All you need to know about music in 2008 so far

May 05, 2008

All you need to know about music in 2008 so far · by Sach O

Now he’s smelling like Indonesia.

It’s been a long time…but fuck it I’m glad I left you. As I type this, 50 cent mug of Angkor beer in hand perusing news about dirty cops (no justice no peace), racial hatred amongst rap blogs (you won’t like RHS when he’s angry), Common turning into Lionel Richie ( or is PM Dawn 2.0 a better metaphor?) and the continuing rise of hipster rap (past disagreements aside, Noz’ XXL posts pretty much kept me up to date on the good ship Hip Hop’s downward tragectory), I can’t help but think that I haven’t missed a single important event since I’ve gone AWOL. Stuff was released, stuff was delayed but nothing worth 4 months of message boarding, blogging or even daily downloading. So with the benefit of perspective – I’m arrogant enough to pass off my disinterest as knowledge – here’s all you need to know about music in the past four months.

1. Mr. Music producer, Portishead just bitch slapped you. Those Limeys who dropped that one album with the scratching and dope beats in the 90’s just came out with the single most aggressive and monstrous collection of songs in the past couple of years with beats that make Timbaland’s balls shrivel up into a vagina (I’m still hating). For everyone left scratching their heads when cats called the last Wu album “too weird” (left of center yes, a major departure…nah) this is for you. I haven’t had this big a headache from music since Fantastic Damage.

2. Lil Wayne’s Lolipop is pretty shitty but you deserve to be disappointed if you expected him to drop, I dunno, Microphone Fiend Pt 2. It’s a shame the guy’s album will sell a gazillion (well, 1.5 mill at most) copies, if only because it’ll rob us of the opportunity to use the phrase “Southern Cannabis”“.

3. Paranoia P’s new album isn’t perfect but it IS interesting. The attempt to recreate that old Mobb Deep horror-soundtrack vibe using new-fangled soft-synths doesn’t always work but I’ll take the 70% success rate given that the threat of Prison has made Prodigy batshitlocoinsane. Keep your head up Albert.

4. Erykah Badu’s new album>Anything Common or Andre released this millennium. She may have sucked the talent out of those guys but at least she put it to good use. And aren’t you glad she got those Madlib tracks before Dudley whatshisname did?

5. The first time around, Gnarls Barkley had a bunch of great beats with nothing to say so they came up with some great pop songs and filled the rest of the album with weird one offs about necrophilia and closeted monsters (ayo). This time, they forgo the crazy pop vibe in favor of something a little sadder, a lot more soulful and ultimately more unified. If you’re still bitter than Cee-Lo’s not rapping with Bun B and DJ Paul, stay away but for the rest of us, this group continues to be way better than they have any right to be and once you get past the lack of “Crazy” material, it ultimately reveals itself as the better album.

That’s it. Five bullet points. I guess I could have thrown in something about the new Roots album but I’d rather give that one a few more weeks before dropping a verdict. And no, Snoop Dogg, Webbie and Rick Ross didn’t seem worth the iPod space. In case any of y’all care, I’m doing lovely and have spent the past couple of months crusing around Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, Laos and Cambodia. I’m heading into Vietnam next week and China after that and should be heading home (for a few months) come late July to mid August. I’d write more but this site is getting dangerously un-rap related already and it’s 2PM: Happy Hour.

Comments for "All you need to know about music in 2008 so far"

I call bullshit. I can easily name 50 excellent releases from this year alone already and once we hit June there will be several more classic joints dropping. It all depends on how deep you dig for the good shit.

All of that “Rap’s downward trajectory” talk ONLY applies to mainstream Rap music and we already know that sucks..isn’t that why record labels are failing in the first place?

How about enlightening heads about the real music that’s out there instead of beating us over the head with shit we’re ALREADY in agreement on, Sach?

What you think all the blogs is for? © Dart Adams

One.

— Dart Adams May 5, 12:49 PM
50 excellent releases? Name them.

— R.H.S. May 5, 01:28 PM
Uh oh, it’s the R.H.S. on a war path. Run fast.

— the dough May 5, 02:49 PM
Paranoia P’s
===

I heart that.

Oh and, Dart…Yeah, Name ‘em. ***stands up like little kid on blogger playground.

— m.dot May 5, 03:52 PM
LOL at 50 excellent releases. I can name 15 “good” ones, but that’s about it. Southeast Asia is probably generally >>>> First Quarter hip hop though.

