, I decided that my second discography will return to the more "underground" sounds of Jedi Mind Tricks. This will include their seven studio albums and EP. Depending on how the first discography set goes will decide whether or not i'll be releasing them around the same time or JMTs' after Ludacris'.

Eitherway, I hope that this slightly makes up for my disappearance and i'll of course be doing various other reviews, littered through out the discographies. You can expect the first of these reviews to show up tomorrow.

Album Review: Charity Starts At Home - Phonte

Charity Starts At Home is the debut album of Phonte as a solo artist. Just like many others i knew Phonte from his group Little Brother. Personally i never looked into their discography, despite enjoying their sound. I won't make that mistake again after listening to this album.

There's no better way to start a review by saying that Charity Starts At Home is a "grown man" album. Music that i wouldn't be afraid to call "Real" and be questioned on how it's considered "real" hip hop. The thing is, The album is so relatable and personal that i almost felt that it was actually written for the people. I rarely felt like i was listening to a song that was about some famous persons life and how they can accomplish what the average person can't. Phonte had the ability to make his music seem so down to earth. 

The production of this album is handled by various producers including 9th Wonder, Khrysis, and S1. At least, i'd like to say that it was done by many producers but the production sounded like it was made from the same person with slight differences here and there. It's rare that i point out a negative so quickly in an album review but unlike Ipecac Neat it was far more noticeable that the sound was consistent. There were some good shifts in production like "Eternally" "Ball and Chain" and "To Be Yours" and if there were more changes like this i wouldn't have any issue. The difference between Charity Starts At Home and Ipecac Neat is there was slightly more production diversity in the latter, or atleast better placed production diversity.

On the lyrical side this album is very well done. The most impressive lyrics were the ones where Phonte took a cliche, flipped it in the direction he wanted, and pretty much coined the phrase. He even had lines where if anyone else would have said it, I would have considered it a wack line. The delivery and word play is on a high level that fits Phonte's persona. Although we must remember that Phonte has been in the game for ten plus years. People i know who listen to Phonte tell me you can't expect less.

On the other side of lyrics Phonte has a few tracks where he's actually singing. I personally feel that Phonte has outdone the "Drake" lane on a mere few tracks. The singing isn't mind blowing but it doesn't sound any less natural than the rapping. Infact, "Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" is probably one of my favorite tracks on this album and the majority of it is singing. I honestly look forward to an entire R&B release by Phonte.

It would be wrong not to speak directly about the concepts of this album. Phonte's subject matter includes topics such as the daily struggle, in "The Good Fight", to questioning your ability to stay faithful to your spouse, in "Sendin My Love", to choosing between the better of two life loves, in "Who Love's You More". Although Phonte speaks in first person in all these songs you beginning placing yourself in these lyrics. Almost as if someone had turned your daily life into an album, you really find yourself thinking "Phonte made this for me".

Alongside Phonte is a slew of rap and r&b features on the majority of this album, 8/12 tracks to be exact. Not saying that there are verses on all these songs, 3/8 are only chorus'. The features that were verses however stood out greatly. The first of these features is Elzhi on Track 4, "Not Here Anymore". Elzhi delivers yet another impressive verse adding more to this lyrical song on a rappers struggle to succeed. Next was Track 5, "Eternally" where Median and Phonte were going back and forth bar for bar. Median started the track until Phonte hopped in and the baton passed continued with returning with lines that were stealing the show from each other. The first sung verse feature was track 9, "Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" where Carlitta Durand shared her vocals for a well placed view of the female's side of this short story where people in search of love have found their soul mate and enjoying the time with them, in what i'd assume is a club. The next feature saw the illustrious Pharoahe Monch delivering a dope verse in "We Go Off". It's been a minute since i've heard Pharoahe and it felt great hearing him on this track. The last features were a triad competition between Phonte, Evidence, and Big K.R.I.T. There was no weak verse on this track but i'd be lying if i said that K.R.I.T. didn't steal the show. 

The main negative, i had mentioned earlier, was the production pretty much sounding the same. It isn't bad production but it almost makes a great lyricist like Phonte sound boring in the long run. A bit more diversity in production would have put this album even further up considering that half way through the album i almost want to stop and go play something slightly more upbeat. 

Charity Starts At Home is an album i would recommend to all hip hop listeners. I believe that anyone could agree that it's the definition of "real" hip hop and can respect it as such. If you need some music to sit back and relax to while you think, Charity Starts At Home is perfect.

Rating: Must Buy

Stand-Out Tracks: The Good Fight, Eternally, To Be Yours, We Go Off, The Life of Kings, Who Loves You More

Album Review: You and Yer Good Ideas - Astronautalis

Astronautalis is a Minneapolis rapper who i discovered by his feature in a P.O.S track, "Hand Made Hand Gun". Although i loved his verse he didn't really stand out in my mind as an artist that i would consider adding to my CD collection. This was soon changed after seeing his performance of said P.O.S track. The energy this man carried was incredible and i was so thoroughly impressed i had to give him a shot. You and Yer Good Ideas is the freshman release of Astronautalis and what an incredible journey this was.

To begin i must admit that this isn't just any Indie/Hippy album, This is my type of of Indie/Hippy album. Alternative Hip Hop being my favorite genre this album delivers exactly that and not just in a single way. The production is a mixture of Astronautalis and an artist known as Radicalface, an artist i shall definitely consider looking in to after hearing this album.The production takes many experimental routes, pretty noticeable in "Hurricane Isabel" and "Something' For the Kids", that work well with Astronuatalis' sound. I almost can't describe the twists and turns simply but i will definitely attempt to on a Track by Track review.

