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DEHH: ICYMI Week 1

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In this first week of Dead End Hip-Hop: In Case You Missed It, we’ll be going over all things hip-hop and DEHH related to catch you up on everything you need to know to be caught up for the new week.

(For this post it’ll be some of the bigger releases and announcements for February before we start getting into March in later installments)

  • On (2/9/18) Friday, we saw the release of 2 Chainz EP “The Play Don’t Care Who Makes It” and the Black Panther Soundtrack curated by TDE.

 

  • On an archived episode of “Abstract Radio” via Beats 1, Q-Tip let free an unreleased tune featuring Kendrick Lamar. “Want U 2 Want” appears at the [1:42:00] mark of the episode.

 

  • The ever elusive Frank Ocean blessed the lonely hearts with his version of Moon River, the song originating from Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It’s slow, sweet, and it’s more Frank Ocean in the world so take it and run with it because you never know if it’ll be another three months or years with him.

  • Nipsey Hussle’s newest album “Victory Lap” is now out everywhere! 16 tracks of solid West Coast Rap with a stacked list of solid features, give this new album a spin as we head into the weekend.

  • SOB x RBE delivered a smashing, hard-hitting rap album that keeps the light on the group that was featured on one of the tracks on the Black Panther Album and continues to prove that West Coast Rap has a lot of content worthy of our ears.

  • It’s been quite a long time for a new share of Mick Jenkins music for fans of the Chicago Rapper. Other than his album, “The Healing Component” that released in 2016, Jenkins has tided over fans with a project in the line of a mixtape series “Or More; The Anxious” that released late last year. On 2/24/18 “Or More; The Frustration” is the next in line for the series and standing at nine tracks should tide everyone over for whatever Jenkins comes up with next.

From our DEHH Masterminds, the following links are where you can Watch DEHH and keep up with the guys behind your favorite hip-hop discussion videos and more under the Dead End branding:

Make sure you’re following @DeadEndHipHop on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and be sure to check out the DEHH Patreon and help the channel and the other ventures continue to grow!

 

DEHH Staff Writer Picks: Top 10 Albums Of 2017

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Terrence Sage (@SageTerrence)

1. DAMN. – Kendrick Lamar
2. PRETTY GIRLS LIKE TRAP MUSIC – 2 Chainz
3. AT WHAT COST – GoldLink
4. BIG FISH THEORY – Vince Staples
5. SATURATION 2 – Brockhampton
6. ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADASS – Joey Bada$$
7. 7 DAYS – Krept & Konan
8. CTRL – SZA
9. THE NEVER STORY – J.I.D
10. 4 EVA IS A MIGHTY LONG TIME – Big Krit

This year sucked but we had music to fall back on, so that counts for something right? 2017 was
filled with solid projects across the board and allowed me to get outside of my comfort zone
thanks to the projects I’m listing and beyond that. Whether you played DAMN backwards or
forwards Kendrick Lamar delivered on another solid project with visuals steadily dropping as
the year went on with all of them touching on their respective subjects profoundly. 2 Chainz,
Big Krit, and J.I.D all receptively put on for the South this year in major ways across the board.
2 Chainz made us all understand Pretty Girls Like Trap Music and with his pink trap house we
got an album that goes all around Atlanta with an energy that only Chainz can call upon. Big
Krit’s album 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time was indeed a long time coming but both volumes to
the project let it be known that Krit had a lot left to say. I was actually very late to the J.I.D hype
train but better late than never because his debut The Never Story was one of the most
promising and best debuts of the year. The rest of my entries for Albums of the Year got creative
and personal as far as the artists go, Vince Staples with Big Fish Theory challenged listeners
with his distinct take and beat that paid off well in my opinion. Saturation 2 from the Boy Band
Brockhampton was the greatest part in their trilogy of albums and with At What Cost people FINALLY started paying attention to GoldLink!

Ashley Clayton (@onlyashleecee)

1. [4:44] – Jay-Z
2. Trip – Jhene Aiko
3. DAMN – Kendrick Lamar
4. SweetSexySavage – Kehlani
5. Pretty Girls Like Trap Music -2 Chainz
6. At What Cost – Goldlink
7. 4eva is a Mighty Long Time -Big Krit
8. Queen Elizabitch – CupcakKe
9. Ctrl – SZA
10. Captain California -Murs

Honorable Mention:

More Life – Drake
Flower Boy- Tyler The Creator
Rap Album Two – Jonwayne
Rapsody Laila’s Wisdom

Let’s call 2017 what it was. The year for women in music. Yes, men were making bangers but women were the true game changers here. Not only were we given an amazing gem of a track in Bodak Yellow by Cardi B but there were amazing albums released by quite a few talented women. Cupcakke gave us Queen Elizabitch this year an album that was as sexually explicit as it was feminist. Kehlani and Jhene Aiko both gave us albums that allowed us to walk through their hurt and experience recovery from heartbreaks. Jhene’s album in particular came out when no one expected but is definitely worth every bit of attention it garnered. Furthermore, SZA gave us some of the most popular R&B tracks of the year off of her debut album Ctrl like Doves in the Wind and The Weekend.

