September 4, 2008 – 12:49 pm
On a message board the other day, one member listed a name of artist that he claimed were the best or whatever. Another member replied with an extremely witty remark: “What’s that, the lyrics to a Game verse?” Yeah, I laughed hard because after all, it is true. What has remained the biggest flaw of [...]
September 3, 2008 – 7:09 am
There isn’t a group or duo in hip hop better than Outkast. There isn’t a more consistent act or even a more outstanding act than Andre 3000 and Big Boi. Bad music isn’t in their repertoire; neither is lackluster, lazy, boring, or unpolished. The fact is: Outkast is the greatest act in hip hop history, [...]
August 30, 2008 – 8:57 am
Editors note: Last year when The Big Doe Rehab was released, This Is Hip Hop contributor Edwin reviewed this album. If you’re interested in reading another take, you can read his review here.
Not only is The Big Doe Rehab a follow up to More Fish, it is the official follow up to Fishscale. It must [...]
August 29, 2008 – 8:44 am
Ghost is back! But didn’t he just release the critically acclaimed, Fishscale, a few months prior to More Fish? Two albums in one year is either a really good thing or a sign of rushed material and an attempt at a quick pay day. C’mon, this is Ghostface Killah we are talking about, so you [...]
August 28, 2008 – 9:36 am
To put it in simple terms, Fishscale is one of the best hip-hop albums I have ever heard. Maybe it took a bad release, The Pretty Toney Album, to wake Ghostface up. With the release of Fishscale, Ghost let the world know that he was back and hasn’t lost his touch. 10 years after he [...]
August 27, 2008 – 8:36 am
When your first three albums are damn near flawless you have a lot to live up to. Despite having quality content, Ghostface Killah’s third album, Bulletproof Wallets, lacked record sales and in turn saw GFK depart from Sony Records. Luckily for Ghostface, notice that this is what he goes by on the cover of the [...]
August 26, 2008 – 8:29 am
A true sign of a great artist is when you go through their catalog of releases and you realize it is almost impossible to rate the work in order of greatness. Most artists who are fortunate enough to release three albums often have one standout of the three. However, Ghostface does the impossible once again. [...]
August 25, 2008 – 8:38 am
Which is rarer; an artist dropping a classic debut album or that same artist raising that classic bar even higher upon releasing his sophomore project? Not many artists are talented enough to do the first, so that means the amount of artists who obtain the latter is even slimmer. Consider Ghostface Killah one of the [...]
August 24, 2008 – 6:41 pm
In an industry in which every artist feel they are super human, very few can actually stand the test of time. Ghostface Killah is one of the few who not only last in this ever changing game, but he constantly steps his game up with every album.
1996 saw the release of Ironman. Ironman was Ghostface [...]
August 14, 2008 – 12:14 pm
One of the great things that I love about running this blog is that it reaches audiences worldwide and I’ve come to meet great people all over the world and learn about hip hop in other countries. This article right here comes from my man Marcha, who has been a loyal reader since we went [...]
August 14, 2008 – 10:05 am
When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
The title of this album is hilarious, but try to think of it from an academic point of view. The original adage goes: When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Obviously, Slug and Ant went another direction with it that is very symbolic in their [...]
August 11, 2008 – 8:28 am
The word “Underground” is tossed around the hip hop circuit all the time. To come to a clear cut definition of it is simply impossible. Underground can represent a sound, a fan base, a geographical location, anything, but we all know that good music is good music. Using the traditional meaning of “Underground” (the opposite [...]
July 26, 2008 – 8:21 pm
After experiencing his live performance at Rock the Bells (READ MY REVIEW HERE), my respect for Murs has grown beyond belief. Look pass his crazy hair if you can and into the introspective lyrics and dope flow and you get one of the best west coast emcee of the modern hip hop era. Personally, I’ve [...]
July 23, 2008 – 6:41 am
Nasir Jones is certainly one of the best this genre has ever had to offer. His catalog, even with the rough spots, is pretty impeccable. It’s frustrating to some that Nas doesn’t return to his Illmatic routes, but to this reviewer, it is the more mature and smart approach. No one loves a good throwback [...]
July 21, 2008 – 7:15 am
The biggest surprise of the year thus far is undoubtedly Akrobatik’s Absolute Value. I loved seeing Akro, once again, step out of the highly respected spotlight of the Perceptionist and pursue his own solo work gathering help ranging from the late great J Dilla, 9th Wonder, Da Beatminerz, Talib Kweli, and Little Brother. Amongst these [...]
July 18, 2008 – 6:58 am
Look at that album cover; I dare you not to laugh. The humour and comedic routines of Phonte are only one of his many talents. If you’ve seen Little Brother live, you know he is a jack of all trades. Zo, you might be familiar with from his work with Little Brother (”When Everything is [...]
July 17, 2008 – 7:13 am
Ever since his guest spots with Da Bush Babees in 1996, Mos Def has always been a lyrical force to reckon with. He has been deemed the idealistic emcee and many even claim him to be one of, if not the greatest to ever touch the microphone. Despite his below average and very rushed albums: [...]
July 8, 2008 – 12:57 pm
Do you remember the first time you heard Little Brother? I do. It was in my brother’s car and he was playing “Speed.” One line hit me like a ton of bricks, “Pushin 80 miles an hour to this/ call center/ tryna pick up a check that I only see 20% of.” I didn’t know [...]
June 24, 2008 – 3:56 pm
Let’s get it straight, it doesn’t get any rawer than Redman and the flow doesn’t get any nicer than Method Man. Here you have two of hip hop’s best combining their skills to mold one project: Blackout! The album came out in 1999 to fairly good reviews, but there were the occasional bad reviews. The [...]
June 19, 2008 – 3:45 pm
“Praverb speaks on reality every time he is in presence of a microphone.” These are the words I read in the media package that contained the album by Praverb, Center of Attention. His pride in speaking about what is right in front of our eyes but not seen by everyone is [...]
