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THROWBACK REVIEW: Pusha T: King Push – Darkest Before Dawn [Album Review] by @MILFENCE

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This Friday (May 25th), we will finally be receiving Pusha T‘s long awaited studio album, formerly known as King Push, now titled, Daytona. As we wait patiently for it’s drop, let’s take a look back at Pusha T’s most recent project, King Push – Darkest Before Dawn. I wrote this review back in early 2016 and it was never released to the public, until now.

 

Pusha T has quite the resumé. From Clipse to G.O.O.D. Music, Pusha has proved time and time again that he values lyrics, and is very attentive to this matter. However, Pusha’s transition to a solo career has been a developmental process. The G.O.O.D. Music signee found himself dabbling with more mainstream sounds and artists in his Fear Of God series, which received mixed reviews from fans and critics. Since then, Pusha has slowly been returning to his roots: simplistic, gritty production and descriptive, inter-connected, cocaine-laced lyrics. His solo album debut, My Name Is My Name highlighted these qualities on several songs (“Numbers On The Board”, “Nosetalgia”, etc.) and showed that Pusha was as sharp as ever. Now, the rapper has given us what is considered to be a prelude to his upcoming album, King Push.

The “Intro” to the album sets the bar high and establishes the tone for the rest of the album. Pusha states “Leave your conscious at the door…” essentially warning listeners that this project is not for the faint of heart. He continues to spit hard, unrelenting bars behind a vocal sampled beat with cavernous drums, entrenching the listener into his dichotomous world of rapping and cocaine dealing. This duality becomes the key theme throughout the entirety of this album. Despite his success as an emcee, Pusha cannot bring himself to relinquish what can only be described as a passion for the underground world of drug trafficking. This is highlighted on the cinematic “Keep Dealing” featuring Philly emcee, Beanie Sigel. Pusha’s hustle is exemplified beautifully and powerfully on this track with the constant refrain “Luckily was something in the ceiling, keep dealing.” No matter the money lost being spent on the spoils of the rap game (money, clothing, etc.) Pusha is able to make up for the cost by returning to his pastime. Beanie Sigel accompanies the track excellently with a verse so gritty that you can practically envision the “project benches” and “dirty syringes” discussed within his verse. The allure of this lifestyle however, does not come without its negatives. Pusha not only succeeds in describing the rewards of coke dealing/rapping, but the moral implications and distress as well. The hook on “Retribution”, sung by R&B singer Kehlani, finds Pusha questioning himself, implying that the money earned from these expenditures has changed him. Pusha is clearly self-aware of the consequences of his actions, and expresses this through honest, well thought out lyrics.

Tracks such as “Untouchable” and “Crutches, Crosses, Caskets” provide Pusha with simple, yet gritty beats to show off his lyrical talent. Pusha continues to express connectivity in his lyrics with lines such as:

“My break down game brought me 8 Mile fame, sellin’ Eminem to him and em’, white to the blacks I’m villain in…”

and

“She’s probably sitting in her pajamas eatin’ lunch, Swordfish, my reality is more fish…”

The combination of the grit and utter talent of his bars are enough to make any fan of hip-hop cringe with glee. Of course, as stated earlier, these hard lyrics are accompanied excellently with edgy, off-kilter production. The Clipse-throwback “Got Em Covered” featuring long time Re-Up Gang associate, Ab-Liva, is a great example of the unique production brought to the table in this album. We can thank Timbaland for not only the “Got Em Covered” beat, but the Biggie Smalls-sampled “Untouchable” and the bass-heavy “Retribution” as well. Other producers that worked on this album include Metro Boomin’ (“Intro”), Puff Daddy (“Crutches, Crosses, Caskets” and “Keep Dealing”), Q-Tip (“F.I.F.A.”), and Boi-1da (“M.F.T.R.”).

Pusha also graces us with a few tracks that address social issues/norms. The closer “Sunshine” featuring Jill Scott, takes time to comment on the current state of police brutality, and the portrayal of African-Americans in the media. It’s refreshing to see Pusha, who usually sticks to his drug-rap niche, take on an issue such as this, and offer his perspective. And he does not disappoint. Pusha also comments on the vices of his fellow peers on the track “M.P.A” featuring Kanye West, A$AP Rocky and The-Dream (who also delivers the hook on “M.F.T.R.”, another fantastic cut on this project). The second verse of this track is a stand-out one. Pusha poetically discusses how men in his position often take women for granted, and ultimately end up losing them to men who value them (and have a lot of $$$).

