Chop Shop Podcast – Free Hip Hop Music

Warning Shots 2 Review

Saigon (of the TV show Entourage fame) is an outspoken New York rapper. Outspoken due to the little output he has had in 9 years of work, or possibly he’s outspoken because for the last four years he has been working on his highly anticipated The Greatest Never Told, or he’s outspoken due to his quitting rap in a highly charged blog, a quote from which is:

“Fuck this bum ass rap game anyway, its full of fake ass niggaz who pump poison to the kids, make a few dollars and act like they’re larger then life when they know their music is detrimental to their fucking communities, If it ain’t about sex, it’s about drugs or violence, where are the songs about getting an education, or being responsible parents and shit, or stopping the gang violence”

And the guy just irritates me no end. Who does he think he is, he is no Jay-Z or Nas or a major contributor to the rap game; his point about rap is consequently moot.

Now he brings out Warning Shots 2 as a follow up to his street mixtape, and a pre-cursor to his major label debut album. This album has been made off the cut of The Greatest Story Never Told and this is so apparent because the majority of these songs sound like little more than B-sides. First off the production is quite lazy, now I’m not saying sloppy, but honestly these backing tracks are incredibly pedestrian and I would expect more from Just Blaze’s label.

There is also a definite sense that isn’t an East Coast album even though some songs have an east coast twang (That’s Not What’s Up), I would say some songs are Southern sounding with lots of auto-tuner and a crunky sound to the bass (Milks & Cookies, For Some Pussy) however there are some songs that have an alternative sound (Fuck Me, Fuck You). Now this should seem like a broad scope for an album but since each song seems thrown together well this makes the album sound quiet disengaging.

Then there’s Saigon’s rapping itself, well it’s comparable to Lil’ Wayne lyrically. Saigon raps about finding pussy, being tough, “the street” and whatever other generic topic that hip-hop can throw out. Now this isn’t just boring, it’s highly irritating in the shadow of his tirade against the scene that has established itself as mainstream at the moment.

Looking past all the problems of this mixtape/album there is definitely a lot of potential, the songs that stand-out on the album: Nothing Comes Easy, Fatherhood and Gotta Believe It are certainly good; just there is a feeling that is the waste from his up-coming album. And after listening to this album, I want to say that he should have left nearly all of this on the floor on the editing floor, and anything that is worthwhile should have been held back for a B-side album in years to come, and that’s it.

Rating: 1.5/5

Radio Do Cannibal Review

BK-One has spent many years taking the back seat as Brother Ali’s DJ, but is still held in high regard by many for his amazing work with on of the most exciting rappers in hip-hop. In Radio Do Cannibal he teams up with beats maker Benzilla to create a Brazilian sounding album. And they take along a whole load of big names along for the ride too: Raekwon, Blueprint, Scarface, Haiku D’Etat, Black Thought and of course Brother Ali all make appearances.

The tone of the album is certainly lively and the beats and samples certainly give a rumba/salsa/Latin feel to the whole album. BK-One and Benzilla definitely have a great chemistry in bringing their vision to them front, and this probably most evident in Tema Do Cannibal: a heavy brass instrument, street drum mix which stands proudly in the middle of the album.
Another testament to the nature which the two DJs interact with one another is the pace and production order of the album. The album is essentially set into four distinct sections, each setting its own unique tempo and tone and all separated by diverse interludes all containing Portuguese: first part being a party/celebrating mix, the second being seedier and darker, the third is capture a more urban mood of Brazil, and the album ends with a righteous/rebellious attitude. Both DJs set the pace and manage to capture a broad landscape of Brazil.

Many of the guest rappers are certainly well chosen too; Raekwon, Haiku D’Etat and Brother Ali being the ones that stand out the most with some wonderful rhymes and poignant lyrics. Some of their messages capture many of the problems evident in Hip-Hop at the moment, some are more humorous, some are dark, heart-felt affairs and others are just displays of the rapper’s talent. The spectrum which the rappers engage is nothing short of impressive. Mega and Face It remind me of Hieroglyphics at their best; uplifting and charmingly confrontational. With the darker songs on the album I find myself taking a risk and comparing them to Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, songs such as American Nightmare and The True & Living still make me feel confident in this comparison.

Not all appearances, however are worthwhile; especially those of I Self Divine and Aby Wolf. With Aby Wolf’s appearance on Love Like That, we have this relaxed, easy-going song under-cut by her wails that simply over-power the entire song. I Self Divine on the other hand is out of his depth on the very complicated beat of Call to Arms, and I would have liked to seen this beat being assigned to much more talented rapper.

I must say though, this is a stellar DJ album, the work two guys obviously put into perfecting this album is very apparent.

Rating: 4.5/5

Medical Purpose MixTape Vol. 1

(Click On Picture To Download Free MP3 version.)

Taking over from Ozorio, who reviewed the first Metaform EP (Standing on the Shoulders of Giants), I felt I would be initially out of my depth and I wouldn’t be able appreciate the album the same way he did or just completely dislike it and scare away a DJ that purposefully asked us to review his album. Now… I find these trepidations were unfound; the Mixtape opens with a great re-imagination of Dead Prez’s Hip-Hop, split into two well woven pieces of Blues Rock and Reggae. The samples stand as perfectly picked compliments to the heavy crunk-y sound of the southern hip-hop anthem.

