Lil’ Wayne

Now there has been some strange moves from Lil’ Wayne recently the maddest of which is that he’s becoming a rock star! I guess he has decided to take over rock like he has hip-hop in recent years with his huge selling album Tha Carter III last year.

Apparently the rock album will be called The Rebirth and it’s going to be interesting to say the least from the bit’s and bobs that seem to have leaked. Prom Queen is a cheesy Papa Roach meets T-Pain Auto Tune Metal track it’s pretty much the worse thing I’ve heard of his in ages and I heard two very weak mixtapes at the end of last year, Dedication 3 and The Empire. Then there is this track (see video) it’s alright I guess it even sounds a little like a fun version of TV on the Radio if you really really make your ears squint, oh and maybe ignore the Green Day vocal steal at the beginning...

Lil’ Wayne: Hot Revolver


But that isn’t what is giving me hope about Weezy no that rock stuff is just a vaguely funny sideline for me, you know good that he is trying new things and all that but the dude really needs some quality control.

The stuff that is making my ears prick up are the mad and dirty tracks that seem to be leaking all over the place with The Neptune’s superstar Pharrell. The first that hit my ears was called, ‘Yes’ and it featured pretty much the only example I can think of to date of a dubstep wobble bassline in a hip-hop track. The beat was pretty sick, but some of the bits Pharrell did were kind of lame unfortunately. The next is the dirty gangster banger, ‘Ay Man’ it opens again with Pharrel on the mic and well he has never been the strongest in front of the mic as he has been behind but the beat and Weezy verses are sick. There are hooks all over the place; it’s kind of like a Wayne version of a Clipse joint but more about girls than crack.

Anyway Lil’ Wayne continues to confuse and entertain in his own retarded way so if you want to hear a snap shot of all these strange directions at once try and hunt down a mixtape called ‘Hottest Nigga Under The Sun’ it’s the best mixtape I’ve heard of his since Tha Carter III dropped and he seems to be back on some sort of track that varies from gang bangers, rock and unashamed R&B pop.

Go and check out ‘Yes’ & ‘Ay Man’ over at the excellent We Yo! Wzers blog here.

Cadence Weapon – Separation Anxiety

Mixtape time now this time in the form of Canadian rap supreme Cadence Weapon doing a pay what you like scheme not unlike the most recent Girl Talk album and Radiohead before it, I may as well mention Nine Inch Nails too while I’m at it hey.

Grab it from here:

http://www.cadenceweaponmusic.com/

It’s a really clicky electro house kind of affair really with loads of tracks / remixes / appearances all cobbled together as big hip-hop meets dance crossover party.

Artists involved in the mix up are people like A-Track, Herve, The Cansecos, Final Fantasy, Sally Shapiro, Sinden, RJ2D and Roots Manuva to name but a few highlights.

I really enjoy the hip-house style cross over stuff he does not enough hip-hop is really dancey anymore so it’s a nice refreshing change to see Cadence Weapon jump on some of these beats. Saying that a lot of these tracks are more like electro house remixes than anything remotely hip-hop. His remix of Rise Up by The Cansecos is a good example of this with subtle old skool pumping drums and electro abuse in a 8-bit sort of space invaders way.

When he does jump on the mic though he does it in his usual geeky pumping style talking about hipster and partying. The electro banger produced by Sinden, Count and Herve is a snap shot of this party style. A real highlight is the track right after Pretty Girls Make Raves, it’s the Final Fantasy collaboration that I have posted about before on this very blog. The violin skills of Final Fantasy meets the party beats and rhymes of Cadence in fine style with a killer hook.

The mellow melancholic tones of Italo songstress Sally Shapiro is another highlight for me, I’m pretty much in love with her sound though and this adds nasty bit of dirt to the proceedings which kind of makes me like it more.

No mixtape would be worth it’s weight in hip-hop history if it didn’t have a mellow girly number about heartbreak and girls and Cadence dos this with The Morning After which is all about a girl leaving, and it has a sad orchestral vibe to it.

