Unfortunately, the only music from Mobb Deep that most people have ever heard was when Eminem free-styled over the beat to “Shook Ones pt. 2” at the very end of 8 mile. The 1995 album “The Infamous” is probably the best that Mobb Deep ever released. It was the most defining sound that they ever had as a Duo. While their earliest music came off sounding too similar to Rakim, Mos Def, and the other big New york rappers during their come up, their later work began to sound like a mix of Three 6 Mafia and the Wu Tang Clan. I personally think that “The infamous was the perfect blend of both of those sounds. The improved Lyricism of Prodigy and Havoc were evident through the first few songs. Of course the beats were similar to all of the Boom-bap stuff back during that era, but many of the songs have their own unique qualities that make the beats sound so much more complex than the heavy, looping, repetitive stuff that lots of rappers used in the 90’s. All of this gives the record a sound that I can best describe as tough, but rowdy. All of this culminated into the masterpiece of the album, which is the aforementioned “shook ones pt. 2”. It has one of the most iconic beats in hip hop, Havoc’s voice flowed in it like melted chocolate; the lyrics were catchy but insightful at the same time, while still keeping you wanting to come back for more. It’s easily one of the most iconic songs of that era in Hip Hop- something you could go back and listen to on repeat without getting tired of it. And while I’m blogging about Mobb Deep, I’m just going to say that their second best song of all time is “G.O.D. Pt. 3,” a song off of their Hell on earth record. Anyways, I think Mobb Deep released a truly great album in “The Infamous” and it deserves more recognition as something that solidified the sound of East coast rap in the 90’s.

Hey everyone, this is a pretty straightforward post about Isaiah Rashad being on reddit. He’s one of my favorite artists in the genre, and it’s really cool overall to see the world through his eyes. Most of what he posts on there is just simple and fun. Nothing too serious- just stuff he finds interesting or funny. I think the video of him waiting at a weed dispensary is the best thing he’s put up on there. His comments and replies are pure gold too. I messaged him asking about the lyrics on “AA,” but I haven’t gotten a response back yet. He does claim however that he’s slowly but surely making his way through all the messages and is gonna get through all 560+ of them. Hopefully I’ll get a response by the time I’m 21. Anyways, I thought this was all really damn cool. He’s a modest guy, and it never really struck me how… normal he is. I guess that’s true for a lot of people that are famous, but he just seems like he’s a normal dude who happens to make outstanding music alongside Hip-Hop greats like Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q. I think as people, we sort of raise things to crazy high standards. Celebrities, Politicians, famous works of art, etc, are all things that we raise up to mythical proportions at times for no good reason. It’s hard to remember that these things are just that- things. Nothing incredibly good, or incredibly bad, they just exist. They only have value and worth because people decided that they were valuable and had worth. Overall, it helps me feel a little better knowing that I don’t have I’m essentially the same as people who did some incredible things. Isaiah Rashad is set to release an album this year, and I’m excited. Towards the end of last year, a bunch of songs and samples from TDE (Isaiah’s Label, along with multiple other artists) leaked onto the internet. I was fortunate enough to hear the two snippets of Zay that leaked, and both sounded amazing despite being really rough. All of his work is great, from his old mixtapes, to “The Sun’s Tirade,” one of the most mature and self-aware album’s I’ve ever heard in any genre. I’m excited to see what happens, and I’ll let you know if I get a message back from him anytime soon.

