iwriteaboutrap

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Drake - All Me ft. 2 Chainz & Big Sean

2 Chainz is such a loveable dude. He may not be the greatest rapper, but the dude delivers some of the funniest lines I've heard. "And my dick so hard it make the metal detector go off" makes me laugh every time I hear it. So shout out to 2 Chainz for dishing out the funny lines. Dude is great.

Anyways, Drake is the topic of today. A guy who I never really gave much thought until his album Nothing Was The Same dropped and I really took notice of him. Of course, Drake was pretty popular prior to that album, but I never really listened to him. Hell, to be honest, after I listened to NWTS, I went back to listen to his older stuff, and it just never clicked like this album did. Though, I suppose today's song isn't technically off the album as it's a bonus from the deluxe version.

This song contains of the best hype lines of all time. I don't like Big Sean at all, but his verse in this song is why I picked "All Me" for today. "Ho, shut the fuck up!" is just burned into my brain. I love that line and that reason alone is why this song is probably the only song from this album that I can listen to for hours.

One thing I do like about Drake are the beats he raps over. They're always so smooth and just fit his style I think. Whenever I listen to Drake, I can like...hear Canada, if that makes any sense. Like visually I can see what the beats are creating with a scenery and shit like that. It's just a really good beat; simple and effective. That should be Drake's real motto.

I think it's safe to say Big Sean owned this track for that hype line alone. One thing that always sticks out from this song is that I can't help, but hear the Siri beeps time to time. Like, I don't even have an iPhone, but I'm always looking at my phone. Drizzy Drake got that sixth sense game. Stay Based.

#Drake #All Me #2 Chainz #Big Sean #rap #music #review

[iwriteaboutrap]

Danny Brown - Grown Up

This is probably one of Danny Brown's most commercial friendly songs that still manages to have his style to it. I feel like this is usually the best song to use to show someone Danny Brown because a lot of people can't stand his voice. To be honest, I was one of those people. I hated Danny's voice so much, but I forced myself to listen to XXX and I fell in love with the dude. His voice is just like second nature now and it doesn't even bother me.

"Grown Up" really shows a side of Danny Brown that might not be seen too often as he usually is talking about eating cats or wanting to have sex with Kathy Griffin. This song really describes who Danny Brown is. He's a dude who can rap over a joyful melody and still have some lyrics to make you think other than the usual content put out on the main. It's just a really happy song, that's the only way I can really describe it.

It shows how Danny thought as a kid, "Remember back then we thought we growed up/Rushing at a kid just to be grown up". Even now, Danny is still a kid at heart, but the dude just loves the music industry and I think that part of the verse is a really nice touch because it's true. When you're a kid, you want to grow up and be the coolest kid, but in reality, when you grow up, you just want to be a kid again. However, Danny didn't really have that luxury as a kid, but he still looks back on it all in a positive light.

It's almost impossible to listen to this song without a smile even if you don't like Brown. Danny just carries himself with an attitude that represents Detroit at its heart. "Whoever thought I'd be the greatest growing up". This is just the first song anyone should listen to before they dive into Danny Brown's discography. Stay Based.

#Danny Brown #Grown Up #rap #music #review #detroit

[iwriteaboutrap]

CunninLynguists - In The City ft. Zumbi of Zion I

So I found out about this project only yesterday and spent the entire day listening to it. I know Cocaine Pinata came out last month, but Strange Journey Vol. Three may have taken over that spot for my favorite project of the year. From the start to the end, almost every song on here was absolutely awesome. I feel so foolish to have never of checked out the CunninLynguists before and it wasn't easy picking a track for today.

"In The City" is just a track that I wasn't ready for. The hook of the song is just so soft and chill, it's one of those hooks that I'll definitely remember for a long time just because it sounds really unique. The beat and guitar reminds me of something that would play during intermission for Adult Swim, which is bonus points already. It's just a really chill tune.

