100 Grand On My Wrist, Yeah Life Sucks

Mix #31: Enjoyable Music To Listen To

2012-01-28T00:04:00.000-08:00

Oh hello. There is a lot of new music and it is rather difficult to keep up on all of it these days. I have compiled the finest of new Bay Area rap music with some older good music onto one convenient mixtape for you.
When I see people complaining about how there is no good music coming out anymore I want to transport them back to the 90's when you'd be waiting for months on end to hear one new album that you had to pay $14.99 for and it was usually okay at best and then you would turn on your computer and play Glider PRO and sit back and think, 'this is living!'
Those were the bad old days, we are living in the golden age my friend, life could not be better:

1.) HD "Always Be There For You"

This song is amazing, best song on this fucking mixtape, hands down. Sounds like HD is dipping into Sad Raps territory, which has been dominated by The Jacka and Ampichino these past few years. I could listen to songs like this all day.

2.) J. Stalin "Don't Talk"

To celebrate Stalin's confusing new album, here is one of the best songs he has ever released. Produced by The Mechanix, the beat has a very stark and eerie feel to it.

3.) Keak Da Sneak "They So Wet"

Despite the laughable album cover and title, Keak Hendrix has some real slaps on it. Tons of cold, industrial beats that are danceable in the most artificial manner possible. It sounds like the beats were made by a robot. Thumbs up!

4.) Beeda Weeda "Hustle"

Beeda Weeda has a new free mixtape out to build excitement for his perpetually delayed, DJ Fresh produced, Bass Rock Babies. The mixtape is mostly recycled tracks, but has a handful of new songs that are really good.

5.) E-40 ft. YG, IamSu & Problem "Function"

New E-40! It's good, I like it. You could probably make the argument that it doesn't sound much different than the last four albums by him, but you're not going to do that because this song is enjoyable. LOL at a rapper being named Problem, personally I think Lil Predicament or Young Dilemma would have been a better rap name, but who am I?

6.) Lil B "BasedGod Strugglin'"

I'm just now catching up on Based God and his new mixtape, Gold House. The album has tons of energy and all sorts of Lil B hijinks, easily his best release since Bitch Mob: Respect Da Bitch Vol. 1. I like how Lil B is always rapping about his group, Bitch Mob, in which he is the exclusive member. Looking forward to White Flame, with it's homage cover to Soulja Slim's Give It 2 'Em Raw.

7.) Luni Coleone "La La"

This is off of Luni Coleone's new album, New Sac City. It is not a good album, Luni Coleone lacks any sort of energy behind the mic and the beats could not be more uninteresting. This song is decent though, I hope Lunasicc can step it up for his next release and be sure and yell his name a lot more.

8.) Scoob Nitty ft. King Freako & Montana Macks "Bus, Train, Boat or Plane"

I think a mix of the best of The Ghetto Starz probably needs to happen some time soon. Scoob Nitty's verse is so treal at the beginning of this song, few rappers can put so much emotion into their rhymes like Nitty. Off Scoob Nitty's 2002 album, Black Tony Montana.

9.) Purp Reynolds "Hip Hop Cypha"

Purp Reynolds is a rapper that has been making some quality music for quite some time now and pushing hard to promote himself, but is flying under everyone's radar because he is from Stockton instead of Oakland or whatever. The beat on this song has such a positive and laid back feel to it, produced by Lukie Baby.

10.) Lil Blood "The Rain"

I somehow missed out on this song when it was originally released. The beat is classic DJ Fresh, flipping an old-school sample in an unpredictable manner.

11.) San Quinn ft. Choppa "Fallback"

This song is off Quinn's latest album, Guns, Oil and Drugs and it is further evidence that San Quinn has shed his good guy persona and is thematically very similar to "Live Wit Dat Decision," which is a quality song as well. Idk who the guy is rapping at the end of the song, but lol at like 20 rappers going by the name of Choppa.

12.) Yarrow Slaps "Relax"

Yarrow Slaps is a San Francisco rapper that has been getting a decent amount of attention lately with a constant stream of new singles and mixtapes. Him and his group's loose, but lyrical style of hip hop is not necessarily my cup of tea, but they all show a great deal of talent and are worth checking out.

13.) Rich The Factor "Track 01"

What 100GoMW,YLS mixtape is complete without some Rich the Factor? This song is off his 2008 album, Bucks Over Fame. I think he stopped doing adlibs after this album, because he realized he is not good at them; lots of "uhhh"s at the end of this one.

14.) Dubb 20 "Ain't Nothing Better"

From 2005's Dope Man, Dope Music, Dope Money. Most rappers were trying to jump on the hyphy train during this time period, but Dubb 20 was keeping it trill the whole time.

15.) Natovatotaco "Take Her Home"

Song mashups are a cool thing to do these days. Mike sent me this album full of zany mashups the other week and it is an interesting listen. This song features a J. Stalin and Frank Sinatra song mashed together.

16.) Young Lox ft. The Jacka, Husalah, T-Wayne, Lil Rue & Street Knowledge "Better Have Ones On 'Em"

Young Lox is a member of Jacka's The Artist Records and just released a new album called Loxycotin, which is a clever play on words about Oxycontin. There's LOX and now Young Lox in the rap game, does Lox mean anything besides smoked salmon to people? T-Wayne continues to sound exactly like Shady Nate on this song. Dope lineup!

17.) Beeda Weeda ft. Maybach, HD, Lil Blood & J. Stalin "Da Bumble Freestyle"

E-40's "Da Bumble" is one of my favorite rap beats of all time. On this track Livewire and friends take turns rapping and it sounds awesome.

18.) Stickup Kiddz "Lavyii Life"

I recently discovered this rap duo called The Sickup Kiddz from David Drake over at The Fader. They are from Oakland and have been active for several years, but for some reason I am just now hearing them for the first time. From what I can gather they are associated with the NHT Boyz and the energy each rapper brings to the mic is impressive.

19.) AP.9 "Cost"

AP.9 is tight, but his range is sort of limited as a rapper; anything outside of ultra hard mob raps sounds pretty bad. This new song is just hard enough to work for him though. It is about women paying him, a highly relatable topic for all of the readers of this blog. Good to hear him rapping fast on the bridge of this song.

20.) Keak Da Sneak "Really Wit It"

Wow, two songs from Keak Hendrix?!? The album is pretty dope! Robotic beats combined with Keak's gravelly voice are the frontrunner for the soundtrack to the apocalypse (for rap music).

21.) Lil B "Awesome"

This is good stuff, tons of nonsensical rhymes and weird energy on Gold House. I recommend you check it out for yourself. "Bitch you look so awesome, Imma tell you this, bitch you look like a dolphin," is probably my favorite rap line from 2012 thus far.

DL: 100GoMW,YLS Mixtape #31

I don't think I'm going to make these mixes anymore for a while because spending hours putting things like this together so 40 people can download it is sort of depressing. Maybe I will start a blog about something more people care about, like celebrity gossip or some shit.

I Hate A Tribe Called Quest: A Personal Essay

2012-01-25T22:08:00.000-08:00

sorry bros

I still don't have my computer back, so I went ahead and wrote a goddamn essay:

I hate A Tribe Called Quest so much. Their music isn't even that bad, it's just that they represent everything that is wrong with rap music. Allow me to explain:
When I was 11 and first started buying rap CDs, probably like the eighth album I got was A Tribe Called Quest CD (I don't remember which one) because they had a song on the radio that I liked. I ended up returning the disc because it was so boring to me. There were all sorts of jazzy tones in the beats that bored me to death and the rappers had no emotion in their raps. Any sort of clever wordplay in the rhymes probably flew over my head and the quiet beat selection was in sharp contrast to the bombastic sounds I was used to from Southern and West Coast rap music.
Shortly after that I struck up a conversation with a high schooler about rap music. He was really into theater and always tried to come off as super intelligent, to give you a feel for the type of guy he was. I told him I had bought a CD by A Tribe Called Quest, but returned it because I didn't like it. He quickly began chiding me for that action, telling me I didn't know anything about "real music." I quickly began rattling off the names of my favorite rappers at the time (E-40, Spice 1, Dru Down, Brotha Lynch Hung, etc.) and he dismissed all of those artists by saying, "those type of rappers have no substance to them, just dumb raps about violence and money." Being an 11 year old talking to a 17 year old, I just nodded and said, "yeah I guess so..." I went home that day and didn't know what to think, did I have stupid tastes in music? Should I start listening to more 'mature music?' When a high schooler tells you that the music you love at the age of 11 is dumb it can really get in your head.

Me circa 1998

I literally didn't listen to any music for the next week, I didn't know what I could listen to anymore. Finally I said 'fuck that guy, I'm going to listen to whatever I want' and have not looked back since. The thing is, I completely understand why someone would like A Tribe Called Quest, but to me they epitomize everything that is self-absorbed and pretentious about the rap culture. I mean, their debut album is titled People's Instinctive Travels and the Path of Rhythm, the fuck is that? It doesn't even mean anything, but sounds smart enough that rap nerds can pat themselves on the back for listening to it.

The term "real hip-hop," the most repulsive three letter phrase a rap fan or worse a music critic can utter, really began to pick up steam after rappers like A Tribe Called Quest began to gain popularity. Somehow over the years the fallacy has developed that rap music used to be a completely honest and authentic form of artistic expression, but has deteriorated into a talentless celebration of all things superficial. Looking at youtube comments for songs like "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like That)" and "Saturdays" or anything along those genre lines, you are met with hundreds of comments stating something like 'this is real hip hop from the golden age, too bad nowadays rappers just make songs filled with curse words about their jewelry.' When did rappers ever not make songs about their material possessions? Or with curse words? Why is that such a bad thing for anyone besides middle aged soccer moms? I'm not a rap historian, but let's talk about early rap music; is Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" really so different from the majority of gangster rap that has come out in the last few years? Sure, musically they sound very different, but the message remains the same: 'I'm about to go crazy living in this shitty neighborhood of mine.' However, rappers such as Waka Flocka Flame and Soulja Boy have attracted an unprecedented amount of hate, because they are "not lyrical rappers" and lack the clever wordplay of others at times. Why does that matter? Rap music and all music for that matter was never supposed to be a technical exercise, but rather a form of expression. What made early hip hop so special was that it was either catchy or painted a picture for listeners of what living in rough neighborhoods was like. It was different and people all around the country liked it.

Exhibit A: If this song were by a New York City rapper then it would be considered a hip hop classic guaranteed.

Run-DMC, one of the first rap groups to garner national success, had lyrics that largely revolved around having a good time and always strove for mainstream appeal. They were no doubt talented lyricists, but to say that their rhyme schemes or whatever are what ushered in their success rather than catchy hooks and beats is a joke.
It wasn't until the early 90's that rap music began to develop a more intellectual element to it; rappers weren't just trying to get the party started or rapping about coke. The music no longer revolved around personal experience, but rather strove to be unique and smart. The music created by A Tribe Called Quest and other rap groups was a natural evolution for the genre and produced a lot of records that people like, but naturally it wore out it's welcome by the mid 90's in favor of gangster rap. Rap records from this short time period and region (mostly New York) were less explicit and had tons of music samples that people could nerd out about. The music transitioned into more straightforward rap in New York, but people continued to jock it heavily and the idea that it was infinitely more superior than any other hip hop continued to develop.
This rap music snobbery is largely New York City-centric and has fooled just about every music journalist into believing that because NYC is considered the birthplace of hip hop, any other region's rap music is inherently inferior.
ASAP Rocky literally just recruited every producer that Main Attrakionz and Lil B had been using (or beatjacked them), backed it up with forgettable rapping and now has a feature in every indie music magazine and a million dollar deal to show for it. Why? Because he is from New York and New York rap is always important and worth paying attention to according to every music critic. His success fits an easy narrative of being part of a hip hop comeback for a region that used to thrive musically, but has staggered for several years. I guarantee you that if he was from anywhere besides NYC, especially the West Coast, no one would give two fucks about him.

Where is it? In 1992?!?

The first generation of rap music wasn't significant because of how complex their rhymes were, but rather the emotions they expressed and the visual imagery they created for listeners about what it was like in their neighborhood. Rappers are still doing that same thing today, but it is scoffed at by a large number of older rap listeners who could not grow with the times and younger listeners who want to be perceived as unique by shunning their current generation of music. The truth is that the particular breed of rap music they approve of existed for only a short period of time in the genre's long, evolving history and they are just fetishizing the past.

I think the real difference between "real hip hop" and all other rap in people's minds who feel the need to differentiate the two is that the music they have labelled as authentic is much more friendly and non-threatening. White people from the suburbs who drive a Subaru and only eat organic foods can listen to early 90's NYC rap like A Tribe Called Quest while driving to Whole Foods and be like "this is REAL hip hop, I wish all rap was like this!" Then when they hear some Waka Flocka Flame on the radio their ears start bleeding and they jump on their shitty blog when they get home and write a scathing rant about what is wrong with rap music these days. Then they pat themselves on the back and drink some chamomile tea or some shit.

Exhibit B: the rapping on this song is far from good, but who cares? It's a fun and enjoyable song!

At the end of the day I guess it's not really A Tribe Called Quest that I hate so much, (I kind of like "Find a Way") but rather the "real hip hop" aesthetic of needing to project an image within the culture of being more intelligent and thus more important than other rappers because they chose to make songs jam packed with clever samples and references to pop culture, rather than based on personal experiences. Or maybe they use live instruments to make their beats, therefore they are "real artists." So many rappers that shun the monotony of mainstream rap turn around and make some of the most repetitive music possible to try and gain approval from fellow listeners of "real hip hop," such as doing a homage mixtape to Nas' Illmatic if you are from the East Coast or freestyle rapping over "From 93 Til Infinity" if you are from the West Coast.

Anyways, next time someone starts to lecture you about "real music" or how rap music has greatly deteriorated from what it used to be, do me a favor and tell them to chill the fuck out and stay in their own lane.
Have a great day and listen to music because you enjoy it, not because it's cool to like it. I'm outta here.

Please Help Me Understand the Concept of This Album Cover

2012-01-22T13:28:00.001-08:00

This album cover for J. Stalin's upcoming release has some pretty confusing imagery going on here that I am not sure what to make of. Rappers stealing movie titles and concepts for their album covers is nothing new, but what the fuck is going on here?
In the movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, aliens are hatching these emotionless duplicates of people in pods that are replacing them in a small town in California. The main character who figures out what is going on has to try and escape the town filled with alien doppelgangers to warn others. I think it was all a metaphor for communism or something.
On this album cover J. Stalin seems to be on the run from zombies, which is understandable, but for some reason he is dragging a body along in a trash bag while on the run. Are the zombies the body snatchers? Or is he the body snatcher? He clearly is in possession of a dead body here, are they both body snatchers and competing for bodies? Is J. Stalin hauling the dead body of a loved one that he wants to save from being converted into a zombie? So many questions! Help me out bros.

There should probably be some music in this post, so:

This is a newish music video from J. Stalin for an oldish song. Many things to lol about here, especially Stalin pretending to be a rock star and him being perpetually shorter than any female in his videos. Is it just me or is the main female in this video pretty gross looking? You can do better than that bro! Nice video concept though, haven't seen many rap videos lately that end in a bitter divorce. Luckily for everyone, J. Stalin keeps his shirt on here.

I still do not have a working computer and thus access to any of my music, so maybe I will write an essay for the next post or something.

Can you explain this album cover to me?
Does J. Stalin look especially egg-shaped on the album cover?
What do you think of the music video?
Do rappers need to raise their standards for women in videos?
Is Memoirs of a Curb Server ever going to come out?

I leave you with a gif of a sassy llama as you ponder all of these questions:

The Jacka's The Verdict Song-By-Song

2012-01-20T01:27:00.002-08:00

This building is actually a library in South San Francisco

The Jacka's second album in the trilogy about the flaws in the American judiciary system just came out this past Tuesday. The Jacka is one of my favorite Bay Area rappers of all time and according to the press release attached to these albums, has sold over half a million records independently. The Jack Artist, Tear Gas and his Devilz Rejectz albums with Ampichino are some of the best rap music the Bay Area has to offer. Is the new album on that same level? As promised when we reviewed The Indictment, here is a breakdown of The Verdict:

1.) The Verdict 1
The album begins with the sound of people chanting "guilty," presumably outside of courtroom. Not really sure how to feel about concept albums in rap music, they never really stick to the concept too well, so what's the point? It doesn't really matter. The verdict is announced as guilty and the crowd is excited, I wonder what this audio sample is from?

LOL

2.) Everyday

The first song kicks off with Jacka's synthesized voice crooning on the hook over a dope beat that buzzes away with layers of guitars, organs, and other shit. The way the beat builds up its layers and then is stripped back down again is real tight. The chorus is actually really catchy, it's nice to see the album kicking off with a true solo song. One of my biggest complaints about the last album was that there weren't enough songs with just The Jacka on it. This is a great song, strong start to the album!

3.) Time Still Tickin' ft. Lil Rue
This song has one of those piano and violin sampled melancholy beats that Jacka seems to love for his Sad Rap style. The Jacka is singing again on the chorus, this time in a much more subtle fashion. I've run out of clever things to say about Lil Rue's slurred style, I wonder if he is going to join Jacka's The Artist Records? That would probably work out well. The song is only two verses, but it's another good song, if not a bit too recognizable for those that know Jack's music.

4.) OMG ft. J. Stalin

This song is a sequel to Jacka's smash hit, "ROFL" (joke). Are serious rappers starting to use internet slang now? If a gangster rapper came out with a song called "Lettuce Be Cereal" I think it'd be humorous. The beat has a real polished feel to it, like something a popular rapper would use for a song about reaping all the rewards of his success. There is some guy that sings the hook and he does a good job, a lot of R&B singers that do rap hooks sound hella annoying/homosexual, but this guy is alright in my book. The Jacka keeps a fast pace for both of his brief verses, with the second verse being notable for the melody he holds at the beginning of it and how his verse bleeds into the chorus. J. Stalin comes in for the third verse about women loving him despite his oblong body shape (joke). Another quality song, it breezes by super quick, with three verses and a hook all in under three minutes!

5.) Verdict 2
An audio clip of a jury announcing it has found the defendant guilty of murder. Ok.Take a minute to listen to some Suffocation or something.

Reason #45435 teenage girls should not be given internet access

6.) The Rain ft. Smigg Dirtee & Vince V
If you are familiar with Jacka then you know the guy loves making songs about rain. He should move to the Northwest so that he can be around rain all the time and be the token black guy. I'm sure all the hipsters in Portland would smoke him out whenever he wants (via white guilt and wanting to be cool enough to have a black friend). Back to the song: it opens with a fruity vocoded hook by some no-name singer before the beat kicks in. The beat is pretty tight and it's always good to hear Smigg Dirtee. Pretty sure Jacka's verse is recycled, but I cannot recall from what at the moment. Not feeling the hook at all on this one, it sort of ruins the song for me.

