Young producer on the come-up

"OMG! I love that song with Drake, Kanye, Weezy and Eminem. All the versus are dope and the video is cool. I wish I knew who produced it."

 -Clueless Music fan

For those of you who have that same wonderment, let me introduce you to young up and coming hip hop producer Boi-1da. This talented producer has been getting his props in the hip hop community for the last year and a half.

In 2006, he was a little known producer that had only worked with artist in Canada like a future superstar by the name of Drake. Boi-1da and Drake's careers have paralleled during both of their rises to fame and success. Boi-1da produced Drake's launch single called "Replacement Girl" that featured R&B singer Trey Songz whom Drake has collaborated with on several occasions.

During the next two years Boi-1da pounded his beat machine into the business, he worked with Canadian rapper Kardinal Official, G-Unit and Drake's future labelmate Lil' Wayne.

In 2009, things started to really take off for Boi-1da when Drake's acclaimed mixtape "So Far Gone" rocketed into unparalleled success. Drake's biggest solo hit to date "Best I ever had" hit the market and drove people crazy with its gratuitous radio play. Also, the another ubiquitous track "Forever" featuring four of the hottest rappers in the game at the time (Drake, Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Eminem) found its way to the radio and the iPod of every gym mainstay. This track was filled with his now trademark airhorn sound effect.

Since his seemingly sudden rise to stardom, he is complementing all the popular rappers of the present with his unique sound. He continues to work with Drake, evident by listening to Drake's first single off of his debut album called "Over". "Not Afraid", first single off of Eminem's upcoming album "Recovery", was also produced by Boi-1da. It is expected to garner a good amount of radio play. The anthemic song about Eminem's freedom from drug addiction has been described by his music manager Paul Rosenberg as "uplifting".

The road ahead looks very bright and fruitful for Boi-1da. He is young and appears to have a work ethic that brings people accomplishment and monetary rewards. Do not be surprised if he becomes a household name like Timbaland or Pharrell.

Best work so far: Drake feat. Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Eminem- Forever and Drake- Best I ever had

Drake- Find your love (Prod by Kanye West)

Drake - Find Your Love [Prod. Kanye West] | New Hip Hop Music & All The New Rap Songs 2010

This is a cut said to be on Drake's upcoming album "Thank Me Later". The beat sounds like work Kanye did while he was in his 808 & Heartbreak phase. Vocals aren't anything spectacular or new but it is worth a few listens.

Eminem - Not Afraid [Prod. Boi-1da] | New Hip Hop Music & All The New Rap Songs 2010

Eminem - Not Afraid [Prod. Boi-1da] | New Hip Hop Music & All The New Rap Songs 2010

First single off of Eminem's forthcoming album "Recovery". This song will be heard on your local radio station very soon, trust me.

Eminem - Despicable [Over + Beamer, Benz, or Bentley Freestyle] | New Hip Hop Music & All The New Rap Songs 2010

Eminem - Despicable [Over + Beamer, Benz, or Bentley Freestyle] | New Hip Hop Music & All The New Rap Songs 2010

Dope freestyle by the one and only Eminem. Nuff said

T.I- Im back (Official Video)

You only need one word to describe this video: Fire

Game - The Red Room Hosted by Dj Skee // Free Mixtape @ DatPiff.com

Game - The Red Room Hosted by Dj Skee // Free Mixtape @ DatPiff.com

Here is the link to the recently released "The Red Room" by Game. It features some underground songs like a dope duo freestyle featuring he and Nipsey Hussle exchanging rhymes over Fat Joe's "Ha Ha (Slow down)" beat produced by Scoop Deville and gang representer "Gangs of New York" featuring Jim Jones and Jadakiss. It has some good cuts and it is prepping you for the highly anticipated "The Red Album" coming soon.

Nas & Damien Marley- As we enter

As We Enter - Distant Relatives

Distant Relatives | MySpace Music Videos

Short but epic video by Nas and Damien Marley. I am still marveling at how well these two can exchange rhymes line for line. One of Nas quick hard hitting lines was," he can speak patois, I can speak rap star". This line is a good summarization of how to opposites come together to make quality music.

Sergio Kindle sacks QB Taylor Potts

This is the kind of pass rushing ability Kindle brings to the table.

The Ravens draft variety of weapons on final day of draft

To the surprise of many the Ravens use two consecutive draft pics to obtain tight ends.