When it opened with the guitar, I didn't know what to expect, and I got a cool song to just relax with. When Zumbi steps in, his flow just carries over so smoothly that it never really goes hard enough to disrupt the soothing rhythm of the song. Then Deacon the Villain steps in with a verse that's just as smooth with possibly one of my favorite opening lines: "Ain't nothing uglier, ain't nothing prettier/Than corner stores, whores, drugs galore/Exploitations core, guns and gore".

Overall, the album has a really awesome combination of tracks like this and tracks that have that old school vibe to it with sick beats. The whole group is just really solid and I like that they don't all spit on a track, making each track really personalized as well as not so crowded. You also get a nice selection of features like Del the Funky Homosapien, Aesop Rock, and Masta Ace. The perfect way to describe this album is like the game Faster Than Light, but instead of that ambient spacey music, you got awesome spacey rap music.

So check this out! You'll be hurting my feelings if you don't because this album is seriously awesome and I feel like it's going to be on a lot of Top Lists for 2014 and I also feel like it's going to be overlooked. Guess we'll just have to see. Stay Based.

#CunninLynguists #Strange Journey Volume Three #rap #music #review #space

[iwriteaboutrap]

ANTWON - In Dark Denim

Well, I needed a track to help rep the West Coast since everything else has been either East Coast or Southern, so say hello to one of my favorite semi-unknown rappers, ANTWON! At least I'm pretty sure he's from the West Coast, for all I know he could be representing Alaska.

Anyways, I discovered ANTWON through a friend along and was pleasantly surprised. When I first heard this song, I instantly fell in love with it. He kind of reminds me of a softer Killer Mike, if that makes any sense. He's still right in your face, but it's got a bit of a melody with it. Not quite Killer Mike and not quite Death Grips. I just remember hearing this song and being blown away.

It's just so in your face with an awesome drum and snare combo along with the synth. ANTWON's flow just goes with the track and he comes out looking like a champ. I think it's safe to say that ANTWON is pretty underrated within the community which I think is a shame because the dude deserves some props. He may not be the absolute greatest, but he's a weird and unique dude.

His beat selection is pretty sick too when you listen to his mixtape/album In Dark Denim in its entirety. This one track isn't really enough to speak about ANTWON, so you really need to check out the full mixtape/album which you can find on his bandcamp or check it out on Spotify. Dude has some weird and creative lyrics that make me laugh, good beats, and is just an enjoyable dude to listen to. I think a Pitchfork review put it best, "something like Death Grips if they showered up and decided to write the vast majority of their songs about oral sex." and I absolutely love it.

That being said, there are still plenty of other tracks on the mixtape/album that are serious and seem to be ANTWON speaking about his life. "Burn Away" has a darker tone and I like how ANTWON can contrast from one style to another with these weird beats. I don't think people will really understand ANTWON in his fullest, I know I don't, but he's someone to watch. He really does remind me of Killer Mike mixed with Death Grips and that's a pretty good combination by my standards. Stay Based.

#ANTWON #In Dark Denim #music #rap #review #hip hop #death grips

[iwriteaboutrap]

Hey guys

I'm always out there looking for new hip hop, trying to find new artists, and what not. I know I've got a modest following (shout out to my 8 followers), but I'd love to see this silly little blog grow. So if you guys have any suggestions or requests for either music or ideas regarding the blog, feel free to ask or send me anything, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. I also hope you guys have enjoyed the posts so far. Stay Based.

#personal

[iwriteaboutrap]

J Dilla - Stop

I knew I wanted to do a J Dilla song for a Sunday and I figured that today would be a good day to do it. As I'm writing, it's cloudy and muggy outside, so I put on some J Dilla to groove along to. Picking which song to do for today was a harder task.

All I knew is that I wanted to do something off of Donuts because that's his album I can really connect with. It's no secret that J Dilla is a legend and your favorite producer's favorite producer. He's produced tracks for A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Common, De La Soul, and many others. Of course, I wish I could end this paragraph by saying he's still making beats, but sadly we lost J Dilla 8 years ago.

