mixtape maestro (2.0)

Drake and Nicki Minaj’s MVP mic turns and Lloyd’s candy-sweet hook on “BedRock” may provide some pleasant vocal accompaniment, but anyone with ears knows that the true star of the current Young Money smash is producer Kane Beatz.

His earworm-y, Playskool keyboard tinkerings is one of those beats that every rapper alive instantly wishes they could have had first (and one that, unfortunately, every unknown emcee and/ or singer alive looking for that big break will swipe for their bedroom-set YouTube “freestyles covers” for months come).

Of those handled by more…erm, established figures, we direct your attention to our two favorites so far: the around Christmas-leaked one from Wale (who we, somewhat sadly, enjoy a thousand-times more when he’s pushing something non-official album-associated) and a disappointingly brief turn at the bat from Twista, who, after oddly kicking things off with a “regular rap” style, makes the world right again with a quick re-adjustment to his signature, Speedy Gonzalez-like flow half-way through, landing in perfect tandem with the rapid pace of Beatz’ instrumental.

DL: Wale “BedRock (Freestyle)” (alt)

DL: Twista “BedRock (Freestyle)” (alt)

Uncategorized freestyle rap, kane beatz, twista, wale, young money

Understandably pissed after being left out of what’s become rap’s modern-day Olympics, MTV’s annual Hottest MC’s List, Lupe Fiasco has decided to make sure he makes it on next year’s rankings. This means temporarily backing away from epic, pop audience-targeting fare like this past summer’s blink-and-you-missed it “Superstar”-rewrite “Shining Down” and planting much of his focus on blessing the mixtape-hoarding crowd with stunning lyrical flexes like those found on the Jimi Hendrix-sampling beast “Fire” as well as nearly the entirety of his Thanksgiving Day-premiered set Enemy of The State: A Love Story (found in split version here).

On the teasingly brief State (it tops out around twenty-two minutes), Lupe breathlessly rips through miles and miles of clever pen-and-pad-less spitting atop instrumentals new (Timbaland & Drake’s “Say Something”), not-so-new (Lil’ Wayne’s “Fireman”) and, most intriguingly, non-hip hop (Radiohead’s “The National Anthem”), giving your rewind-button trigger finger plenty of work as you struggle to absorb all the random pop culture references (Street Fighter!! Tiny Toon Adventures!!) and genius-level wordplay trickery expertly embedded throughout his rapid-fire flow.

For us, one of it’s best offerings would have to be Lupe’s take on The Blueprint 3 joint “Thank You”. Not necessarily a highlight because it showcases Fiasco at the top of his freestyle game (though that is a plus), how “Thank You” really grabs us is in it’s pairing of an actual hungry emcee with a purpose against producers Kanye West & No ID’s lush, orchestral loop.

Having such a solid beat support Jigga’s umpteenth dishing of soul-less self-back-patting (at least for the first two verses) felt like a waste of an ill backing track; but that disappointment is quickly reversed the instance Lupe touches down with lines like “I aint the bomb/ I’m the company that got the contract to rebuild during the aftermath/ Have a blast” and this insane closing gem: “I’m the whole world, nigga you’re an island/ And the seas risin’, if I keep shinin’/
You gon’ have to take submarines to the drive-in nowwww”.

DL: “Thank You (Freestyle)” (alt)

Uncategorized freestyle rap, jay-z, kanye west, lupe fiasco, mixtape, no i.d., the blueprint 3

Kinda frightening to think what the rap landscape will be like once Wayne has to spend his year in prison, innit?

Even at his most irritating ubiquitous, the man has the power to heighten hip hop-themed conversation unlike very few others, with whatever new song, remix, freestyle to emerge from him destined to light up the blogosphere commentary world with record speed no matter how great or meh said product is.

Knowing Weezy though, he’ll make sure the twelve month sentence will fly by without folks getting the chance to miss him too much, as he’s probably in the lab right this moment cooking up enough freestyle dishes to ensure one new lyrical treat premieres each of the three hundred and sixty-five days. Alongside “official” joints set for planned near-future releases both solo (the long pushed-back rap/ rock question mark Rebirth, The Carter IV) and label related (Young Money Fam; solo debuts from Mack Maine and Nikki Minaj), Wayne will likely remain just as omnipresent as he has been the past few years.

