Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:

“Run This Town”
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Best Rap Album:

Relapse
Eminem
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Through the week of the 20th, the AllMusic Blog will be publishing our editors’ favorite albums of 2009. We’ll be covering well over a dozen genres and styles, from rap to reggae, R&B to electronic, country to Latin, blues to metal, folk to soundtracks, and several points in-between. Right now, on the AllMusic Blog, we take a look at our favorite hip-hop/rap albums of 2009. Be sure to check our upcoming overall feature of new albums and classical releases, AllMusic Loves 2009, and our other 2009 in Review posts.

Antipop Consortium – Fluorescent Black
 
 
 
 
 
 
Diego Bernal – For Corners
 
 
 
 
 

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On “E&R,” left-field rapper — and that’s deep left-field — Dudley Perkins looks around the room and notices “We gotta lotta fake people here this evening.” “We gonna expose and remove” he continues, and then proceeds to chant down the walls of Babylon by calling out John McCain, Louis Farrakhan, Miss Cleo, and many others, all over a broken version of the George Clinton beat courtesy of the album’s sole producer, Georgia Anne Muldrow. Besides these ghosts that the track exorcises Lee “Scratch” Perry-style, there isn’t a lick of “fake” on Holy Smokes, an album that shares its release date with Muldrow’s own Umsindo.

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You could probably go back to just about any year to find some totally hott summertime hip-hop jamz, but 1991 was home to some true classics. Tracks perfect for hot days with nothing to do but kick back, and in the immortal words of the bard Humpty Hump, doowutchyalike. And saywutchyalike about Will Smith, but DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “Summertime” is the perfect jam to kick off this hot & humid nostalgia trip.

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So here we are, at the fifteenth posting of Hot Damn Jamz. You could call it a milestone. Whoever thought we’d make it this long? We laughed along with the good times. We weathered the bad times. We’ve endured so much together. Sigh. It was a different game way back when, in January. Remember when we were just discovering Fever Ray and Spider and the Flies? Boy, how they’ve grown. Whew. Fifteen posts. Fifteen. What’s the traditional gift for a fifteenth anniversary. Silver? Oh right, crystal. I guess for the occasion we could do a list of crystal bands: Antlers, Castles, Stilts…We could even put Crystal Method on there. Nah, why try to get fancy at this point? Let’s just keep pumping out Jamz.

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For some reason it seemed like a good idea to go old-school this morning. Maybe it was the hint of spring in the air, I don’t know. More likely it’s because I spent most of last night listening to various mixes by the Avalanches. (Go to their site, sign up and you can do it too!), and it made me want to go digging back into their source material. I’m not sure that’s quite where I ended, but I did manage to unearth some truly amazing video jamz.

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Not too proud to pay tribute to his most evident inspiration, Diego Bernal opens his absorbing beat suite For Corners with “Diego’s Donut (RIP Dilla),” a track that is modestly regal and mournful at once, anchored by an uncomplicated but effective break and draped in stately horns, accented with several subtle touches and tricks that poke through with each play. Instead of a Jadakiss cackle or siren to signal the next track, there’s sampled dialogue, stitched together and heavily reverbed: “What you got down there, Diego?” “Dust…” Only Bernal could know how many particles were inhaled while pulling up the material repurposed throughout this set. While the San Antonio, TX-based producer, a civil rights attorney, has the wistfulness-tinged warmth down, the lesson Dilla impressed upon him the most could be the drive to dig as deep, far, and wide as possible while reshaping it all in a way that reflects his own life. The format here — sample-based instrumental hip-hop vignettes — is not new, but it has never been given this Southwest touch, certainly not by a producer who can whip up an astonishing, Latin-flavored synthesis of disparate elements. Startling synth drones, hurtling dustbowl-psych guitars, jubilant flutes, and rhythms for the hammock and dancefloor only scratch the surface. All of it is streaked across a shrewdly paced sequence of tracks, 40 minutes of soul-soaked beats that feel like 20. (The Exponential label offers the album as a free download.)

Akrobatik – Absolute Value
 
 
 
 
 
 
Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bizzy Bone – A Song for You
 
 
 
 
 
 
Black Milk – Tronic
 
 
 
 
 
 
Devin the Dude – Landing Gear
 
 
 
 
 
 
88-Keys – The Death of Adam
 
 
 
 
 
 
eMC – The Show
 
 
 
 
 
 
Flying Lotus – Los Angeles
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jean Grae – Jeanius
 
 
 
 
 
 
GZA/Genius – Pro Tools
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nas – Nas
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nicolay & Kay – Time:Line
 
 
 
 
 
 
Moe Pope/Headnodic – Moe Pope and Headnodic Are Megaphone
 
 
 
 
 
 
Prodigy – H.N.I.C., Pt. 2
 
 
 
 
 
 
Q-Tip – The Renaissance
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Roots – Rising Down
 
 
 
 
 
 
RZA as Bobby Digital – Digi Snacks
 
 
 
 
 
 
Scarface – Emeritus
 
 
 
 
 
 
Young Jeezy – The Recession
 
 
 
 
 
 

While putting together AMG Loves 1984, we took more than a few trips to YouTube to remember and discover the classic, quirky, and sometimes obscure videos made for the year’s music. 1984 was right in the middle of MTV’s heyday — not to mention the heyday of music video programming blocks like Night Tracks — and it shows in the diversity of these clips. From slick (the Cars’ “You Might Think”) to rough around the edges (Robyn Hitchcock’s “I Often Dream of Trains”); from the Minutemen to Sade; from Ian McCulloch’s face waxing and waning under a swinging light in Echo & the Bunnymen’s “Killing Moon” clip to Run-D.M.C. sitting on a turntable in the “Rock Box” video, here we present some of 1984’s most remarkable combinations of music and imagery.