Their final pick on the second day, tight end Ed Dickson was drafted 70th overall by the Ravens. The next day Dennis Pitta was selected in the middle of the fourth round. In fifth round, the Ravens drafted a wide receiver, the first time in two years, David Reed a byproduct of Utah's spread offense system.

One of the most intriguing and hopefully valuable picks in this year's draft is the selection of defensive tackle Arthur Jones, second of the two Ravens fifth round draft picks. Jones was projected to be a second round pick before he got hurt. If he can stay healthy, it is a possibility that he becomes a significant contributor in a few years. His contribution will be needed if he steps up in a timely fashion. Defensive linemen Trevor Pryce and Kelly Gregg are getting older and will need talented successors to carry on the reputation these two have established in Baltimore as strong, stout defensive linemen.

The players from this draft class I am ready to see contribute are:

OlB/DE Sergio Kindle- His role all depends on what style of defense the Ravens decide to adopt. Kindle looks the part of a disruptive pass rushing outside linebacker in a 3-4 system but could also play linebacker next to Ray Lewis in a 4-3 system. Physically he would be best a pass rusher that uses the majority of his downs to get up field and slap around the quarterback.

Ed Dickson- The Ravens need a body to create mismatches in the slot and Dickson could be that guy. He plays like a wide receiver/tight end hybrid. He had 48 catches and 551 receiving yards in his senior year. His biggest question mark is his ability to block which is not a big deal in college football but is often requested of professional tight ends. If, no, when Cam Cameron finds a role for this player he will become productive.

Ravens draft three talented, needed players

The Ravens did not trade back at all today. They drafted three very talented players that play positions the Ravens need help with.

The 43rd overall pick was pass rusher Sergio Kindle. Kindle was predicted to go in the first round but he fell to the early part of the first round and that is when the Ravens snatched him up. Analyst accredit him as a dynamic college pass rusher in college and expect him to transition well to the pro's.

The 57th overall pick was the enormous run stopper Terrance Cody. He was the Ravens' the other second-round pick. He was also predicted to be picked in the first round. The collaborative efforts of Cody and Ngata will make an interesting run blocking combo. the Ravens finally got another defensive lineman to replace Dwan Edwards and Justin Bannan, both of whom departed in free agency.

The third and final pick for the Ravens on the day was the 70th overall pick, TE Eric Dickson. Dickson is known for being a fast pass catching tight end. It is good to see the Ravens get another body on the depth chart behind Todd Heap in the tight end category.

Right now it looks the Ravens made their squad much better but we will have to wait and see how these picks produce in the future. We still have one more day of the draft. As of now, the Ravens have four picks left, one in the fourth round, two in the fifth round and one in the sixth round.

The Ravens trade out of the first round

On Thursday May 22 at 7:30pm, the Ravens had 5 drafts picks, two of which were early picks: the 25th overall pick and the 57th overall pick. After 57 they did not have a pick until the early half of the fifth round.

Well today thanks to a wise and somewhat predictable trade, the Ravens walk into the second day with seven picks. They have two picks in the second round, one in the third round, one in the fourth, two in the fifth (one of which they acquired in the Anquan Boldin trade) and one in the sixth round.

The Ravens are known for maneuvering through the draft to get the best rookies available for the best price.

So Ravens fans who like myself watch hours of the first round just to find your team trade out need no worry. It seems that the Ravens have a plan, as they always do, and they will get the most out of this draft class.

Snoop Dogg feat Jay-Z- I wanna rock remix (official video)

Don't get to excited Jay-Z is no where to be found in the video.

Guru, one half of rap duo Gang Starr, dies of cancer

Guru, one of the two mc's in legendary hip hop duo Gangstarr, passed away on Monday due to complications from an undisclosed type of cancer. He worked alongside fellow mc Solar and producer DJ Premier to become pioneers of renown the underground east coast sound mimiced by many in the 90's.

To learn more about who the hip hop world lost yesterday, check out this obit by XXLmag on their website
www.xxlmag.com

The Ravens 2010 game schedule has been released

The game schedules for all 32 teams have been released and fans are already picking wins and losses.

This season's schedule looks to be more gentle from a travel standpoint. They have avoided the disliked game overseas in England once again. They play the Denver Broncos and the New Orleans Saints in the comfort of their own M&T Bank Stadium. The farthest they will travel this upcoming season will be to Houston to play the Texans who had their first winning season in franchise history in 2009.

Nfl.com has calculated that the Ravens have the 12th hardest schedule this year, according to last year's records of their upcoming opponents. Half of their opponents will be coming off of winning seasons, one a super bowl championship.

