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Top 10 Songs July 2018

04 Saturday Aug 2018

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Philthy Rich, Rexx Life Raj, ALLBLACK – Dope Boy

Another unexpected tres amigos type song here and this one is top notch. Philthy Rich is smartly jumping on the ALLBLACK bandwagon. ALLBLACK is literally everywhere right now, just crushing the feature game.

Rexx Life Raj kills the chorus here; this is definitely one of my favorite choruses in a long time. He’s rocking a very different look with the messenger bag, coat that looks like an old white grandma would wear, red winter hat, gold shades, and gold smartwatch but he can pull it off. If I wore that I’d look ridiculous but Raj has the style and presence to make it work and actually looks pretty badass. I’ve listened to more of his stuff a year or two ago and it didn’t jump out at me (which probably says more about my bad taste than him as an artist!) but his chorus and verse here are his magnum opus thus far and now I want to go back and re-listen to all of his stuff again… maybe he could become my 2018 version of Berner…

Philthy’s verse to open things up is textbook Philthy. “From the regal to the Wraith; I can tell what he’s thinking see the evil in his face.” I love the fact that he’s rapping in front of his own billboard.

It wasn’t my favorite ALLBLACK verse ever but even an average ALLBLACK feature is better than 95% of other rappers’ best efforts these days. As evidenced by the fact that he’s in about half the songs on this month’s and last month’s top 10 lists. The shot of the bus with the ‘Go Warriors’ message was a nice touch.

03 Greedo & Nef the Pharoah ft. ALLBLACK, Chris O’Bannon

There were a couple of other serious contenders but this song and the above were my two favorites this month I couldn’t decide between them. From the original post…

“Could this new choon off the new 03 Greedo/Nef the Pharoah collaboration possibly be any flamier?

I was hyped up enough about getting a joint project (albeit a short one) from two of my favorites and as if that wasn’t enough there are multiple ALLBLACK features on here who like I said last time is quickly ascending to those ranks, as well as a wildly catchy chorus from Chris O’Bannon who I don’t know but who sounds like some sort of benevolent angel welcoming you to the pearly gates here on this song (Pause! Pause!). ‘Choosy’ just may be in the mix for my top song of 2018 so far. My favorite part is Greedo crooning ‘Make project music like Juvie’.

An added bonus here is the always-entertaining ALLBLACK comparing himself to the ‘fat nigga from D12’ because he’s not wearing a shirt. I absolutely was not expecting to get a Bizarre shoutout/reference in 2018 especially not on a banger like this, but I’ll take it.

I’ve talked about unexpected ‘Tres Amigos’ pairings before, i.e. 3 (or in this case I guess 4) guys you would never have expected to hear on a track together working out surprisingly well i.e. Berner with Young Dolph and Gucci Mane – I don’t know if this is so much an unexpected grouping as just a dream team Tres Amigos type of combo that is not to be trifled with.

This is that California sunshine-y type of summer music we need right now. FREE GREEDO!!!”

FMB DZ – Fast Money

From original post…

“DZ with what I guess you could call a homage to his crew over a more somber-sounding but dope beat, just killing it. This is my favorite song off his new album ‘In My Bag’ and one of his hardest songs to date which is saying a lot because those of you who have been checking out this site for a while know that ‘The Gift’ and ‘Washington DZ’ were two of my favorite albums last year and this guy had a heavy presence on my top songs of 2017 list. It’s good to see him not taking his foot off the gas and picking up where he left off in 2018. I feel like this song is both DZ taking a moment to step back and reflect on what he’s had to get through to get to where he is now, as well as to stunt on those who stood in his way or otherwise didn’t believe in him. I wasn’t expecting to hear DZ sing on this album but him singing his own hook here ended up sounding really good.

“Big strap on my lap I can’t lose, where would I be without them motherfucking blues? My nigga Jocka will put a nigga on the news, self defense knock him out his shoes, we’ll hit whoever nigga we don’t pick and choose”

“Got a crib out the way it’s on duck, boss man I’m that nigga you can’t touch, wrong move my young dog know the clutch, it’s all hustle over here it wasn’t no luck, catch a nigga out in traffic flip his truck”

“You’re looking at a made man I got big money, rich nigga bitch my shirt cost your rent money, I know if you’ll go a mile you’ll go an inch for me, test run take this package down to Flint for me.”

FMB DZ – Not the Same

After ‘Fast Money’, my favorite song off of In My Bag was the intro track ‘Not the Same’, which really set the tone for the album and let you know FMB DZ was coming out swinging.

“Ain’t no faking in my blood bitch I’m orignale, I just poured up a four in my ginger ale.”

“That nigga Joseph in this bitch he got another chain, if that boy ain’t got no ice on he ain’t with the gang.”

03 Greedo & Nef the Pharoah – Pluto

Another gem off of Porter 2 Grape. Nef is sounding incredible on the chorus here.

Rick Ross ft. T Pain, Kodak Black – Florida Boy

“It’s hard as hell for a young Florida boy, where we play football and sell dope…”

Alright I’m mucho late on this one since I guess it’s from February and I definitley wasn’t expecting to put up a T-Pain song on my blog any time in 2018 but damn I’m feeling this one this is some ultimate summer/driving music. The T-Pain chorus here is so fire, he’s still got it it just took a tribute to his home state to bring it out of him. I’m loving all the Florida pride here, from the Florida A&M rattlers jacket T-Pain is rocking to Rick Ross’ all Canes gear to the numerous Florida cameos like Khaled, Baby Soulja, and probably a few more that I don’t even recognize, to the Haitian flags flying to just the pride and passion for the state you can feel emanating from the song.

Ross gets all political on us here, “wake up nigga wake up, all these politicians need they face cut.” He doesn’t get too specific but I can’t disagree. “Beefin’ with niggas you went to school with, Easter Sundays at the church I prayed in the pool pit. Rocking rollies with homies I made some moves with.”

I love T-Pain triumphantly exclaiming, “I beat all of them cases, I’M ON!” and Kodak’s “Young nigga in a stolen car with no headlights, I’ll stop at the Wingstop but never at a red light!”

ALLBLACK ft. Shoreline Mafia – Road Run

While I’m generally in accordance with The Martorialist’s edict that “Shoreline Mafia are just Brockhampton if they’d met in the NoJumper YouTube comments rather than on the KanyeToThe message board,” this one was definitley worth it for the ridiculous ALLBLACK verse and I admittedly was kind of feeling the chorus too. I love how just absolutely reckless ALLBLACK can get; “I’m in the Ville tweaking and shit right hand on my tool, I’m high as fuck I feel like white bro who shot up the school.”