While women were the big hitters in music last year men were still making waves with music just as emotionally stimulating and vulnerable. Jay-Z gave us the gift of [4:44] an album that allowed us to see a more emotionally mature and grown man. He allowed us to see more Shawn Carter and less Jigga. Then we have Murs and Goldlink who both released albums that I honestly didn’t expect to love but have now been played more times in my household than anything else. We definitely can’t forget about Kendrick Lamar with his critically acclaimed album DAMN. Once again K.Dot showed us why he is one of the greatest storytellers of our generation.

Hip hop in 2017 reminded us that through every dark hour there is a bit of light. Each album on my list gives an insight into the artists mind and allowed us a deeper look at who they are. As we proceed with 2018 I’m hoping that artists continue this trend of letting us into who they are and not just club bangers. Turning up is great but providing mentally stimulating music is even better.

Jake Milgate (@milfence)

1. [4:44] – JAY-Z
2. IWASVERYBAD – IDK
3. ROME – Armand Hammer
4. Rap Album Two – Jonwayne
5. Atychiphobia: The Higher High – Gracy Hopkins
6. DAMN. – Kendrick Lamar
7. 4eva is a Mighty Long Time – Big K.R.I.T.
8. Who Told You To Think??!!?!?!?! – Milo
9. Rosebudd’s Revenge – Roc Marciano
10. or more: the anxious – Mick Jenkins

Overall, this was another excellent year for hip-hop. Making my list was insanely difficult. But, somehow, I managed to trim down the insane amount of music I listened to into 10 projects. Mick Jenkins showed flashes of his vintage self and manifested it into a very eerie and moving EP/mixtape. Roc Marciano continues to provide his unique low-key, yet lavish, rhymes over relaxed pimptastic production. Milo is so goddamn poetic I could literally just listen to his voice on repeat. Fortunately there was so gorgeous production to go along with his words. Big K.R.I.T. dropped his greatest album yet. Period. Kendrick Lamar continues to surprise and bewilder me…and even with a trendier sounding album, he still absolutely kills it and provides his own unique take on it. Gracy Hopkins was the biggest surprise for me this year. Never heard of him prior to this album. This French-Canadian rapper provides unique insight into his personal self through 7 tracks all named after phobias. Very creative, and very focused. Excellent. Rap Album Two was easily the most emotional album I listened to this year. Absolutely heart-wrenching…a lot of the tracks hit home for me. He’s just as talented an MC as he is a producer. ROME is a dark, apocalyptic take on the current state of our society…and it absolutely floored me. ELUCID and Billy Woods are sharp-tongued as ever, and provide excellent, well-crafted lyrics over some very diabolical beats. IDK just keeps improving and improving every year and it’s been a thrill watching him rise to the top. This is his best work yet, lyrically and sonically. All types of sounds on this. Everyone can enjoy at least one track on here. Finally we have [4:44] by JAY-Z. I thoroughly enjoyed and replayed this album more than any hip-hop project this year…and this is coming from a guy who’s never been fond of JAY-Z. No I.D. knocked it out of the f*cking park with the production on this. But what was even more impressive was JAY-Z himself. He was much more personal than usual, and lyrically sharper than he’s been in years. He and No I.D. meshed perfectly and made a masterpiece.

I.S Jones (@isjonespoetry)

1. CTRL – SZA
2. Saturation II: Brockhampton
3. PALOMA BEACH: KOTA the friend
4. TEEN NIGHT AT THE EMPIRE: Latasha Alcindor
5. At what cost: GoldLink
6. scumfuck flower boy: Tyler, The Creator
7. Intimacy: Floreyyyyy
8. Pretty Girls Like Trap – 2 Chainz
9. DAMN: Kendrick Lamar
10. Big Fish Theory – Vince Staples


Tyler, The Creator has been banned from two different countries for his lyrics inciting violence. Feminist groups have mobilized against him, and yet I loved this album. Scum Fuck Flower boy is tender, sincere, and even a bit apologetic. It doesn’t negate the violence he’s incited between his fan base, but for a moment his actions are granted clarity. He incites violence because of his internal struggle with missed connections and unrequited love. He built a career on homophobic lyrics, perhaps, because he’s been trying to come out for years no one will believe in. This stunning, honest rebirth into Tyler’s interior landscape.