It is clear by the end of this album that Pusha T has earned his self-proclaimed title of King Push. By limiting us to 10 tracks, Pusha provides with only a taste of what’s to come in 2016. And my goodness does it look good. Lyrically, Pusha sounds sharper than ever, and his experience shows. Even with a mid-December release, Pusha T, excuse me, King Push, put together one of the strongest hip-hop albums of 2015.

 

Grade: A

Who Cares? 2013 Year End Wrap Up List…

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Sh’yaboy Keithnicity the Track-God here with a year-end wrap up list. It’s all just my own personal opinions. I figured mine would be less irritating than something Complex will cook up. Feel free to agree or tell me to get the fuck outta here. Either way, my thoughts on 2013. Chuuuuch:

Artist of 2013: Kendrick Lamar
Album of 2013: My Name is My Name ~ Pusha T
Most Talked About Album of 2013: Yeezus ~ Kanye West
Mixtape of 2013: Better Off Dead ~ Flatbush Zombies
Independent Album of 2013: Run the Jewels ~ El-P & Killer Mike
Producer of the Year: Eric Arc Elliot
Rookie of the Year: Isaiah Rashad
Best Song of 2013: “Rap God” ~ Eminem
Best Verse of 2013: Kendrick Lamar (from the song “Control” by Big Sean)
Album I Expected To Like a LOT MORE: Because the Internet ~ Childish Gambino
Best Hyper Ignorant Album of 2013: Stay Trippy ~ Juicy J
Best Album of Soft Lullabies & Elevator Music To Put A Baby To Sleep To: Nothing Was the Same ~ Drake
Artist With MOST Cartoony & Ridiculous Voice: Chance The Rapper
Most Slept On Album of 2013: 7 Days of Funk ~ Snoop Dogg & Dam Funk
Most Nonsensical “Tribute To a Legendary Rap Group” That Made No Sense: “Wu-Tang Forever” ~ Drake
Best Non-rap Album of 2013: Matangi ~ M.I.A.
Most Anticipated Project for 2014: Oxymoron ~ Schoolboy Q
Worst White Kid Whose Parents Should Have Canceled Their Subscription to BET: Miley Cyrus/Justin Bieber (tie)
Worst Hair Cut of ALL TIME: Miley Cyrus/Macklemore
Most Untalented Rapper To Pull A “Kanye”: Wale
Silliest Twitter User of 2013: Gucci Mane
Worst Genre of Music EVER: Country (This doesn’t really have anything to do with anything…just sayin’…)
Most Boring Album of 2013: The 20/20 Experience ~ Justin Timberlake
Silliest Trend in Street Fashion: Mask Wearing
Only Artist Name Dropped On “Control” to End Up Looking Silly: Drake
Most Thankfully Absent Rap Star of 2013: Lil Wayne
Most Likely to Ruin a Track with Nonsensical Crooning and General Auto-tune Fuckery: Future

 

The opinions and views expressed here are the opinions of the designated author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or views of any of the individual members of Dead End Hip Hop.

Concert Review: Kid Cudi (10/05/13)

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Let me preface this concert review with two items:

  1. To my chagrin, I missed out on seeing Kid Cudi’s openers: Logic and Big Sean. I was able to see Logic in the summer of 2012 during a show on his own tour, and he was great, so I would definitely recommend seeing him if you can. In addition, even though Big Sean may have released a track that may be my biggest guilty pleasure in recent memory with “10 2 10”, seeing him perform it was not necessarily high on my priority list.
  2. I am admittedly very biased when it comes to any opinion regarding Kid Cudi. His mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, and albums, MOTMI and MOTMII, basically encapsulate my entire college experience thus far. I have shared some amazing times with friends and family while listening to Cudder’s music so that is what I automatically associate with it. With that being said, I definitely tried to tame my inner fanboy and subjectively judge my surroundings during the show.

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The Cud Life Tour made its stop in Toronto, Canada on October 9th at the Air Canada Center. This would be my second time seeing the Man on the Moon live as I caught him last time he came to Toronto in 2011. I was slightly intrigued to see how it would contrast to this show as he was booked for a much larger venue this time around. As the lights dimmed and the set design was revealed, the opening to Kid Cudi’s newest album, Indicud, blared through the speakers. Cudi gloriously rose through the smoke revealing his custom made skin-tight space suit. The atmosphere in the arena was electrifying as Cudi victoriously stared and calmly smirked back at the crowd.

