Music

Top 5 Hip-Hop Releases: August 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 Dance with the top five releases in each. Consider it your cheat sheet for year-end lists.

Top 5 Hip-Hop Releases:
August Edition

Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV

Serving his jail sentence might have been the best thing Wayne could have done for himself. The storied success of Tha Carter III put him in a very awkward situation. As much as being creative and reinventing oneself is necessary to sustain a long career, the experimentation he began on Rebirth wasn’t very promising and seemed to be the beginning of his decline. But with the time off, his current attempt to recreate his most successful album upon his return is completely feasible. From the Bangladesh-produced lead single dripping with punchlines (“6 Foot 7 Foot”) to the perfect balance of raunch-filled R&B standards (“So Special”, “She Will”, “How To Hate”) with straight spitting (“Intro”, “John”, “I Like The View”) and politically charged manifestos (“President Carter”, “Mirror”), Tha Carter IV matches up to III track for track. This isn’t a complaint as much as it’s a compliment to Wayne and his brain trust. Why not remind fans of what they’ve been missing from Lil Wayne?

Jay-Z and Kanye West – Watch the Throne

Jay-Z and Kanye have collaborated numerous times in the last decade. It’s really not that big of a deal that they did an album together. The most exciting thing about this project is seeing names like Pharrell, RZA, Swizz Beats, Mike Dean, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, No I.D., and West himself scattered across the production credits. Individually, most of these guys have played an integral part in whipping up some of the greatest albums in hip hop history. As a team, they get pretty close to pulling it off again but maybe for a misplaced cause. No one asked for this album. There is no real chemistry between these two guys rapping on the same track and Watch The Throne could have easily been a solid solo album for either Kanye or Jay-Z. Surprisingly enough, each of them find a way to get more personal on this record than they did on their recent respective albums. On the stand-out “New Day,” a touching, Nina Simone sampling number that features Jay and ‘Ye talking to their unborn children, both artists just start scratching the surface of the topic with one verse each before the song ends. As in many cases on the album, they end up diluting themselves as they steal the spotlight from each other during such personal moments. As uncomfortable as that is, it’s still impossible to deny their magnetism, add in the flawless production and somehow Watch The Throne ends up sounding like it was a good idea to begin with.

Gucci Mane & Waka Flocka Flame – Ferrari Boyz

Not that it’s that difficult from where he was before, but Flocka is actually getting better. He sounds like he has something resembling a flow now but it could just be because he’s rapping alongside start and stop expert Gucci Mane. The duo offer just about everything that’s expected from them; just some comfortable flossed out bossing on some thunderously bassy beats. Gucci and Flocka are simple guys; they don’t have too much to say. As long as they get proper production they’ll be just fine. It feels really weird saying this but this is exactly the sort of album that Jay-Z and Kanye West wanted to make but couldn’t.

Shaun Boothe – Waiting Room

Just about 3 years ago when Shaun Boothe, the Toronto rapper formerly known as Ricochet, started releasing songs based on the biographies of his heroes, it was clear he a good head on his shoulders. Then he started promoting a project called Hip Hop In 3D with a brilliant “Bohemian Rhapsody” flip for a single called “Poor Boy”. As the buzz built up, no album came. And while he’s been around dropping singles here and there to stay relevant, he seems to have been in limbo for the last year or so. Now he releases the aptly titled Waiting Room, a tight mixtape featuring new versions of some of those singles and an update on what he’s been up to. “Poor Boy” is here with an added guest spot from Kardinal Offishall along with his awesome Lykke Li flip “Let Me Go” bolstered by a CyHi Da Prynce cameo. On “Headline” he explains how it is to open for bigger acts; he explains “I paint pictures though I’m not real draw”. This definitely doesn’t fit into the clichéd braggadocio that we’ve come to expect from rappers and that’s where Boothe thrives. While he’s a rapper with a classic flow, he has great ideas and he’ll try them out even if he hasn’t seen anyone do it before. Whether or not this tape garners him more popularity, the idea is Shaun Boothe will continue doing his thing.

