30 Reviews in 30 Days: Atmosphere - Family Sign

Slug and Ant.  Not your typical run-of-the-mill hip hop names that you would come to expect today.  But maybe that's all part of Atmosphere's plan; they aren't anything like the norm.

I was introduced to the group over three years ago, when a friend of mine made a mix with "The Waitress" off of When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold.  I remember how I was so perplexed at the depth of the song, and the twist that accompanied it at its end (if you don't know what I'm referring to, you should go listen to this album immediately).  I actually started with Life Gives You Lemons before working my way down the Atmosphere catalog (which is actually pretty extensive).  Atmosphere, made up of MC Sean Daley (Slug) and Producer Anthony Davis (Ant), have been in the hip hop genre for over 20 years surprisingly, releasing six studio albums over that span as well as 10 EP's (although their first release didn't come out until over 8 years from when they got started as a group).  The two hail from Minneapolis, MN, and to my knowledge at least, they are the only significant act in hip-hop that call the Twin Cities their home.

What makes Atmosphere so interesting though, isn't from where they're roots are entrenched, but in the style of music that they perform.  Classified as drivers of the "independent" rap movement (wikipedia at least believes so), Atmosphere has never been a group that has really gained the attention of many radio stations nationwide.  This doesn't reflect at all however, on how good the group actually is.  In fact, it's almost a testament to how committed they are to their particular style that they still have yet to turn their attention to mainstream.  But what's even more interesting about Slug and Ant is that they are the only group that I can identify as sharing the same demographic (at least somewhat) as I do.  They're both white and both from low-middle class backgrounds.  The status quo in hip-hop, it seems, is that you either grow up in the streets and (usually) are black, or you have strong musical backgrounds in your family that you continue on (such as Weezy).

Slug, though, is nothing like the status quo.  And what's even more refreshing is that you can tell by the words he rhymes in his music.  He hates celebrities (see "National Disgrace"),  he's sometimes suicidal (see "Between the Lines") and he relates with others who share his same position (see "Like the Rest of Us").  The thing that separates himself from Eminem, the most famous caucasian rapper in existence, is that Shady had a dark side that Slug doesn't and has never really had.  Slim used this to shock the rest of the world, and subsequently, become one of the greatest selling artists of the modern era.  Daley, on the other hand, is just like the majority of Americans today and tells it like it is.  There is no shock value to what he raps; it's just thoughts that any poor middle-class American may have from time to time.  Normalcy, however, is the exact quality that makes him so different from every other rapper that I hear.

Atmosphere has always been a good rap group, but it wasn't until I heard Life Gives You Lemons that I elevated them into the "great" discussion.  Lemons was Atmosphere's magnum opus and it seemed that the group was just starting to actually peak after 19 years of being in the business.  Lemons was also among numerous "Top Ten" lists at the end of 2008 and you could certainly make a strong argument that it was the best hip-hop album of the entire year (to which I would disagree, being that Q-Tip's The Renaissance and Nas's Untitled were still slightly better).  So after a three year hiatus (with an EP released in the meantime), Atmosphere was back this year with their latest studio album, The Family Sign.  Slug said before it's release that it was an album devoted to describing many of the issues he experienced in his family while growing up and that it had a much darker tone than Lemons.  With Slug and Ant deciding to take this route, I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I knew I would still make sure to get a copy regardless, being that I gained that type of respect for Atmosphere already.

But how much different was Family Sign than Lemons or any of Atmosphere's previous work?  Here's what I found.

1. My Key
An important change in this album that I noticed quickly was that Daley and Davis employed the services of Nate Collis (guitar) and Erick Anderson (keyboard) to provide live instrumentation.  I've always liked Ant's sampling better than any attempt at live instruments for Atmosphere, but at least early on in this song, it sounded pretty good.  This is a nice touch, it lasts too long though, since Slug doesn't appear on the mic until nearly two minutes into the song.  While it's clear that nothing's changed in Slugs delivery (which has always been stellar), I couldn't put a finger on exactly what he was talking about in his verse.  I think, and this is only a guess, but that the song is directed at someone he's loved, considering he says "we made some babies/we made some messes too".  Yet, I also have the inclination to believe that he's talking as if he is his father talking to his mom, since this is an album supposed to be about much of Daley's family life (but again, it's only guessing).  The song starts out lighter, but the mood darkens significantly by the end, giving me the impression that this is not going to be a very pleasant road down Slug's memory lane.

2. The Last to Say
The song starts out with an eery feel to it, but when the guitar drops, things warm up a little.  At least musically.  Slug begins to tell his story in third person, describing how he "was safe from dad's rage/cuz mama always sacrificed in his place" and going into more detail on how the mother lived for 24 years like this "avoiding the hair losing hair from the fear".  Unfortunately, his mom didn't have the courage to leave her abusive husband until he ended up dying himself.  The word play here is, as in most cases with Slug, extremely well done, with an example being "the biggest beating was the day that he died/cuz now it's too late for here to make another life" (and this is shit that happens everywhere that I barely hear other rappers addressing, so while it's solemn in tone, it is refreshing in the sense that I'm hearing something new).  This anger that developed over the years seems to have been inherited in her son (which I'm assuming is Slug) and he explains how noone else could never understand what he had to witness when he was young.  In this case, the keyboard/guitar instrumentation is a great complement to Ant's beat, creating a depressing undertone for Slug's story.  The second verse tries to be more optimistic as Slug tries to give his mother advice to escape the life she lives with her husband, but its a little short.  Otherwise, though, this is as accurate a description as I've ever heard of domestic violence in song form.

3. Became
When Slug retires (which I feel won't be anytime soon), he'll have a lot to choose from if he ever wanted to pick a track that really assessed how good he is at creating a story with rhymes.  This song though, could be the one I'd advise him to choose.  The story is told in chronological order, with no hook to interrupt it.  Slug describes an experience he has in the woods where he loses a friend, supposedly to wolves, until, to his horror, he discovers something beyond what he'd ever expected.  Daley does an incredible job of describing this experience (it makes me believe this may have even happened to him) and he does it in a way that keeps you completely focused on what he has to say.  The real beauty of the song, though, is the ending, which had me pondering on the true meaning of the song for days.  Did Daley's friend literally become what he thought?  Or was the entire song a metaphor of describing how he thought he knew someone but he finally realizes who this person actually is?  What makes this song even more effective is how the piano keys and beat behind Slug speed up as his anxiety grows.  It really does make you feel how he does, and that is something really hard to achieve without something visual to complement it.  I don't even need a video for this because of how well Slug tells his story.  One of the best I've heard all year, in all honesty.

4. Just for Show
A big change in tone from the previous three tracks, this one speeds things up a little with more help from Collis and his guitar.  Slug uses this song to attack a previous girlfriend (or current, who knows) and he does a serious psychoanalysis into his partner, for example "Now you wanna threaten me, is that what you're telling me? Like if i don't step it up, what you gonna step from me? Where you gonna go? You next to me steadily At this point it's like I'm joined with your chemistry".  While it's nothing groundbreaking, and it does take a serious turn from the earlier subjects Slug discusses, it's still an interesting listen and I did enjoy the beat that came out of this one.  It's just not quite on the level as the last two tracks I heard.