03 Greedo & Nef the Pharaoh – Blow-Up Bed

Yet another one off of Porter 2 Grape. I feel like I spent the last month or two mainly listening to Greedo, which made me obviously listen to this tape, which made me go back and listen to a bunch of Nef the Pharoah, and ALLBLACK was all over a bunch of songs with all of them and I listened to a ton of ALLBLACK as well and he’s become easily one of my new current favorites so those 3 have basically become the holy trinity of my listening this summer, with the new FMB DZ and Peezy mixtapes sprinkled in over the last week. I don’t like this one as much as Choosy or Pluto but it’s another cool song off an all-too-short EP, and I like the concept of the blow-up bed as an inanimate object illustrating how far these guys have come.

ALLBLACK – ALLWHITE

Got this one from the homie icebergsweater. No, unfortunately ALLWHITE isn’t ALLBLACK’S Waspy alter ego from New England, but it’s him warning you to stay back from him because he’s rocking all white and doesn’t want you to have to suffer the conseqeunces of getting any stains on him.

03 Greedo ft. ALLBLACK, Prada Mack – Florida Gator

This was my top song last month and I’ve still been bumping it all July.

Dave East & Rick Ross – Fresh Prince of Belaire 

Cheating with an 11th song here… honestly the Fresh Prince homage seemed a bit out of place/half-hearted but the beat was heavy and it also just whetted my appetite for more Ross (Pause! Pause!). We need a new album from the big man soon.

I Make Project Music Like Juvie

24 Tuesday Jul 2018

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03 Greedo ft. Nef the Pharoah, ALLBLACK, Chris O’Bannon

I’m back guys, sorry for the hiatus, the summer heat of the dog days of summer has just got the bol moving more sluggish than ever out here…

Could this new choon off the new 03 Greedo/Nef the Pharoah collaboration possibly be any flamier?

I was hyped up enough about getting a joint project (albeit a short one) from two of my favorites and as if that wasn’t enough there are multiple ALLBLACK features on here who like I said last time is quickly ascending to those ranks, as well as a wildly catchy chorus from Chris O’Bannon who I don’t know but who sounds like some sort of benevolent angel welcoming you to the pearly gates here on this song (Pause! Pause!). ‘Choosy’ just may be in the mix for my top song of 2018 so far. My favorite part is Greedo crooning ‘Make project music like Juvie’.

An added bonus here is the always-entertaining ALLBLACK comparing himself to the ‘fat nigga from D12’ because he’s not wearing a shirt. I absolutely was not expecting to get a Bizarre shoutout/reference in 2018 especially not on a banger like this, but I’ll take it.

I’m kind of down with Nef the Pharoah rocking the Spain jersey on the cover even though they disappointed me (and my wallet) when they bowed out of the World Cup early to Russia.

I’ve talked about unexpected ‘Tres Amigos’ pairings before, i.e. 3 (or in this case I guess 4) guys you would never have expected to hear on a track together working out surprisingly well i.e. Berner with Young Dolph and Gucci Mane – I don’t know if this is so much an unexpected grouping as just a dream team Tres Amigos type of combo that is not to be trifled with.

‘Blow Up Bed’ and ‘Pluto’ off this album were bangers too and Ball Out with ALLBLACK wasn’t bad. This is that California sunshine-y type of summer music we need right now. FREE GREEDO!!!

Top 10 Songs June 2018

03 Tuesday Jul 2018

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MAKE ME SAY UHHHHH LIKE A MIX OF MASTER P AND RICK ROSS (Pause! Pause!)

Here’s my top 10 songs from the month that first brought us… this?

ALLBLACK ft. 03 Greedo, Prada Mack – Florida Gator 

The ALLBLACK and Greedo tag team take the crown for June, from the original post…

“Here ye here ye, your host is hereby temporarily abstaining from the Martorialist-issued embargo on listening to rappers with septum piercings, which as you know, I usually strictly adhere to as they are wise words to live by, but ALLBLACK has me breaking the embargo. (Plus, ALLBLACK actually looks pretty badass with his, unlike some rappers who get them and just end up looking like bratty kids that hang out at Hot Topic.). I originally came here for 03 Greedo’s chorus but left as a new fan of Oakland’s rose-gold-grilled ALLBLACK. (I’m definitely feeling this rose gold grill).

ALLBLACK is certainly a character, and he links up with another big personality here in 03 Greedo in this ode to Florida Gators of an entirely different nature (and nothing to do with Tim Tebow or Aaron Hernandez). ALLBLACK mixes that old school, Oakland/Bay Area attitude with the newer vibe of these Soundcloud era type guys that dress like punk rockers. I fucking love what he’s saying here in his verse… “Y’all want ALLBLACK to be like James Stacy, wouldn’t stop running if the doctor amputated my legs… grinding like Chris Cole cause I gotta keep Maxine fed… take the pedals off the bike and I’ma hop on the pegs”. (By the way I feel like Chris Cole and James Stacy are two of the most random/unexpected references ever in a rap song and here they are basically in the same line). ALLBLACK’s verse and whole flow/vibe have grown on me very quickly and now I’m blasting his verse all the time. His song Canadian Goose is a flamer as well.

Could Greedo’s hook here possibly be any more flammable? 03 Greedo on auto tune is on a whole different level. God Level perhaps? It’s just a short cameo from him here on the hook and no verse but it sounds heavenly. My only complaint is I wish they looped it in a couple more times at the end or something.

ALLBLACK is definitely adding his own spin and style to the Bay and really out of nowhere is turning into one of my new/recent favorites and this and Canadian Goose are turning into two of my most heavily-played songs of this young summer so far. FREE GREEDO!

Jeno Cash, FMB DZ, Peezy – Dog Food

The 03 Greedo/ALLBLACK combo is pretty serious but Peezy and FMB DZ is a formidable pairing in their own right. Saw this on Ray Garraty This beat is crazy. I like the idea of Peezy as a hook guy more people should start using him for that. I’ve been on a big Peezy grind for months and it’s always good to hear new stuff from him especially after his near death experience over the winter when he got shot. By the way is it just me or does Peezy’s shirt look like something some flamboyant Italian tourist would wear in the 80s? But when you’re Peezy you can pull it off. Overall it was nice to hear all these guys together on a track and this is so far one of my favorite songs to blast out of the whip in 2018.

ALLBLACK – Canada Goose 

Me and Icebergsweater have been rocking out to ALLBLACK heavy, and Canada Goose is another banger from him. He looks comfy AF in that fleece too I respect it.

“ALL MY BITCHES GOT ON CLEATS, THEY DON’T TRAP IN HEELS”

Freddie Gibbs – Weight / Freddie Gibbs ft. 03 Greedo – Death Row 

I probably haven’t listened to Freddie Gibbs as heavily as a lot of other bloggers or readers and I’m not super familiar with his back catalogue but I gave his new project Freddie a spin and definitley enjoyed it. I mean come on how could you not be down with this album cover. My favorite song was the opener, Weight and I also loved the fairly ridiculous ‘FLFM’ interlude and of course, the 03 Greedo-assisted Eazy-E homage Death Row. I’ve obviously been listening to a ton of Greedo but I wasn’t  expecting to hear him on this album so this was a pleasant surprise. We haven’t even gotten into God Level yet and there’s already 2 songs on my June top 10 with Greedo just on the hook or as a feature.  (P.S. listening to new albums by Freeway and Freddie Gibbs this month has me feeling like it’s 2008 out here).