— B. Ware tha Siniq May 5, 04:15 PM
Co-sign on the Portishead comment…

Machine Gun is f*cking insane…

— edgar c. May 5, 04:21 PM
Lionel Richie has more talent in his adopted daughter’s pinky finger than Common has in his hemp accessories collection.

— sankofa May 5, 04:39 PM
“I call bullshit. I can easily name 50 excellent releases from this year alone already and once we hit June there will be several more classic joints dropping. It all depends on how deep you dig for the good shit.”

This whole paragraph is laughable. Not only on the merit that dude wants to cite fifty excellent releases from the first quarter of ’08 but also in that he says by next month, several more new releases will reach classic status! I reserve classic status for albums like, well, Illmatic, 36 Chambers, Funcrusher Plus. What an eeeediot! HaHaHaHa!

— Jay B May 5, 05:04 PM
Fine assholes. I’ll post a list later on..who clearly have NO idea who you just asked to make a list. Man, y’all just fucked up.

One.

— Dart Adams May 5, 06:21 PM
Funcrusher Plus? Errrr.

Yeah, I cosign the bullshit-calling on 50 excellent releases. There weren’t even 50 excellent releases in a few of the peak years for rap albums.

— eauhellzgnaw May 5, 06:56 PM
Lol @ Dart Adams’ reckless talk overshadowing the original post.

I have to check out that Portishead, thanks for the reminder, Sach.

— David May 5, 07:36 PM
I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead > Funcrusher Plus

— the dough May 5, 08:27 PM
“I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead > Funcrusher Plus”

Once again, the intangibleness of subjectivity destroys the appreciation of good music. Portishead III has been getting great reviews in the blogosphere to magazines to newspapers.

— Jay B May 5, 10:27 PM
I can’t think of 50 great releases this year in any genre of music, let alone hip-hop. The best stuff I’ve heard thus far (The Roots, Nick Cave, Portishead) is stuff that I’m unsure that I can call “great” at this point in time; pretty good though, all of them.

Also, good to see Sach back, in any capacity.

— Train May 5, 10:30 PM
Here’s more than 50 albums that are worth purchasing that have been released in the first 5 months of this year alone. Get your heads out of your collective asses and stop crying about the quality of music being low. There is still great music out there, it’s just that people aren’t utilizing the internet for it’s main purpose (hint: acquiring information!) and FINDING IT. Here’s a quick list:

Nicolay & Kay-Time: Line
Torae-Daily Conversation
Emc-The Show
Atmosphere-When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold
Tanya Morgan presents IlWil: Beat Thieves 2
Chaundon-Carnage
Akrobatik-Absolute Value
Finale & Spier 1200 presents Develop
Tanya Morgan & DJ Soul-Tanya Morgan Is A Rap Group
The Roots-Rising Down
Pete Rock-NY’s Finest
9th Wonder & Buckshot-The Formula
Black Spade-To Serve With Love
Fat Ray & Black Milk-The Set Up
Substantial-Sacrifice
Focus presents Dedicated
AZ- Undeniable
Re Up Gang presents We Got It For Cheap 3: The Spirit Of Competition
Braille-The IV Edition
C.R.A.C Knuckles-The Piece Talks
Now On & DJ Houseshoes-Don’t Call It A Mixtape
Guilty Simpson-Ode To The Ghetto
NYOil Verses 9th Wonder
LMNO & Kev Brown-Selective Hearing
Del-The 11th Hour
Snoop Dogg-Ego Trippin’
Kooley High-Summer Sessions EP
Amanda Diva-Life Experience
ST Da Squad-The Album
Vandalyzm-Megatron Majorz
School Of Beats-Lesson 3-The Progress Report
M1 Platoon-M1 Invasion Mixtape
Archetype-Unfolding
DDay One-Heavy Migration
Astonish-From Now Until Forever
Little Vic-Each Dawn I Die
Esoteric vs. Japan-Pterodactyl Takes Tokyo
Cadence Weapon-Afterparty Babies
DL Incognito-A Captured Moment In Time
The Camp-The Campaign
Living Legends-The Gathering
All Natural-Elements (Fire)
45-Hello Friends
Blue Sky Black Death-Late Night Cinema
Ayatollah-Louder
Oddissee-Good Tree EP
Baje One-The Weightless EP
Blue Scholars-Butter & Guns
A+R (Analogic & Rashid Hadee)-Serenade For The Moment
Carlos Nino & Lil’ Sci present What’s The Science?-Elevation
Dagha-The Divorce
Trackademicks-The (Re)Miixtape
Inverse-So Far
The Program (K-Def & Da Capo)-The Article EP
Metaform-Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants
The Grouch-Show You The World

Wait until Invincible’s “Shapeshifters” drops this June 17th.