One one of my first blogs, I talked about how excited I was for Night Lovell’s upcoming album (the one this blog post is about). After 2 listens through, it’s safe to say Cloud rap is officially dead. The weird niche sub-genre that I once loved is nothing more than a confusing flash of memes and obscure pop culture trends. “GOODNIGHT LOVELL” was nothing short of a disappointment. To sum it up before everyone stops reading this: the 18 song album was about 10 or 11 songs too long. More specifically, every song seemed to have the same snippet of drums and bass as the basis of the beat, and it just started sounding like any other generic trap album that I’ve heard. I understand that trap is becoming really mainstream and popular, so I can’t/won’t hold anything against an artist for tweaking their sound to appeal to the broader rap audience. But when you ditch the dreamy, rich, feverish production, the basis of your music, the very thing that made you so appealing and amazing as an artist, in favor of a shitty trap sample and some garbage bass from a cheap 808 knockoff, You’ve become nothing more than a sellout. This album was pathetic, and I’ve lost lots of respect for Lovell as an artist. It’s obvious that he included an additional way too many extra tracks for the sole purpose of getting more streams on the album, which is something that only the most emotionally devoid and hyper-commercialized rappers are doing (I’m looking at you, Drake). In addition to this, the Album was dark- too dark. So dark that Lovell’s voice started sounding cheesy monotone and boring rather than sinister and deep after the 8th track. The album just ended up sounding really tacky and awkward as a result. The production just served as an example of how bad music can sound when you try and mix it on FL Studio and Audacity. Despite all of this, I did genuinely enjoy the songs “BUMBLE BEE” and “THE SUN”. “Bumble bee” was the only song on the album that didn’t shove the god awful drums down your throat, and “the sun” had some weird, distorted samples in the background that sounded reminiscent of the pre-2018 Night Lovell that I had come to love. Besides these and a few other tracks, I can’t say anything good about the album. It was pathetic. While other cloud rappers, like A$AP Rocky, Yung Lean, and Bones, have all grown distant from the sound that originally brought them (and the rest of the cloud-rappers of the early 2010s) so much attention, they all experimented in their own unique ways. Night Lovell shamelessly released 18 songs that all sound the same. Grade on the Edelen arbitrary grading scale: 3/10. I’m not here to play games, miss me with that weak stuff homie.

The new album by Gunna was one that lots of people had been waiting for since the first “Drip or drown” released. Gunna has become a staple of mainstream rap in the past 6 months or so, but his sound hasn’t changed much since then. I generally don’t like Gunna’s music, and Trap in general, but I try to go into every new song I listen to with an open mind. Upon first hearing Gunna’s voice, you can catch the Young Thug influence clearly: lazy, relaxed vocals that utilize random spikes and pronunciations of words are abundant. I would try and break down the album song by song, but to be honest, they all sounded pretty similar. “Baby Birkin” and “outstanding” both had really relaxing beats that seemed like they could have been taken right off of a chillhop/lofi record. “Idk why” and “big shot” were my least favorite songs on the album; they had really boring lyrics and beats that just didn’t seem like they belonged with all the others. The album was alright. I’ll give it a 5/10 on the arbitrary scoring scale. My main reason for the mediocre score, is that the most memorable parts of the album were the verses of Young Thug and Playboi Carti on their separate features. They both stood out a lot on the album which was marred by mind-numbingly simple beats and the droning, tiring voice of Gunna. The featured artists both took the spotlight during their features, and I just felt disappointed when I heard Gunna come back to finish the songs. I wouldn’t recommend the album to anyone, but I guess if you needed to put on some soft trap for background music, this would do a pretty good job of that.

Ah yes, some new Pouya music is here. In one of my first posts, I talked about how I hoped he would release some new stuff this year, and it looks like he’s done just that. The project, which I’m pretty sure isn’t technically an album, is essentially just filler content to hold us over until a full length album releases later this year (According to the rapper). The project as a whole feels… goofy. But with the album art and promotional footage saturated with purposely awful acting, Cuban links, popped collars, and a whole lot of synth, I’m pretty sure that’s the way that Pouya and Boobie wanted it to be. While the album looked very 80’s-esque from the outside, the sound wasn’t. Instead, it was very fast paced and funky sounding. Think mid-2000’s bling rap meets South Florida SoundCloud rappers. The beats sounded very tropical (?), and may have been sampled/ inspired by synthwave and sounds similar to it. I’m going to be honest though, I didn’t care enough to figure out if/when songs were sampled, but I don’t think anyone really cares a whole lot anyways. I gave the project a good listen through, and while it isn’t one that was too memorable, it had a few standout songs. “Pe$Os” and “Vice City” both had great beats along with the simple yet almost addictive rapid-fire flow of Pouya. They’re definitely worthy of being added into my playlist. Overall, the project has a fun vibe with generic lyrics that make for great music to have in the background while you’re doing other stuff. Overall, it gets a 7/10 on my totally arbitrary grading system. It wasn’t meant to be anything great, but it did a great job of being everything that it was meant to be.

Mr. Mustang 2019 did not disappoint. As a contestant myself last year, I can say that no one on stage this year came close to doing as bad as I did. Lots of the participants had great skits, and most knew the dance very well. That being said, some of the musical skits caught me by surprise.

