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HipHop Bars 2 Beats 4 Reviews: YG – My Krazy Life

Sunday, November 16th, 2014

by A. Pierre

 

Is this the 2014 Doggystyle?

Is this the 2014 Doggystyle?

In 2013, the now 24-year-old YG was pushed into the mainstream after his lead single “My N***” featuring Young Jeezy and Rich Homie Quan took off in the clubs, streets, and then consequently moving up the Billboard charts. The young Compton MC signed to the Young Jeezy led CTE World Label with aspirations of being the next superstar artist and continuing the recent trend of West Coast success. While coming from the streets of Compton and living a life filled with gang-related street life and drama, YG comes from relative obscurity to now having a few notable hits released, including “My N***”, “Left Right”, and “Who Do You Love” ft. Drake; while also having a surprisingly strong debut album. The overall vibe of YG’s debut album “My Krazy Life” probably has the most resemblance to the West Coast’s gangsta rap golden era of the early to mid 90′s then any of the new artist that have hit the scene and had some success in the last few years. One album in particular that it probably has its closest parallel from 1993 to 2014 is “Doggystyle”. Is YG’s debut album the 2014 version of Snoop Dogg’s 90′s classic album “Doggystyle”? It sure has at least some elements that could give fans a similar feeling and bounce to it, but lets break it down a little.

When Snoop Dogg released his critically acclaimed “Doggystyle” in November of 1993, it produced monster hits along with a continuation of Dr Dre’s G-Funk influenced production and bounce that had the parties jumping. At that time it almost felt like sonically “Doggystyle” was a part 2 to Dre’s own album released a year before “The Chronic”. That album along with “Doggystyle” pushed the then 22-year-old Snoop Dogg into superstar status, and cemented Dr Dre as a molder of careers. As we jump into 2014, Producer DJ Mustard acts as YG’s right hand man as was Dr Dre to Snoop Dogg. On “My Krazy Life”, DJ Mustard does not dominate the production as completely as Dre did for Snoop Dogg however his role and influence on YG’s recent offering and his imprint on the MC’s career progression are almost as crucial.

On the first 4 songs of the albums, (“BPT”, “I Just Wanna Party”, “Left Right”, “Bicken Back Being Bool”) DJ Mustard handles the production, setting the tone for the rest of the album. Sonically the album isn’t exactly of the Dr Dre G-Funk variety however nonetheless DJ Mustard provides YG with a backdrop that is throwback West Coast to its core. DJ Mustard’s bass lines have that riding in your car down the road on the highway, with nowhere important to go, with the windows rolled down, with the music blasting through your speakers feel to them. This isn’t really an album that you sit down in your house on a peaceful day with your IPOD and headphones and critically listen to. It’s the type of album similar to “Doggstyle” where you just simply enjoy the ride and groove to the piercing beats that are used as the backdrop and soundtrack to the stories of a day in the life of a young man navigating through the ups and downs of a day in the hood, where anything can happen while also complicated by gang affiliation.

One example of YG breaking down his mentality one fateful night is on the 1st verse on “1Am” where he raps…

“It was 1 in the mornin’ and I was up yawnin’
Moms asked where I’m goin’, to the hood if you ain’t knowin’
Pops locked up so mama couldn’t stop me
I was out the house, ASAP Rocky
And it wasn’t cause she couldn’t control us
We was her babies, she just wanted to hold us
And we ain’t get disciplined, her friend started whisperin’
About how she was a bad mama, mama said “fuck ‘em then”
I was in the streets stylin’, nobody could tell me nothin’
Grandpa or grandma, not my auntie or my favorite cousin I was buzzin’
Fuckin’ all these hoes wearing no condoms, no nothin’
I used to ditch school when the homie had the Chevy
I used to sneak and smoke stress weed”

Throughout the album YG basically strolls through a day in the life of his experiences in Compton; from the leadoff “BPT”, to the robbery “Meet The Flockers”, to love lost on “Me & My Bitch”, to reckless behavior on “1AM” and “Thank God”, to feelings of sorrow and regret on “Sorry Momma”. The album overall is quite consistent from track to track, in “Do It To Ya” which contains interpolations of the Dogg Pound’s 90′s hit “Lets Play House” is not as dope as Dogg Pound’s original version but still a winner, however one of the best tracks on the album is arguably “Really Be (Smokin N Drinkin)” featuring Kendrick lamar. Unfortunately for YG the guest appearance by Kendrick Steals the show with his flow, emotion and lyrics.