So listening to Donuts is always a challenge for me because I can just feel the vibe J Dilla sends through his music. J Dilla is just one of those few producers who can just make you feel through his beats and Donuts is filled with tracks like that. So picking one for today wasn't easy.

In the end, I decided to go with "Stop". It starts off with "Is death real?" repeated and follows through with Dionne Warwick sample, "You're gonna want me back in your arms", if that doesn't send chills down your spine, I don't know what will. It's just a really moving track. I remember reading an article with Questlove about how a lot of these tracks were J Dilla trying to communicate with his family and friends as he wasn't really able to speak due to his illness.

I feel like this is one of those songs. The sample and the drum/snare just create a very chilling vibe to the whole track. I think this track can really apply to anyone you've ever loss. At the end of the day, there's always that one person you want back in your life, but they're gone. I feel like that's what J Dilla wanted to do with this track. I know for a fact that we all want J Dilla back.

But I haven't got much left to offer for this track. Honestly, if you haven't listened to Donuts in its entirety, you're doing yourself some serious injustice. Dilla is truly one of Detroit's finest and arguably the best producer of feelings and vibes through his music. Of course, don't just limit yourself to Donuts, if you love hip hop, search for his other stuff. His collab with Madlib, known as Jaylib, is a masterpiece. Two of the greatest coming together for an album. RIP J Dilla. Stay Based.

#J Dilla #Stop #Donuts #Detroit #music #rap #hip hop #review

[iwriteaboutrap]

A$AP Rocky - Goldie

Let me start this off by telling you all how much I love this song. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, onto the actual music. I discovered A$AP Rocky only a few months ago and was surprised to find out that he's only released one mixtape and one album, but he's pretty famous. Famous and popular enough to earn a Grammy nomination which he loss...thanks Macklemore. It's just crazy when you look at dudes like Kendrick Lamar who dropped five mixtapes before finally getting a studio album out, not that I'm trying to lessen Lamar at all, but it's still pretty crazy to think about.

I was reading a post on /r/HipHopHeads over on Reddit about A$AP Rocky and his rise in popularity which I was going to have to paraphrase, but luckily I found it here. Users stillnoxsleeper and snivelsadbits basically explain it all. Mixing every type of rap from the main regions and combining them into his style is just takes a great amount of talent to do so.

In Long.Live.A$AP it really shows as I'll go through and listen to the album a few times, picking out the different styles. He's got California rappers like Kendrick Lamar and ScHoolboy Q, then he takes it down south with 2 Chainz, Yelawolf, and Big K.R.I.T. before heading back east with Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson, and brings in midwesterner Danny Brown along with Canada's own Drake. It's just insane. Rocky is a smart guy and it shows just how well he can mesh with any style.

A$AP Rocky isn't a lyrical genius, but his flow is great for a young dude. Also the fact that he's friends with Danny Brown warms my heart at night. A$AP Rocky is just a rapper with a lot of potential heading forward and I believe he recently announced a second album coming out sometime this year (or ASAP according to him) along with an A$AP Mob album possibly dropping this year. Needless to say, it's going to be an exciting year for anyone with A$AP in their name.

As for "Goldie", I just fell in love with the song instantly. The beat just draws me in. It starts off pretty chill and relax, but then Rocky comes in to spit his part and it's just magical how effortlessly Rocky makes it seem. The only thing I'm not a big fan of is the deep voice aspect of most of Rocky's stuff, but I've managed to look past it. Plus at least it's all memorable.

"Yes, I'm the shit, tell me do it stink?" is a weird line though.But I guess that's what you get with Rocky. Stay Based.

#A$AP Rocky #Goldie #music #rap #review #long.live.a$ap

[iwriteaboutrap]

Brother Ali - Forest Whitaker

Just the definition of a feel good song. We all have shitty days as we progress through life and there are many days where we just sit back, looking at ourselves, and are generally unimpressed with what's in front of us. I know I fall victim to that daily. I'm usually a firm believer in trying to stay positive with who I am and what I look like, but I won't lie, there are times where I'm not happy with myself. I hate who I am and what I look like.