Waka Flocka Flame – Flava / Waka Flocka Flame – Smoker 

Two songs from Waka Flocka Flame’s fairly unheralded comeback ‘Big Homie Flock’ clock in here too…

“I didn’t realize how much I missed Waka Flocka until I decided to give his new tape Big Homie Flocka a couple of spins over the last week. There’s a couple of bangers on here, including Flava and Smoker.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/7ji40oy9LRWpZ41vnMOodo

Flava 

Flava brings forth that classic Waka Flocka sound, like a mix of trap music and just straight up mosh music. “I’m doing shows selling bails at the same time, I’m taking business calls and trapping off the same line.” I love the almost gleeful way he croons about taking business calls and trapping on the same phone, clearly relishing his niche he’s carved out as a businessman who can get paid to do obscure EDM shows in Europe while still having a foot in the streets. I love the ridiculously long, overstated ‘B-rr-r-r-r-r-r-r’ phone ring ad lib after it.

“Hot Boy like I’m BG, broad day you can meet me at the BP”. Flocka has never been a lyrical wizard or anything but there’s just something about his lines like these and the way he delivers them that still make them memorable. Also, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m always a sucker for rappers that post up trapping at the gas station and tell you to meet them there.

“I put Christians on wifey she a walking blessing”

Smoker 

https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/5fewe9dkYD7jjbUfIPhIEV

The chours for this one goes hard as fuck…

“Ay my smoker cooking dope for me, they say there ain’t no hope for me, white folks got the rope for me, my shooter bought a scope for me”

I’m loving these over the top Waka ad libs in the background after not hearing them in a couple of years. You’ve also got to respect Waka’s efficient utilization here; having one of his customers cooking for him and a shooter on his payroll gifting him an expensive scope. That’s what I call getting the most out of your investments.”

03 Greedo – Fall Off

God Level certainly lived up to the hype and is a pretty legitimate masterpiece for Greedo as his last album before he begins his prison sentence. There’s a good 10-12 legitimate bangers on here which is pretty ridiculous when you consider that a lot of artists are releasing albums that are 7 songs now. Fall Off is my early favorite from the album but really any of about a dozen of them could be on this list. This is a six minute tour de force by Greedo and a good message of resilience and determination about refusing to fall off or give in before starts his prison term. This one is almost hypnotizing with the beat and chanting, recurring chorus.

03 Greedo – Gun Bucc 

Another selection from God Level. This beat is sick and Greedo kills it as usual.

Kanye West & Kid Cudi ft. Pusha T – Feel the Love 

Kanye West & Kid Cudi – Reborn

Kanye West – Ghost Town 

I wasn’t expecting to be into this string of Wyoming albums that Kanye has been putting out, and there were certainly plenty of misses to go with the hits, but curiosity got the better of me and I’ll be the first to admit that I surprisingly really enjoyed Kids See Ghosts, which is weird since I’ve never been a Kanye fan one way or the other, and I’ve never gotten into Kid Cudi, and have found them to be fairly self-indulgent artists, but this album was pretty epic. The ‘I Can Still Feel the Love’ chorus being shouted out is dope and I love the part where Kanye spazzes out making the gun sounds at about 1:07. I thought it had to be Desiigner at first!

Reborn was another highlight of this string of projects to me. Sort of a similar sentiment to Greedo’s aforementioned Fall Off. 

Ghost Town was my favorite song off of Ye, the album preceding this one, and seems like it could easily have fit into Kids See Ghost as an honorary eighth track. It was pretty out there compared to what I’m usually looking to listen to but it’s another gem from Kanye’s recent slew of Friday releases. A quick side note is that while I wasn’t really into about half of the material that came out from this weekly spate of releases and while complaints about them being only 7 songs certainly are understandable, I have to give this guy credit because it built up a lot of excitement and it really made each release seem like an ‘event’ and something that everyone was talking about, which I don’t feel like we often get to say about album releases anymore in this streaming age so I have to give credit for that.  (P.S. I still wish he used that picture of the doctor as his album cover and really called it Love Everybody becasue it would have just been so over the top and troll-y but alas it wasn’t to be).

 

 

Take the Pedals off the Bike and Ima Hop on the Pegs

29 Friday Jun 2018

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ALLBLACK ft. 03 Greedo, Prada Mack – Florida Gator

Here ye here ye, your host is hereby temporarily abstaining from the Martorialist-issued embargo on listening to rappers with septum piercings, which as you know, I usually strictly adhere to as they are wise words to live by, but ALLBLACK has me breaking the embargo. (Plus, ALLBLACK actually looks pretty badass with his, unlike some rappers who get them and just end up looking like bratty kids that hang out at Hot Topic.). I originally came here for 03 Greedo’s chorus but left as a new fan of Oakland’s rose-gold-grilled ALLBLACK. (I’m definitely feeling this rose gold grill).

ALLBLACK is certainly a character, and he links up with another big personality here in 03 Greedo in this ode to Florida Gators of an entirely different nature (and nothing to do with Tim Tebow or Aaron Hernandez). ALLBLACK mixes that old school, Oakland/Bay Area attitude with the newer vibe of these Soundcloud era type guys that dress like punk rockers. I fucking love what he’s saying here in his verse… “Y’all want ALLBLACK to be like James Stacy, wouldn’t stop running if the doctor amputated my legs… grinding like Chris Cole cause I gotta keep Maxine fed… take the pedals off the bike and I’ma hop on the pegs”. (By the way I feel like Chris Cole and James Stacy are two of the most random/unexpected references ever in a rap song and here they are basically in the same line). ALLBLACK’s verse and whole flow/vibe have grown on me very quickly and now I’m blasting his verse all the time. His song Canadian Goose is a flamer as well.

Could Greedo’s hook here possibly be any more flammable? 03 Greedo on auto tune is on a whole different level. God Level perhaps? It’s just a short cameo from him here on the hook and no verse but it sounds heavenly. My only complaint is I wish they looped it in a couple more times at the end or something.

ALLBLACK is definitely adding his own spin and style to the Bay and really out of nowhere is turning into one of my new/recent favorites and this and Canadian Goose are turning into two of my most heavily-played songs of this young summer so far. I’m also just starting to delve into the new Greedo album ‘God Level’ which I’m only halfway done with but looks like it’s going to have at least a half-dozen bangers on it. FREE GREEDO!