The soundtrack to my sordid love life, moments of doubt, insecurity, nostalgia, the audacity of youth is complemented with lonely electric riffs, synth beats, melancholic cymbals (in Drew Barrymore), SZA’s brilliant collection of sounds translates the story of a girl coming into her own, owning her sexual autonomy, remarking on how convoluted dating has become in the era of social media (a nod to the cover of broken electronics SZA sits in the foreground of).

My brother brought Brockampton into my life just when Saturation I dropped. After that I was hooked and tickled by their presentation: a collective of artists, which seemed to be pushing against toxic masculinity by just being themselves. How one’s music comes into the spotlight sets the tone for the rest of their career, and the All-American Boy Band from L.A. is it. Brockhampton’s confidence, irreverence, hyper beats, complimented with audacious lyrics (Why you always rap about bein’ gay? / ‘Cause not enough niggas rappin’ be gay). As a queer women, it felt good to see Kevin Abstract become accepted so quickly in a space that is dominated by the hetero-male narrative. Long life Brockhampton

 Not-so-newcomer to the rap game KOTA the Friend returns from “Palm Tree Liquor” with his sophomore album “Paloma Beach”. The Brooklyn-based, California-hearted rapper made me nostalgic for those long drives down the 405. KOTA effortlessly creates a dreamy landscape against the backdrop of isolation, depression, reflection on his career thus far. What I love about KOTA the Friend is his fans and how dedicated to seeing him succeed. I hope for a long and fruitful career for this rising star.

 In 2017, it was hard to have a conversation about emerging women rappers without talking about Latasha Alcindor or L.A. There is a self-assurance in effortless ability to bob and weave between whole genres of music between the tracks. Sampling darling hits like “Flava In Ya Ear”, “Heads High” and other party classics, L.A.’s lyrical dexterity is simply unmatched. Sometimes I get discouraged that as time progresses the door for women to succeed in hip-hop is getting narrow every year, but miracles in the making happen. A hard-worker such as herself is the future of this genre. Don’t sleep or you’ll miss her. She’s a comet and we should be lucky to catch her on her flight.

I think I may speak for some when I said I didn’t expect an album of this caliber from a rapper who once named himself Tity Boi. “Pretty Girls Like Trap” is a culmination of 2 Chainz’s patience and learning. From casual club bangers, music suited for yacht and velvet-roped off lounges, 2 Chainz finally grew into a rapper even non-believers want to root for. I never thought I would care about a 2 Chainz album much less have it on repeat impressed by his growth.

Undoubtedly, GoldLink is a child of the game. Originating from D.C., a region not exactly known for its impact on hip hop, the rapper doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but created his own. “Future bounce” as the emerging rapper has coined it, is like “redefining music”. Staying true to his D.C. roots of go-go music and funk, I enjoyed “At What Cost” because every track was rich and firm in its delivery. “Crew” has become my theme song if I owned a red fur coat. I’m so delighted to welcome this new rapper to the fold.

While I’m not the first person to dub the name “Sunshine Rap”, I think it’s important that joy for the sake of joy can be appreciated in hip-hop. Yes, this genre is for those who struggled and sacrifice and overcame remarkable adversity to stand on the mountaintop, but sometimes I want that bubbly tenderness of summertime when I was a teenager going to the park with my friends. Sometimes I want good vibes and a light head. Sometimes I want that from hip-hop. Anthony Floreyyyy, or just Floreyyyy, is a 18 year old living Nevada, and while I’m excited to hear more about him, I’m enjoying the music.

Vince Staples’ Big Fish Theory is what happens when a kid grew up on a diet of funk, punk rock, disco, and finally got past the so-called “Golden Age of Rap”. His music makes me nostalgic for the roller-rink nights I never experienced as a child.

Finally, what is there left to say for the giant who walks among mortals? Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN allowed us a passport into a mind at war with itself. A palindrome album (a word, poem or body of work which make sense forwards and backwards) is the style Kendrick uses to give us a glimmer into the rap’s turmoil. Despite the conflict, rage, disillusion, there are moments of love and true self-discovery. Overeager fans dub this his “worst album”, but people don’t give Kendrick space to be a deeply flawed human, which is what he is. We love Kendrick because an exceptional story-teller. He has a vision only he can see and we should be honored that he let’s us along for the ride.

