John Legend – Get Lifted review

R&B seem to sound better when it is stripped down to the bare essentials: Just a piano and vocals. This was proven when Alicia Keys dropped her sophomore album. Diary of Alicia Keys. It has been proven again with John Legend’s debut album, Get Lifted.

The Kanye West produced album manages to take you an era where talent was the main objective, not popularity. The first single, “Used to Love U”, is a good example of how West and Legend make a good songwriting team.

Immortal Technique – Revolutionary Vol. 2 review

Be careful. Immortal Technique has got a brain full of knowledge, a heart filled with hatred, and a potent mouth spurting out more truth than an anti-smoking commercial, and he’s not afraid to use any of it.

His second full-length creation “Revolutionary Vol. 2,” the follow-up to his controversial “Vol. 1,” not only picks up where the first leaves off, it comes for the heads of those that are not listening yet, the half-truth news anchorman, the unoriginal A&R, the snake promoter, and the weak public that accepts whatever the government tells them. But, unlike other “revolutionists” and social connoisseurs, Immortal Technique manhandles a mean set of rebellious beats and radical lyrics too, with an attractive and informative approach that makes the average socially conscious rapper look like an average social slacker.

Immortal Technique – Revolutionary vol. 2 review

Every now and again I receive or hear of an album that truly stands out. Hip Hop fans nowadays all consider themselves an authority on what’s hot and what’s not, and, it seems that the views differ so drastically that deciding to actually pay attention to any one artist or opinion seems pointless. So, I rarely take the time to review a release. I have writers who do that and I typically handle the organization of the site. With that said though, after a lot of positive comments from people I, on occasion, pay attention to – I was exposed to Immortal Technique.

Fabolous – Real Talk review

When he first stepped onto the scene, Fabolous was undoubtedly the talk of the streets. Now three years later the streets are no longer buzzing for Fab. Instead they have been replaced by fanatical, love stricken woman everywhere. With the female demographic cornered, Fab has certainly taken his fair share of criticism. From being labeled as a sell out, to forgetting about his hardcore Hip Hop fans, Fab has heard it all. Now with his third release, Real Talk, Fabolous looks to regain the streets that he once called home.

Fabolous – Ghetto Fabolous review

Fabolous. He has been making stops around the R&B circuit, dropping guest appearance rhymes on songs from Lil’ Mo and Mary J. Blige. All of this to build up anticipation for his debut album “Ghetto Fabolous,” an album that seems all too engineered and planned out — almost an attempt to satisfy anyone looking to purchase the disc.

Fabolous – Fabolous review

That was the sound blaring from street corners all across America the past year. 2001 was indeed a memorable year for Fabolous. Fab emerged onto the rap scene through the connections of DJ Clue, and has quickly become one of the brightest young stars in the game today. Having appeared on numerous tracks and freestyle, Fab gained a reputation as one of the wittiest Emcees to come along. But it was Fab’s performance on Lil Mo’s mega hit “Superwomen” that propelled him into superstar status. Soon after, you couldn’t escape the sounds of Fabolous. His joints were blowing up all across America and they hype quickly grew for his debut album “Ghetto Fabolous”. But unfortunately, Fabolous falls completely short of all expectations.

D-12 – D-12 World review

There is a good reason why no one knows the name of Eminem’s band, and “D-12 World” is proof why. The highly criticized sidekicks of Eminem; Proof, Bizarre, Swifty, Kon Artist & Kuniva, have lived under a microscope ever since they stepped foot in the Hip Hop industry. It’s tough enough for a group of talent less emcees to make it, but when you have to follow in the footsteps of an individual the likes of Eminem, the journey is even harder. While their debut album “Devil’s Night” was a solid offering that capitalized off of the groups shock value, there was no question that without Marshall Mathers the album would have never been equally as good. In fact, the entire world knows that D-12 is a group completely run by Eminem. The only problem is the rest of D-12 must have missed the memo.

Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP review

In a day and age where the most talented emcees continue to drop disappointing albums, it’s hard to put faith in any hip-hop artist. This year alone, we’ve heard questionable albums from people that had the potential to drop classic material. Far too often, an artist is faced with two choices. He can try something new, and risk failure by disappointing his original fans. Or he can stay stagnant, “giving the people what they want,” and risk failure by getting played out. Eminem walks that line, by touching on new topics while still adding the wild antics that got him where he is. It’s comforting to hear an artist that hasn’t given in to industry standards, and despite added success, still keeps his core audience in mind when recording. Young Marshall has a habit of causing controversy, and attracting an audience that normally doesn’t listen to a hip-hop, but he’s still one of the most consistent artists in today’s rap industry.

Eminem – The Slim Shady LP review

From the first time I heard Eminem (1997 on the ‘Slim Shady EP’) I was immediately a fan. I then checked out his album ‘Infinite’ which didn’t really grab me as much as the EP, but seeing as the EP was more recent I decided to keep a look out for any future appearances of his.

Eminem hasn’t failed in any way to impress me both on the singles that he’s dropped and the appearances that he’s made. During the last year Eminem has collaborated with everyone from Bizarre to Da Ruckus. None of his appearances have been disappointing which is also a good sign.

Eminem – Encore review

Has Eminem just lost it, or has he simply run out of ideas? Either way, Eminem’s highly anticipated release, “Encore”, is his worst album to date. With a combination of bland production, horrendous hooks and gimmicky concepts, “Encore” is a strange album that finds a confused Eminem. One moment Em sticks to his guns and produces his usual assortment of lyrically brilliant songs, while the next minute, he is consumed with producing childish and immature pop songs that will have every Hip Hop fan scratching his head. It is this fight between Em’s Hip Hop and pop side that ultimately divides the album, making for one of the most disappointing albums of the year.