The biggest break the Ravens will get is playing the Super Bowl champion Saints in Baltimore rather than New Orleans. No team wants to challenge the Saints in the Superdome. Especially after the magical finish they had at the end of last season. Saints fans will bring their high energy and high expectations to the stadium for home games. Luckily the Ravens will be able to avoid the vast majority of those folks when game time roles around.

Game f. Pharrell Williams - It Must Be Me [Prod. Neptunes] | New Hip Hop Music & All The New Rap Songs 2010

Game f. Pharrell Williams - It Must Be Me [Prod. Neptunes] | New Hip Hop Music & All The New Rap Songs 2010

New single for The Game's upcoming R.E.D album produced by Pharrell. Beat is knocking, the verses are hard but the chorus does not match everything else in terms of quality. Listen and form your own opinion.

Five years ago this week...

the top five albums on Billboard's Top Hip Hop and R&B Albums chart were: Beanie Sigel's The B. Coming, 112's Pleasure & Pain, 50 Cent's The Massacre, Will Smith's Lost and Found and The Game's Documentary. Looking back I can remember most of these albums featured at least ubiquitous song that played on the radio every ten minutes sometimes one after another.

Radio DJ's loved to mix songs done by the The Game and 50 Cent with another 50 cent song. You would hear "Hate it or Love it" then suddenly have your ears bombarded with record scratches while the song transitions to Candy Shop. This was mostly due to the label connection between the two superstar rappers had. They were both signed as Shady/Aftermath/Interscope artists.

Beanie Sigel did not hit the radio as hard as his other rap counterparts sitting atop this chart at this time but he still landed at the number one spot that week. He had a thoughtful introspective single called "Feel it in the Air" leading the promo for his album but it wasn't something people wanted to hear in their car every twenty minutes. Honestly he only hit number one that week because his album debut as a release on the prominent hip hop label Rocafella, a sinking ship co-steered by Jay-Z and Dame Dash. The album was filled with features from State Property and other talented hip hop producers and artists. The only other single on that album that got attention was "Don't Stop", a smooth two step jam featuring Snoop Dogg on the chorus and Pharrell on the beat.

The most shocking album positioned in the top five that week was Will Smith's last album released to this date "Lost and Found". The only thing that actually comes to mind when this album is brought up is the ordinarily corny music video for his lead single "Switch". He is in an unnamed warehouse-like location where he is rapping his lyrics and randomly finds himself in a party setting. This last album had plenty of features but did not catch anyone's eye after the first week. This probably explains why he has since stuck to what he does best which is everything but rapping.

There is not much to say about the one R&B album on this list which is 112's Pleasure and Pain. I do not remember a thing about this record, not even the lead single so I will say no more about that.

Today, if you look at the charts you see Usher's Raymond vs Raymond at number one, Monica's Still Standing at number two, Erykah Badu's New Amerykah, Pt.2 Return of the Ankh at number three, Ludacris' Battle of the Sexes at number four and The E.N.D by Black Eyed Peas at number five. This is a major turnover from what we saw five years ago. At that very distant time in the past, we saw hip hop albums great and not so great top the charts, this week we see an R&B top heavy chart.

The reason no one is buying any hip hop albums right now. *BUZZ* What are low quality hip hop albums, alex? Correct!

Right now the most popular album is Battle of the Sexes. It is a good bass heavy album full of tracks that are designed to appeal to both men and women. It is definitely your best bet at finding a good hip hop album in the new section at your local music retailer right now. I do not even consider the Black Eyed Peas hip hop anymore, they are purely a pop group so let's take them out of this equation. The next highest selling hip hop album this week is Lil' Wayne's Rebirth album, a sorry attempt at Lil Wayne making a crossover rock record. Do not be fooled, it is a hip hop album with some rock sounds and samples mixed in. The best part about that album is when he strays from the rock sound namely Drop the World featuring Eminem. The compilation was a career mistake for him.

The other problem is way to many people have out hit singles but cannot compile a decent album together. Waka Flocka Flame? really? Nicki Minaj is killing it right now but her torch will burn out before she releases an album just like I think her labelmate Drake will allow to happen to himself. There are anthems on the radio right now but they are not and will not be attached to classic albums.

This trend will spin back around again soon when see Drake, Eminem, Kanye and T.I drop an album in the upcoming summer and fall months. We are just experiencing a slight hip hop drought is all. Have patience hip hop fans, better things are in the forecast.