 

2 Chainz: Pretty Girls Like Trap Music [Album Review] by @SageTerrence

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2 Chainz is having quite the 2017 and what better way to capitalize on the music you’ve been dropping than to drop your fourth studio album to tide the Summer over with? Pretty Girls Like Trap Music is a cool, steady, and solid album that cements 2 Chainz as one of the best rappers out because the man doesn’t miss on this album at all. 2 Chainz takes us through sixteen tracks of his past and what’s life like for him now and beneath the music is 2 Chainz getting listeners into trap music while giving us something different that sticks to his guns.

We open the album up with the electrifying Saturday Night that never strays away from the electric guitar stringing in the background. It’s a foreboding type of intro and remains relevant over the album itself. He’s doing a very serious balancing act of detailing the streets and what comes after. It’s all 2 Chainz over the strings as he raps about he goes back and forth of detailing the life behind the trap music and there are some interesting lines across Saturday Night. “Luda charged me just to dip, was there when Chaka was swung on by Tip” It’s his life on the tables and it’s the start of a personal journey across sixteen tracks. Riverdale Rd creeps up behind you like a Horror Movie should when the song starts. It doesn’t let up the Mano production as 2 Chainz rides the beat with precision all the while letting us know small tidbits about himself. “Riverdale, he was there, she was there, you wasn’t there I was the same ol’ nigga Yeah that trap had raised a nigga How could you blame a nigga?” The back half finds him breaking out into a bridge that sounds like a warning for curious cats before setting back into a rhythm that changes the beat yet again and then reverts to the original Halloween beat with ease. 2 Chainz can float no matter the occasion.

Good Drank features Gucci Mane and Quavo and it digs into a more mellow and relaxed form with the Southern Trio all equally adding to the song that keeps things relatively calm and collected. The highlight of the track is easily Quavo fitting in a line about Harambe (RIP). 4 AM featuring Travis Scott was one of the singles leading up to the album and in context of the album it picks up the speed with the upbeat and 2 Chainz continued ability to ride the beat and at different speeds. Personal lines and accounting for his past in drugs helps balance out the hypnotic and bouncy tune that 4 AM is, Travis making the chorus his own while 2 Chainz gives us some quotable lines and a switched approach to the rhyme scheme ending every line with an ooh will have you nodding and swaying until the song is over. Door Swangin could’ve featured any number of rappers on it because it keeps a generally basic tone and has a chorus that can fit as someone’s daily mantra “Another day we gotta get it, ‘notha day we gotta get it” and the album slows to a crawl with Realize featuring Nicki Minaj. Realize is a quieter song with 2 Chainz rapping over the beat that let’s the two rappers simply rap. We get a line about 2 Chainz views on the government and mumbling and Nicki in her natural state of flexing and making accomplishments sound witty and stylish.

Poor Fool picks up the speed and rhythmic nature in the songs and throws in some haunting Swae Lee vocals to give off an eerie that makes the other half of Rae Sremmurd come off as a ghost coming into contact with 2 Chainz with a warning as he raps in the nighttime tinged production. We then go into the two songs Big Amount and It’s A Vibe that in the flow of the album goes into a left field of sorts given how both these songs deviate from the trap heavy first set of songs and gives the album some levity and lightness with the features. We’ve heard Big Amount on 2 Chainz mixtape “Daniel Son; Necklace Don” and It’s A Vibe was a single recently released prior to PGLTM. Drake on Big Amount represents hard for Atlanta tuning into his rap and cooler persona and Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz, and Jhené Aiko settle things down with the sensual and lowkey single that gives some variety sprinkled into the album.

A strange sound hits your ears as Rolls Royce Bitch plays…it’s old time with country drums from the trap. It comes off as a outro song as 2 Chainz continues to hit every beat on the album in perfect sync. The hook is something you have to yell at the top of your lungs as you party or ride in the car. The more experimental production works in his favor showing his versatility and willingness to leave the trap for the album. Sleep When U Die will have you doing anything but as the song starts with an “ayy, ayy, ayy, ayy Young Juice, ayy, ayy, okay, okay” 2 Chainz is slow to start but gets aggressive and even rhymes along with the Oj da Juiceman at a point in the song. The sampling continues with Trap Check intro stemming from Jeezy’s “Get Ya Mind Right”. This song serves as a montage for when you have a ton of cash to blow, he’s flowing across the board as it gets repetitive but not enough to get overbearing. The song makes you feel like the biggest baller in the South if you play it in the right scenario and if you have a keen enough ear you’ll hear ASAP by T.I playing as the song begins to end.