Kid Cudi’s first words to the crowd was all about letting go of all the trivial issues going on in everyone’s lives for the night, which served as a perfect segue into the Indicud hit: “Unfuckwittable”. Cudi’s raspy, yet smooth voice translates well in a live setting as he is more than capable of some high quality crooning on his more sing-songy tracks. He engaged the crowd with his distinct performance style which can be described as a slightly flamboyant rock star with a bad ass hip hop flare.

Indicud was definitely well represented, especially in the first half of the show. As much as I would have loved to have heard a full Kid Cudi concert of all his material pre WZRD, I still found myself uncontrollably yelling out the lyrics along with the crowd around me. If I knew how many tracks he would perform off his newest LP going into the show, I, admittedly, would not be as psyched as I was. However, seeing Cudi perform the select cuts of Indicud really gave me a new-found appreciation for the album.

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There were some awkward moments where I really was not sure whether Cudder was purposefully improvising sections of his songs or whether he had genuinely forgot his lyrics and was trying to recover. It was really hard to tell because Cudi hardly rapped any full verses throughout his whole set. As great as his singing voice sounded, there were moments in the show where I would have loved for him to just spit every lyric to his verses with high amounts of energy. He would even stay silent on numerous punch lines of his or sometimes even full bars on his more rap heavy hits like “Down & Out” and “Cudi Zone.”

Nevertheless, the energy he fed into the crowd was undeniable. As the end of the show loomed over my head, my legs were sore from jumping and my voice was almost already lost. As Kid Cudi left the stage, the crowd feverishly chanted his name for an encore. As my mind raced to guess what smash song he would play as his last song, he started off with a song that was completely unknown to me. I was left confused and deduced that it must be a song off of WZRD and was pretty disappointed at the song’s placement as his last farewell to the crowd. I looked around the arena and instantly saw that I was not alone in my sentiments as the energy of the crowd was considerably low. Things made a quick change for the better as Cudi called out Big Sean to come out to perform “First Chain” off of Big Sean’s newest album, Hall of Fame.

All in all, the show had definitely met my incredibly high expectations. I always judge how much how I truly liked an artist’s live show by how much I want to listen to their material the day after the show. I have definitely been revisiting all of Kid Cudi’s hits days after his performance and I will definitely look to try and get tickets for Cudi’s next encounter with Toronto whenever he decides to come back.

Setlist
1 Resurrection of Scott Mescudi
2 Unfuckwittable
3 Down & Out
4 Soudtrack to my Life
5 Lord of the Sad and Lonely
6 Immortal
7 New York City Rage Fest
8 Girls
9 GHOST!
10 Just What I Am
11 Marijuana
12 Erase Me
13 Mr. Rager
14 Man on the Moon (The Anthem)
15 Cudi Zone
16 Memories (David Guetta Remix)
17 Up Up and Away
18 Pursuit of Happiness
19 Pursuit of Happiness (Steve Aoki Remix)
20 Song off WZRD? (Encore #1)
21 First Chain /w Big Sean (Encore #2)

Setlist may not be 100% accurate.

 

The opinions and views expressed here are the opinions of the designated author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or views of any of the individual members of Dead End Hip Hop.

Mixtape Review: J. Period – #RAGEISBACK

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How do you teach an oblivious person about the true essence of New York in under an hour and a half? Easy! All you need to do is supply this person with some high quality headphones and let them listen to J. Period’s new mixtape, #RAGEISBACK, from front to back. The legendary Brooklyn DJ/Producer, J. Period, delivers a mixtape filled to the brim with banging original freestyles, masterful remixes of classics and thought-provoking narratives. The mixtape is very unique as it serves as a soundtrack to a novel of the same name, written by award-winning author Adam Mansbach.

J. Period has released just under 40 mixtapes since the new millennium and has worked with some of the industry’s best. From Q-Tip, The Roots, Nas and Big Daddy Kane to John Legend, Mary J. Blige and Lauryn Hill, J. Period has definitely gotten around the rap industry. His deep connections in the rap world really show through on the #RAGEISBACK mixtape with features from Black Thought, Common, Shad, Homeboy Sandman, Blu, Talib Kweli and more. Black Thought’s “Rage Is Back” sets the tone of the mixtape as he goes beast mode on the “New York State of Mind” instrumental, which is no easy task. Legendary MCs Common and Talib Kweli also provide full-length tracks that would appease even the pickiest hip hop fans. Having so many talented rappers on a tracklist always brings out the competitive nature in each of them; this is also evident for up-and-coming rappers Shad and Homeboy Sandman.