8.) Let It Go

The song opens with some dramatic synths, like something in an intense movie scene before the beat kicks in with Jacka rapping. The beat is driven by a soul music sample, bass guitar and guitar picking that has a nice throwback feel to it. This song is about learning to not get tied up with all your life problems and let go of all that stress. I haven't mentioned it thus far, but Jacka's raps have been dope so far, he mentions unicorns in the second verse as a reference to coke. Awesome! Jacka epitomizes the fact that you can be a lyrical rapper that still makes interesting music, something 90% of those "real hip hop" rappers haven't figured out yet. The third verse gets pretty hardbody, his delivery gets more intense as he raps about another senseless murder in his neighborhood. Tight song.

9.) Knock Her Down ft. Smigg Dirtee & Lil Rue

This beat is produced by Jeffro, who has done tons of quality beats for Jacka such as "All Over Me," "Aspen" and "We" and features angelic female vocals over some strings that I am going to assume are a harp. Is this what heaven sounds like? The Jacka sings the hook about having sex with other guys' women, oh Jacka, you're a card! I believe the reason there are a lot of Smigg Dirtee features is that Siccness.net is putting out these albums and he has very close ties with them. There is some guy that sings on the fourth verse that sounds really horrible, his voice goes really low halfway through and he honestly sounds like a rapist. Lil Rue's verse uses the analogy of a mixed martial arts fighting for sex that makes little sense; "like a UFC fight when I pin her down, make her tap out when every round." That's not even a coherent sentence. Sans the rapist in the middle this song it is pretty swell.

10.) All Around The World ft. J. Stalin
Stalin does the chorus on this song and discusses his predilection for financial assets over female affection. Does anybody know who the rappers are on the second and third verse? They're uncredited on this song and do not sound familiar to me. There is nothing in particular about this song that stands out and it has too much no-name rappers and not enough Jacka.

11.) Here We Are ft. Joe Blow, Young Lox & 12 Gauge Shottie

Hey it's Joe Blow! So the rappers that are "signed" to The Artist Records at this current moment are Joe Blow, Young Lox, Street Knowledge and Jacka. Am I missing anyone? Jacka is singing on the chorus of this song again and following the melody of the violins in the beat. His verse really stands out on this track because it starts out at a normal pace, but gradually gains speed before reaching a pace that sounds like he is barely breathing. For another example of rappers rapping without breathing check out Nickatina's verse on this song.

Bros

12.) They Need That Mob Shit ft. Cellski & Stevie Joe

Cellski and Jacka collaborations are always welcome in my book. "Won't Be Right" was one the best songs on Tear Gas. Jacka's chorus on this song is recycled from "2 Took and The Jack" off Cellski's newest album, which is kind of a bummer. I would imagine most people didn't hear that album though, so it won't be a problem for most. Stevie Joe raps on this song, "white folks can't understand how we came to be neighbors," LOL. Raps about white people being bummed out by a rapper's success are never not funny. Decent song.

13.) The Verdict 3

A bunch of audio clips of people reacting positively about the person being found guilty. Ok. Take a minute to listen to Immolation or something.

SWAG KING

14.) Imma King ft. the Game

I don't have a strong opinion of The Game, but remember fondly Yukmouth and his crew releasing endless diss songs directed towards him. My favorite parts were when Yukmouth made fun of The Game's butterfly face tattoo, tongue ring, and claimed he used to be a male stripper. Hilarious! This song is cool, but Jacka is barely on the track, delivering one verse and then leaving the rest of the song up to "The Gayme" as Yukmouth used to call him (so clever!). As good as this song is, I don't think it was a smart move to end the album on a song that barely features Jacka.

I enjoyed this album a great deal, I think it is a better album than The Indictment and greatly benefited from slightly less features and more Jacka. The album's first half is its strongest and gets a bit lost with all the features in the second half. If you are a fan of Jacka then you should probably check this album out. I put up DL links for the best songs on the album for you to check out.

On Tuesday a full cup of water was accidentally poured on my computer and now it doesn't work. I put this post together on my girlfriend's computer and am not really sure how long until I get my computer back, which has all of my music on it. I hate everything.
I'm going to try and keep doing posts though as I slump into a deep depression due to the fact that my happiness is based almost exclusively on access to a piece of technology.

What do you think of the album?
Do you think it's better than The Indictment?
Have you guys seen any good movies lately?

"I Was Not Expecting This..."

2012-01-14T00:53:00.001-08:00

Ever since our friends at Droptops & Stacy Lattisaw Tapes put this song on their mix of best songs of 2011 I've been pondering its greatness:

Lil B "Bill Bellamy"

This song represents Lil B at the top of his game and doing something that few rappers are capable of: taking in the atmosphere and vibe of a song's beat and then creating raps that are in a completely opposite direction. While Lil B's raps are bizarre and abstract at times, it is usually accompanied by an off-kilter beat, for instance "Like a Martian" begs for ignorant-as-fuck, ridiculous raps and he more than delivers. But when given beats that are more ethereal and melodic his raps tend to become more coherent and introspective, for instance on "Last Summer."
But on this song he's faced with a dead serious and urgent production that begs for some focused, substantial raps. He creates the illusion of earnestness in his tone, but brings some of his most abtruse verses to date. The chorus is him counting felonies accompanied by verses with lines like, "if I'm fuckin' lyin' turn my soul into a skeleton" and "YOU goin' shoppin', fuck goin' shoppin'." What does it all mean? It means Lil B is at his best when remaining unpredictable and at his worst when he is teaming nostalgic East Coast beats with social commentary raps (see BasedGod Velli).

I like his neon shirt (no homo)

It reminds me of this Husalah song:

Husalah "Gear"

This beat (produced by Rob Lo?) begs for a few introspective verses reflecting on one's time in the hard streets and just about every rapper would have probably taken that approach when given a sound like this, but Hus instead decides to strictly rap about how fly his clothes are for three and a half minutes and follow that with some of his best ad libs to date ("yeah I've been working out!") about how handsome his wardrobe makes him.
Husalah in his heyday reminds me of Gucci Mane in his own, in that they both were able to create clever and memorable raps that largely revolved around superficial things, but often proved to be intelligent commentary about what they represented in their own culture. In other words, many people who don't 'get' their music and find it to be ignorant are usually not smart enough to pick up on its true meaning (i.e. hipsters listening to Gucci ironically can eat a dick).

The point of all this is that it takes a talented rapper to accept a beat that is created specifically for a particular subject matter and then completely go against that in his rhymes.

If someone were to rap about finding true love over "Luv Dem Gun Sounds" it would be dope as fuck.

Semi-related note: Lil B might have #secrete #rare beef with Soulja Boy. As a person on the internet this is extremely relevant to my interests. Even though they probably both weigh under a buck fifty I think Based God would win in a fight.

Super Excting Announcement: The FUTURE of 100 Grand on My Wrist

2012-01-12T01:46:00.000-08:00

After 6 months of tense negotiations between 100GoMW,YLS' team of lawyers and the internet I am proud to announce www.100grandonmywrist.com

"what happened to the .blogspot?!?!"

It's gone gentle reader, gone forever. The legitimacy of this site continues to grow and now has a slightly less ridiculously long URL so you can easily check up on your favorite Bay Area rap blog wherever you are.

"That's great Thomas, but I'm going to need a little more than that to get excited. I want real change I can see."

I completely understand. You better sit down right now and not have a mouth full of beverage due to the likelihood of you spitting it out when I tell you that 100 Grand on My Wrist now has its own youtube page!

Goddamnit I warned you about that. Look at the mess you've made now. I hope that doesn't ruin your computer.

"What can we expect from the 100grandonmywrist youtube page? Are you going to upload videos of your cat or maybe video reviews of new albums?"

Video reviews of anything are literally the most boring thing that exist on the internet and I don't have a pet, so the youtube page will be used to upload all those tight Bay Area rap songs that should already be on youtube, but are not. On the sidebar of this site there is a section linking to that page, so check the page often or subscribe to it or something, I have tons of awesome music to upload to it. Here are the gems up on the page already:

"Great! Is there more exciting news? I feel like there is..."

Yes! I am proud to announce that the majority of 100 Grand on My Wrist has been updated to include active links for the music posted. That's right, over 400 mixtape and song links are now up to date with music you can easily stream and download. By the end of the week all 230 plus posts will be completely up to date! Divshare changed their format in early December so all the music players in posts before that got messed up and the links before the site used Mediafire and Divshare are almost all dead because the blog used to use zshare (lol), but almost everything is up to date now.

"That must have taken you a long time to do, is that why you haven't posted in a week?"

Not at all, I outsourced this project to a group of child laborers in Laos. I paid them pennies on the dollar to go through my music library and get everything up to date. I was just busy living the extravagant lifestyle of a rap blogger (hunting endangered species, purchasing blood diamonds, etc).

"Work faster!"

"But where do I start when looking through the archives? There are so many posts to choose from."

Here are some suggestions, but there is tons more in the archives for you to peruse:

The More Things Change... (Comparing and contrasting Yukmouth's first album with his newest album at the time

Liveblogging Brotha Lynch Hung's A Dinner and a Movie

Album Covers With Rappers Pretending To Be on Their Phone

Albums You Should Listen To: Ghetto Starz- The SL-ums (one of the best Bay Area rap albums!)

Transcript of 100GoMW,YLS Quarterly Meeting (an inside look into the day-to-day operations of the blog)

"Thank you Thomas, this has improved my quality of life in a major way."

You're welcome. Have a great day!
Mix #31 coming later this week.

Best Non-Bay Area Rap of 2K11

2012-01-04T19:57:00.001-08:00

In the end of the year post I purposefully did not mention all the non-Bay Area rap that is regularly mentioned on this blog (i.e. Akron and KC rap), because such incredible music came from those regions this past year they really deserve their own post. When it came to complete albums these other regions had the Bay Area scene beat in 2011. But this isn't really about competing regions, all of the rappers listed below have been fully embraced by the Bay Area scene and are frequent collaborators with your favorite rappers in the Bay.

Akron Rubber Strike of 1936

Best Non-Bay Area Rap Songs of 2011:

Ampichino & Young Bossi ft. Live, Bane Caso, V12 and Klazzik "I Ain't On It"

The beat and atmosphere of this song is unlike anything I have ever heard before in rap music. The beat is driven by a person humming the song's melody that is backed up and repeated by string instruments and the beat is pinned down by an industrial-sounding bassline that leaves you wanting more. On top of that, the approach this group of rappers take towards the song is entirely unique as well. There is no hook or chorus and instead of each rapper handling 16 bars or whatever, all six rappers spend the entire song trading lines and jumping in on each other's verses. It's pretty hard to keep track of who's rapping when, with guys popping in for a line or two and then disappearing, it keeps you on your toes for the song's entirety. Easily one of the most unique and exhilarating tracks of 2011.

C.W. Da YoungBlood ft. Fastlane Trai "Gaz"

When I downloaded one of Rich The Factor's numerous albums this year there was this album by a rapper named C.W. Da YoungBlood attached to it and I decided to listen to it. C.W. is young rapper from Kansas City who like to rap about being a blood, getting money, and shooting people. Nothing particularly special about that and C.W. is far from being a remarkable rapper, but this song right here made my ears stand up like a snowshoe hare that just sensed the presence of a bobcat. What's so special about this song? Basically it is a ultra mobbed out, hard-as-fuck song about shooting people over an absolutely huge beat that trudges along like 5,000 pound rhino. What more could you ask for?
The rest of Cooker Muzik 2 is rather forgettable apart from one other good song.
This is the hardest song of 2011 though, hands down.

Shoboat mean mugging his watch

Shoboat ft. Young Bossi, Ren Fetti, Gap, Freeze, Joe Blow, K-OZ and D Rek (respectively) "Don't Need Friends"

From hardest song of the year to posse cut of the year. Every significant rapper from Akron (besides Ampichino) shows up for this track along with Joe Blow and D Rek (from Sac) to deliver one of the best songs of 2011. Sort of ironic song title and subject matter for posse cut though, don't you think? Shoboat's verse at the beginning and Gap's verse (4th) are probably the highlights, but honestly every rapper comes hard on this one. This is the first time I've heard Shoboat semi-sing for the chorus and hopefully not the last time. The hook on this song has been playing in my head ever since first hearing it back in August.
Off Shoboat's incredible Rush Hour, which is chalk full of amazing features.

Dope album cover

Freeze ft. Young Bossi & Ren Fetti "Better Do Numbers"

When it comes to sampling more popular rappers, there is no better way to go than Young Jeezy. Of the Family First Records Akron trio (Amp, Freeze and Bossi) Freeze is the one whose music strives the most for mainstream appeal, which I think in turn creates less underground appeal for himself. His album released this past summer, The Street Pharaoh, was completely ignored, which is unfortunate considering it had bangers on it like this, this, this and this.
For proof of Freeze trying to achieve mainstream success look no further than his debut album, Freon, which has features that include Lil Wayne, Freeway and Young Buck. The point is Freeze is really talented and makes catchy music that should play on the radio, but probably never will because the radio stations need to play more Drake, apparently.
The cocky "fuck you" this song emanates is great and Ren Fetti has arguably the best voice in rap right now, the commanding presence he projects on the mic is undeniable.

Rich the Factor ft. Boy Big, Ampichino & Shoboat "Track 08 (Too Much)"

Sound samples in gangster rap usually involve little more than gunshots thrown in after a rapper threatens to kill the listener in his verse. This song, however, opens with the sound of a helicopter landing and it's the perfect sound effect to begin this song that is all about the excessive lifestyles of major drug dealers/gangsters. Boy Big's double tracked voice sounds lush and downright beautiful (no homo), especially as he croons over Rich's raps at the end of the hook. The helicopter sound comes back in again for Ampichino's dope verse, "we blow down at the nightclub in helicopters/ cops trying to watch us through binoculars/ gangster and a gentleman, move snow at the opera."
But to be honest, Shoboat completely steals the show on this one, his verse is so lively and animated, complete with entertaining ad libs and matching the feel-good atmosphere of the song perfectly.

Where Ampichino sells his coke

BONUS: Song That Came Out Really Late in 2010 That Deserves To Be On a List Somewhere:

Ampichino "Getting Over You"

If someone pressed me to name my favorite rapper active right now I'd probably say either E-40 or Ampichino. His two albums with The Jacka and Mysery are three of my favorite rap albums of all time and I can't help but be genuinely excited for everything he releases. The emotional depth of Amp's raps is something few gangster rappers are ever able to achieve, all while never allowing his music to lose it's edge. Basically Ampichino is following the Sad Raps path created by The Mob Figaz and has been making the most engaging, honest and intelligent mob music for the past five years or so to little or no fanfare.
At first the listener might think Ampichino is rapping about a woman in this song, but he reveals at the end of the first verse that his one true love, the one thing he needs in his life, is rap music itself. Pretty endearing to hear a rapper express such devotion to a music and culture that he has given so much to and gotten so little from in return.

Here are those six songs zipped up for your convenience:

DL: 100GoMW,YLS's Best Non-Bay Area Raps of 2K11

Download and listen. I guarantee you will not find six better rap songs released in 2011.

Best Non-Bay Area Rap Album of the Year:

Best album of the year?

There is no best album of the year, there are best albums of the year:

All three of these albums slap from front to back and actually feel like cohesive, complete albums, rather than a mish mash of different songs like most releases. I honestly listened to these releases either just as much or more than the blog's album of the year, Blackberry Ku$h.

2011 was a good year for all of the rappers mentioned above, while they all remain heavily underrated in my book, it seems rappers from Akron at least are slowly beginning to gain some more recognition outside of the Bay and their home region. Right now Shoboat is probably the most slept on rapper in America (you can quote me on that), I could see him fitting in nicely with just about any popular rap group/label in the South, but he's from Cleveland, which I think hinders his national exposure greatly.

If you are looking for more quality jams from Akron be sure and check out this blog's mix of Ampichino, Freeze, and Young Bossi's best tracks.

Akron Goodyear Aircraft Factory circa 1927

If you are looking for more quality jams from Rich The Factor be sure and check out this blog's mix of Rich's best songs from 2011.

If you are looking for me to weigh in on "what's wrong with rap these days" you can go eat a dick, rap music is thriving here in the Bay and all over the country.

Wow fuck I was trying to keep this post brief and it turned into a novelette, thanks for reading all this. I hope you enjoy these songs.

Check back in later this week because the staff of 100GoMW,YLS has a HUGE announcement to make that I am really excited about. It's going to be a big deal...

What do you think of these songs and these albums?
What is the secret announcement going to be?
Tell us your thoughts in the comment section.

2011: A year Music Was Released and Listened To

2011-12-31T17:48:00.001-08:00

Some of the staff of 100GoMW,YLS discussing this year's selections

2011 was a year much like any other year, but at the same time like a year all it's own...jk I'm not going to bore you with some long-winded intro. Since David Rees has covered everything else in his 2011 lists, we might as well breakdown what 2011 had to offer in Bay Area raps:

Things That Happened This Year:

-Sadly, Killa Keise was murdered in Novemeber of this year at the age of 28. Rest In Peace.

-Two new Mob Figaz songs came out with all five members on each track, but the promise of an all-new Mob Figaz album continued to fade just as the ceremony of innocence is drowned as we emerge from childhood (idk what that means).

-Kreayshawn became an internet sensation with "Gucci Gucci" and also became the first rapper out of the Bay to get a major label deal since Mistah FAB signing with Atlantic in '07 (oof).

2011: The year you had to have a strong opinion about this person

-Roach Gigz began garnering national attention with the release of the excellent Roachy Balboa 2 and the mediocre Bitch, I'm a Player.

-Joe Blow emerged as Bay Area's brightest young star with the release of his stellar debut album, You Should Be Paying Me.

-Spice 1 released a new song and not enough people paid attention to it because Spice 1 is rapping fast about shooting people just like the good old days and it is everything that is right about Bay Area rap.

-Scoob Nitty got busted for counterfeiting and is looking at hella years behind bars. This dickhead felt the need to have a big laugh about it.

-Cellski released his first album in two years and it was pretty good.

-E-40 released two more Revenue Retrievin' albums and they were very enjoyable.

-Brotha Lynch Hung released part two of his three part album series about the "coathanga strangla" and it was good. Then he started beefing with Tech N9ne, but then they made up I guess?

LOL at this release date, only one of these releases made it out this year

-The Jacka released three new albums: one mediocre album, one bad album (his first bad album, for the record) and one okay album.

