SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT

And I quote: “Look what you made me do, look what I made for you.” -- Encore from the Black Album.

Look what your boy has done! Jay-Z has stepped out of rap retirement to show us exactly what he’s got on his latest release Kingdom Come.

Kingdom Come has 14 tracks that tell a story chronicling everything from his return to the rap game to when he walks away from it again.

The current single Show Me What You Got, produced by Just Blaze gets me going all the time. Granted it may be considered ‘commercial’ by some, but this track is filled with a bunch of raw energy. Laced with some strong percussion and keys that surround the classic sample of Shaft In Africa and Darkest Light; even if you are not a fan of the Jigga Man, there is no way that you don’t catch some feelings when this is playing.

Hands down I think Lost One featuring Island Def Jam’s new artist Chrisette Michele will be a hip hop classic. From the start Lost One takes you back to the classic sound of hip hop. When I first heard the piano arrangement I thought of Biz Markie’s - Just A Friend and I was transported back into time and hooked. Just a simple beat that gets you nodding your head; then Ms. Chrisette Michele’s smooth vocal comes in and drops the chorus and hook and yes you have just Lost One.

My next favorite is 30 Something produced by Dr. Dre. Right away you recognize Dre’s signature west-coast style, but this time the beat is smoothed out. This is a jam that is just right for us 30 something’s who still love hip hop but need a track that lets us act our age.

The Neptunes added some flavor to the Kingdom with Anything featuring Pharrell and Usher. Loving his delivery on this one and the Neptunes always bring the flavor with their beats. Pharrel, Usher, and Jay-Z. This wasn’t anything but a perfect fit.

Ms. Beyonce made sure she helped her man out by appearing on the track Hollywood. I wasn’t feeling this at first, but after listening to the power couple doing their thing a couple of times, it started to grow on me.

There are cameos from John Legend on the Kanye West produced track – Do U Wanna Ride and Ne-Yo on Minority Report as well.

With the release of Kingdom Come, I am sure that the hard core Jay-Z fans will debate as to whether Kingdom Come is as good as or better than the Black Album. Critics will pick apart his delivery, the production, the beats and anything else they can think of.

But I will say this. In my book Kingdom Come definitely has some tracks on it worth remembering and the Jigga Man showed me what he’s got.

Until next time, Peace.

Am I In The Mood For Rap or Hip-Hop?







"To be or not to be - that is the question." Actually that is a very well known and old question from our very old friend Mr. William Shakespeare.

"Rap or Hip-Hop -- what am I in the mood for? That is the question."

What the heck? Actually that was the question I asked myself while I was doing a little music shopping at my sometimes other place of employment, Dr. Wax Records in Hyde Park. For some the question may be what's the difference between Rap and Hip-Hop?

I do remember back in the day, circa early 90's this was a hot topic. The rap game was changing with the advent of 'gangsta rap'. Groups like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, were being categorized as Hip-Hop by some; NWA, Eazy-E, and others were being categorized as Rap. In true fashion the music industry as a whole was trying to classify or categorize rap as the form was growing and taking on new dimensions in its style. Don't believe me, think back to when the various award shows started trying to acknowledge rap music more and the categories that they were first using to do this and what they call it now.

Anyhow, I decided to ask my good buddy Paul Ray aka P-Ray, resident hip-hop guru what was the difference between Rap and Hip-Hop. He gave it to me straight, no chaser - "Rap is something you do (a verb) and Hip-hop is something you live (its the art)".

And he is absolutely right. I say this even more so after reading an old article on the Rap News Network that posted (12/13/2003) and dealt with this same question. They actually got KRS-1's of Boogie Down Production thoughts on the same question. Here is the article in part:

What most people don't understand is that there is a big difference between rap and hip-hop. Rap is the combination of emceeing and DJing, but hip-hop possesses four main elements: graffiti, break dancing, emceeing and DJing. There are sub elements, too, such as the way one walks, talks and lives. As KRS-1 says, ''Rap is something you do; hip-hop is something you live.''

I am definitely guilty of categorizing some of my favorite rap artists like Common, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Little Brother, Bahamadia and others because of their "organic" sound, trueness to the art of Rap - the emceeing, the mixing, the lyrical flow and content and the like as Hip-Hop. These are the ones you don't forget. These folks are living it and doing it with a real good rap.

I see artists like Lil John, Chingy, Lil Kim, and Trina, as just rappers.
So eventually I will have to update my view, but for now I am in the mood for Hip-Hop.

Here's What's Hot:

The Strange Fruit Project - The Healing

This is a group after my own heart. These guys - Myone, S1 and Myth have delivered a hip hop cd with a soulful feel that all can enjoy and appreciate. Their delivery and style as a unit along with the collaborations with Little Brother and Erykah Badu put me in that happy place like when I first heard the Roots - "Do You Want More" cd and the featured track "Proceed".

This truly embodies the true definition of Hip-Hop.

It's smooth, its funky, has tight grooves and lyrics, hey its The Healing.

