music to choose from. Some came from top charting artists, others
from wordsmiths on the rise. With Halftime upon us, the HipHopDX
staff chooses some songs and/or videos that piqued our interest
since the year began. Check them out.
Drake – “0 to 100”
Whether you’re a fan or not, you can’t deny the infectious tracks
that have surfaced from a certain rapper North of the border. As
Drake said in one of his latest tracks, “I should prolly sign to Hit-
Boy cause I got all the hits, boy.” Look at Drake displaying that play
on words. Drake has been producing hits since 2009 and in June, he
dropped a ridiculous Boi-1da , 40 and Nineteen85-produced track
titled “0 to 100.” The single was originally released as a 2-for-1
with a second song titled “The Catch Up” blended into the first. To
be honest, who even remember how “The Catch Up” sounds like?
After hearing “0 to 100,” you either go back to the beginning or just
get a version of the single without the second song attached. The
best of every Drake is also mentioned in this track. The flashy
Drake: “Fuck all that rap-to-pay-your-bill shit/ I'm on some
Raptors-pay-my-bills shit.” The confident Drake: “If I ain't the
greatest then I'm headed for it.” The I-care-about-her-feelings
Drake: “All up in my phone, lookin' at pictures from the other
night/ She gon' be upset if she keep scrollin' to the left, dawg.” The
introspective Drake: “I've been ready since my dad used to tell me
he was comin' to the house to get me/ He ain't show up/ Valuable
lesson, man I had to grow up/ That's why I never ask for help.”
Plus, all of your favorite rappers (including the newly reunited G-
Unit) have remixed “0 to 100.” Bet they love it too. — Janice Llamoca
Dilated Peoples – “Good As Gone”
Dilated’s back again. Evidence’s Rap skills have been solidified
through his work as an emcee in Dilated Peoples and as a solo artist
with critically acclaimed albums on all fronts. He brings his directing
skills to the table with “Good As Gone,” the music video for Dilated
Peoples’ DJ Premier -produced single off the group’s upcoming
album, which is interestingly enough titled Directors of Photography.
The feel of the video matches the vibe of the track, a call back to
earlier times with a vintage touch, while keeping it as sharp as ever.
Ev co-directed the video with Andrew Melby and co-produced it
with Tristan Eaton. The “Good As Gone” video only enhances the
experience as Ev, Rakaa and Babu flex their respective skills over
the DJ Premier production. — Andres Tardio
Girl Talk & Freeway f. A$AP Ferg – “Suicide Remix”
Ever since that serendipitous day Girl Talk and Freeway decided to
join forces, it’s been game on. Girl Talk’s genre bending mashability
hugging Freeway’s gruff vocals is a blessed combo, evidenced by the
Broken Ankles EP. However, once A$AP Ferg jumped on the “Suicide
Remix,” things felt different (in a good way). While Philly
Freezer’s bars always sound terrorizing, Ferg breaks up the cut with
his multi-dimensional cadence, cutting through some of the track’s
tension. It’s like those rare moments of clarity in Flavor Flav’s
heyday when he’d jump in the middle of a PE song to balance out
Chuck D. Ferg’s metaphors are even on point, with lines like
“Gangster / like the Yakuza eatin’ a tuna roll” among others. It’s
an understatement to say Ferg stole the show, but that’s not to say
the other parts of the track didn’t deliver. That’s the point of a
remix though isn’t it? To enhance an already created piece of music
and make it that much better. Of all the tracks that have fallen
from the sky in 2014, this one stands out as a collaboration between
a veteran and a star on the rise, where the results have been
monumental. — Kathy Iandoli
Big K.R.I.T. – “Mt. Olympus”
When Live From The Underground was released in 2012, there was a
part of me that felt Big K.R.I.T. made a compromise. As a grown
man who works for someone else, I understand the value of
compromise when working within the constraints of Corporate
America. We all compromise to a certain degree each morning when
we punch that clock, pack up the briefcase, make that commute or
do whatever it takes to maintain when the first of the month rolls
around. But as a fan since K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, I was a bit salty after
paying 15 bucks for a project devoid of gems like “Children Of The
World.” It sounded like K.R.I.T. didn’t know how to balance what he
wanted with what Def Jam or we wanted.
Maybe that was or still is true. Either way, K.R.I.T. doesn’t sound
like it has any bearing on his art with “Mt. Olympus.” It sounds like
he’s seething through the microphone—taking Rap fans to task for
their enthusiasm to lap up tabloid fare like one of Pavlov’s dogs.
From the opening salvo of comparing the “Control” instrumental to
a corner variety trollop to his humblebrag that he indeed wrote the
hook as well as produced and mixed the track, “Mt. Olympus” takes
Rap’s current oversimplified, back-of-the-school bus shenanigans
mentality and holds up a mirror to expose the disgraceful pettiness.
