Been hearing a lot of good stuff lately. This week was another filled with great music (for the most part). Here is some of what I heard. UPDATE: I made a little update to the Kam Moye part, as I didn't think I was all the way clear the first time.
Sean Price: Kimbo Price (A Prequel To Mic Tyson) - Sean P never disappoints. So, if you are a fan of the way he walks the line between hardcore and humorous I'd be sure to pick this one up before Mic Tyson drops. P!!!!!!!!
Masta Ace & Ed O.G.: A&E - Arts & Entertainment, Ace & Ed, I'm not sure what it stands for now that the television station stepped in to cause problems with the project. The album gets off to kind of a slow start, but once it gets going these two veterans are off and running. Songs like "A's & E's" and "Little Young" provide a platforms for Ace & Ed to play to their lyrical strengths and prove them to be a truly dynamic duo. Some songs are just average, but I think this is worth tossing in the iPod for a few months.
Sha Stimuli: My Soul To Keep - After some amazing mixtapes (including 12 in 12 months) that made me a fan Sha finally dropped this studio album. Right now I'm a little underwhelmed with it. The sound of the album was so similar track by track that it got a little boring. This isn't helped by the fact that Sha never really switches up his flow. There is some serious subject matter here, and he clearly has a vision for this album. I just think it could have been executed better. Oh, and "The Smelly Cat Song" would have fit better on one of his mixtape and should have been excluded from this project. It didn't fit at all with the rest of the album.
Crooked I: Mr. Pigface Weapon Waist EP - 7 tracks (6 songs) and Crooked I has released some of the best gangsta shit from the west I've heard in a long time. The beats are hard, the rhymes are hard, and the cover cracks me up every time I see it. The whole sound just screams out west coast hip hop. On this EP, Crooked does what Game wishes he could.
Freeway: The Calm Before The Storm mixtape - So, Freeway is an MC you either love or hate it seems. I've always been a fan. He disappointed me for a short while, but is at the top of his game right now with several projects in the works. This tape is an indication of what to expect on those projects and is well worth the listen. No one can match Free's delivery which I'll just simply describe as unorthodox, and if you like his style, you will like this mixtape like I do.
Kam Moye (AKA Supastition): Splitting Image - Anyone who's heard Supastition rhyme before knows that he can be a fucking beast. But this album, while still lyrically dense goes in a more personal direction. Because the subject matter is, as he puts it, 100% of himself, North Carolina emcee Supastition has decided to drop his moniker for this album and go with his name, Kam Moye. After listening, it's easy to see why. Kam delves into a lot of different issues and parts of himself on this unbelievable new release. I can't remember ever being impressed with Kam like I am with this album. Full of honesty and depth, as well as great rhymes, Splitting Image has some of the best hip hop I've heard all year. As he said himself on the opening track 'RE: Born', "I'm heavy, I don't mean physically, I mean lyrically". Trust me when I say you will not be disappointed with this album.
DJ Jazzy Jeff: He's The King, I'm The DJ - It's always nice to hear a collection of MJ music, and Jazzy Jeff does a great job putting it all together with some hip hop influence (meaning those hip hop records that used MJ's music). This is a quality mixtape.
Kid Cudi: Man On The Moon - The first time I listened to this I was bored to death. So, let me do you a favor and let you know up front that this is a down-tempo album all the way through. It does not pick up really at all. So, wait until you're in the mood for something a little slower and less hard hitting. However, make sure you are also in the mood to really listen. There are some really interesting songs offered on Man On The Moon, and Cudi knows how to speak on his type of track. I liked a lot of the lyrics, and the melodies pulled me in after a while. I wasn't a fan of Cudi before - I heard a mixtape earlier in the year, or late last year that I thought was horrible (though I may revisit it now) - but after giving Man On The Moon a second chance I am starting to change my opinion. I don't think that fans would be receptive to Kid Cudi if Kanye West hadn't come first with his own sound and then co-signed him, but I'm glad he did. This is a different sound for hip hop. It's not always what I'm in the mood for, but I'm glad it'll be there when I am.
DJ Revolution: Class of '86 - I'm not sure if this came out this year or not, but I just came across it. The title describes it - a collection of the best music from 1986 with Rev on the turntables. What else do you need to know?
Idle Warship & Mick Boogie: Party Robot - Nice to have a full mixtape from the Warship - especially a free mixtape put together by Mick Boogie. Talib Kweli, Res, and Graph Nobel make up the collective known as Idle Warship, a group offering dance music with a soul. Who says party music has to be simple and unimaginative?
Chace Infinite: I Would Have Killed This mixtape - Not sure what I think of this yet either. Here, Chace rhymes over beats that his Self Scientific partner DJ Khalil produced for other artists. Some you will surely recognize, some you may not. While Chace is definitely a talented MC, I don't agree that he killed every beat he spit over on this mixtape. There is some quality material here though.
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