*

Wale f. Chris Brown & Fabolous - Pretty Girls Rmx | New Hip Hop Music & All The New Rap Songs 2010

Wale f. Chris Brown & Fabolous - Pretty Girls Rmx | New Hip Hop Music & All The New Rap Songs 2010


Here is the the remix to Wale's hit "Pretty Girls". Fabolous and Chris Brown swoop in to add some fire to an already hot song.

Drake-Over (Official Video)

Here is the long anticipated official video for "Over" by Drake. It is full of flashing lights and blurring images. I must say that I enjoyed the "Best I ever had" video more than this. Check it out for yourself.

Will Joe Flacco get better in his third season?

Ozzie Newsome and the rest of the front office made a statement with their off-season acquisitions so far. Two of their three best acquisitions are wide receivers. Anquan Boldin and Dante Stallworth are both veterans who have both experienced different levels of success in their careers. Derrick Mason, one of Flacco's favorite targets, is returning for the upcoming season. This means the Ravens offense will be stocked with talented and proven aerial targets that can play different roles in the offense.

With all the players the front office has worked to sign, will Flacco become leaps and bounds better than he was last season?

It should. One of main problems he has faced in the past two years is not having enough targets to look for when the pass rush is breathing down his neck and he was forced to get rid of the ball immediately. During his rookie year, Derrick Mason was Flacco's throwaway. That was the first receiver Flacco looked for. In his second year, he started to look toward fellow second year player Ray Rice when the plays broke down mostly because defenses had learned to double and sometimes triple team Mason.

With a new looking receiving core, Flacco will hopefully be more willing to scan the field for different players. Besides there will be times when he has two wide receivers that had over 1000 yards in the previous season roaming the field and a tight end that has a knack for getting open in the middle of the field and a speedy wide receiver that can be very effective in the slot.

The most important factor is how much progress Flacco makes in that crucial period in between his second and third season. He will be expected to make more reads and better decisions than he did in this past season. He will have to study a little more tape and squeeze in a little more practice time with his offense than he has done in his professional career so far.

Usher- OMG (Official Video)

This is the video for Usher's next single OMG. It has everything. He glides at a random part of the video and he dances and smokes a cigar at the same time in 3-d. Will-I-Am put a nice club feel into the production of this song but he did not offer much vocally. His verse was plain and pointless. I know MTV2 or whatever channels play pop music videos these days will have a field day with this one.

Fabolous- Im Raw

Here is a visual for one of Fabolous' underground tracks "Im Raw". It is actually a pretty good video to go with the nonstop one liners Fab delivers.

The video's discorded nature leaves you questioning how and why certain things are in the video. The woman who works in the butcher shop with is dancing on a piano in a studio. Otherwise this is a quality music video for a non-album song.

Usher returns to the top

Usher released Raymond vs Raymond last week while riding a high wave of momentum and anticipation. All that promotion seems to have payed off as the numbers are in and Usher has returned to number one on the Top 200 list. He sold 330,100 in just seven days.

This success comes as a surprise to me because of how many he sold. His seven week numbers are higher than Ludacris' Battle of the Sexes total sales after a month on the shelves.

I guess people have really taken notice of his singles, Daddy's Home, Lil' Freak and recently OMG. I actually doubted Usher because I did not think people were really catching on to the songs he was releasing but I guess a good Usher song is a good Usher song. Right?

I want to extend my congratulations to Usher. The product he is offering his fans this time around is far superior to his last project, Here I Stand.

Rhymefest- Dangerous 5:18 Mixtape

I am currently listening to a few tracks from Rhymefest's recent mixtape release "Dangerous 5:18". It has some really aggressive tracks and a few heartfelt songs like "Do it again". There is even a club joint called "Vibin". I was delighted to see that Little Brother was featured in three of the 17 tracks on the compilation(one of which was on Little Brother's "And Justus for all"). The three have an amazing ability to collaborate on a song and all three of them rap with emotion all comparable to one another. This is an impeccable free mixtape available for listen on datpiff.com. Check it out.

Best tracks: Do it again and What do I do.

Big Boi- Shuttebugg

Here is one of the dopest leaks I have heard from Big Boi's upcoming project "Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty". It is funky, has a heavy beat and a melodic chorus. I hope this album actually comes just because he has worked hard to create sounds like this.

Chris Kanyon dies at age 40

Chris Kanyon was found dead friday night in his apartment. The cause of death is believed to be suicide. His bipolar disease has led him to threaten suicide several times before. My condolences go out to his family and friends.