Marci D'Arcy

You can't drop science without a little chemistry as the adage almost goes, thus, out of all the guests on Roc Marciano's new compilation type thingymebob Marci Beaucoup, the rapper who sounds most at home bending the rules of the English language in Marciano's universe of nonchalant snarls 'n' atomized snares is Alchemist's current muse Boldy James. Their duet Trying To Come Up is some contemporary grainy Rap-Noir for those of us who wear camouflage Carhartt boxers under our slightly-sagged Cupro lined Thom Browne wool slacks as we pound the isles of Waitrose on the hunt for fresh smoked salmon:

Roc Marciano ft. Boldy James - Trying To Come Up
(From Marci Beaucoup album; 2013)



Quite like the comparison being bandied about that Marci Beaucoup is Marciano's version of DOOM's King Gheedorah album since there's a couple of uncanny song-to-song parallels: Drug Lords with Roc's weed carrier who sounds like he picked his Rap moniker from a comedy Wu-Tang name generator is its equivalent of Anti-Matter with Mr Fantastik, whilst Psych Ward is tantamount to the album's Next Levels since it sees a remarkable beat ruined by Alchemist's Kelly Brook-reading-autocue soundin' ass dulcet tones in much the same way those Scienz Of Life dullards stunk up DOOM's former Arrow Root instrumental on the Gheedorah LP.

Rockmaster Rasheed ain't bring that heat

Spent the last hour goin' in on the new trifecta of E-40 Block Brochure albums with the plan to post something from them, but nowt was particular grabbing me so ya boy Black Shipley right chea gave up and decided to throw 43 on repeat instead. 6 plays in a row later, it feels like the right decision for tonight.

"Keep a banger in the peacoat
A stack of c-notes
Lil' n*ggas on the look out, that's child support"

E-40 ft. B-Legit - 43
(From Revenue Retrievin': Graveyard Shift album; 2011)


Yo, how the fuck did Rap go from a singles genre to one where artists drop 3 albums in a single day? New rule for 2014: rappers are only allowed to drop full lengths if they include interludes where Big Tigger yaps to pretend-radio callers over Mannie Fresh beats.

Big Tigger Live On The Radio (Part 1)
(From Lil' Wayne's 500 Degreez album; 2002)

Wanted dead or alive: Disco Stu # 2

"Time wait for no man, why stare at a clock?
Got my balls & my word and a handheld chop!"

Feddy Da Sneak & Stu Hustlah - Make Me Rich
(From YouTube; 2013)


Found myself sucked deeper into the Murdergang whirlpool this past week and need a quick helping hand: anybody got Feddy Da Sneak & Stu Hustlah's No Spaces album which Make It Rich apparently comes from? Low-rent mob musik slaps over the same Atlantic Starr loop them 213 lads did wonderful things with back in t'day are right up my road, but I cannae find No Spaces anywhere on the 'net for love nor loot. Can anybody hook it up?

BY THE WAY THIS IS CHRIS THOTT aka EVERETT TRU bka TOM BREIHAND OF THE DEAD BODY! NEW NAME KATHERINE ST A$AP N CASE U GOT IT TWISTED!

Nelson Mandela died the day Del Boy & Rodney left their tower block in Peckham

Never forget the time Biz called him "Melson" Mandela on Erase Racism:

Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo ft. Biz Markie & Big Daddy Kane - Erase Racism
(From Wanted: Dead Or Alive album; 1990)

Obligatory best rap songs of 2013 list

Lucky '13: the year Yelawolf transformed from an ol' Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg lookin' ass whigga to a heavily filtered Instagram picture of Mac Dre.

Dropping this post today so those two French bredders will have time to come through with a couple of zipfiles of all the songs again for doz dat slept. List will be subject to change once the E-40 albums drop/per random outta-the-blue loosies/if King Louie finally unleashes the last few unreleased 2011 Dope & Shrimp cuts on his new mixtape but, for now, these are the songs I ride 4 and I've rode 2 this year, including a couple of cuts I hated at first.