Then there's Brother Ali. He's albino, basically blind, was bullied, and is overweight. Yet he's just a fucking chill dude about it. He loves himself and he doesn't try to be anyone he isn't. Even in the song he addresses these issues, but he doesn't care, because he just sees a beautiful man when he looks in the mirror. An attitude I think he'd want everyone in life to carry.

This is just the feel good song of the year. It's so simple. Nothing fancy or fake about this song; it's all real. Brother Ali is just being himself and if he can make it through the world, why can't we? He takes his genetic problems and rolls with them. Whatever people say about him, he doesn't care. And that's why I picked this song for today.

The song itself just carry a very upbeat, feel good, happy, warm, whatever expression you want to use vibe with it. I think it's almost impossible to frown while listening to this song. This dude just tells you about his imperfections and just lives life with a positive attitude. The lyrics and the beat is just something that speaks to everyone. "To everyone out there, who's a little different/I say damn a magazine, these is God's fingerprints/You can call me ugly but can't take nothing from me/I am what I am doctor you ain't gotta love me."

It's just a song about loving yourself for who you are. Nobody is perfect while society wants us to paint it that way, we are who we are. We can't change that. This song just sends a message to everyone who has ever hated who/what they are and I just wish I could share this song with everyone. I'm just a nobody on the internet, but I love this song and I feel like it could make you guys all smile. Stay Based.

#Brother Ali #Forest Whitaker #music #rap #review

[iwriteaboutrap]

The Roots featuring Cody ChesnuTT - The Seed (2.0)

Well, would you look at that? I told you The Roots would be back. With Friday coming up (tomorrow), I wanted to give you guys a track to groove and jam to tomorrow so you don't have to wait for me to post this. I heard this song for the first time today and I instantly knew I wanted to make it today's post, so lucky you and lucky me. This song has been on repeat for me all day because I just adore it."The Seed (2.0)" is The Root's take on the song "The Seed" by Cody ChesnuTT and honestly, with no offense to Cody, they improve it.

The Roots always manage to add every little element of music into their songs and it shows here. You get neo-soul, the funk, and rock from the whole group with the sexy hooks from ChesnuTT. This song is cranked up to ten and even if Black Thought wasn't on it, this song would still be a ten, but his verses just turn this up to an eleven. Of course a big aspect of rap is beating able to go with the beat and Black Thought just kills it.

Did I mention how sexy that hook is? Because it's sexy. It's infectious and I've had it in my head pretty much all day. "I push my seed in her bush for life/It's gonna work because I'm pushing it right/If Mary drops my baby girl tonight/I would name her 'Rock n' Roll'" is just so damn catchy.

The lyrical content itself may not be something you can really blast at a party, but in the same regard, "Hey Ya" by OutKast is a pretty depressing song once you look into it, but it just feels happy. I guess the difference is you didn't have Black Thought opening with "Knocked up 9 months ago", but I dunno, maybe that's a party starting song. More of a kickback song probably.

Still this song is just beautiful. You can really just channel the energy coming through the drums and the instruments. Questlove just shows up and kicks ass on the drums. He's just a talent dude who knows his shit and so does the rest of The Roots. I already tooted their horns two days ago, but I think the emphasis is really nice to add on because they're just that damn good.

The only thing that bothers me about this song is the fact that the album Punk Goes Crunk covers this song and it just bothers me to an extent that they would label The Roots as crunk. The cover itself isn't that good either and I feel like the term punk is being stretched pretty thin. It just feels like a disgrace to hip hop to kind of categorize it as all being this ignorant music about being hood, loving hoes, drugs, cash, etc. I mean, I'm sure they weren't going for that with this album cover

Right? Ugh. Like rap doesn't get a bad enough rap (pun) already, they needed a bunch of "punk" bands trying to stereotype the genre. That's just my white boy rant. It just sucks that the average listener will look at a cover like that and think "Heh, man, rap is all crap." or "They're making fun of rap, which is just that." I mean, it's a harmless cover because people know it's a parody, but I just can't help and look at it with a bit of a twist in my stomach. I'll bitch about anything though. Anyways, Stay Based guys.

