TI – Fuck Da City Up

Will TI be home for good now after all those round trips to jail? With ‘Fuck Tha City Up’ it’s like he wants to start from scratch again, show that he’s one of the hardest still. And we haven’t heard TI on so many hard beats since… ‘King’?  (My favorite T.I.’s album anyway). As he said it himself, he has climbed “up the echelons” of fame with more and more commercial albums like ‘T.I. vs. T.I.P.’ and ‘Paper Trail’ and never came down, until the jail chapter.

‘Fuck Da City up’ really is a long mixtape and suffers from a lack of variety. There’s never a day where I feel like ingesting it all. Here you have to judge the book by its cover; the fact that he has rappers like Two Chainz and Meek Mill as guests tells us exactly where TI is looking at the moment. But I guess it’s because of him that rappers like them exist today so in a way it’s like full circle. The only difference is that they’re ‘fresh’ and he’s not.

I do get the feeling that we’ve already seen everything TI can do as a rapper and there’s never gonna be any surprise anymore. Some rappers you want to know what they gonna do next; but I never have this expectation with TI. He’s always done and said pretty much the same thing since day one. And what you sometimes do get here from the T.I.’s verses in the midst of all the loud beats doesn’t sound very exciting.

Enrolling Pimp C (RIP), Young Jeezy, & Young Dro doesn’t help either with the feeling of déjà vu. The track ‘Pissing on your ego’ drags the mixtape even more at the end; BOB… I’m sorry but I still don’t know how to enjoy him as a rapper. Also I think T.I. could have done a better job on the Mannie Fresh produced ‘The One’ while the Dr Dre track seems like another missed opportunity.

But TI is nice when he shows some teeth on the vigorous ‘Loud Mouth’ with 2 Chainz or the massive ‘Harry Potter’ with his catchy chorus and does justice with a wonderful flow to the Just Blaze produced ‘Oh Yeah’ feat Trey Songz. But it’s the invigorating ‘I’ll show you’ with Pusha T that clearly takes the spot on the mixtape.

It would be great to see T.I. explore other sonic territories. Producers like Big KRIT or 9^th Wonder would be interesting as they’d allow him to show a little bit more sensitivity and lay different flows. I’ve never said T.I. was done. I am just wondering how he could be amazing again.

Chip Tha Ripper – Tell Ya Friends

One thing with Chip, you’ve got the feeling he doesn’t want to be put in a box. For the most part ‘Tell Ya Friends’ takes us on a colorful soundscape trip with a cohort of interesting featurings.

Being from Cleveland, why wouldn’t he pay homage to Bone Thugs & Harmony with his rapid 9mm flow on the stubborn and rusty ‘We Ain’t Playin’ featuring CyHi the Prince? We’re almost back to East 1999 here. Even the Lex Luger produced ‘Out here’ has that Cleveland gloom to it. No wonder Chip and Krayzie Bone team up for one track, the strong ‘Stay Sleep’.

On the other end of the spectrum Chip has also been a collaborator of Kid Cudi (they have a common project supposedly coming).  You can hear some influence on the electro deserted ‘Cactus’, the gentle neo-soul ‘Hold me Down’ with Eric Grant and the minimalist gem ‘Gloryout’ produced by Hi-Tek. Too bad ‘Ride 4 You’ with both of them comes out a little bit uncreative.

There are an awful lot of songs about women and money on this mixtape; I’ll keep ‘Light Skinned Hoes’ for the Three-Six Mafia-esque hook. I would have liked to save ‘Pocket Full’, I do like the production and the tempo here, but I guess there’s a limit to my acceptance of bad lyrics.

Fortunately the mixtape still holds a few surprises with the melancholic ‘25 Wives’ featuring Wale, the explosive and unexpected ‘Boomshakalaka’ with Bun B hard as ever, and the anxiogenic dance track ‘Here we Are’.