On the 3rd verse of “Really Be (Smokin N Drinkin)” Kendrick raps…

“I swear this industry shit, to me is one big ass lick
I walk inside of a buildin’, tell the A&R nigga strip
Tell ‘em I need all of my chips, my life been on Section 8
I’ve been a welfare case, AFDC pump fake
Meanwhile I’m grindin’ cause drug money ain’t like rap money
Four white kilo snow bunny, equal one whole show, dummy
I’m on this tour bus and I’m fucked up, I got a bad call
They killed Braze, they killed Chad, my big homie Pup
Puppy eyes in my face, bruh, and I’ve really been drinkin’
Muthafucka, I really been smokin’, what the fuck? I’m the sober one
Man, I’m so stressed out, I can’t focus
Hide out when I ride out, ski mask with the eyes out
Speed past in the Cutlass, me and little Ocho
Every young nigga hop out, 2 tears in a bucket
I feel like “fuck it”, the price of fame, recognize my pain, that’s all I know
All out war, but I’m out here though, call my troops like “vamonos”
I’m on this tour bus and I’m fucked up, I got a bad call, and it’s all bad
Off OG with my OG and some OE, by the tall glass”

On that note, here lies the general downfall if a person were to ponder whether “My Krazy Life” can be compared to any acclaimed album, even one in the same vein as Snoop’s “Doggystyle”, it’s the difference between elite MC’s, good MC’s, average MC’s and the “how did you get a deal” guys. Whats that? well its the actual MC-ing the rapping, the formation of words that creates the verses and bars that communicate the message or picture you are attempting to convey. Now I’m not saying that “Doggystyle” was some lyrical masterpiece or even high level rapping lyrics-wise or that YG’s rapping is bad, it’s more so the fact that when you’re not a great wordsmith the only way you can elevate your overall music to great or classic status is you must create music that not only has great production, concepts, and consistent dope tracks from start to finish, but also evoke either the proper passion or clarity musically on your album that paints a vivid picture to the listener at an elite level. While YG does a solid job at that, it’s not to the point where it supersedes the oh so many mediocre and below verses throughout the album.

While “My Krazy Life” is pretty consistent with excellent production, the album overall is obviously not up to the level of Snoop Dogg’s seminal classic “Doggystyle”. Which is definitely not a knock on YG’s album, which is still a quality product but there is a strong gap between YG’s Debut and Snoop’s multi-platinum debut which continued the sound of  Dre’s “The Chronic”, which changed the game. So all in all YG still released one of the better mainstream albums of 2014, and continued the West Coast’s reemergence on the national scene. #HaitianJack

YG –  “My Krazy Life” (Released March 2014)

Bars:   Beats: XXL   Music: XL    Report Card: B

A. Pierre of HipHop Bars 2 Beats 4 Reviews, for War Room Sports

HipHop Bars 2 Beats 4 Reviews: Rick Ross – Mastermind

Friday, November 14th, 2014

by A. Pierre

RR

 

It’s the Summer of 2005, and for the first time ever I’m on my way to the airport without any of my family. Now who was with me? Well, a group of friends and a few associates headed down to Miami, FL, straight to South Beach for Memorial Day Weekend for roughly a 7-day stay. A lot of things were seen that week, and fun had, but one of the many things I distinctly remember about the environment outside the obvious, was the parade of cars circling Ocean Drive and Collins Ave, full of drop tops, candy paint, 20+ inch rims, and luxury to Old School souped-up cars that were surely way out of my “fresh out of college” budget. As I stepped out on the scene for the first day what did I hear, and not entirely to my surprise literally every 10 minutes ALL week long blasting throughout Ocean Drive? Rick Ross’s break out single , “Hustlin” off his debut album Port Of Miami, and sprinkled in there was Young Joc’s “Its Goin’ Down” (now where is that guy anyway?), but i digress. As far as “Hustlin” goes I’m not sure if I’ve ever been in an environment where I heard the same song repped so hard over and over and over again. However it’s not too hard to see why, when you factor in that “Hustlin” was arguably the hottest street anthem around that time, encompassing gritty production, with a to the point yet addictive hook, then on top of that we were actually in Miami where Rick Ross repped, it was to be expected.