One.

— Dart Adams May 5, 11:26 PM
m. dot said:
Oh and, Dart…Yeah, Name ‘em. ***stands up like little kid on blogger playground.

I shut up damn near ever blogger that claimed 2007 was a “bad year for Hip Hop” with this list:

http://poisonousparagraphs.blogspot.com/2007/12/dart-adams-presents-top-50-hip-hop.html

If YOU personally are bored with the music that’s coming out and aren’t feeling it that’s on you. Don’t act like there aren’t always new indie releases worth copping coming out as well. The radio is trash. Major label releases worth purchasing are few and far between and “classic material” is in the eyes of the beholder.

One.

— Dart Adams May 5, 11:34 PM
It takes a Jansport or an 80gb iPOD to hold all those tracks.

— R.H.S. May 5, 11:55 PM
@ R.H.S.

I actually have an 80 GB iPod classic and an Adidas sling backpack (I’m a Bostonian remember?). All you gotta do is read my blog every Friday to see that Hip Hop is far from dead. Rafi knows I’m the wrong blogger to fuck with when it comes to anything list related.

LOL.

One.

— Dart Adams May 6, 12:02 AM
On my brief scan of that absurd list, let me give props on knowing who the fuck Blues Scholars even are. I saw them open for Gza a few weeks ago and dude tore it down. That is true Hip Hop nerdship right there.

— Abe Beame May 6, 12:29 AM
Off topic, but with mothers day coming up is there any way to get a mom mix? hop hop songs about mothers?

— esc0623 May 6, 01:59 AM
*Blue Scholars.

Dart wins.

— the dough May 6, 03:10 AM
I’m going to assume this wasn’t the intended effect, but reading that list suddenly filled me with an overwhelming sense of mirth and smugness.

Good to know I can still inspire righteous anger. Or at least mild frustration.

— Sach May 6, 03:45 AM
You have low standards, Dart.

— eauhellzgnaw May 6, 08:13 AM
@ eauhellzgnaw:

“worth buying”= good/excellent
“classic material”=comparable to shit that you listened to back in the days that made you love Hip Hop

You asked, I answered. I never said that EVERY album was Illmatic/Reasonable Doubt status. Y’all projected that view onto my statements yourselves.

BTW, if you’ve never read my blog (and I know you have eau) or know nothing about me then I why’d you think I say what I said above if I didn’t think I could back it up somehow?

One.

— Dart Adams May 6, 08:48 AM
would somebody get O a copy of “the show” already? how’d dude miss that one?

— J-Mass May 6, 09:11 AM
i loved portishead’s album. i also liked guilty simpson’s. and foul mouth jerk’s. presto’s cd is dope, too.

2008 isnt 1988, but whatcha gonna do about it… throw a flux capacitor in a delorean?

— khal May 6, 09:13 AM
“Fine assholes. I’ll post a list later on..who clearly have NO idea who you just asked to make a list. Man, y’all just fucked up.”

Man, soon as I saw this comment, I knew it was on like Spawn!

Dart’s weekly lists are one of the reasons I still haven’t paid off my student loans, car note, and 2 credit cards—I’m buying CDs, mothafuckas!!!

Good to have you back Sach. And your Erykah revelation is spot on.

— Zilla Rocca May 6, 09:29 AM
Y’all lifted my heart this morning.

Lionel Richie has more talent in his adopted daughter’s pinky finger than Common has in his hemp accessories collection.
======
That sounds personal.

@ Dart, you are such a good sport.

@Abe…Dart is a nerds nerd..I get the feeling that Rice and Gas Riots could be going on and old boy would STILL be posting and dl’ing. That tenacity is commendable.

@ R.H.S. Your nuts.

— m.dot May 6, 12:28 PM
@ Zilla:

Don’t forget to shoot me a copy of Nico The Beast’s new joint “No Beast So Fierce”. Dude’s killing it with the freestyles.

One

— Dart Adams May 6, 12:40 PM
Dart is a beast, and so is Nico…just in different fields.
Indeed, that is a very solid list.
Good to see Sach back.

