The hip hop heads should already be familiar with the ATL’s Stat Quo, who was a rapper I first heard a few yrs ago and liked everything he was droppin. He is still with Shady/Aftermath from what I heard, but his debut album, Statlanta, has been constantly delayed and while it has apparently been completed for awhile, the label has yet 2 release it. The song above is Stat telling that story, along with other stories about his journey in the industry, Proof’s death, & more! Some pretty heartfelt lyrics attracted me right away on the 1st listen and reminded me why I liked Stat Quo in the first place. So if ur a big hip hop head, def give Stat a chance and DL 2day’s feature track above! Below, plenty more hip hop and R&B.. some thoughts on the trax below… Twista kills “The Business RMX”, Songz kills the hook on “Love For Money”, & I’m tryin’ 2 love Chris Brown’s “Captive”, but its slightly disturbing me that the song is in fact written in a girl’s perspective (a demo for the Pussycat Dolls… I can see Nicole S. on that Polow beat makin’ the radio for sure…). There’s also a couple videos featuring more from hip hop with Kidz In The Hall & Skillz! Enjoy!
FULL, CDQ, Rumored track off upcoming album, Joe Thomas, New Man*Tibs Fav.™
Bunch of NEW R&B for ya ears, starting with a sweet track from Joe, which I can see as the opening track for his upcoming album. The lyrics, as u can imagine, apply 2 his re-definition of himself and involves some interesting metaphors as well. It’s not a slow jam as I first thought it would be, rather an uptempo track. Down below, are a couple more uptempo trax by Ray Lavender that are very solid, a couple nice Fabolous features, & a slow jam by Chris Brown and Andre Merritt (I have this strange feeling he used 2 be a WR for the Bears? haha, maybe same name, different guy situation.. anyway I digress…) and it is also a nice track that R&B fans would enjoy! Finally, peep a Lupe Fiasco interview @ the bottom! Enjoy!
Oh, and we’re back 2 zShare now - seems like international users can access the site like they used 2. Thx 2 ash in the UK for the heads up!
FULL, CLEAN, Track off upcoming album, L.A.X.*Tibs Fav.™
So the CLEAN version of The Game’s upcoming album, L.A.X., leaked out 2day and above, u can DL 3 more trax (scroll for the Ludacris collabo below) all featuring some big names like Common, Nas, & Ne-Yo! None of the trax are all that special on 1st few listens, but they are also all real solid. Not feelin’ the “Angel” beat and Game’s constant name-dropping, which is more annoying than clever most of the time, but it is some trax the hip hop fan would likely enjoy! Another one they would enjoy is the latest from The Cool Kids as “Pennies” maintains that deep bass sound of the duo and contains many more NBA references than usual, which I really liked of course. And before I forget, the NBA’s DeShawn Stevenson recently made a video of him and his buddy lip synching 2 Usher’s “Love In This Club”! As a fan of DeShawn’s hilarious antics, this video is another illustration of the goofiness of DeShawn Stevenson as he doesn’t disappoint throughout, especially in his lil’ grand finale, hahaha (btw, that beard is still growin, haha!) Big ups 2 my boy Yoox for the sending.. more big ups goes 2 our affs, 2dopeboyz & lupEND for the audio, the latter being responsible for the 2 NEW Shayla G trax (from FNF) as “Crazy” is an interesting one I like - kinda weird, but that’s what makes the song unique and I like that about the track. There are also some behind the scenes and live performance videos that u can peep below f/ Ludacris, Chris Brown, T.I., & Swizz Beatz as well! Enjoy!
Here’s a couple more R&B trax that just surfaced, the first being a pounding slow jam by Chris Brown! Real nice, sexually charged lyrics here, haha, as the track as a whole reminds me more of a classic R&B track, as opposed 2 the fast, club R&B trax we’re used 2 with Chris Brown. Vocally, CB is definitely no Usher, but he is still nice on this track, and better than he usually is on slow jams. Def a quality R&B track that ya’ll should DL above! Below, is another solid R&B track by Ray Lavender.. just 2 much going on with background vocals that I think hurts the track, more than helps. Finally, for all those slow pokes that still don’t have T.I.’s first single, after the video premiered earlier this week, u can DL that below as well! Enjoy!
FULL, CDQ, Track from Team USA Soundtrack *Tibs Fav.™
Some more NEW trax for ya ears before I sign off for the nite.. the feature track - a positive one by Chris Brown! I feel like the beat was motivational right away, somethin’ that would be in a Disney movie, and did some diggin’ and found out the track was in fact on the Team USA Soundtrack - a promotional CD in light of the Olympics that started 2day! It’s a catchy, nice track that I think could grow on me as time passes; def a MUST-DL for the CB fans out there! Turns out Nelly’s “Warrior” is on the soundtrack as well and big ups 2 Laura K. for sending us more promotional information on the Team USA Soundtrack, which can be seen below (and all over the iTunes store!)