Top 10 Songs May 2018

02 Saturday Jun 2018

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Guys sorry I’m late with this May top 10 and posting it in June, and have been MIA for the last week, I’ve been holed up in a cabin in Wyoming, wearing wierd clothes, working on my next album…

Kevin Gates – Change Lanes

Gates is really baring his soul on this one. Right from the opening bar this one hits you…”Been through a lot of pain in my life and I pray the Lord take it all away. I’ve got family doing life that’ll never see the sun shine again and I pray it all away. Gates touches on a lot of heavy, real topics in his life in ‘Change Lane’s, including his time in prison in Illinois, incarcerated family members, wanting to pull back from public life/fame, and, also, McDonald’s salads and rocking Islamic fashion out in Paris. This is off Gate’s 3 song ‘Chained to the City’ EP, his first work after being freed, and I’ve got to say, Gates is back in a big way because that EP was ridiculous. Not to mention the work he’s been putting in and posting the snippets of on Instagram; I almost want to include a couple of those as my top songs of May as well but I feel like that would be cheating a little.

Kevin Gates – Vouch

As much as I love ‘Change Lanes’, ‘Vouch’ might be even better. The singing, warbling Gates might be my favorite type of Kevin Gates. “I do for me I feed myself my crew not willing to help me, we either die or go to jail so what the fuck could you tell me. Fully loaded Mac 11 when this pressure get applied; got a brand new Glock 90 and I keep it by my side. That part starting at around 2:15 just sounds absolutely heavenly; “”I ain’t never change up, let’s get that understood, I’m in that 70805 they don’t show love in my hood.”

Lil Baby ft. Drake – Pikachu 

Damn it feels like this came out a year ago instead of a few weeks ago, what with all the sniping back and forth between Drizzy and Pusha T just completely usurping everyone’s collective attention span, not to mention Drake announcing his ‘Scorpion’ album and then of course the new .

From the original article…

While I wouldn’t have gone as far as to call myself a Drake ‘hater’, I think the old, healthier but less enlightened me would have perhaps best been described at the very least as a ‘Drake skeptic’ or a ‘Drake nonbeliever’. I wasn’t that into his early stuff when he first started blowing up and later on I really couldn’t stand most of his hits over the last few years like Controlla and One Dance. More than anything I kind of just considered him to be bland elevator music. But I’ll be the first to admit, and as someone whose been critical, I feel responsibility to give credit where credit is due; I’ll be damned if Drake’s last couple of songs haven’t been absolute bangers. He’s had a good 3-4 songs or more in a row (this one with Lil Baby, his song with Trouble on the ‘Edgewood’ album, ‘Look Alive’ with Blocboy JB, and I’ll admit I was even down with Nice for What even though that was definitely shamelessly pandering to the ladies. I also didn’t mind God’s Plan.) that have forced me to mention them with the same disclaimer every time, ‘I’m not a big Drake fan but…,’ so I don’t know if he’s actually getting better or if I’m just going soft in my old age but I’m slowly…becoming a fan??? That was hard to type!

Whether you love him or have him, (or should I say – whether you’re siding with him or Pusha T in the new World War 3?) the man has a pretty unassailable ear for great beats, and if he retired from rapping he would make a great A&R he has an eye for up and coming talent. He has a penchant for working with hard, down south rappers like Blocboy, Trouble, and now Lil Baby. Drake is like the 2018 version of 2017 Berner to me.

Enough about Drake though, Lil Baby is actually the real headliner here. His verse/flow is crazy. He’s another artist I was kind of tepid on at first, not that I disliked him but just none of his songs really jumped out at me, but I loved this song, and ‘I Remember’ with Quando Rondo, and ‘Day in my Hood’ with Sherwood Marty were pretty solid jams so I’m starting to become more and more of a fan. I’ve also warmed to his hits like ‘A-Town’ and ‘My Dawg’. ‘Trap Star’ while delving into his previous work in preparation for ‘Harder than Ever’.

Drake is doing his best Hoodrich Pablo Juan impression on this one. Side note on the Drake verse – he says ‘my shorty a goodie’; most of my friends have been calling bad bitches baddies have they been doing this all wrong? My favorite part is where Lil Baby sings, ‘Waaah waahhh waaahhh bitch I’m the Baby’.

Another side note – apparently on the album this song is called ‘Yes Indeed’ but when it dropped on Youtube they were calling it Pikachu and I’m still calling it that.

YELLOW FERARRI LIKE PIKACHU, CARTIER LENSES I WON’T EVEN PEEK AT YOU

All Star Lee – Cash Money Flow 

Flammable song by All Star Lee out of Detroit. I’m loving the throwback Orlando Magic jerseys and the soulja rags in this Cash Money homage.

Lil AJ, Joe Blow, Lil Frost 

Dope song from two workmanlike Bay Area stalwarts who don’t get as much love/hype outside of the Bay as some of the bigger names from out there, but who are pretty much always reliable for solid, real music. I’m starting to like Lil AJ’s stuff more and more over time. “Lash Money burning bridges nigga, see an opp slipping in traffic and them niggas get the business nigga, rest in peace Boss Nuge and the nigga Jack, catch me out in traffic riding with the mini MAC”.   I didn’t realize Lil Frost had passed away until I saw this video; and it took me a minute to realize what was going on. His verse being overlaid by old clips of him rapping interspersed with the scenes from his funeral, since he wasn’t here to shoot the video, was straight up heartbreaking and actually hit me pretty hard since I wasn’t expecting it. RIP to Frost man, gone too soon.

Pusha T ft. Rick Ross – Hard Piano 

Some people are mad about the album cover, some people love it. Some people feel like Drake bodied Pusha with his diss track, and other people feel like Pusha ended Drake with his response. Regardless of all that, there were some straight up slaps on ‘Daytona’ (I love that name by the way), my favorite amongst them being ‘Hard Piano’. Kanye really did work his magic on the beats on this one, regardless of his recent controversies and what some would call his subpar rapping on ‘Ye’, the guy is in the zone right now on the boards, this album had some of the best beats/production I’ve heard in a while. I like the combo of Pusha and Rozay. If Ross is sounding like this, I can’t wait for his comeback album.  It’s funny I didn’t realize how much I missed prime Ross until I heard this. Yeah he’s another artist with plenty of questionable moves/songs over the years but at the end of the day he’s still here, he’s been through a lot, he has a lot of dope songs over the years throughout his catalogue and I’m looking forward to what he has to say on his next album.

“The Warhols on my wall tell a war story.”

“Chilling in a condo full of ready rock”

As much as I like my rappers and their music to be ‘real,’ sometimes some straight up luxury/over the top drug kingpin rap can be dope too, if it’s imaginative and really paints a picture for you, which I feel like Hard Piano does.

Mannie Fresh & Birdman

This was uh… unexpected… and ridiculous. Man I love Mannie Fresh. Such a classic Mannie Fresh type beat! I could have lived without the 3 minutes of vignettes that randomly interspersed throughout the song that kept interrupting it but on the other hand I loved the video itself with the New Orleans mardi gras band in the street with them. Any time you get Mannie actually rapping on a track is always a good thing; he’s just so happy and jovial – “$100,000 in a brief case, orange Lamborghini yours with the dealer plates… Bricks, pounds, scales, weed, went to Hiroshima came back speaking Japanese.” The chorus for this one is super menacing; ‘Note around his neck saying get right with the Lord.” I don’t know if Big Tymers is back but if we could get some more stuff from Mannie or even a full Big Tymers project that would be a pretty nice surprise.