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How Tha Carter III came to be “the most anticipated rap album of 2008″ is a story that involves the usual delays and promises of a masterpiece, plus a whole lot of bullet points that could only exist in the absurd world of Lil Wayne. There’s his complete annihilation of the mixtape game, the ridiculous amount of guest shots he granted since Tha Carter II made him a hip-hop superstar, that photograph of him kissing his mentor Birdman, rumors of addiction to the sizzurp, plus the gargantuan ego and aggravating aloofness. (Wayne will ignore all incoming beefs and infuriate challengers even further by offering the lethal “I don’t listen to your records.”)

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As per usual, lots of music came out in April, some of which was great and some of which was not. Here are four great ones.

Santogold — “I’m a Lady” (from Santogold)
This is not the best track off Santogold’s excellent self-titled debut (that honor would go to “Creator,” nor is it the most representative (“L.E.S. Artistes,” probably). It is, however, the most unexpectedly wonderful, its unabashedly catchy melody nearly impossible to not start humming along with, if not already singing at full volume. (MySpace)

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Wild Pitch Records is planning a bunch of reissues this year, including Main Source’s spectacular Breaking Atoms and the arguably less excellent but more, um, powerful Ride the Rhythm, by Cool Rob G. [SOHH.com]

The 2008 Newport Folk Festival’s line-up has been announced. [Pitchfork]

Art Brut’s Eddie Argos has formed a new band, Glam Chops, who sound a lot like, well, Art Brut meets glam rock. [NME.com]
 
Classical music magazine Gramophone has announced plans to expand into the digital market. [NYTimes.com]

As if getting his own label wasn’t enough, Perez Hilton will now appear on New York’s HOT 97 for a minute-long gossip segment, beginning May 5. [Allhiphop.com]

NIN has announced the openers for its summer tour. [Idolator]

The original idea behind what Snoop Dogg considers his ninth album — ignoring all those pesky and shoddy fringe releases — was that the title represented a truly solo effort with no guest shots. As the street date grew closer, the rapper flipped the script and decided that Ego Trippin’ referred to how he “let” people write songs the album, songs Snoop could rap and sometimes, shockingly, sing. The leadoff good-time single “Sensual Seduction” — or “Sexual Eruption” on the explicit album — proved the latter wasn’t a bad idea at all with Snoop crafting a hooky bedroom track using both a smirk and a throwback Zapp feel. It was a perfect flagship release for an album that tries numerous things but never tries too hard, plus one where the nostalgia is plentiful and perfectly chosen.

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Veteran MC Masta Ace already has experience with successful rap groups. In the late ’80s he joined up with the Juice Crew for the seminal “The Symphony,” a move which then helped to jumpstart his own solo career. So it makes sense that he turns back to the group format when rumors of his own retirement set in. Along with fellow Brooklynites Punchline and Wordsworth and Milwaukee native Stricklin, all of whom Ace had worked with on Disposable Arts and Long Hot Summer, the foursome came together as eMC in 2005. And what, do you ask, does eMC mean? The rappers are more than happy to answer that question in “EMC What It Stand For,” the first single from their debut, The Show (scheduled to be released in March), which features bass drum-heavy Nicolay production as well as some sick verses from each of the MCs (“EMC, Excellent mic controllers, each must come fulfill the quota/Every man can prove he’s a soldier, this ain’t chicken noodle soup with a soda,” “Each man can claim another victory/Why don’t you plead the Fifth dog, cuz you ain’t got shit to say/Your neck sore from vibing, blame Nicolay”), the track bounces without sacrificing lyrical content. The single came out way back in September, but as a lead-in to the full-length, it’s a relevant, exciting bit of work, and one of the better underground joints to surface in a while.

When a little-known DJ named Danger Mouse mashed Jay Z’s a capella vocals from the Black Album with bits of the White Album to make his masterful Grey Album, no one could have guessed that it would lead to such success (or so many spinoffs.) This little artistic endeavor gave him enough notoriety to get gigs producing Gorillaz and Gnarls Barkley, which ultimately won him a Grammy. It’s a good life lesson. With the right material and a good set of ears, your average Joe Shmoe who’s handy with the mouse can become a sought-after mega producer. If only you had a badass isolated vocal track to get started, that could be you, right? Gotcha covered, kiddo. Here’s a link to David Lee Roth’s raw vocal take from “Running with The Devil,” courtesy of Chunklet, and it’s a doozy.