Nevermind Hip Hop, some of the shit happening just isn’t good for
our collective or individual souls. Here’s hoping more people got
embarrassed enough to take some personal inventory after they saw
what was reflected in the four minutes of “Mt. Olympus.” — Omar
Burgess
Atmosphere – “Flicker”
When Atmosphere released its Southsiders album this year, one track
particularly struck me. The album remains in rotation and despite
my great appreciation for God Loves Ugly, which has long held the
title, this album may even be the group’s best body of work yet, in my
opinion. But, “Flicker” stands out because of its connection to
Eyedea. The track takes me back to high school concerts when
Eyedea would open for Atmos, a time when “a lot of people thought”
Slug and Eyedea were “actually brothers.” It’s an honest, heart
breaking and heart warming depiction of what it’s like to lose a
loved one. Slug’s depiction of the pain, guilt and love that comes
with this type of tragedy. Ant’s beat matches this perfectly. The
song serves as one of the most poignant moments on one of the best
albums of 2014. — Andres Tardio
Jay Electronica – “Better In Tune With The Infinite”
There’s only a few people in the Rap game who believe, truly, in
their own talent and potential enough to make usually trite stuff
appear fragile and translucent. These conjurers then transfer
their glasses to us, so that we may believe, and sometimes that
ignition hums to life and the music captures us. Other times things go
awry, and you realize that particular emperor has no clothes.
Whomever Jay Electronica happens to be is still up for debate, but
he blends his talents so perfectly at times that you forgive him for
not putting out an album, for not letting us decide who he is, for
not giving us the opportunity to calculate with any certainty a
ceiling for the man. Produced by Ryuichi Sakomoto, whose name is
not only foreign but well credentialed considering the man wrote
the music for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics,
the song itself is ethereal and expansive and features an extensive
sample from both the Honorable Elijah Muhammed and the Wizard
of Oz (we’ll let you draw your own parallels there).
Of course, there’s Electronica’s potent mix of voice and lyric,
hovering over the beat as if he were making a speech to a packed
hall on one of Jupiter’s moons. Its packed with obscure apocrypha
like “the name on that birth certificate, it ain’t the real me,” just
before he wades into why no weapon formed against him shall
prosper with lines like “My feet might fail me/ My heart might ail
me/ The synagogues of Satan might accuse and jail me…/They
might defeat the flesh but they could never ever kill me/ They
might could feel the music but could never ever kill me.” He ends it
with “staring out the windows is for love songs and house flies.”
Yeah, I’ll wait for him, and I have the sneaking suspicion other
people feel the same way. — Andre Grant
Common f. Ab-Soul – “Made In Black America”
People have been doubting Common since the turn of the century,
when he switched his garb — and much of his sound — from boom
bap to artsy. But along the way, the Chicago wordsmith has delivered
haymakers, including his stellar 2005 album, Be. Anyone doubting
Common’s microphone prowess should cue up his “Made In Black
America” collaboration with Ab-Soul . Released in February, the cut
features the Windy City lyricist flowing with a ferocious nimbleness
as he bobs and weaves between dropping braggadocio, political
commentary and pimp-handed rhymes over producer No I.D.’s wall
of soulful, brassy sound. As Common says, he’s “more than a hot
song or a hot album.” After flowing fantastically, Common passes
the mic to Ab-Soul, who matches (if not exceeds) his predecessor’s
potency. The Carson, California rapper says he’s “restoring the
balance, detouring the malice.” Enjoy the ride. — Soren Baker
Nicki Minaj f. Lil Herb - "Chi-Raq"
If there's one thing we've learned from 2014 thus far, it's that
Nicki Minaj doesn't play when it comes to staging a comeback. Her
foray into the Pop world was punctuated with tons of commentary
from Hip Hop (both the underground and the mainstream alike),
suggesting she "sold out" in the name of success and started
lacking in the lyrical department. She arrived as a cameo a handful
of tracks so far this year, while forging her return to lyrics-driven
music in anticipation of The Pink Print. We got "Lookin Ass," and
there was some backlash for the song's content paired with the
historical Malcolm X photo as the track's cover art. One thing that
couldn't be argued though was Nicki's lyrics were back to sharp. She
followed up with this little gem "Chi-Raq," even addressing the
"Lookin Ass" situation, as she tosses around a series of bars that
suggest opulence, badassness, and of course "I-Don't-Give-A-
Fuck-Ness." It would be wrong to call it a consistent signature Nicki
sound, since she did diverge for a bit. But this is the return to Nicki
in a stairwell, rapping like it's her last shot left before Lil Wayne
would discover her. How someone who has everything can return to
rapping like she has nothing is beyond me. It's a gift, really. And
say what you will about Nicki, but when she's in it to win it, losing
isn't an option. —Kathy Iandoli
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