5. She's Enough
OK, here's the first big misstep with the live instruments idea.  I fucking hated the guitar riffs and beat for this, which hurt really any chance I'd have of trying to say this is worth my time.  Fortunately (well, not so much) Slug also gives his three worst verses of the entire album to this point, so I won't even feel bad skipping it because there's nothing here lyrically to keep me interested.  I wasn't crazy about the overall theme of the song either, which was a complete 180 from the previous track.


6. Bad Bad Daddy
Slug is a "bad bad daddy" in this and this is a bad, bad song.  I think it's supposed to be more of a satire than anything, but regardless, nothing really works for it, so it's another skip.  (And again, the guitar just doesn't sound that good.  Now I'm really longing for some Ant sampling)


7. Millennium Dodo
Just as I was getting frustrated about not enough sampling, it seems as if Ant was reading my mind.  It's the first song that is dominated by a sample more than anything else, and while it's not great, it's still an improvement over the last two tracks.  Slug does sound better on it and he does a good job when describing his experience in the bar "I'm coolin in the corner with my custom pool stick/My grandad must've played the jazz/When I bleed you can hear my heartbeat snap/All around the world, it's the same bar/Wishin that the jukebox had some Gangstarr."  The guitar starts to make more of an appearance as the song wears on, and while it doesn't improve the song in any way really, it doesn't do enough to hurt it, and that's a good thing.  This is a song I could've seen more on Lemons, but I'll take it as it is.

8. Who I'll Never Be
And we're back to this acoustic bullshit.  I was hoping that we'd get at least a little more of what "Dodo" had to offer, but no, Slug and Ant decide that they're really sticking to the instrumentals rather than samples.  The background sounds like Slug is sitting somewhere south of the border and reminiscing.  To my surprise, while I still am in favor of sampling, it doesn't sound that horrible.  I'm also starting to wonder where the hell the family stuff Slug described earlier had gone.  This is another song directed towards another female, and while there is a chance it could be someone in his family, I think the chances are pretty fucking slim.

9. I Don't Need Brighter Days
Ant decides to make his presence felt again, but the sample is weaker than the one he uses for "Dodo".  The hook on this is fucking awful ("you've got me walking away, you've got me walking away now") and Slug is anything great here.  Not to say he sounds terrible, but it's just very average, and that has me walking away from this song.

10. Ain't Nobody
Ughh, another horrible hook and the guitar doesn't sound much better.  This honestly sounds like shit I'd hear on a fucking Disney show soundtrack ("yeah, I came to party, but I don't want to party with you", I could seriously see this reincarnated in a kids musical or something alike in the future).  I'm losing interest in this album fast.

11. Your Name Here
The return of Anderson and the keyboard is a nice one and it's the first song I don't have to trudge through since "Dodo".  This one focuses on an ex that Slug happens to meet by chance and he explains how he doesn't need her anymore "let's not make this into an issue, but the truth is, I don't miss you".  The hook is considerably better than much of what's on the album (although it's not spectacular) but this is an above average song to say the least.  It's not raising my hopes that this album will blow me away in the final three tracks, though.

12. You Can Save Me Now
This sounds something more like the stuff I was hearing earlier in the album, and that's a good thing.  Slug returns (well not really returns, just returning to telling something that is actually worth hearing) to his storytelling and it's another reflection piece.  He takes the position as the father figure again in this track, and it takes the view of Slug being involved in an accident.  I'm assuming he's on the brink of death, but this is a really cool track because it describes something that I feel is very real if it does happen, unfortunately of course, to you in life.  People always say in near-death experiences that they see their life flash before their eyes, which is exactly the angle Slug takes here.  "It reminds me of when i was younger. used to count down to the sound of thunder i smell fresh cut grass mixed with the burnt rubber" is probably a pretty good description of what he would be thinking if he actually was involved in an fatal accident.  I thought it was a really cool idea he presents that "for the first time, I remember being born" on this as well (because maybe that is the only time you will ever recount that memory.  How fitting you would remember your birth for the first time as you experience life for the last).  Now only if Slug would have done more shit like this on the album.


13. Something So
This one isn't as strong as the previous track, but it does seem genuine and Slug does a good job at painting a picture of leaving an old life behind (or maybe death, really).  I also think this is more of a "thank you" to his parents, even though he may have gone through a lot of turmoil with them, with a good example being this:


"We only get to live one time, but twice did my life stand in some sunshine/I could lose eyesight, I could end up blind/But I drew my design inside the bloodline/Years go by, memories combine/But y'all the only reason I would even rewind"

So, even with everything he's been through, he still appreciates his family and it leaves me with hope for him.  It's also one of the very few, maybe the only one, songs that left me with a smile.  Surprisingly though, this is not the last track on the album (although it seems as if it should be).

14. My Notes
I'm not sure whether I would've ended with "Something So" or this, but I think this is good enough to make me believe that either one would really work.  The instruments sound pretty good on here and this is more of a forecast than a memory.  Slug also lets his fans and audience know that he's not leaving his "soap box" "as long has I can hit my notes".  While this album has proven to not be anything terrific, I'm glad we will still have more to expect from Daley in the future.

Closing Statement: First thing's first, this is no Lemons.  Not by a longshot.  The album starts out with tremendous promise and then takes a turn for the worst fast.  What's unfortunate is that by the time Slug and Ant get things together, it's already too late to really save this album from being anything than slightly above average.  I also was really confused at the writing for this.  It's like Slug penned tracks 1-4 in a sitting, left, got fucked up on something, came back and wrote everything from "She's Enough" to "Ain't Nobody", left, sobered up, then came back focused and wrote the rest of the album.  The tracks in the heart of the album are so far off from the first third and last that I can only hope that this was the case.  It's also a shame, because most listeners won't be patient enough to get through tracks 6-10 and they'll leave before they get a chance to hear the final section of the album, which is actually pretty good.  What Slug and Ant do have working for them is that "The Last to Say" and "Became" come at the beginning of the album, and any hip hop head should at least give these both a listen because they are fantastic (especially "Became").   The task of following up Lemons for Daley and Davis was pretty much impossible from the start, so producing something less than that level is nothing to be too upset about.  It's just not their best, and I can only hope they see that sign and return to more of the formula that made Lemons so good in the first place.

The Verdict: If you're an Atmosphere fan, you'll want to pick this one up, even if it's not one of the group's best efforts.  Otherwise, I'd just find "The Last to Say", "Became", and the final four tracks to add to your library.  Usually I'd say support Atmosphere by buying it because they need the album sales $ more than anyone, but since this debuted at #13 on its release, I'd venture to guess the two aren't hurting at the moment, so I don't think they'd be too hurt if you only listen to part of this.

30 Reviews in 30 Days: Kanye West & Jay-Z - Watch the Throne

Ohh man.  This was one I wanted to review as soon as I bought it the night of its release around 1 in the morning.  I always get excited for new albums and I usually will have it within the first couple days of its release, but this one, this one was obviously a tad more special (I wonder why...).