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Nearing on the two-year anniversary of J Dilla’s death and in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, the University of Michigan organized an event that featured rapper Mos Def paying tribute (with the help of his band) to the producer with reinterpreted versions of his songs. AMG’s David Jeffries and Marisa Brown were there on hand to witness the event, and following is their discussion regarding the overall success of the show, the song selection, and the inarguable coolness of the red-dreaded keytar player.

Marisa Brown: Let’s talk about the title of the event: Mos Def Big Band Presents: A Tribute to Detroit’s J Dilla. I have to say I was expecting something a little different. First of all, a big band (not a bass-key-drum-trumpet-trombone-sax/keytar/talk-box/flute six-piece, though Mos Def did apologize for that confusion), and secondly, more than just… Mos Def. Obviously there are a lot of different factors involved in arranging guest star appearances, but I expected, if nothing else, some of the Detroit rappers to show up, if not one of the thousands of MCs who have been doing Dilla shout-outs during their live shows for the past two years.

That being said, Mos Def certainly proved his knowledge of Dilla’s work throughout the show. I caught some Slum Village, a lot of his solo work, De La Soul… what else am I forgetting?

David Jeffries: Momma Yancey didn’t even come out, and she was right back stage. She’s hardly the shy type, so it seemed a conscious decision. Maybe it was a jazz thing, since he and his band were often acting as a jazz ensemble. When a jazz artist does a tribute album they aren’t expected to call upon associates of their subject matter. Seemed like this was equal parts interpretation and celebration. To be honest, after watching Dave Chappelle’s Block Party again recently, it was nice to see something tight and self-contained rather than a pile-on party.

As far as Dilla material, using Slum Village’s “Fantastic” interludes along with Ruff Draft’s “Let’s Take It Back” as motifs was an amazing device. Heard a bit of J-88’s “Look of Love” and that blew my mind.

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Despite the ubiquitous presence of CDs, and the plethora of reissues, there are still more titles than we can count that have never come out on the shiny silver discs, or have slipped into the marketplace and vanished never to return. What follows is the first part in a somewhat regular series of posts detailing our own selfish desires for digital fulfillment. We encourage you to write in the comments section about your own cravings.

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With anticipation so high it caused debate not only among fans but among the group itself, Wu-Tang Clan’s fifth studio record, 8 Diagrams, found itself at the center of attention as 2007 wound down. First there was the announcement of the successful obtainment of the Beatles‘ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” sample (which was later corrected to “interpolation,” as it was actually played by Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante with help from George Harrison’s son, a Wu enthusiast himself, Dhani). Then Raekwon did a highly publicized online interview in which he accused the RZA of taking a dictatorial stance regarding the shape of the album, calling him a “hip-hop hippie” who was moving the Clan in the wrong direction. Then Ghostface Killah followed suit, also protesting the timing of the release (it had been set for December 4th, the same day The Big Doe Rehab was to come out, but was then pushed back a week). Finally, RZA responded, diplomatically, respecting the opinions of the dissenting MCs but standing by his own work.

And there’s reason for his confidence. Nothing RZA does is haphazard, and 8 Diagrams is clearly something he’s put a lot of thought and energy into. It’s beautifully, impeccably produced, from the soundtrack strings and horns of “Rushing Elephants” and “Unpredictable” to the philosophical samples and guitars that are interspersed throughout — it’s a mood record more than anything else, with no clear-cut single or fan favorites, the kind of thing that deepens and grows with every listen. Suffice it to say, it’s probably not the album anyone would predict from the group after a six-year break, but it is truly RZA’s crowning achievement, the result of both his years with the Wu and in Hollywood, intricate, dark, reflective, and gorgeous. These same qualities, however, can be used to support the less-than-enthusiastic response from Raekwon and Ghostface and fans of the early hard-hitting Wu-Tang of 36 Chambers (which, ironically — or not — was not the universally-revered masterpiece it is now when it came out in 1993). The beats are certainly not something either usually raps over, and their moodiness and heavy attention to melody don’t always fit their edgier flows. Still, both manage to contribute some pretty great verses — Ghost on the Easy Mo Bee co-produced “Take It Back” (“We gonna have a ball/Might as well have a testicle”) and “The Heart Gently Weeps,” a song which also features the Chef at his finest, strange violent imagery and all — and do nothing to discredit themselves, a repercussion Raekwon hinted at. In fact, all 8 MCs are in fine form here. U-God, Masta Killa, and Inspectah Deck are able to balance their old-school deliveries with the 23rd-Century beats, GZA is suitably genius-like (“Hold you for a ransom note/Goliath cutting David’s throat/Grab your vests, abandon boat/And leave you out at sea to float” he spits on the excellent “Stick Me for My Riches”), RZA esoteric and serious (and the only one with a solo track, “Sunlight”), and Method Man absolutely great, showing up on no less than half the tracks, his raspy voice and tight rhymes reminiscent of his early Tical work.

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Best known as one-half of Houston’s hip-hop crew UGK, rapper Pimp C (born Chad Butler) was found dead Tuesday morning in his Hollywood hotel room. He was 33.

