That's right, bitches. After an eight month or so hiatus from crying about rap, I'm giving this blog thing another shot because its August and I don't have shit else to do. There are also some pretty big moments in hip hop to look forward to.
-The Slaughterhouse album drops next week and I'm hoping, for their sake and for hip hop's, that it's at least worth the $9.99 on iTunes. I mean, they've already put out enough good shit that an album flop wouldn't render this project a complete failure, as if this were The Firm, but it would be nice to see these guys enjoy even moderate commercial success. Let's be real, the only reason this group came to be is because none of these guys could get a real record deal and their solo careers were going nowhere fast. Royce, Ortiz, Crooked I, and Budden probably met up to record the song "Slaughterhouse," saw all the daps they got in the comments section at Nah Right and realized that they had nothing better to do than to stay and record a buncha shit. As much as I'd like to see this do numbers like a major release, even one that sucks, like the new Loso, it just won't. Well, it was worth a shot.
-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 is finally coming out. They even released that Dilla track I've been hearing about for years and it's actually pretty good. I think that this album is going to be crack but people are still going to hate it on it like crazy. It should be expected for everyone to shit on this after all the hype and the delay and it being the sequel to the best album evar. Still, I'm not sure how this could be bad. Raekwon is not the MC he was 15 years ago to be sure, but you know all those Wu-Tang dudes still have lyrics. Plus, from looking at the rumored tracklisting (I know), the production should be nails. I say, worst case scenario, this album is Fishscale status, but if it is it will get feedback as if it were Lex Diamondz Story or whatever the fuck that was called. I guess this one's on Rae.
-Speaking of long awaited, highly anticipated albums, Rakim is finally putting out The 7th Seal. The single "Holy Are You" just hit the internet a few weeks ago and shit is fire. Even at 41, I'm convinced that Rakim can still go toe to toe with anyone lyrically. I have my doubts that the beats on this, given the albums presumably low budget, will match his rhyming ability, which could be this album's downfall. Maybe Premo could do him a favor and hit him off with a discount. Who else are these beats going to, the NYGz?
-Jay-Z just released the cover art for Blueprint 3. I'm sure you've all seen it, it's really gay, only surpassed in gayness perhaps by the lead single with Ye and Rihanna. I really liked American Gangster but this album has disaster written all over it. The fact is that Jay-Z just can't rap anymore. Either that or he's not trying, which can't be it because he still seems pretty confident that he's crafting the next lyrical masterpiece. I think he's just getting a bit delusional in his old age, like Prodigy or something. All these hip hop blogs have been making a big fuss about how Kanye bested Jay on his own shit, Eminem-style, but what they are missing is the sad truth that Kanye is just a better rapper than Jay-Z at this point, even though he basically stopped rapping like 3 years ago. As I mentioned in my review a while back, his rapping basically sucked on American Gangster, the difference is that album was just about selling drugs whereas now he's telling us about Beyonce and his outfits and whatnot.
-Lupe Fiasco's Lasers is coming out later this year. At least I thought so, I really haven't been keeping tabs on this. Upon further review, the first two Lupe albums were pretty good, and I had to put "Shining Down" on repeat about a month back. Is this going to be his last album or was his whole retirement thing some old bullshit?
-Lastly, Fif's new album Before I Self Destruct hits stores in September. 50 has yet to hit the jackpot with a radio hit since The Massacre ("I Get Money" was underrated), and can't seem to break the dry spell. Dr. Dre, who used to come up with ingenious ideas for a living, hasn't done anything noteworthy in forever, so at this point 50 is just treading water as far as staying relevant with his beefs and other shenanigans. I'm surprised he even cares about maintaining his popularity, what with his financial situation. It shows commitment on his part that he's still putting out albums at all. That, or he just fucking loves attention.