To be honest, I was shocked that this even saw the light of day.  Yeezy and Jay began talking about this project last August (2010) after Kanye began his G.O.O.D. Friday series with "Power Remix ft. Jay-Z".  Initially, this was supposed to just be a compilation of Kanye and Jay-Z's sessions over the years, including the "Power Remix".  As expected though, that wasn't enough for 'Ye (remember, this dude is the voice of a generation..), so he and Jay decided to turn it into an EP that would be released shortly after 'Ye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy hit shelves.  But no, that wasn't enough either, so the two upped the ante shortly after their EP announcement and claimed that they would work on a full LP collaboration that would come out around February.

For one, Jay-Z has always been one of my favorite artists and I have never had much to complain about when it comes to Kanye.  After hearing Yeezy's MBDTF, I gained even more respect for his musical abilities, which further increased my anxiety to hear his collaboration with Hov (after all, I did give this dude my "Album of the Year" title for 2010).  There was little reason to also expect that whatever they came out with would be actually terrible, especially if you go through their previous work together (I'm referring to 'Ye producing and Jay spitting, previous to Watch the Throne; I believe their "Power Remix" was the first track the two had even recorded together with both taking mic duties).

The anticipation fell somewhat, however, after the two released their first single "H.A.M. (Hard as a Motherfucka)" at the beginning of the new year.  I got a few laughs from Hova saying that he "swims with Great Whites" and "plays chicken with a mac truck", but otherwise, the beat was wayy too extravagant and the song just wasn't that good.  A theory then began to develop in my mind.  Would Kanye and Jay-Z actually take this collabo seriously? Or was this just a way for them to boast how powerful the two of them are in music today?  My feelings leaned toward the latter and, while I was still excited to hear what the two had to offer, I was also hesitant to get my hopes up too high.  I also laughed when I heard that the pair would find a way to prevent their album from leaking (after all, Hova's Blueprint 3 was viral almost a month before its release).  No matter how bad or good the album would be, I thought that if they could even accomplish this goal, their album deserved to be listened to (well really, it pretty much deserved a listen just because of respect to who the two guys are).

For weeks before the release of the album, I tried everything I could to see if I could prove Hova and Yeezy wrong (noone had been able to this before, so why should I expect any different?). I went to every single filesharing site I could find, but every attempt proved futile (I even gave my number and information to some site, yes I was an idiot, because I was so desperate to let myself know that I was right).  So on August 8th, at midnight, I was one of the hundreds of thousands who waited eagerly hit that "buy" button on iTunes so I could get my copy of Watch the Throne. 

Was it worth the wait?  The answer lies below in my review.

1. No Church in the Wild ft. Frank Ocean (Prod. by 88 Keys)
I expected this album to open with something epic and it certainly does.  The key here is to separate the word "epic" and "good".  Yes, something may sound like it should be blasted on stadium speakers, but that doesn't inherently make it good.  I've always felt Frank Ocean is a tad overrated and he does nothing to refute that belief with his performance here.  "What's a God to a non-believer who don't believe anything" and "Will we make it out alive, no church in the wild" gives me the idea that Kanye and Jay are trying to make a comparison to the "wild" being the streets and that there is no haven there.  If that's what it is, it's a clever metaphor, but again, it's only speculation.  Jay builds on the epic momentum of this with lines like "blood stained doors" and "Socrates asks who's biased, we all seek".  I also got a laugh with the "Jesus was a carpenter, Yeezy laid beats" (how fucking full of yourself can you really get...at least at was Jay who says this, not Yeezy himself).  After some auto-tune bullshit, Kanye makes his first appearance and, while I liked a few of his punchlines, there's no depth to it.  It's an interesting song, I'll give it that, but don't try and get confused that this song is "the greatest thing since Illmatic" as some idiot was proclaiming the day after they released this. (Seriously, I'm not kidding.  Google it.)

2. Lift Off ft. Beyonce (Prod. by Kanye West)
Another grandiose beat, which I actually enjoyed, but man, I can't really say it any other way: this song is fucking terrible.  "Show off my tattoos, I'm such a show off", are you fucking kidding me 'Ye?  What's worse is that's pretty much his entire verse right there, since it only lasts about 20 seconds.  I hoped that Jay would be able to pick up at least some of the pieces here, but no, he's just about as bad as his predecessor.  Even Beyonce doesn't sound up to par here (and I thought that was impossible before hearing this track).  It makes sense that they'd release this as a single because the mainstream would gobble this shit up.  I was worried after hearing H.A.M.; I was terrified after hearing this.

3. Ni**as in Paris (Prod. by Hit Boy)
Before the beat even drops, I had a feeling I was going to like this one.  The clip "We're gonna skate to one song, and one song only" from Blades of Glory assured me that this was going to be ridiculous, no matter how good or bad the track would end up being.  Once the beat does actually drop though, I was thrilled.  A beat that has had numerous remixes made to it, and for good reason, after this came out is one of the best that you'll find on Watch the Throne.  It's a song more of celebrating how far Jay and 'Ye have made it (which we've heard before), but only these two could make the track sound genuine and somehow make it work.  I had to love the line "If you escaped what I've escaped, you'd be in Paris getting fucked up too!" because it is honest.  Kanye's verse lacks a little compared to Hova (although he does suffer from "realness" according to his doctor), but the back and forth between the two is refreshing and it's something I had hoped I hear a lot of on Watch the Throne.  After another Blades of Glory excerpt (which was great), the song takes a major turn (which becomes a common theme on this album) into a beat that's a combination of "H.A.M." and 808's.  If there was ever a declaration of how Yeezy and Jay consider themselves the greatest right now, this is it.  And you know what, for this track at least, I have a hard time disagreeing.

4. Otis ft. Otis Redding (Prod. by Kanye West)
The second single of the album is one that brings mixed feelings.  Truthfully, I wasn't crazy about the entire song when it came out a month before the release of Watch the Throne and I'm still not really feeling it.  It has it's moments ("I'm about to call the paparazzi on myself," for one), but for the most part, this song is just another excuse for the two to brag (and I'm starting to get a little annoyed at this point).  Thank God they gave credit to Redding as a feature here because Yeezy's beat is basically just an Otis Redding song.  Nothing about this song has, as Darrell from Storage Wars says, the "WOW" factor, and with the expectations this album had, it means that it's a fail in my book.

5. Gotta Have It (Prod. by The Neptunes)
I've always been a Neptunes fan, and this song won't change that, but it's not quite what I had hoped from them.  Still, I will admit, this beat still sounds decent and its been nearly four months, so that deserves some praise.  It's another back and forth between Jay and 'Ye, mostly about nonsense, so yes, that means it's worth listening to.  This song also sounds terrific when you have a good system to play it on.  So no, this won't break any new ground and it's not fantastic, but I can deal.  It's entertaining, that's for sure.

