charles hamilton - the L word mixtape (2008)

WORD. fresh new mixtape from the leader of the soul sonic force. this kid is definitely on his grind. dig.

charles hamilton on myspace.

download the L word mixtape:



- the P word

music video: the cool kids - delivery man (2008)

top shelf quality of fresh ass shit brought to you by every hipster's favorite rap duo. just in case anyone missed the mp3 the first time, grab that shit here, seeing as someone destroyed our link from the previous post.

-grizzly

mickey factz - the leak vol I (2008)

i'm a bit late on this tape, but i honestly believed that i had already posted about it. turns out i just posted one damn song and it's a remix at that. anyway, get on this little ditty. it's good and i'm sure he'll be igniting the blogroll in no time.

mickey factz on myspace

download (link is courtesy of gfcny):

mickey factz - the leak vol. I

-grizzly factz

album review: usher - here i stand (2008)

Artist: Usher
Album: Here I Stand
Record Label: LaFace Records
Release Date: May 27, 2008



Since the release of 2004’s Confessions, Usher Raymond IV has gone through many life-transforming changes. Aside from one of the highest selling albums of the decade, the R&B sensation has settled down, managed to get married and saw the birth of his first son.

Usher used this transformation into adulthood as a stepping stone and a blueprint for Here I Stand, his first studio album in four years. At face value, Here I Stand is a collection of songs that is no different than material found on Confessions, 8701 or even his debut album My Way. Despite the familiarity, the songs on Here I Stand reflect his new-found maturity as his writing is more focused on fidelity and taking care of his family.

On Here I Stand, Usher finds himself doing what he does best, which is creating tracks that are focused on sexuality, in every sense. Songs like “Trading Places,” “Love You Gently” and “This Ain’t Sex” should come as no surprise. “This Ain’t Sex” is one of the more refined songs on the album. Aside from a few cliché lines, the song is very reminiscent of an early 90s Michael Jackson.

Other standout tracks on the album include “Best Thing,” which sees a guest verse from hip-hop’s finest, Jay-Z. “Appetite” has a catchy hook and a crisp beat, and is another perfectly crafted hit in the making and could easily see mainstream success.

Fatherhood has brought out a new perspective in the superstar’s life. In “Prayer For You,” Usher sings a soulful melody to his infant son, who is heard cooing in the song’s background. In it, he bares all as he sings, “You carry my name/I pray that you’re better than me,” which is sure to tug on a few heart strings.

“Moving Mountains,” a song whose beat is very suggestive of a Timbaland influence and is also slated to be a single, is one of Usher’s most impressive efforts to date. The track is to Here I Stand will be what “Burn” was to Confessions, exploring the struggles of a failing relationship and its effects on both parties.

An album with 17 songs is bound to have a little bit of filler. Songs like the will.i.am produced “What’s Your Name?” and “Something Special” could have easily been left off of the album.

Considering the genre, the artist runs a very high risk of writing cliché and cheesy lyrics. Songs like “Trading Places” reads more like an online blog entry rather than a song. The type of storytelling approach in “Trading Places” and “Love You Gently” do not seem to be Usher’s forte, and should be reserved for R. Kelly, who penned the highly-addicting and narrated “Trapped in the Closet” series.

Aside from the minor setbacks, Here I Stand is a highly addictive and cohesive album which takes influences from the the best of modern and classic R&B. The impressive production line-up has also been beneficial to Usher. Fans of Usher’s previous albums should be able to find several gems on this album.

Growing up may have taken toll on Usher’s personal life, but it has not altered the man’s ability to create refreshing music.

Grade: B-

note: i usually post reviews from the school newspaper's web site, but my copy editors did their thing and completely destroyed it, so i posted the original instead.

-grizzly

album review: lupe fiasco - the cool (2007)

this is merely a hype post for one of our favorite emcees, lupe fiasco. hopefully this time around, with the release of sophomore album the cool, lupe finds that fresh spot he's reserved in the hip-hop game.

the bears at weworemasks are huge fans of lupe and urge you to check out his new record.

i recently did an album review of the cool, which can be read here. (hey, if jerome can plug his band, i can plug my press!!)

i'm positive this will be another mainstream hip-hop release that flies over people's heads, but that's their loss.

the cool follows a concept of a fatherless boy, raised by two parents. one is the streets, and one is the game. lupe talked about the concept in another interview, but i'll post a healthy excerpt for you here.

I expand on the story, I introduce two other characters, the Game and the Streets. The Streets is a female. She's like the action personification of the streets, the street life, the call of the streets. The Game is the same way. The Game is the personification of the game. The pimp's game, the hustler's game, the con man's game, whatever.

Then they've got supernatural characteristics. Like the Cool, his right hand is rotted away. The only thing that rotted away was his right hand (as is shown in his video "Superstar"). It represents the rotting away of his righteousness, of his good. And the Streets and the Cool kind of have a love affair going on. So she's represented by this locket. And the locket has a key and it's on fire. And as a gift to the Cool on his rise to fame, she gave him the key. And the key represents the key to the Streets. So she wears a locket around her neck at all times.

And the way the story goes, she has given that key to tons of people throughout time. Al Capone, Alexander the Great, whatever. She's giving them the key to the Streets. Fame and fortune-- but also the prices. The Game, he's represented by a stripped-down skull, a skull with dice in his eyes and smoke coming out of his mouth. The billowing smoke is actually crack smoke. It's not a full concept album; it's more spread over like five [tracks], really abstractly.[3]

music video for "dumb it down," the first street single off of the new album:

album review:

READ.
READ.
READ.

buy the cool:


amazon.

best buy.

it's only 10 bucks. no excuse.

-grizzly

girl talk - night ripper (2006)

for a while there, gregg gillis was leading a double life. working as a biomedicdal engineer during the week, then flying out and partying around the country as girl talk on the weekends. eventually he quit his day job and now gets down as girl talk 24/7, and the hype hasn't stopped since. sampling everyone from john denver to lil wayne.. from boys II men to james taylor.. from dr dre to the foo fighters, gillis has provided you with your ultimate party album. throw this on at your next party and just watch peoples reactions as banger after banger destroys your ear drums. and apparently his live show is a giant party, so be sure you check him out next time he's in town with his laptop.

girl talk on myspace.

download night ripper:


- panda