To sit here and tell everyone that reads this blog that God Loves Ugly is an album that didn’t influence me, is a total lie. I’m almost certain I was in 10th grade the first time that I heard the song “Godlovesugly”, all I was thinking was “Who in the fuck is this?”. When I heard that the emcee brilliantly blessing the microphone was from Minneapolis, I simply couldn’t believe it. This album introduced me to the whole world of the Rhymesayers Crew, and if it were for that reason alone I would still never forget this album. What God Loves Ugly showed me, more than anything, is that great talent is much closer to home than you may think. Yeah Slug may rap about women a little too much, and yeah his ego might come off a little bigger than it should be… but dude has mad skills on the mic. Continue reading
Archive for the Music Reviews Category
Wild Style Wednesday Review: Atmosphere, God Loves Ugly
Posted in Music Reviews, Wildstyle Wednesdays with tags Ant, Atmosphere, God Loves Ugly, minneapolis, Rhymesayers Entertainment, Slug on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 by Tim AlthausAlbum Review: Slaughterhouse, Slaughterhouse
Posted in Music Reviews with tags Crooked I, DJ Khalil, Focus, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Mr. Porter, Pharoahe Monch, Royce Da 5'9", Slaughterhouse, Streetrunner on Thursday, August 13, 2009 by Tim Althaus
I (as well as everyone else) knew well before this album came out that this album was going to be a benchmark for lyrical linguistics. Joell Ortiz, Joe Budden, Crooked I & Royce Da 5’9″ are all known for their raw radical and introspective lyrics, and when you put them together the results are going to be monumental. On this album Slaughterhouse sets out to prove that although you may have thought Hip-Hop was close to dead, they plan on showing you it isn’t. I can almost assure you that there probably won’t be another album to come out this year that has anywhere near the lyrical display of this album. Continue reading
Wild Style Wednesday Review: Little Brother, The Minstrel Show
Posted in Music Reviews, Wildstyle Wednesdays with tags 9th Wonder, BET, Big Pooh, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Elzhi, Getback, Joe Scudda, Khrysis, Phonte, The Listening, The Minstrel Show on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 by Tim Althaus
Little Brother is probably one of my favorite groups that I’ve ever heard. When 9th Wonder, Big Pooh & Phonte are all together in rare form on an album, they remind me of a force that nothing in this world could possibly stop. I personally am a big fan of The Listening & Getback, but I think these guys are in their top form on The Minstrel Show. Everything about this album is desirable, 9th Wonder’s beats on this album are more soulful than ever, and Te’s & Pooh’s rhymes are most definitely the most on point that they’ve ever been. Another thing that makes this album exceptional is that it’s a concept album that is done the right way. Albums like this make me think that if these guys would have stayed together they could have been one of the greatest trios in Hip-Hop history. Continue reading
Wild Style Wednesday Review: Slum Village, Fantastic, Vol. 2
Posted in Music Reviews, Wildstyle Wednesdays with tags Baatin, Busta Rhymes, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Fantastic, J Dilla, Jay Dee, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, T3, Ummah, Vol. 2 on Thursday, August 6, 2009 by Tim Althaus
I had another review planned for this week, but with the recent passing of Baatin this one feels a little more natural. Fantastic, Vol. 2 is another record that came very close to charting on my most influential albums list. Even though it wasn’t on my most influential albums list, this is another album that I can say would probably easily be in my top 20 favorite albums of all-time. The flow of this album is pure like water and yet it’s as melodic as heaven. Jay Dee’s production is so stellar on this album, that I’m fairly sure it will always withstand the test of time. From Jay Dee’s earlier Ummah sound, to the spaced out synth that he implemented later in his career, Fantastic, Vol. 2 has it all. Baatin, T3 & Jay Dee all sculpt to these tracks like clay and even though they aren’t the wittiest emcees in the world, this album is still utterly amazing. Continue reading
Sareem Poems – Black And Read All Over
Posted in Audio, Music Reviews, News with tags Akil, Jurassic 5, LMNO, Ohmeha Watts, Poems, Sareem Poems, Scarub, Sharlock Poems, Theory Hazit on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 by Nolan Levenson
I just heard a little bit of this new album by Sareem Poems (formerly Poems and Sharlok Poems) called Black and Read All Over. There are a couple of great tracks. I would highly recommend checking it out. The album features Akil of J5, Pigeon John, Theory Hazit, LMNO, Scarub, & Ohmega Watts.