Speaking of the Roots --

The Roots - Game Theory

The latest installment in the Roots discography, Game Theory, I think will definitely be worth having in your Hip-Hop collection. Tracks like "Clocks With No Hands", and "False Media" take you back to the first time you heard the Roots and their sound. As always Black Thought's delivery is strong, smooth, yet with a rawness that you have come to know and appreciate. You have to definitely listen to this one from beginning to end to appreciate the direction and tone the Roots was taking with this one. This is definitely not your everyday rap cd.

Peace.

"Go Put Your Records On" was the first single from vocalist and guitarist, Ms. Corrine Bailey Rae. I was first introduced to this artist by doing something hadn't really done in a long time. I was sitting around and watching videos on VH-1.

I really started liking this song. There was something very subtle and soothing in her delivery. So when this cd came out, I took a chance and bought it without hearing anything else. Not the first time that I have done something like this and very happy that I did.

The cd as a whole is very mellow. Every now and then I can hear parts of her English accent seeping through and I think that this is what appeals to me. It has given her songs a certain freshness and warmth that will make them stand out on their own.

My favorite song is "Breathless". The arrangement has a jazz and blues overtone and the way she sings, the words just float right over it. In this song you can feel her passionate plea to her love interest -- "Don't tell me you can't see what I'm thinking of".

I also like "Seasons Change" and "Call Me When You Get This"

Go and put Corrine Bailey Rae On.

Until next time -- Peace.

Funny how time flies indeed. It is hard to believe that it has really been 20 years since 'Control' dropped by one Ms. Janet Jackson. I remember when I first heard the first single "What Have You Done For Me Lately" on the radio. I was at home on a Saturday, probably cleaning my room or something. You know how the radio announcer recaps what was played during the last half hour. He said (and yes I can remember that far back) Janet Jackson's name as a part of the featured line up. I was really kind of surprised. When I heard the song I was like WOW! That was Janet Jackson? I didn't even recognize her voice at the time.

I mean you have to understand where I am coming from on this one. I actually have the two albums that were released before 'Control'. Do you remember the little punk-rock track "Come Give Your Love To Me" from the self-titled "Janet Jackson" and the second album "Dream Street" that was released about the time she was back on television playing the character "Cleo" on Fame.

Now I really have your attention!

I have really been a fan. Since the drop of 'Control' my girl has been constantly consistent with putting out CD's that for the most part I have fully enjoyed . . . until now.

The latest release "20 Y.O." didn't really move me like previous releases. I think the primary reason is that I don't feel that the songs that were produced in conjunction with Jermaine Dupri really fit her style. That whole ATL, Casio-keyboard – deep bass sound just wasn't working for most of the tracks. A few years ago I recall Janet stating in an interview 'If ain't broke don't fix it'. This statement was made during the time period when Sean "Puffy" Combs (that was the name he was using then) had been indicating that he wanted to produce her. I had much love for her at that time, because Puffy was producing and or showing up on everybody's tracks, everybody's stuff was sounding the same, and "Puff" was in everybody's video, etc. I really respected the fact that she wanted to stay true to the musical chemistry and bond she created with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and recognized that they had a good thing going so why mess it up.

Well all I can say is that we all take chances. She took one with her man collaborating with two of the greatest music producers and unfortunately it is obvious with this cd.

The first single released "Call On Me" featuring Nelly was pretty cool to me. Nice little sing-a-long with the light hearted feel that we have become accustomed to from Janet. My next favorite song (and yes this was produced with Jermaine Dupri surprisingly) is "Do It 2 Me". This one starts out with this little echoed out and looped vocal then this bouncing little beat with some strings behind comes in. Then of course J.D. comes in with his standard line asking 'Can you bounce wit' me'. I wished that he would have just kept quiet ant let the track just flow.

Actually I long for the day when producers will just go back to producing a track with a fat beat and not ask me 'Can I bounce with it', not tell me 'It's your boy (fill in the blank)', but I digress. Other than the un-needed vocal styling of Mr. Dupri, I think that this is a hot track. It really does get you bouncin' with it.

The track "With U" is tolerable but it will remind you so much of Mariah's "What About Us", I skip it every time. "Daybreak" sounds like a re-hashed version of "It Really Doesn't Matter" with a deeper bass drum from the Nutty Professor 2 soundtrack. So it really doesn't matter if you skip this track either.

The tracks produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis reflect Janet's true style that we have grown into with Janet over the last 20 years. "Enjoy" is a mid tempo track that has a little jazzy-steppers feel to it. This is definitely one song that you will enjoy each time you hear it. Of course it's not a Janet cd without the slow jams. "Take Care" and "Love 2 Love" are the only two ballads and they hit the mark. "Take Care" made me think about one of Janet's earlier slow jams that I love, "Come Back To Me". "Love 2 Love" is the more seductive of the two beat wise and lyrically, but much tamer lyrically than some of the previous slow jams that she has done over the years. At any rate, I love both of those tracks.

I guess every now and then age does catch up with you.

Until next time.