Album Of The Day: Joe Budden- "Mood Muzik 2"

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Joe Budden is best known for "Pump It Up", the Just Blaze-produced jam of 2003. That single helped establish Budden as a well-known rapper, but made him seem like a dumbed-down mainstream artist, only capable of writing songs for the club. On this my favorite mixtape evar, Budden shows his true colors as a hungry, introspective lyricist that is nothing like the "Pump It Up" MC that Def Jam wanted him to be.

Album Of The Day: Da Youngstas- "No Mercy"

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   Da Youngstas were a Philly-based trio that made some quality hip-hop in the early '90s as teenagers. Not that I'm all too familiar with their catalogue, but this is my favorite album of theirs thanks to their energy on the mic and production by greats like Marley Marl and K-Def. Mad props.

PropsOverHere Presents: The Best Of The Game & DJ Skee

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I have a strong feeling that Game's upcoming R.E.D. Album is going to suck ass, and I don't think I'm alone in this. For the last year, Jayceon has been trying too hard to make a radio smash, hence abortions like the Timbo-produced Gucci collab "Krazy"and the Pharrell-produced Chris Brown feature, "Pot of Gold". These failed attempts at a hit single have greatly lowered my expectations for this album, even though I've been satisfied with all of The Game's albums to date. Assuming I'm right, and the album is terrible, his mixtape material with DJ Skee over the last year or so serves as an acceptable consolation. Between The R.E.D. Room, Brake Lights, Purp & Patron, and Hood Morning: Candy Coronas (which just dropped today), there are more than an album's worth of great songs, to the point where it almost doesn't even matter anymore how bad the real album may be. With that in mind, I've taken the best songs from the Game/Skee tapes and assembled a sort of greatest hits collection for your enjoyment. Tracklisting below.

1. Drug Test (Feat. Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg)
2. Soo Woo (Feat. Lil' Wayne)
3. Out Of Towner
4. The Kill
5. Gangs Of New York (Feat. Jim Jones & Jadakiss)
6. Taylor Made (Feat. Wiz Khalifa)
7. Slangin' Rocks
8. Uncle Otis
9. Grave Yard
10. Hahahahaha
11. Ashed To Ashes (Feat. Rick Ross)
12. Red (Feat. Redman)
13. The Ocean
14. Never Stop Hustlin' (Feat. Fabolous)
15. R.I.P. Story

Album Of The Day: Diverse "One A.M."

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 On One A.M., Diverse, who I admittedly know nothing about, displays virtuoso rapping skill and some substance to go along with it. The beats by the likes of Prefuse 73, Madlib, and RJD2 are very solid, making this one of the few new-ish underground albums with significant replay value, at least for me.  

Album Of The Day: Juggaknots-"Clear Blue Skies"

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The Juggaknots are a group headlined by Breezly Brewin, a great underground MC. This 2003 album is unquestionably their best work but apparently it never caught on because I hardly ever see it mentioned. If you were born in the late '80's/'90's, you might have heard the song "Trouble Man" since I think it was featured on one of those immensely popular Tony Hawk skateboarding video games. Everyone's got that one friend that just ran train in Tony Hawk. Anyway, download this album.

*Don't blame me if this download gives your computer a virus, I did not upload that shit.

Album Of The Day: Kidz In The Hall- "School Was My Hustle"

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Today's album is Naledge and Double O's debut effort, School Was My Hustle. I had never heard of Kidz In The Hall until I read up on how Just Blaze threw the "Rumpshaker" horns on one of their songs and used it for Jay's then-new single "Show 'Em What You Got". Still having never heard any of their music, I checked this album on a hunch and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was totally fresh, pure hip-hop from front to back.

*Don't blame me if this download gives your computer a virus because I did not upload that shit.

Dream Albums Do Come True...Maybe

According to VladTV, "50 is Patiently Waiting On Kanye for Joint Project", an idea that I pitched on this very site right around the time of the Graduation vs. Curtis album sales showdown. Since then, Fiddy's popularity as an artist has plummeted and his Sleek headphone venture was a flop, so he's turning to Kanye presumably because he's all out of ideas. Between label politics and Kanye's better judgment I kind of doubt that this album ever materializes, but if it does I hope that they at least consider the title He's The D-Bag, I'm The Rapper.

Album Of The Day: Lake & Cormega-"My Brother's Keeper"

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With not much happening in the rap world, I've decided to add a new feature to the site called "Album Of The Day" where everyday I'll give shine to a different, underrated album. The first is Lake and Cormega's My Brother's Keeper, a collection of street tales from two Queensbridge hustlers turned inmates turned rappers. From what I can piece together through various songs, Lake and Mega grew up together but had a falling out at some point, possibly when one or the other went to prison. Eventually they settled their differences and reunited to make this album, back in '06. Only about half of the songs on this are any good, but it still comes highly recommended for fans of East Coast street shit such as myself.

*Don't blame me if this download gives your computer a virus because I did not upload that shit.

PropsOverHere Presents: The Remixes (Pt. II)

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It's been a while since I posted a download, so here's another one of my famous mixtapes with more remixes. Tracklist below.