The Pimp and his partner Bun B formed UGK in the late ‘80s and made their major label debut in 1992 when Jive released their aptly titled Too Hard to Swallow. Two years later they would refine their sound on the much smoother Super Tight… and in 1996 they would break into the Billboard Top 20 Albums with the classic Ridin’ Dirty. A 2000 collaboration with Jay-Z on his “Big Pimpin’” track would take them to number one on the R&B charts and number three on the Hot 100, but two years later, the Pimp would land eight years in jail thanks to violating his probation related to an earlier aggravated gun assault charge. Bun B soon made the “Free Pimp C” t-shirt the “Yayo’s Home” or “Frankie Say Relax” of Southern hip-hop and kept the UGK name alive — but on hold — in respect of his imprisoned partner. The Pimp had only served half of his sentence when he was released from prison in December of 2005. After a solo album from each member, UGK came back with a vengeance just this year when they released the amazing and epic double album Underground Kingz. Here’s just a sampling of the key tracks in which this Texas hip-hop icon has been involved. (Warning: Most of these samples are explicit.)

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Afternoon Naps
Cleveland, Ohio isn’t the first place you might expect to find such pretty, gentle and light-hearted music. From the name down to the gentle strum of the guitars, the interlocking male/female vocals to the lilting melodies, the Naps are classic indie pop. Nothing you haven’t heard before but done with enough style and grace to cause strong crush-like symptoms. – Tim Sendra
The Afternoon Naps’ MySpace

Kelly Alvarez
She’s the queen of the scene in San Diego, singing back up vocals for a bunch of bands, playing in an all-girl Zeros cover band and, best of all, recording snappy songs like “Not Gonna Take It” which plant her dead center in the middle of the much needed Suzi Quatro revival. – Tim Sendra
Kelly Alvarez’s MySpace

Bye!
Archie Moore (ex-Velocity Girl, the Heartworms) has been laying low for a spell. His new recordings are enough to remind indie pop fans just how much they were missing during his absence. The newly finished tracks you can hear on the Bye! site are an endearing blend of Northern Soul beats, shoegaze guitar haze and instantly hummable melodies. – Tim Sendra
Bye!’s MySpace

Cilvaringz
The only international member of the Wu-Tang corps, Cilvaringz — also known the Dutch/Moroccan Tarik Azzougarh — has the same hard-hitting, intricate lyrics of his fellow Clansmen with an added international perspective (which other rapper would have a song called “‘Death to America,’” an intelligent albeit provocative look at the current political situation?). His rhymes are tight and his production can rival that of his hero’s, the RZA; all-in-all a pretty impressive package. – Marisa Brown
Cilvaringz’s MySpace.

The Clay Hips
Brent Kenji has the voice of an angel and his bands (the Fairways, Young Tradition) have made some of the warmest, most inviting indie pop of the last decade. His new project is a collaboration with a Finnish guy named Andrew and it’s his most sophisticated and accomplished sounding group to date. Which is really saying a lot. – Tim Sendra
The Clay Hips’ MySpace

The Carps
Mixing poppy vocals with crunchy guitars and plenty of drums, this Canadian duo plays rock music for the young genre-crossing urban crowd, complete with bright hoodies, kicks, and lots of bass. – Marisa Brown
The Carps’ MySpace.

Foals
Extremely tight, fun punchy math-dance-rock quintet from England. Yeah, it’s been done before, but hardly ever this well. Just try to not tap your foot along to “Hummer.” Just try. – Marisa Brown
Foals’ MySpace.

Gigi
Masterminded by producer Colin Stewart (who runs the seemingly utopian studio The Hive) and made up of members of Vancouver bands Great Aunt Ida and P:ano among others, Gigi comes about as close to recapturing the innocent, emotionally charged sound of the girl groups and 60’s dream pop balladry as anyone has in the past 30 years. These songs need to be made into a record immediately! – Tim Sendra
Gigi’s MySpace

Hezekiah
There’s not much Hezekiah doesn’t know how to do: he can rap, write songs, produce, play instruments, and sing, and he shows this all off on both his records, including this year’s excellent I Predict a Riot. Here’s a video for “Soul Music,” which is off his 2005 debut Hurry Up & Wait.

Hezekiah’s MySpace.

Los Campesinos!
Despite all the possibilities for Los Campesinos! to be irritating (the boy/girl vocals, the xylophones, the exclamation point), the British octet is actually pretty great. “We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives” is fantastically catchy, and the witty (self-?) deprecation of “TheInternationTweecoreUnderground,” which contains the lines “And I never cared about Ian MacKaye/Calvin Johnson never meant anything to me,” is really just too great to pass up. – Marisa Brown
Los Campesinos!’ MySpace.

