Rap – Page 2 – Ruby Hornet

Nick Grant "Return of The Cool"

You don't really notice that "cool" is missing until someone makes an effort to show you what it is or bring it back. Nick Grant is on a mission to bring back "the cool". His attempt was successful with his latest release Return of The Cool.

Return of The Cool is an infectious, soulful and lyrical display of music that is in a class of it's own. While many ride the wave of "what's hot?", Nick widens the degree of separation and proves what he does can't be done by just anybody.

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Album highlights:

"All of You" feat B Hess: He says this one is for the radio. Radio better act right and play this one. Something lyrically clever and cool, but also for the ladies

"Sing Along" feat Rico Barrino: a clever introspection on the game, and all the negative messages that always seem to win big.

"Gotta Be More" feat BJ The Chicago Kid: A breakdown of real people stories and occurrences that all lead to a perfectly placed chorus. There truly has to be more than what we see and what we have right now.

"Get Up" feat Watch the Duck: This one got my mom rocking in the kitchen. This a party starter right here.

"Return of The Cool": The album title track should be fire and it is definitely that. This got a get fly and step out for no reason vibe.

You can't highlight certain songs as a great display of lyrical ability, because every single song is a great display of lyrical ability. You will hear a dope bar every few seconds. Then when you listen again, you will realize you missed something just as dope, if not better than the first one you heard. Nick Grant has the ability to amaze with bars. That's something that isn't done regularly by rappers in this era.

Nick Grant makes the type of music that should silence all complaining about hip-hop. Whether you a "trap in the 90's ni**a" or a "young cat that wants the old heads to get out the way" you should be saluting Nick Grant and appreciating the work he's putting in.

Check out another Ruby Hornet review here.

by @ImCamQuotes

WGCI Big Jam brings Chris Brown, Young Thug, and more

WGCI’s Big Jam returned this year to the United Center featuring performances by some of the biggest names in business. Big Jam was the best place in Chicago to celebrate the end of 2016.

Stellar showings from Trey Songz, Chris Brown, Young Thug and many more made for an unforgettable night.Local Chicago talent represented their city strongly with G-Herbo, Lil Bibby, and Dreezy rocking the Big Jam stage. Opening to a strong early crowd these local favorites represented Chicago well.

G-Herbo | Lil Bibby | Dreezy

Sharing the stage G-Herbo and Lil Bibby joined forces and started off Big Jam strong. The only female artist on the lineup was Chicago’s own Dreezy. Dreezy a force to reckon with held her own and showed the Big Jam crowd why she’s one of the most talked about new artists.

Lil Yatchy | Desiigner

Fan favorite Lil Yatchy played to the crowd performing hits like “Night”, “Minnesota”, and “Broccoli”. One of the most talked about sets came from Desiigner. His outside-the-box performance took him all over the stage. Having the crowd in complete awe, Desiigner put on a show those in attendance won't soon forget.

Trey Songs

Owning every inch of the Big Jam stage, Trey Songz had the crowd in a complete frenzy. Songz, a crowd pleaser, matched his signature vocals with his just as impressive dance moves. The roaring was matched with Songz’ charismatic performance. There was some speculation as to whether or not Songz was going to perform due to an onstage breakdown of stage equipment last week. Songz didn’t disappoint the United Center with his stellar performance.

Chris Brown

Co-heading Big Jam was R&B juggernaut Chris Brown. Brown a true showman used every inch of the platform to dance every single of his signature hits. Brown led the United Center in the ultimate dance party. Without skipping a beat Brown didn’t stop giving one second of a showstopper performance.

Youg Thug

Young Thug ended the night with some of his crowd favorites. Young Thug’s performance was unfortunately cut short due to his allotted set time. The strict set time definitely created some confusion with the Big Jam crowd. Without proper good byes and final songs, the transitions were a bit off. Regardless of the time mix up, the sold out United Center crowd didn’t let the biggest house in Chicago slow down. WGCI DJ’s kept the crowd in a roar with classic Chicago juke jams. The atmosphere from the sold out crowd seemed homely. The dance friendly crowd made WGCI’s Big Jam the biggest house party in Chicago. There wasn’t a better way to close off 2016 then seeing some of the best in hip-hop and R&B.

by Jesus J. Montero

[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.

by @ImCamQuotes

[Review] D.R.A.M. "Big Baby D.R.A.M."