I like when a rapper has more than one string to his bow. Being eclectic is rather a rare trait in today’s hip hop. What Chip Tha Ripper did here is to hold my interest strongly enough to make me want to know what his next project’s gonna be. Just cut off some of the head and the tail of ‘Tell Ya Friends’ and you’ll have a nice collection of songs.

Mack Maine – Don’t let it go to waste

Apart from Nicki Minaj and Drake (and Lil Wayne of course) we haven’t really heard much from the other Young Money artists like Maine or Corey Gunz. In a way this mixtape doesn’t have a Young Money stamp on it at all, it doesn’t have the usual winning-banging beats that you would hear Birdman and Wayne on (even though Mack is the president of the label!). If you check out ‘Blackout’ for example, it sounds more like an old Hot Boyz track with its dramatic strings in the sky. (Doesn’t Mack say he’s “bumping that old Juve 400 degreez” anyway? Yes he does.)

But without the song ‘Mermaids, with its haunting undersea chorus, I would probably not have peeped into this mixtape for good. It was my entrance door here. Sometimes you need that one song that’s gonna make you want to hear the rest.

Now I know. It would be a shame to pass over Maine’s verses. He’s a nice spitter. And really, ‘Don’t let it go to waste’ showcases that Maine is able to hold his own. Just for proof listen to his freestyles of ‘Birthday’ (behind Lil Wayne’s dull autotune verse). If you familiar with rappers from the Big Easy like Fiend or the younger Calicoe the Champ, you’ll see Maine also got that New Orleans’ knack for playfulness with words. On the tracks ‘Males shouldn’t be Jealous’ and ‘Sober’, he also rides the bumping beats with a very tight flow.

In fact Lil Wayne with all his ‘I am not a Human Being’ and ‘Rebirth’ hasn’t really represented New Orleans for a while as he used to (remember Hollygrove?). That’s why it’s up to Mack to do it now, on the lively ‘My City’ and even on the dominant ‘Kings of New Orleans’ where Lil Wayne is forced to go back to a more grimy flow, ‘Dedication’ style. Lil Wayne presence never overshadows Mack Maine. Even on ‘Fortune Teller’, Lil Wayne slips in with joy with a ragga chorus.

Vivid with his words Mack Maine comes harder when he touches real subjects like on ‘Domestic Violence’, one of the highlights (“The CEO is the ripper, do you wanna rap for the ripper, You’re sure you wanna rap for the ripper, Nobody on earth to really hear you, they need a sixth sense, And ever since I pray to God, for this I’ve been sick since, It’s like I’ve got a lice virus, I’m something like a motherfucking Angel, Call me Cyrus, I’m something like a God but I don’t wanna to be God…” than when he actually tries to be the tough guy on the once again Lil Wayne-assisted ‘Young Money’.

Too bad of course the production is not sometimes a little bit stronger. Mack Maine would sound good on some KLC beats, THE once number one New Orleans beatmaker (if you liked No Limit or Mystikal).

‘Don’t let it go to waste’ says it all. It looks like Mack would like his time to come now. The fact that he has been overlooked by the Medias is the subject of ‘Take a look at me now’. Well, it’s up to him. He’s got the talent and all.

Rockie Fresh – Driving 88

‘Driving 88’ is like one car ride on a breezy day. And while the lyrics give you a feeling of an easy life and enjoyment of success, paradoxically the music, throughout the whole mixtape, from songs like the very beautiful ‘Driving 88’ to ‘Never Never’ to ‘Don’t Worry’ to ‘Come Around’ to ‘Where I Wanna be’, with a soundtrack quality, gives you a feeling of urban melancholy; the feeling that maybe success is going to be ephemeral and it’s better to grab it while it’s there. As the car drives on the road to riches, Rockie reminisces on his younger days on the song ‘Twenties’. Even the radio-friendly ‘No fear’ blends in with the atmosphere.

Hip Hop having become an older genre, we now as an audience have a wide range of artists to listen to, from grown-up rappers to young rappers that still have to grow up. It’s up to us listeners to not let it become a chasm. What I mean is that we shouldn’t separate in any way the old and the young generation or look down at one or the other. Old has been young once. And young will be old one day. Hip Hop is for everybody. For the people who make it, for the people who love it. I’m 35 and I like to hear what the young rappers are doing. Just saying this because there are so many newcomers these days.