— AaronM May 6, 09:22 PM
That’s strange, I wouldn’t spend my money on any of that shit.

You’re including stuff that’s mediocre to complete trash. How is anybody supposed to take you seriously?

Wishful thinking or bad taste?

— eauhellzgnaw May 6, 11:33 PM
Wait, Dart is from Boston? This places his list in even more of a questionable light!

Nah but seriously, as big as this rap univerfse is … the only good material is sweater-and-shoes suburban post-Fat Beats quasi-revivalist granola hemp knapsack sampledelica? Aren’t there any non-progrfessive QB mixtapes worth a peep? Or some scarface-inspired texan funk? Something other than Dilated Peoples roadies turned undagrfownde rapp starz please…

— R.H.S. May 7, 01:52 AM
Fuck, does hating rap music and the people that still love it ever get old?

— Abe Beame May 7, 03:59 AM
Abe Beame said:

Fuck, does hating rap music and the people that still love it ever get old?

Dart says:

No Abe, it doesn’t.

One.

— Dart Adams May 7, 08:07 AM
OMG CO-OPTED PERSECUTION COMPLEX!

— R.H.S. May 7, 12:14 PM
R.H.S. is salty because you forgot to mention….DIVINE!!!!!!

— the dough May 7, 12:15 PM
It’s just boring. Remember when you used to write about Hip Hop you liked?

— Abe Beame May 7, 12:25 PM
OMG REMINISCING OVER PAST WISTFULNESS

— R.H.S. May 7, 01:42 PM
“It’s a shame the guy’s album will sell a gazillion (well, 1.5 mill at most) copies, if only because it’ll rob us of the opportunity to use the phrase “Southern Cannabis”“.”

Wayne already has a half dozen albums that sold gold or better.

— noz May 7, 02:17 PM
Who’s this Lil’ Wayne Guy and why are people mentioning him ALL OF A SUDDEN?

— R.H.S. May 7, 02:41 PM
dart… good albums are not classic albums…classics are shit everyone will buy and remeber..not shit thats hot for a couple months than boring until the next “hot” shit comes out…peace

— Damian May 7, 04:58 PM
disinterest in new music is a sign of aging, fellers.

— stupidshit May 7, 05:10 PM
as a blog reader, I’d much rather read

reviews of good albums, whether new rap albums, old slept-on rap albums, or new other genre albums that a rap head might enjoy

vs

the 4080th crying post that “hip hop is dead”

The former has a useful purpose, the latter doesn’t. The former takes infinitely more time & creativity.

Like the other dude said, Dart, you’re a beast. It’s amazing that 1 part-time hobbyist can destroy “professional magazines or websites” on quality & quantity of new rap album reviews, but Dart, WYDU, & WTR have been doing it for a year + now. Keep up the great work.

The “hip hop is dead criers” are gonna hate almost everything new for whatever illogical reason. If “Illmatic” came out in 2008 instead of 1994 they would prolly ignore it, refuse to listen to it, & ignorantly say it sucks.

— No Mames Buey May 7, 08:03 PM
I think a Jeremiah Wright/Pastor Manning spoken word album would be a vast improvement on anything coming out this year.

— Tray May 8, 03:08 AM
“Wayne already has a half dozen albums that sold gold or better.”

You mean the kid rapper and the gay space alien pothead are the same guy? Next thing you’ll tell me that Shock G and Humpty Hum-...

In all seriousness though, I’m pretty sure that I’ll end up preferring The Block is Hot and Lights Out to the Carter III when it’s all said and done. I’d rather the Mannie beats and “wobbly wobbly” rhymes to Village Voice awe inspiring autotune-porn and simile-overload.

— Sach May 8, 06:03 AM
omg let’s give shallow cheerleading positive reviews to every album out so everyone can feel good and nobody is offended omg omg more reviews means betterf reviews 10000 reviews per day omg omg did yiou hear the new cool blue scholarz in the hall mixtape featuring bun b and percee p omg omg

— R.H.S. May 8, 09:32 AM
“In all seriousness though, I’m pretty sure that I’ll end up preferring The Block is Hot and Lights Out to the Carter III when it’s all said and done.”

Me too.