Pusha T – If You Know You Know 

Another dope song off of Daytona. The production is so good. ‘If You Know You Know’ is going to be big this summer. I bumped Daytona so many times over Memorial Day weekend.

Quando Rondo – Paradise

I put ‘Paradise’ up in April’s top 10 but I only heard it at the end of the month and I really bumped it much more in May so I’m kind of cheating here. Quando Rondo is dope I’m starting to get into this new wave of Atlanta guys like him, Lil Baby, and Gunna which I wasn’t expecting.

Lil Reek ft. Brodinski – Rock Out

I’m surprised this hasn’t blown up actually. Maybe it’s just because it’s a change of pace but I love this kid’s voice!

And that’s my top 10 for May but here’s a couple of bonus tracks for ya since this month was one of the best in a long time…

03 Greedo – Fortnite 

FREE GREEDO!

Q Money – Countin’ Up a Check 

 

Tee Grizzly – Colors 

Sherwood Marty ft. Lil Baby – Day in My Hood

Playboi Carti ft. Lil Uzi – Shoota

P.S. I usually follow the Martorialist’s embargo on rappers with septum rings but I’m not going to lie this one with Lil Uzi from Playboi Carti’s new album was just too catchy not to mention here.

Top 10 Songs April 2018

04 Friday May 2018

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03 Greedo ft. Drakeo the Ruler, Fenix – Wake Me Up in Traffic 

I usually like to joke around on this site and keep things light/entertaining (or at least I hope!) but on a very serious note, please pray for Greedo as he is facing some very serious time in prison in Texas. The circumstances are particularly unfortunate as he got hit with this big sentence just as he was starting to blow up and create a huge wave for himself. In the same month that Meek came home, we sadly lost one of the most creative and innovative, truly interesting artists to come out in a long time. I’m glad that apparently he has tons of unreleased music still in the vaults that we can enjoy but sometimes real life and whats at stake for the artist facing all these years just feels bigger/more important than the music itself. Originally it was being reported that it was a life sentence but now it seems like places are saying it’s 20 years… maybe he can appeal or get out early.

‘Wake Me Up in Traffic’ featuring him, Drakeo the Ruler, and Fenix from Shoreline Mafia is my top song for April; from the original article…

Even 03 Greedo’s unreleased loosies are better than 95% of other current artist’s best material that they would choose as the singles for their new album. This guy really is on a different level. Almost reminds me of an in-his-prime Gucci Mane with all the vaults upon vaults of quality material he has laying around. I really hope this one doesn’t get taken down from Youtube! This is going to be a dope summer driving song.

“And I got my mask and my gloves, dead presidents chasing bank do some drugs, every day I repent but I keep fucking up, only my God can judge me, too rich for a judge…Unless I get paid I don’t go to clubs.” This line was so dope and mind-blowing to me because it was so braggadocios but also simultaneously so humble, which you would think would be impossible but Greedo pulled it off.

03’s cohort, Drakeo the Ruler, who if not for Greedo would almost certainly be the most dynamic rapper in L.A. right now, also contributes a dope verse as does, according to Youtube, someone named Fenix of Shoreline Mafia. Let’s keep our fingers crossed/prayers up that Greedo and Drakeo both beat their cases and we can keep getting awesome collaborations from them for years to come.

03 Greedo has easily usurped the Dos Equis guy as ‘The Most Interesting Man in the World’ at this point.

This post was too sad man…

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At least I did it big before i left my family

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Kooda B – Walking Through the Ville

From yesterday’s post…

Man fuck Hot 97 and the current headliners, Kooda B should be on center stage getting the star treatment at Summer Jam this year. KOODA B FOR SUMMER JAM MAIN STAGE!!! Or else I’m boycotting.

The Kooda GOAT is ridiculous. I wasn’t sure if I had ever pondered the concept of whether someone could rework Vanessa Carlton’s ‘A Thousand Miles’ into a foreboding message to potential foes warning them not to run up on them in his neighborhood or risk becoming a victim of gun violence, but Kooda certainly comes about as close to achieving that odd task as humanly possible.  But more importantly, his heartfelt ode to gun crime is also undeniably catchy as fuck.

Tekashi’s bodyguard(/wingman/handler/subject of the song ‘Kooda’) has quite a bit of charisma and even some star power of his own. He reminds me a bit of a Sonniebo in that while some of the songs are clearly trolling and made for comic value, they also stand up on their own as songs that whether you want to admit it or not, just straight up slap.

Favorite part: About 0:40 to 0:45 in – ‘I was walking through the Viiiillllllle, fans ask me how I’m doingggggg!” I also love when the beat ‘drops’ at about 1:00 like in the real song and he goes ‘TONIGHT – we gon get you… we wont’ miss you!”

I don’t know how he pulled off driving that piano around through the streets of Brooklyn. Also – he DEFINITELY picked up those two girls at Starbucks and asked them to be in his video, and let’s be honest, how could they have resisted?

Quando Rondo – Paradise

A late entrance to the list, ‘Paradise’ is an amazingly catchy song by rising young artist and apparently aspiring herptologist Quando Rondo out of Savanna, Georgia (the home of Camoflauge! RIP!). There are so many new rappers out of Atlanta and the surrounding areas all the time right now that it’s hard to keep track of them and to be honest a lot of them are kind of generic/blend together but this young bol Quando Rondo is different and has an absolute gift for creating catchy, anthemic songs as well as deep, introspective ones. This is one of my favorite choruses of the year so far. Paradise should definitely have more than a million views!

Jim Jones – Never Did 3 Quarters

These recent posts about Cam, Lil Flip, etc. have got me feeling like it’s the mid-2000s and that’s definitely not a bad thing in my book. Jimmy brought his A-game on his new album Wasted Talent and after multiple listens through it this week ‘Never Did 3 Quarters’ stands out as my favorite track off of it. You really can’t go wrong with the capo, or really any Diplomat, over a soulful Heatmakerz sample like this one. Jim gets introspective and reminisces on this one, creating a narrative that goes perfect with the reflective vibe of the beat.

“Gotta look both ways before you cross the street, you’ve got to watch out for them strays from across the street. In my day I was clapping at all the beef; start beefing now these rappers might call the police. I grew up in a country that rather war than peace, in my hood there’s always war so I wore the piece.”

If it’s possible for an artist who got as popular as Jim did at his height to be ‘underrated’, I’d say that Jim Jones is criminally underrated, especially from a lyrical standpoint and from the perspective of how impactful he was on the rap game and the culture. Between his material with Dipset, his solo work, and things he was working on with Max B and Stack Bundles, Jones has compiled a pretty impressive catalogue and almost 20 years in the game.