Going back to our review… well Rockie Fresh is not exactly a newcomer anyway. He already dropped a mixtape two years ago, called ‘The Otherside’. It had a more commercial sound overall, but if you like Rockie Fresh you should try it also (the brooding ‘A.C. Green’), you can see that he was already riding the beats well.

‘Driving 88’ is very much a one story album, one of being successful, and Rockie tells it with sincerity, almost in an intimate way and without arrogance. The lyrics here - we will all agree - are not outstanding but sometimes you have to let things be what they are and wait to see how it’s going to grow. I’m going to rephrase what I said in the introduction: whenever the lyrics are simple (personally I never minded simplicity), I can let the music speaks to me too, especially if the music itself is bringing an atmosphere. When we listen to instrumental electro or instrumental jazz, the music makes us feel and see things. It should be the same on a Hip Hop album.

With his relaxed and nonchalant flow, Rockie Fresh is on the trail of the Currency & friends or the ASAP Rocky & Schoolboy Q when they’re chilling. ‘Driving 88’ is one more proof that there is a new cool.

Schoolboy Q – Habits and Contradictions

Listening to this album I feel like I’m reading the diary of a young man in the streets of his city, whether he’s having fun or is walking on the dark side.

One thing I really like here is that nothing feels forced, even the swag feels smooth and natural (whereas I remember some TI’s and Lil Wayne’s swag songs being horrendous).

Schoolboy comes back one year after his first album ‘Setbacks’ - which already contained a few gems -, with the same elements, the same urban sound and the same partners (He, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul & Jay Rock are part of a group called the Black Hippies), only he is a little more daring.

It’s probably the way he puts his youth on the table that is so compelling. Through slow motion smoky soulful productions (‘Groove Line Pt1’) or claustrophobic tracks (‘Oxy Music’), Schoolboy makes his way with ease and confident street poetry (‘Sacrilegious’). And when you think he is just an attention-seeker (‘There he goes’), he does show some real audaciousness as he writes some darker pages with ‘Raymond 1969’ and ‘Nightmare on Fig St.’ He and Kendrick Lamar, always complementing each other well, produce some magic on the majestic ‘Blessed’. If you missed Jay Rock last year with his debut album ‘Follow me Home’, here’s a chance to see why he’s one of the greatest of this young generation with his gritty verse on ‘2 Raw’. West coast and East coast come together for the better on the dark and bright ‘Hands on the Wheel’, Schoolboy Q and ASAP Rocky being very much of the same kind.

Sure there’s some complacency that comes with youth; here and there are a few forgettable tracks, but I reckon ‘Habits & Contradictions’ will be a milestone in this new era of hip hop. Because it’s catching the spirit of a time. Everything’s on this album is saying: we’re gonna do it our way and enjoy it. It’s not asking anyone for a hand. What’s beautiful here is maybe the contrast between insouciance, freedom and a sense of gravity and at the end the realization that one doesn’t go without the other.

Truly, I don’t see any contradictions at all in ‘Habits & Contradictions’ and this is a good album to start 2012. The Black Hippies along with other artists like Danny Brown, ASAP Rocky, Tyler the Creator, Lil B, Whiz Khalifa, Smoke DZA, Currensy, have brought a new cool to Hip Hop, a new sensitivity flourishing outside of commercial constraints. The diamonds are the music itself here.

Rick Ross – Rich Forever

The thing with Rick Ross is that he is so big in the rap game right now that even if you’re not a fan you cannot ignore what he does. To be honest I don’t really dig any of his albums, I’ve never been able to get in. Let me try to explain.