1. A Tribe Called Quest - "Oh My God" (Remix)

2. AZ & Nas - "The Essence" (Remix)

3. G-Dep - "Special Delivery" (Remix)

4. The Firm - "Affirmative Action" (Remix)

5. Junior M.A.F.I.A. - "Player's Anthem" (Remix)

6. Lord Finesse - "Hip 2 Da Game" (Buckwild Remix)

7. Large Professor - "The Radar" (Marco Polo Remix)

8. Smif-N-Wessun - "Wrekonize" (Remix)

9. AZ - "Gimme Yours" (Remix)

10. Das Efx - "Jussumen" (Pete Rock Remix)

11. Artifacts - "The Ultimate" (Showbiz Remix)

12. M.O.P. - "Handle Ur Bizness" (Premo Remix)

13. Slum Village - "Players" (Pete Rock Remix)

14. Jay-Z - "In My Lifetime" (Big Jaz Remix)

Album Review: Jay Rock- "Follow Me Home"

I profess that I don't know much about Jay Rock. I didn't even know that he was from Cali until I consulted Wikipedia just now. What I do know about him is that he dropped the Cool & Dre produced single/Weezy feature "All My Life" in 2008 a la Saigon, but I still bump that shit from time to time. The next leak from this album, "Hood Gone Love It", is almost as good and cracked my top 10 from the first half of the year. Does the rest of his debut album match the quality of the first two singles or does it all go downhill from there?

1. Intro

Jay Rock is interviewed about a drive-by and welcomes us to “Guttaville”.

2. Code Red

Sort of a continuation from the intro, this one is about how real shit gets in Watts, naturally over an imitation Dre beat. Jay even brings in a guy that sounds like Snoop Dogg to do the chorus.

3. Bout That

More tough guy gangsta raps, except this one is more of a mess musically than the last song. This sounds like a throwaway from a Game tape.

4. No Joke (Feat. Ab-Soul)

At this point its clear that Jay Rock isn’t gonna do anything that hasn’t been done before, based on all of the interchangeable verses about the hood so far. Not necessarily a bad thing, since that’s clearly what he’s best at. I like this track to the first two thanks to the chopped up piano sample though I could do without Ab-Soul on the hook.

5. Hood Gone Love It (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)

I talked about this track in my intro to this review and in that “Halftime” post but it bears repeating, this is great. I’m glad J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League gave this to Jay Rock now that Rick Ross only raps over different variations of the “I’m Not A Star” beat.

6. Westside (

feat. Chris Brown)

Considering this is a Breezy feature about banging hoes, I’m not mad at this. It’s not a very good song, but I hope it gets Jay Rock some airplay.

7. Elbows

Here’s another fake Dre track though this one, unlike the first, is well worse than the real thing. Jay Rock brings an extra raspy, aggressive flow that, combined with the Dre-like production, invokes a Restless-era Xzibit.

8. Boomerang

This is the least inspired moment of this album so far, which says a lot since there was already a Chris Brown, girl track.

9. All I Know Is

Some more unoriginal, West Coast gangsta rap but this time, instead of a guy that sounds sort of like Snoop, they got a guy that sounds sort of like Nate Dogg to do the hook. Rest in peace.

10. I'm Thuggin'

I know I said that Jay Rock’s lack of ingenuity wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but at this point it’s almost embarrassing. I mean the hook on this is him repeating “Bitch, I’m Thuggin’”. Come on now.

11. Kill or Be Killed

Tech N9ne, who I’ve never been able to get into, lends a guest verse on a song about shooting people. For what it’s worth, Jay’s verse describing a dude getting rushed off to the hospital and shit might be his best lyricism so far.

12. Just Like Me (Feat. J.Black)

A somber track about the ugly side of ghetto living, basically the opposite of “Hood Gone Love It”.

13. Say Wassup (Feat. Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar, & Schoolboy Q)

Jay Rock brings in the rest of “Black Hippy” for this the best song in some time. Even though the gangbang shit might be in Jay Rock’s element, the best songs on here are the ones that are the least gangsta sounding, but that might just be my personal preference.

14. They Be On It

Jay spits braggadocio raps about cars and bitches and whatnot. This is alright but I wouldn’t care if I never heard this again.

15. M.O.N.E.Y.

This is a lot like the last song that this guy J. Black sang on. I get the sense that every time Jay Rock feels like he has something really serious to rap about he calls up J. Black, finds a dark piano beat, and hits the booth.

16. Finest Hour (Feat. Rick Ross & BJ The Chicago Kid)

This J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League track sounds like some of the beats they’ve done for Rick Ross in the past, so it’s no surprise to find Rozay on here. I think if they handled all the production on this album it would be an entirely different story.

17. Life's A Gamble

Here’s another dark piano beat, probably the best yet. I think I’ve heard this one before and there was a video for it if I’m not mistaken. This is pretty chill but not really anything special.

18. All My Life (Feat. Lil' Wayne)

This song is still terrific but it’s old news. They might as well have put "California Soul" on here too. I mean if you haven’t heard this by now then definitely go do that.

Comments:

Eh. This album had its moments, but also had lots of filler, which I guess is to be expected since there were 18 songs on there. Like I said, with better production value I think Jay Rock could put out something much better, as evidenced by the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and Cool & Dre tracks.

Best Songs: "Hood Gone Love It", "All My Life"

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