Here are my faves:
Sareem Poems – “Lower the Boom” (feat. Pigeon John & Akil of Jurassic 5)
Wild Style Wednesday Review: Masta Ace, Disposable Arts
Posted in Music Reviews, Wildstyle Wednesdays with tags Apocalypse, Disposable Arts, Domingo, Masta Ace, Nick Heise, Punchline, The Moody Blues, Wordsworth, Xplicit on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 by Tim Althaus
I want to start this review off by saying that this review holds special because Ace is one of my favorite emcees of all-time. He’s been in the game for twenty plus years now, and his albums consistently get better and better. Ace’s flow is aged fine wine, and Disposable Arts is the testament of time. Even though this album wasn’t on my top 10 most influential albums (although A Long Hot Summer was), I can assure you it rests comfortably on my top 10 favorites of all-time. When listening to this album, you go on a journey with Ace to The Institute of Disposable Arts. The storytelling on this album is impeccable, and you feel almost like you are there every single step of the way. I still thank my friend Nick Heise to this day for referring me to Masta Ace, and this one goes out to him. Continue reading
Wild Style Wednesday Review: The Roots, Things Fall Apart
Posted in Music Reviews, Wildstyle Wednesdays with tags Black Thought, Common, Jay Dee, Mos Def, The Roots, Things Fall Apart on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 by Tim Althaus
The Roots will forever be one of my favorite groups in Hip-Hop because I love their utilization of a live band and their natural sound. Not to mention that Black Thought is also one of my top five emcees, the guy is pretty much a god emcee on the microphone. I like every single album in The Roots catalog, but Things Fall Apart is the album that introduced me to them. I look at this album that came out ten years ago and part of me still feels like even now this album would still be ahead of its time. This album, to this day, is one of the most sound albums I have ever heard and there is no doubt that it will forever be considered a classic. Even though this album didn’t make my top 10 most influential albums, I would still say it ranks among my top 10-20 favorite albums without a doubt.
Album Review: Joe Budden, Padded Room
Posted in Music Reviews with tags Joe Budden, Padded Room, Pump It Up on Monday, July 20, 2009 by Tim Althaus
I remember being in tenth grade when Joe Budden’s first single “Pump it Up” came out. To be 100% honest, I didn’t care for it at all. After that track, it almost seemed like Joe fell flat off the face of the earth. From what I’ve gathered, Joe has released some mixtapes in the interim but nothing really serious… until Padded Room. It took me a while to even give this CD a complete listen because I had no idea what it was going to be like. Once I did start listening I just couldn’t get a grasp right away of how to feel. Joe has a line in the first track on the album “Now I Lay” that sums up the aforementioned statement perfectly, “It’d take you a long time to evaluate me”. It literally took me about 20 listens to get a good feel for this album, but my general consensus is that this album is damn good. Continue reading
Wild Style Wednesday Review: Clipse, Lord Willin’
Posted in Music Reviews, Wildstyle Wednesdays with tags Clipse, Copus, Hell Hath No Fury, Lord Willin', Malice, Pusha T, The Neptunes on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 by Tim Althaus
This album was my first introduction (as well as most other people) to the Brothers Thornton. I remember being in 10th grade riding around in my buddy Copus’s car listening to this album damn near every day. Since the album Lord Willin’, Clipse has been a duo known for their wicked, witty verses and sick ass Neptunes beats. To me it was really funny when they dropped Hell Hath No Fury because it seemed to me that nobody mentioned Lord Willin’. It was almost as if Lord Willin’ never even existed. In my opinion you couldn’t have put out a better label debut than Lord Willin’, this album is stacked with addictive top-notch beats and over the top lyricism filled with more metaphors and allusions about cocaine than you can imagine. Malice & Pusha are so good that they make cocaine sound interesting. Continue reading
Album Review: Toki Wright, A Different Mirror
Posted in Music Reviews with tags A Different Mirror, Benzilla, Brother Ali, minneapolis, Rhymesayers Entertainment, Scarub, Soundset, toki wright on Monday, July 13, 2009 by Tim Althaus
I say this all the time but, I feel so great being from Minnesota because Minneapolis is a mad music machine that keeps churning out great homeland talent. Toki Wright is a perfectly prime example of what I previously stated. I’ve seen Toki at just about every Hip-Hop event I’ve ever been to in Minneapolis, so for that reason alone he will always be a pivotal stamp in Twin Cities Hip-Hop. I got the chance to see Toki at this year’s Soundset, and I was very impressed when I saw him perform his solo material. His new album, A Different Mirror, is a great example of a hungry emcee deliberately devouring the microphone on every track. The beats on this album accent Toki’s violent and vicious flow perfectly, and Toki’s witty wordplay is highly infectious. Continue reading
MIND INVERSION 