[Review] The Game "1992"

Last year, The Game dropped enough songs on The Documentary 2 and 2.5 to take about 2 years off. With the release of 1992, he proves that he's doing anything but relaxing.

1992 was one of the most pivotal years in Black America, especially if you lived in California. This is the year of Snoop Doggy Dog's debut, the introduction of The Chronic album, Ice Cube's Predator dropped, and Too Short put out Shorty The Pimp. Then you have the historic yet tragic L.A Riots, spawning largely from the Rodney King verdict. Add all of that to the California earthquake and The Lindhurst High School shooting and you can already see, there's a lot to talk about.

The Game takes himself in and out of 1992 as a young and impressionable. This Game is not really sure what kind of man he should be. That is, until tragedy and survival mode kicks in. He also speaks as a man who's come to terms with his involvement in a lot of f****d up ish. "True Colors/It's On" "Young Ni**as" and "Bompton" are prime examples of this as well as "Savage Lifestyle".

Game is still on that West Coast gangsta s**t but it doesn't feel glorified. Instead, it feels more reflective. At times he sounds like he's just happy to be alive, with a little survivors remorse attached to that happiness. It's also time to realize that hit singles and coaching from the greats aside, The Game really raps and raps a lot. I still don't think he can go bar for bar with Jadakiss, but you can't rap for 11 years at the level he's rapping and not gain respect, as well as benefit of the doubt that you truly are doing the bulk of your pen work.

You can't talk 1992 and west coast rap in the early 90's without some reference to Ice-T ["True Colors"] and DOC ["Bompton"]. Homage is paid to both, as well as crate digging for samples from Soul 2 Soul, ["However Do You Want It"] Marvin Gaye ["Savage Lifestyle"] and Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five ["F**k Orange Juice"].

This album really does feel like the 90's. "I Grew Up On Wu-Tang" is a great track that any Wu, hip-hop or Game fan should love. To show some of my age listening to this album made me remember a lot of the old West Coast rap videos and movies I saw growing up. I never made it to Cali in the 90's but you can get a real feel for the lifestyle there at that time through this album.

Of course, we can't forget "92 Bars" which kicked the buzz off for the release of this project. The somewhat odd parallel of "street ish" becoming "rap ish" inspired bonus bars at the end of this track for Meek Mill. The same Mill who, mainstream wise, can't seem to catch a break for what is closing in on 2 years now.

Does Beef sell records? No. I don't really think it ever has. Great music has, though. The Game may have dropped another album that belongs in the top 5 of his discography. Unfortunately, it dropped in a time where the current generation of artists and listeners only want to hear something specific. They want to see and feel product relatable to themselves. They don't feel the need to know much about what came before them. 1992 is a dope album from a cemented artist who really has nothing to prove. The Game may be the only "big homie" that is actually trying to make great music right now. Other big homie's need to follow suit.


Freeway Ricky Ross by Andres Herren

[Feature] Freeway Ricky Ross: Hustlers Mentality

Freeway Ricky Ross by Andres Herren

Photo by Andres Herren

Fourteen years ago in Florida, a correctional officer by the name of William Leonard Roberts II had grown tired of the long hours, low pay and disrespect that being a prison guard afforded. A fan of hip-hop, Roberts decided to try his hand at the craft and, to further pad his perceived 'thug' hip-hop persona, adopted the name of famed drug dealer 'Freeway' Ricky Ross, who at the time was in jail on charges of international cocaine trafficking. Soon, he popped up on Slip n' Slide Records, discussing the finer points of moving large amounts of narcotics across the American borders with heavy bravado, big claims for a man who had been working for the man just months before. If you bought an album named Mastermind by an artist named 'Rick Ross' last week, you've been duped.

In 1998, while Roberts II was trying on the name Rick Ross, tailoring it to his needs, the man who's name was hijacked was in prison, doing all he could to piece his life back together and right the connotations he had perpetuated for the moniker.

"I couldn’t sell drugs now, not knowing what I know today,” said Freeway in an interview we did over the phone last October. "At the same time when I look back at my knowledge and circumstances at the time, I really had no choice.”


[Album] Big Gigantic: "The Night Is Young"

Dominic Lalli and Jeremy Salken make up the eclectic electronic dance music duo Big Gigantic. The pair have made name for themselves over the better part of the last five years since entering the national scene on the back of their talented, yet still developing aesthetic of mixing Jazz and Electronic sensibilities coherently into a single production. Where the pair's debut project, Fire It Up comes with glitchy electronic hits and seemingly forced horn runs, their latest project is anything but. Polished over incessant touring schedules and packed festival lineups every year, Big Gigantic has evolved into one of the most entertaining live electronic acts in the world. Forget the smoke, light stick cannons and 3D renderings of acts like Excision, Datsik and the like; what sets Big Gigantic apart and allows them to live up to their name is the innate ability to be different through instrumentation.