Candie Payne
With Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Kate Nash and the Pipettes, the U.K. has recently produced a bumper crop of sharp, savvy pop divas. None of them, however, are as effortlessly sweet and elegant as Liverpool’s Candie Payne, whose “pop noir” plays a little bit like Lulu meets Portishead. Payne’s crystal clear voice has just a bit of wise-beyond-her-years sadness to it, especially on glamorous ballads like the title track from her album I Wish I Could Have Loved You More, but she’s also able go-go shimmy with the bst of them on “By Tomorrow.” Her single “One More Chance” was remixed by 2007’s “it” producer, Mark Ronson; with any luck, I Wish I Could Have Loved You More will have legs into 2008. – Heather Phares
Candie Payne’s MySpace

Rockford Kabine
Rurhpott, Germany’s production team Rockford Kabine has apparently been around since 1999, but only released its debut album, Italian Music, this year. Fortunately, Italian Music was worth the wait: It sounds like the toughest, creepiest and most evocative parts of spaghetti western, Italian horror and vintage skin flick soundtracks rolled into one. These “31 Invalid Movie Themes” can instead be your compulsively listenable musical backdrop for driving, hanging out and just generally feeling like your life is ultra-cool. – Heather Phares

The trailer for Italian Music hints at just how inspired the album is:

Rockford Kabine’s MySpace

The School
Here’s one for lovers of twee orchestral pop. Equal parts Heavenly and SLGTM, their songs have more than enough sadness in their giddy bounce to keep things on the right side of precious. They’re signed to indie pop powerhouse Elefant records and their forthcoming album should be just the thing to warm your heart while waiting for the next Camera Obscura album to arrive. – Tim Sendra
The School’s MySpace

Sly Hats
Kamerah Darling creates a lovely, intimate little world of bossa nova-inspired, sunshine pop- fueled tunes built around wobbly keyboards, sparse guitars, whatever’s lying around percussion and his intimate, utterly charming vocals. You could mention the Beach Boys, you could speak of C86 or Sarah records….you could, sure, but you’d be wasting time better spent falling under Sly Hats’ fragile spell. – Tim Sendra
Sly Hats’ MySpace

Theoretical Girl
Theoretical Girl may be friends and tourmates with hyper-angular, guitar-ry bands like Good Shoes and Maximo Park, but her own music is an intriguing mix of ’60s girl group yearning and icy synth-pop, with a look to match. She’s Mary Quant mod meets new wave geometry, the innocence of Pye singles with post-punk bite. With her backing band, the Equations, Theoretical Girl is equally at home playing with Shitdisco or at Twee as Fuck. Her first single, the razor-sharp “Hypocrite,” isn’t out until Feburary, but that songs and the demos on her MySpace page suggest she’s onto something good; her creamy soprano sounds especially sweet on “The Boy I Left Behind” and “Another Fight.” For anyone who likes swooning pop with an edge, Theoretical Girl is one to watch. – Heather Phares
Here’s the unofficial video for “Hypocrite.”

Volt
One of the leading lights the French punk-goes-electronic scene known as “glue wave,” Volt sounds as deviant as they are witty. At first listen, songs like “Chinese Bite” and “Testbild” are so snotty, so sleek and so hilariously sinister that they sound like they could be parodies, but they’re also so insidiously catchy that it’s clear that even if they’re not totally serious, they mean it, man. Volt’s self-titled full-length is full of zapping synths, high-watt guitars and impossibly sneery vocals, making it an addictive treat for fans of forward-thinking garage-rock and punk (along with In The Red’s other 2007 releases). – Heather Phares
Volt’s MySpace

If you go to 7L & Esoteric’s MySpace page and order yourself a copy of Esoteric’s new solo album Egoclapper, you’ll get one heck of bonus. Sent to you free of charge is the full-length Pterodactyl Tubeway, a collection of Esoteric rhymes over Gary Numan beats. As cool as the cover’s blinged-out portrayal of a Tubeway Army-era Numan is, what’s inside is even cooler. Esoteric’s raps are up to their usual high level but his newfound love of production really shines, creating a hyperactive and laugh-out-loud funny album that’s a wonderful kind of overwhelming. Pterodactyl digs so deep into its synth-pop hero’s catalog that it will take a true Numan aficionado to ID all the source material, and Esoteric’s inclination to put this Numan chorus over that Numan bassline makes it harder than any Soul Train Scramble. Pile on samples from Land of the Lost, Superman II, Seinfeld, Super Friends, and plenty of toy commercials and you’re talking nerd nirvana. Check out this video honoring Superman’s most studly archenemy, then hit up the MySpace, wait by the mailbox, and kneel before Zod!

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Almost five years after releasing a near-classic rap debut, Freeway finally gets his second shot, and there’s some unsurprisingly frank talk about his surroundings not being identical. Since Philadelphia Freeway’s early 2003 release, there was the Damon Dash/Jay-Z Roc-A-Fella rift, so Free addresses that, despite it being old news. He was, after all, caught in the middle and did not switch labels. The issue is brought up in “It’s Over,” which could be the first track to mention the producer not responsible for its beat; in fact, both Just Blaze (who produced ten Philadelphia Freeway tracks) and Kanye West (who chipped in with two) are saltily put on blast for either not getting back or being too busy. Throw in a deepened relationship with 50 “Somewhat Responsible for Mobb Deep’s Blood Money” Cent, who replaces Dash’s role as co-executive producer, as well as what could be perceived as an enthusiasm shortage on the part of the Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam family, and Free at Last has all the makings of a disappointment — a release destined to slide off everyone’s radar within a couple weeks of release. “Oh, yeah, Freeway eventually put out that second album… uh, Free Again, or something?”