6. New Day (Prod. by RZA)
RZA?  Jay-Z?  It happened?!  Yep, after years and years of Hov completely ignoring the Clan (to which his rival Nas has taken full advantage of, although I honestly don't think Jay could ever have stayed on the level they were 15 years ago), Jay finally sucks it up and employs RZA to make a beat for him and 'Ye.  Unfortunately, this is not anything what I had hoped for.  Some say RZA did a good job here and maybe I shouldn't have gotten excited that I'd be hearing the grittiness of Cuban Linx, but man, I just can't get into it.  This song bucks the trend that the album has for the first five tracks though, which is the beat is > than the lyrical content.  Yeezy, who gets very personal on this, and Jay both talk as if they're speaking to they're future son/daughter (which Jay actually will be seeing shortly) and I really did like the overall theme.  Kanye also I think outperforms his mentor here, especially with his first couple lines:

"And I’ll never let my son have an ego/He’ll be nice to everyone, wherever we go/I mean, I might even make ‘em be Republican/So everybody know he love white people/And I’ll never let ‘em leave his college girlfriend/And get caught up with the groupies in the whirlwind/And I’ll never let ‘em ever hit the telethon/I mean even if people dyin’ and the world ends/See, I just want ‘im to have an easy life, not like Yeezy."

So while I'm not crazy about the song, I appreciate the thought behind it.  It's also the first song on the entire album that actually has some depth to it, which shows me that, at least partially, Yeezy and Jay did give a shit on what they put on this.

7. That's My Bitch (Prod. by Q-Tip)
This one leaked a year ago and was actually supposed to originally be on Kanye's MBDTF.  The version leaked sounds nearly identical to this one (with this one sounding a little crisper).  Were the two being lazy?  Maybe, but I don't really care because I still love what I'm hearing.  The drums used by Q-Tip to accompany his beat are flat out awesome and he really hits a home run with the beat overall (on a side note, I heard somewhere that Q-Tip was as responsible for Tribe's beats as Shaheed-Muhammad was, which is no surprise to me.  The guy is super talented on the mic and the boards).  'Ye and Jay both do a good job on their respective verses (really liked the "I mean Marilyn Monroe, she's quite nice, but why all the pretty icons always all white?" line Jay drops) and this is deff. one of my favorites on the album.  What's funny is that I think this song fits better on here than on MBDTF, and I have a feeling 'Ye may have realized this too.

8. Welcome to the Jungle (Prod. Swizz Beatz)
As soon as I saw they employed this idiot to produce, I knew this song was in trouble.  And, not to my surprise, Swizz does what he always does, which is suck ass.  I always think (actually I pretty much know at this point) that Swizz is a wannabe rapper (like DJ Khaled) so he has to intrude on EVERYTHING he produces.  Fuck Swizz Beatz and this song. (And no, Jay and Kanye don't have anything worth mentioning here, either)

9. Who Gon Stop Me (Prod. by Shama "Sak Pase" Joseph)
I had to laugh as soon as I heard the "I Can't Stop" sample on my first listen because it was the walk-up song for one of the batters I covered in an internship earlier this summer.  I heard it so much that I began to really, really hate it, so it came as a surprise to me that I actually liked it the way it was done on this.  The first half of the song doesn't have much going it for it (even with Kanye's "pig latin" line), but at the 1:56 mark, this song just gets batshit crazy.  Again, this is a beat that only Kanye could get away with, but it's not 'Ye who shines.  Leave that to Hova, who just destroys any beliefs that 'Ye might be as good as him.  In fact, Jay pretty much just gives any doubter a big middle finger with his lines on this.  If there was ever a time where Jay does go "H.A.M.", it's here. (and he did this "all without a diploma")

10. Murder to Excellence (Prod. by Swizz Beatz & S1)
You know that scene in Harold and Kumar where they meet H.W. and he says "You just blew my fuckin' mind".  That pretty much sums up the feeling I had when I saw that Swizz, the same guy who I gave my own dirty bird to just two tracks ago, produced the first section of this.  The beat is actually a perfect complement to the subject that 'Ye and Hova discuss, which is the problem of black on black crime.  Kanye, for the second time on this album, does a fantastic job with his verse with lines like "No shop class but half the school got a tool/And I could die any day type attitude" and "I feel the pain in my city wherever I go/314 soldiers died in Iraq/509 died in Chicago".  Jay does his part, as expected, and this song is very good until it turns it up to another level at the 2:41 mark.  The song does exactly as the title states, with the first portion discussing black "Murder" and then celebrating the "Excellence" blacks have been able to achieve.  The first portion is more serious, obviously, with the second more light-hearted and I ended up really enjoying the beat S1 lays down for that second half.  Both 'Ye and Hova give good efforts for the "Excellence" part and I'm tempted to say that this is the best song on this whole album.

11. Made it in America ft. Frank Ocean (Prod. by Shama "Sak Pase" Joseph)
Again, here is where the majority of fans (the mainstream ones) will claim this is "inspirational".  Me?  I think it's corny as hell.  I really could have gone without the "Sweet baby Jesus" and Frank Ocean doesn't do anything that special.  Wasn't crazy about either verse Jay and Kanye drop and this subject has been beaten to death by the two from previous work.  The beat's alright, but when you compare this to "The Star Spangled Banner", you better have something incredible.  This is far, far from that.

12. Why I Love You ft. Mr. Hudson (Prod. by Mike Dean)
Mr. Hudson teams up with Hova again after their immense success with "Forever Young" (one of the very rare singles I actually really liked).  This one though, doesn't match up to the former.  Hudson is a good fit for the hook, but there's just not much here and it the track just reeks of mediocrity.  Again, it's deff. not horrible by any means, but there's nothing spectacular, meaning it's pretty forgettable.  It leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth if this was the last song of the album (but we all know everyone got the deluxe version anyways).

13. Illest Motherf**ker Alive (Prod. by Southside)
There's a lot of theories into why there is a three minute break of silence before this song begins.  I've heard that it's iTunes fault for the gap and that it was non-intentional.  I've heard that this is a sort of "intermission" between the studio version and the deluxe.  What I think the true answer is though, is that Kanye just inserted the silence because he knew he could get away with it and noone would give a shit.  He's that arrogant.  And while there may be some that criticize 'Ye for doing this (if this really is the case), I just laughed.  What other artist would actually have the balls to just put three minutes of silence and know the audience won't skip it?  Once the actual beat drops, it proves to be just as ridiculous as the fact there was three minutes of nothing before it.  I still laugh every time I hear Kanye spit "Russel Brand, Russel Crowe, 0000, a whole lot of O's!", "bulletproof condom when I'm in these hoes/got staples on my dick/why, fucking centerfolds," and "got a nigga in Miami wearing winter clothes."  What really makes this song for me is as soon as Kanye finishes his verse and the hook comes in, sounding as if I'm about to enter the gates of heaven with the opera background (my one friend actually thought this exact thought when he first heard this.  I don't think I've ever seen the kid that blown away in my life before it).  So yes, this song is absolutely ludicrous and it's not that good (it's pretty bad actually), but I don't really care because of how damn entertaining it is.  Again, another case of how only these two could do this and I would accept it.

14. H.A.M. (Prod. by Lex Luger)
I already gave my opinion of this in the opening, but again I'll state that it's really nothing special.  Lex Luger goes wayy overboard on the beat and I'm wondering if I'm listening to a WWII film by the end of it.  There is one good thing that comes out this, which is a couple of remixes I've heard of it since (most notably Machine Gun Kelly) and, utilized correctly, you could go beserk over this beat (which MGK basically does).

