Raekwon "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II" (September 8, 2009)

Wu-Tang's chief criminologist revisits original rhyme scene... Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., Raekwon's classic 1995 solo debut, was an impressionistic tour through the thrilling highs, the solemn lows, the violent comedy, and the simmering boredom making up the life of a New York City drug dealer. Rae was hungry and at the height of his powers, riding some of the RZA's hardest-knocking, most progressive production. Cuban Linx II--which features four contributions from the RZA--is more of a reenactment than a sequel. Production has been handled buffet-style, with a gaggle of contributors (Alchemist, Pete Rock, Dr. Dre) ably providing variations of RZA's creeping, caustic recipe. The late J Dilla, whose strings and bass stabs on "Flying Daggers" will make you miss him all over again, provides the most ear-catching tracks here. Raekwon still rhymes in rapid-fire spurts, on and off the beat, like a jamming machine gun. And while the songs may lack the original's wild-eye narrative, they still contain some of his most rewind-worthy bars in years. On Cuban Linx II, the Wu-Tang vet has grown old and weary and his thoughts drift both to the mortal coil (asking, "Bury me in Africa...with diamonds out of Syria") and to his golden years (on "Walk With Me," he sees himself aboard a "blue yacht...with a Commodores CD"). Raekwon, the Cuban Linx narrator, is ready for retirement. But Raekwon, the MC, is finally ready to move on. - Spin, 2009. Revisit the LP below...

Original review in Spin Magazine, August 2009...

L'Orange "The World Is Still Chaos, But I Feel Better" (Album Stream)

Released on Mello Music Group, The World Is Still Chaos, But I Feel Better is a testament to the power of self knowledge and incremental progress, of the way tiny steps can give structure to life and help navigate the unknown. For more than a decade now, L’Orange has dazzled listeners with his alchemic blends of old and new, found sounds and the deeply personal. Given how seamlessly he synthesizes his source materials, the end product can sound as if it came straight from the ether, fully formed. But on The World Is Still Chaos, he aims to demystify that work, if only for himself. “I wanted to confront my own creative process and day-to-day wellbeing managing mental illness in a healthy way for the first time,” L’Orange says. “I'm trying to consider how to draw from my life experiences when my life experiences aren't rooted in depression. It’s about continuing to struggle with balance while transitioning to being inspired by an external world.” The World Is Still Chaos is held together, above all, by a sense of playfulness. Over the course of his career, L’Orange has used his remarkable abilities to create a sort of delirium in his work, a haze that envelops the listener and seals him or her off in a universe of the producer’s construction. With The World Is Still Chaos, But I Feel Better, he inverts this, imposing order on the world bit by bit. It’s about “feeling OK,” L’Orange says––“not perfect.” Striving for marginal, day-over-day victories––over the external world, over your past, over yourself––is the kind of actionable, measurable, deeply personal approach that can make a seemingly impossible era feel all the more approachable. It doesn’t hurt that L’Orange delivers the argument in such an irresistibly head-nodding package. - via Mello Music.

Emapea "Bees, Trees and Flowers" (Instrumental Album)

Emapea is a producer from Poland who started releasing music in the mid-2010s, with a great run on Cold Busted Records. Stateside, he’s probably best known for his 2020 collaboration with L.A.’s Kid Abstrakt, Jazzy Vibes. Now he’s back with a solo instrumental album, Bees, Trees and Flowers. If you’re not already familiar with Emapea, don’t worry, because Bees, Trees and Flowers is a great place to dive in and get started. From the jump, Emapea is hitting you with some heavy and funky drums, paired with some thumping piano and killer horn hits with just a touch of eeriness that hints at Deadringer-era RJD2. Not to worry though, because Emapea isn’t just aping RJD2, he’s also veering off into some trip hop and dub and downtempo as well, reminding you of the give and take of influences across the Atlantic. Most importantly, though, Emapea knows how to make some instrumental songs that are fully developed and take you on a journey across the course of the album. Emapea can deliver some great grooves, but he’s not just building around the one groove, he’s putting these grimy boom bap beats in dialogue with these trippy spaced out beats and then folding in the dub and bringing that back around to the boom bap and finding some brilliant connecting points that makes everything flow together and keep the party going. It’s an album you can absolutely groove to and throw on any track at a party, but it’s also an album for the heads who will love to dig into all of Emapea’s clever sample flips and rhythmic interplay. A lot of the time, when producers drop projects like this, they turn out to be nothing more than a simple beat tape. It’ll be enjoyable up to a point, but not developed enough to have you coming back time and time again. With Bees, Trees and Flowers, Emapea has given us an enjoyable instrumental album that bumps, but is also complex enough to have you coming back for repeat listens and discovering something new each time through. - Scratched Vinyl. Listen to Bees, Trees and Flowers below...