Usual one song per artist rule applies, there's no order of preference although the songs are (loosely) clumped together geographically this year, and the list includes a handful of songs which dropped very late december 2012 but didn't really make a ripple until 2013 so they're eligible for inclusion. Rap & Bullshit jams are also eligible providing the Rap ratio is in balance with the Bullshit ratio. Call it the What's the 411? law:

Uncle Murda ft. Rocko - Wu Wuu Wuuu
AZ - We Movin'
Cam'Ron ft. Sen City - Instagram (Catfish)
A-Mafia - Street Money
Max B - Take A Flick
Chinx Drugz - How Can I Lose?
J-Zone - Crib Issues
Troy Ave - Hot Out
The Lox - Summer's Too Hot
Roc Marciano - Ice Cream Man
Raekwon ft. AZ & Altrina Howard - '86 remix
Meek Mill - Lil' N*gga Snupe
Freeway & The Jacka - Uh Huh
Johnny Cinco - They Gave The Wrong Young N*gga Money
Young Jeezy ft. 2 Chainz - R.I.P
Future - Shit
Travis Porter ft. Jeremih - Err Damn Day
Young Dro - FDB
Rich Kidz - Trayvon
Rich Homie Quan - Party
Grip Plyaz - Ray Lewis
Rocko ft. Future & Rick Ross - U.O.E.N.O
Gucci Mane - Ring The Alarm
Young Thug - Danny Glover
Rittz - Like I Am
Kap G ft. Young Jeezy - Jose Got Dem Tacos remix
Migos - Hannah Montana
2 Chainz ft. IamSu - Living
Kwony Cash - YNWA
Z-Ro - Look Good
Slim Thug - 84s
Killa Kyleon - Cadillac
BeatKing - IONCAHH
Devin The Dude - Hear The Sound
UGK ft. Lil' Boosie & Big K.R.I.T - Cake
Dorrough Music - After Party
Gunplay - Drop Da Tint
Lil' Durk - 52 Bars Part 2
ZMoney - Regular
Bandman Kevo - Who Is Dat?
KanYe West ft. Charlie Wilson - Bound 2
The Guys - Flee
Giftz - Death Wish
Lil' Herb & Lil' Bibby - Play They Role
P.Rico - Gladiator
Mic Terror - West Coast
Blood Money ft. King Louie - Bitch I'm Crazy
Fredo Santana ft. Blood Money - Take Risks
Lil' Reese ft. Fredo Santana & Lil' Durk - Wassup
Katie Got Bandz - Foolish
TREE - Devotion (Get It)
Sicko Mobb - Fiesta
Stalley - Cup Inside A Cup
King Chip - Police In The Trunk
Ampichino ft. Sosa - My Life
Boldy James - Moochie
Doughboyz Cashout & YG - Hella Ice
Danny Brown - Gremlins
Willie The Kid - Sea Foam
Lil' Wayne ft. 2 Chainz - Rich As Fuck
Juvenile - Mind Right
August Alsina ft. Trinidad James - I Luv This Shit
Louis V Mob - Dope Case
Lil' Snupe - Ketchup Intro
Kevin Gates - Neon Lights
Mouse On Tha Track ft. Level - Get It Back
Foxx - Ride
Lil' Trill & Shell - Futuristic Lingo
Que Tha Truth - King Tut
Lil' Cali ft. Versey - Pow
Mista Cain ft. DJ B-Real & Young Ready - Mind Right
Spitta ft. Young Ready - Runnin'
Savage - Money Whipped
Juicy J - Wax
Project Pat - Where The Fuck?
Yo Gotti ft. Young Jeezy & YG - Act Right
Starlito ft. Don Trip - No Rear View
Starlito & Don Trip - Caesar And Brutus
Jackie Chain ft. Rittz - Trippin'
YG ft. Rich Homie Quan & Young Jeezy - My N*gga
Ty Dolla $ign ft. Joe Mo$e$ - Paranoid (Ketchup version)
Joe Mo$e$ ft. YG - Burn Rubber
TeeFlii ft. Dom Kennedy - Better Know
Dom Kennedy - Nothin' Like Me
Suga Free & Pimpin' Young ft. Nate Dogg - 15 Minutes To 5
DB Tha General - Turnt Out
A-Wax - Buffalo Bill
HD Of Bearfaced - No Pretendo
Fe Tha Don ft. HD Of Bearfaced - Lock Me In
Droop-E ft. Nite Jewel & J-Stalin - 'N The Traffic
Joe Blow - Cold Pimp
IamSu & Problem ft. Juvenile & Kool John - 100 Grand remix
HBK Gang - Quit Cattin'
Roach Gigz ft. Kreayshawn - Pu$$y Magnet
Feddy Da Sneak ft. Stu Hustlah & Young Bossi - Grind Wit' Cha
Stu Hustlah - Let Off The Strap
Speaker Knockerz ft. Young Dolph & Jose Guapo - Check
Alpoko Don - Street Life

