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.
Nas - Doo Rags
This is one of Nas’s best songs, which obviously means a lot. This shit right here is real fuckin’ hip-hop. Just listen to that flow, those lyrics, that beat…truly outstanding.
“That was an uncanny era, guns in my pants, yeah. X-Clan hair, with dreads at the top of my fade. Homicidal Feds on the blocks where I played b-ball. That’s when I wondered was I here for the cause or because.”
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My Song Rating: 9.9 out of 10
Played 412 times.
“Fuck a rat race, take the cheese, jack cheddar from the make believe, break the trees on they eighth CD. Rockin the red and black lumberjack faithfully. I’m a Brooklyn Nigga, basicallY.”
“Sign my name with the feather, tap dance under the full moon. Smoke and drinking liquor for the fam that left us too soon.”
What’s your favorite song(s) by Talib Kweli?
“Only in America could you find a way to make a healthy buck, and still keep your attitude on self-destruct.”
- MF Doom
Cage - I Never Knew You
Cage doesn’t have too many tracks that I would consider ridiculously amazing, but this is one of them. When I first discovered this song all I could do was play it in my dorm with the volume cranked way up and the bass set to max. You definitely need to be in the right type mood to fully enjoy this song. It’s that special kind of music that can envelop you within its essence, and you forget what you’re doing as your brain is drowned in sadistic lyrics and grungy guitar. Nothing really like it. Obviously not everyone enjoys Cage’s darker music, but if you do, you definitely have an appreciation for this song and what it artistically accomplishes within the underground realm of dark grungy hip-hop.
“You’re always dying inside that much closer to home. On a crowded street corner surrounded by people all alone.”
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My Song Rating: 9.6 out of 10
Necro - Underground (Instrumental)
This is my all time favorite instrumental to freestyle to. If you’ve never heard of Necro before, all you need to know is he’s the filthiest and most violent hip-hop artist I know of, at least for how famous he is for it. He’s also made beats for everyone from Wu-Tang to Cage. One of my other favorite Necro instrumentals to freestyle too is Agent Orange by Cage. Essentially what I’m saying is he’s probably my favorite producer to freestyle too. It has that raw repetition at just the right speed.
Played 400 times.
Fat Trel – Freak A Melody (ft. Wale)
Fat Trel hails from Washington D.C. along with his feature and friend Wale, who signed Trel in 2010 at the time of this mixtape. The sample is my favorite part of this song because it exemplifies of the polarity of a hood rapper with an uncommon indie sample, which is from Hannah by Freelance Whales. The trap/hood rap scene is one of the most grossly overpopulated and watered down music scenes in existence. Fat Trel is no savior, but he keeps his head far above this general cesspool of shit. This is my second favorite song off of Fat Trel’s 2010 mixtape No Secrets. My favorite song, which I already reviewed, is Deep Thought.
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My Song Rating: 8.9 out of 10
Played 376 times.May you forever rhyme in peace, rest in beats, and be carried down the streets, where my ghetto-blaster keeps, your tapes on repeat.
The left portrait was taken in Harlem in the 1930s. I’m assuming his name was Jay-A, the original Jay.
“I’m so far ahead of my time, I’m bout to start another life. Look behind you, I’m bout to pass you twice. Back to the future and gotta slow up for the present. I’m fast, niggaz can’t get past my past. How they propose to deal with my perfect present? When I unwrap “The Gift & the Curse” in one session.”
24th May 2013
Notes: 189