D.R.A.M. is an artist with great positive energy and a very unique career introduction. He cranked out 2 hits back to back, the 2nd hit was bigger than the first and yet the anticipation was a little skeptical or "underwhelming". That's unfortunate, because D.R.A.M. dropped a real groovy and soulful gem that, unfortunately, too many people are sleeping on. To be very cliche, but honest, D.R.A.M. made a very musical and sonically solid album. Drake might have chomped on and overshadowed "Cha Cha" with Hotline Bling, and you may not like Broccoli as a food or a song, but if you haven't listened to Big Baby D.R.A.M. then you have deprived yourself of listening to an artist truly making real a** music that the closed minded delegation is telling you doesn't exist

Album Highlights

In A Minute

Monticello Ave

WiFi feat Erykah Badu

Outta Sight

Change My #

100%

Cash Machine sounds like Phonte as Percy Miracles, but it's dope! With no google, I really believe they sampled the Good Times theme. Broccoli with Lil Yachty was one of the Top 5 biggest songs of 2016, no need to sell you on that track.

If you were expecting a "Mumble Rap Album" you played yourself. If you don't want to listen to D.R.A.M. because he collaborated with Lil Yachty and made a hit, you super played yourself. D.R.A.M. is one of the few active artists today who is actually good at both singing and rapping. He's got some skating, cookout, and family reunion music on this album. You probably need to play the clean versions, but they're on here.

VA over time has given us Teddy Riley, The Neptunes, Missy, Timbaland, Magoo, Devante Swing, Mr. Dalvin, The Clipse, Chris Brown and Trey Songz. At the end of the day, we shouldn't have doubted D.R.A.M. would put out a dope album. That's just what artists from Virginia do, especially for their debut. There is so much more to D.R.A.M. than "Cha Cha" and "Broccoli". This album confirms that. Rick Rubin jumped on the Big Baby train for a reason and I totally understand why.

Check out another Ruby Hornet review here.

by @ImCamQuotes

[Review] Ab-Soul "Do What Thou Wilt."

I'll admit it, after These Days I really had no interest in another Ab-Soul album. I was more willing to hear him on a battle rap than a rap track, but boy did he come back and shut me up.

The best bar-for-bar emcee from TDE dropped an album to close out 2016, and it's pretty much everything you "woke" folks and hip-hop heads have been asking for. Do What Thou Wilt is a very infectious, intellectual, and layered album that could appease virtually every type of fan in rap music right now.

"Braile" feat Bas is a track where he uses a Young Thug style flow, but still gives you BARS. The same can be said for "D.R.U.G.S" and "God's A Woman", which have beats full of bounce along with my favorite bridge/hook of 2016

"Come Have Sex With Jesus...Come Have Sex With Jesus..."

You always searching for "beef" "disses" and subs? Ab-Soul helps you out and eliminates the speculation on a song titled RAW [Backwards] as he name drops Troy Ave and Jay Electronica.

You looking for that "Woke Rap Ish?" This album is full of it! Get your ears and mind right to joints like "Huey KNEW Then", "Evil Genius", "INvocation" and "Threatening Nature" where he raps

"Way back when I was in grade school, I learned about history
But what about her story—did anybody ask?
Hm, with all disrespect
I think the American flag was designed by fags"

The album is even "Her friendly" with songs like "Womanogomy", "Wifey vs Wifi/P.M.S" "The Law" and "Her World"

Schoolboy Q is on "Beat The Case" and I want to hear any song with Q on it.

This 16 track project is full of game, insight and appreciation, and respects the real men and women that shape and create this earth. It even digs into God actually being a woman, which you may argue is the real running theme of the entire album. Soul connects with his spirit, beliefs and emotions and delivers it very well on this album

We went from the overall so-so These Days, to much better days with Do What Thou Wilt. Soul is still the best lyricist in TDE to me and now the music is coming together. TDE keeps getting stronger and that's going to be a real problem, real soon. Check more work from the boy here.

by @ImCamQuotes

Foxy Brown "Ill Na Na" Album Anniversary

One of the most heated, vicious and real rivalries in hip-hop was set to begin with winter just around the corner. The date is November 19, 1996, and Foxy Brown was about to drop her debut album, Ill Na Na.

So, why does the rivalry start here?

Because this album releases 7 days after Lil Kim’s debut album, Hardcore.The Kim vs. Foxy rivalry is layered. Here we have two women from Brooklyn, both with sex driven, gangsta lyrics who are trying to be number one in the rap game, much like the men they created their music with, Biggie, Jay Z and Nas. There is even some debate over “Who did you hear first?” We’ll dig into that all at a different time. Right now it’s time to focus on the Big Bad Mamma and her NaNa

What we can’t do is gloss over the fact that in 1996 Foxy Brown helped birth what I like to call “the feature run” before her debut album had even came out. Spring/Summer 96 Foxy had 2 hit singles out. One with Case ["Touch Me, Tease Me"]and one with Jay Z ["Ain’t No"] and she was seen as the star on those tracks. Then she had a strong close out verse on the Nas posse cut, “Affirmative Action”. People may talk about how the math is wrong now, but in 1996 until about 99, I was actually hearing people refer to that verse as being iconic.