15. Primetime (Prod. No I.D.)
This sounded fresh when I first heard it and it still sounds great on my headphones today.  It also gets me extremely anxious for No I.D.'s upcoming project with Common (which already has sounded extremely promising, see "Blue Skys").  The piano keys work well on this and the beat is arguably the best on the entire album.  Although Kanye and Jay aren't rapping about anything meaningful here, they can't sound bad when you have this kind of production behind you.  It also is another track that will sound terrific when you've got a good subwoofer or sound system to accompany it.  Overall though, very solid.

16. The Joy ft. Curtis Mayfield (Prod. by Pete Rock)
Yeezy and Jay are involved in a pending lawsuit with Mayfield for the beat in this one (and I'm honestly surprised Redding didn't file something against them too), but otherwise, Rock makes this sounds extremely smooth.  Again, not much lyrically as far as introspect, so it leaves "Murder to Excellence" and "New Day" as the only tracks where Hova and Yeezy really attack something meaningful.  Still, that's not to say their verses are bad in any way.  'Ye sounds good and so does Jay, which is really enough for me at the end of the day.  I don't know why I don't listen to this track as much as the others, but it is a good one and this is a much better closer than "Why I Love You".

Closing Statement: Critics were going crazy over this album as soon as it was released and so was I for a time.  The fact this album didn't actually leak is a modern miracle and I believe this is a huge reason for why there was so much praise for it early on.  Now that it's been a few months though, the hype surrounding this has deff. cooled down (at least in my book) and critics should see that this is not the second coming of hip hop and it's far from being the best album this year.  There are some tracks that are OK and some that are real disappointments, such as "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Lift Off".  There also is not much here intelligent wise.  Kanye and Jay-Z do nothing to prove to me or anyone else that they are far and away the best in the game right now and there have certainly been much better collaboration efforts by other rappers in the past (uhh, just listen to any OutKast album really).  Yet, at the end of the day, I still have no regrets for spending my $15 for this album because it does what music is supposed to do, which is entertain.  There is also some tracks on here which I still will have bumping a year from now ("Nig**s in Paris" and "That's My Bitch" to name a few) and "Murder to Excellence" is one of the best songs I've heard all year.  So while it's not everything I hoped it would be, it is still the most entertaining album I think I've listened to in 2011, and that deserves applause.

The Verdict: Considering that 99% of music lovers will already have this, it's probably useless that I recommend you get it.  However, it is worth the money and I will eagerly wait to hear if the two decided to do another project together.  And hey, you could settle for much worse (Waka Waka and Gucci's Ferrari Boys).

30 Reviews in 30 Days: ASAP Rocky - LiveLoveA$AP

Alright, I'll be the first to admit it.  I'm a late bloomer when it comes to finding out about "who's the next big thing" (although I'm probably ahead of about 90% of everyone else who call themselves a "fan of hip hop").  I was late to find about about Big K.R.I.T. (thanks J-Rez).  I didn't hear about Odd Future until right before they blew up this spring (thanks Matt W.).  I didn't even take a listen to Kendrick Lamar until I heard reviews of his Section.80 were great this summer (J-Rez, again).

So it's no surprise that, once again, I'm writing about an artist who I was late to the dinner party for.  ASAP Rocky, born as Rakim Mayers, hails from the city of Harlem, NY, and is the first rapper (at least in my recent memory) to call it his home and actually gain some attention since Harlemite Max B.  He claims to have gotten his nickname "Rocky" because of his legendary name (if you don't know who Rakim is then you're part of that 90% I mentioned earlier) and because of his scrappy, but suave persona (I literally copied that straight from his facebook page, plagiarism at its finest).  You may be inclined to think that ASAP just stands for the traditional "As Soon As Possible" but your inclination would be wrong.  In fact, ASAP, according to Mayers himself, stands for "To Accumulate Status and Power" (so why the fuck isn't is TASAP, just sayin').  Mayers was always interested in rap, but it wasn't until he heard his older brother drop a couple of verses one day that he actually decided to pursue it seriously.

Since then, Mayers has said to have drawn influence from many different areas of music, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cee-Lo Green and even MGMT.  His biggest influence, however, comes from the swag out of Houston, TX, which contributes heavily to his style and rhyming.  ASAP decided that he needed to bring something new to the table in order to get noticed, and combining the sounds of Houston and Harlem (two polar opposites) was exactly the way of doing it.  After his release of the underground hit "Purple Swag" this past summer. ASAP saw his YouTube views skyrocket and the video reached over 100K hits in just a matter of days.  It was this growing hype that caught the attention of Sony/RCA records, who offered him a juicy $3 million deal in October earlier this year (to add some perspective, Drake was signed for a measly $2 million when he penned the first deal with Young Money. And speaking of Drake, Rocky also jumped on his Club Paradise tour this fall as well).

In addition to Rocky himself, he has the ASAP Mob crew behind him, which consists of: ASAP Nast, ASAP Ty Beats, ASAP Ferg, ASAP Twelvyy and ASAP Yams.  It comes of no surprise then that ASAP already has received comparisons to OFWGKTA and Tyler the Creator.  Even Hodgy Beats of OFWGKTA has called ASAP Rocky "ASAP Copy" (that's trash talk today? where the fuck is 'Pac and Biggie when you need them).  Still, ASAP claims that he has no connection with the shock-rap group and that he has a completely different agenda then they do.  With only "Purple Swag" and leaks of other tracks from Rocky, including "Wassup" and "Pe$o", there was good reason for the comparisons.  So ASAP, now with a mountain full of hype behind him and OFWGKTA comparisons not going away, released his first mixtape, LongLiveA$AP on Halloween this year.  Here's my review.

1. Palace (Prod. by Clams Casino)
First, let's put the Odd Future comparisons to rest.  You need about only five seconds to realize this, as Tyler the Creator nor any of his fellow mates would have the balls to try rapping over this type of beat.  The beat is deff. worth noting, as I'm not sure if ASAP is good or Clams is that good.  Whatever's the case, this song bumps and I was glad to see ASAP not abandon his chopped and screwed sampling to kick off his mixtape.  I could have used a little less "how real is this" (we get it) but this is overall a solid track.  Rocky does drop a few lines also worth noting, "Give me the title, then give me the cash/fold it in the bag then move it in the trash/follow my stash/stealing my swag/niggas is wickity wickity wack/like Kriss Kross/her lip gloss, slip-ons get slipped off/my bitch boss, Cristal."

2. Pe$o (Prod. by Ty Beats)
Don't get this member of the ASAP Mob confused with the same one who produced Kendrick Lamar's "Ronald Reagan Era" (for that would be Tae Beatz).  While Beats may be no Beatz, he is still incredibly talented based on what I'm hearing here.  I loved the beat for this and it complements the hook nicely.  There's also more of that chopped and screwed I mentioned earlier that is worked seamlessly through the hook (and let it be known that I'm NOT a fan of chopped and screwed bullshit; these guys make it actually sound right in some way).  You hear the "pretty muthafucka" line, which is certainly not the last, in this and it's a theme that ASAP seems to set on himself.  With lines like "with this coke I just imported, I'm just as important as your president" and "them 6's, them Benzes, I get the freshest" shows that ASAP is cocky, but after you just sign a $3 million deal, I can forgive him somewhat.  For the most part though, I liked this track, even if the lyrics aren't quite on par with the beat provided.