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Hip-hop, for all its hard edges, dirty beats, and tough-guy posturing, seems to have an odd soft spot in it for rock. And no, we’re not talking about the Run D.M.C.-meets-Aerosmith/Public Enemy-meets-Anthrax kind of thing. We’re talking MOR, radio-ready, smooth adult rock. A certain former drummer of Genesis has been the longstanding godfather of this certain brand of cross-genre collaboration, but most of Phil’s, um, genius has been limited to sample use, particularly of the song “In the Air Tonight” (here, here, and here, for example) — though this touching tribute does feature a live duet with Lil’ Kim.

But the times are a-changin’, and as sample clearance gets more and more difficult and hip-hop gets more and more popular, rappers have been called upon to find the predecessor successor to Mr. Collins, one whose voice rings as clear in the studio as it does on record! And as the first decade of the new millennium stretches well past its salad days, the new king appears to be in the form of one Chris Martin, heartthrob to millions and father to Apple, who lends his falsetto to recent albums from Jay-Z, the Streets, Swizz Beats, and even Kanye West.

• Jay-Z – Beach Chair (sample)
• The Streets – Dry Your Eyes (sample)
• Swizz Beats – Part of the Flow (sample)
• Kanye West – Homecoming (sample)

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Though they’re now exactly a year away, the 2008 presidential campaigns are already well on their way. And a big part of them, at least here in the U.S., is the theme song, which, at this point in time, serves more as a hackneyed catchphrase than as the vehicle for an actual thematic message to be digested and discussed (unlike, for example, the definitive and on-point “Wilson — That’s All” from 1912, which helped lead Woodrow successfully to the newly created Oval Office). But who cares about these insignificant details! What’s most important is that these songs provide the appropriately optimistically triumphant background for the 30 seconds it takes the candidate to walk to the microphone, beaming and pumping his (or her) fist in the air. And honestly, they’re about ready for an update. We’re all sick of John Fogerty or Motown or Fleetwood Mac being played to death on the campaign trail. If the candidates want to invigorate their voters, especially the younger, apathetic generations, they’re going to need to play some music that’s a little more exciting, and a little less heartland rock.

Here are some suggestions to bring the campaigns out of the 1970s and into the 2000s, along with insight into what choosing that song reveals about a particular candidate, or at least what he or she would like it to reveal.

Rihanna — “Umbrella” (sample)
With this selection, the candidate is saying that he’s not only in touch with the youth, but that he knows a catchy song when he hears one. He knew that Jay-Z was bluffing when he said he was going to retire, and but he also promises to save the country by letting everyone stand under his administration’s protective umbrella, ella, ella, ay, ay. Hip and secure. Keep this in mind, kids.

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When there are as many great music releases as there were this past October, it’s difficult to narrow down my favorite albums, let alone songs. PJ Harvey’s White Chalk, Jens Lekman’s Night Falls Over Kortedala, Café Tacuba’s Sino, Saturday Looks Good to Me’s Fill Up the Room, Jesu’s Lifeline, Neil Young’s Chrome Dreams II, Juanes’ La Vida…Es un Ratico, Celebration’s The Modern Tribe, Dwight Yoakam’s Dwight Sings Buck, Band of Horses’ Cease to Begin, the Fiery Furnaces’ Widow City, Sunset Rubdown’s Random Spirit Lover, Radiohead’s In Rainbows, Beirut’s The Flying Club Cup — these were some of my favorite albums. Ten of my favorite songs from this past month follow:

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The six or so months after Hip Hop Is Dead was released, it looked as if Nas‘ statements were coming true. It’s not that there was a lot of truly bad stuff flooding the market (minus this um, masterpiece), there just wasn’t that much happening at all. A couple of lackluster albums from artists like Fabolous, Paul Wall, and Timbaland, a pretty quiet underground presence, and the crackdown on the mixtape circuit all seemed to point in the direction of a decline; rap was going downhill, and fast. Thankfully, the momentum in the second half of the year appears to indicate an upswing. The “showdown” between Fiddy and Kanye helped to bring hip-hop back into the limelight and mainstream consciousness (NPR’s Steve Inskeep saying “Mr. Cent” is possibly the funniest thing you’ll hear all year), and with upcoming releases from Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, Wu-Tang, and hopefully Nas, 2007 may very well end on a bright note. Here are a few albums that have come out in the past three months that help restore a bit of faith in the genre.

