Music

Top 5 Hip-Hop Releases: June Edition

by Chayne Japal

Each month, tons of new music from many taste-spanning genres is released into a fast-consuming, unforgiving audience; it can be tough to get a handle on what’s new before it’s on to the next. In an attempt to highlight the standout releases, at the end of each month, AUX staff re-cap the month in Punk, Metal, Indie/Pop/Rock, Hip Hop, Pop, and Electronica/Dance with the top five releases in each. Consider it your cheat sheet for year-end lists.

Top 5 Indie/Rock/Pop Releases: June Edition

 

Big Sean – Finally Famous: The Album

Big Sean’s first appearance as Kanye’s protégé was on the 2007 buzz tape Can’t Tell Me Nothing. It must have been a long four years for Sean as he built up buzz with three mixtapes and a slew of guest appearances while watching labelmate Kid Cudi’s career take off. Now, finally, it’s his turn. Luckily, the pressure didn’t seem to affect him all that much as he’s created a fun, tight record that thrives on his youth and his brash arrogance. The punchlines are plentiful, he says “I got that mad dick, you know it always nut up/And it got an attitude, no wonder why it’s stuck up” on “Dance (A$$),” which keeps things interesting throughout. Sonically, the album is an ace. Producer No I.D. helms the majority of the project (Canadians Boi-1da and Arthur McArthurand produce “My House”) which brings a cohesiveness that is rarely seen on recent major label releases. The record is packed with quirky vocal pitch shifts, hooks, and catch phrases that should raise Finally Famous’ replay value. It’s clear that Big Sean and co. used the time they had to put this record together carefully. No wonder he was so excited in the lead up to its release. Only worry now is, with his Finally Famous theme expired, where will he go from here?

Curren$y – Weekend at Burnie’s

It’s baffling how the laziest sounding rapper could be so prolific. This is Curren$y’s fourth release to come after last year’s breakthrough Pilot Talk and this record offers much of the same as the ones before, Curren$y rapping about how much he loves weed, rapping, and straight up kicking it. On the extra smooth opener “#jetsgo,” he says “these detailed lyrics are far too intricate to be made up” which sets up the most interesting track on this collection: the quiet storm tinged “She Don’t Want A Man”, which tells a story about a fairly uncomplicated love triangle. Curren$y’s descriptive style is well suited to this sort of storytelling and the thought that he’s explaining his actual lifestyle makes his anecdotes all the more thrilling. One can only hope he continues to this on his trillions of ensuing projects.

CyHi Da Prince – Royal Flush 2

Last summer, CyHi Da Prince found himself in some very good company. Now, the Atlanta based MC with the gravely voice reminiscent of Tone-Loc is poised to capitalize on his popularity with his first mixtape since singing with Kanye West. Stand-out tracks include the La Roux-sampling “Bulletproof” which features CyHi suggesting that his self-esteem has made him untouchable and the Kanye West/No I.D. produced “Woopty Doo” where he talks about the importance of having one’s priorities in order. CyHi’s versatility might be his strongest attribute. He finds a way to casually shift from conscious MC to gangster to ladies man without contradicting himself. That could go a long way should he choose to stick around for the long haul.

Bad Meets Evil – Hell: The Sequel

A lot has happened since Eminem’s and Royce Da 5’9″‘s collaboration on 1999’s Slim Shady LP. While Eminem meandered his way to being the most successful rapper ever, Royce lingered in the shadow of what could have been if he stuck with Em’s camp. Somehow, what could have been turned into reality when Eminem signed Slaughterhouse (a group featuring Royce Da 5’9”) to his Shady Records imprint and pulled Royce aside to finally complete the heavily anticipated Bad Meets Evil project that had been talked about for the better part of the last decade. As of late, it seems like Eminem is making a concerted effort to polish up his legacy and him reaching out to his old friend Royce is a great example of that. Unfortunately, the direction of this record is non-existent; creating a mess of an EP that comes off rushed even though it took 12 years for it to happen. Comical Afroman-esque tracks like “I’m On Everything” throw off the album’s flow and, for some weird reason, Bruno Mars and his cheese factory The Smeezingtons were hired to produce a track on the EP. The resulting song, “Lighters,” is currently blazing up the charts, good luck avoiding it. Yet the EP has its moments as Em’s and Royce’s undeniable skills shine through their bizarre creative decisions. Beyond all that, this is the best career move the deserving Royce could have made but many hip hop fans would agree that he should have just done an album with Premier instead.

Bombé & Mr. Caribbean – James Drake

The mashup trend has run its course, but Bombé & Mr. Caribbean’s James Drake mixtape, an unofficial mashup between Drake and post-dubstep sweetheart James Blake, was meant to be. There’s much more going on here than just a pair of tracks being synced up. Blake is the solvent to Drake’s solute as most of the mixtape is comprised of Drake’s acapella being screwed, chopped, and harassed every which way over Blake’s tracks. Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, the power of this cohesive mix helps to canonize some of these songs that are barely a year old. It’s remarkable how well these guys go together, one can only assume (and hope) that James and Aubrey will find themselves in the same studio in the near future.

Surprises, disappointments and albums to watch for next month

Surprise of the month: Laws – Yesterday’s Future
Miami’s J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League has been cranking out beats for numerous acts for the last 5 years. The trio have a knack for flipping samples in interesting ways that maintains the musicality of the original song rather than just grabbing 4-bars looping it for four minutes. This is why the mixtape they’ve produced for their signee Laws was such a good idea. Built entirely from the music of Paul McCartney, Yesterday’s Future is Laws’ latest attempt to get his name out there. It might seem like a bit of a cop out to use a Beatle’s music as the backdrop for a mixtape, but think about it; how daunting is that for a rapper to do? Somehow, Laws maintains a subtle comfort over these tracks that show a promising confidence in the young rapper. The mixtape uses piano renditions of “Say Say Say,” “At The Mercy,” and “Jet” along with clips of a fake press conference featuring manipulated clips from McCartney interviews as interludes to link together the 10 tracks. It’s always a good thing when this sort of detail is dedicated towards a mixtape. It confirms the seriousness and respect that Laws and his producers rightfully approached this project with. Hopefully he picks up some buzz from this project before that looming cease and desist comes down the pipe.

Disappointment of the month: Tech N9ne – All 6’s And 7’s
Kansas City native Tech N9ne has quietly picked up a loyal following with a consistent string of independent releases over the last decade. His sped-up Midwest flow along with his spiritual content has reached the ears of far more fans than anyone could have imagined without major label backing and no high profile co-sign. His recent effort, All 6’s And 7’s is his attempt to reach a wider audience. Tech N9ne is a different type of rapper, there’s never really been a place for him in the hip hop scene and this was the most alluring thing about him. He thrived on being the outcast underdog but now his attempt to be a regular rapper has put him a few steps back. Big budget production from the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and B.o.B. along with superstar guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, and T-Pain end up being irrelevant as Tech N9ne is unable to back it up. For example, too many songs carry Songwriting For Dummies choruses like “If I Could” which features a guest singing “But if I could, I would be good/I would be there for you just like I should.” Why was that recorded? Even his collaboration with rookie of the year candidate Kendrick Lamar falls flat. The song is called “I Love Music” and it’s about how much Tech N9ne loves music. Kudos to whoever came up with that brilliant idea. Apparently, all this doesn’t matter though as it early sales suggest that this will be his most successful album to date.

Out in July: Kendrick Lamar’s #Section80, DJ Khaled’s We The Best Forever, and a pair of official releases from OFWGKTA offshoots Frank Ocean and MellowHype among a host of summer releases. It’s going to be a hot one.