#The Roots #the seed 2.0 #music #rap #review #cody chesnutt #rant #hip hop #phrenology

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Killer Mike - Big Beast ft. Big Bun, T.I. and Trouble

So R.A.P. Music is the first Killer Mike album I ever listened to. Prior to Run The Jewels, I had no clue who he was, but afterwards, I loved the dude. I wasn't even aware that he had a career prior to RTJ and needless to say, I feel like an idiot for not checking him out sooner. His flow is just infectious and as a suburban white boy, I just get hyped up to everything he spits. I knew his shit was wicked, but I didn't think it would be on par with RTJ. I was wrong.

Can you imagine putting in your first Killer Mike CD and then this song starts the album? Like, holy shit. If I was driving when I first heard this song, I probably would have had a heart attack. Seriously, I think you need a pacemaker to listen to this song. What I'm trying to say is that I was caught off guard. A banger on the first track? El-P being one of the producers for this album probably helped and the pairing of the two is just beautiful in basic words. These dudes are just off the hook and it was their first project together. So way before RTJ even dropped, these two were already making killer (pun) shit. This beat is just a perfect beat to start an album. You can rap along to it, it's head bopping worthy, and just a solid first track.

The features on this song are also a great compliment. I haven't really experienced a lot of Bun B and T.I., but I know they're a semi-important staple to Southern rap. To me, Bun B's verse wasn't too memorable outside of "When you step out on the ave, make sure they wanna see ya/Cause being trill is an onomatopoeia". T.I.'s flow in this song is just like a perfect cake. It's smooth, airy, and delicious. What does that mean? I'm not sure, but it's good. Neither of the guest verses are long, which is fine, but I wouldn't have minded if T.I.'s verse went a little longer. I guess I'll have to dive into his solo stuff sometime.

When they're done, Mike just comes right back in your face with his thunderous voice. The dude just creates energy with his voice. I can feel the emotion and raw intensity that's coming through when he spits. And I think Killer Mike just steps up to the plate with El-P's beat and just slams it out of the park. It's insane how well these two gel together. The starting piece for something great between the two. It's easy to see where RTJ's topical lyrics come from, which I'm positive Mike has done prior to R.A.P./RTJ, but it really stands out in this song.

It's kind of weird to hear this song as such a banger with pretty deep lyrics in the background explaining Atlanta and crime and what not. They just paint that picture for you and set you up for the rest of the album. "I don't make dance music, this is R.A.P/Opposite of the sucker shit they play on T.V". Stay Based.

#Killer Mike #El-P #Run The Jewels #Big Beast #rap #music #review #R.A.P. Music

[iwriteaboutrap]

The Roots - What They Do

So, I love Lil B, I love the Based God, but heaven knows you can only take so much Lil B in your rotation before you want to kill yourself. That being said, I'm still going to have some Lil B in here, but not daily because I don't want to be found hanging while "Wonton Soup" is blasting for the 400th time. So with a heavy heart, I must change this to a daily blog update thing with non-Lil B related music. And what a better way than to start off with The Roots? I'm sure like many people (*cough*me*cough*) know about these guys as Jimmy Fallon's house band, but I'm also sure that a lot of people haven't experienced their music outside of the show. I didn't find out about The Roots until last year and they've definitely have changed how I listen to hip hop. These guys really perfect a lot of my favorite things: Soul, jazz, funk, and rap. It may come as a surprise, but these guys have been around for nearly 20 years. With a basketball analogy, these guys are the Spurs of the hip hop community. Solid, consistent, and are probably going to be that way for another decade or two. I knew I was going to pick a Roots song today, but I just wasn't sure what one. And to be honest, I'm still not really sure because you can pick and feature a lot of great songs from these guys. I could have got something from my personal favorite album (Undun), but I also wanted to share some of their older stuff too. I feel like this song kind of describes just who The Roots are. I just really fucking love these guys and I think they're massively overlooked outside of the hip hop community. As for the song itself, "What They Do" is just a beautiful song in my opinion. When I first heard it, I fell in love with it. It really captures who The Roots are and what kind of personality they bring to the table. It's got a catchy hook from Raphael Saadiq, a beautiful background guitar, bass and drum line, and it features Black Thought's raw flow and thought provoking lyrics which almost sounds out of place with the smooth, jazz-funk, but Black Thought is amazing. These dudes just managed to combine so many elements of hip hop together along with other genres and it just flows. And I think "What They Do" really shows that. Don't be surprised to see The Roots show up here more often. Did I emphasis how important the lyrics are? Just check out this first verse "Lost generation, fast paced nation World population confront their frustration The principles of true hip-hop have been forsaken It's all contractual and about money makin Pretend-to-be cats don't seem to know they limitation Exact replication and false representation You wanna be a man, then stand your own" This album is nearly twenty years old and those lines still hold true to the rap game. TWENTY YEARS, PEOPLE! I fucking love The Roots. Stay Based.