Now move forward roughly 9 years to date, and it’s safe to say that Rick Ross has gone through his share of ups and downs personally and musically. What started as the new “hot” Southern artist churning out hits from his debut album, went to the negative controversy and backlash from his initial correction officer lies, which then consequently led to talk of fabrication in his rhymes to issues with the real convicted drug trafficker “Freeway” Ricky Ross, to now where Ross is an accomplished pillar in the game. Over the years it seems like somewhere along the line Rick Ross’s backlash from his eventual admitted CO days, along with all the other miscellaneous issues people were nitpicking with Ross about seemed to just go away so to speak. Why? Well, we’ll touch on that later.

On Rick Ross’ Latest offering “Mastermind”, his 6th studio LP it’s actually more of the same from the southern emcee. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, some artist produce their best material by staying in their lane and simply just continuing to do what they do best. Other artists learn how to show advanced progression in their music which can many times take them to another stratosphere musically and/or lyrically, pushing them to the top echelon of MC’s in rap. As far as Ross is concerned, on “Mastermind” he’s done what he usually does on most of his albums; trap music rhymes rapped over good production filtered with some street anthems, a few tracks for the ladies and multiple big name guest appearances.

The first big-name featured guest and stand out track on Mastermind is the Jay-Z assisted “Devil is a Lie”. Needless to say Hov takes over the track with his verse, touching on the shade he’s gotten for his long success as an artist and businessman. On the soulful trunk rattling track Hov raps…

“Is it truth or it’s fiction, is it truth or it’s fiction?
Is Hova atheist? I never fuck with True Religion
Am I down with the devil cuz my roof come up missin’?
Is that Lucifer juice in that two cup he sippin’?
That’s D’usse baby welcome to the dark side
Coulda got black list for the crack shit
White Jesus in my crock pot
I mix the shit with some soda
Now I’m black Jesus turn water to wine
And all I had to do was turn the stove up
Beast Coast, winnin’ at life, nigga, cheat code
The hatin’ is flagrant, hit your free throws
The devil try to hit me with the RICO, them black people
Devil want these niggas hate they own kind
Gotta be Illuminati if a nigga shine
Oh we can’t be a nigga if a nigga rich?
Oh we gotta be the devil that’s some nigga shit
You seen what I did to the stop and frisk
Brooklyn on the Barney’s like we own the bitch
Give the money to the hood, now we all win
Got that Barney’s floor lookin’ like a VIM
Black hoodie, black skully
Bravado like Mavado, boy I’m that gully
Gettin white money but I’m still black
All these niggas claiming king but I’m still that
King Hova, Mansa Musa
From a lie, the devil is a lie, I’m the truth, yeah”

On the track “War Ready” featuring Young Jeezy, Ross continues his long track record and extended string of hard hitting street anthems, this one produced by Mike Will Made It. Jeezy and Rick Ross picked the perfect song to bury their long standing personal issues. “War Ready” is the type of track that you CANNOT play on low volume and truly appreciate the energy. On the 5th track “Nobody” with French Montana on the hook and including additional P. Diddy ad-libs sprinkled throughout the song, Ross initially received a lot of negative feedback.

One thing I’ve noticed in Hip-Hop is whenever one artist touches even the essence of a beloved artist like a 2Pac or in this case an old Biggie Smalls track and attempts to sample, remix, reprise or however you would like to describe it, fans of that artist love to get all up in arms about how blasphemous it is to touch their classic track. Well when you bring some objectivity into the discussion and just relax and enjoy the music, Ross’ “Nobody” is a dope track. The addition of French Montana’s sing-song vocal tone on the hook compliment the track perfectly, and to be quite honest I’m not sure this track could have been done right with anyone else on the hook outside of Ross literally sampling Biggie’s voice from the “Life After Death” original.

Rick Ross does an admirable job mimicking Biggie’s legendary flow on the track in question, rapping…

“I’m from where the streets test you
Niggas mix business and pleasure where the cocaine measure
The narcotics is our product
The by-product, you walk up on me, I cock it
New Mercedes as it peels off
Nothing penetrates the steel doors, gang signs, see ‘em all
I said my prayer as I’m countin’ sheep
Never really athletic, but I play for keeps, do you feel me?
The mortician, the morgue fillin’ with more snitches
We kill ‘em and taking their bitches, R.I.P
Chinchillas on a winter night
Black bottles when I’m feelin’ like, you wanna know what winners like
And I’m never on that tour bus
Just a decoy for niggas, the PJ’s for two of us
Ciroc boys down to die for Diddy
My niggas ride for less, keep it real, homie, made me filthy
Touch mine, until it’s even: kill
Like I’m knowing every heathen will, closed the deal with Steven Hill
We Magic City of the networks
Cut a nigga cast off, how my nigga net worths”

If the intention of this track was to pay homage while attempting to make a dope rendition all in one, Ross did a solid job.