Drakeo the Ruler – Big Bank Uchies

I’m a little late on this one but I’ve been bumping a ton of Drakeo over and over again all month, probably more than any other artist. I love his guttural flow and his unique lingo. Him and Greedo have the West Coast rap game on lock right now. Unfortunately like Greedo he’s also in the midst of some questionable at best legal troubles; I’m not sure what the exact status is right now but hopefully he’s home and can get back to living his life and making dope new west coast music; I hope we can still get that Greedo/Drakeo collaboration album one day.

Drakeo the Ruler – Flu Flamming

I’m a Flu Flammer

Jim Jones ft. Mozzy – Bangin’ 

Another highlight from Wasted Talent. One of my favorite rappers from the mid to late 2000s linking up with arguably my favorite rapper of 2016? I didn’t expect to ever hear them on a song together but sign me up. And the results weren’t disappointing at all as they often can be in these types of collaborations.

Capo really crushes both the chorus and his verse on this one and it’s also nice to get a little bit of a look back at a different time in history from him…

“I loved the gang I even banged when I was famous… I put the city on my back, had my biddy screaming blatt, all the main events with 40 niggas in the back. I was bicking back booling, skipping all the schooling, small .22 in the Timbs to get my tool in…They called me Billy the Kid, Sex Money Murder we was killing as kids, I send a missile and get you killed on your bid.”

“I used to rock a vest cause in my streets no love, I was the first to hit the West and show them East Coast Bloods. Everybody screaming gang but nobody put in work for it, my whole gang was putting bodies in the church for it.”

It looks like there may also be a video coming out for this at some point soon which I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to.

Quando Rondo – My Motivation

Another nice melodic jam from Quando Rondo as he gets his Rich Homie Quan on. This is off of his Life B4 Fame mixtape which I definitley need to finish listening to the rest of. I love introspective songs like this, he really gets a lot off his chest and takes you through some heavy things that he’s been through. “RIP Quafee 3 times, and my niggas they with it we just buried about three 9’s”. I also always love videos where rappers walk you through their hoods that you’ve never seen before, like Savanna here.

Drake – Nice for What 

Your humble host must be getting soft in his old age, because I used to be known as a bit of a Drake hater but lately I’ve been oddly at peace and down with pretty much each one of his latest string of singles. Is Nice for What clearly pandering to female fans? Probably, but the song and sample are both fire so I can’t complain.

Cam’ron – Harlem Streets

From my post earlier this month…

With the passing of Steven Boscho earlier this week I kept hearing the ‘Hill Street Blues’ theme song on the news radio that I listen to for traffic info etc. in the car and I kept thinking to myself damn this song is so smooth, where have I heard it before? It’s sampled in one of the all-time great (and dare I say underrated?) Killa Cam songs, ‘Harlem Streets’. I love when the saxophone (or trumpet?) kicks in. We need more rap songs over these type of samples like Cam sampling Hill Street Blues or Peezy (and others) sampling Herb Alpert’s ‘Making Love in the Rain’. I loved the classic Heatmakers sound/beats that the Dips usually rapped over but they sounded so dope over these more jazz/soul-infused samples too. So many Cam quotables here…

“And I get it cheaper, I cop bricks like sneakers, and if the cops come I just hit amnesia, but i give them an earful, it’s tearful, told my mom I hustle and she said be careful.”

Including perhaps, gun to my head, my favorite Cam sequence of all time…

“And when I rap it ain’t no punchlines. I be on the highway, dirty, crunch time. No timeouts homeboy, just one time, if they find that stash box just one time? Shit, they put the dogs in the trunk, side of the road, holding you up, cold as a fuck, they want that button, lunge it and push it, as soon as they lunge it and push it, I run in the bushes. That’s how I play mine, jump over the grapevine, take my chances one on one with the canines, steel and a clip for anyone squealing their lips, fuck y’all if y’all ain’t feeling the Dips.”

Got me feeling all nostalgic right now. KILLA!

Bonus 

Not really a song per se but to celebrate Meek being free I’m also throwing in this clip by the Hoodies celebrating the news with this great freestyle snapping over the ‘Monster’ beat

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh_yE_uAwwh/?hl=en&taken-by=thehoodies_

Only My God Can Judge Me, Too Rich for a Judge. Unless I Get Paid I Don’t Go to Clubs

21 Saturday Apr 2018

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03 Greedo ft. Drakeo the Ruler, Fenix – Wake Me Up in Traffic 

Even 03 Greedo’s unreleased loosies are better than 95% of other current artist’s best material that they would choose as the singles for their new album. This guy really is on a different level. Almost reminds me of an in-his-prime Gucci Mane with all the vaults upon vaults of quality material he has laying around. I really hope this one doesn’t get taken down from Youtube! This is going to be a dope summer driving song.

“Wake me up in traffic, fell asleep at the wheeeel. Lately I’ve been trapping, kush, lean and the pillllls”.

“And I got my mask and my gloves, dead presidents chasing bank do some drugs, every day I repent but I keep fucking up, only my God can judge me, too rich for a judge…Unless I get paid I don’t go to clubs.” This line was so dope and mind-blowing to me because it was so braggadocios but also simultaneously so humble, which you would think would be impossible but Greedo pulled it off.

03 showcases so many different flows, voices, and cadences on this one it’s almost ridiculous. His cohort, Drakeo the Ruler, who if not for Greedo would almost certainly be the most dynamic rapper in L.A. right now, also contributes a dope verse as does, according to Youtube, someone named Fenix of Shoreline Mafia who I know nothing about but if he has Greedo’s approval than he’s alright by me. Let’s keep our fingers crossed/prayers up that Greedo and Drakeo both beat their cases and we can keep getting awesome collaborations from them for years to come.

03 Greedo has easily usurped the Dos Equis guy as ‘The Most Interesting Man in the World’ at this point.

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Top 10 Songs March 2018

29 Thursday Mar 2018

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03 Greedo – Baytoven 

It was a hard choice between this and Never Bend but Baytoven is my favorite song for the month and overall my favorite song off of Wolf of Grape Street, which is my favorite project of the year so far. From the original post…

“Another ridiculous banger off the new Greedo album. The drums on the beat hit hard AF as Greedo melodically yells about how he’s quick to dog a bitch like Beethoven (presumably the sloppy but lovable St. Bernard from the 1992 movie Beethoven as opposed to the more famous 18th century composer by the same name, although it’s certainly plausible that that Beethoven would also similarly ditch a female companion) and then gives a nice homage to one of his main producers Ron, Ron, comparing him to Zaytoven (and also favorably compares his other producer Beat Boy to Metro Boomin’).

“Dog a bucket head bitch like a cocker spaniel, 03 Greedo got it lit just like a Roman candle”. I’m not entirely clear on what a bucket head bitch is but presumably it’s not a desirable trait and the line flows nicely. So many other wild rhymes and rhyme schemes in this one; “Dog a little bitch like a Pomeranian, I’m in Dubai, hair-tied like Arabian, tryna know if niggas pulling triggers all my bitches gradient I be on some player shit”. I would pay to see 03 Greedo exploring Dubai and the Middle East.