-HD had a noteworthy year, releasing five solid albums all while struggling to stay out of jail/not get shot again. 2011 also marked the rise of his Bearfaced Gang, whose talents were well displayed on the album, Finer Thangs.

-Lil Rue got kicked out of Livewire and gave the most unintentionally hilarious interview of the year.

-DJ Fresh had a productive year, releasing a handful of great albums (T-Nutty, HD, Shady Nate, etc.) and a handful of okay albums (Yukmouth, D-Lo, Keak Da Sneak, etc.).

Sorry Bro!

-DB Tha General continued to gain popularity and this blog continued to ignore him :(

-Main Attrakionz had a breakthrough year and quickly became indie music darlings all over the internet, with the release of 808s and Dark Grapes II marking the peak of their popularity and critical acclaim.

-Riding in on that Main Attrakionz wave was Shady Blaze, a fellow member of the Green Ova camp, who released tons of material this year and quickly became one of the most promising young rappers out of the Bay.

unrelated pic

-Messy Marv's shenanigans continued this year. He started beef with Too Short, which resulted in a handful of diss songs and then JT The Bigga Figga got involved for no particular reason.

-Lil B's popularity peaked with the release of I'm Gay (I'm Happy), but mostly because psuedo-intellectual "music journalists" wanted to use the album title as a jump off point for writing 2,000 word essays about homophobia in hip-hop culture. The hype around him has been waning since that release.

Best of 2011:

-Album cover of the year:

Dope album cover. Too bad the music itself was mediocre at best.

-Internet Comment of the Year About Rap Music:
"Rap music is the worst rapper alive. people saying worst rapper alive are the worst rapper alive" (via hipsterrunoff.com).

-Internet Comment of the Year About Lil B:

-Music Video of the Year:

To be honest I don't really watch any rap videos because they rarely are anything more than a rapper standing outside of their shitty neighborhood with a bunch of dudes (holding a fistful of money optional) lip synching the words to their song. Seeing what sort of fashion rappers are sporting does not interest me because I am not a homogaysexual and seeing shots of decrepit neighborhoods does not fascinate me because I am not a sheltered white teenager from Palm Beach, FL. With that said this video is cool because there is a concept and violence and shit.

-Best rap line of the year:
"I got a cold stare, hoes love that shit." from:

MondreM.A.N. "Is That Yo Life"

-Best Picture of an Asian Kid in a Plastic Bag of 2011:
This is my favorite internet picture of the year for reasons I will never be able to fully explain.

-Rapper name of the year: Tie between Lil Goofy and Young Ridiculous, both are equally awesome. Be on the lookout for Big Preposterous' new mixtape dropping in early 2012.

-Sacramento Rap Song of the Year:

T-Nutty "Young Criminals"

Sacramento rap had a solid year in 2011, with the realese of quality albums by Brotha Lynch Hung, X-Raided, T-Nutty, and Hollow Tip & Smigg Dirtee. This song right here has got that futuristic retro mob sound, if you know what I'm saying.

Top Ten Songs of 2011:

Source sample

1. Lee Majors ft. T-Wayne, The Jacka & Yong Lox "Red Wine"

Who would have thought looping the first 10 seconds of a Lady Gaga song backed by an 808 drum beat would result in the biggest Bay Area club banger of 2011? There is a remix of this song with more popular rappers on it, but it's not as good and all of the rappers just name different things that are red in their verses for some reason. Lee Majors had a great year in 2011. Too bad this song will never get too big because it copyright infringes the shit out of a popular music artist.

2. Young Chris ft. Lil Kev "Trippin'"

Do you know who Young Chris is? Probably not. He is a member of Young Hustlaz, a rap group that is practically unknown outside of the fact that Young Gully is a member. On this song, Young Chris makes the perfect pop-rap song for 2011, channeling all the cocky bravado of the most popular rappers on the radio, without ever taking himself too seriously or trying to emulate self-importance (i.e. Drake and Kanye). The ironic part is that this radio-ready track is probably the most obscure of the ten; it hasn't even made it's way onto youtube.

3. HD ft. Hen Sippa & Lil Rod "Chickens"

While "Claustrophobic" off Fresh, best displayed HD's impressive songwriting skills, "Chickens" showed HD's talent for making excellent energetic mob music (plus "Claustrophobic" only had a single "SMACK," while this song has the full "SMACK SMACK" ad lib). There's something really endearing about Hen Sippa as well, with his monotone, sloppy raps revolving solely around drinking cough syrup. The whole Bearfaced Gang display a lot of raw talent, all of their songs sound rough around the edges, including this track, but it somehow still works perfectly.
4. E-40 "Takin' Em Back"

The best 40 Water song of the year featured E-40 being E-40 for three and a half minutes over a beat that has little more than a thumping bass line. No other rapper can fill out a song like Earl, any other rapper over a beat like this one would be hella boring. Mad props to E-40 making music this amazing this late in his career.

5. San Quinn "Big Bank"

San Quinn had a really weird year, especially when you consider the release of The Redemption of Quincy Brooks, which was easily the worst album I listened to this year. San Quinn has always had a good-guy rap persona, but that has slowly been changing these past couple years and is perfected on this song, in which Quinn raps about kidnapping children and mailing their cut off fingers to collect ransom over a enormous, triumphant beat. If San Quinn were to release an album full of material in this same vein as this next year it will easily be the album of the year.
There is a music video for this song too, which features San Quinn looking really stiff and so high he can barely keep his eyes open.

6. Joe Blow "The Dopest"

The Mob Figaz musical output this year was iffy at best this year, but The Jacka's protege seemed to carry the torch of making mob music that is equal parts introspective, intelligent, grimey and hard as fuck. The amount Joe Blow developed as an artist in 2011 is downright impressive, going from forgettable features on Jacka's releases to one of the best Bay albums of the year. In an interview last year he explained that his rap name stems from the fact that he is just a regular guy and is not bent on getting rich and/or famous from the rap game. That ideal is reflected in his music in which a sort of humbleness accompanies even his most boastful claims. In other words Joe Blow is a chill bro who happens to make great music.

7. Main Attrakionz "Perfect Skies"

This song just makes me feel good on the inside (nohomothobro), with the piano sample backed up by angelic female vocals. Main Attrakionz did not have a single song that perfectly defined their sound like in year's past, because they took their music in so many different directions in 2011. This song just happens to be my favorite out of a long list of Main Attrakionz tracks worthy of the top ten list.

8. Lil B "Dopeman Hunter"

The obvious choice for the best Lil B song of 2011 would probably be this, this, this or even this (goddamn Lil B made some great music this year), but I kept coming back to this track. What makes "Dopeman Hunter" the best Lil B song of the year? This simple formula: absolutely sinister beat + drugged-out, subdued, hypnotic raps + the most ridiculous ad libs you've ever heard that include "ROSIE O'DONNEL" and "ANDERSON COOPER" = one of the best rap songs of the year! Peep this hilarious description of the song's lyrics for more info.

9. AP.9 ft. Dubee "On The Block"

Not to be all like "look at all these obscure songs that made my list," but this song is off an unreleased AP.9 album that was posted on the Bayontop.com message board earlier this year. This track is easily better than anything on the Relentless double album and the best Mob Figaz-related song of the year. AP.9 is not too versatile of a rapper, but when you give him some banging mob music he always knows what to do with it. Listen to that fucking beat! I can't really use proper English to describe how hard it slaps. Also Dubee's verse sounds like he has an evil sneer on his face during the entirety of the song. Easily one of the sickest songs of 2011, if this track doesn't put a mean mug on your face and make you thinking about shooting the shit out of your enemies then I don't know what the fuck will.

10. Young L "Loud Pockets"

Best beat of 2011, hands down. Every time I hear this song my head starts bobbing and before you know it I'm dancing to it in an embarrassing fashion. It got a decent amount of attention and apparently got played on MTV a bit, which is great news. I see no reason why Young L shouldn't be a bigger deal than he already is.
The song has a dope music video too.

Here are those 10 songs zipped up and chipped out:

DL: 100 Grand on My Wrist Top 10 Songs of 2011

I guarantee these songs will change your life, idk if it's going to be for the better or worse, though.

Album of the Year:
This was not an easy decision to make, in fact things got pretty heated in the office debating which album would be number one

Brotha Lynch Hung and E-40's albums were really good, but they weren't better than their 2010 releases. Mobbin' Through the West was great, but had a handful of recycled songs, which disqualified it. So at the end of the day it came down to:

Main Attrakionz- Blackberry Ku$h

Most people prefer 808s and Dark Grapes II to this, but it just didn't have the same replay value as Blackberry Ku$h to me and plus had a couple throwaway songs on it ("Vegetables" was stupid imo).
The EP is the perfect format for most genres of music, including rap. How many flawless 60+ minute rap albums have you heard in the last few years? I'm guessing not too many. Rap music is a singles-driven genre now more than ever and in a time when an album having a handful of great songs and a handful of throwaway tracks equals one of the best albums of the year, Main Attrakionz released a flawless eight song EP, putting them on the radar of just about every rap fan over night. What really makes this release is that track after track the best duo ever are experimenting with new sounds that they completely nail each time. Each of the producers bring something entirely unique to this project and Mondre and Squadda seem to know what to do with each piece of music. I could go through every track but this post is already 1,000 words too long, so just listen to it already.
There's also a bonus disc to this album floating around which complements the EP quite well. Both releases are highly recommended and get the 100GoMW,YLS stamp of approval.

If I see anyone wearing these dumb glasses on New Year's Eve things are going to get ugly

Things To Look Forward To in 2012:

-The world ending
-A new Mob Figaz album (although I think the world will end first at this point)
-3 new E-40 albums (!!!). When I first heard this announced I was like:

But E-40 is in a nice groove right now, so he can release 8 albums this next year as far as I'm concerned, they'd probably all be dope.

-More dictators getting deaded

Almost everything that I put down on last year's list of things to look forward never came out, so that kind of sucks, but whatever.

To Wrap Things Up:

2011 was a really good year for Bay Area rap, rappers from around here gained more national attention than ever before, which is rather surprising considering how insulated the scene has been for such a long time, but then again as the rap business has evolved into something that requires an independent hustle the Bay is in the perfect position to prosper.

Thanks to everyone that visits the blog, the number of hits this site gets a day more than quadrupled this year, but more importantly more people are commenting on the site than ever, which is something I really appreciate. The entire staff of 100 Grand on My Wrist would like to wish you a happy new year! My limo just arrived, got to go to exclusive VIP New Year's parties now, ttyl.

What do you think of these songs and the album of the year?
What are your favorite Bay Area rap songs of 2011?
What is your favorite Bay Area rap album of 2011?
How much longer before Bashar al-Assad has to flee the country or is killed by his people?

11th Best Rap Song of 2011

2011-12-29T22:04:00.000-08:00

Cousin Fik "Dat Killa Crew"

This song just missed the cut for 10 best Bay Area rap songs of 2011. If you are not a fan of horror movies this song will probably not do much for you, but if you are like me and were raised on Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween movies along with Brotha Lynch Hung's music then horror movie raps will always hold a special place in your heart.

The concept of this song is Cousin Fik has posse of killers, just like all other gangster rappers like to brag about, but instead his group of murderers are famous slasher movie characters. Cousin Fik dedicates one verse to each killer (Freddy Kreuger, Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers) and it's so much fun to listen to. Plus he sort of changes each villain's story, such as Freddy getting his burns from meth lab explosion, Jason smoking weed everytime before he kills, and Dr. Loomis writing Michael Myers prescriptions for Promethazine (LOL). Love it!

End of the year post coming before the year is over (i.e. in like 24 hours)...

Mix #30: Rich The Factor-We Shout in Shadows

2011-12-27T03:03:00.001-08:00

I was going to do a song-by-song breakdown of Rich The Factor's new album, Orca Whale Music, but before I got a chance to write anything he went and dropped another album, AKA 2 Seater, a mere two weeks later. It got me thinking about how much great music Rich has released this past year and so I decided to make a mix of his best songs from 2011. Rich The Factor came out with eight releases this year by my count and has a handful more albums prepped for early 2012. And this is all coming from a guy who has been consistently releasing albums since the mid 90's. How often do you see a rapper making music at this rate, this far into his career? If he was from Memphis or Atlanta or New Orleans, Pitchfork and all those other indie music sites would have already covered much of his output this year and dropped the phrase ' rap legend' in their 2,000 word reviews of his albums that cite 17th century French poet François de Malherbe for no reason, but that didn't happen.

The thing about Rich The Factor's music that is so appealing, to me at least, is how completely insulated it is from the rest of the rap scenes around the country. With the internet's rise, rappers spit out singles at a constant rate and get immediate feedback, which leads to production trends rising and falling within a couple months time. Within this year the Lex Luger beat has risen and fallen along with the new age spacey beats of Clams Casino and company. With so many rappers struggling to stay relevant by trend hopping and vying for bloggers' approval it seems Rich could care less and remains uninfluenced by any of it.
A quick google search reveals no one is really talking about Rich The Factor on the internet outside of youtube comments and music message boards. Only one of his albums found its way onto iTunes this year, while the rest of them had no circulation outside of Kansas City and Rapbay.com, but apparently he is moving enough units to not really be worried about whether or not people on the internet like him enough.

I guess that insulation is something this blog can relate to seeing how I could care less about most of the rappers the internet is jocking (I have never heard a second of Odd Future's music), while most rappers I'm covering the rest of the internet ignores (see: this post).

His albums are rarely over 10 tracks and 40 minutes, so all of them are very listenable (no album should ever be 70+ minutes). Features are noticeably absent on his releases outside of a couple appearances from the MFR camp, but in this age of most rap songs being oversaturated with countless features it's quite refreshing to hear albums that feel like true solo releases. His style and beat selection sounds influenced by the Bay Area and the South, but not quite like either one. His music never sounds like it's trying to be different, it just is.

Tracklisting:

(Idk why I bothered, he doesn't title his shit)

1.) Track 6 from Black Border Brothers 6

2.) Track 5 from Blue Diamond in Da Ruff
3.) Track 8 ft. Boy Big, Ampichino & Shoboat from AKA Pound Cake
4.) Track 6 from 2 Liters

5.) Track 2 ft. F.A. from AKA 2 Seater
6.) Track 1 from Orca Whale Music

7.) Track 10 from AKA Pound Cake
8.) Track 1 ft. Rush from Black Border Brothers 6
9.) Track 2 ft. Boy Big from Blue Diamond in Da Ruff
10.) Track 3 from AKA 2 Seater

11.) Track 6 from Orca Whale Music
12.) Track 7 ft. Boy Big, Rush & Interstate Ike from AKA Pound Cake
13.) Track 3 from Blue Diamond In Da Ruff
14.) Track 4 from 2 Liters
15.) Track 8 from Orca Whale Music
16.) Track 1 from AKA Pound Cake
17.) Track 1 ft. Boy Big & Rush from 2 Liters
18.) Track 7 from AKA 2 Seater

DL: Best of Rich The Factor 2K11

18 Tracks in just over an hour that all slap. I put a music player up for a handful of songs in the mix so you can get a feel for it before you download. His voice might take you a bit to get used to, but it's real unique and worth adapting to.

If you are looking for more Rich The Factor be sure and check out the mix of his music I put together at the beginning of 2011. Also be on the look out for this album at the beginning of the year:

Sick photoshop skills! From what I've seen his movies usually involve him going around KC getting really high and drunk while showing off his material possessions. It should be amazing.

What do you think of Rich The Factor?
Am I the only one outside of KC who gives two fucks about his music?
Is this the best Christmas album cover you've ever seen?

A Meeting of Great Minds: Friends of The Blog Reflect on 2011

2011-12-22T03:31:00.001-08:00

100GoMW,YLS Mansion

One of the perks of having a super successful rap blog is that you get to mingle with other super successful people that have blogs about rap as well. Sort of like how the top 1% here in the U.S. hang out with each other exclusively so that they don't have to be insulted by the 99% for getting a $130,000 crystal toilet instead of feeding a village in Africa for a year.
Anyways, this year I decided to assemble the greatest minds of rap blogging here at the 100 Grand on My Wrist corporate mansion to help make sense of this crazy year in Bay Area rap music. So we had our finest luxury helicopters fly in the rap blog elite from around the world to duke it out. Sort of like Enter the Dragon, but instead of fighting, we all just wrote about rap music and there was no Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

100 Grand on My Wrist's International Relations Director greeting some foreign rap bloggers

Of course no cameras were allowed at the mansion, but I have provided artist depictions of each writer. Without any further ado, let's see what stood out to these brilliant minds about this year in Bay Area raps:

David Drake- Writer for The Fader, So Many Shrimp & Just About Every Important Music Magazine: He gets paid the big bucks to write smart things about rap

E-40 ft. R.O.D. "I'm That"

I'm not in the bay, although I've been repping pretty hard for its music the past few years; what drew me to it again in the wake of hyphy was how it hadn't given up on that widescreen pop-rap sound that dominated the pop charts in the late 90s and early 2000s. While the rest of rap either veered towards trance-rap or went further underground, the bay continued playing to a specific audience. The result of the closed circuit, I think, is that artists probably found themselves bowing to both masculine and feminine pressures at once. This diversity was a lot more refreshing to me than the rap I was hearing elsewhere.

For evidence of how local pressure resulted in better music for the bay, look at how E-40 essentially gave up on trying to make music that might cross over nationally once he started the Revenue Retrievin' series, and subsequently released some of the best music of his career. Perhaps the most slept-on track was an itunes-only bonus joint "I'm That", which had some incredible production. This should have gotten a video and been on the proper record. I do believe that the music the bay makes right now could appeal across the country; I just hope that they keep making music for the bay while it succeeds elsewhere.

Juice Mannen Hugo of Bayonnaise-the finest Swedish Bay Area rap blog out there

LoveRance ft. IAMSU! & Skipper "Up!"

I don't think I ever listened to so much Bay Raps ever as I did 2011. I mean I had my ears turned to the bay for years, but 2011 is the first full year with my Bay Area-rap only website Bayonnaise up and going. I previously wrote at my own old site, Good Ole Love and at a site called Wake Your Daughter Up (now merged with two other blogs to become Bloggerhouse). Most of you probably never visit Bayonnaise though, as it's written in Swedish, and even though Google Translate is an amazing feature the translation reads kinda awkward. I'm glad Thomas visits at times though, and I'm even happier he asked me to write a bit about the best bay raps of 2011.

So, the biggest hit from the Bay for me this year probably is "Up!" by this dude LoveRance. Apparently it got played a bit in Cali? Now LoveRance is new to the rap scene, far as I know. I think he is from Berkley or some place like that. With "like that" I mean a part of the Bay from where rappers seemingly rap less about gangster stuff and more about regular not grimey everyday life stuff like battering vaginas upwards (Editor's Note: LOL!), wearing hip clothes and having sex orally. I'm not from the Bay so I might have that all mixed up though. "Up!" is one of those songs that cover the upward vagina topic. Besides LoveRance, Iamsu and Skipper raps, and they all do what they need to do on this kinda song.