I remember it first clicking that “Ill Na Na” was slang for “good p*ssy” and I nearly blew a gasket! My exact words were: If a woman is calling her album “Good Pu$$y, then I've got to listen!” And listen I did. Did it have the same affect on me as Kim’s Hardcore? No. Foxy’s album was more gangsta than raunchy. She struck me as a girl that might sell dope or rob a dude and come home to her man and make him eat her "ill na na". It was intriguing but not really that sexy to me.

When this album first comes on, it’s virtually a Def Jam promo commercial. They promote CRU “The Dirty 30” and Cormega “The Executive”. Totally confusing to me. Moreover, based on what I was expecting, the actual intro “Chicken Coop” wasn’t really an exciting build up.

Then Foxy gets right to the bars. No surprise that it felt as if Nas' little sister was rapping on “Letter To The Firm”. As the album goes on she continues to rap her a** off. How could she not pay homage to LL Cool J and working and writing with Havoc of Mobb Deep and with a guy by the name of Shawn Carter aka Jay Z? In Fact, Jay helps write the bulk of this album. Does Foxy do some of her own writing? Yes. Does she sound like the female Nas when she’s not sounding like the female Jay Z? Yes. However, it works a lot better than many would think.

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Fact: Ill Na Na did better than Reasonable Doubt and they were both written in the same year. Foxy Brown was in higher demand than Jay and from a mainstream perspective, Jay gave Foxy the Lob for his first single and it worked better for her, in the short term.

More Facts: Since this album, Jay hasn’t quite captured the same level of success with another female rapper.

Foxy had two hits with “Get Me Home” and “I’ll Be” on this album. The title track with Method Man should have gotten a bigger push and the tracks around the the singles are displays of great rhyming that many couldn’t rival verse for verse.

I won’t throw this album in the realm of “classic”, but you can’t deny that the Na Na was indeed pretty Ill. Foxy Brown had one of the best breakout years for any artist in rap period. 1996 alone is why her name is still noteworthy till this day.

Salute to Foxy Brown and her notable debut album.

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Check out another Ruby Hornet/Cam Quotes Album Anniversary here.

by @ImCamQuotes

[Review] Kodie Shane Drops "Zero Gravity" EP

After first seeing the video for "All In", I was curious as to who the girl rapping is. I would later find out that her name is Kodie Shane. As an official member of Lil Yachty's "Sailing Team", Kodie officially released her EP, Zero Gravity, and it looks like she's planning on sailing into 2017 with the purpose of making a name for herself musically.

Kodie opens her EP with "Drip In My Walk", a Lil Uzi Vert style flow over the signature Sailing Team Rugrats inspired track. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I know what having a "Drip In My Walk" means, but you can bounce to it. Sometimes this is all that matters.

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Unfortunately, a lot of hip-hop purists will have to come to terms with the fact that the song "Sad" featuring Lil Yachty is the standout track on this EP - and it sounds really good. Yachty taps into his inner Fetty Wap and delivers a solid effort over a very smooth, but bouncy "Emo Anthem". This sounds like something that's going to bang during lots of radio night shows, and a few lounge and club scenes I'm sure.

"Can You Handle It" shows more of Kodie Shane on an R&B wave, even more so than "Sad". It's a great melody that you can ride to. I'm not mad at the inner R&B Diva in Kodie Shane.

The Sailing Team is going to coast into 2017 and this EP is going to calm the waters. Kodie Shane is likable. Her look, charisma and potential are enough to keep fans interested in a time where music is lucky to be hot for a week. I personally would like to hear more singing from Kodie Shane. Rapper Kodie Shane needs to get on a project with Lil Uzi Vert; It would just make sense after hearing "Zero Gravity"

While listening to "Zero Gravity" you will notice that a lot of the hooks, cadences and lyrics get extremely repetitive ["Losing Service" as a prime example] and you're not really getting anything "new" when it comes to style, flow, production or content. The truth is we are in an era that doesn't really care that much about all that.