— noz May 8, 01:33 PM
“OMG REMINISCING OVER PAST WISTFULNESS”

Okay, I’m going to give you this one on points because I was expecting more smarmy dickheadery and in typical fashion you respond with funny insight. However I’d like to make three points.
1. There’s this guy who writes a really smart, funny, sarcastic-bastard hip hop blog from his mom’s couch in some asshole of a red state. You should check it out, he’s been doing what you do for longer and with all due respect he’s better at it.
2. If you had discovered aforementioned Blasian Dialated Peoples roadie outside a movie theater in Reacharound NJ, his pee would smell like chocolate milk
3. This ones a bit of an abstract rant and I’m putting myself out there but I’m just gonna go for it because that’s kind of my point. I don’t know if this movement is due to Bush or a natural progression of thought or what, but in a sense post-genuine, Irony mongering Hipsters are right. All sentiment, all narratives and arguments have cracks in their edifice. Something I believe is that these inconsistencies or loose threads do not mean the overall truth of said observation is devalued or inaccurate but that’s beside the point. Believe it or not, I get it. When everything you say comes with a wink and a smirk, you never lie and you’re never wrong and if anyone’s stupid enough to engage you the jokes on them. But at its root is fear, intellectual paralysis, and like I said before it’s fucking boring. You may read “Soldiering on through Bucktown” now and think there’s some reaching or godforbid its wistful, and by all means respond to this comment with a dismissive, delightfully clever barb, but sometime on your walk home from the train or the bus or however it is you get around out there, listen to “Next Shit.” While I’m sure that piece was as fun to write as it is to read, for me it’s more than mere entertainment. When you get to Buck Shot’s adlib during the conclusion just think about what it evokes. How it’s a great, intangible moment and you want to study it and discuss it and share it with other people who love it as much as you do. If there’s something wrong with that fine. Have a coke and a smile and SHUT THE FUCK UP.

— Abe Beame May 8, 03:37 PM
You’re an emotional wreck these days. It makes for good internet though.

— R.H.S. May 8, 04:14 PM
You wanna dick around the issue and dress your opinions up in caps and aol abbreviations and misspellings thats fine homey, I dont.

— Abe Beame May 8, 04:23 PM
What’s the issue? There’s ten trillion rap records out right now. I’ve never pretended to have any special desire to check them all out and give them a fair listen. I’ve only ever been devoted to mocking the obsessive-compulsion of those bandwidth hogging Jansport lifetime warranty having folks who set their watches to the next Sean P. release. That’s what we do here – smarmy douchebaggery. It’s a hell of a lot easier than serious analysis. I’m glad that you’ve written some good pieces for us and I might try my hand at some in the future but PLEASE O PLEASE don’t expect me to ever embrace this new quasi-bboy four elements post-Ecko clusterfuck of an underground music culture, I am way too old and too ethnic for that…

— R.H.S. May 8, 04:30 PM
“I am way too old”-R.H.S.
church.

— stupidshit May 8, 04:33 PM
Post #51 sums it all up. I’m doing what I do regardless. My personal philosophy is “Lead, follow or get the fuck out of the way”. Choose one.

One.

— Dart Adams May 8, 04:39 PM
Abe Beame is A Separate Peace.

— David May 9, 12:38 AM
The fact that you’re alive and well totally undermines my plans for the Little FDB Needs to Fly thread.

— drizzle May 9, 01:52 PM
Dart, calm the fuck down. Seriously. It’s just music. You won’t care in five years.

— R.H.S. May 9, 01:56 PM
Yo Drizzle, what’s good homie? You on facebook? When I get back we gotta continue those album trades and I’d rather do it without that message board if humanly possible.

— Sach May 10, 07:06 AM
i don’t know whats more laughable, half the albums on that 50 list or that someone named Funcrusher Plus next to Illmatic and 36 Chambers.

Rakim hold your head.

— tucan sam ain't nuthin ta f' wit May 11, 11:42 PM
Damn, I don’t know how I missed this exchange. This is some of the best stuff I’ve read on the internet in ages! (Liked the post too Sach.)

By the way.. is this somehow pointed at me?

‘FDB needs to fly thread’

or am I missing another AOL acronym?

— Dan Love May 12, 06:50 PM
It’s sach’s name at philaflava (funk docta bombay).

— Rafi May 12, 08:34 PM
I know I’m late to the discussion but I gotta say, there are some good records in Dart’s list.
For sure that EMC joint is one of the best hip-hop releases in recent months. I’m off to see is I can buy a real disk — I just have the download for now…

— the SHWAMY May 13, 02:20 PM

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