What really stands out though, besides it just being a great song, is how "Up!" is the first hit of LoveRance's career and contains lyrics about going down on women. I know we heard that before, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a rapper seemingly build his career around being the guy that DEMANDS to eat it.

"now she's telling me, she's gonna tell all here friends

I'm like okay, bring them all along,

as long as I can stick my tounge inbetween their thongs"

"pussy on my lips juice box tastes good to me"

Those lines kinda stuck out to me first time I heard them. But oh well it's a song about sex why wouldn't he mention if he likes to eat it. Then the second biggest song on which LoveRance participates came out. It's a song with Smoovie Baby and Aka Frank and it's called "First". The entire theme of the song is that they're all okay with sex but they HAVE TO eat it first. Since then, he dropped a song with Rayven Justice called "Tsunami", in which LoveRance finds time to fit in a few lines about wanting to use his tounge on women.
I just realized I was going to write a short paragraph about how much LoveRance loves to stick his tounge into vaginas and it ended up with an essay. I didn't even make space to write about how I never listened to the Mistah FAB remix of "Up!" as it frightens me to think about Mistah FAB beating pussies up. Anyways, to round things up, LoveRance is yet to drop a solo tape, so we got that to look forward to in 2012 probably. Do you think the cover will be him sticking his head up from inbetween a pair of legs? What will he rap about?

Joe of Perfection is Perfected, another great Bay Area rap blog. Follow him on Twitter

Best New (Bay) Artist of the year: Shady Blaze*

Shady Blaze "Ridin' Wit G.O"

Whether you’re comparing him to a veteran or a newcomer, Chapter 5 of Green Ova has had a remarkable year. Shady Blaze started off 2011 with one of my favorite albums of the year—The Shady Bambino Project—which was entirely produced by Squadda B. Just two months later, he released Shady Business, fifteen tracks illustrating his talent as a producer, as well.

And for his third release of the year, Shady released what Spin hailed the 18^th best rap album of the year: Rappers Ain’t $#!% Without a Producer. On the one hand, the project displays Shady’s growth as a lyricist. While he runs the risk of being typecast as a double/triple-time rapper, Shady continues to develop and master varying flows. On the other hand, the album is aptly titled, as it reveals his ear thoughtful and eclectic beat selection.

As Main Attrakionz continue to cultivate and popularize their #cloudrap repertoire, it’s great to see Shady by their side, doing his own thing.

*Yes, Shady was rapping and producing for several years before. But you’d never heard of him before late 2010/early 2011.

Mike- Regular Commenter and reader of the blog, he knows what's up with Bay Area rap

Joe Blow "Who Do U Believe In"

Here we have the last track off Joe Blow's excellent debut album. For the most part the beat is pretty simple, the most unique part is how heavy on vocal samples it is. Sounds like something right off the first Devilz Rejectz album, sped up old school sample where the singer's voice has just the right amount of chipmunk to it. The lyrics however invoke the classic Mob Figaz style of a introspective look into one's life of crime, filled with remorse. While I feel this is the standout track , this whole project (You Should Be Paying Me) is great and I highly recommend it.

The Martorialist of The Martorialist; You've Probably Heard of Him Before

DB Tha General "Upgrade Um 2"

Regular readers of 100 Grand On My Wrist will probably recall Thomas' evaluation of DB Tha General as the Oakland Rap community's foremost exponent of "sounding like he does scary drugs", and so, with that thought in mind, here's the General's finest paradigm of PCP-Rap to date, which also happens to be the favourite 2011 Bay jam of yours truly.

 For the first half of 2011 Husalah's Da Mob and 43 by E-40 & B-Legit battled it out for my affections only for DB to blindside the both of them with chair shots to the noggin when Upgrade 'Em 2 first appeared in his King Of Oakland mini-movie back in June, and the song and I have been inseperable ever since. Why? Well, there's the video with DB's ludicrously fitting hoody, Nicole Richie circa 2005 oversized shades and baffling method of sneaking up on an enemy to murk him for a start; then there's the sample sounding like it's taken from the score for Jean Luc-Godard's 1965 masterpiece Alphaville, thus potentially combining two of my greatest passions : toxic Gangsta-Rap and high falutin classic cinema; and, finally, there's DB himself taking a match to his self-styled Gas and unleashing the best nasal-voiced torrent of fire & brimstone in Rap since Lil' Boosie's verse on Livin' What I'm Spittin', before concluding with a minute's barrage of hypersonic murderous threats which will have you pulling vinegar stroke faces like you're orgasming in a wind tunnel (Editor's Note: so intense! Must be the scary drugs).If all that isn't enough to convince you of Upgrade 'Em 2's greatness, then, hey, at least there's 5 dudes on Youtube who agree with me.

MTP- regular reader and commenter of the blog, he emails me good music sometimes and is a chill bro

Here is my 2011 list of mostly Bay area artists who should be getting more play than they are either nationally and/or in the bay, I’m surprised most of the artists on this list aren’t bigger than they are, and although some people are bumpin’ the shit out of them, all of them could be major in my irrelevant opinion. Here they are:

#5 Duna

Go to freemusic.com (which isn’t exactly free but anyways) and download his “Can’t Get enough of this shit” double cd from earlier this year, it’s off the hingecradles. Duna’s always put out good shit, but he’s gotten a lot better recently with the double cd and his best release to date, Crack Baby 2. Duna should be getting waaaay more love for sure. I always thought of him as “Mac Dre without the charisma,” but he’s another cat that makes great music, with a lot of good choruses and beats that are very ear-friendly. Listen to “Valley to the Bay,” Stayin’ on my toes 2011,” “Everyday I go hard,” “She got it,” “Blow.”

#4, 1st Place-Formerly Stressmatic of The Federation

1ST Place has put out some really original material in the past couple years. If ur like some of my people who listen to strictly some kill ur mother/eat ur sister bay area gangster shit, this isn’t for you. If u wanna hear sumthin different, some poor homeless emo dude that only wears house shoes and dickie shorts and raps about hittin’ tatted up white girls and being drunk 24/7, and barely having enough funds to buy his daily mad dog 20/20 and sampling Sublime, this is for you…Go to Datpiff.com for basically all of his best mixxtapes for free. Listen to “super drunk,” “Janky,” “On the couch,” Best line—“I live on the couch, I eat out the toaster, dude from ur poster, lives on the sofa.”

#3, DB tha General

I know DB is probably a bit too “listened to” to be on a list where artists should get more play, but I think he has the potential to be HUGE nationally, although that’d probably make me listen to him less ala 40, so I’m glad he hasn’t blown up just yet. He might be the only bay rapper that can get away with constantly rapping over old ass 80’s pop tracks (including Michelle’s ‘Nasty’ WTF), but he makes them sound DOPE as hell. He reminds me of Lee Majors in the way he can effortlessly flow over beats just perfectly no matter what the speed of the track like few others in the game can. U can get free downloads of “The Hardest Out,” and “The Young OG” at datpiff.com. Listen to “the finest,” “The Piper,” “Intro 2,” “nobody gas,” “Bad mouth,”

#2, Young Lott

I don’t know anyone other than myself that bumps Young Lott, but I bet everyone will be soon enough. Go get “Travellin’ n’ Traffickin,” SICC album all the way through. His beats sound a little too “down south” for my taste, but he sings his choruses and makes “real music,” whatever the hell that means, I don’t know, but it sounds dope. Listen to “Shoutout to my hataz,” “I’m outta here,” “Zonin’ out,” I’ll never.”

#1, Blanco

Yeah I know, Blanco is getting some love in the bay, and although 100Grand Thomas did have him on the “rappers ruining songs” feature awhile back, don’t sleep on him. He’s another guy that flows over the beat real well, but to 100Grand’s defense, he did ruin a couple of songs on the Jacka/Messy Marv/Blanco album that wasn’t as good as it should’ve been. Go to Datpiff.com and download (for free) DJ Rick Lee’s “Who is Blanco” mixxtape, It’s FIRE. Listen to “Hit the club,” “Yeah,” “Pimpy Doo,” Rock wit me.” (Editor's Note: I still hate Blanco, but the song above is pretty alright)
My favorite rap line of the year comes from someone not on the radar of most bay cats I know, Childish Gambino (yes dude from “Community,” give it a shot) ----“I’m hard in the paint, like I fuck her on her period.” (Editor Note: gross)

Ryen- Thomas' Friend IRL & Tennis Partner

Rap music is for felons and poor people. Anybody can rhyme words with other words over a drum beat, it takes no talent. I don't know why anyone likes this smut. Go cop that new Coldplay. (Editor's Note: I hate you forever Ryen)

Mister Jay Makin' some cool beats

Mister Jay- He makes dope laid back slaps that you should check out here and here

best joe blow verse of 2011:
A1 ft. Joe Blow & Lil Rue "Suicide"

joe blow has been having a great year. he released his album "you should be payin me" in the beginning of the year on the jacka's artist records, then released his very excellent mixtape "international blow" at the end of november, and has had many great guest verses throughout the year. this song by A1 featuring joe blow and lil rue is a typical modern bay area gangsta rap song and video, but joe blow's verse really stands out to me. the rhythm of his flow brings out the bounce in the beat. joe blow's delivery is usually chill, but he sounds intense here, and his lean-induced slur is almost as heavy as lil rue's. he almost sounds angry about how fly he is. i hope joe blow continues making great music for a long time and does not die from his lean abuse.

Nyquil AKA Mike Menopause AKA Nyquil The Most AKA Young Goudaboi of Cobra Swag, the finest blog about the internet, rap and skating. Follow him on Twitter.

Roach Gigz ft. DB Tha General "Drugs"

I used to hate Roach Gigz because I generally have a strong dislike for white rappers with whiny voices, but something about this dude works. I listen to this song almost everyday, and it makes doing drugs sound really fun! I catch myself headbanging to this song in my room at top volume. DB tha General is also super sick and always sounds really menacing when he raps, even though he has a high pitched voice. These dudes topped with C-Loz's bizarre/tweaked style of production make for my favorite song of 2011.

Real life picture of me and Eric

Eric- Thomas' Friend IRL/Mad Scientist. Follow him on Twitter.

Davinci "D.R.E.A.M."

Best Rap song to come out of the Bay Area in 2011? Without a doubt in my mind or ears that song is from Main Attrakionz, whether it be Zoned Out Mackin, Cloud Skatin, That’s Life, Nothin’ Gonna Change, Ice Nites, or Feel Dis Doe. The more observant readers among you will notice that those 6 songs span 4 albums and are vastly different in terms of production, style, and overall sound. But that’s why I’m not here to talk about the best rap song to come out of the Bay Area this past year, because Main Attrakionz is the obvious choice and it’s too hard to pick only one song of their to laud above the others. So what the hell am I going to talk about, then?

D.R.E.A.M. by DaVinci off of his most recent mixtape Feast or Famine. It’s not Main Attrakionz, Lo-Fi, or even typically “Bay Area”, but that is to the credit of the song (and the mixtape). The song uses the song structure of Wu Tang Clan’s C.R.E.A.M., changing Wu Tang’s hook to “Dope rules everything around me, dream get the money, dolla dolla bill y’all”. This hook flows over gritty synth and 808’s, quickly invoking both the 90’s era Hip Hop that it borrows from and the unique darkness and grittiness that DaVinci slings throughout the song. Instead of spitting slurred verses about sippin’ syrup or what his whip looks like, DaVinci pulls no punches whatsoever as he tells anyone willing to listen what life is really like for him in the Fillmore District. This “Keepin’ It Real” approach isn’t a one-time thing on his mixtape either, but is a common thread through the 8 tracks as he prefers not to talk about “Bitches, Paper and Clothes” in favor of talking about how shitty life can be and how he gets by in spite of it all. Why is D.R.E.A.M. worth listening to when you have hard-working and limitless geniuses like Main Attrakionz pumping out four albums a year? Because music like what DaVinci has made is refreshing in a time where the Top 40 is dominated by songs that either try to teach you how to dance, tell you how good the rapper’s life is or drown you with auto-tune and lazy rhymes. Every line flows effortlessly from DaVinci’s mouth to tell a cohesive story without relying on trite references or expressions, all while giving you something to think about AND nod your head to, and that’s what makes D.R.E.A.M. the best non-obvious Bay Area Rap for 2011.

HL of the wonderful Droptops and Stacy Lattissaw Tapes. Follow him on Twitter.

Lil Wayne ft. Lil B "Grove St. Party"

While it's impossible to establish any sort of definitive measure, it's clear enthusiasm for Lil B waned across the blogosphere in 2011. Partly due to over-saturation, but mostly because bloggers are suckers for convenient narratives. It's become all the rage to romanticize about the good ol' BASED era, when he was projecting twice the merriment and dropping half the knowledge. I myself would argue his projects have never been consistent in the traditional sense, and typically host a couple of brilliant efforts accompanied by a bunch of recordings I'll never bother revisiting, and such is still the case. But as a stark advocate of hi-jinks, shenanigans, and general tomfoolery, my favorite moment of the year was Lil B reverting to his trademark foolishness on Lil Wayne's 'Grove Street Party' remix. With all due respect to The Game, his assertion that Brandon's feature ruined Sorry 4 The Wait was quite disappointing, considering his long-standing reputation for having impeccable taste in rap music. Not since MF Doom's performance on 'Batty Boyz' have I been so appalled, intrigued, and conflicted by a rap verse. His lyrics are off-beat, scatter-brained, maniacal, and memorable beyond belief. As a fan, I can't ask for much more than that. Thank you BASED God.

Done of Both Kinds and Damn Here's a Tissue/Rap blog commenter extraordinaire

San Quinn & Tuf Luv ft. B-Legit "Drunk In San Francisco"

After listening to a whole album of the most middle of the road, dry toast & ovaltine Quincy jawns I've ever heard, I wasn't expecting anything worth linking to in a comment section next time Messy Marv gets lost in the woods or whatever (Editor's Note: LOL!). Drunk In San Francisco, while likely not going to end up even a footnote in Quinn's career, solidified it's spot in my hall of fame for a couple of very important reasons other than how ground-breaking a slap it may or may not be.

It features two of the more underappreciated rap tag-team members with the most impressive voices this side of dude who does the DAMN SON WHERED YOU FIND THIS drops/action flick trailers/wedding announcements and it succeeds where both members of Blackstar had previously failed - by being a song that successfully captures the feeling of trying to get your leg over while drunk, and by having a dude so in-debt to the stylings of Talib Kweli he actually admitted he wished he could rap like him in the preceding song(except unlike Jay-Z he probably meant it), sound like someone you wouldn't want to murder if the opportunity presented itself.

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Honestly this is probably one of my favorite things I've done on the blog. Thank you to everyone for coming out to the mansion to reflect on 2011 Bay Area raps with me, it was a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy your gift bags stuffed full of 100 dollar bills and bricks of white. I leave you with a picture of our cheering fans outside of the 100 Grand on My Wrist Mansion:

"OMG blog about Husalah 4 me"

The annual end of the year post is coming next week. Happy holidays!

Writing About Rap Like It's My Job

2011-12-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

I wrote about how Main Attrakionz have made the best rap music in the Bay this year and put together a mixtape of their best songs for Bloodwars Magazine:

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

New Rap Music

2011-12-13T23:28:00.000-08:00

Young Gully "Purple Smoke"

Gully just came out with a new album, David, produced entirely by DJ Fresh. My biggest concern for the release was the songs blending together due to Young Gully and DJ Fresh's strikingly similar beat preferences. They both are capable of making/rapping over different types of beats, but it seems they both frequently fall back on retro-tinged laid back beats at the end of the day (example). The album is able to avoid that problem for the most part, with Fresh bringing some diverse beats to the project and Young Gully changing up his flow on several tracks. A couple beats on here switch up mid-song, which is a cool feature that DJ Fresh has been developing lately. It's nice to see "Lose It" finally put on an official release too, a lot of people were turned off by the use of a vocoder on that song, but it works perfectly there. Good album!

Street Knowledge ft. Husalah & The Jacka "Ima Boss (Remix)"

Speaking of robot voices, yet another Husalah feature has turned up, here he synthesizes his voice heavily in the hook. As with "Once Again", he probably overdoes it with the vocoder, but oh well. Street Knowledge is a young rapper signed to The Jacka's The Artist Records, who has an album titled New Skool Knowledge coming out in the near future. Haven't really heard much by him apart from a handful of features on Joe Blow songs, but if he's anything like the rest of rappers that have come up under The Jacka, he will develop into an amazing rapper.

C-Bo "Original Gangsta"

There are five new C-Bo songs that have popped up on a random SoundCloud page with no explanation or promotion. The only information on the page is "new Cbo album coming 2012," so I guess these are leaked tracks from his forthcoming album. The songs are decent, not necessarily groundbreaking, but it's always good to hear new music from him. The track above is the best of the batch along with "Every Day" featuring T-Nutty, who complements C-Bo's style nicely and always makes great songs with him.

MondreM.A.N. "Fancy"

MondreM.A.N. (1/2 of Main Attrakionz) just came out with a new album through Bandcamp titled M A N. The release is decent, but isn't really connecting with me like their recent group works have, or even like Mondre's previous solo album, Dope Since '91. The songs are a bit too similar in tempo and atmosphere for my tastes and most beats are rather sparse, but I can imagine this release connecting with others a lot more than me. You can check out the entire album over here.

Shoboat ft. Keak Da Sneak "ATF"

Shoboat has a new compilation out, Hunid Racks, and just like everything else he's done this year it appears to be flying under the radar of most rap fans. Shoboat's Rush Hour from earlier this year was one of the best rap albums of the year, but he doesn't make obscure pop culture references in his raps that the writers at Pitchfork will think are cute, so he'll probably never get the attention he deserves and be relegated to doing promo for each of his albums by posting about about them relentlessly on Bay Area rap message boards (this is what's happening now). Fuck every rapper that the internet jocks to death and every music website regurgitating the same music by them claiming to cover "indie music."

Rich The Factor just came out with a new album and it's easily one of the top five releases of the year, so look out for a song-by-song breakdown of that later in the week.

What do you think of these songs?
What new rap music have you been bumping lately?
What do you think of this picture?