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Chris Brown - Team USA Promo Spot
Nelly - Team USA Promo Spot
“The track “Warrior”, these reason I think that it plays a part in this is because of the intensity, and the Olympics is all about being that warrior, it’s all about bringing that mentality to it, that kill or be killed mentality, even though it’s friendly games and all that, but it’s the biggest event for the world… I think athletes and musicians are similar in the way that they both work hard, in the way that if everybody could do it, everybody would do it. Only if you have what it takes, and only if you can give what it takes.“
- Nelly
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Below, find some more NEW trax featuring RMXs 2 Robin Thicke & Jennifer Hudson’s first singles, “Magic” & “Spotlight”, respectively. “Magic” continues 2 grow on me and MJB is, well, MJB. Makes for a good mix, but I can’t say the same for Young Jeezy on the “Spotlight RMX”, as this is a case where I feel he doesn’t belong on the track. He’s fine in spurts, and on different types of beats, but not a soulful, StarGate produced song w/ Jennifer’s lovely vocals. I mean, his obnoxious tone and average verse (EX: plugging his own upcoming album, which sounded more forced than clever) brings the song down and makes me revert back 2 the original. Furthermore, when I first laid eyes on the tracklist for L.A.X., I saw The Game & Ne-Yo’s collabo (downloadable now below!) and was real intrigued and excited 2 hear it. Unfortunately for me, it did not live up 2 my expectations as I feel The Game was not that strong on the track and even Ne-Yo came off a lil’ forced in coming up w/ a hook, but perhaps its the subject matter. I suppose the song could grow on me, and maybe it will since it could be a likely candidate for The Game’s next radio hit, but on first listen, was not really feelin’ it. Finally, enjoy Donnie Klang’s first video premiere for a song that I liked - “Take You There” f/ Diddy! Oh, and I threw in a 10 second video of Lupe saying doing his lil version of “Hi Hater”, which made me chuckle, haha! Enjoy!
BET also premiered the official video for T.I.’s 1st single, “Whatever You Like” on 106 & Park 2nite and I was just able 2 finally locate an embeddable version for GWHH! It is another MUST-WATCH video, with a really cool twist at the end. T.I. is another fly guy who shows why above as well. I wasn’t expecting much from this video, but it exceeded my expectations and also increased my feeling on the track. It is growing on me and will for sure blow up the radio the more I think about it. Music videos, in general, can do that for me and after watching the premieres for “Whatever You Like” & “Everyone Nose RMX” below, I just had 2 listen 2 the trax over and over again. Another track I’ll be listening 2 a lot is the SNIPPET by Chris Brown below. He hooks up again w/ Polow Da Don for yet another club-banging HIT! Sure fire, this one is crackin’ top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, like the other Polow-produced CB single “Forever” (currently, and peaking @ #3), of course, whenever the full version is released! Can’t wait for that. Also below, I’m posting a couple other vids featuring a passionate Kanye West @ MSG in NYC and Akon speaking on his next collabos! Enjoy!
FULL, CDQ, Track off upcoming album, First Love*Tibs Fav.™
Large update, starting with another nice track from up and comer R&B singer Karina Pasian! It’s a slow jam that should be on her upcoming album of the same name, in stores August 19th! More trax below feature a pretty sick beat by The Underdogs, a nice Chris Brown feature, & Mikkey Halsted ripping thru one of my all-time favorite beats (Mobb Deep - “Shook Ones Pt. 2″). Finally, a ton of videos for u 2 look at, including behind the scenes looks at music videos from CRS, Lupe Fiasco, & T.I., and a bunch of Rock The Bells interviews with all the various artists on the bill. Enjoy!
Producer: Swizz Beatz? - FULL, CDQ, 1st single off upcoming album, Theatre Of The Mind*Tibs Fav.™
A few standout trax from the bunch above and below, starting with Ludacris’ latest single (thx 2 Steve-O for the send) that will surely be hitting the radio in due time. It features Chris Brown & Sean Garrett and supposedly is produced by Swizz Beatz. The song is pretty solid on 1st listen and is exactly the type of song that will grow on me over time. The song is aimed squarely at the pop crowd, especially with a unique beat that is also likely 2 annoy some as well. I’m indifferent on the beat, like many of the vocals by Luda & CB, so we’ll see how this track lasts over time. Down below, Trey Songz kills the first verse of the “Girls Around The World RMX” and T.I. & Fabolous kill the “Hi Hater RMX”! Also be sure 2 check out a few vids and the extensive Complex feature on Lupe Fiasco & N*E*R*D! Enjoy!
