My name's Jake Bourey, and I've dedicated a significant portion of my life to music and deciphering the science behind its beauty. As you can guess from my blog's title, I'm especially passionate about hip-hop. I post and review the best songs hip-hop has to offer, old and new. Most are in the “underground” genre, considering that’s where the vast majority of hip-hop's true art resides these days.
What music are you currently listening to?
You can donate at their Kickstarter page Cannibal Ox Returns.
Vast Aire & Vordul Mega are definitely on the broker side of hip-hop…especially Vordul Mega, so I can attest the money would go to good use improving this album’s quality and features. Just like their timeless classic The Cold Vein, this is far from a big budget project.
If you haven’t yet you should check out the Def Jux, Cannibal Ox, Aesop Rock, and El-p documentary I posted a while back. It’s my 2nd favorite hip-hop documentary of all time.
Tupac Shakur’s mother has vowed to release the late rapper’s entire body of work so new generations of fans can experience his previously unheard music.
The hip-hop star was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996 at age 25, and his mother, Afeni Shakur, is head of his estate and founder of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation which helps underprivileged children receive education and training. Shakur has now handed over her son’s estate to Jampol Artist Management (JAM) and indicates there is more music to be released.
“I believe it is our responsibility to make sure that Tupac’s entire body of work is made available for his fans. My son left many incomplete pieces and even more unfinished ideas,” she said in a statement. “Using the blueprints he gave us, I am committed to fulfilling this duty.”
JAM founder and president Jeffrey Jampol states: “It’s our responsibility and our privilege to ensure that new generations of fans experience the power of Tupac’s music, his ideas and his storytelling.”
JAM is adding Tupac to a roster which includes the Doors, Janis Joplin and Otis Redding, according to Billboard.com.
Rappin’ for Jesus
If you want a good laugh, give this a watch.
The video’s description on youtube:
“I helped my pastor make this music video when I was in high school. Thought you guys might get a kick out of it! May the Lord bless and keep you. : )”
J. Cole - Can I Holla At Ya
This is my favorite song off of J. Cole’s new mixtape Truly Yours. The day after it released I deemed it a modern day hip-hop classic. The mixtape is only 5 (technically 6) songs in length, but each song is so lyrically dense it left me in awe the first time I gave this mixtape a playthrough on datpiff. Each song, especially Can I Holla At Ya, represents some of the best story telling in hip-hop, ever. This song is on par with what Nas accomplished on Illmatic in terms of how hard his flow goes yet how much emotional depth and lyrical profundity gets woven into each verse. This song and Illmatic are just very different styles of hip-hop.
I also really like how J. Cole decided to make the chorus very simplistic in nature. It gives you the sense that he has a lot of emotion and history invested into asking these three important individuals in his life that he hasn’t seen in a very long time “hey, can I holla at ya?”. You can’t sugar coat such a personal question…it needs to sound stripped down, raw, and straight from the heart. Hip-hop in it’s realest form. I really hope J. Cole continues making astonishing works that match the quality seen on Truly Yours. His earlier mixtapes are better than his newer works (his album), and this mixtape is by far the best thing he has ever released. I also highly recommend you listen to this song at least once while reading along with the Lyrics.
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My Song Rating: 10 out of 10
Played 3825 times.
“Art as commerce doesn’t really make too much sense, they don’t go together…I don’t feel comfortable making empty music.”
Vordul Mega - My Knuckles
Cannibal Ox is a hip-hop duo consisting of New York MC’s Vast Aire and Vordul Mega. They’re easily the best abstract hip-hop duo of all time, and will most likely remain so…even though they only released one album titled The Cold Vein. It’s a true hip-hop classic of classics, and if you haven’t noticed yet it’s one of the vinyls I’m holding in the top logo for my blog. Each song on it is an instrumental/lyrical/poetic triumph. Vordul Mega’s specialty is his ability to vividly spit full fledged ghetto poetry. Of all the rappers I know that depict their problems and mental anguish, he’s gotta take the cake for consistently having the most personal/meaningful lyrics. He suffers from sever clinical depression, and you really get a good sense of this through his colorfully illustrative lyricism. My Knuckles is off of Vordul Mega’s extremely low-key 2004 album Yung World. If you enjoy this kind of hip-hop, my all time favorite song to spawn from Vordul Mega’s solo career is Megagraphitti, which I rated a 9.9 out of 10.
“Remember young days…now it’s all about ice, bottles, and guns, and who sprayed him…”
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My Song Rating: 9.1 out of 10
Played 360 times.
20th February 2013
Notes: 22
#vordul mega
#my knuckles
#yung world
#cannibal ox
#hip hop
#vast aire
#def jux
#el-p
#underground hip hop
#best hip hop
#best underground hip hop
#real hip hop
#east coast
#new york hip hop
#indie hip hop
#alternative hip hop
#song review
#megagraphitti
#song rating
#the cold vein
#jake bourey
#hiphopfightsback
“DOOM, all capitals, no trick spellin’. Got what it take to get it through your thick melon.”
- MF DOOM
Three Loco (Andy Milonakis, Riff Raff & Dirt Nasty) - Neato
Andy Milonakis is this generations Weird Al of hip-hop, and his music is actually better than Weird Al’s since it’s all original and well produced. This music video is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a very long time. It’s absolutely genius in so many different ways. Plus the verses are actually really legit, especially Dirt Nasty’s…he’s a smooth mother fucker!