3. Bass (Prod. by Clams Casino)
ASAP teams up again with Casino here and, again, it's a good fit.  For one, this song just bumps.  The short bass bumps along with the execution of chopped and screwed bridges (again), make this song at least interesting enough to keep playing.  ASAP doesn't do much to impress me or his critics with his time on the mic, which concerns me somewhat, but with Clams behind him, you literally have to try and be shitty in order to make the track not sound somewhat decent.

4. Wassup (Prod. Clams Casino)
I think it's past the point of praise for Casino at this point: the dude can just flat out produce.  In arguably his best beat that he provides ASAP for this entire tape, Rocky makes sure that it doesn't go to waste.  Surprisingly, Rocky goes more personal on this.  "Only thing bigger than my ego is my mirror, pretty nigga pin your hair up!" shows that ASAP certainly acknowledges his critics, but that he just doesn't give a fuck.  In this way, he is related to Tyler the Creator and the Odd Future crew.  Yet, ASAP also establishes something that Tyler hasn't, which is that he doesn't need to resort to shock rap in order to garner attention.  Yes, lyrically, there's only two verses (with the second being almost more of a bridge than a verse).  However, this song still sounds great, regardless, and it's deff. one of the highlights on this tape.

5. Brand New Guy ft. Schoolboy Q (Prod. by Lyle)
For the first time on LiveLoveA$AP, the beat is one that isn't stellar.  The chopped and screwed hook is nice, and I'm sure that die-hard ASAP fans will love this track, but ASAP doesn't do much to try and bring this song up and Schoolboy Q hurts this song more than helps it.  I'll skip this one. ("That bitch be my stuffing", really Schoolboy Q? That's close to being as bad as "I'll make you eat cake like a fat kid" - 50)

6. Purple Swag Chapter 2 ft. ASAP Nast & Spaceghost Purpp (Prod. by Ty Beats)
It's commendable that ASAP wanted to do a remix (well, really not, just new verses) of this for his fans, but it's also not necessary.  I almost would have just preferred Rocky put on the original version so those who didn't keep up with him over the summer (like moi) would at least have a copy of it.  Again, another track that's not really worth your time.

7. Get Lit ft. Fat Tony (Prod. by Souffein 3000)
ASAP thinks that this is his favorite track on the tape.  I think this song fucking blows, therefore, I won't even comment more on it.

8. Trilla ft. ASAP Twelvy & ASAP Nast (Prod. by Beautiful Lou)
Now THIS was the kind of shit I was hoping to hear from the ASAP Mob crew.  With a beat that sounds straight like its off of UGK's Underground Kingz, here is the Houston influence that ASAP is so well noted for.  It's clear this is the type of beat that ASAP excels on and he even goes all Bone Thugz on us at about the 1:09 and I liked the line "I'm wierdo but I'm wierd though" (creative, no?). What's even more pleasant to hear is that ASAP gets good performances from his ASAP Mob buddies, with ASAP Nast doing his best Drake impression he can give. "Still sippin candy painted whips is what I'm sittin in", this is shit I expect to hear from K.R.I.T., not some group from Harlem.  Yet in some way, the Mob makes it work and it sounds genuine.  I just hope I hear more of this in the future.

9. Keep it G ft. Chace Infinite & Spaceghost Purrp (Prod. by Spaceghost Purrp)
Spaceghost Purrp deff. succeeds with the beat he gives ASAP to work with here, but not so much on his rhymes or hook.  I also am getting a little annoyed at this point that this project is more focused on the ASAP Mob than ASAP himself.  I get it, you want to get your guys exposure, which is all great in all, but at the end of the day, this is YOUR mixtape.  Not only is it his solo mixtape, but it's his fucking debut.  The great ones don't need guests to carry them (see Nas, Biggie, etc.).  Again, I liked the beat.  Lines like "let me beat that pussy red" though are a disappointment, however.

10. Kissin Pink ft. ASAP Ferg (Prod. by Beautiful Lou)
I make fun of Drake and the Young Money crew a lot for only focusing on things like women and chains, and unfortunately, ASAP does nothing to help his case that he's different with shit like this.  As is the case with the majority of this tape, the beat is terrific, the lyrics, not so much.

11. Houston Old Head (Prod. by DJ Burn One)
Maybe ASAP just wants to fucking frustrate me.  Whatever is the case, the return to that Houston/trill influence is welcoming and DJ Burn One produces the shit out of this.  ASAP also, amazingly, holds his own and doesn't ask another from the ASAP Mob to help him out here.  The message of this song is pretty clear, which is ASAP discussing how he gained his Houston influences and it's sort of a tribute to the sub-genre itself.  He also tries to give us a little more lyrically, spitting "Now my old head old age bald head rogaine/code red codeine, nose red cocaine, pimpin bitches since lemon chicken shrimp lo mein/gold chains afros platforms soul train".  A strong hook, along with a nice addition of some chopped and screwed, and you've got quite possibly, the best track of the entire tape.

12. Acid Drip (Prod. Souffein 3000)
For a split second, I had a flashback to "Get Lit", which blew, and I expected the same from this.  This is better, but not by much.  Forgettable verse, lame hook, and a weak beat.  Ouch.

13. Leaf ft. Main Attractionz (Prod. Clams Casino)
ASAP uses this track as more of a soap box so that he can bitch about all the "phony niggas" and "hipsters", but he does it effectively and it works well with the beat that Casino gives him (but, what else did you really expect?).  I wasn't crazy about the hook and Main Attractionz verses aren't great, so this song doesn't have much going for it than ASAP's verse.  The fact that this song goes nearly 5 minutes also has that working against it, so in short, this song is pretty forgettable.

14. Roll One Up (Prod. DJ Burn One)
As has been the theme of this tape, ASAP gives us 2-3 pieces of crap and then gives us another gem that has me believing in him.  This, if you didn't already figure it out, is one of those gems.  OK, so lyrically, there's not much depth, but the song works because of its hook and great beat,  (Burn One and Clams should honestly have just produced the whole fucking tape).  Stoners alike will be happy with this one and, while it's not the best ASAP has to offer, it's at least a breath of fresh air after hearing two sub-par tracks.

15. Demons (Prod. Clams Casino)
Clams is back, and, you guessed it, he earns another gold star.  However, don't overlook ASAP's performance on this one either.  "Wassup" touched the surface of some of Rocky's feelings and this one goes a little bit deeper.   Rocky begins with "I smoked away my brain, I think I’m going dumb/Cocaine up on my gums, I think they're going numb/I'm having stomach pains, man I'm throwing up," showing that he indeed has a drug problem and he acknowledges it.  He also lets everyone know he won't be changing who he is, despite the recent success he's had "Now we swagging, making money in Manhattan/Straight what’s happening/They try to intellect with indirection just to test you/A rebel until my death, it's in my flesh, it's in my vessels" (I'll come back to this in about a year or so and see if that's the case, I'm going to say that's pretty damn unlikely at this).