I can’t get this one out of my head and I keep blasting it in the whip. I hope 03 makes a video for this one, for some reason I can picture it having an awesome dance to go with it. 03 Greedo is playing above the rim right now.

NO LOW RIDER BUT I’M MOBBING AND JEFFING!

03 Greedo – Never Bend

From the original post…

“03 Greedo has me feeling grapey with Never Bend, the monumental nightcap off of his ridiculous new Wolf of Grape Street album. 03 has about as much charisma and star power as anybody in the game right now and keeps things interesting with his unique, larger than life personality, adept lyricism, and dope production.

Greedo produced the sick beat for Never Bend himself on a laptop while he was laying in a hospital bed after being shot. I really can’t compare him to any other artist right now; the closest analogy I could make would maybe be a more experimental Sada Baby, but if you ask him, he wouldn’t compare himself to any rapper at all, but iconic figures like Prince and Michael Jackson and he describes his sound as “emo music for gangbangers.”

I love the droning, self-produced beat for Never Bend, with that recurrent noise that interrupts it intermittently, and I love its resolute, defiant message of the chorus; “I’m thanking God, I could have died in the pen, you haven’t been against the odds like I been, you haven’t been where I been, I never fold never bend.” Greedo also briefly alludes to being shot by someone he loves and being betrayed/snitched on by family members. This is definitley one of the most compelling figures in rap and we’re only beginning to scratch the surface of his backstory.

The entire album is filled with amazing songs, and I don’t want to overreact/be too hyperbolic as bloggers often can be, but Wolf of Grape Street is an instant classic in my book and an early choice for Album of the Year for 2018. After listening to it a couple of times front to back this weekend, there really are no tracks that are skips, which is saying a lot for an album with 21 full-length songs on it (and keep in mind this is only half the length of previous releases like Purple Summer. Sitting down and listening to full 03 Greedo album is making a commitment but it’s a worthwhile one). If I were to name my favorite 3 tracks on it so far I’d go with Never Bend, Baytoven, and the Yhung T.O-assisted Bacc to Bacc, but it’s hard to narrow it down. What would it take to get a collaboration between 03 and his fellow Grape Streeter Blocboy JB?

Don Q ft. Desiigner – Trap Phone 

Favorite song off Don Q’s new, all-too-short Don Talk project. The beat is just so triumphant; it sounds like something you’d blast as you ride through a city you just conquered. A lot of people are saying they don’t like Don Q rapping over trap beats but he sounds dope to me on this one and a lot of the other ones on this tape. I didn’t expect to be rocking out to a Desiigner feature in 2018 but this goes. Ultimate song for the whip.

03 Greedo ft. Yhung T.O – Bacc to Bacc 

Yet another banger off of Wolf of Grape Street. SOB X RBE is everywhere right now and Yhung T.O complements 03 nicely on Bacc to Bacc.

Fat Tone – Juicy

Kick back, put your feet up, and soak in the nostalgia! Obviously this song isn’t actually from this month but I found myself bumping it over and over again this month after initially hearing Fat Tone thanks to the Martorialist last year. I love the ‘Sprewells on my car’ in the chorus. Fat Tone’s take on ‘Juicy’ is now up there with the one with Fat Pat and DJ Screw as my favorite of all of them. RIP Fat Tone!

Rich Homie Quan – Fuck Wit Me

RICH HOMIE BABYYYY! Here’s one I didn’t see coming. Rich Homie Quan seems to be making a nice comeback for himself in 2018 with his new album ‘Rich as in Spirit’. It may seem like a long time ago now but it was just a few years ago that Rich Homie could basically make an undisputed claim to the title of hook god. I remember listening to some of the earliest, pre-Rich Gang Quan songs like ‘Can’t Help It’ and ‘Where Were You’ (probably still my two favorites by him) and feeling like this guy was on a whole different level at the time.

Obviously he had some success thereafter with Rich Gang but it seems like while Young Thug’s career catapulted from there, Rich Homie just completely fell off the map. I’m not sure what he was up to or what he went through in the time period since he was last a marquee name, but from listening to Rich as in Spirit you can tell he’s been down in some dark places and bounced back/worked his way out of it and is eager to perfect his craft again. ‘Fuck Wit Me’ was probably my favorite song off of Rich as in Spirit but there were plenty of other contenders, like ‘Achieving’, ‘Foot Soldier’, and ‘Changed’. Honestly the whole album was really good and there were no songs you feel like you have to skip on it, which is saying something for a 19-track album.

I’m interested to see what Rich Homie does next, I feel like he’s almost comparable to a post-hype high NBA draft pick that doesn’t live up to his lofty draft position, than people write him off, but then he comes back in a new role on a new team a couple of years later and is a force to be reckoned with again. A lot of new guys have come in and set up shop in his lane that he carved out but he can definitely reclaim his spot amongst them.

Trouble – My Boy 

“I AIN’T EVEN ATE YET, DRINKING LEAN WITH MY BOY”

Substitute Lean for Coors Light and I’ve been there before with you Trouble, I know that feeling.

Speaking of Atlanta rappers of the early 2010s making a comeback, Trouble just released a really solid project called ‘Edgewood’; produced entirely by Mike Will Made It. ‘My Boy’ was the highlight of ‘Edgewood’ in my opinion. I remember bumping his stuff 6-7 years ago and then kind of losing track of him/not keeping up with him anymore but it seems like he’s back. He’s in a good spot for himself here working with Mike Will Made It and getting features from Drake, Quavo, Boosie, etc. ‘My Boy’ seems like one of the more unassuming tracks on the album at first especially given some of the superstar features, but it’s stayed in my head for weeks and has become my favorite.

AR-Ab ft. Lik Moss – Blood Brothers 

You know the old saying; hell hath no fury like an AR-Ab scorned. Ab is in fine form here on Blood Brothers as usual. This is quintessential Ab – Ab being provoked brings out the best in him, as he mixes hilarious bars with brutally violent threats and just a downright sneering mockery for all who dare oppose him. Those who have read my ‘homage to AR-Ab‘ from last year know he’s one of my all-time favorite artists and a rapper who I feel truly embodies the gritty spirit of Philly.

“I’m purple-hearted I done been to war; you kill one of mine I kill ten of yours. Ring his bell than I riot pump through your door, then I try to stomp your head through the fucking floor.”

“Tell my brother if you spot him get brutal with him, my only problem is deciding which shooter to send.”

“I watch Instagram I seen what you said homie, now I’ma fill your whole page with your dead homies.” (P.S. I love the idea of Ab reluctantly joining the social media age).