J. Period shows his veteran savvy, masterful beat-making and production skills by remixing some of the most legendary tracks in hip hop. He daringly takes on Nas’ “One Love”, A Tribe Called Quest’s “1Nce Again”, Mobb Deep’s “Survival of the Fittest” and much more. J. Period successfully remixing rap’s best tracks from the past couple decades is a really good representation of one the mixtape’s most shining attributes: the beats. The instrumentals featured on this mixtape are hard hitting yet smooth at the same time. They are sure to appease hip hop fans of all kinds as each one has a unique and infectious groove.

As an added bonus, the tape also features insightful interludes from Q-Tip and GZA. One of the most interesting ones, by Danny Hoch, describes how the DJ’s interactive nature with the crowd has changed over time. He describes how, back in the day, Afrika Bambaataa would demand attention and respect from his crowd and if he played a song they were not exactly feeling, he would keep replaying it until they did. In contrast, Hoch then talks about how DJs are now seen as servants to the crowd and must make sure they play songs they know the crowd will enjoy.

It almost seems as if the #RAGEISBACK mixtape has too many cool features to mention in a short review. I would strongly encourage anyone to download it and give it a listen when you have some time to spare, especially if you are a fan of the East Coast boom-bap style of rap. All I know is if this mixtape is any indicator to how good the book is, I am going to have my ass on Amazon and get myself a copy.

Thoughts on 2 Chainz’s “Based on a T.R.U. Story.”

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Just a writeup on Based on a T.R.U. Story to tide you guys over until the official review drops. Solely opinion, not stare decisis.

After putting in a few hours at my summer job, there’s nothing better than getting in my car (which I christened “the blockbeater” for its obnoxious, old-people-scaring subwoofers), buying some good food, and vibing all the way home. The usual suspects for my musical rotation include the fabled Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1 due to the cool mellow keys and  huffing basslines, Daily Bread for Apollo Brown’s gritty soul and hearty, shimmying low-end, R.A.P. Music for El-P’s brutally bombastic production, any Big K.R.I.T. project (especially Return of 4eva), Nas‘ “The Don” for that Queensbridge quake, or some dubstep. Yes, dubstep.

As much as I pledge allegiance to the properly written verse, a well-made beat holds just as much importance. That’s the reason I consider Kanye West to be the best hip hop artist; he not only brings stimulating rhymes to the table but also embellishes them with some truly stellar melodies. His direction for other rappers in recent months, however, has proven… questionable. Watch The Throne? Not horrible, but completely puzzling. Big Sean’s debut? The definition of a broken record, double entrendre intended. “Mercy?” Eh, it’s fine, nothing special. “Way Too Cold?” Oooooh yeah, clap-trap beat and heavy-duty rhymes; a bona fide hot track.

And now I’m confronted with 2 Chainz’s clean-slate debut on G.O.O.D. Music, a move that seemed to occur out of nowhere. More to the point, I figured the guy wouldn’t actually drop an album. Every song he featured on, which amounts to a Library of Congress-sized amount, has either been competent or awkward and hilarious. Yeah, he’s not saying anything pertinent to the presidential riots in Mexico, but a rapper who gets away with “Dad wasn’t around/My father figure was Too Short” or “Stayed at my grandma house with 25 bibles/Stayed in the trap house with like 25 rifles” deserves some leeway.

2 Chainz ranks decently on my list of favorite commercial rappers (which doesn’t really exist anyways), and his Bubba Gump-like yammer, kooky adlibs (“YAAAAAAAAH, I’m OK, tellem!) and overreaching sense of self-awareness makes me grin every once in a while. That being said, Based on a T.R.U. Story elicits an ironic smirk at best.

Call it another curse of the wonderful pre-album mixtape, I suppose. Similar to Rick Ross, and to a lesser degree, K.R.I.T., 2 Chainz put so much potent ignorance on T.R.U. REALigion that his debut was bound to falter in comparison. Even if the project basically felt inbred towards the middle half, the tracks that compel (Riot, Spend It, Undastatement, Turn Up) do so for a great reason: his animated personality and some relatively memorable “boom shit” production. His debut certainly has the personality, but it comes off as more of an affect than unadulterated Tauheed Epps, and that leaves the roughly written lyrics open to scrutiny.