Astronautalis' sound is rather intriguing. He has so many various sounds that he can make feel natural from the straight spitting tracks, like "Tightrope", to the more soft punk rock track "Fourth of July". I could quote this ten track album for days on end. The only time i felt like i was hearing a bad track was when i was comparing it to a personal favorite, "I'm Never Right". Astronautalis doesn't sing too often in this album yet when he does its calm and relaxing but emotional.

To be honest the lyrics don't play a huge roll in this album, at first. At first you're just so strung in by the productions sound and how Astronautalis is able to fit right into it beautifully. However when you get the opportunity to study the lyrics, and i hope you do, you'll be taken even further aback. The concepts seem simple by just listening to them but when you study these lyrics you'll see the unhidden hidden message. I can't say he was hiding the lyrics but you're so caught up in the music by itself that you almost don't feel that need to see the lyrics.

The passion put into this sound is just incredible. Astronautalis comes across rather monotone just listening to the album yet the emotions seemingly flow from the stereo. The voice fits the mood of the production perfectly without coming across over the top or underwhelming. At times i didn't know what i loved more, the production or the voice. I could just fall asleep to this album because of how beautiful it sounds.

But enough of me just complementing Astronautalis, There were two features on this album that deserve recognition. The first of which is Isaiah Toothtaker on the track "I'm Never Right". He easily had the most passion on the entire album. The dramatic lyrics and the voice pitch. I truly felt the pain Isaiah wanted me to feel and completely stole the show from Astronautalis. The second of said features was Radicalface on "Fourth of July". To be honest i can't tell you where exactly Radicalface is in this beautiful composition. It's not cause he doesn't stand out but the voices all felt like they could have fit Astronautalis. It's like listening to Clipse' early albums and not being able to tell Terror from Malice until listening to them both independently. This isn't necessarily bad because it means everything harmonized well, I just don't think Radicalface will receive the deserved credit for this track.

The faults on this album had a lot more to do with the later transitions of the sound. Starting at Track Seven, "People Often Tell Me I'm Good at What I Do" the sound becomes so mellow. It's not a bad track at all and the concept is very respectable but i almost feel an urge to grab a pillow not in the way i mentioned above. It's best described as a sound that you'd hear walking on the shore of a beach next to a beautiful women. Although it picks back up with Track Eight, "Baggage Claim" your mood has been so slowed that this sudden lift is almost unwanted at the moment. The transition could have definitely been better. To make matters worse it drops down again with "Fax Machine". These aren't bad tracks the transition is just lacking and honestly i had to look up their names compared to other tracks that i could name instantly.

This album was a great journey that i don't think will ever get old. Listening to it in 2012 it doesn't feel out dated either except for maybe "Something' For the Kids" but that was due to a reference to a certain rapper in verse one. I didn't know how Astronautalis could top this album considering it easily became one of my top five albums, turning Astronautalis into one of my favorite rapper artists.

Rating: Classic In The Making 

Stand-Out Tracks: Gaston Ave, Tightrope, Oceanwalk, Hurricane Isabel, Something' For the Kids, I'm Never Right, People Often Tell Me I'm Good at What I Do, Fourth of July

Colossal Audio Rating System

After writing my album review for Ipecac Neat i realized i didn't want a normal number/grade rating system. So on the spur of the moment i created a rating system that i think fits how i want to describe an album. My rating system has 8 levels: Classic, Hidden Gem, Classic in the making, Must Buy, Worth 10 Dollars, Illegal Download, Skip-able, and It Didn't Happen.

Classic:

Classic is pretty self explanatory and has very rare uses. A classic album is an album that is, in my opinion, perfect from head to toe. I can't have any doubts about the album and i am able to place it against other classic albums and feel comfortable. For a classic to truly be a classic it has to survive the test of time and receive critical acclaim. This means that any album i name a classic has to have been out at least 5 years and still have incredible power. Similarly it can't just be me who believes the album is great. The word classic couldn't fit so many diverse albums if it were merely one mans opinion.

Hidden Gem:

Hidden Gem is a term that will be used a lot with great albums that i feel haven't received enough attention.These albums are basically classics however they lack the critical acclaim they deserve. A hidden gem will be placed up against the classic albums in the same type of comparisons but won't completely hit the mark. Hopefully by labeling an album as a Hidden Gem someone may see it and help spread the album around.

Classic in the Making:

A classic in the Making is an album that i appreciate greatly. It may have received alot of attention and may have survived the test of time but just wasn't perfect. There was just something missing that hopefully i'll be able to elaborate on.

Must Buy:

Another self explanatory rating. Anything above a Must Buy usually fits into this category. A Must Buy album is an album that may have had a few faults and deserves a spot in my ipod/CD collection.

Worth 10 Dollars:

The Worth 10 Dollars category means that the album was good.  There are more things wrong with the album than the Must Buy albums but good enough to deserve a place in my CD collection.

Illegal Download:

This does not mean that i am condoning downloading an album but rather an allusion for "if you want to hear it listen to it on youtube or borrow a copy from someone." Basically i feel that the album doesn't really deserve much money because it was either bad or lacked effort.

Skip-able:

These albums didn't do anything for me. I may have listened to it out of pure interest but i didn't feel like i gained anything from it. If i put down an artist that you just gotta listen to the discography of in this category chances are you'll get it somehow anyway but for those who aren't really interested in that album i wouldn't recommend because it's a waste of time. This category will be hard to fill considering that it takes a lot of nothing to make me think an album can be skipped.

It Didn't Happen:

This is the definition of a terrible album. An album that i just want to erase from my memory because nothing worked at all. An album that i'd try to give away in hopes that i don't see it again. I hope not to have any album in this category just because its hard for me to hate any type of music.


That is the basic rating system. Albums, EPs and Mixtapes will all be set to this standard. If there are any questions or anything that needs to be explained in better detail please let me know.