Tag Archives: Def Jam

K.R.I.T. Wuz Here

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One thing that my daily postings has allowed me to do is listen to some music that I wouldn’t otherwise listen to.  Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes that is a bad thing but at least I get to hear what is going on in the rest of the industry aside from what I personally listen today.  Over the weekend, I listened to two previous releases from some newcomers that I have overlooked for a while.  Both cats have major deals, one with Def Jam and one with Interscope.  Today, I wanted to share some thoughts on Def Jam’s new emcee/producer Big K.R.I.T.  I have been hearing about dude here and there for a while and it has all been pretty positive.  However, I was a little surprised when I heard he had signed to Def Jam only because it didn’t appear that he had that big of a buzz.  Not that there is a problem with that but judging from how cats are getting signed nowadays, it has been based on buzz.  K.R.I.T. has some good people behind him in the forms of Dame Dash and the Creative Control family and everything they have been working on recently seems to be doing well.  So, after remembering that DJBooth.net hosted his album/mixtape, K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, I wanted to listen to see what Def Jam was doing with their new artists.  Upon first listen, I liked K.R.I.T.’s sound.  His sound reminds me of UGK and 3-6 Mafia.   He is definitely from the south but still has that soul to his production and his lyrics.  After a couple more listens, I enjoyed the album even more and found more things I liked.  Although I never heard any lyrics that I needed to run back, dude is definitely one of the southern emcees that brings a more lyrically approach but still keeping it “country” as K.R.I.T. might call it.  On top of his rhymes, he also did all the production on the project.  I think that is the coolest aspect of his game is that he can producer, write songs and rap pretty well.  He also seems to sing a little bit which is dope too.  He has some nice cosigns and now with Def Jam backing him, I can see K.R.I.T. being Def Jam’s version of J. Cole.  I only say that because they both seem to be relatively unknown with major deals.  I look forward to seeing what K.R.I.T. will do in the following years.  I am sure he will be feature on XXL’s Freshman list next year and hopefully he will get a big single and breath some more soul into the mainstream.  Shout out to DJBooth.net for hosting some of hip hop’s freshest voices.  Tomorrow will be another feature from a major label artist doing some cool things.  Happy Monday and check out the video for Hometown Hero and the audio for Country Shit from Big K.R.I.T.  below. 

Wu-Massacre

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Tis the season to be jolly.  Today, is the official release date for one of 2010′s most anticipated released.  I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a copy of the project last Friday so, I have been riding around to it for several days.  I am going to start off by saying this album could have been better.  I read somewhere that Method Man said the album was rushed out by Def Jam.  Meth said they had no budget and not a lot of time to work on it but the album was put out for the fans.  Reading that statement prior to the release didn’t give me much hope for the album to be a classic but I still figured it would have some good stuff on it.  Our Dreams is a dope record with a dope video and the artwork is amazing of course.  I will say that the album has grown on me though.  It still is a little disappointing especially off the heels of Raekwon’s OBFCL2 but it is a solid way to round out the first quarter of 2010.  I still might buy the project strictly for the artwork.  Anyway, definitely take a listen.  I think the rhymes for the most part are on point, the hooks could use some work and most of the beats are solid.  Everything just could have been tighter in my opinion but I guess when you have no time and no budget this is what happens.  I’m still wondering how they managed to get the illest artwork with no time and no budget.  Check out Meth vs. Chef Part 2 and Our Dreams for a taste of Wu-Massacre

Let Me Fly

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DMX

“Either let me fly or give me death”

Perhaps one of the most personal and emotional mainstream emcees, DMX’s career has recently been overshadowed by his legal troubles.  His show on BET definitely did not help his image either.  His charges range from gun possession to reckless driving to animal cruelty.  The majority of his recent publicity has been far from positive.  He appears to be a very troubled guy who battles with drug addictions and personal demons.  However, DMX did manage to carve out a spot in mainstream hip hop alongside the likes of Ja Rule and Jay-Z back when Def Jam was on top.  It’s been quite a while since I listened to X’s music so I decided to listen to his debut album, It’s Dark and Hell is Hot.  It made me remember how dope DMX used to be.  I used to listen to It’s Dark quite a bit back in high school and I liked it even more than I remember.  Of course Ruff Ryder’s Anthem is a classic hip hop anthem and How’s It Going Down is another classic for the females but my favorite joint on the album is Let Me Fly.  DMX is an artist that never shied away from addressing his own personal issues on the mic.  DMX was definitely no slouch on the mic, he has held his own on features with LL Cool J, Redman and Method Man.  Although none of his albums or singles had the same impact as It’s Dark and Ruff Ryder’s Anthem, DMX still has a spot of his own in hip hop.  He also has some of the most notorious “Pause/No Homo” moments in hip hop history too.  DMX used to go REALLY hard.  Check out Let Me Fly and definitely relisten to the whole album. 

DMX-Let Me Fly