The skits ranked

1. Mr. news. A sick beat, bars that flowed well, and no stutters. What else could you ask for in a performance like this one. Mr. News had great bars that were easy to follow without much thinking. His voice went really well with the low-key beat, and The message he was trying to bring across was simple enough for me to understand- something really valuable in a show like this. If you see this, Jackson, just know I think you should have made it to the top 5.

2. Mr. AP Psychology. Not too bad overall. Lyrics that encompass large words with many syllables are hard to pull off in a rap, but zayn did it pretty well in my opinion. The hook of “first I gotta win Mr. Mustang” got redundant towards the end of the verse, but it wasn’t terrible. The message of the song was confusing, as I didn’t know what to make of all the Psychology vocabulary being thrown at me, but he delivered it nicely to make it palatable and enjoyable to listen to.

3. Mr. AP Bio. I might be biased in this because I hate the beat that Colin rapped over. But come on man, it’s 2019, why did you have to go with XO Tour Life? Anyways, the quick tempo of the beat hurt the chances of this skit doing very good. Trying to fit “cytoplasm” in with other latin monstrosities of words, all at 160 BPM? That isn’t easy for even the most commercially successful rappers. Colin did manage to say his bars without stuttering or stopping, but the problem with going that fast for a long amount of time is that it leaves you out of breath, which makes your voice sound flat and emotionless. That in turn makes everything harder to understand. I do respect his effort though, as he did WAY better than I could have. He just bit off a little more than he could chew.

While much of the attention of the local music scene goes to bands, there is a smaller up-and-coming wave of rappers who live in the area too. Some of the stuff they’re doing is really cool, with many putting a unique spin on the sounds that I’ve gotten used to hearing in Hip Hop. One such artist is Vice Pharaoh. It won’t come as much of a surprise that this artist is based in St. Louis, but what is surprising is the new sound that’s become familiar in lots of his songs. Much of his lyrics pertain to those of typical rap songs- drugs, women, and money, all in a braggadocios way. Contrary to gangsta rap and some newer forms of trap, however, the sound is much more rough and gritty. The lyrics are yelled, rather than rapped in a traditional sense. The beats and vocals are mixed to sound blended and grimy, but it all works to make a sound that sounds energetic, powerful, and angry. The sound isn’t totally unique to St. Louis, but it is interesting and fun to listen to- especially since many of these artists have a twang that is really only found in the accent of inner city St. Louis residents. Other local artists with a similar sound include Dee Huncho, la4ss, and King B. I feel like it’s important to say, that no one rapper has a sound that defines the local scene, and no rapper started anything in particular that’s totally original. The best thing about local artists is that they all have their own view of the genre, and make songs that sound slightly unique to any other artists I’ve heard. These guys aren’t great by any means, but it’s always fun to support people that come from the same place I do, even though I’ve come from a very different walk of life than most of these artists have. They’re all creative and independent of a defining sound, and I think that makes the local scene really interesting.

Since the Game itself was extremely boring and unentertaining, it isn’t much of a surprise that the half time show was what most people were looking forward to. As the first half came to a close with what was a thrilling “punt the ball” contest taking place instead of real football, I couldn’t wait to see the half time show. What I got was nothing short of a disappointment. Maroon 5 underwhelmed (that isn’t really surprising though in all honesty) and the side acts were just that- side acts. None of them really made a bold statement with what little time they were given to preform. I’m upset with how the game went, so I’ll go ahead and give some advice to the NFL for the next half time performance.

1. Stop getting have-been bands and artists to headline the show. Seriously, who the hell would consider themselves a big Maroon 5 fan at this point? Get a band that appeals more to the audience that actually cares about the game: 55 year old dads. Given our new target market and the fact that this Superbowl was down in the south, Lynyrd Skynyrd seems like a good fit. They might be a little too old to resonate well with younger people who watch the game, so throwing in any generic pop-punk band that people instantly recognize would probably be suitable too.

2. Get better side acts. While I did enjoy Bug Boi and Travis Scott performing at this superbowl, they were more of an afterthought than a major piece of the show. I would have loved to see André 3000 come out too so that the duo could have formed the omnipotent duo known as Outkast could perform “Hey Ya”. Along with that addition, I would have loved to see some newer atlanta rappers get in on the show too. Future, Gucci Mane, Rich the Kid, or even Soulja Boy would have elevated the show to another level. Travis Scott gets to stay in the show too, but only if he sings songs off of “Rodeo”.