R.I.P Rich Homie Quan

Rich Homie Quan - Man Of The Year
(From I Promise I Will Never Stop Going In mixtape; 2013)


Taken me a full week to realise why I recoiled in such horror at 1:51 of Rich Homie Quan's Man Of The Year after initially loving how Quan and the track's producer Tramatone flipped the infamous Milkbone/Big L & Jay-Z piano sample and recontextualised it into something uniquely new-new ATLanta: the moment Quan breaks from his flow to start signing "you ain't never met a man like me before.." sounds like Yeltsin Beyonce's warbling on fucking Umi Says.

Ultimate kiss of death for a rapper right there, imho. Had a blast with My N*gga, Differences, Party and Type Of Way this year in that order, but our paths must now diverge for good, Richie bruv.

N.Y MIXTAPE RAPPERS NEED NOT BE MORAL!

"The whole point of being a rapper is making your peers say "damn, I wish I'd have said that first!" and making your audience say "damn, I can't believe he just said that!"
-- Ice Cube in some Hip Hop documentary on UK TV back in the early 90s.
Been burrowing my way through Uncle Murda's back catalogue recently to see if there's anything else I like as much as Wu Wuu Wuuu or even I Shot The Sheriff and I Just Shot Him, which are pretty much the only other Murda songs I'm up on aside from his joint with Jay Camel. Typically, the cut I'm digging most is some barely-mastered boopity-boop shit that only lasts a paltry minute and a half, but which transcends such problems with sheer anomie as it taps into a theme previously explored by Jim Jump in King Of New York and Pretty Tone Capone on Case Dismissed:

"I ain't gon' shoot your leg or shoot you in the arm
I might shoot you in the head or shoot your baby moms"

Uncle Murda - Take Care Of The Witness
(From Murda's Muzik II - Return Of The Bad Guy mixtape; 2008)


Why oh why couldn't this be longer, as Son Doobie has probably said to himself on more than one occasion?

Reasons why I love YouTube # 52

As a companion to that time Foxx, Boosie & Webbie tore up BET Spring Bling 2007 with their performance of the Wipe Me Down remix, here's Boosie & Webbie running through their verses again at Spring Bling 2008 before the dead gawd Lil' Phat joins them onstage for a rendition of Independent. High points are Boosie's Coogi tank-top sweater and Lil' Phat appearing on national TV; low points are Foxx not being invited to perform his own song and various half-wits in the audience half-heartedly dancing because they were too busy filming it on their phones:


To the pressing matter of basic bloggers trumpeting Webbie's mediocre new album after they've blanked Mouse On Tha Track's output in 2013 then. Newly streamlined Mouse rounded up his daughter Prestyn & Level's son B.J, hired a couple of Baton Rogue Twerk Team members, had Level out chea lookin' like the lovechild of Dallas Penn & Julienne Shepherd and then insisted they all had the time of their muhfuckin' lives on camera for the Get It Back video, and you miserable shitbirds were too busy clogging up the u-bend with thinkpieces about Kendrick Lamar and Miley Cyrus to even notice:

Mouse On Tha Track ft. Level - Get It Back
(From YouTube; 2013)


Mouse's daughter dancing >> Boosie's daughter rapping.

R.I.P Fredo Fantano

Please welcome your new host of The Martorialist: Chris Thott!

Ayo TPP

We're never gonna get a Max remake of Get Lucky (Get Sucky?) but this was pretty close:

Jim Jones ft. Fauxrell Williams & Shoota - Get Money (Get Lucky ReVamp)
(From t'internet; 2013)


As one of Thomas Bangalter side-projects nearly once said, all music sounds better with Dipset over it, baaaaby! Thanx to Rey for hippin' me to this one.

