Chino XL has been around since the early 90’s and sad to say
that his name, face, music are mostly unknown to the general public and average.
And even for a lot underground music fans his music seems to be a niche
market. After being quiet for a while,
away doing some acting, Chino XL returns to the music scene with an AMAZING
double cd, “ Ricanstuction: The Black
Rosary (disc 1the scalpel and disc2 the chapel). This will easily be one of the
most slept on albums of the year, and one of the best albums of the year at the
same damn time. As to be expected with a
double album, it’s a little lengthy, but this one is well put together and
every song fits. None of the song seems like just filler. Lyrically it’s a very
technical album; the writing style is complex and intricate, with plenty of similes,
metaphors, puns and word play galore. All
of the features are on point and none seemed forced or out of place, he matches
their level of skill and intensity and they match his, some of hip hops most
respected the like of Tech9ne, Bun –B, Rakka of Dilated Peoples, B-real,
Thirstin Howl III, to name a few, even a track with Big Pun. Amazingly for a double disc there is not a
lot of features, that holds major weight. The Production solid all the way
through, the concepts are well thought out and executed, its versatile and has
something for everyone. There are pure lyrical exercises where he just spazzes
and goes in, there are stories, and dark introspective. I’m not sure it has a
radio single, but that’s their loss, this is real hip hop it don’t fit radio’s
watered down format and doesn’t try to. I recommend everyone check for it, I
give Ricanstruction : The Black Rosary 5 out of 6 stars.
Kendrick Lamar
It’s been a long long time coming, and one of this years most
anticipated albums has finally been delivered. Kendrick Lamar has long been
bubbling and tearing up the scene, first in the underground and then he made
then the mainstream started paying attention. He’s been grabbing accolades and
honors all over the place. XXL Freshman class, ripping the cypher two years in
a row at the BET awards, tracks with a who’s who in Hip hop, and crowned the
next big thing out of the West, praised by Snoop and Dre. Then the ultimate
cosign, signed by Dr. Dre to Aftermath, which amped up the hope and
anticipation 10 fold. Then as we got closer to the album, Kendrick Started
promising a classic and game changer, and in the house of Dr. Dre you can never
rule out the possibility. Finally the album has dropped, good
kid, m.A.A.d city. There are a few shockers about the album,
probably first and foremost it’s a concept album, basically a day in the life
of Kendrick through Compton. Very creative very unexpected. Second, considering its Aftermath and backed
by Interscope, there is no intentionally made for radio for mat single, staying
true to his roots and attempting to do things his way and the way he’s been
doing them, creative concepts focus on the lyrics. 3rd No Dr. Dre
beat, he appears on the album but for most it was fully expected that Dre would
be all over the album, instead Kendrick chooses to work with the producers he’s
been working with, staying true to his formula and the chemistry he has already
developed, while there are big name producers, Hit Boy, Pharell, Just Blaze,
Scoop DeVille, etc. its not your stereotypical list of expected producers for a
major release. And last it’s not packed
with big name features, a proverbial bragging list of who I’m down with. Jay Rock, Drake, Mc Eiht (surprise), Dr. Dre on two tracks and Mary J
Blige.
Lyrically you know its beast,
delivering the type of thought provoking and deep insight and creativeness
we’ve come to expect from him. The song making ability and delivery are what headline
the show, unfazed by the star quality and veterans he featured with on the
album, he was definitely creatively in control of each song, because he seems
every bit as professional as they are and never overwhelmed or influenced by
someone else’s style on his song. While
its not the classic promised, not one of the best albums in the last 10 yrs. or
anything, it’s a very good album, solid form beginning to end it doesn’t leave
a lot to be desired, shows what he’s capable of, and leaves room for growth. I give,
good kid, m.A.A.d city 4 ½ stars out of 6. The future
for young Kendrick is bright.
MGK
The young
spitter from Cleveland, with a serious work ethic has been killing the scene
and constantly building a name for himself, especially in the last year or so. MTV
crowned him Hottest Breakthrough Mc of 2011; he ripped the cypher at the BET
Hiphop Awards, signed to Bad Boy Records, and released the Half Naked
&Almost Famous Ep. Now to capitalize on that success he finally delivers
the album Lace Up. Lace up is
largely hip hop bounce and mosh pit music, its definitely for the ruckus and
high energy crowd environments, It a combo crunk, trap and rock music. His rapid-fire
delivery and flows are what stand out, but lyrically it’s not very complex or
deep. It’s simple and somewhat predictive, and repetitive because he keeps
using the same format of, insert line end with muthafucka. The album is of
heavy on features, Lil John, Tech9ne, Twista, Bun B, DMX, etc. .Not a lot of
songs where he by himself sets the standard and tone. I’m not sure he has fully
developed, his sound yet, because on the features it seems as if the feature
artist adjust to him but he feeds off of them. He does show some promise on
“Edge of Destruction” ft./ Tech N9ne and Twista and What I do ft. Bun B and
Dubo. I’m not sure if there is a true radio single, especially with the format
and lack of diversity of urban radio these days. It may find some play in other
markets. It’ll play in some clubs for sure. You got to respect MGK work ethic
he constantly pumps out music, but considering he’s one of Diddy’s artist you
kind of expect more from him in the realm of versatility and skill, but there
is room for growth. I give MGK Lace Up 3 stars out of 6