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Kode Shane "Zero Gravity" EP https://itun.es/us/-JaAgb

“SAD” FEAT. LIL YACHTY

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/Sad_iTunes

Apple Music: http://smarturl.it/Sad_AM

Spotify: http://smarturl.it/Sad_Sptfy

Google Play: http://smarturl.it/Sad_GP

Amazon Digital: http://smarturl.it/Sad_Dig

Deezer: http://smarturl.it/Sad_Dzr

Soundcloud: http://smarturl.it/Sad_SC

Tidal: http://smarturl.it/Sad_Tidal

by @ImCamQuotes

Mobb Deep's "Hell on Earth" Album Anniversary

Many conversations were had on this topic between myself and others this year. The question is which album and artist suffered most after "Hit Em Up" dropped? My Stance: Nobody took a L bigger than Mobb Deep in all this. Not even Chino XL.

It’s November 19, 1996 and Mobb Deep dropped their third [yes 3rd] album, Hell On Earth, and from a career standpoint that became symbolic to this period of time.

In '96, an album with Method Man, Raekwon, Nas and Havoc’s production on Loud Records would have been deemed an instant classic for anyone; Especially for a group that put out a certified classic the year before. However, an unstoppable force buried this album, and it’s dopeness. That force was the angry wrath of Tupac Shakur.

By November 19th of 1996, All Eyez on Me was given the crown as album of the year in hip-hop. “Hit Em Up” was being mentioned as the greatest diss of all time, and Pac had been dead for 2 months. Outside of Lil Kim's catalog, the Makaveli album was the only album anyone spoke on. Add that to a group that was now known for being added to Pac’s “Fawk You List” and it was anything but easy for the Mobb to keep momentum going.

"L.A, L.A" was a decent set of jabs while everybody was living. It would also go on to be added to the debut album for Capone-N-Noreaga in 1997.

“Drop A Gem on Em”, the Pac Diss was a featured song and rumored to have a video was stifled because of Pac’s death. At that time in hip-hop it wasn’t cool to speak on the dead. Making diss tracks aimed at a person that couldn’t respond wasn’t honorable. Looking back, it appears that neither Loud Records nor Mobb Deep had a promotional plan in place after Pac passed. Sadly they never mended the fence that the biggest rapper in the world tore down prior to his death.

This album is dope! It’s vicious, melodic, even spooky. “Man Down”, “More Trife Life” and “Get Dealt Wit” are bright gems on the track list. Havoc is a much better emcee on this album, yet it’s critical acclaim and gold status by spring of 1997 couldn’t help its placement in hip-hop memories. This is also one of the first releases to have the “Enhanced CD” that you had to “Put into your CD ROM” to get the “bonus content”. Havoc sampled Tony’s Theme from Scarface on the album. He might have been the first to do that.

Much like the young people understand today, It’s hard to get positive, progressive press when the number 1 rapper in the game doesn’t like you. What Mobb Deep understands better than anybody is how to try to drop an album after that rapper dies.

Media and Music moved a lot slower in 96 and I think Mobb Deep got it worse than Biggie, Junior Mafia, Jay and Nas. Unfortunately in 1996, The people remember:

Oh yeah, Mobb Deep: you wanna f**k with us?
You little young-a$$ motherfu**ers
Don’t one of you ni**as got sickle-cell or something?
You’re fu**ing with me, ni**a
You f**k around and catch a seizure or a heart attack
You better back the f**k up
Before you get smacked the f**k up

and hardly anyone remembers

Havoc
You yell my name, that’s only giving me props
Plus the fans that you got wondering what’s got you hot
It’s too not, knocked out the box and got rocked
Got raped on the Island, you officially got
Kick that thug s**t, Vibe magazine on some love s**t
Keep it real kid, cause you don’t know who you fu**ing with

And Prodigy with his “Dry Snitch-esque” Bars like.
My rebellion, retaliate, I had the whole New York state
Aiming at your face at the gate
Bottom line off top soon as you came through
Shots flew, don’t even know the half of my crew
I got a hundred strong arm ni**as ready to rock your s**t
Clocks tick, your days are numbered in low digits

and

When you see my clique you need to run behind shit
You got a gat you better find it
And use that s**t, think fast and get reminded
Of robberies in Manhattan, you know what happened
60 G’s worth of gun clapping
Who shot ya? You probably screamed louder than an opera
New York got ya, now you wanna use my mob as a crutch
What you think you can’t get bucked again?
Once again

Pac dying was the “East Coast vs West Coast Beef” going too far and unfortunately Mobb Deep dropping in November after his demise and after the Makaveli album didn’t help their cause on either end. Although the summer of '96 was huge, I truly want to know if Mobb Deep tried to push this album up.

Respect to both Mobb Deep and Hell On Earth. A dope body of work that dropped too late. Click here for more Mobb content on Ruby Hornet.

by @ImCamQuotes