Danny Brown – XXX

It’s not completely clear what A-Trak and Catchdubs are planning to do with the talent on their Fool’s Gold imprint, but it’s clear they have lots of it. New signee Danny Brown fits right into the stereotype that they make them crazy in Detroit. But man, can he spit. Similar to Shaun Boothe on the above addressed mixtape, Brown has a cynical nothing-to-lose attitude on this tape, just with a bit more venom. Well, maybe a lot more venom. The majority of the most hilarious punchlines are best left unrepeated. One of the least crass tracks, “Fields” features a genius description of the neighborhood he was raised in; “Where I lived it was house, field, field/Field, field, house/Abandoned house, field, field”. This bleak account doubles as an analogy to the current hip hop landscape from his point of view. Brown is a remarkable rapper that’s been bouncing around for a while now not being able to find his place just like the kid in this song. Maybe his Fool’s Gold compadres will help introduce him to the audience he deserves.

Surprises, disappointments and tracks/albums to watch for next month

Surprise of the month: Ace Hood – Blood, Sweat, & Tears

DJ Kahled protégé Ace Hood has been sort of aimlessly floating around for the last 3 years; dropping a pair of albums, a few mixtapes, and guesting on Khaled’s compilations. Nobody really expected anything good or bad from him until late last year when his song “Hustle Hard,” produced by Lex Luger, hit the blogs. Ace grunts “Same ol’ shit, just a different day/out here tryin’ to get it, each and every way/Momma need a house, baby need some shoes/Times are getting’ hard, guess what I’ma do?” on the self-help anthem. As this song became a success for Ace he jumped on this angle and built an inspired record to support the song. Most interesting is “Go N’ Get It,” which comes off as a carbon copy of “Hustle Hard” but somehow works because it plays as a less generalized and more personal version of the lead single. Throughout the album Ace Hood continuously gets back to why he strives so hard for success and its fruits. He loves and cares about his family and this wills him to do as much as he can to help them lead happy lives. This might be a simple thought but its filled with passion and sincerity, something that many talented rappers are never able to tap into. He might have stumbled into it, but Ace has, out of nowhere, crafted a substantial opus that hopefully will redirect his young career.

Disappointments: Game – The R.E.D. Album
Although he might not be the smartest rapper, Game (formerly The Game) has an ear for beats and a knack for getting just the right guests to put together solid albums. Not this time. Game might have chosen his guests a bit too well for this album. They all outshine him. First up, rookie of the year Kendrick Lamar steals the first song, “The City,” with an incredible 20-bar verse which is so potent Game decided to break off the first 8 for the chorus. Next, on “Martians Vs Goblins,” Tyler, The Creator goes at Bruno Mars, LeBron James, and Game himself. The song ends up being the best example of Tyler’s cross-over appeal so far as Game just end up being a sidenote on his verses as Lil Wayne does the hook. Drake, Rick Ross, Big Boi, Jeezy, and Wale all take their triumphs as things get sloppy into the album’s second half where Game still finds a way to let other rappers outshine him even on his solo tracks. He attempts to emulate Nas on the DJ Premier-produced “Born In The Trap” but he’s not Nas, so of course he fails. He also does a pretty hilarious Biggie impersonation on “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.” An average rapper shouldn’t attempt things like this because it automatically leads to unflattering comparisons. Lastly, for some reason, Dr. Dre is here on four interludes telling a story that has nothing to do with the theme or narrative of the album (maybe because it doesn’t have one). A rare highpoint, “Ricky” features Game actually being himself as he builds a parallel between his life experiences and Singleton’s ghetto classic Boyz N The Hood. This is Game at his best; his passion and his story are what make him interesting and “Ricky” sets the perfect scene for him to display this. Sadly, though, he spends the majority of this album over-ambitiously trying to do things that other rappers do.

Out in August: Major label debuts from a pair of southern boys that everybody’s rooting for: J. Cole and Big K.R.I.T.