Bread of Kaliwild "A Breath of Fresh Air" (Album Stream)

“With ‘A Breath of Fresh Air,’ I plan to deliver that classic hip-hop sound I grew up with. The album will let the world know that this sound is still alive and well.”—Bread of Kaliwild on his new album ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’ is the triumphant, inspiring new album from Bread of Kaliwild, a longtime staple of the underground rap scene who continues to grow and shine as an emcee. His sophomore effort boasts 10 tracks, which feature the likes of Brand Nubian, Keak Da Sneak, Planet Asia and production by Nottz, Noah Ayala, Therealasethic, and Frequency Konstruct. This is a solid release, distributed through Fat Beats and available to listen below. Dig back into 2019's Daily Bread, too...

Take It Personal Podcast "Ode to 1993" (Part 5)

Episode 94 is the 5th and final installment of Take It Personal's tribute to the year 1993, in hip-hop! The T.I.P. crew closes out the series with music from Souls of Mischief, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Eazy-E, Ultramagnetic MC's, Kurious, M.O.P., Black Moon, Preacher Earl, Shadz of Lingo, Rumplestilkinz and Shyheim. And speaking of Shyheim, you know they had to share our thoughts on the whole Drink Champs fiasco. At the break they discuss the '93 remixes and where they rank. Kev does a killer Vinnie Paz impersonation and they finally announce the winners of their Get On Down giveaway. After 5 episodes and 16+ hours of music, memories and laughs, Take It Personal is officially done with 1993. Where to next? Only the hip-hop Gods know that. Meanwhile, listen below...

Damu The Fudgemunk "Conversation Peace" (Album Stream)

From Damu: "The music that would become Conversation Peace began with a trip to KPM’s London HQ in late January of 2020. I had just finished wrapping up post production on my album Ocean Bridges with Archie Shepp and Raw Poetic....  As a record collector, I’m very familiar with the legacy of the KPM brand. I had been lucky enough to find a few over the past decade during my digging trips up and down the east coast, but looking at the complete vinyl catalog was a great privilege. I anxiously began combing through records from morning to night looking for the right sounds. The whole experience was surreal. Listening to the entire catalog was a history lesson and the amount of great composers and compositions in the recordings was endless. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t somewhat overwhelming. As a producer looking for textures, inspiration and grooves, the abundance of those things made it extremely difficult to narrow down what I wanted to use. From drums to sound fx to orchestras to small rhythm sections to ambient noises, I heard a wide variety of things and they were all so well produced and recorded. Every instrument you can think of was there! I spent a little over a week capturing sounds knowing that my work was cut out for me when I returned to my home in DC. Once I got home, I got to work.... Looking at the finished product, I’m very happy with this work. I’m excited for my existing fans and new listeners to hear my latest ideas. The title Conversation Peace came to me well after the album was done. This record is certainly a celebration of the KPM library, but I felt it needed a title that represented the commentary and the term Conversation Peace popped in my head. The way I produced and arranged the music, I felt each vocalist offers an essay of sorts and the extended instrumentation balances each number so the listener has space to reflect on the ideas presented by each lyricist.... The vocalist initiates the conversation and the audience has room to form their own opinions." Listen...