The Game “My Life” f/ Lil’ Wayne (Behind The Scenes)
Young Jeezy - The Recession (Trailer Pt. 1)
Lupe Fiasco & N*E*R*D Covering Complex
Lupe & N*E*R*D are getting some much deserved pub in the next issue of Complex Magazine and below are the goodies, straight from their website (including a lil’ snippet of the Lupe interview below!)
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So are there gonna be no more Lupe solo albums? Is there a CRS project that you’re—
Lupe Fiasco: Yeah, the CRS project hopefully will come before my last album. So that will probably be the next thing that everybody kind of goes into.
I heard you were the one that actually gave the sample for “Us Placers” that was out there.
Lupe Fiasco: Yeah, I produced the record; Pharrell came up with the name and the idea. And “Us Placers” was the first song that’s like, “Yeah, this could work.”
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This album is what hip hop is all about! It’s hard to say if it’s his strongest album, but Nas brings it once again with the NiggerUntitled album. The first thing I noticed, along with his previous LP, Hip Hop Is Dead, is that Nas adapts his masterful lyrics over a new age sound. It’s really easy to see the difference if you put in Illmatic or It Was Written after listening to Untitled, which I did over this past weekend. It just speaks to Nas’ versatility and his music today is still relevant and appealing to today’s modern ear (as evidenced with his likely #1 Billboard spot for his first week). A perfect illustration of that is through the song “America” where Nas teams up with R&B producers, StarGate, and both parties compliment each other’s style to make a beautiful track. Nas has always been considered one of the greatest lyricists and storytellers to ever grace the mic and below are a couple examples of that, including one from the aforementioned “America”.
“Love to sit in on the Senate
And tell the whole government
Y’all don’t treat women fair
She read about herself in the bible
Believing she the reason sin is here
You played her, with an apron
Like bring me my dinner, dear
She the nigger here
Ain’t we in the free world?
Death penalty in Texas kill young boys and girls
Barbarity, I’m in the double-R casually
Bugging how I made it out the hood, dazzle me
How far we really from third world savagery?
When the empire fall, imagine how crazy that’ll be..”
- Nas “America”
“My father was not a banker
Neither was my neighbor when it came to getting paper
Who the hell was gonna train us?
A pressure couldn’t escape us through the ages
We changed the basis of derogatory phrases
And I say its quite amazing
The use of ghetto terms developed our own language
No matter where it came from
It’s celebrated; now people are mad if they ain’t one”
- Nas “Y’all My Niggas”
As you can see, Nas has the complete lyrical package, combining intricate wordplay with relevant social commentary. The topics vary throughout on songs like “Sly Fox”, “Untitled”, & even the lead single “Hero” f/ Keri Hilson, just to name a few. He matches the top-notch lyricism with the flow of a superstar and what even further stands Nas out about the rest, is his ability to hit your ear on first listen with such captivating lyrics in the verses. It’s usually the chorus that strikes a chord on the first listen, but Nas is one of the rare artists that captures me more on his verses. That being said, it is the chorus’ in general that I feel hold the album back a little bit (along with a couple “ehhh” beats.. Ex: “Sly Fox” has grown on me negatively because of the beat..). Some of the chorus’ could be a lil’ catchier, not radio-friendly exactly since that’s not Nas’ true style, but just to the point that some songs can have a greater lasting appeal. Instead, I’ll skip a few tracks unless I have the goal of listening to the entire album all the way through or mindlessly keep the playlist on as background music at the laptop. Nas consistently brings it lyrically throughout the album and was close to a perfect 10 in the lyrics category had he blown me away like he does in the examples above for the entire album. Nas could have spit over a 3rd grader’s beats for the entire album and it would still be a MUST-BUY! Instead, Nas dipped into a variety of fresh producers including the aforementioned StarGate, Mark Ronson, stic.man of Dead Prez, & Jay Electronica to name a few. So if you haven’t yet copped Untitled and you are a hip hop fan, then stop what you’re doing and get to a store and buy the album, or simply CLICK HERE!
Back from the doc with some updates for ya eyes and ears, including a very unique, NEW track from Common that he debuted above in a live performance! The beat between the chorus and the verses changes drastically, which is very interesting, but most of all, Common KILLS it, spitting every word clearly live and droppin’ names like Kimbo Slice and Michael Vick very cleverly. I mean, are you not entertained?? Haha, down below, u can DL 12 NEW trax from artists like the late J. Dilla, Kardinal Offishall, Chris Brown, Lloyd, & MANY MORE! Just peep them below and DL, along with The Cool Kids performing live on Jimmy Kimmel and getting some more much deserved mainstream pub. Enjoy!
Stat Quo “Dear Summer Pt. 1″ - MORE