The first time seeing Lalli induce a drop with his saxophone, accented by Salken on drums live is an almost truly out of body experience. The Night Is Young very well may be the duo's best offering to date. Building on production lines established on the last project, Nocturnal, it is a full step up from where they were a year ago at this time. On "Blue Dream" you can hear pieces of "Rise and Shine", but with a distinctly different play on notes that takes it to a different place sonically. Sounds are tighter, the horns and electronic hits feel in tune with one another. If their debut project was electronic with a sprinkle of Jazz, this latest offering is a more equal split of tendencies. Adding Cherub on the first single off the project, aptly titled "The Night is Young" is the perfect collaboration for the pair and one that I am personally glad is out in the world. The project was released both as a free download via their website and on iTunes and Lalli and Salken announced a nationwide tour (Tickets) in tune with the project's release. Check it all out below.

(Check the Kanye sample on "Clvdbvrst")

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Beyonce Surprises With New Album Release

Well, this kind of turns the whole 'Friday The 13th' thing on its head, huh? Last night, without fanfare or promotion, Beyonce released her fifth full studio album via iTunes. To call it an album is a bit of an understatement. The self-titled project consists of 14 songs released complete with 17 accompanying videos, for something that the First Lady of hip-hop and R&B referred to as a "visual experience."

In a press release, Beyonce described the idea for the new album. "I see music," said Beyoncé. "It's more than just what I hear. When I'm connected to something, I immediately see a visual or a series of images that are tied to a feeling or an emotion, a memory from my childhood, thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies. And they're all connected to the music."

The album is a family affair of sorts, with husband Jay-Z and infant child Blue Ivy making appearances on two tracks. I haven't had a chance to hear "Blue" yet, but I'm sure it's meant to melt many a young girl's heart, queue the "awwws". As she is apt to do, Beyonce handpicked the rest of the features, adding to of the top artists in music today to a project that was already sure to be groundbreaking. Drake stops by for "Mine" and Frank Ocean hops on "Superpower", which should be a treat. Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, The-Dream and Noah “40? Shebib handle the bulk of production duties. Taking a page out of the rest of the music world, Beyonce released the album, complete with videos with simply a posting on her Facebook wall. You can check out some of the videos below and pick up the full album on iTunes.

Album tracklist:
01 Pretty Hurts
02 Haunted
03 Drunk in Love (feat. Jay Z)
04 Blow
05 No Angel
06 Partition
07 Jealous
08 Rocket
09 Mine (feat. Drake)
10 XO
11 ***Flawless (feat. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche)
12 Superpower (feat. Frank Ocean)
13 Heaven
14 Blue (feat. Blue Ivy)

Video tracklist:
01 Pretty Hurts
02 Ghost
03 Haunted
04 Drunk in Love (feat. Jay Z)
05 Blow
06 No Angel
07 Yoncé
08 Partition
09 Jealous
10 Rocket
11 Mine (feat. Drake)
12 XO
13 ***Flawless (feat. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche)
14 Superpower (feat. Frank Ocean)
15 Heaven
16 Blue (feat. Blue Ivy)
17 Grown Woman
18 Credits

Watch a Mini Documetary that Explains Beyoncé’s Visual Album

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[Video] Best Coast: "I Don't Know How"

Last week we posted the new album from Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno, Fade Away, which has been getting solid reviews as it seeps into listener's collective consciousness and moves around the blogosphere. Today the pair drop the video for their song "I Don't Know How" off of the project. Check it out here below.

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[Album] theWHOevers: "Ridin' Waves"

At long last the latest offering from DotKom and J. Arthur, better known as theWHOevers out of Chicago, is here with their latest release Ridin' Waves which hit an Internet near you today. The album, a follow-up to 2012s well-received RedTape somewhat chronicles the last year for the duo, as the songs veer from sultry jazz measures (Bonus track with Lili K) to D.jbari's production on several tracks, to the West Coast-induced sound of Bambu's production on tracks such as "Mean". The ever-present Netherfriends also makes the production credits, helping to open things up with the lead track on the project, "No Waves". Check out the album below and be sure to stay tuned to RH for more to come from theWHOevers.


[Album] Black Milk: "No Poison No Paradise"

Detroit's own producer/rapper extraordinaire, Black Milk, is back with his latest release, an album titled No Poison No Paradise. The follow-up to 2010s Album of The Year, Black Milk continues on an instrumentally-packed production extravaganza. He has always managed to push the boundaries of beatmaking while keeping with a very nuanced, idealistic tone to everything his hands touch and early listens of No Poison No Paradise certainly don't disappoint. Check out the project and download via iTunes.


Lorde

[Album Stream] Lorde: "Pure Heroine"

16-year-old New Zealand wunderkind Lorde, who's single "Royals" is currently sitting at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, released an exclusive stream of her highly-anticipated debut album Pure Heroine via VH1 yesterday. The girl has certain star power and a voice to match, definitely someone worth taking note of. Check out the stream below here.