Kennedy Curse is a wicked track with a well nice guitar loop and one hell of a flow. He makes me laugh by comparing lots of rappers to Girls Aloud as well, pity its so damn short. It drops into his jacking remix of Kid Sister that loops and jacks it up house style again but with some nice verses from the girl her self on top of some Rock The Bells break samples and electro bleeps.

The acid demo of Shout Out Out Out Out is an undisputed high light for me, I’m a sucker for a 303 bleepy bloop fest and it works so well with the rap and 80’s Esq. synth chords.

Chinball Wizard is pretty good as well but I only think I like it as the mad little horn loops remind me of that track used in the Spaced clubbing episode, you know the one where Brian breaks his fear of dancing and the starwars club manuva’s dooo dooo do do dooo dooo do do!

House Music Medley is a low slung dirty fucker as well, it takes the party central original version into down right dark and sloppy territory and though to bassline and allsorts of stuff like that it’s a medley like Jive Bunny and the mixmasters.

This mixtape is a little hit and miss in places but there is more that enough here to keep you interested and justify the price (ahem). Hip-hop mixtapes are usually a little all over the place in quality so I’m not to surprised about this, but then Cadence Weapon isn’t really your average hip-hop mixtape maker is he.

But if you are after a nice party sound track at a price you can choose then you really aren’t going to go to wrong with Separation Anxiety.

Trim – Soulfood Vol.3

Trim, Trimothy, Trimbal, Trimski, what ever you want to call him that’s just fine. He goes by many names and is the badman grime MC from E14. Soulfood Vol.3 is one of the best mixtapes I have heard in recent times, it’s up there with Dot Rotten and Durrty Goodz fighting for the top spot. The production is top notch and features a hell of a lot of people my favourites being; Jerzey, Blessbeats, Brain, Radioclit, plus Dusk & Blackdown. The beats go from stripped back sparse vibes to full on ragga influenced ones, echoing London’s massive array of musical influences. Trim’s bars are excellent and original. His flow is laid back and lazy in vibe compared to other on the scene that like to spit venom with speed and aggression. Trim still bites just as hard as anyone though as he proves on the excellent beef track The Low-Dan, he doesn’t even rhyme on that one, its more of a talking thing.

As with many in the Grime scene Trim likes to talk about doing his thing and not wanting anyone to copy him, as well as stirring up beefs with bravado and bragging about being the best. Trimski also opens his heart a little bit to talk about the struggle of life in general on songs like Inside Looking Out. His sense of humour shines through on most tracks, which is one thing I love about grime, the English sense of humour cracks me up. The whole mixtape is top quality I can’t fault the tunes one bit, some stand out taller above the rest but overall it’s very consistent.

A little run down of some of the vibes: Signal, the opener is a low lobbed ragga style beat with a ace vocal hook, ‘If you didn’t catch my name, I will throw it to you, and for those that can’t catch, I’ll roll it to you, or you can kick back and I’ll flow it to you’. Ask For Trim is a darker one but with a just as catchy hook, the bass growls as some subtle gunshots are used as percussion. For Real comes on like a dancehall classic with the shout of, ‘Yo, Vibes!’ in a heavy Jamaican tone. Full of Shit is a dark skipping minimal grime stepper with a bassline that sounds like a computer game from 1990. Inside Looking Out is a slow emotional one with sci-fi atmospherics a badass beat with a wonky edge and some plucky little strings. Just Do Your Thing is another straight ahead grime beat but Trim has some of the catchiest hooks and bars I have heard ever, he makes most beats a treat. Old School Bars, starts slow and builds into a beast with the tempo moving up and synth violins building the tension as Trimble rides it. The Low-Dan is the talking thing, the lazy wonky flow that’s about abusing Flow Dan. It is a massive tune and the stand out on this tape, which is one hell on an achievement. Bleeps, bloops and 8-bit flourishes punctuate the lazy flow. Put Your Mind To It, stick a needle on this dub, its fat. It’s a real dark side whopper of a track, with evil bass and bars. Dusk & Blackdown make a brilliant backbeat to Trim’s The Bits, it’s an off kilter and full of wonky samples that echo sounds from around London, there is a slight Asian hint to the loops used.