3. Have 21 Savage make a surprise appearance at the game. I know this fits in with my point about newer Atlanta Rappers, but it needs its own point since he’s technically a british rapper now. We all know 21 deserves to be free, so ICE could make up for their wrongdoings by letting him out of custody to make an appearance that literally no one was expecting.

4. Play sweet victory all the way through. Let’s be real, half the people born after 1998 (myself included) were only interested in watching the game to see wether or not the greatest tribute of all time would happen. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed.

I don’t really know a good way to start this without it sounding really cliché and dull, so I’m just going to get right into it. Some of my favorite pieces that dropped in the past year or so were from a small brand called Lord Knows, based out of Portland, Oregon. Just something interesting to point out before I get into this is that the brand was officially called “LXRD KNOWS” up until around a few months ago, when the X in “LXRD” was replaced with an O. Hands down, the best thing about this brand, is the authenticity that every piece carries. The brand owner (simply known as Chris) bases every piece the brand puts out off of the real experiences he’s had in life. From drawings of Osama Bin laden and George W. bush smiling and embracing each other, to the unique and infamous Uzi that gets put on a lot of the clothing, the brand has a truly anti-establishment vibe that focuses on his internal issues along with the external issues he sees in society. The dopest thing they’ve ever dropped, in my opinion, was a t-shirt depicting a a Portland PD cruiser that had “LORD KNOWS” spray painted on the side. What I loved about this is that Chris (the brand owner) actually vandalized the side of the car himself during the 2016 riots that followed the presidential election. I’m aware vandalism is illegal and generally bad, but the fact that he was willing to take risks and do things that no-one else was, in order to grow his brand, is just really damn cool. The class of 2018 shirts that were released on the 4 year anniversary were unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The name of the piece is vague, but on the 4th anniversary of the brand’s conception, Lord Knows released shirts containing the names of everyone that had bought something from the company since their first clothing drop. For only $8, you could buy a shirt that had your first and last name on it (along with everyone else’s name too), in what was essentially the most based and original “thank you for the support” that I’ve ever seen from any company in any industry. No other brand compares.

To start out, many people don’t really know what this blog is about. When I made it, I didn’t know entirely what it would be about. I knew it would probably revolve around Hip Hop and the culture around it, but that was about as far as I had gotten. It’s become clearer to me now, that I want to focus more on the underground scene than mainstream artists. With that said, I’m going to use my first real post to talk about my favorite upcoming projects. One of the things I’m most excited for is Night Lovell’s upcoming album. Like many other rappers who earned their following on SoundCloud, Lovell is known for his rough, grimy flow that creates a sound that’s best described as modern horror-core. The Three 6 Mafia influence is clear in all of his songs, as he combines his voice with hard trap beats to create a uniquely dark aesthetic. His album “GOODNIGHT LOVELL” is slated to drop on February 22nd. I’m also excited to see what fellow SoundCloud rappers, like Pouya and Bones, are going to release this year. While neither artist has any music that is confirmed to be releasing this year, it’s very likely that they’ll both release mixtapes or albums this year. Pouya’s album “Five-Five” was one of my favorite albums of 2018, as his rapid-fire delivery and high nasally voice went together perfectly with the variety of beats included in his songs. Bones, on the other hand, released 4 projects in 2018, and is likely to keep up with that pace by continuing to release music this year. 2018 saw the Michigan rapper take a step in a different direction, as he experimented with simpler, more depressing beats, while also using a more natural voice in most of his songs. I personally wasn’t a big fan of his new sound, but it’s always exciting to see artists in any genre experiment and take their music in a new direction rather than stick with one sound and run it into the ground. The final thing I’m excited to listen to in 2019 (hopefully?) is Kanye West’s supposedly upcoming album “Yandhi”. Unfortunately, it’s been close to 6 months since the day the album was first supposed to drop, so there’s a good chance we won’t ever get to hear the project. But assuming that it is going to be released, I can’t wait to hear it. In my opinion, Kanye has never released a bad album, although last year’s “ye” was somewhat forgettable. West consistently pushes the boundaries of rap with his work, and based on the short samples I heard from the album, I’m expecting rap to be changed once again in 2019