As the album progresses the samples are smooth and there are plenty of changes, so we are not presented with one defining concept, and also the mixtape manages to be engaging through most of it. The R’n’B songs that are used have vocals that suit the sample and the southern rappers used compliment the vocals resulting in twenty minutes of pretty solid DJing.

However this isn’t a Mixtape without its flaws, the half-way change seems abrupt with the introduction of Ciara’s One-Two Step, which is not just a complete change of tone in the music, but a silent backing-track that just comes out of nowhere, which is made even more apparent with the heavy bass that precedes it. There is also some superfluous sampling that detracts from the track rather then adds; the one that is seems most obvious is The Beatles’ Come Together (Brass Band Instrumental). Finally the ending lacks the same energy as the rest of the album, with simply too much going-on; R’n’B vocals, Drum’n’Bass, Jazz and a second overpowering vocal.

Still the album in parts is very memorable, even with re-imaginations of songs that I would listen to over the original, pity that the cohesion is lacking to make this a great mixtape.

Rating: 3.5/5

The 90s: A Hip-Hop Cancer

2009 may be a return to form for hip-hop, with the eagerly awaited OB4CL2, The Blueprint 3, and The Ecstatic living up in some way to expectations. However hip-hop has become a retrospective music; there isn’t a single forum or magazine that is inordinate with discussions or letters discussing the “Golden Age” of hip-hop. And the albums mentioned above are just perfect examples of how stagnated the idea of hip-hop has become amongst its own community; Raekwon, Jay-Z and Mos Def all having their albums compared to their works of the 90s. The day of the great debut therefore will come to close if the community doesn’t galvanise against the disastrous effects of the commercialisation of hip-hop.

What I am saying is Hip-hop has become conservative movement. In the 90s Illmatic, Doggystyle and Ready 2 Die we all had debuts which showed diversity within the industry due to consumer making the music move in the direction it wanted. Now in the 00s we are seeing the truly experimental albums being significantly ignored; MF Grimm’s American Hunger, Q-Tip’s Kamaal the Abstract and The Renaissance. While these albums are held in high-esteem within the small knit hip-hop community, they are relatively over-looked in their commercial respects.

Why? Because the hip-hop fan is no longer willing to vote with their own bucks. The big global companies; such as Sony BMG and Universal therefore are unwilling to invest in distribution of any underground hip-hop and want to be able to package a rapper and sell it to the consumer at a cut rate, and make sure they will buy it. So the end of the day illegal downloading is forcing the movement underground. Now we have two options available to the community: 1. We can watch Lil’ Wayne, 50 Cent and other equally talentless rappers make their way into the charts and have their music played on the airwaves, and force the good/great music even further underground. Or 2. Go back to the way things were in the 90s: Buy, Buy, Buy, and make the industry stand-up and notice us actual fans.

And in the discussion of Hip-Hop is Dead, well if it’s dead we the fans killed it.

Kam Moye – “Let’s Be Honest”

Kam Moye, a different breed of emcee, is gearing up to release his newest album, Splitting Image. Being the first album released after his name change from Supastition to his actual birth name, Kam shows that he has developed lyrically and isn’t afraid to touch on mature subject matter. The album is due October 27th on MYX Music Label. The lead single off the album is “Lets Be Honest” with production being handled by Veterano. The song is about having a humble attitude towards life, something rarely spoken about in today’s industry. Talking about the inspiration behind the song’s concept, Kam says, “The song was inspired by a quote that I read once which said ‘happiness isn’t having what you want, it’s wanting what you have.’ That’s my perspective in life on everything from family to my career. It’s not settling, but sometimes you gotta just accept that maybe it wasn’t meant for you to have what everyone else has… It’s cool to dream but not to the point where you don’t take notice of how good you have it already to just be alive.”

Kam relays the song’s message from the get-go, saying, “If you don’t appreciate what you have right now, you’ll never appreciate what’s coming to you in the future.” The song is conceptual in the way that each verse tackles different issues relating to materialism and superficial tendencies. Kam goes in on materialism for the first verse before touching on women and relationships in verse two and stardom in the third and final verse, rapping, “I don’t need people in the streets to know me / Man, I kind of like keeping it discreet and low-key.” With Veterano providing a soulful backdrop for Kam’s true-to-life delivery, this track is poised to turn some heads as the lead single off his new album. Be sure to get a taste of Kam Moye’s new sound, and look out for Splitting Image via MYX Music Label October 27, 2009.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Brian Deady – “Interview” mixtape sampler. Album out Oct 9th

Brian Deady’s debut album “Interview” is due out to shops on the 9th of October. Up until a few months ago i had never heard of Brian, Cork Chop Shop’r Colm Kenefick sent me some new material he had just finished. One of the tracks just happened to be Brian’s first single “Over Like McGivyer“, a mid tempo mellow fellow of a soul track, and i cudn’t get enough of it. I thinks its in my top 5 in iTunes plays and it will be there for a long long time. Since then i was lucky enough to hear an advance copy of the album, and like the McDonalds ad “i’m lovin it” and to help all you guys fall in love with the sounds of Brian’s music he released this album sampler ahead of the full album release next week. I’m not sure what shops will be stocking the album but i’m sure if you get in contact with Brian thru his myspace he’ll give you all the info you need. Check out a live performance vid for Brian’s lastest single “Any Ol Ting” below. Support this album folks!

DOWNLOAD ALBUM SAMPLER HERE