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So, it’s Halloween Eve, otherwise known by citizens of Detroit as Devil’s Night. Seems like a pretty appropriate time to throw together a list of music influenced by the Devil himself. Let’s skip over the obvious numbers like Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast” or Mötley Crüe’s “Shout at the Devil,” and dissect the songs that Christian fundamentalist groups really find freaky. These are the tunes that sneak praises of the evil overlord into our unsuspecting subconscious minds by means of subliminal messages recorded backwards into the record’s grooves. Essentially the theory is that when a message is reversed, it’s undetectable by the left hemisphere of a person’s brain, but their right side can decipher it and save it for usage later. (Rettelswen GMA eht ot ebircsbus.) If you remember, this was a big deal in the ’80s, when several rockers were taken to court under the premise that their music caused listeners to commit unspeakable crimes. Judas Priest’s singer Rob Halford had the perfect response to the accusations, explaining that if this was his actual intention, he would have embedded the message, “Buy this album.”

At the same time, if artists aren’t responsible for the messages that we hear when we spin our turntables the wrong way, then where are they coming from? Are they simply imagined? Is it coincidental that some of these lyrics are more meaningful backwards than forwards? Are these sentences just phonetic coincidences or is this the work of… hmmm… could it be… Satan?!!! Here’s a top ten list of scariest shout-outs to the man downstairs, complete with samples. Feel free to post your thoughts, comments, and experiences with the occult below.

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Anthony Hamilton, “Do You Feel Me” (video at AOL Music/audio at Def Jam). The innovative producer behind “Welcome to the Terrordome” and “Change the Style” (and dozens of other chaotic, crucial rap singles) meets the well-off songwriter of “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and “I Want You to Need Me” (and over 50 other titles beginning with “I”). The two — Hank Shocklee and Diane Warren — come up with a song that sounds nothing like an air raid drowning out drippy sentiments. It’s an ideal set-up for Hamilton, meaning that it is a completely convincing throwback to ’70s southern soul. Few singers can sing the phone book and move listeners. Even fewer can sing lyrics written by Diane Warren without encouraging a nation of millions to pick up whatever is within reach and throwable.

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Oh, the excitement Friday night, a night of surprises and new things! Rumors were thick in the air at the Music Hall of Williamsburg regarding the possibility of a Company Flow reunion, but not many were prepared for a guest appearance from Del tha Funkee Homosapien (though the astute might have noticed him smoking cigarettes with El Producto on the venue’s upper level during Yak Ballz’s set), who himself was performing at a showcase at B.B. King’s later that night. Three songs into the labelhead’s set, the man who brought the world “Mistadobalina” walked onto the stage and played a song to promote his long-awaited upcoming album, The 11th Hour, which was announced would be released on Definitive Jux. The crowd roared its approval and rushed towards the stage, an action that still unfortunately didn’t seem to stop the few brave stage divers there were from falling flat onto the ground.

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While the vast majority of CMJ bands fall into the “rock” category (and all its glorious subsets), those looking for something besides guitars played by dudes with weird hair have at least one hip-hop show a night to keep themselves occupied. Most of them are clumped together into a one-turntable/one-mike extravaganza, but there are some hidden surprises as well. Here’s a breakdown of some of the best:

Little Brother: 9th Wonder-less and back to an indie label, these NC rappers have been underground hip-hop stalwarts for years.

Hell Raza, Wise Intelligent, RA the Ruggedman: Tuesday night starts off with a bang with a set from these rough-edged and well-established indie acts, plus newcomers Panacea (whose debut album, out last year, was excellent) and the Project.

Pigeon John: the L.A. rapper is tucked onto the end of a set that includes indie-poppers Saturday Looks Good to Me and Seattle garage-punks Hornet Leg. If you say so.

Cadence Weapon: the grime-inspired MC is playing two shows, actually, neither of which is particularly appropriate. The first is Wednesday, October 17 at Fat Baby with a bunch of uninspiring Canadian rock bands; the second is the slightly more reasonable hipster extravaganza (Cadence Weapon used to write for Pitchfork) at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday with the Foals, Yeasayer, and a Place to Bury Strangers. OK, I take that back. This makes total sense.

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Simon Reynolds — a high-profile music critic (Melody Maker, Spin, Village Voice) and an author of several books, including Blissed Out, Generation Ecstasy, and Rip It Up and Start Again — has opened up two blog-shaped repositories for old articles, many of which appear as “director’s cut” versions. Bring the Noise is named after Reynolds’ latest book, recently published in the U.K., an anthology of writings from the past 20 years. Thus far, the blog has accumulated 28 “deleted scenes,” involving Public Enemy and Eric B. & Rakim (a review of their 1987 Brixton Academy performance), Mantonix, Sinead O’Connor, the 100%-genius A.R. Kane, and — boom! boom! — the mighty Skinny Boys. Some of the reprints date back to Reynolds’ Monitor fanzine.