I know people have discussed his ‘credibility’ but here’s the thing: if we were in a movie, this credibility thing wouldn’t really matters; we would only consider the performance. Al Pacino is not Scarface in real life but then a lot of rappers have Pacino’s face on their T-shirts. Couldn’t it be the same in Hip Hop? Couldn’t a rapper play the part just like an actor? And funnily enough I think Rick Ross is ‘physically’ good at playing his own part (I’d rather compare him to Orson Welles than Notorious BIG if ever we had to compare him to someone); and he does have a good presence and a voice.

My only problem is with the script of his ‘story’. He only seems to be giving one perpetual side of the picture, like a forever frozen fantasy; you never get a sense of a struggle, of any complexity. In a way I would like him doing a song about having been an officer and the road to get to where he is now. There is something too clean about him, about the image he wants to give of himself. Some rappers are superficial and I can be okay with it because it fits them but I don’t accept Rick Ross’ shallowness. It’s almost like he is hiding in it; among the diamonds, the cars, the yachts and the chicks. There’s something very self-centered about him.

So I was a little bit reluctant to get into this mixtape. Ironically the first song ‘Holy Ghost’ is quite interesting in terms of theatricality, the way he uses his voice. If only the rest had that dramatic aspect to it. Unfortunately I get tired hearing Rick Ross rap after a while. Not to say that all the songs are bad. ‘Mine Games’ sounds good for a more radio-orientated song. I also like ‘Keys to the Crib’ with Styles P and the nocturnal ‘Stay Schemin’. John Legend brings some colors to the mixtape on ‘Rich Forever’. But among the guests only Nas on ‘Triple Beam Dreams’ seems to help Ross raises his bars.

Maybe what Ross misses is some madness, some real lunacy. There’s something of a giant king inside of him trapped inside the cage. It’s almost like without his diamonds he’s afraid of losing his spot and he has to cling to them to keep the charm alive. What would Rick Ross be without diamonds cars and money? Maybe that would be interesting.

Young Buck – Live Loyal Die Rich

Buck has put out a lot of music since leaving G-Unit but maybe nothing that really came close to his last official album: “Buck the World” (2007). He has proved through his many mixtapes to be true to his roots and has kept his realness intact. Sometimes it’s good when artists evolve and sometimes it’s good when they stick to their guns. Either way it’s because it’s got to sound good.

I was going to overlook this mixtape because of the few songs about “money” and “haters” but it would have been wrong. Young Buck really deserves a second and deeper listening. He is much more of a motivational rapper than a materialistic one.

All in all Buck doesn’t try to bring the ‘hood’ out of the hood so it’s one more chapter in the tales of his life. If you’re not tired of him on his ‘fuck ‘em all’ attitude then there’s some of that in here in a more or less forgettable way depending on the beats. ‘Money in the Walls’ has a nice backdrop that endorses his resentment. Then his big voice shoves everything to the side on ‘Get it All’. For a short while I was thinking: wouldn’t it be great if Young Buck was shouting about more exciting issues. But some people say that everything in life is political; if so then being “crunk” (or “buck”) must be also political.

For those who want to follow him, Young Buck makes us crawl on the concrete with the track ‘Something got me on it’ and gets passionate with narrative verses on the nicely A One produced ‘Drugs related’. He always proves to be a perceptive eye for his surroundings. Street wisdom comes with a real compassion here. The last few years he has been struggling like no other rap star (except the ones who went to jail); so when he gives us the ups and downs of the story on the powerful ‘Touch the Ceilings’ and on one of the highlights of this mixtape ‘I’m Ready’, it makes a lot of sense.

Somehow a Trae the Truth of his own hometown Nashville, he shines when he raps the blues on more dramatic tracks like ‘No Place for Me’, ‘Closer’, and ‘No Smiles’ while ‘Think they Know’ recalls the magic of the collaboration with Drumma Boy like on last year wonderful ‘Round Here’ with 8-Ball & MJG.

Although Buck is doing quite fine at the moment redefining his own in the aftermaths of his downfall, he seems a little bit lonely in his ride. We would wish for him to form a clique - Trae, 8-ball & MJG, Bun B would be the right partners, all grown-up artists, something like a Slaughterhouse of the south.