Another one of the stand-out tracks is “Thug Cry” featuring Lil Wayne, unfortunately for Ross this is another circumstance of him being out-rapped on his own song. On the 2nd verse Wayne raps…

“Well, let me light one for my problems
Smokin’ on that loud, pumpin’ up that volume
Get it crackin’ like an eggshell
In this mothafucka make omelettes
Get a bad bitch that posts up like comments
They don’t know what I been through
Don’t know what I’m goin’ through
As long as I get through, that’s what I look forward to
Richer than a bitch but still I can’t afford to
Let these niggas play with me; need to be remorseful
I swear I got that silencer on that Mac 9
And I kill these niggas with silence
My head stay in the clouds, I really feel like a giant
Can’t trust none of these niggas, I murk one of these niggas
Then bury one of these niggas, still got dirt under my fingers
That ain’t a threat, that’s a bet, cause they coming at my neck
Like the best a man can get, but to make a long story short
I need a shoulder cause the devil on one
The other one, I’m lookin’ over
Tunechi…”

Ross is not flawless on “Mastermind” and far from being considered a lyrical giant on this album; for every “Drug Dealers Dream”, “Devil is a Lie” or “Blk & Wht” banger there’s a “Walking On Air” featuring Meek Mill that sounds like a bland filler track from any number of MMG mixtapes, or “Supreme” which has nice production but is also easily a skipper. Throughout “Mastermind” Ross continues to give what has kept him successful and relevant on the Hip-Hop scene, which is plain ole consistency. There is something to be said for being consistent; you may not break any new ground by creating only consistent solid to good albums with similar content. However there are plenty of artists over the years that have talked about the same topics they have rapped about out since their debuts that have fallen off or consequently began making increasingly stale music while doing a poor of job of keeping old stories fresh to the listener.

So whether we are talking about sports, entertainment, business, or in this case music, when you create product the masses of people enjoy over and over again, they will conveniently “forget” about your past transgressions. Hey it’s life! When you win, the people give you a pass, when your losing in your chosen field they love to pile on all your negative past until you fall off the scene. All in all no one would confuse “Mastermind” as anything transcendent, however it’s still another win for the Rick Ross catalog, and the continuation of Rick Ross’ overall career theme, which is simply being…… Mr. Consistent. #HaitianJack

Rick Ross   –   “Mastemind” (Released March 2014)

Bars: L    Beats: XL    Music: XL       Report Card: B

A. Pierre of HipHop Bars 2 Beats 4 Reviews, for War Room Sports

HipHop Bars 2 Beats 4 Reviews: ScHoolBoy Q – Oxymoron – 2014

Saturday, November 1st, 2014

by A. Pierre

oxy

Ever since TDE’s Black Hippy Crew started bubbling right under the national scene in 2010, their rise hasn’t been meteoric but it has been on a gradual upswing. The pinnacle of that hype machine has happened within the last 18-24 months or so with Kendrick Lamar’s critically acclaimed “Good Kid, MAAd City”, then TDE’s BET Cypher exposure last year. For the most part TDE holds the general distinction as a crew of super lyrical MC’s, well that is not necessarily the case. Case and point is Schoolboy Q who is not a bum, but probably the least lyrical of the bunch.

However there’s a reason why SchoolBoy Q’s album was next up and ready with quality singles and a legit buzz before every other artist on the label outside of Kendrick Lamar. The thing about SchoolBoy Q, he is…… for the lack of a better word so to speak, has that “Method Man of Wu-Tang” vibe to him. What do I mean by that? Well, like Method Man, he isn’t the most lyrical MC of the crew nor was he arguably even in the top 4 or 5, however he had that star appeal to him in his music. The ability to mesh the balance between rhymes that connect to the streets with rhymes and music that connect to the club and radio masses.