#The Roots #What They Do #rap #music #review #illadelph halflife

[iwriteaboutrap]

Lil B - Let It Drop

A dope track today to just kick back to. I love it when Lil B absolutely destroys a track, but I'm saving all of those tracks for a rainy day. For the time being, we're just gonna chill today. This song is a good example of Lil B's flow as was the song yesterday and it really shows how Lil B can jump on a track from any genre or groove and just go HAM on it. The beat isn't the only chill thing about this song as Lil B drops some knowledge on us. He's different from other rappers. Sure, he'll rap about bitches and hoes and what not, but the Based God comes right back with letting us know that he's screaming some truth at us. To be Based, you gotta know when to be silly and when to be serious. Otherwise, you'd "turn yellow like Bart Simpson". Ay caramba! This track also expresses Lil B's love for music with this line here, "The paper got me hard when I write these rhymes". Lil B can teach us all how to love in more ways than one if you know what I mean. This song is kind of weird. Stay Based.

#Lil B #Based God #YDBG #Let It Drop #God's Father #music #rap

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Lil B - I Been Ready

"I Been Ready" is a song that even I can't decipher because it's just too Based. A rocking guitar rift accompanies Lil B with his F.T.W. attitude toward the world. I think it's an understatement to say that he goes hard on this song. Lil B absolutely commits some OJ Simpson type shit on this song as his Based flow just amps the song up to 11. I don't even know what "I've been on fire, been on lighter" even means, but I imagine it has several levels that I can't even comprehend yet because I've yet to reach the peak levels of being Based. Between Lil B's angelic voice and the soothing vocals of the song, it's hard not to start to drift to sleep because of this song. Not that it is bad, but it's just so...calm. It sounds raw and in your face, but I just feel Lil B's arms comforting me as I make a cooing sound like a baby out of its mother's womb into the warmth of her neutering arms. Then "I told that bitch to come over here and suck on mine" is just a line that even Lil Wayne would be envious of. I don't understand how Lil B can be so raw and emotional...yet so relaxing and wise at the same time. Of course, he's the Based God for a reason. One day I will fully reach that level, but for now, I can only dream. As always, stay Based.

#Lil B #music #video #rap #based god #ydbg #I Been Ready #review

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Lil B - Lite One

Today, Lil B gets little bit neo soul on us with this chill, groove jam. "Lite One" is story time in the same manner with a soothing Based funk playing behind him. A beat that just makes you wanna sit back and think just how Based you truly are that day. It kind of reminds me of that Biggie kind of beat that he would rap over. It's not overly gangster, but god damn, is it cool. There's not a whole lot to say to accompany this song, I think it kind of speaks for itself. So stay groovy, stay Based.

#Lil B #Lite One #ydbg #based god #rap #music #review

[iwriteaboutrap]

FUCK KD

#lil b #based god #tybg

[iwriteaboutrap]

#lil b #based god #tybg