DJ Khaled- It Ain't Over Til' It's Over featuring Fabolous, Jadakiss and Mary J. Blige

DJ Khaled's We The Best Forever compilation album hit stores yesterday so it's only right that his label (Cash Money Records) release another video to further promote the project. This time New York/New Jersey is represented by rappers Fabolous and Jadakiss and the "Queen of Hip Hop Soul" Mary J. Blige. Fab and Jada's names were never know to be acronyms but if you ever wanted to hear a meaning or comment pinned to each letter in their abbreviated names, you're in luck.

Chris Brown trying his hand at rapping... again

Is there another dimension to Chris Brown? He has already done a good job returning from a dark period in his career. He is arguably, the best singer/dancer in mainstream music once again. Brown began a series called "Real Hip Hop Sh*T" back in February but has come back with the third and fourth installments this week. Even though I don't want to admit it, his verses are rather impressive. Of course, he has the majestic instrumentals of 9th Wonder to rely on but it doesn't take away from his lyrical performance, only adds. Below are the third and fourth parts of his rap series:

Chris Brown- Real Hip Hop Sh*t Part 3 (Produced by 9th Wonder)





Chris Brown- Real Hip Hop Sh*t Part 4 featuring Kevin McCall (Produced by 9th Wonder)
 

Prepare for the lockout to be lifted

Besides updates on the efforts to lift the lockout, this summer has been full of overly saturated stories about  rudimentary details like James Harrison's disparaging remarks about quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Rashard Mendenhall's comments about the killing of Osama Bin Laden and guestimates of where various soon-to-be high profile free agents will land. Obviously, the media has had no free agency or offseason trades to discuss so they have been left to argue over minor occurrences but if the lockout ends this week, as some are predicting, many of the activities that usually occur during the long eight months of down time will happen in quick succession.

DJ Khaled- Future featuring Ace Hood, Big Sean, Meek Mill, Wale and Vado

Songs by a collective of upcoming artists is neither new nor foreign to DJ Khaled's fan. Each of Khaled's last three albums have featured rappers with enough buzz to disqualify them from being underground but enough obscurity to keep them from collaborating with the likes of Lil' Wayne and Ludacris; "Future" is no exception. Each featured artist is a celebrity in their regions but none is such at a nationwide level, except maybe Big Sean whose debut album just sold over 87,000 copies in the first week. Their lack of widespread fame is by no means correlated to their talent, in fact, each has a potential to be hip hop's next A-lister.

Ace Hood should be excluded from this company because he's prepping for the release of his third album in the latter part of the summer. He has not become a prominent rapper in the rap world and probably never will. His appearance on this track can only be explained by his relationship with DJ Khaled. The rest of these artists have either yet to release a formal debut or have only released one. Regardless, this cut is definitely a bright spot on DJ Khaled's We the Best Forever project released today.

BTW: I don't why J. Cole is no where to be found but he belongs in this group.

The Making of Common's "Ghetto Dreams"

A look into "Ghetto Dreams" w/Common&Nas - B.Kyle from B.Kyle on Vimeo.


I am usually not a fan of videos chronicling the making of a certain song or video but this video explaining how "Ghetto Dreams", performed by Common and Nas and produced by No I.D., came about held my attention for the entire duration. The mutual respect the two legendary rappers display when describing how highly one thinks of the other is captivating.

Should I purchase Big Sean's album?

 
In today's society, music fans have a choice of doing the honest thing and buying music or resorting to the more deviant route of illegally downloading. I try to make it a habit of purchasing my favorite artists’ recent work and I consider Big Sean to be one of my favorite commercial rappers of the moment. Despite my motivation, is his debut album, Finally Famous: The Album, worth buying in the store?

Obvious by the superfluous number of times it’s played on the radio, the album's lead single "My Last" is doing exceptionally well on the radio; it was the fourth most-played song on nationwide radio market during the week of June 27^th through July 3. Sean and Chris Brown had the opportunity to perform the song at the 2011 BET Awards. "Marvin Gaye and Chardonnay" featuring label head Kanye West and Roscoe Dash is set to be the second single. I enjoy both tracks and wouldn’t mind hearing "Chardonnay" on the radio a few more times.

Critics criticize Big Sean's affinity to change his style to seemingly accommodate the guest feature on the song as a lack of identity. Music critic Jesal 'Jay Soul' Padania of Rap Reviews wrote, "there is no consistent narrative voice, as Big Sean modifies his own voice to accommodate his guest, or adapts to the original tone of the song's influencing artist.” I disagree because what he may consider lack of identity, I call diversity. The subject matter and delivery in "Don't Wait for Me" are different than those of "Dance (A$$)".

The production from No I.D, The Neptunes and others give Sean a great platform exhibit his talents.

My other concern is the brevity of the album. There are only twelve songs on the basic copy, 16 on the deluxe edition. Even if the disk is $9.99 in stores, I’m still wary about whether or not I will be getting my money’s worth.

Nonetheless, I am feeling propelled to do my part as a fan. Physical album sales are declining while digital sales are increasing. I’d rather be part of the solution than the problem. Plus, it’s nothing like having an ink-covered plastic disk and decorative case in your hand.

Raekwon- Rich and Black featuring Nas (Official Video)

"Rich and Black" is the second single from Raekwon's Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang album. It features QB legend Nas trading verses with The Chef; this track is being considered one of the best hip hop singles in more recent history. Although the video is unsophisticated, it's good to see the camaraderie between two of hip hop's most respected MC's.

Donnis- All I Need

Even though Donnis' most recent mixtape Southern Lights is still playing perpetually on my iPod, he has apparently moved on to this pop sounding song about the possessions he desires. The track is produced by Japanese producers Nippon Sounds. Can't say this is one of his better songs but it's different.