16. Out of this World (Prod. by The Olympicks)
The song fits where it's placed, even though it doesn't fit the typical finale outro you've come to expect from other artists (I guess that's how ASAP rolls, though).  To be honest, this could be Rocky's strongest track lyrically that he has on the entire tape.  He makes multiple pop references (Rihanna to name one) and I thought it was interesting how Rocky thought he'd be a fit for Roc Nation "Would've been J.Cole if I would've met J Hovvv".  Confidence is something that Rocky has plenty of and if that hasn't been hammered into your ears at this point, then you aren't listening.  I liked the song a lot though and fortunately leaves me with hope for Rocky, rather than disgust.

Closing Statement: When I first heard this tape, I had it on repeat for days.  Maybe it was the chopped and screwed sections that I was so fascinated with.  Maybe it was a dude from Harlem rapping like he's straight from Houston.  Or maybe it was just the fact I was looking for something fresh and Rocky happened to be there when my craving was at its worst.  This is why I say you can't evaluate someone's work until you give it time.  Songs that I thought were terrific early on proved to be bland or awful a month later.  Another thing I noticed about this tape in retrospect was that it was really all over the place.  It wasn't a tape about Rocky, but at times it was.  It wasn't a tape based on a few different topics, but at other times, pussy, coke, and candy painted cars dominated Rocky's conversation.  The key is that this needs to be judged under the microscope of a mixtape, rather than an album.  Tapes can get away with errors like this (although K.R.I.T.'s and Gibb's latest had much less of these, I'll get to them later in the month).  Still, there are moments and flashes of greatness from Rocky, such as "Houston Old Head", "Trilla" or "Wassup", which tells me he does deserve my attention.  He just may not deserve it As Soon As Possible.

The Verdict: For this being free, it's a deal.  Even if you only listen to the three songs I mentioned above, it's still worth your space on the hard drive and you'll impress a few of those 90% that have no fucking clue there is a Rocky existing now in hip hop.  I'll be looking forward to Mayer's next release, just not as much as I was a month ago.

30 Reviews in 30 Days: The Roots - Undun

It's been a busy couple of months I have to say.  So busy, that I haven't had the time nor the energy to continue my blog, which has been to my chagrin (yes, I really did just use that word).  There's been a ton going on in the hip-hop world and I've been there to witness most of it, just not write about it unfortunately.

No worries, however, as I will be on break for the next 30 days, meaning I'll have ample time to jot down my thoughts on the hip-hop albums I failed to cover this year.  I thought, being that I haven't reviewed a single album since Weekend at Burnies, that this would be a good time to review every album/mixtape that has been somewhat relevant this year (including, also to my chagrin, Tha Carter IV).  So, as the title already states, this begins my the first of my reviews over the next 30 days on what hip-hop has had to offer this year.  What better way to start, I thought, than with one of the most anticipated albums for 2011, The Roots Undun (also an appropriate word to describe my blog for the past several months).

To be honest, I was surprised when The Roots decided to announce their 13th studio album back in October.  What was even more surprising to me, was that they actually followed up their claim that it would be out by December.  If you remember, The Roots announced How I Got Over in June of 2009 and said that it would be released by October (to which it wasn't and later released in June of the next year).  The Roots also claimed that this album would be different from their previous 12 in the sense that this would be a concept album, rather than a traditional one.  This worried me at first, but after hearing of snippet of the album's first single "Make My" in late October, I began to rest easier.  The album may be a "concept" album, but that didn't change the formula to which The Roots would be making music (thank God Black Thought was still allowed to spit on this).

So what exactly is the concept of Undun?  According to ?uestlove, the album is based on the life of Redford Stephens (1974-1999), who is a youth that tries to define himself in the middle of the city, but unfortunately, dies in the process.  ?uestlove also stated that Redford was a fictional character, comprised of four to five black youths that he knew in his life in Philadelphia.  The drummer compared the story of Redford to one in the ever popular series, The Wire, specifically Avon Barksdale, who played a low-level drug dealer.  ?uest also said that the album takes a look into 24 hours of Redford's life, but with a twist.  The album is told as a backward narrative, hence the title Undun.  The Roots also were kind enough to release multiple short videos with each song released to help further tell the story of Redford and they've even come up with a fucking app to help as well (I can't to ask everyone in my family this Christmas if they've picked up the "Redford Stephens" or "Undun" app).

There were two other concerns I had about Undun before I decided to give it a listen on the stream The Roots were so generous to provide on NPR.  The first was how The Roots could follow up their previous album, How I Got Over.  I already reviewed that one for the blog and you can read my thoughts here.  In short, though, the album was one of The Roots' most impressive in recent memory, so to take on a concept album (especially only a year and a half after its release) would be a risk.  The other thing I noted was that, once again, The Roots had a tracklist that was, well, lacking beef.  With 14 tracks, only 8 of them lasted more than 2:23 and four of them were under a minute a piece.  While I'm not against short albums, it leaves little room for error, meaning Undun would have to be damn impressive in its bulk tracks in order to leave a listener with the feeling that their money was well spent.

So how impressive was Undun? Here's my review...

1. Dun
In an intro that sounds eerily similar to "A Peace of Light" from How I Got Over, it signals the death of Redford Stephens, specifically with the lifeline hitting blank at the end of the track.  For telling the story of Stephens backward, it's an appropriate way to begin.

2. Sleep
"I've lost a lot of sleep to dreams" will be the line most remembered from this track.  This marks the point in Redford's life where he is in between dying and living.  The chords in the background provide a nice supplement and it sounds familiar to what The Roots have come up with before.  Thought jumps on for the first actual verse of the album and drops the lines "and what I did eventually came back to me eventually" and "illegal activity controls my black symphony."  Clearly, Redford was not a law-abiding citizen and the line "I was meant to be awake" shows that he died too early.  Redford also must not have had a family who cared for him, "I wonder if my fam will remember me".  When listening to the song at first, you may be tempted to say that the track is too short.  Examining the lyrics closer, however, tell you that the song is perfect the way it is, for how much time do you really have before you're about to die?

3. Make My ft. Big K.R.I.T.
The first single off of Undun (and possibly the only one) is also the track where The Roots take the most risk in the album.  I was thrilled to see that K.R.I.T. got together with the legendary crew for this, but I also questioned whether he could hold his own on a project that many believed not even The Roots themselves were capable of doing.  The beginning of the song (which marks the end of Redford's life) has a slow intro but it picks up at about the :36 mark when ?uest's drums come in.  K.R.I.T. gets the first verse and quickly shows why Thought and his crew must have had faith in him.  A verse that hones in on the price of reaching "the steak lobster" life is told smoothly through K.R.I.T. (not that I didn't have faith in K.R.I.T. myself, but I always considered him a better producer than rapper).  The hook plays into the theme K.R.I.T. describes and it done beautifully before Thought comes back onto the mic himself.  Again, Thought does a terrific job with the material handed to him, even if his verse is short (the line "long robe of meurte" was ridiculous, in a good sense).  The verse also fits perfectly with the video that accompanied this track.  The song then takes it to a whole other level after the second hook, where The Roots go all Emerson, Lake & Palmer on us and probably jam one of the freshest two minutes I've heard all year.  In all, everything about this song just works and it's a stunning piece of work, even for The Roots themselves.