MFR "Reelin' In The Years With DJ Muggs" (MIx)

Muzzle Flash Radio specializes in producing advanced mixtapes of all genres through the eyes of two hardcore beat heads in North Carolina: Monte Smith + JJ The Genius. For their latest mixtape, MFR pays tribute to Soul Assassin's very own, DJ Muggs. Celebrating various tracks from the super producer's back catalog, you'll hear tracks featuring Mellow Man Ace, House of Pain, Ice Cube, Yo-Yo, Funkdoobiest, Call O' Da Wild, LA The Dark Man, Goodie Mob, KRS-One, Dr. Dre, Prodigy, GZA, MF Doom, Meyhem Lauren, Roc Marciano, Flee Lord, Rome Streetz, and among others, of course his group, Cypress Hill. One of the greatest producers of our generation, still making incredible music that honors his legacy and also keeps him highly relevant in today's industry. Dig into the mix below...

Fat Joe "Don Cartagena" (September 1, 1998)

With "Don Cartagena," Fat Joe reached a new plateau with his rhymes and the entire approach on the album brings "the art of rap at the illest form," as poignantly said by Fat Joe in "Crack Attack," produced by LES of the Trackmasterz. Fat Joe has expanded his reach as an artist, while not compromising his hardcore essence and this time around, more than ever, manages to sprinkle jewels everywhere in his lyrics. In the title track and first single off the album, "Don Cartagena" (an eloquent piano looped track featuring Puff Daddy and produced by Younglord of "The Hitmen"), Fat Joe proclaims "modesty will get you no where / that's why I go there / and let you know where / to buy the new Fat Joe gear," and later in the verse asks, "Let's choose what life you'd rather live / on the streets stabbing kids or living mad sweet in lavish cribs?" Word. Another of the bound-to-be-classics is "John Blaze," a symphony track that guest stars Nas, Raekwon, Big Pun, and Jadakiss (The LOX) and was produced by Ski. Amid the live strings, the MCs flex lyrically. Fat Joe boldly professes, "I used to run mad spots / now I own many shops / gortex with the lock / 560s - 4 bills a pop / I'm hot / who wanna get burned?" A part of Fat Joe's persona is a new found consciousness and goal to reach a balance, keeping it both real and right. Inspired by a meeting he had with Minister Louis Farrakhan, Fat Joe enlisted the Terror Squad to create a politically-charged song. The result was "The Hidden Hand." Produced by Spunk Bigga, this emotionally-tinged track is reflective in nature with peaks captured by a subtle violin. On this track, Joe talks of his trials as a youth and his dreams for the future. "I was a wild adolescent / blessed with the foul essence / messing with the wrong crowd / I learned my lessons / ... / but now I understand the bigger picture / fuck crying about the struggle / I teach ya how to get richer." Press Kit cont'd below...

"Don Cartagena" is truly a trip through a myriad of sounds and escapades. Fat Joe keeps to his essence with the hardcore anthems "Find Out," produced by Marley Marl and "Misery Needs Company," featuring Noreaga. Fat Joe also provides us with "My World," a Baby-Paul produced track which will have crowds chanting, "It's my life, my money, my world, my girls. TS electrify the sky like the third rail" alongside Big Pun. In addition to the star studded names above, the album also features rising rap queen, Charli Baltimore and rap super group Bones Thugs-n-Harmony. Fat Joe's growth as an artist is reflected by the assembled artists and producers that appear on "Don Cartagena." With lots of love come blessings, and with blessings come protection. Blessed by his peoples in entertainment, his family, and the people in the streets, Fat Joe is surrounded by a legion of friends and loved ones. Men who move with that much reverence, power, and respect deserve the title Don. This summer, prepare to welcome "Don Cartagena." "If I ever make a hundred million, I still walk these streets freely; this is what I love man. More importantly, this is reality." Spoken like a true man of the people. - Press Kit, 1998. Revisit one of Fat Joe's best LPs above. R.I.P., Big Pun.