Cellski's New Album: Super Great Features

2011-12-11T18:52:00.001-08:00

Cellski has a new album out and just about every quality rapper from the Bay makes an appearance on it. Cellski's musical output has really slowed down these past few years, with Big Mafi The Don being his first new material in two years, but it was worth the wait. On the album cover the newspaper headline reads "S.F. Judge Presumed Dead" and Cellski is giving us a look like "yeah that's right motherfucker, DEAD."
Here's some songs off it:

Cellski ft. Husalah "Cake Boss"

Oh hey look who it is, Husalah of the Mob Figaz, maybe you've heard of him before. Apart from "Da Mob" and a handful of features, Hus has not really released much this year. Hopefully that will change in 2012.
Cellski's production skills remains on point, with that signature bass-heavy, sinister mob sound that can be heard on this track. The beat matches Cellski's mean, deliberate flow perfectly. He probably has the rapping-about-food-and-cooking-as-an-analogy-for-gangster-shit game on lock (via Chef Boy Cellski, Canadian Bacon & Hash Browns, etc.). Great song!

Cellski ft. Rich The Factor "Project Roof"

Rich The Factor collaborating with the Bay again! The last Rich feature I heard on a Bay release was from 2010's Devilz Rejectz 2 and that song was dope as hell. The beat here isn't really my style with those organ keyboards, but Cellski and Rich The Factor's raps about shooting people more than make up for it. Love the imagery that the chorus conjures up of Cellski posted up on the roof of some dilapidated housing complex with a gun and bullet proof vest, looking for his victim. Apart from his third verse on "Black Backpack", I've never heard Rich the Factor yell his verses like this, it sounds tight, though.

Cellski ft. Joe Blow "The Life I Live (Cougar)"

Epic orchestral chorus sample over a fat bass line = never not awesome. Joe Blow raps about getting a woman addicted to cocaine so that she becomes a stripper and prostitute and pays him money (!!!!), sounds like the essence of chivalry lives on in the heart of Mr. Blow. I bet he would throw his jacket over a puddle of water for a woman on a date.

Cellski ft. AP.9, Lee Majors, Fed-X, Dru Down, Ampichino, Yukmouth & Rydah J. Klyde "It's The Mob"

Look at this feature list! Three out of the five Mob Figaz, the best non-Bay Area rapper out (Ampichino), Lee Majors and two Bay legends (Dru Down and Yukmouth). The way Lee Majors' verse flows with the beat here is dope, but honestly every rapper kills it here. Posse cut of the year?!

The whole album is pretty damn good, always nice to hear some new Cellski, 100GoMW,YLS recommended.

What do you think of the new album?

Gap (The Rapper) 5-Pack

2011-12-08T18:37:00.001-08:00

Wow googling this guy is difficult as fuck, Note: future rappers please don't take a rap name that is also a common word as well as the name of a popular clothing brand, no one will ever be able to find out shit about you on the internet.
Gap is from Akron, OH and is part of Ampichino's gang. Features by him can be found on just about every release by Ampichino, Young Bossi, Freeze, Ren Fetti, etc. Just this year Gap has started to focus more on his solo material with the release of the mixtape, Makin Love To the Streets in February of this year and I Am How I Rap, which came out a couple weeks ago.
Gap is tight, he has a real unique style in which his voice sort of bounces through each line and his verses can be effortlessly fast at times. Shoboat is probably the only comparable rapper out right now. Let's get to the music:

Young Bossi ft. Gap "Feelin' It"

Off Young Bossi's excellent Fishscale album from 2010. This is the first song that made me really take notice of Gap. He absolutely kills the chorus and his raps in the first and third verse are amazing. The beat is driven by a simple piano loop and has a laid back atmosphere that Gap refuses to accept as his voice jumps all over the place, filling any empty space in the song. The energy he brings to this song is really something special.

Gap ft. Bird Money "Bands"

This song is so damn catchy, the way he repeats the last part of each of his lines is tight and makes the song especially memorable. The beat is pretty minimal, but not much is needed when Gap carries the song so well. I could see this playing on the radio if the radio played good music.

Gap ft. The Jacka, Ampichino & Young Bossi "I Don't Give a Shit"

Gap does not give a shit about anything, I mean peep this chorus:

Homie said I killed his best friend, I don't give a shit
N***a asked me was I scared to die, I don't give a shit
N***a said he fucked my main bitch, I don't give a shit
N***a got killed 'cause he snitced, I don't give a shit

Wow Gap really does not give a shit, if someone told me I killed their best friend I'd probably feel pretty bad about that and buy the guy lunch or something to make up for it, but Gap could care less.
As with most songs along these lines, Jacka sounds like the voice of reason here, taking on the persona of a melancholy thug who has seen it all and learned from his past mistakes.
It'd be nice to hear some more songs with just Gap on the track, but with features like this you can't really complain.

Gap ft. Praise Money & Young Bossi "Action"

Stripper anthem of the year? Idk, but it's up there with "Round of Applause" for sure. The beat is incredible, hopefully strip clubs in Akron will play this song while women take off their clothes for money and the goobers in attendance will hear it and become fans of Gap and then he will become a big deal.

Gap "Black Candy Paint"

Saving the best for last, this is the only true solo song on Gap's new album and easily the best one on it. Does this beat sound familiar to you though? Regardless, this song is awesome and hints at what Gap is capable of in the future.

Gap's style is still developing and I think as long as he cuts down on the features for his next release and continues to make catchy songs he will start to gain a substantial following.

What do you think of Gap?
Should Gap change his name? To what?
Do you remember in like '00 or '01 when you weren't shit if you didn't have one of those puffy vests from Gap? I was still a dumb kid then, but I'm pretty sure you could not get laid without one of them shits on, male or female.

Which one of these Divshare audio players is the best looking to you?
Just trying to keep this site stylish bros.

Throwback Slaps #3: Sacramento Edition

2011-12-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

100 Grand on My Wrist has had a bit of a Sacramento theme running for the past few weeks and what better way to continue that theme than with some classic, underrated jams from California's capitol:

X-Raided "It's On"

Garden Blocc Ridaz: Ride Til We Die Compilation Vol. 1 released in 2002 was sort of a big release at the time, I remember a handful of friends had this disc and bumped it regularly (remember when people bought CDs, lol). The compilation featured every big name in Sacramento at the time and a bunch of up and comers. It's interesting how almost ten years later the biggest names in Sacramento rap (Brotha Lynch Hung, C-Bo, Hollow Tip, X-Raided and Luni Coleone to a lesser extent) remain the same and T-Nutty is still viewed as a youngster with potential, even though he's been making music for over 10 years now. Apart from maybe Smigg Dirtee there hasn't been much new talent coming out of Sacramento that have had much of an impact on the scene. I wonder why that is? Anyways, this song is by X-Raided and it slaps hard, the rest of the compilation is good too, displaying the distinctive Sacramento sound, which can bounce between dark and menacing to downright bizarre. There's a volume two and three of this compilation series too, but they aren't worth your time.

P.C.O. "Federal Offense"

Paper Chasin' Organization (P.C.O.) were a quartet of rappers from Sacramento who released their debut Money Hungry in 1999 through Black Market Records. If you like some classic dark Sacramento rap that Black Market was known for back then you should check the album out, it has some good cuts on it. Apart from a few obscure solo releases from members of P.C.O. they pretty much disappeared after this release, which is too bad considering how few quality rappers there are in Sacramento these days.

Big Hollis "Sidewayz"

Big Hollis is one of the biggest producers in Sacramento, but he has always rapped here and there and back in 1999 he released his only solo album, Millenium: The Day is Comin'. The lyrics don't really follow the theme, but the album title hints at the impending doom of the Y2K apocalypse that never occurred. People were really losing their shit over that at the time. The album is dope, with real musical diversity in each song and it has a lot of rap songs along the lines of "I GOT REAL LIFE STRUGGLES," which is always a relatable topic. Why is it that Sacramento rappers always seem bummed out, while Bay Area rappers are having fun?
A friend told me that Big Hollis reminds him of 2Pac and the comparison is understandable; similar delivery and subject matter, but not in a painfully obvious way like Tha Realest. Big Hollis doesn't rap much anymore and has been focusing on the productions side of things since this album's release. He can make some great beats though and has made beats for just about every major rapper in Sacramento and the Bay Area since this album's release.

What do you think of these songs?
What are some underrated Sacramento releases?
Were you losing your shit about the Y2K apocalypse in '99?

Thomas At the Radio Part Deux

2011-12-03T01:27:00.000-08:00

Part two of me making fun of rap on the radio/serious analysis of music is up over at Droptops & Stacy Lattisaw Tapes now. In it I admit to being sexually attracted to present-day Paula Abdul and reveal who the next chart-topping rapper is going to be (!!!).

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

Mix #29: In Memory of Killa Keise

2011-12-01T05:38:00.001-08:00

Killa Keise first came onto the scene in the late 90's/early 2000's in San Francisco under the late Cougnut and Baldhead Rick and quickly became Cellski's protege at a time when Cellski was arguably the biggest local rapper. Cellski was the mixtape king of the Bay at the time, releasing freestyle mixtapes regularly and Killa Keise was featured on many of those tapes. Cellski and Killa Keise did three duo albums together between '03 and '04 and Cellski also put out Killa Keise's first mixtape and album on his Inner City 2K label. Rather than just riding the coattails of Cellski, in 2005 Killa Keise formed his own group comprised of young talent coming out of San Francisco, called the Killa Squad and they released their sole album the following year. After a stint in jail, Killa Keise began focusing on his solo career again and released a slew of mixtapes and albums before his death.

Killa Squad was Killa Keise, Cam City, Scrooge, Da Robba, and C-Lucciano

In total Killa Keise released three full-lengths, four mixtapes, three duo albums, one group album and did countless features (he collaborated with almost every rapper in the Bay), with his latest release being I'm Wit Tha Shit Music Vol. 1, which was released just this past September.

His rap persona bounced between a cold, heartless gangster and a caring person just trying to help his friends and family make a better life for themselves.
He made some of the rawest, hardest rap songs to come out of the Bay, listen to "Fuck That N***a" and try not to tell me that isn't some of the coldest shit you've ever heard. But on his more introspective songs the lyrics could be painfully honest, dealing with topics such as isolation and paranoia frequently. On "Till The End" from 2009 he raps about how his fellow members of Killa Squad haven't gotten in touch with him since he has gotten out of jail, but he doesn't hold it against them and still loves them.

Keise also displayed some real pop sensibility in his music, crafting catchy hooks for his songs, such as on "Shake Dem Dreads", where his voices bouncing along with the synths coming in for the chorus.

Killa Keise also had impeccable beat selection, choosing some truly left-field beats to balance out his straightforward gangster raps. Check out "Let's Talk About It", which features Killa Keise rapping over a Sade sample long before E-40's son made it cool.
Plus he had a Mario and a Spongebob Squarepants chain, which is pretty dope.

They say in the rap game you're nobody until somebody kills you and Killa Keise always seemed to be flying beneath the radar his whole career. He will probably get the credit he deserves now that he is gone, unfortunately. Truth be told I have been listening to his music more than ever before since his passing, people (including myself) never seem to fully appreciate things until their gone.
He left behind a significant musical legacy that will outlive all of us.

Killa Keise was killed on November 10th, 2011 at the age of 28.

Turfed Out is probably his best solo release and Little Big & Big Mafia with Cellski is a classic, but all of his material is solid. I put together a mixtape of his best work in my opinion. Burn it for your friends and spread it around; don't let this amazing music die with the artist.

Tracklisting:

1.) Killa Keise "Stay Down"

2.) Cam City & Killa Keise "I'm a Gangsta Pt. 2"

3.) Killa Keise ft. Messy Marv "Fuck That N***a"

4.) Killa Keise "Shake Dem Dreads"

5.) Killa Keise "Let's Talk About It"

6.) Cellski & Killa Keise ft. Baldhead Rick "Time To Shine"

7.) Killa Keise "Gun Ride"

8.) Killa Keise "Popsicle"

9.) Killa Squad "Turn Into Sunshine"

10.) Killa Keise ft. C. Dot "So Impatient"

11.) Killa Keise ft. Ya Boy "Bust His Head"

12.) Killa Keise ft. C. Dot "Byrd Shit"

13.) Killa Keise ft. Guce, J. Stalin & Jet Black

14.) Killa Keise "My Block"

15.) Killa Squad "Scrapaz Ridin' High"

16.) Cellski & Killa Keise "Tattoo Tears"

17.) Killa Keise "I'm a Beast"

18.) Killa Keise "Stressed Out"

19.) Killa Keise ft. Da Robba "Doin' Me"

20.) Killa Keise "Gas & Brake"

21.) Killa Keise "Till The End"

22.) Killa Squad "Look At My Rims"

DL: 100GoMW,YLS Mixtape #29: Best of Killa Keise

New Rap Music

2011-11-28T22:31:00.001-08:00

My computer was broken for the past week and I just got that shit back, going a week without my iTunes was like breaking up with the girl of my dreams and tears soaking my pillow every night (jk). Anywho, let's get back into this with some new slaps, there's been a lot so prepare yourself:

Lil B "BasedGod Velli"

Based God has a new mixtape out again and this one is titled BasedGod Velli, which is a super unclever play on words. Not really into all these songs Lil B has been making where he tries to come with that conscious flow, tackling serious subject matter over some boring New York City circa 1993 beats. I mean they display maturity for him as an artist, but they just aren't as entertaining as his earlier works and I think Im Gay proved that he doesn't always have to come with some ignorant shit to make an enjoyable rap song.

Joe Blow kind of looks like a wax figure or mannequin to me on this cover for some reason

Joe Blow ft. Young Bossi "Caught Up In This Life"

The Jacka's protege has a new mixtape out and it's nice to see how much attention it's been receiving on the internet. The actual tape is pretty uneven and the album's sound quality is pretty terrible in places, but it's still worth checking out. You Should Be Payin' Me is the best debut album out of the Bay this year and still gets spins at the 100 Grand on My Wrist headquarters regularly. "The Dopest" may be one of the best songs of 2011.

Dubee "Track 01"

Dubee's back! He just came out with a new free mixtape called Crest Side Radio. Dubee's raps are crazy; he has such a vicious flow and unique delivery, any new music from him is always welcome here, even if he's rapping over radio hits here. His last full-length from '08, Thizzmatic, was great, but I think it sold like 300 copies or something sad like that. No idea why Dubee isn't a bigger deal than he is.

Young L ft. Deezy Dolla "Rock Up"

Young L has a new mixtape out and he's back to making super-futuristic-video-game-slaps after dropping the new agey/experimental mixtape, As I Float: The Great John Nash a few months back. Young L is one of the best producers in the Bay and has really created a style that is all his own. These tracks go super hard and if you like a thumping bass backed up by the sound of electronics glitching the fuck out then you should check this mixtape out. It's available for free download.

Keak Da Sneak "They Call Me"

Mr. Super Duper Hyphy is about to come out with a new album (bringing that nickname back right now) and here is a song from that. Apart from the awkward album cover and a handful of cuts with no-name R&B singers doing the hook, Keak Hendrix is pretty tight. Not sure about the production credits on this release, but the beats pick up right where Deified left off, i.e. updated Hyphy jams. It seemed like Keak didn't really have a clear musical direction for his music after the hyphy movement died off, but his Tonite Show album with DJ Fresh earlier this year hinted at his ability to transition to retro-sampled beats, but he's back to these dense, electronic beats of his commercial peak now, which is alright with me.

San Quinn ft. Lil Quinn "Flood The Streets"

Guns, Oil and Drugs-Recession Proof is actually going to come out now next month after previously being shelved about a year ago. The album drops next month, but it already leaked onto the internet. Another weird and extremely uneven release from San Quinn, not sure what's up with that guy, but here is a smooth song off it that featuring his son.

Alright bros that's all the new raps, but many posts coming up this week so check back in later.

What do you think of these songs?
What are your favorite new rap songs out right now?
Do you think the repercussions of the European Debt Crisis will substantially affect the United States economy?
Going to just wait here for some replies in the comment section.

Thomas At The Radio

2011-11-22T21:20:00.001-08:00

I wrote a little something about some of the top rap songs on the radio for Droptops & Stacy Lattisaw Tapes. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BAY AREA RAP (!!!).

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

T-Nutty's Tonite Show Song-By-Song

2011-11-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

It seems like we've been waiting for this album to drop forever and now it has finally come out. Does it live up to all the hype and put Sacramento back on the map? T-Nutty has always been a good rapper with a real unique flow, but his output these last few years has been scattered and the beats he's chosen have not always matched his talent, so this just might be the album to put him on top. Let's check it out:

1.) The Tonite Show with T-Nutty!!!

The album starts with a skit of T-Nutty just saying hi I guess and getting us excited for the music.

2.) Channel 24 St

The first song starts with a news report of a gang bust in South Sacramento. Growing up in the area the news reports were always about some grimey shit happening in Sac or Stockton on a daily basis. Anyways, this beat is really dense, with all sorts of sound effects coming in and out but with an organ keyboard line serving as the central element of the beat. This song is really good, I like how T-Nutty's flow speeds up and slows down within a single verse. T-Nutty always comes with some tight/bizarre lines; "(I) might even melt your igloo or burn down your teepee n***a" The chorus is just real news reports of gang activity in Sacramento. Do you have a favorite news reporter in the Sacramento area? I've always been a Christina Mendonsa guy myself.

<3 <3 <3

3.) Wake Shit Up

This song was leaked by DJ Fresh a couple weeks ago and I wrote about it then. The song is tight and the beat is really energetic, which matches T-Nutty's flow nicely. He raps here, "I need a bitch like Oprah, pay like she weigh and she give like she supposed to," oh T-Nutty you're a card. Good song!

4.) Nutty Man (Murda Man 2K)

This song has a quality dense beat as well, DJ Fresh and his team have been kiling it all year long and this album is no exception. This track is supposed to be a sequel to C-Bo's classic "Murder Man" from 1994 and samples elements from that song's beat, which is pretty cool. Nice to see T-Nutty paying respect to a Sac legend like that. So far the album has had no features, which is like a breath of fresh air with the current trend of feature-heavy releases in NorCal.

I'm disappointed by the lack of nuts on the newest album cover

5.) Criptonite

This song made the list of 100 Grand on My Wrist's top 10 songs of 2010 and still goes hard. Truly one of the most amazing beats DJ Fresh has ever made and on-point raps as usual from T-Nutty.

6.) Young Criminals

Dope beat with a bit of a throwback gangster rap vibe that comes from the thumping bass line. Some synths come in for the chorus to fill out the beat that sound great. Something I've noticed is that he hasn't rapped really fast on any of the songs so far. Not a major complaint though, but some of his older shit with that lightning flow was crazy, like "I'm a Factor" and "Battle Rap". T-Nutty does a great job on the hook here and the beat is quality. Thumb up/nutt factors up.

"What's the woopty wop?"