The product, of course, includes the ubiquitous machine-gun snare rolls, pseudo-theatrical synth arpeggios, and trunk-rattling bass that kicks like a donkey on steroids. When the lyrics come into play, the album still gets me vibing. “Crack” passes for the knowing metaphor: “started in the trap, now I rap/wherever I rap, I got crack,” “Birthday Song” passes because hey, that sounds like a birthday present anyone can appreciate, as well as for Yeezy’s  melody-schizophrenic production and  his appropriately hedonistic verse, and “Countdown” passes for having elements of dubstep in the chorus, although it’s diluted compared to the real thing.

Other songs, however, either feel deflated or unnecessary. Lil Wayne already retired, but his verse on “Yuck” should have been buried, and whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!? “I’m Diffrent?” That’s the most bold-faced lie I’ve heard on a rap song this year, and Rick Ross compared himself to Biggie Smalls two weeks ago. Also, Mike Posner’s wheezy-chipmunk crooning sounds weird on everything, so “In Town” was no exception. In short, it feels as if the beats were muscled up just a touch, but the rhymes AND the attitude fell down a couple notches.

And the most confounding part of the whole shebang — “Riot” included as a bonus track — packs a deceitful punch. I can literally hear the great chemistry between 2 Chainz and the beat as they go hand in hand towards a post-trap spree of delusional empowerment and collective chaos. Ah, its glorious. It’s also the song that I played the most on my work commutes besides “Birthday Song.” I can’t say this album disappointed me, mostly because I never held him in that great of an esteem, but falling back on year-old material says something. Oops, I can’t hear it over the bass drumming against my leg.

Hit-Boy – ‘HITstory’ Album Review

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Hit-Boy, as telling by his on-the-nose moniker, wants to be a success and leave a veritable mark in the modern cultural current, no matter how futile that challenge might seem.

The California native has at least done well concerning his primary duties as a beatmaker, showcasing his solid production skills on songs such as “Christmas in Harlem” and the platinum single “Niggas in Paris” for his label G.O.O.D. Music.

But in the Internet Age, there’s no such thing as loyalty or comitatus in Hip Hop. Once a person has toiled hard to be rewarded that golden inch, plans get implemented to wrest the remaining mile from whoever pays the highest. HITstory however, Hit-Boy’s first phase in that presumed plan, resembles a Bay of Pigs more than an Operation D-Day.

That is to say the plan failed.

But more to the point, listening to this album really invites tons of discussion about the aspirations for established beatmakers to struggle for the mic’s limelight. Jahlil Beats, another fresh-face producer whose worked extensively with Meek Mill, released his own rap debut Legend Music to general indifference. Not to say that certain people must remain banned from the microphone, but there’s a reason why even 9th Wonder waited until his celebration album to rattle off what resembles 16 bars.

Also, it’s pretty obvious that due to Hit-Boy being under the wing Mr. “triple-double no assist” himself, Kanye West, he feels endowed with a can-do spirit to cross over; he also takes the chief maneuver from Yeezy (keep the best beats for yourself) and an undesirable quality (think with your dick, although Kanye usually reserves this for singles and not entire albums) .

The album almost cleaves into those two thoughts: the beats are compelling; not superb, but clearly created with intent to wow or establish a mood, but the lyrics (“got my favorite girl giving me piece of mind/that mean brain”/”you deserve a beef from me/and I ain’t talkin’ music shit/I’m talkin’ face down, ass up/I know you use to it”) could’ve been copied and pasted from any other “newly rich” rapper. And nearly every god-awful line or half-baked attempt at sympathy brings me back to the same question: why rap if there’s nothing new or interesting to say?

Because unlike Kanye, who unabashedly created his own Louis Vuitton-branded lane through the genre via unorthodox producing and a balls-to-the-wall confidence, Hit-Boy fits in the  junction already gridlocked by Soulja Boy, Riff Raff, Chip Tha Ripper and any other guy who still implements the hashtag rhyme scheme throughout an entire verse. Sure, he flows nicely for the most part and the monotone delivery prevents him from appearing cocky, but the lyrics say otherwise, and he becomes increasingly boring after the first two songs.

Hip hop fans have had their fill of average-quality technicality coupled with religiously materialistic content, and its too late to give passes or garnish an excuse to listen to music strictly for the beat. Sure, OK, check out the track featuring KiD CuDi for his UNIQUE, UNPARALLELED flow and then call it a day. While he has found a modicum of success, Hit-Boy simply doesn’t have the years of hard work or even the respect for the genre for others to care about him stunting on DatPiff.

Does he have a story? Yes. Everyone does. But if he views it threw an overused lens — a short recollection of early struggles followed by 40 minutes of loose women openingly wanting him for his money and the two credit card accounts he now owns — then it’s not worth telling.