Migos bring their signature style to Blue Cheese that makes this song one of the highlights on the album. The beat giving off an airy, lackadaisical feel and the Migos each doing their part from the hook to the chorus makes the song seem like a Migos song that 2 Chainz grafted onto the album, and that’s okay. OG Kush Diet is the type of a song that goes inside of itself, it’s off the beaten path and more quirky with an energetic 2 Chainz rapping about painting the White House and that’s before the beat to the Caribbean and 2 Chainz never skipping a beat before returning back home production wise. The unorthodox levels to PGLTM continues into Bailan featuring Pharrell. 2 Chainz and the happiness that this track exudes is unmatched! It’s feel good club music with Pharrell giving angelic type production suiting both himself and 2 Chainz. It’s not aiming for pop territory, remaining in the Rap zone and has 2 Chainz making his home inside the music no matter the type or occasion. We’ve reached the end of the album with Burglar Bars and it feels like we’ve experienced a whirlwind night with 2 Chainz and he’s finally getting his act together in time for the final song with Monica. It’s gospel, no heavenly production from beginning to end and this is him at his most open and personable. The intro, voiced by Louis Farrakhan sets the tone for the song very much so. From there it’s 2 Chainz and Monica working together to provide the best example of Gospel/Soulful Trap. It’s a powerful ending to a worthwhile album and words can’t express the emotion and feeling that 2 Chainz puts on Burglar Bars, just an awesome ending to an album that displays why 2 Chainz is one of the best out.

Pretty Girls Like Trap Music is 2 Chainz at his best. He’s taking risks, stumbles along some tracks where it stalls the energy of the album but nothing to extreme to ruin the album overall. On his fourth outing, 2 Chainz reinvigorates himself and recognizes where he’s been as an artist and where he’s going. He’s given Atlanta an album to blast all Summer long for all occasions and stands in the pantheon of Atlanta Rappers as one of the best to do it and shows there’s energy still left to be found in what he can do in this ever changing landscape of hip-hop and rap.

Grade: B+

2 Chainz Announces “Pretty Girls Like Trap Music” + New Single “4 AM” (feat. Travis Scott)

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2 Chainz is back at it. After supposedly gearing to drop in April, Pretty Girls Like Trap Music finally has a release date of June 16th. The tracklist has also been revealed. Previous singles like “Good Drank” (feat. Gucci Mane and Quavo) and “It’s A Vibe” (feat. Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz and Jhene Aiko) will appear on the album. Other features on the album are a plenty, including Nicki Minaj, Swae Lee, Migos and Drake among others.

Among the guests on the album is Travis Scott, who is featured on 2 Chainz’s newest single, “4 AM”. Travis lays down a catchy hook over the hard Murda Beatz instrumental and 2 Chainz is……well……2 Chainz. Checkout the tracklist and “4 AM” below.

 

Pretty Girls Like Trap Music Tracklist

  1. “Saturday Night”
  2. “Riverdale Rd”
  3. “Good Drank” (feat. Gucci Mane and Quavo)
  4. “4 AM” (feat. Travis Scott)
  5. “Door Swangin”
  6. “Realize” (feat. Nicki Minaj)
  7. “Poor Fool” (feat. Swae Lee)
  8. “Big Amount” (feat. Drake)
  9. “It’s A Vibe” (feat. Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz and Jhene Aiko)
  10. “Rolls Royce Bitch”
  11. “Sleep When U Die”
  12. “Trap Check”
  13. “Blue Cheese” (feat. Migos)
  14. “OG Kush Diet”
  15. “Bailan” (feat. Pharrell)
  16. “Burglar Bars” (feat. Monica)

 

ICYMI: Coolest Art EVER x @TheWrightAr

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In case you’ve been under a rock…anime has been a very prevalent part of hip-hop culture, especially in the past few years. No other anime has been more popular amongst most hip-hop artists than Dragon Ball Z. Now, Dragon Ball Z may not be your favorite anime, but no one can deny how seamlessly it has integrated itself into some of our favorite rappers punchlines. For example, Lupe Fiasco said “I push Ki like Dragon Ball Z, know what I’m sayin’?”, Joey Bada$$ said “Got Dragon Balls (draggin’ balls) like my name was Vegeta”, and Robb Bank$ said “I’m Babidi, you Majin Vegeta I’ll put some M’s on ya head”. My point is, anime and hip-hop will always mix.

Anyway, I happened to scroll down my Twitter timeline, minding my business and then BAM…

Enter 15 year old artist @TheWrightAr. This is the coolest art I’ve seen in a while. This Dragon Ball Z inspired piece of art includes a lot of my favorites, such as Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Lil Uzi Vert, Future, DJ Khaled (!!!!!), 2 Chainz and Thugger. This is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while! Y’all go show the young man some love with a retweet and a favorite. Ask him nicely and he’ll let you use it as a header too. Go through the picture and see if you can spot your favorite rappers.