7.) Woopty Wop

This song is about the opposite sex and features a female vocal loop prominently in the beat. Sounds like T-Nutty is trying to start a new catch phrase with this track, like people are going to start hollering at females "I'm just saying lil' baby, what's the woopty wop?" like in the hook. I imagine if any guy were to say that to a female now she would give him a look of extreme confusion and disinterest. 90% of rap songs about women/sex are horrible, but this song slaps pretty hard and doesn't have embarrassing lyrics, so great job!

8.) I'mma Rydah ft. Jac Thrilla and T Mayne

The song starts with a non-DJ Fresh DJ drop, which is kind of weird to hear on a Tonite Show album. I'm not that into the guy singing the chorus and am only mildly familiar with the rappers featured on this track. Not enough T-Nutty. This song is alright, not terrible, but one of the weaker tracks on the album.

9.) Cuzblood Remix ft. Shady Nate and Mitchy Slick

This song was on Shady Nate's Still Based on a True Story. That's pretty lame to see songs recycled from other Tonite Show albums, I mean Shady Nate's album just came out a few months ago and it's not like fans of Shady Nate would never check out a T-Nutty album. The song isn't bad or anything though.

10.) The Truth ft. Smigg Dirtee and Dubb 20

Dope lineup! Smigg starts the song off strong with a verse about women paying him and being from a dangerous neighborhood, etc. The beat switches up a bit for T-Nutty's verse and takes on a more menacing vibe. Then for Dubb 20's verse the beat makes a complete 180, with elements of the original beat making their way back into the song towards the end. Really interesting approach of making the beat morph throughout the song's length. The track is the most laid back song on the album so far.

Do you remember when the Kings were good?

11.) He's on Fire ft. The Younglifes

Sampling NBA Jam?!? That's awesome, although it would have been better if there were some 'BOOMSHAKALAKA's thrown in there too. I had NBA Jam on Sega Game Gear as a kid, whatchu know bout Sega Game Gear? Not familiar with The Younglifes, but he sounds like a young D-Lo. Another dope song and T-Nutty handles everything but the hook.

12.) Rep Yo Shit ft. Dubb 20 and Philthy Rich

This song samples some Lil Jon shit and thus makes the listener want to start a fight in the club for no reason. I hope sampling Lil Jon becomes a thing, that would be cool with me. Would have been nice if T-Nutty rapped fast on this song, but his verse is tight, along with Dubb 20 and Philthy's. You heard about the Tonite Show album coming out with Dubb 20, Lil Retro, and LIQ? Should be worth listening to, if for nothing else than to hear new Dubb 20.

13.) Santa Claus To The Smokers ft. J. Stalin

This song is about selling drugs to people and those buyers thinking about you as a Santa Claus-like figure because you are giving them the gift of drugs. J. Stalin kills the chorus with whisper-like delivery and has a dope verse too. The album has an impressive amount of musical diversity in the production; no two songs sound similar and every track has a completely different vibe to it.

14.) Outro

T-Nutty talks for a quick second, saying sorry about the album delays and that he is the best out. Apology accepted T-Nutty.

So there it is, T-Nutty's new album. Honestly this album is pretty fucking good, better than expected and any hard feelings about the numerous album delays are water under the bridge in my mind. If I had to rate it I'd give it 4.5 out of 5 nuts or something. This is probably the best album out of Sacramento this year.
The album' approach of putting all the solo songs in the first half and all the songs with features in the second half is pretty interesting and I think it works well because the listener really gets a feel for T-Nutty's style and personality before any other rappers are introduced in the album. The album's a little short, but at just over 40 minutes it's long enough and so much better than being a 70+ minute album loaded with throwaway tracks and skits, etc.

What do you think of the album?

Album Cover Fun

2011-11-15T16:17:00.001-08:00

Straight up the Bay Area has got the album cover game on lock just like they have the rap music game on lock. What region has produced better album covers? None. Oh ok some of those Cash Money and No Limit album covers from the late 90's/early 2000's were pretty dope I'll give you that. But if you look at the entire history of rap music the Bay Area has been killing it since before you were born (unless you are really old). You know those 'worst rap album covers' lists that are all over the internet? Those are fucking stupid because the author doesn't even listen to the albums, so completely misses the context of the visuals and it's usually the same ten albums anyways (with Big Bear at the #1 spot).

Let's look at some of the best and worst and most entertaining album covers the Bay has produced all at once:

This is a dope cover! Looks like a big budget heist movie poster! Great high quality work. If I remember correctly on the back cover there is a frightened woman being held at gunpoint (lol).

Oh, a 'Do Not Disturb' sign? BOW Keak could give a fuck about your sign, he is about to disturb the shit out of you.

Explosions and destruction is always cool. What just happened here? Why does AP.9 seem proud of what has occurred and Fed-X appears filled with remorse? It's open for interpretation, like any good piece of art.

Album cover of the year? BRB going to go get my 3D glasses.

What a dope cover. I have no idea why flat tops ever went out of style. When I first saw this I wasn't too familiar with Hus and thought the cover was some sort of joke, but then I saw a video of him and saw this is exactly how he looked. At that moment I became a fan of his for life.

So luxurious! Lil B's music often borders on the absurd and so do his album covers.

"I don't always cook crack in my kitchen, but when I do I be sure and put on a complete chef outfit." The facial expression of mini-Cellski is hilarious.

Straight up one of the dopest album covers of all time. So simple and clean, it works perfectly.

I love this album and Cam City is one of the most underrated rappers in the Bay, but what the fuck is this?! I understand the concept you were going for here Cam, but umm...can I have a word with you real quick about your female selection? I imagine it's not that hard to get some attractive women to do an album cover, there are tons of women trying to 'launch their modeling career' that would probably do something like this for free, but you went with some hookers you met in Chinatown. Ok bro.

I guess this concept was done before for some other rap albums, but I never saw them and this one looks tight. Pop culture references are always welcome in album titles and art.

Me and my best friend in college played intramural doubles tennis together for two years and if you win your league then your picture gets put up in the school's gym for a year. So me and my friend made a pact that we would dress as similar to Mac Dre and Mac Mall as we could and strike identical poses to them for our championship photo if we ever made it. Unfortunately we lost in the semi-finals this year and our dreams were never fulfilled and I now live a life full of regrets. If anyone ever wants to play some tennis holler at me. Great cover!

I've never robbed a man before, but I'm pretty sure it does not require you to get on your knees and put your hands on his thighs. Everything about this album cover makes me uncomfortable.

The fuck is this?! Messy Marv drinking a smoothie?! I don't want to see any rappers doing everyday activities on their album covers; I don't want to see rappers stuck in traffic on I-80 because the right lane is closed, I don't want to see rappers rappers sitting at Chipotle eating a chicken burrito. I want to see rappers covered in jewelry and women while looking at me in a threatening manner (pointing a gun optional). Plus his head looks photoshopped, which is weird because why would you choose to photoshop him into such a boring picture?

Stalin is looking sharp in that three-piece suit, complete with a black rose and white scarf. A little confused by the concept though, it looks they are at a funeral, but the album is titled Prenuptial Agreement. Is J. Stalin making social commentary about the institution of marriage? What's the deal with the girl on the left? Her hand on her hip like that looks like she is about to give Stalin a piece of her mind.

Basically Smigg Dirtee is living my dream in this picture: sleeping with two beautiful women in a pajama onesie. He also spilled cough syrup all over the carpet, but he doesn't give a fuck. The back cover features those women bringing Smigg breakfast in bed and ironing his clothes. Love it!

Mess looking into a bottle of vitamins shaped like guns that look plastic. Can't decide if this one is tight or not. Took me a minute to figure out what was going on with this one when I first saw it, I thought he was looking through a donut hole at toy guns for a minute for some reason.

Saving the best for last. This is my favorite album cover of all time:

Can you tell me what is not tight about this? The answer is nothing. E-40 cooking crack with a brick phone on the stove inside of a Rolex. It's the details that count on this one though; what is today? 'E-Fo' Day' of course! What day is it today? The 40th! Love the look that E-40 is giving us, he knows exactly how trill he looks right now.

My favorite album covers of all time remains those with rappers pretending to be on the phone and rappers in an awkward crouch position.

Probably going to do a part 2 of this because there is still a lot of uncovered territory.

What are your favorite Bay Area rap album covers of all time?
What are some of the worst album covers to come out of the Bay?

Mix #28

2011-11-13T03:55:00.000-08:00

Some new songs, some old songs, all slaps:

1.) Hollow Tip "No More Brains"

I mentioned in the Sacramento post how raw Hollow Tip used to be and here is proof of that. This is off his debut album, Takin No Shortz from 1996. The raps are hard as fuck in this song and the beat is some of that classic West Coast gangster shit that you can't help but love. Easily one of the best rap songs to ever come out of the area.

2.) Stevie Joe "Quick Fast"

This beat is hard as fuck. Kind of reminds me of AP.9's "The Grinch", which is one of my favorite Bay Area rap songs of all time. Stevie goes in on this beat too, real impressive. Honestly one of the rawest songs I've heard all year.

3.) Shady Nate ft. Mayback and Bandaide "Traphouse"

Shady Nate is such a talented rapper, just wish his beats matched his capabilities more often. Son of the Hood suffers a bit from mediocre beats and too many features, but Shady Nate's raps still shine through. This song has a tight retro thumping bass line.

4.) 1st Place aka TJ aka Stressmatic "Summertime"

Stressmatic's shift from hyphy music to bro rap was pretty jarring when it first occurred last year, but I'm glad he did it. He's definitely been making some entertaining music lately, the chorus of this song has been in my head all week and doesn't want to leave.

5.) Remixx, Young Will and Banga "Beat N Da Back"

Props to mtp for putting me on to this. This song is tight and the chorus is hella catchy. Not too familiar with any of these rappers, but I guess they are from Sacramento.

6.) Cousin Fik "Dat Killa Crew"

Love the concept of this song, Fik raps about his posse being popular horror movie killers like Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Michael Myers. Real entertaining song and as a big horror movie fan this is awesome.

7.) D-Lo "30 Bars He's Back"

He's Back was a bit of a disappointment for me, especially considering how great D-Lo's last Tonite Show album was. The album still has some cuts and D-Lo is a good rapper. Shouts out to Nyquil for describing D-Lo as having a parrot's voice. Super accurate description!

8.) Shady Blaze "Be Alright"

Some new music from Shady Blaze, feeling the posi vibes on this track and plus a great beat. Green Ova takin' ova!

9.) E-40 ft. Levitti "Ballin' Outta Control"

To celebrate the announcement of E-40's new double album (he really likes releasing double albums), here is an old E-40 song. I'm never not listening to 40, easily the best rapper to come out of the Bay.

10.) J. Stalin "My Lane"

This song has got that signature cold, industrial sound that the Mechanix is known for. Anybody know when Memoirs of a Curb Server is coming out? It was supposed to drop on the first of the month, but that didn't happen.

11.) Young Gully "Okay Alrite"

New Young Gully off the forthcoming DJ Fresh collaboration David, which comes out in about a month. Gully is an extremely talented lyricist and this is some nice laid back slaps. My only hope for the album is that there is more variety in the beats because Young Gully and DJ Fresh both seem to prefer relaxed beats such as the one on this song.

12.) Clyde Carson "Night Call"

This track uses the music from the opening song in that movie Drive (good movie and cool song). It's some slick 80's synthesized shit. Clyde Carson continues to make catchy music, looking forward to his next release.

13.) Messy Marv and Mitchy Slick ft. Yukmouth "On the One"

A modern classic West Coast gangster rap song and one of the best hooks Yuk has ever done in his career. Off the sold Messy Slick from '07, been waiting on Mitchy Slick's album with DJ Fresh for hella days now.

14.) Luni Coleone ft. Devious and Mad Dog "Shit Ain't Changed"

Here is some old Luni Coleone. This is one of the few songs where Luni Coleone doesn't state his name repeatedly on the track. He still has one of the coldest lines of all time: "They call me Luni Coleone, mobbin' all night long / got the evilest intentions when I'm holdin' the chrome." I need to check out that new album he just put out already.

"Floheakinz aren't a real tribe T-Nutty, stop littering"

15.) T-Nutty "Young Nutt Factor"

T-Nutty's new album finally comes out next week. To hold you over here is a track off his 2002 debut, The Last of the Floheakinz, which is arguably his best album. Gotta love his style, it borders the absurd at times. Look out for a song-by-song breakdown of the new album here when it drops.

16.) Ampichino, Freeze and Young Bossi ft. Praise Money and Chino Nino "Code of Life"

Never not listening to Akron's finest. This is off their first group album, City of G'z from '07. The album is incredibly dope and highly recommended if you want to check out something from Ampichino and his gang.

17.) Lil B "December 1989"

It seems like Based God fever has cooled off a bit since the release of Im Gay (Im Happy). Here is a newer song from him, his strongest quality remains beat selection, don't know where he finds shit like this, but it's incredible.

18.) J. Stalin and Mayback ft. Lil Blood "Trap House"

Two songs titled "Trap House" in one mixtape! Insanity! This is easily one of Livewire's best songs and one of Lil Blood's best verses.

19.) Rich The Factor "The Ballers Lick"

Off Rich The Factor's 1995 debut album Gettin' a Grip. The EP was recorded in San Francisco and entirely produced by JT The Bigga Figga. Rich's Bay influence has remained strong ever since. Love that old school bass line.

20.) 1st Place aka TJ aka Stressmatic "Shining Lights"

On this song Stressmatic laments about struggling to make it in the music business and not achieving fame yet. I hope he keeps doing what he's doing now though, because it is 100X more creative and original than anything The Federation ever produced.

21.) Cousin Fik "Follow You (Colomiano Mix)"

Amazing song, the beat is huge and sounds like a million dollars. Cousin Fik displays some real potential for mainstream appeal on his latest mixtape, which you can get for free here.

DL: 100GoMW,YLS Mixtape #28

Hope you enjoy the mix. Rest in peace Killa Keise, I'm going to try and put together some sort of tribute together for him next week on the site, thanks to everyone that reads this.

RIP Killa Keise

2011-11-11T16:44:00.000-08:00

Killa Keise ft. Scrooge "911"

This is terrible and hard to believe that another talented artist from the Bay has been killed. There is never any excuse for taking another man's life, this violence needs to stop. As a fan of his music he will be missed, my heart goes out to the family.

Here is a link to the story.

Assorted Slaps, News, and Notes

2011-11-08T17:11:00.001-08:00

U Crying bro?

This is one of the best songs I've heard all year:

Shady Blaze "Stars Will Light A Way"

This track is off Shady Blaze's new digital album, Blessed or Cursed, which you can check out over here. Shady Blaze's music remains hit-or-miss for me, but when everything comes together on tracks like this it's absolutely beautiful. The beat makes the listener want to cry and teamed with Shady's rapid-fire raps it just sounds amazing. Some next level shit for sure.

Did you hear Jacka's The Verdict got delayed until January? Remember when all three of those albums were supposed to come out on August 31st? LOL. But then The Verdict was supposed to come out on October 25th? Double LOL. Feel kind of bad for anyone that pre-ordered these back in August though.

The legal staff of 100 Grand on My Wrist

Haven't had a chance to say this anywhere else, so big ups to Em Dub over at Thizzler on the Roof. After months of tense negotiations between our team of lawyers, half of each of my posts can now be found over there. If you don't already go to that site regularly and consider yourself a fan of Bay Area rap then what are you doing cutty?

Still been bumping this Philthy Rich mixtape, which is surprisingly great. There's another mixtape to this series that I never listened to because it is subtitled Just For The Bitches, so it's not meant for my gender I guess.
Philthy's discography is rather inconsistent and while he has put out some great songs and albums, I've been feeling like he's gotten a little lazy with his raps lately. No longer though, he comes hard on this one. Tons of dope songs; good beats, good features, and good rapping. Here is a song off that:

Philthy Rich "Never Do Shit"

The mixtape is all new songs, with original beats and is available for free download right here.

100GoMW,YLS' Board of Directors

The fourth quarter's fiscal numbers are in and 100 Grand on My Wrist is looking good! The gross profit margin is up by 6.48% compared to last year and many analysts project strong growth in the coming year. While the company's income tax rate has risen to 19%, our board of directors believe that we can offset our higher tax bracket with a growth in our current capital expenditures. Email for the full quarter report. Thanks to everyone who reads and comments on the site.

ZUMBA MOTHERFUCKER

The 100 Grand on My Wrist Fitness Center will now be offering Zumba classes Monday through Friday. Spaces are limited, so sign up today! Remember, Zumba isn't a workout, it's a Fitness Party.©
The online fitness program is very busy, however we are still accepting new clients at this time. Get in touch with us at 100grandonmywrist (at) gmail.com to sign up. As of November 1st our clients have lost a combined 3,000 pounds. SUCCESS!

Mix #28 coming later this week, so be on the lookout for that!

Let's Talk About Sacramento Rap

2011-11-06T01:17:00.001-07:00

I have spent the majority of my life in the Sacramento area and grew up listening to rap from the area. Brotha Lynch Hung's Season of Tha Siccness was the soundtrack to my youth and me and my friends would always get into arguments about whether or not he actually ate people (kids are dumb). There was something about Sacramento rap that was just so raw and grimey, especially when the top rappers from the area were either making songs about killing people or recording from prison like X-Raided.

The point is I've loved Sacramento rap music since an early age and am always looking for some new raps from the area.

But what makes Sacramento rap different from Bay Area rap?
Sacramento is maybe an hour away from the Bay (depends a lot on traffic and what you consider the Bay I guess) so of course they have a good amount in common and collaborate with each other frequently, but rap music coming from Sac has always been darker than the Bay's, both musically and lyrically. In other words more raps about killing people and less raps about having ice on your neck. A good amount of the music carries a strong resemblance to Southern California's rap scene as well due to the similar gang environments, but with that said the music is still completely unique.

Let's take a look at the most visible rappers in Sacramento at this moment:

T-Nutty: T-Nutty is the Sacramento rapper with the most hype around him right now. He has always had a lot of talent and tons of potential, but after a promising start with some great albums, his releases have become more sporadic recently and he hasn't put out a full length solo album since 2008. People have been anticipating his Tonite Show Album with DJ Fresh for a long time now and after tons of delays it is supposed to actually be coming out this month. Here is a dope song from that:

T-Nutty "Criptonite"

If the album lives up to or surpasses the expectations then he will probably have a much higher profile, especially in the Bay.

Luni Coleone: Luni Coleone has released some great albums in his day, as both Luni Coleone and (Mr.) Lunasicc, but that was a long time ago now and he's been MIA for quite some time. He just dropped a new album a few days ago (his first in five years), has anybody heard it yet? Unfortunately his releases have not really been that great since the year 2000, which is a long time. Luni Coleone is still tight in my book though.