Slangin' humble pie and St. Ides in the same sentence # 2

Ahem, I'd like to sheepishly apologise to Jackie Chain for that time I said his Bruce Lean Chronicles 2 mixtape was lacking in the jam factor. It's still his worst 'tape to date but I've come to the conclusion that Trippin' with Rittz is a CHOON. Ain't gon' lie that doesn't feel more like the property of Rittz than a Jackie Chain song (bump it as a primer to Rittz's Like I Am for best results) and I can't front that it doesn't sound like it was recorded by Madame Fanny from 'Allo 'Allo, but it's still 2013's 2nd best example of Country-Rap gone Wavy after Bye Bitch by Mouse On Tha Track:

Jackie Chain ft. Rittz - Trippin'
(From Bruce Lean Chronicles 2 mixtape; 2013)


I love when Huntsville guys rhyme over samples first used on early noughties N.Y underground cuts and Trippin' is perhaps the most notable case of that yet since it uses the same Dexter Wansel loop famously used on Agallah & Sean P's Rising To The Top and not so famously used on that song from MF Grimm's first album where he tried to sing.

A mugs love story

Courtesy of Drew Huge, rare cassette-only artwork for Akinyele's debut single The Bomb:

Can't imagine why Interscope wouldn't wanna blow this pic of yung Ak's mug up and slap it on the 12" version too?

That Tara Palmer-Tomkinson

Given that this is the year which has given us R.I.P, I'm 4rm Bompton, My N*gga, Fuck You and Next Bitch, who'd have thunk the best cuts from CTE's #ItsThaWorld 2 EP wouldn't be either of the DJ Mustard productions but a song where Jeezy does hoarse Jay-Z impersonations for 4 minutes over a Drumma Boy beat and a Doughboyz Cashout joint featuring the presence of Pusha-T rapping about beak in his irritating trademark scary-guy-on-the-phone-from-a-Scream-movie voice?

"I had 'em for the 2-3, n*gga, just like new J's
PURE WHITE COCAINE!
I can stretch that 62 about 4 ways
PURE WHITE COCAINE!
Cut it with the razor first day
PURE WHITE COCAINE!
Then I put that white gurl in the water, mermaid
PURE WHITE COCAINE!"

Doughboyz Cashout & Young Jeezy ft. Big K.R.I.T & Pusha-T - Pure
(From Young Jeezy & CTE's #ItsThaWorld 2 EP; 2013)


I'm loathe to enjoy anything featuring Pusha-T in 2013 other than Let Me Love You which I can jam as a fantasy unreleased Ma$e X The Neptunes track recorded for Double Up (Pusha has only ever been any good at sounding nonchalant over Neptunes beats so it's no surprise that him trying his hand at Ma$e's flow over a Chad & Pharrell replica by The Dream would result in his best song since 2006), but Pure manages to overcome the Pusha-T factor because it's a song about cocaine which would probably sound wonderful if you were actually high to your eyeballs on cocaine. Listen to those yawps of bandito trumpet and tell me you don't feel the bravura of a Zapatista general during the 1994 uprising in Chiapas.

Hold up, I show out when I show up

VERY RAER HIGHLIGHT FROM THE MIDDLE PORTION OF SLIM THUG'S LATEST ALBUM NOT RUINED BY NEEDLESS APPEARANCE OF THE TEXA$ TERMANOLOGY NOW HAS A VIDEO!

Slim Thug - 84s
(From Boss Life album; 2013)


Don't wanna be one of those hommes who gush over rapper's voices a little too enthusiastically, but, gosh, it's almost like Thugga's dulcet tones were willed into existence just to talk slick about vehicles and vaginas over spurious Pimp C productions by Big K.R.I.T like this, wonnit? Lemme venture to suggest that 84s is a top 5 song outta Houston this year alongside Z-Ro's Look Good, IONCAHH by BeatKing, Killa Kyleon's Cadillac, and Cake by UGK, Boosie & Big K.R.I.T.

Probably can't tell but I been through Hell

Stuff I know about about Stu Hustlah: he's from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and he's the type of traditional regional Gang$ta-Rapper who treats C-Bo with the same sort of reverence that east coast rappers reserve for Rakim; some lad called Conor did a guest post about his clique Murder Gang for Thomas' gaff; he's featured on a Feddy Da Sneak & Young Bossi song I'm very fond of; I discovered this certified jam in the related videos for that Freddy Da Sneak & Young Bossi song I'm very fond of; he could probably pursue a side career playing Turf Talk's stunt-double:

Stu Hustlah - Let Off Da Strap
(From It's Me album; 2013)



Really wish I'd heard this before the temperature's dropped and the sky's turned grey for the next 4 or 5 months. Shout outs to all the UK man dem who heard Stu's "it's me, it's me" ad libs during the intro and thought dook was gettin' in on that Carol Vorderman ISME.com advert loot.