You’ve got to love Ab’s ever-present charisma and how expressive he gets with acting out his lines as he raps them, like how he jumps down and stomps the floor when he says about stomping his opp’s head through the floor, or when he motions to his homie behind him holding the pool stick like a rifle when he says his only problem is deciding which shooter to send. Or when he acts out throwing a no-look pass. (Not to mention his illustration of ‘stab you with both hands like Wolverine’ at the 2:55 mark).

“They was on the Gram talking murder, I was no good, now I declared martial law on your whole hood. I heard your corny mixtape, did it go wood? My plug pass me the brick with the no look.” This sequence is classic Ab – deftly maneuvering from threatening violence on his enemy’s whole hood, to mocking his mixtape and gloating about how he’s sold more copies than him.

While Ab’s brother Lik Moss doesn’t get as demonstrative as him, he brings a lot of raw bars and the self-assured veneer of someone who knows they’ve earned their stripes over the years and earned the respect of their hooddd, sneering as he raps lines like ‘Call Moss and see if he scrimmage, but I ain’t leaving off the field until the evil is finished’ and ‘They don’t try me here and they don’t try me there; niggas try me anywhere there’ll be a body there.’

“I’m laying dirt broke before I compromise what I stand for, these niggas laying down they manwhores… keep my foot on the gas as soon as they slam the can door, right back to putting niggas out like a landlord.” Steadfast would be a good way to describe Lik Moss.

AR-Ab – Glory Road

The booming opener to AR-Ab’s new ‘Protocol Volume 4’ mixtape is textbook Ab; in 3 short minutes he discusses the ups and downs of selling dope to his uncle, seeing his old head become a junkie, his murder trial, and having to take Percocets to fall asleep at night. Alright admittedly that sounds like more downs than ups but Ab made it through it all to tell the story, and now he’s cruising around town in his luxury vehicle, literally and figuratively looking down on the girls that used to curve him for having holes in his sneakers as they comb through the trash. Other highlights from the tape include ‘Biggest Fear’ which has a pretty dope chorus, his remake of Pac’s ‘Hail Mary’ and ‘Come Home’ which has a beat you wouldn’t expect to hear Ab rapping on.

Yo Gotti ft. 8Ball & MJG – Walking in Memphis

Another blast from the past I found myself bumping all month, something about the start of spring has your humble host here feeling nostalgic. I’m not even really a big Gotti fan or that into most of his recent hits but his remake of ‘Walking in Memphis’ where he links up with Memphis legends 8Ball and MJG and repurposes the hook of the famous song of the same title is a personal classic of mine; they just use that sample so flawlessly. My favorite part is 8-Ball coming in at the end and just knocking over everything in his path; “Boys hatin’ cause their hoes be so in love with it, that pussy might jump off a bridge if he knew I hit it. That’s why I keep my pistol closer than my boxer drawers, handle my business without ever getting the law involved. Fake niggas get the Ruger to their fucking chin, mama don’t raise punks I ain’t gonna say it again.” 8Ball manages to be both chill and intimidating in the same time in that way that only big dudes are able to. Hotbox Social just put up a dope tribute to 8Ball with a big collection of his best features on his site a week ago.

I Dog a Bitch Like Beethoven, Ron Ron just like my Zaytoven

15 Thursday Mar 2018

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03 Greedo – Baytoven 

Another ridiculous banger off the new Greedo album. The drums on the beat hit hard AF as Greedo melodically yells about how he’s quick to dog a bitch like Beethoven (presumably the sloppy St. Bernard from the 1992 movie Beethoven as opposed to the more famous 18th century composer by the same name, although it’s certainly plausible that that Beethoven would also similarly ditch a female companion) and then gives a nice homage to one of his main producers Ron, Ron, comparing him to Zaytoven (and also favorably compares his other producer Beat Boy to Metro Boomin’).

“Dog a bucket head bitch like a cocker spaniel, 03 Greedo got it lit just like a Roman candle”. I’m not entirely clear on what a bucket head bitch is but presumably it’s not a desirable trait and the line flows nicely. I also love how he always says the full ‘Oh three Greedo’ instead of just 3 Greedo or Greedo in songs.

So many other wild rhymes and rhyme schemes in this one; “Dog a little bitch like a Pomeranian, I’m in Dubai, hair-tied like Arabian, tryna know if niggas pulling triggers all my bitches gradient I be on some player shit”. I would pay to see 03 Greedo exploring Dubai and the Middle East.

I can’t get this one out of my head and I keep blasting it in the whip, it’s a perfect car song. Baytoven is in contention with Never Bend for my favorite song off of Wolf of Grape Street. I hope 03 makes a video for this one, for some reason I can picture it having an awesome dance to go with it. 03 Greedo is playing above the rim right now.

NO LOW RIDER BUT I’M MOBBING AND JEFFING!

The Big Bad Grape Street Wolf

12 Monday Mar 2018

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03 Greedo – Never Bend

03 Greedo has me feeling grapey with Never Bend, the monumental nightcap off of his ridiculous new Wolf of Grape Street album. 03 has about as much charisma and star power as anybody in the game right now and keeps things interesting with his unique, larger than life personality, adept lyricism, and dope production.

Greedo produced the sick beat for Never Bend himself on a laptop while he was laying in a hospital bed after being shot. A lot of people are talking about how they’re wavy right now but few if any can say that they’re as wavy as Greedo. I really can’t compare him to any other artist right now; the closest analogy I could make would maybe be a more experimental Sada Baby, but if you ask him, he wouldn’t compare himself to any rapper at all, but iconic figures like Prince and Michael Jackson and he describes his sound as “emo music for gangbangers,” and they’re certainly not unwarranted claims.

I love the droning, self-produced beat for Never Bend, with that recurrent noise that interrupts it intermittently, and I love its resolute, defiant message of the chorus; “I’m thanking God, I could have died in the pen, you haven’t been against the odds like I been, you haven’t been where I been, I never fold never bend.” Greedo also briefly alludes to being shot by someone he loves and being betrayed/snitched on by family members. This is definitley one of the most compelling figures in rap and we’re only beginning to scratch the surface of his backstory.

The entire album is filled with amazing songs, and I don’t want to overreact/be too hyperbolic as bloggers often can be, but Wolf of Grape Street is an instant classic in my book and an early choice for Album of the Year for 2018. Even the cover art is epic. After listening to it a couple of times front to back this weekend, there really are no tracks that are skips, which is saying a lot for an album with 21 full-length songs on it (and keep in mind this is only half the length of previous releases like Purple Summer. Sitting down and listening to full 03 Greedo album is making a commitment but it’s a worthwhile one). If I were to name my favorite 3 tracks on it so far I’d go with Never Bend, Baytoven, and the Yhung T.O-assisted Bacc to Bacc, but it’s hard to narrow it down. What would it take to get a collaboration between 03 and his fellow Grape Streeter Blocboy JB?

I’m a little late to the 03 Greedo wave but I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a new (to me) artist since FMB DZ and Sada Baby last year.

Image result for 03 greedo