Hollow Tip: Hollow Tip released some straight up classic underground rap albums in the 90's (go listen to Takin' No Shortz), but it seems like he never really got the recognition he deserved at his peak. The quality of his music has been on a steady decline in recent years and while he still produces some tight music here and there, it sounds like he's been phoning it in for years now. However, on this year's Cocaine Cowboys with Smigg Dirtee it sounds like he really stepped up his game:

Hollow Tip and Smigg Dirtee "Rock a Mic"

If he starts rapping like that consistently again, then he could definitely start building up a larger fan base.

Gangsta Dre: Gangsta Dre is cool and has released some great albums, but it's been a long time since he's put anything out and he doesn't appear to be really active right now.

X-Raided: X has more lyrical talent than most, but his current situation will always limit his appeal. The vocal quality of his releases always varies depending on what sort of recording equipment he can get his hands on. Plus the beats on his music can be a little iffy because it's all the same producer constructing a beat around his a capella raps. X-Raided will always have a decent fan base, but being in prison will always limit his audience to a certain degree.

Smigg Dirtee: Smigg is great and the most active rapper in Sacramento right now with real talent. His style is very accessible and out of everyone else listed here, he is the artist with the most potential to connect with listeners outside of Northern California. His verses are always entertaining and clever and he has a pretty good ear for catchy beats. A lot of his mixtapes are just him rapping over recycled beats, which can get kind of old quick. If he keeps rapping like he has been over more original beats I see him doing well:

Smigg Dirtee "Got Me Fucked Up"

First Degree The DE: Easily the most bizarre rapper out, I like some pretty weird stuff, but cannot get into his music at all. It makes me uncomfortable.

C-Bo: C-Bo is one of my favorite rappers of all time and has released over half a dozen great albums in his day. If you want to here some good examples of everything that is great and unique about Sacramento rap go check out any of his albums from the 90's. Back in 2007 Young Buck signed him to his Ca$hville Records and I think that sort of hindered his ability to release music because he hasn't put out a full length since then. He released a mixtape last year that everybody ignored, but it was extremely forgettable. However he also put out a Thug Lordz album last year with Yukmouth, which was dope:

C-Bo and Yukmouth "Million Dollar Spot"

Even though he may be past his prime his music is always worth checking out. Him and E-40 were hands-down the best gangster rappers in the 90's (not 2Pac, fuckboy), but because he is from a smaller market he never really got bumped by too many people outside of Northern California.

Lavish D: The only reason I know who this guy is is because of his endless beef with Livewire. Not a good look.

Bueno: He's alright I guess. Definitely has released some heaters and is still putting out music, but I don't see him blowing up or anything. Nothing about his style really distinguishes him from the Bay Area scene.

Brotha Lynch Hung: Easily the biggest rapper to come out of Sacramento and the most visible rapper in the scene currently. Lynch is a legend and really took gangster rap to the next level back in the day by taking all of the violent elements of the music to their logical extremes. He'll probably never get the credit he deserves for that outside of Nor Cal because he is from Sacramento instead of New York/Atlanta/New Orleans. He signed to Tech N9ne's Strange Music label last year for a three-album deal and has already put out two of the albums, last year's Dinner and a Movie and this year's Coathanga Strangla. Both albums are easily his best works in nearly a decade and his affiliation with Strange Music has brought him a whole new generation of fans. A lot of his older fans have been hating on his newer works, but music can't sound like 1994 anymore so get over yourself. I've heard that him and Tech N9ne haven't been seeing eye-to-eye lately, which sucks and I hope they work out their differences. Here's one of his newer songs:

Brotha Lynch Hung "The Coathanga"

C-Lim, COS, G-Macc, Young Bop, Mack Twon, etc: Not really too familiar with any of these rappers. Should I be?

Battle of Sacramento, 1847- SAC BEEN THUGGIN'

So there you have it, a round up of the current rap scene in Sac. To be honest the current scene is not too strong, especially when compared to how much great music was coming out from there in the 1990's. Sacramento is responsible for easily some of the best West Coast gangster rap music of all time, so what happened?
The city has never had the support network that the Bay does, so lately any new rappers coming from the area have had to link up with someone from the Bay Area to get any attention. Sacramento will always be a smaller market and has never gotten much national attention, but it seemed like the scene had a cool little network going for a long time that has been disappearing recently. Who knows what the future holds.

Who is your favorite rapper out of the 916?
Are there some amazing rappers from Sacramento that I'm sleeping on?

Livewire 5-Pack

2011-11-02T16:39:00.001-07:00

With all this Livewire drama going on right now what better time than now to be reminded why we should care about the group in the first place. Led by J. Stalin, Livewire Records first started putting out material in 2006, but really began getting recognition in the Bay in 2009 due to a slew of group and solo mixtapes/albums released that year of relatively high quality. Since then they have remained an important part of the Bay Area rap scene and these last couple years have seen further development of the Livewire members as solo artists. As with any good rap group, what makes Livewire special is the individual rappers' unique personas that are able to shine alone as well as play off each other for collaborations. Here are some cuts that exemplify their talent:

Philthy Rich, J. Stalin and Mayback "On One"

Super catchy track with a great hook and a post-hyphy beat with deep, buzzsaw horns that come in for the chorus. Every rapper flows real well on this song, but Mayback (or is it Maybach?) absolutely kills the track, "I'm untamed just like that tiger up in Frisco/get yo ass killed tryna stunt for a punk ho." Props to you if you remember that tiger attack in the SF Zoo a few years back. Is Mayback in jail right now? Haven't heard anything from him in a long time. Philthy raps about riding in a Ford Pinto on this track, which is basically the best car ever.

Philthy's dope whip

Philthy Rich, Stevie Joe and Jay Jonah "Dope Game Gravy"

Just some mixtape shit with a OJ Da Juiceman sample for the hook, but goddamn this song goes. The music is incredible, going from a sparse beat with moody synths to a complete shift in the feel of the song for the chorus. All three of the Livewire dudes rap real well here too.

J. Stalin, Lil Rue, HD and Jay Jonah "I Need a Bundle"

Stalin's voice really makes him stand out and he has a knack for making catchy hooks, such as this one. The chorus of this song will get in your head for a long time, guaranteed. The beat is pretty crazy too, don't really know how to describe it, but there is a lot going on in it and it sounds awesome.

Shady Nate ft. Lil Rue and J. Stalin "Bounced Out Trippin'"

I've always been sort of lukewarm towards Lil Rue because he has the voice of a drunken teenager, but he makes this song great. The melody he carries in his voice for the hook is pretty impressive considering how hard he slurs his words. I guess it's too bad he got kicked out of Livewire, but it sounds like neither side was happy with the arrangement, so hopefully now everyone can get on with making good music. People have been talking about Lil Rue signing to Jacka's The Artist Records a lot lately. We'll see about that, it could work.
Shady Nate is the best rapper of the group in my opinion and this song is a good example of his talent.

J. Stalin, Shady Nate and Jay Jonah "Middle of the Street"

Saving the best for last, this song is not only Livewire's best track, but hands down one of the best Bay Area rap songs in the last decade in my opinion. The emotion is Stalin's voice on the hook is incredible and each rapper delivers one of the best verses of their career. This song is just flawless and a good example of why Livewire is so special.
This song is off this trio's 2008 Pay Ya'Self or Spray Ya'Self, which is a great album and the first release that made me take note of these three rappers along with the rest Livewire Records.

What do you think of Livewire?
What's your favorite song by them?
Who is your favorite member of the group?
Do you think they should add another rapper to replace Lil Rue? Who?

How To Have a Trill Halloween

2011-10-31T02:43:00.001-07:00

E-40 ft. Bosko "Spooky"

Halloween is one of the best holidays ever and potentially hella fun. Let me walk you through some Bay Area rap related ways to have a good time so that you don't end up alone dressed as Raggedy Ann crying yourself to sleep. But what can you dress as and what music should you listen to to ensure a fun Halloween? Don't even sweat it bro, I got you:

Option #1: Go out as Mac Dre!
Order one of these terrifying masks for the low price of $29.99 and let the good times roll! Bonus points if you actively take ecstasy and go to a club and see how frightened everyone is by your mask (jk don't ever do ecstasy). Guaranteed fun will unfold as you dance to terrible music and feel amazing on the inside.
But what if you are more of an introvert?:

Option #2:
Stay in and and think murderous and suicidal thoughts!
We are all God's creatures, but let's be honest, we were not all created good-looking and charming. If you are an awkward looking and acting dude, then just stay in and listen to some fucked up horror raps and think about dark things. And what better soundtrack to do so than Brotha Lynch Hung's Season of Tha Siccness!:

Brotha Lynch Hung "Sicc Made"

I can't guarantee a good time if you go with this option, but at least you will be following the theme of the night.

Option #3: Be E-40 for Halloween!:

So simple. Just be overweight and wear tiny glasses at the edge of your nose. Be sure and use the phrase 'UGGGHH' liberally throughout the night. Everyone will love your costume.

Bonus tips:

Listen to this confusingly-titled and themed holiday song by Husalah and Jacka all night:

Husalah and Jacka "Halloween Christmas Gremlins"

If you are a super smart engineering bro you could also make a Halloween robot:

If that doesn't impress the ladies then nothing will!

When I was 16 on Halloween I drank a 750 mL bottle of vodka in about an hour and then proceeded to vomit furiously before blacking out and getting into some trouble (my costume that year was teenage delinquent/fuck up apparently), I don't recommend doing that ever.

To be honest I haven't figured out my Halloween costume yet and it is the night before as I am typing this.
What should I be for Halloween?
What are you going to be for Halloween?
How are you going to be keeping it trill on Halloween?
Are there some Halloween-themed Bay Area rap songs you will be listening to?

HD's Fresh Song-By-Song

2011-10-27T01:02:00.000-07:00

Dope jacket!

Much has already been written about HD here, but he just came out with a new album last week produced by DJ Fresh that is his biggest release yet at the height of his hype. Did he take it to the next level or did he swing and miss? Let's find out together in a song-by-song breakdown of the album:

1.) Cost of Living

The album starts with the track that was on a youtube sampler posted a few weeks ago. One of the reasons I think so many people were looking forward to this album is that HD's beats are not always up to par with his raps and with a DJ Fresh-produced project you are guaranteed quality beats. This song has a pretty typical DJ Fresh feel to it with a laid-back vibe and retro inspired sound. It sounds really good and HD includes a handful of 'SMACK SMACK' ad libs, which is always appreciated.

2.) Didn't Kno

HD raps in this song that his dick tastes like chicken, which is a statement I don't think we should ponder here. This song is about HD sleeping with women (and paying him) that he didn't know were married and their husbands now want to fight him. If I had a dime every time this happened to me in real life I would have so many dimes! One thing I like about HD is that his songs about women/sex are not super retarded and gross to listen to like many other rappers (I'm looking at you J. Stalin). The beat is pretty cool, frantic synths in the background and some interesting percussion sounds working their way in too.

Relevant Picture

3.) 2 Liters ft. Hen Sippa, G-Dirty and B-Stroll

This song's beat reminds me of another song (possibly by DJ Fresh) that I can't place. Help me out readers! Hen Sippa starts this song off with his monotone, lifeless tone that has grown on me more than I'd care to admit. Hen Sippa also handles the chorus and rhymes 'presents' with 'present' and 'presents' with 'presence' twice all within one chorus lol. Super impressed by that. HD goes hard in this song, wish his verse was longer though.

4.) All on You

This song has an old-school feel to it and uses an Al Green sample as the central element of the beat and chorus. The song has a nice atmosphere to it and it's good to hear a true solo track with HD.

5.) Back

Another old-school soul sample in the beat, this time from a Marvin Gaye song, but the music has an eerie and apocalyptic feel to it. Real interesting beat, I've never heard HD rap over something like this, it sounds different, but good. HD goes hard on this song too, "time to take action and quit prayin' for peace," fuck yeah.

6.) Black Politics ft. G-Dirty and B-Stroll

HD rapping about his struggle and our troubled society, etc over a sparse beat. Wish there was more HD in this song as well even though the other two guys in this song deliver solid verses.

7.) Clausterphobic

Do rappers use spell check before publishing their music, or should I just chill the fuck out about typos in rap song titles? On HD's Coldest Winter Ever- Tha Trife Stories there's a song called "Itilian Job" lol. Regardless of spelling this song is tight with moody, sweeping synths joined by laser beam-sounding keyboards in the beat. Another compliment worth throwing HD's way is his ability to effortlessly handle the choruses on his songs, he absolutely kills the hook on this song. Shit is dope!

8.) Fresh ft. 600BJ, G-Dirty, B-Stroll and Lil Joe

Got to say these beats are straight fire so far, but this is probably the hardest one on here. It has an eerie vibe to it and a sparse arrangement until violin kick in for the chourus and make the beat sound huge. HD is hella raw on this, "Squeeze juice out the glock like the lemon fresh/ ugh I lift steel like I bench press/ leave a n***a on his back like a suplex" UGGHH. A lot of other guys rap after him and do a decent job.

SUPLEX!!!

9.) Lash Season ft. G-Dirty, J. Dizzle, 600BJ and B-Stroll

Just realized DJ Fresh's "DJFreshDJFreshDJFresh" drops haven't been at the beginning of any of these songs, I wonder why not. This beat is cool, sounds like pretty typical DJ Fresh, which is a good thing. Not enough HD and too much other guys on this song though. I like most of the Bearfaced Gang, but HD is on a whole 'nother level when compared to them.

10.) Come Fuck Wit Us ft. Kiwi the Beast, G-Dirty, J. Dizzle, 600BJ, B-Stroll and Lil Joe

The first guy rapping after HD on this song is kind of weak (J. Dizzle?). The chorus sounds really busy due to an unintelligible vocal loop thrown in for the hook over HD's rapping. This song is alright.

Sample source.

11.) She Strange ft. Lil Blood

Source sample. This song leans pretty hard on its sample, using the sample for the beat and chorus, but it's cool. The sound of a computer logging off/turning off is played twice at the beginning of this song for some reason, which is quite jarring if you are listening to this song on your computer like I am.

12.) Catch U Slippin' ft. Bearfaced Gang

This beat has a triumphant feel to it, with huge orchestral elements in the beat. It sounds really good. Lots of guys rapping on this song including Lil Rod, he should be on more tracks on this album. Good posse cut, Bearfaced Gang are tight.

Hen Sippa struggling to stay alive with white people throwing pseudo gang signs

13.) Chill ft. Jinx and Hen Sippa

Finally we hear the DJ Fresh drop at the beginning, where has that thing been? Hen Sippa's voice is about mixing syrup and sprite I assume, really impressed by his commitment and singularity to rapping about that. The chorus on this song via Jinx is highly questionable, the only song by him where I've really liked his hook was on Keak Da Sneak's "Oakland The Town." Too much Jinx, not enough HD on this song. The album is over now.

If I had to rate this album I'd give it 4 out of 5 SMACKSMACKs or something. This album is great and gave HD some high-quality, interesting beats to rap over. Also it really solidified how good HD is at writing hooks for his songs, he handles almost all the choruses for this album and they all sound great. That's something even some of my favorite rappers have never been that good at (E-40, Yukmouth, etc), so props to him.
Would have liked to see more Lil Rod and Blast Holiday on here and a little less of the other guys. Clocking in at just under 50 I know some people might complain about the length, but with no interludes or intro/outros I can't really complain about it.
Great album, much better than the D-Lo and DJ Fresh album that dropped the same day. DL links are up on my favorite tracks so peep it if you haven't. According to the internet HD is in jail again, which is really unfortunate. Hope he is able to get out soon and continue to make great music.

What do you think of the album?

New Rap Music

2011-10-23T00:54:00.001-07:00

Hella new music, have you been keeping up? Don't sweat it I got you:

Shady Nate ft. HD and Dubb 20 "Flyin' Wit My Iron"

Shady Nate needs to hire someone to do promo for him or something for him, because all of his releases this past year or so apart from Still Based on a True Story have just sort of appeared with no warning. Son of The Hood just came out and it's real solid, Shady Nate is still the most talented member of Livewire in my book and on this release he further develops an emotional depth to his lyrics that is pretty impressive. It would have been nice if the album had less features and more Shady Nate, but most releases coming out of the Bay lately have been feature-heavy, so maybe that's just the way things are these days.

D-Lo "Player Shit"

D-Lo's last album with DJ Fresh was arguably one of the best Tonite Show albums that Fresh has ever done, so their new album He's Back was much anticipated by many folks in the Bay including myself. It seemed like he had a lot of hype around him back in '08 and '09 when "No Hoe" was blowing up and then went MIA for a while, not really sure what happened with him, but I'm glad he is indeed back and it sounds like he is picking up right where he left off with the last Tonite Show album here. DJ Fresh is always at his creative peak with D-Lo, working outside of his laid-back-retro beat comfort zone and bringing some weird, futuristic and energetic post-hyphy beats for him. D-Lo is a better rapper than he will probably ever get credit for and his beat selection is outstanding. This new album is probably not as good as his last release, but the beat on this song is ridiculous. Go listen to that original Tonite Show D-Lo from '09 if you haven't, you will not regret it.

Sellin' Dope

J. Stalin ft. Beeda Weeda and Shady Nate "Take It Back"

Stalin just came out with the bluntly titled I'm Sellin' Dope mixtape and it's really good because there are not too many songs where J. Stalin is rapping/singing about women/sex (although there is a song on here called "Pussy Cologne" lololololol). His style remains extremely unique and the beats are much better than expected for a mixtape. Major thumbs up!

Blast Holiday and Mistah FAB ft. AB, Lil C and Beat Those "The Whole Ice"

Bearfaced Gang did something I didn't think was possible; got me to actually listen to a new Mistah FAB project. Don't mean to be internet hating, Mistah FAB is talented and all, but everything he's has done the last three years has had me like 'smh, the fuck outta here with that.' The teaming of Mistah FAB and Blast Holiday of Bearfaced Gang on this release is a bit odd, they both come from North Oakland, but that's basically where their similarities end and their styles don't gel very well. Regardless, there are some good cuts on this tape and this song goes hard.

LOL forever at Soulja Boy's iced-out RC car

Young L and Soulja Boy "All Gold Everything"

Someone from The Fader described this beat as sounding like "two robots building a third robot," which is pretty fucking accurate. It's pretty easy to hate on Soulja Boy, but he deserves serious props for recognizing the production talents of Young L, whose beats can be jaw droppingly good. The two of them are supposed to be dropping a duo mixtape in the near future titled Domo & Mario Vs. The World, so look out for that.

