Another week in the books, and I must admit, the football fever has already taken a hold of me. The hip-hop news this week probably attributed to this, considering that there wasn't much going on. However, there's never a day where time stands still, and hip hop is no exception. So what was noteworthy last week?
Since I am watching the VMA's right now, it's probably fitting I lead this off with the news that Jay-Z earned 11 nominations for the BET Hip Hop Awards, which will be at Atlanta next month. Drake scored eight noms for himself, while his Young Money partner, Nicki Minaj, somehow garnered seven. As good as Jay is, and Drake has his moments, if you're not just the average, casual hip hop fan, I'm going to already recommend you avoid watching this. Big Boi's Sir Lucious Left Foot, which has probably been the best hip hop album of 2010 so far, wasn't even nominated for CD of the year. If BET wants to be considered a network for great hip hop that isn't top 40, it will need to do some serious research in the future.
Other popular news from the past week was that J. Cole, who has been gaining more and more hype by the day, was announced as the opening act for Jay-Z & Eminem's Homecoming Tour, which will be in New York this week. Consider this a good thing, and if I was, well, not broke, I'd be working the net to try and find tickets to this concert until I passed out from exhaustion. Also last week, Pharoahe Monch's upcoming album, W.A.R., and Smif-N-Wessun & Pete Rock's collaboration, Monumental, got its release dates postponed. Both albums were originally supposed to drop this fall, but now it looks more like February will be when you should see these on store shelves. It sucks that this happened, but trust me, these are two albums that I believe will be well worth the extra wait. Just listen to Monch's previous album, Desire, if you need more convincing.
And what week in hip hop would be complete without another arrest. Yes, unfortunately just a week after T.I. was pulled over for using ecstasy, another rap artist made a dumb mistake. Remember Petey Pablo? If the name doesn't ring a bell, then search up "Freek-a-Leek" and "Raise Up". I mean, how can you not remember "NORTH CAROLINAA, SWING IT LIKE A HELICOPTER!". Yeah, that guy. Well, that guy is also an idiot. Pablo was at the airport on his way to the VMA's Saturday, when, he was stopped for illegal contraband in his carry on bag. Pablo was then arrested because this wasn't just any illegal item, but a pistol. Now remember, Saturday was the 9th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. . .and Petey thinks it's a good idea to try and bring a pistol on a plane to L.A.? Looks like we won't be hearing anything more about Pablo for a very, very long time.
Okay, so now that you may feel somewhat better about yourself since you know you'll never be as stupid as Pablo was on Saturday, here's the top five songs of the week:
Just Missed the Cut: You Be Killin' Them - Fabolous
First off, the beat for this is pretty damn good. It sounds like it samples a church organ, making it instantly something different to listen to. Unfortunately, this song struggles when it comes to Fab's lyrics. "They say she a dime, I say she underrated". Probably not what we would call "classic" lyricism. The hook can get a little annoying too, but I still think this track should garner at least one listen.
5. Whip My Hair - Willow Smith
This actually has received more airplay than the next two tracks on this list, but it's more a pop song, so I downgraded it. Regardless, I really am digging this song. For those of you who don't know, Willow Smith is the daughter of, guess who, Will Smith. Get this though, she's NINE YEARS OLD and she signed a deal with Jay-Z's Roc-Nation Records just last week. This girl has mad potential and if I were Rihanna, I'd be worried. Seriously, she sounds like she's 19 on this song. Look for this to be blasting at clubs very, very soon.
4. Damn it Feels Good to be a Taylor - Wiz Khalifa
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I have no idea what to think about Wiz sometimes. Here is another prime example. Lyrically, (as much as my Pittsburgh friends may disagree), this is extremely weak. He only goes for really one verse on this. However, for reasons I can't explain, I still like this song. It uses the beat from Office Space, and I think it actually suits Wiz very well. Oh, the video for this, is hilarious. I can't believe I'm saying this, but you need to check this one out.
3. Hustlaz [prod. Kanye West] - Twista
I have no idea why this got so much play in the past week, because this song straight up sucks. The production doesn't sound anything like something you would expect from Kanye, meaning that the beat is pretty whack. Twista doesn't even sound like himself on this track. His flow is much, much slower, which strays from what makes him so memorable in the first place.
2. G.O.O.D. Friday - Kanye West ft. Kid CuDi, Common, Pusha T, Big Sean & Sean Wilson
The write up for this song was almost filled up by just the crazy number of guest appearances Kanye decided to include on this one. But besides that, this is a pretty good track from Mr. West and friends. The beat here is fun to listen to and I was pretty fond of the piano loop that it incorporates. CuDi on the hook sounds great as well. Lyrically though, it's just average. I don't understand why Kanye claims this is a song for "hardcore hip hop fans" because it's far from it. Put this on your iTunes on a nice, sunny day because it fits perfectly for it.
1. Lookin' 4 Ya (Jedi Remix) - OutKast
We have a new #1! That's right, Kanye finally loses his spot after three consecutive weeks at the top due to his G.O.O.D. Fridays. Not only is it nice to be writing in a different artist here, but the fact that it's OutKast, is really reason to celebrate. The duo, which I consider to be possibly the greatest of all time, hasn't released anything as a group since their last album, Idlewild, in 2006. Big Boi has been making noise lately, but having Andre 3000 back to help is a great thing to hear. Oh yeah, the song by the way, is AWESOME. I love the beat provided here and both Big Boi and Andre kill each of the verses they appear on. Andre's line about going to "Ikea" is very clever, but then again, this is 3000, so shouldn't we expect the best from him anyways? OutKast does it once again.
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