Trim’s Soulfood Vol.3 is one of the reasons I’m loving grime right now, the quality is so high in some areas. I don’t know what he is going to do next but his myspace mentions Vol.4 and on this mixtape he mentions an album, but who knows…

Dot Rotten – R.I.P. Young Dot

Dot Rotten has killed off Young Dot and taken on a new alias for his new mixtape this is top quality Grime all the way. But first what about this Young Dot? Well he dropped a free mix tape under that name a while ago and it was an absolute beast, download that for free at the link bellow…

Y.D.O.T. This is Just the Beginning

Now come back and get ready for the death of Young Dot and the brand new Dot Rotten mixtape. Dot is a producer and MC who makes some big beats and started doing that, as he couldn’t get beats off producers to rhyme on. I think he made a good move as he has some beauty’s here and is prolific as hell and has loads of volumes of instrumentals for other MC’s to buy and do their thing on.

My favourite tracks bookend this release I’m Not One Of Them has a wobbly loop mixed with some rhythmic vocal samples before kicking off into some heavy grime beats with a slight American influence to it. Dot Rotten’s flow is wicked and he try’s to separate him self from the average crowd of grime MC’s in the lyrics. I’m A Professional is a sick sick track with doubled up vocal tracks to make a mad effect, with an ace double beat behind it, and some synthetic orchestral stuff to notch up the atmosphere. The sung hook is excellent and makes this track a cracker.

Is It War is a beef track about generally taking people down just the way these Grime heads like it. The beat is a good one mind with low-slung horns and stuttering vocal samples. MC’s Don’t Bother Me is a catchy number and Dot spits bars about not being bothered about the scene and doing his own thing. It has some real emotion to the track. Each tune has something top quality about it, be it the beat, hooks or bars, Dot Rotten just brings it. Under the Grime swaggering and posturing about beefs and being the best, there is a deeper emotional heart that often comes out in the backing track with its spooky atmospherics. The lyrics often touch on wanting to better your self and struggling with it all. This Year is a lo-fi minimal beat beast with some solid bars and hooks, ‘Calm down!’ it’s a bit like a proper underground UK version of Lil’ Wayne’s A Milli, but about getting cash rather than having a fuck load. This brings me onto the next tune I’m A Leader, which echo’s Weezy F with its auto tuned vocal hook and synth melodies. Pain And Strife is a bonus track and has some wicked bars, but the beat is a little weak compared to the rest of the tape, I guess it’s a demo or something. It’s got some heartfelt lyrics mind and for that I salute him. Picking a stand out track is hard as hell here Dot Rotten is solid.

Two instrumental bangers feature on this mixtape Grime And Bass is a beast with a real heavy swagger to it. It makes me want to duck for cover, as it sounds like a fucking war is happening its that heavy. Bazooka is some next level stuff that dropped a while back now so I gather. Low-slung horns and what sounds like a drill loop up then drop into some wicked vocal samples that remind me of old skool house tunes, ‘duh, doo’ ripped up reversed and made into a groove is irresistible. Dot Rotten has skills as a producer and MC.

Rest In Piece Young Dot but long live Dot Rotten…

Buy Dot Rotten – R.I.P. Young Dot here.

The Cool Kids – That’s Stupid

This is the super free new mixtape from hyped up by the hipsters, old school loving, minimalist, 808 bashing duo The Cool Kids. The blog says play it in your car, don’t skip it as its only 25 minuets and tell your friends, so here you go people Check it for your self by clicking the link bellow.

The Cool Kids – That’s Stupid

Cool Kids Dot Com

CoolSpace