Kobra Abysmal, Rux, Cousin Fik, Moe Green, Playbody Shigady, Willie Joe, J-Cizzle, YC Da Kidd, Indecent The Slapmaster, D-Boi, Driyp Drop, Davie The Fly Kid, Di Da Arsun, Mr. Apher, Young Smoke and TouchScreen Trell "1 Vallejo"

Talk about a posse cut! 16 deep in one song and eight minutes long is pretty nuts. Only mildly familiar with the majority of these rappers, but they all do a surprisingly good job here. There's a video for this song too, which is pretty great and I appreciate the fact that they display the name of each rapper before their verse starts:

To be honest the only time I stop in Vallejo is to get cheap gas at that Safeway in Central Vallejo or going to that Marine World/Six Flags as a kid, but it's good to see all the pride people have for their place of residence.

What about that new DJ Fresh HD album? Song-by-song breakdown coming in a couple days.

Mix #27: Best of HD

2011-10-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

HD is going to be the next big thing in the Bay.

HD represents everything that is right with the Bay Area rap scene right now. As the major label music industry has collapsed this past decade all the money that was in the rap game has disappeared. What that means is that the number of rappers major labels are going to support is very very small now and anyone hoping to get into the industry now has to do it independently. That puts the Bay Area in a very unique position because the whole scene has been somewhat insular since the 90's and has already developed a strong network for independent artists. Therefore in this rap recession the Bay Area has flourished while other regions have faltered. HD epitomizes the independent hustle in the rap game right now; his constant flow of mixtapes these past two years have lifted him from relative obscurity to one of the Bay's brightest stars.

All of HD's albums are cheap projects; lots of recycled and budget beats and features exclusively from his Bearfaced Gang camp, but they all are surprisingly solid. Pick up any of his albums and there is not a single embarrassing 'track for the ladies' and the songs have real lyrical and musical diversity, so the albums can actually be played all the way through. The quality of his music has lead to the hype around him growing exponentially this year and a good number of people in the Bay are getting genuinely excited for each of his releases.
The grimey, low-budget feel of his music is apparent in the aesthetics of HD's music videos, which usually consist of him and a gang of his goons just posted up in his neighborhood.

No budget, but tight. Also major lol at the guy in white on PCP or something.

HD represents that you don't need need a lot of money to make great rap music in the Bay. There is a lot of charisma that comes across in his rhymes and as much lyrical depth and diversity a fan of ganster rap could ask for. Also HD's Bearfaced Gang has introduced us to many young rappers with a lot of potential such as Hen Sippa (who is the best worst rapper out), Lil Rod (who is tight despite having a highly questionable name), 600BJ, and Blast Holiday among others.

The only thing that could potentially hold HD back is all the shit he has been getting into, he is frequently bouncing in and out of jail or getting shot or some other activity that is not copacetic with having a successful career of any kind. I've seen a video of him up in a hospital bed after getting shot, with as cast on his entire arm, walking with a cane, and walking around with an ankle moniter all in the span of a year and a half. HD is definitely with the shit, but that's not necessarily a good thing.
As long as he stops catching cases and getting caught up in street violence I see him becoming the next big Bay Area rapper. Not sure about his appeal outside of the Bay because of the fuckshit rap that people enjoy elsewhere, but I can see him blowing up in the Bay Area and becoming the next Jacka in that he is real big around here and gets a decent amount of national exposure as well.

His music is not going to shatter your ideas of what rap music can be, but quite simply he is putting out the best Bay Area gangster rap right now.
His new album Fresh, produced by DJ Fresh dropped yesterday, which should be amazing and will hopefully further expand his audience base.
Here is a collection of his best song so far. Download and enjoy:

Tracklisting:

1.) HD "Bitch Azz N***a"

2.) HD ft. Hen Sippa and Lil Rod "Chickens"
3.) HD ft. KY "4 Oz."
4.) HD ft. Lil B (Not Based God) "Cold Crush"
5.) HD "U Know Dats Tite"
6.) HD ft. Hen Sippa and J. Stalin "My Life"
7.) HD "Bonus Track"
8.) HD "Syrup N Sprite"
9.) HD and Hen Sippa "Rick Flair"
10.) HD ft. Lil Rue "We Gone Make It"
11.) HD "Grippin' Da Ice"
12.) HD "Facts of Life"
13.) HD "Underworld Talk"
14.) HD "Syrup N The Weed Smoke"
15.) HD ft. Lil Rod "Audiocrack"
16.) HD ft. Hen Sippa, Joe and Lil Ero "Chillin'"
17.) HD ft. Ampichino and Lil Rod "Real Family First"
18.) HD ft. Lil E "Poppin' My Thumpa"
19.) HD ft. G-Dirty and Big Fase Mel "In the Trap"
20.) HD ft. Lil Rod and 600BJ "Fuck Frenz"
21.) HD "Winter Turn To Spring"
22.) HD ft. 600BJ "Can't Let Go"

DL: Mixtape #27-Best of HD

What do you think of HD?

Throwback Slaps #2

2011-10-16T12:33:00.001-07:00

E-40 ft. Spice 1 and Keak Da Sneak "Ring It"

Off E-40's 1996 Hall of Game, the chorus for this song is "If it's major, hit me on my pager..." extremely dated technology references FTW! If anyone wants to hear a good example of how much Keak Da Sneak's voice has changed, listen to this song and then anything he has released in the last few years; his voice is barely raspy at all on this track. What has Keak been doing to his vocal cords over the years? Also I'm not up on Spice 1's entire discography but this is easily the most relaxed and least hostile I have ever heard him on the mic. He raps "Pager going off like C-3PO" on this song, which makes absolutely no sense to me in any sort of way. Anyways, this song is tight along with the rest of the album and has a lot of things going for it besides confused Star Wars references.

Calvin-T "$ Maker"

Speaking of E-40, do you know who Calvin-T is? Hailing from Richmond, CA he was one of the original Bay Area rappers from the 1980's. E-40 mentions him frequently in his interviews as one of the few rappers who influenced his style and listening to Calvin-T you can hear how much of an impact Calvin-T's style had on rappers like E-40 and Mac Dre. This song was recorded in 1988 on a LP split with Magic Mike, which only had like ten test presses released, so this song is really rare. The song comes from that era where people would just be rapping for five plus minutes on their songs (see early Too Short for more examples of this) and Calvin-T raps for six minutes straight here and even goes through the entire alphabet letter-for-letter in this song (!!!). This song slaps kind of hard, which is surprising considering how old it is.
According to this Murder Dog interview with Calvin-T from '97 uploaded on Cocaine Blunts, Calvin-T spent the end of the 80's and most of the 90's behind bars because of a drug problem. In the interview Calvin-T talks about him and E-40 doing an album together in the future, but that never happened. It's always a bummer reading old interviews filled with promises of amazing forthcoming projects that never materialize. The only other song by Calvin-T that I've come across is a track he contributed to 1997's Southwest Riders compilation presented by 40 Water himself:

Calvin-T "About My Money"

This song is great, I like Calvin-T's rap persona, he sounds like a sadistic pimp who cares about nothing else besides his money. It kind of bums me out because in the verses Calvin-T raps about being locked up, saying he is back and great things are coming from him, but this is the last song from him I can find and I think he ended up getting thrown back in jail for a long time, but that's all I really know. I found some songs by him on a Myspace page from 2007, but I don't know how old those are.

Does anybody out there have some more information about Calvin-T?
Drop some knowledge in the comments section if you know anything more.

New Rap Music

2011-10-13T00:17:00.001-07:00

"Awww yeaaah! New Bay slaps!"

Clyde Carson "Get Off"

Hey remember when Clyde Carson was supposed to be the next big thing in the Bay?!? It looks like he might be finally realizing his potential some four years later. All of the songs he has released this year have been really good and show actual potential for mainstream appeal. The beat is sick here, especially the violins that come in for the first hook and the horns that come in on the second verse.

LOL at Lil B just pasting his face on top of the Watch The Throne album cover

Lil B "BasedGod 50"

Lil B just came out with a new mixtape out of nowhere titled The Silent President. Lil B continues to mature as an artist and despite some subpar beats this mixtape is definitely worth checking out for fans of the Based God. Lil B has released his most focused and coherent mixtapes yet this year and it seems people are sort of unaware of all the good music he's done lately. As much as I enjoy grown-up Based God I still enjoy hearing the bizarre nonsensical side of his music where his adlibs are comprised of yelling random celebrity names (Rosie O'Donnel being my personal favorite) and making weird noises and luckily there are a couple songs on this mixtape like that such as this one.

T-Nutty "Wake Shit Up"

This new track from T-Nutty's upcoming Tonite Show album was just leaked by DJ Fresh.
T-Nutty raps "I'm a cold fellow, leave them yellow like a Simpson" on this song, do dead bodies turn yellow or something? The album is supposed to be coming out on November 1st and if the rest of the album is as good as this and "Criptonite" then it'll be worthy of all the hype.

Speaking of DJ Fresh, he has two new albums coming out on the 18th, one with D-Lo and one with HD. Anyone who is a fan of Bay Area rap who doesn't check these albums out when they drop is going to be missing the fuck out. Here is a sample of them:

Sounds tight right? Look out for a Best of HD Mixtape on this blog next week. It's going to be a big deal, he is on the brink of greatness.

What's Up With Taj-He-Spitz?

2011-10-10T22:27:00.000-07:00

So there's this new song on Lee Majors' newest album:

Lee Majors ft. Taj-He-Spitz and Hyfe "Rocka Not a Rolla"

The track is tight, the beat has a Middle Eastern flair to it and Majors and Taji kill it.

But Taj-He-Spitz is still in jail as far as I know, so it must be an old verse that Lee Majors has been holding onto for a long time. Regardless, the song got me thinking about Taj-He-Spitz again for the first time in a long while.

Taj-He-Spitz had so much buzz around him in '07-08ish and people were talking about him in the Bay like he was the next big thing, but the hype was definitely warranted in my mind. His flow and style kind of remind me of Roach Gigz in that his raps are fun and catchy and he has a train-of-thought drugged out flow, but still real lyrical.

There were rumors floating around that Taj-He-Spitz was going to be signed by E-40's Sick Wid It Records and he had already been put on by B-Legit, but then he fucked up and got thrown in jail.

The rumors about what he got arrested for and how long he was going to be behind bars ranged wildly, people were saying he was facing a life sentence for murder, but I guess that isn't true and he is supposed to be getting out next year?

His last official project was an album that came out in early 2009 titled Live Fast Die Young and the album was really good, here are some cuts from it:

Taj-He-Spitz "Taj-He-Tha-Sickest"

"A million song, I'm a millionaire, you can fuck my bitch 'cause I really don't care..." UGH. That's how you start an album! Listen to the way he comes in on the second verse, the flow is dope. My favorite line from this song has to be "my pants come from France, my shirt from Japan, my bitch is a Korean and she got some Korean friends and I look Vietnamese whenever I hit the weed..." bizarre rap lines like that I really appreciate as a listener, I mean it doesn't really make sense but it's tight, you know?

Taj-He-Spitz "Y.G."

Taji kind of switches up his flow on this song and it sounds amazing, he reminds me a little of Lil Wayne on this song (not in a bad way though lol). Feeling the bouncing synths and violins in the beat.

Taj-He-Spitz ft. Lil Stunna "On My Line"

Man, this was my jam in '09! The song's chorus is pretty simple, but it's damn catchy. This track could have been a radio hit if the radio played good music.

There are tons of other great Taj-He-Spitz songs on this album and elsewhere. To be honest I sort of forgot how dope his music is. He's released a couple of songs while behind bars and they've been cool, but obviously over-the-phone acapella shit just isn't the same. Hope he gets out soon and becomes a productive member of society and continues to make good music.

Are you a fan of Taj-He-Spitz?

Do you know when he is getting out of jail?

Do you think he will be able to pick up where he left off when he gets out?

Is Taj-He-Spitz the best rapper to come out of Fairfield, CA? (The answer is yes)

Modern Mob #7: Mob Figaz Check In

2011-10-08T21:25:00.001-07:00

Opening statement: Hey whatever happened to that new Mob Figaz album that was supposed to come out?!?! In April a random Thizz compilation came out that had two brand new Mob Figaz songs with all five members on each song (posted about here) and everyone was saying a brand new Mob Figaz album was going to be coming out in Summer of this year. That time came and went with no word on the album at all; no cover art, tracklist, nothing. I've heard from more than one person in interviews that the group album is complete, so I don't know what the hold up is at this point. While we wait for the album to come out each member remains active to varying degrees.
Let's check in on what the Mob Figaz have been up to lately while they continue to not release an album together:

The Jacka: You already know what's up with the Jack, he has been and remains the most active and consistent member of the Mob Figaz, he's already released three albums this year and The Verdict is supposed to be dropping on the 25th of this month.

Fed-X: The oft-forgotten Mob Figa just came out with a quality new song:

Fed-X ft. Black Jesus and Joe Blow "Mafia"

The song is supposedly off Fed-X's "upcoming" album Next Day Air, which is going to be put out by Berner. That album was first mentioned as coming soon almost two years ago, so I don't know when it is actually going to be released at this point. This song is good though! Feddy's verse is clean and Joe Blow comes correct as usual. Always been a fan of Fed-X, just wish he released music more often. Major lol at multiple rappers existing named Black Jesus.

White Jesus

AP.9: Earlier this year AP.9 dropped the mediocre double album Relentless and has been steadily releasing videos for it since then. I heard AP.9 won the lottery, like 1.4 million! That's crazy, I would think dude would just be chilling right now, possibly taking a bath in gold coins or something, but I guess he has a new album coming out at the end of the year called Pursuit of Perfection.
Also AP.9 has another album that is supposed to be coming out in the near future produced by Freddy Machete that was originally titled 70's Baby, but retitled to G-Shit. There was a 1 minute promo video of the album on youtube a couple years ago that has since been removed in which there was a clip of a song with Husalah straight killing a hook. The only song that has been released from that is hella dope though.
Here is a new video from him off Relentless:

Pretty surprised he decided not to go with a white guy as the goofy person in the video that provides comic relief. Bold move!

Rydah J. Klyde:
About a year ago I put up a post asking what happened to Rydah J. Klyde. due to his lack of musical output. My question still stands. Since the release of Rated R in 2009 there has been nothing new from him apart from a few features here and there. Here is a new song that features him, which happens to have a video:

I have no idea who the other two guys in this video are, but the song is alright. Rydah's verse doesn't really fit because all of the bars he's spit in the last few years have been really dark and depressing and this song is no exception. Impressive grill though! Hope we hear more from Rydah soon.

Husalah:
I have no idea what Hus is up to these days. You may not remember this, but at the end of 2009 when he was released from prison and released "Pray For You" he had more buzz around him than anyone else in the Bay. Every song he did, hell every feature he did was big news and everyone was anticipating a new release from him. People were foaming at the mouth for new Husalah music and Hus basically didn't do shit...Here we are almost two years later and apart from a handful of miscellaneous solo songs and some features Husalah hasn't done much at all. Here is a recent video of him in the middle of a street for some reason doing an interview:

First Harsh Reality, then Ankle Monitor mixtape and now Mob Maniac?!? C'mon man you know none of that shit is coming out. He looks a little jittery, like on some Bobby Brown shit, if you know what I mean. Should we be concerned?

Didn't mean to end this post on a negative note, Mob Figaz remain my favorite rap group of all time and for the large part their solo material is great. The Jacka is back to releasing good music again, so I can't complain, just wish Hus, Feddy and Rydah were a little more active because they release tight music too. I guess we should appreciate the group not rushing out a half-assed album now that all five are out of prison and hopefully they are taking their time to create a quality product.

Your thoughts and feelings?

80's Face-Off: Who Sampled It Better?

2011-10-06T01:47:00.001-07:00

The swag on display here is too much for me, my brain cannot process

It's cool to sample songs from the 80's right now, it has been for a while now in and outside of the Bay. Overall I think doing this can turn out pretty dope (unless you're The Federation, in which case everything you do will turn out hella goofy), but when two rap songs sample the same 80's song you can't help but compare the two, right?:

SOURCE MATERIAL:

a.) LOL at Pat Benatar getting kicked out of her parent's house in this video when she looks like she's in her 30s, IT'S PROBABLY TIME TO MOVE OUT ANYWAYS PAT.
b.) The dance moves the females break out at around 3:20 are so fucking ill, if a girl started dancing like that with me my heart would melt instantly.
Anyways let's focus on the raps:

The Jacka and Berner ft. Fed-X and Baldhead Rick "Battlefield"

This is off Jacka and Berner's 2008 Drought Season and naturally Jacka does some off-key singing here like a real thug. Baldhead Rick raps "you want to come to my charm school? you got to be classy..." and then ends his verse by making confusing noises...props to him and I hope his charm school business is going well. Besides the song sample the beat features some moody synths that you probably have heard many times if you are familiar with Jacka's beat selection.

Ampichino and Young Bossi ft. Live "Sounds Like"

Off the brand new Cop Heavy Gang, this song samples Pat Benatar's vocals when she is screeching "WE ARE (YOUNG)" and it sounds really awesome.
Also on this album there is a song that samples Europe's "The Final Countdown", which is basically everything I could ever ask from rap music.

NEXT SONG:

You see that hair on Phil Collins? You see that guy boxed in by like a dozen keyboards? The 80's were a werid time; there is a stadium full of people getting hyped about Phil Collins' half-assed electronic drum solo and then some guy fiddling with his keyboards for over a minute. As The Martorialist has informed me, Phil Collins has had a large impact on rap music and when he is not busy collaborating with Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony apparently he is getting sampled for rap music, so I guess we should not talk shit:

Gutta Game ft. San Quinn, Celly Cel and Bobo "Tonight"

I had no idea who Bobo of Gutta Game was, but I googled him and had a good laugh; solid evidence of the fact that certain Bay rappers will work with anyone who throws a few hundreds their way. BTW whatever happened to Celly Cel? He was one of the best rappers in the Bay for a while in the 90's, but I haven't heard anything from him in a real long time now. Kind of cool/weird to hear this sample flipped to make it a more upbeat club song.

The Jacka "Tonight"

This is one of the only memorable and decent songs off The Jacka's We Mafia from earlier this year. The song definitely sticks with the melancholy atmosphere of the source sample unlike the song above. Jacka's raps are on point here and if it weren't for this song We Mafia would be a completely throwaway album.

If a rapper were to sample this shit right here in a hardbody fashion I would be a fan of theirs for life, I can recite the words to this song word-for-word (NO HOMO):

Which of the tracks do you think sampled their 80's song better?
What are your favorite Bay raps that sample 80's songs?
Do you think The Jacka spends a lot of time listening to 80's pop music?
What 80's songs would you like to see sampled by rap music?
Should Phil Collins wear a shirt at all times?