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Photo Credit: Christopher Nelson

The amphitheater in front of the Esurance Stage was full by the time local favorites the Saturday Knights, who mix cock-rock chords with hip-hop beats to make something that tends to appeal more towards the P.O.S., Gym-Class-Heroes-loving crowd than the 50 Cent, Eminem, or even Mos Def or Nas fans, took the stage Saturday, er, afternoon. A trio/sometimes quartet (Michael Jaworski, who’s also part of the Cops, played, much of which seemed to be him holding his guitar out in front of him like a trophy and letting the strings ring, posing and snarling for the photographers in the pit below him, for about half the set), the two MCs, Barfly and Tilson, traded verses as DJ Suspence added hand percussion to the turntable-powered beats. The rapping wasn’t always stellar: Tilson was quick-tongued and fluid, able to switch between rhythms and deliveries, but Barfly tended to be a little slow and choppy, catering perhaps to rap’s uninitiated, but sounding clumsy in the process. The hooks, too, albeit fun, often eschewed flow and content for simplicity and catchiness. Genuine friendliness, a happiness to be there, performing, however, was indeed present, which, when all was said and done, may have been enough. After running through a fast set trying to get the crowd as excited as the group was, Tilson resorted to leaping from the stage during “45” — much to the delight of the fans — slapping hands with the front row and posing for pictures. It did the trick: after the Knights ended the crowd yelled loudly for an encore, a request that was eventually satisfied, as the group return to do “45” again, before turning right back around to sign autographs for the swarm waiting backstage.

Photo Credit: Sean Pecknold

A last minute cancellation by Ryan Shaw prompted by travel problems led to Seattle hip-hop powerhouse Blue Scholars filling in at the last minute, turning what would have been a soulful dance party to a full blown rap explosion. Their set, which lasted slightly longer than the hour originally allotted them, was more a celebration of the local scene than anything else, and the audience, mostly local kids themselves, were more than happy to watch it unfold in front of them. The Blue Scholars duo, MC Geologic and DJ/producer/back-up vocalist and dancer Sabzi started and closed the performance, but most of the show was filled with various guest appearances from other Emerald City hip-hop notables, many of whom had played Bumbershoot earlier on, including Gabriel Teodros, Dyme Def, Khingz, D. Black, Tilson from the Saturday Knights, and Grinch. Sabzi helmed the boards the entire time, stopping only to stomp in unison with his buddies on stage before running back to his station. The whole thing seemed more like a bunch of friends getting together and rhyming casually at the backyard barbeque, swigging bottles of San Pellegrino (seriously) than a major festival act, but only in the best of ways. It was friendly, it was entertaining, the beats and rhymes were both excellent, and the crowd mouthed along to the hooks — or at least waved their hands in unison — the entire time. What says Labor Day fun better than that?

A relatively calm setting, the Boeing Theatre, for an interactive show, but such was the atmosphere for the Sage Francis spoken-word performance Sunday afternoon, a dimly-lit modern space full of friendly, earnest university-age kids anxious to hear their favorite rapper wax poetic.

And that he did. Half political, liberal-edged comedy routine (“I pulled out my passport, and the cop said ‘What’s that?’ And I said ‘My passport.’ And he said ‘To where?” one of the stories went something like), half serious commentary and introspection, the MC ran through a half dozen of his pieces, including “Going Back to Rehab,” “Three Write” (the other side of “Rewrite”), and an abridged version of his ode to hip-hop, “Sun Vs Moon,” in which he explained his own inborn pull towards the rhythm — as opposed to the roar and swagger of the ’80s mullet guitar — punctuated by some pretty great beatboxing, which just helped to show how closely poetry and rap, at least in its truest form, are related. Between bits, Sage Francis chatted with the audience, giving directed mini-monologues that still had an off-the-cuff feel, from an X-rated description of what he thought a bumbershoot might be to anecdotes regarding his relationship woes, and the crowd responded enthusiastically, cheering and laughing and yelling out comments like they were all old friends.

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Like any family, the relationships between the 9 members of the Wu-Tang Clan and their various affiliates are quite complicated, and also quite incestuous, with myriad guest appearances and production credits on each other’s albums (this is especially true for the RZA, who vowed that under his control and direction, the Clan would conquer the hip-hop world in five years). Besides the three studio Wu albums, each of the members (the RZA, the GZA, ODB, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, and U-God) have released at least one solo album, and a lot of them have side projects and other collaborations. It’s enough to give anyone a headache, but here’s a quick primer on the 9 members, plus some of their most important and well-known associates.

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Photo Credit: Christopher Nelson

The descent into Memorial Stadium where Wu-Tang Clan was ending their North American tour with a closing spot at Bumbershoot was almost something out of a movie, that overdone, cheesy scene of 25th Century “urban party,” lights flashing, bass pounding, and an unmistakable smoke rising up in large clouds. That was until you got down on the floor, where things were decidedly calmer, concertgoers watching attentively, but not aggressively, talking to their friends and trying to figure out where Ghostface Killah was. Method Man, who acted as the MC (as in the Master of Ceremonies) of the evening, worked the crowd, inquiring about the quality of their drugs and promising them a good show, and the audience, ecstatic, roared and flashed their Ws with abandon, but the energy that was building with each record DJ Mathematics spun was tempered by the group’s decision to, as is common but unfortunate procedure at rap concerts, cut their songs short, performing choice verses and the hook, just enough to get the crowd moving and excited before ending, rather abruptly, a scratch and stop. Thankfully for Wu-Tang, those in attendance were a forgiving bunch, so eager to see and hear the hip-hop luminaries live and in person, speaking, jumping, and rapping in front of them, that the occasional awkwardness was overlooked as they stood there anxiously waiting for the next piece to begin.

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