But to steer focus back to what this post was really supposed to be about…Wayne’s newest mixtape, No Ceilings, has hit the Webs (four days earlier than expected), and for all those longing to hear the Young Money king slather some of the hottest hip hop beats of 2009 (from Jay’s “Run This Town” to Gucci Mane’s “Wasted” to, er, the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling”) with his typically WTF vocabulary (you could make a drinking game out of the many creative ways he spins an “I’m the shit” boast or cleverly embeds an athlete’s name into a line)…think of this as an early Christmas present.

Catch some of our favorites below, including “Break Up”, a collaboration with Short Dawg and Gudda Gudda over the beat behind Mario’s current smash (and oh how much better that circular Bangladesh-produced loop sounds when it’s not being awkwardly used to support a R&B track), and “Throw It In The Bag”, which sees Wayne narrating the pleasures of lavish life-aided rap sex-mance (“Fuckin’ on Versace/ Napping on satin/ I love to hit it backwards, Call it Pig Latin…”) atop the seducingly hypnotic instrumental of Fabolous’ Dream-sampling “Bag” remix.

(Or you could simply save a bunch of time by downloading the entire [more often-than-not awesome mixtape] from Nahright.)

DL: “Break Up” (alt)

DL: “Throw It In The Bag (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized bangladesh, fabolous, freestyle rap, gudda gudda, lil' wayne, mario, mixtape, no ceilings, short dawg, southern rap, the-dream

LL Cool J has always had this amazing ability to go years without dropping anything really worthwhile, then out of nowhere bust out with a gem that makes you re-realize how much of a respectable hip hop icon he is. His latest release, the MJ-tributing “Billie Jean Dream” is one of those records.

Atop “BJ”’s still dynamite instrumental, LL relates a dream-inspired fantasy in which he’s viewing the world through Mike’s eyes, and through crisp lyricism, he effectively reminds the bling-adorned emcees of today that when it comes to swagger, no one on the corner could beat the King of Pop.

“Iced out glove on a Bentley wheel/ Look at how I’m spinnin’, your boy’s so real/ Number one in the world, imagine how it feel/ To hit up Sony for a billion on a deal”, he opens, one of many highlights of a solid single verse that references everything from MJ’s shrewd businessman chops (“Buy out the Beatles/ Tell Paul to chill…”) to how he might have felt towards the overabundance of Mike wannabes in the current pop/ R&B market (“All of y’all emanate from one source/ Try to imitate it, but you can’t pull it off”).

A brilliant nod from one G.O.A.T. to another, this easily lands as one of the best MJ tributes we’ve heard so far in a year sure to bring plenty more. Hell, it’s so good, we’ve now actually become super excited for LL’s next project. Color us surprised.

DL: “Billie Jean Dream (MJ Tribute)” (alt)

Uncategorized 80's, freestyle rap, ll cool j, michael jackson, mj tribute

With Jazmine Sullivan’s “Lions, Tigers and Bears” finally being pushed as an official single (giving more and more a chance to witness it’s magnificence), odds are tons of remixes and remakes of it will be hitting our ears soon. Joining the expected onslaught early is this pseudo-cover from Rock City, a hip hop/ R&B/ reggae duo signed to Akon’s label, who take “Lions” in a rather interesting direction.

Avoiding the predictable “let’s just gender-swap the lyrics” move, RC do away with the song’s love theme altogether, instead choosing to focus their lyrical aim on the real-life nightmares of their Saint Thomas ghettos origin and how growing up amidst the constant threat of violence has shaped them into the hardened young men they are today (Revised chorus: “I’m not scared of lions and tigers and bears/ Cause I came from the jungle too/ I’m not scared of gunshots, although that seems rare/ It’s a sound that I’m used to…”).

Nowhere near as stellar as the original, but a nicely done re-do nonetheless.

DL: “Lions, Tigers and Bears (Jazmine Sullivan ‘Freestyle’ Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized cover song, freestyle rap, jazmine sullivan, reggae, rock city

He probably won’t ever convince anyone to believe in him as a rapper, but Swizz Beatz‘ role as a charismatic hype-man is hard to deny, especially when he’s coming up with golden, “sure-to-be-adopted-by-wannabe-baller” hook chants like “Michael Jordan/ Tiger Woods/ I’m tryna to get that Oprah” (If only he could have brought in someone with a stronger spit game to fill in the spaces between that one line, instead of offering us his lame attempt at a “freestyle”).

FYI Swizz, chopping up “Viva La Vida” into a bounce number is kinda cool, but beware, those Coldplay fanatics are truly “gangsta” and you’re about to get a ton of e-thug heat for messing with what’s become a cherished nu-classic.

DL: “That Oprah” (YFH)

Uncategorized coldplay, cover song, freestyle rap, swizz beatz, viva la vida