Generic list post: 2013 edition

15 2013 singles, deep cuts, and loosies which really should've gotten more luh IRL and on teh internet:

The Lox - Summer's Too Hot
A-Wax - Buffalo Bill
Travis Porter ft. Jeremih - Err Damn Day
Mouse On Tha Track - Mr Lump Sum
Doughboyz Cashout & YG - Hella Ice
A-Mafia - Block Hugga
HD Of Bearfaced - No Pretendo
Fredo Santana ft. Blood Money - Take Risks
Mic Terror - West Coast
Kap-G ft. Young Jeezy - Jose Got Dem Tacos remix
Dom Kennedy - Nothin' Like Me
Roach Gigz ft. Kreayshawn - Pu$$y Magnet
BeatKing - IONCAHH
Chinx Drugz - How Can I Lose?
Suga Free & Pimpin' Young ft. Nate Dogg - 15 Minutes To 5

Related: Dom Kennedy should consider working with DJ Mustard more because Nothin' Like Me is so much better than his regular stuff, especially the much overrated My Type Of Party which just sounds like a 2011 A$AP Rocky Karmaloop commercial before they added the token corny faux-Screwed hook.

(T_T)

After his brief pisspoor flirtation with Ryan Hemsworth (nowadays "selling out" for a rapper means letting some Canadian Tumblr DJ turn your music into a half-baked facsimile of something from a 90s Mo' Wax Trip-Hop compilation), $tarlito is back to atone for his sins with some real Sad Boyz Rap. Keep The Change from his new album features 'lito doing 'lito over lugubrious production which sounds like steam wafting up offa rain sodden streets, while Troy Money is a decent enough weed carrier in a Young Dolph Jr. kinda way and I particularly enjoyed his "had to change how I live so I could change where I live" line:

"I'm sippin' pink and smokin' purp
Sellin' weed, no felonies, a spelling bee when I go to work
OZ's QP's, HQ's of O.G, yeah I go beserk"

$tarlito ft. Troy Money - Keep The Change
(From Fried Turkey album; 2013)


Tha sample sounds kinda like an outtake from Bernard Herrmann's Taxi Driver OST. I'll be your BFF if you can identify where it comes from.

Cadbury's milk Trae

A list of the rappers who appear on Trae's new mixtape I Am King: Puffy, Jeezy, T.I, Krayzie Bone, Roscoe Dash, Lil' Reese, Kevin Gates, Lupe Fiasco, Snoop Dogg, Meek Mill, Lil Boss, Wiz Khalifa, Jadakiss, Jay'Ton, Yo Gotti, Dougie D, Da Brat (!), Big K.R.I.T, and B.o.B.

By my reckoning there are 7 people in that list who have any business being on a Trae full length, the rest amount to the most generic assemblage of industry cameos since French Montana's album. So it's astonishing to find out that the immediate standout track and the only cut which sounds like it was recorded by a Texas rapper is the one which features guest vox from a journeyman hack like Snoop, who'd probably jump on an Admiral Crumple song for a quick cheque at this point. Nursery-rhyme beats, Trae still making boring car-talk tropes sound compelling, and a Snoop verse that's clearly ghostwritten by Trae FTW:

Trae ft. Baby Houston & Snoop - Old School
(From I Am King mixtape; 2013)



Looking on the bright side, at least Trae spared us a cameo from his Grand Hustle label mate Iggy Azelea. Bruce Samazan, James Murdoch, and Robbie Unkut are the only Aussies who should be allowed anywhere near Rap music, IMHO.

Erm, where's the Freeway & Jacka album then?

The snippets for Highway Robbery were up on Amazon and that shit was scheduled for release on november 12th. Then the page vanished, the album didn't drop and Jacka announced it'd been pushed back until 2014.

Why he do dat dere? I was particularly intrigued by the snippet of a Young L produced slap featuring Husalah called Shuckin' & Jivin' which sounded like it had the potential to be the new Sleep With Da Fishes (Boom Clack):

Husalah - Sleep With Da Fishes (Boom Clack)
(From Mob Trial compilation; 2006)