Not to pigeonhole Q, but with all that being said, the foundation of ScHoolBoy Q as an artist is one of a West Coast gang-related gangsta rapper. On the Sounwave produced “Hoover Street”, ScHoolBoy Q takes us down his memory lane on some of the harsh realities of his childhood. On the track Q raps…

Verse 1:
“Find a nigga realer than me, my socks stink/
Eat so much pussy that my mustache pink/
Strapping, my pants seam, no need for a belt/
Gangsta lean help, hoodie on backwards with the eyes cut out/
My hate felt, my .45 elder, poetry’s deep/
I never fail ya, Schoolboy bust flame/
Orange-yellow, higher than Margielas/
Since a young nigga I admired the crack sellers, seen my uncle steal/
From his mother, now that’s the money that I’m talking ’bout/
Think about it, the smoker ain’t got shit and everyday he still get a hit/
Whether jacking radios or sucking dick/
Sell his kids and chop his wrists and sealing his lips
Cause he don’t want the feds arresting his fix, didn’t take much/
To get me convinced, coincidence that I ain’t fucking with work/
Unless we rewind and answer my church/
Times getting harder than my d*** on a growth spurt/
Around the same time all you niggas was on purp/
My sober ass was snatching her purse, make the ice cream truck freeze/
Give me the keys, extra Fritos, chili and cheese/
Threw some Baby Lucas in his eyes before I leave/
The cops’ll never get the lead, grandma taught me well/
And my uncle gun was the accessories, 211 sipping plus a robbery/
This little piggy went to market, this little piggy carry chrome”

Verse 2:
“Grandma said she loved me, I told her I loved her more/
She always got me things that we couldn’t afford/
The new Js and Tommy Hill in my drawers/
Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, see Golden Eye was away at war/
We wasn’t thinking of getting money then/
Nor did I wonder why my uncle done sold his Benz/
Cause he been tripping now, he sweats a lot and slimming down/
I also notice moms be locking doors when he around/
But anyways, he wife done left him and now he living with us/
My bike is missing, Grandma like to hide her check every month/
My uncle’s nuts, he used to give me whiskey to piss in cups/
Knocking on the door telling me to hurry up, he in a rush/
I gave it to him then got my ass whipped for doing it/
Moms used to tell me like, nigga, know who you dealing with/
Them was the good days ’til I was raised the older ways/
Rat-Tone my nigga’s brother showed me my first K/
I was amazed, me and Floyd was in the back, he called us over like, hey/
YAWK, YAWK, YAWK, YAWK! We like, damn, nigga/
Then again, YAWK, YAWK! We like, damn, nigga/
Hearing him say cuz turned us to a fan, nigga/
Later on he got locked so know we’re taking his fades/
Continue the chapter from his life, we flipping that page/
Gangbanging was a ritual and Grandma would help/
She should’ve never left her gun on the shelf/
This little piggy went to market, this little piggy carry chrome”

Throughout “Oxymoron”, ScHoolboy Q displays his ability to craft high-energy head nodding tracks. I wouldn’t call the various producers who handled the boards for the album a “super team”, however the production overall is top notch. There’s bangers everywhere on this album, from the opening track “Gangsta”, to “Collard Greens” ft. Kendrick Lamar, to the 2Chainz assisted “What They Want”, to the grooved-out “Studio”, to the melodic backdrop on “Hell Of A Night”, to the trunk-rattling close out track “Man Of The Year”. With all the repeat value on various tracks throughout Oxymoron, it is still far from flawless.

The main thing that holds the album back from manifesting to what it could have been is ScHoolboy Q’s rapping on a majority of the album, ranging from solid to average on more than half of the songs. I think part of that may be due to the subject matter on a third of the songs. Most of the time a club sounding track will not require high level rapping, and can for the most part, unless done right will throw the song off. There’s a reason why you won’t hear or find many great club-banger type tracks from the Canibus, Crooked I, Terminology, Kool G Rap type MC’s of the world. Sometimes the bars and music don’t fit, and there’s an art and science to making that work with superb bars like some of the all-time great MC’s have done, like a Biggie or Jay-Z. Q, similar to Method Man in respect to Wu-Tang, ScHoolboy Q may be in the bottom half of the TDE totem pole as far as bars are concerned, however he arguably has the most star quality and the best single crafting ability that can appeal to different Hip-Hop sectors. Not saying that he will sell a ton of records or will ever become a bigger star than Kendrick, but his ability to craft dope singles that appeal to the masses is on par with K.Dot and above everyone else thus far on TDE. Overall “Oxymoron” has enough standouts and cohesion in its 12 song offering to be considered a solid to good album, and another positive notch for the entire West Coast and TDE in the past few years.  #HaitianJack

Scores:  Oxymoron (2014)

Bars: M         Beats: XL        Music: XL         Report Card: B-

A. Pierre of HipHop Bars 2 Beats 4 Reviews, for War Room Sports