I figured since I’ve made it through 24 Gorilla Zoe mixtapes and finally caught up, I would take this Friday back to the classics. Yesterday I listened to both discs of Biggie’s Life After Death. As if I need to say anything about Biggie, he is STILL the man. Joints like Somebody’s Gotta Die, Kick In The Door, You’re Nobody, Ten Crack Commandments and many others have withstood over a decade of time and would still be classics if they dropped today. I’m not a big fan of Puff’s adlibs and some of his touches on the album but Biggie keeps it fresh regardless of what song he is on. It’s always refreshing for me to go back and listen to albums like this at different times periods in my life because I pick up new stuff every time and find myself enjoying it so much more than I remembered. It’s still a shame that Biggie and Pac didn’t get to have a full run with their careers but maybe their music and their lives wouldn’t have held as much weight. So, Happy Friday to everyone. Enjoy some classic shit from one of hip hop’s icons. RIP Biggie.
In spirit of Shyne’s release AND apprehension, I listened to his debut, self-title album. If you are not aware, Shyne was released from prison yesterday and apprehended shortly there after by immigration who are looking to deport him back to Belize. Puffy really fucked this guy man. Hopefully he can stay in the US under the Slick Rick act and get working on that album. Its been several years since I listened to Shyne’s album and it will probably be several more before I listen again. There are a few standouts but the production just doesn’t make sense to me. Of course Bad Boyz is that shit but most of the other songs are clearly Puff’s doing. The Hit however is a grimey tale where Shyne really “shines.” I’m not sure what Puff was trying to do with Shyne or what Shyne was trying to do on this album but with his voice and subject matter, I think joints like Bad Boyz and The Hit make the most sense. Who knows what the Jewish Shyne will be on now but it shall be interesting. Welcome back Shyne. Good luck with immigration. You know with this border war they got going on(I just wanted a History Channel show about it last night), the US isn’t trying to just let people stay. Here is The Hit. I don’t think this is the original beat but you get the point.
First of all, Diddy formed a new group with himself and some of the Making The Band broads called Dirty Money. I think we all know that Diddy hasn’t ever seen dirty money and if he has it was Biggie, Shyne or The Lox’s. Second of all, I thought Jay-Z deaded autotune? Well, how come his best bud is jacking his beat AND using autotune AND puts Biggie’s verse on his single twice?????? Now if anyone else doesn’t see what is wrong with the state of things, then ya’ll are in straight denial. Diddy is dropping his album, Last Train To Paris, sometime in the next year but I can only hope that it gets shelfed indefinitely. The problem is, Diddy has so much money and is such greedy bastard that he has to contaminate the already toxic airwaves of the internet, radio and TV with MORE bullshit. And just because he is Diddy, we are forced to see it. What is even worse is cats like Jay who claim to love this thing we call hip hop, let that shit slide. Why won’t someone check Diddy’s ass? Maybe because Diddy doesn’t “write rhymes, he writes checks.” This is a gosh darn shame if you ask me. I am sure everyone has seen Diddy’s new single Angels featuring Biggie and Dirty Money but in case you refuse to watch it, here is another opportunity to act like it doesn’t exist. I was at a beat battle recently and the manager of A and R’s for Diddy was one of the judges and apparently he was looking for production for Last Train To Paris. He said it was real pop sounding so I am a little curious why Angels came out jacking Jay-Z’s Where I’m From. He’s not even going hard on it, he is SINGING. I want to thank Kanye and Lil Wayne for this one. T-Pain is right, let him have his shit because this is what happens when “the best rappers alive” get a hold of autotune. Also, can it be called a feature if the person being featured is already dead? Like clearly Biggie is unaware of this song and if somehow he hears it all the way up in heaven, he would probably stab Puffy with an icepick. Let the man be Diddy PLEASE!!!!!!!!!! And for the last time, STOP making music and forming new groups. NO ONE CARES!!!!!!!!!! Check Diddy’s version of “cough up a lung where I’m from Marcy son” if you can stomach it.