4. One Time ft. Phonte & Dice Raw
Again, another collaboration I was excited for when I saw the tracklist (considering how great Phonte was on "Now or Never" and "The Day").  The transition moves into this seamlessly and it's possibly the climax of Redford's life.  Redford makes a decision that will get him killed in this track, but that decision is actually carried out in the track previous.  Here, Phonte kicks things off by explaining how Redford wants to turn away from his life and that he knows it's wrong, "I wish a nigga would
turn around and walk away/I wish a nigga could", but that "once you’ve had the best better ain’t as good/Weak-heartedness cannot be involved."  The hook, which is spectacular once again, signifies how Redford wishes that just once, things may go his way.  The piano chords in the back remind me much of "Radio Daze" and "Walk Alone", which is a common theme throughout the beginnings of this album in how similar it is with How I Got Over.  While Thought's verse is good, Dice Raw is the one who really steals the show. "I wonder when you die do you hear harps and bagpipes/If you born on the other side of the crack pipe/Niggas learn math just to understand the crack price/Then drive in head first like the jack knife." How this dude has not gotten a solo deal to this point is beyond me.  Otherwise, another success on Undun.

5. Kool On ft. P.O.R.N. & Truck North
A complete change of pace from the darkness that sets the tone early in the album, it's accompanied by something that sounds straight out of Thin Lizzy in the late 70's.  The hook here isn't as strong as the previous tracks (although that's a pretty hard level to keep up), but it does establish clearly that this is the lone point in Redford's life where things are going well for him.  P.O.R.N., who is no stranger to The Roots, lays down a boastful, but strong verse all the same, (the line "I am heroin to those hear rhyme" might have been too much).  Still, he does something about 94% of all rappers do today anyways (brag about themselves, their riches and women) and does it in an intelligent way, which deserves props.  Black Thought's verse is short and one of his weaker ones on Undun, but there's still flashes of brilliance such as the line "got 'em waiting on the news like Kronkite."  I also thought the line "hustling anonymous" was also something to note, meaning that Redford was unknown to the outside world in his work.  Truck North's verse fits somewhere in the middle between P.O.R.N.'s and Thought's and is a good way to close the track before one more hook.  Despite the continued tempo and lack of anything to switch it up, I still found myself transfixed for the duration somehow.

6. The OtherSide ft. Bilal & P.O.R.N.
This wasn't one that jumped out at me immediately, but after a few listens, I warmed up quick.  Thought absolutely destroys his verse ("getting cheese like omelettes is"?!?) and then picks it up and drops another one nearly as good as the first.  I'm not sure whether this is his best effort on Undun, but it's a certainly a candidate.  This song shows the debate between Redford and himself on whether or not he should turn to selling in order to make a living.  “We’re all on a journey / Down the hall of memories / Don’t worry about what you ain’t got / leave with a little bit of dignity."  Bilal, by the way, does a terrific job with his hook duties and it's also another highlight of this track.  P.O.R.N. does a complete 180 from "Kool On" and is more serious on here, which he does a decent job in.  I still liked his verse better in the previous track, but I guess I can't get too greedy.

7. Stomp ft. P.O.R.N.
The beat that I'm the least crazy about, it does have the feeling of a more west coast feel, specifically something from The Chronic: 2001 ("Still Dre" ring any bells?).  P.O.R.N. does sound great on this however, and this seems like a beat much more suited to his style.  It also represents Redford deciding to take a violent stance on dealing with his problems rather than trying to reason.  The best part about this track though?  It's short and it leads into...

8. Lighthouse ft. Dice Raw
...my favorite track of Undun.  I had heard good things about this one surfing the internet a few days before the stream was released and it not only didn't disappoint me, it fucking blew me away.  The first lines, which function as a sort of bridge, come from Raw who states: If you can‘t swizzim then ya bound to drizzown/Passing out life jackets bout to go didown/Get down with the captain or go down with the ship/Before the dark abyss I’m gon’ hit you wit dis," which tell me that Redford has come to point of desperation in his life where he may not make it through.  The real treat of the track comes next however, when Raw, yes, Dice Raw drops the best hook of the entire album.  I was amazed at how well Raw's voice sounded in melody (even with his past experience on "Radio Daze").  Raw isn't done yet, as he goes into the first verse and continues to stay on fire.  The metaphor of suicide and almost drowning is so well done, especially with lines like "The waves come over my head and just crash/my hand start bleeding water starts receding" and "The fear of drowning still diving in the deep end/The waters carried me so far you can’t reach ‘em", that I could nearly picture myself for a brief moment in Redford's shoes.  The ocean/drowning metaphor continues with Thought, who drops a more complex verse than Raw (the "maritime museum" line was deff. a highlight).  It would be an injustice to forget that the music (which I've done a poor job of focusing on to this point) to this is extremely well composed.  Because Owen Biddle left The Roots in August, I'm not sure if he helped record this, but whoever was on bass for this did a fantastic job and it really is a great supplement.  A magnificent and inspiring track in all.

9. I Remember
It's hard to follow up such a powerful track as "Lighthouse" is, so it's to no surprise that this one isn't on the same standard as the one previous.  Thought's verses are short, but he does have three of them, and the hook is solid.  I thought ?uest's drums on here were stellar and helped carry the track more than anyone else, as he has done on many tracks previous in The Roots discography.  The song touches on Redford reflecting on the choices he's made to this point and how he's lost going forward.  It's a good song and I thought it certainly wasn't the worst on Undun, but it's also not a highlight.

10. Tip the Scale ft. Dice Raw
I think I can officially say to this point that without Dice Raw, this album would not nearly be what it ended up being.  Again, Raw does a great job with his hook and he fits perfect with the tempo of the song.  "I live life trying to tip the scale, my way" summarizes the feelings Redford has at this point in his life (and is in jail at the time of this track, at least from what I could gather).  In a weird, but brilliant way, the song not only foreshadows the death of Redford, but also could provide a fitting end to Redford's life.  The line "Only two ways out, Digging tunnels or digging graves out”, courtesy of Raw, also shows that this may be the point in Redford's life where he puts to rest any thoughts of trying to lead a life above the influences of the streets surrounding him.  The violins and slow beat combined make this another track that showcases The Roots brilliance and also is one that helps carry Undun to its finale.

11. Redford
OK, so at this point, it should be noted that Undun is, in all fairness, done.  However, listening to this and the final three tracks give a nice touch to the end of the album and also give more meaning musically.  The final four tracks I've found are based on Sulfjan Stevens' work on his Michigan album, so feel free to check out the similarities between the two if you wish (I'm just not motivated enough at the current moment).

12. Possibility (2nd Movement)
Interlude.

13. Will to Power (3rd Movement)
Interlude.

14. Finality
Violins anddd were done.

Closing Statement: For all of my concerns and complaints about what I'd expect from Undun, these were put to rest quickly.  Now, I will say that being this is a new release, I tend to be much more optimistic than I usually am (I've come back to earth a little on Lamar's Section.80 for example).  However, that being said, this is a marvelous (yes, I just said marvelous and I'm not English nor over the age of 60) piece of work from The Roots.  Lyrically, there is so much to consume here that it's impossible to catch everything with one, even two listens.  Thought continues his case for being the best MC that nobody will ever recognize with another stellar performance and it's just about as good as his work on How I Got Over (which I considered the best body of work from Thought since Illadelph).  Guest wise, it's another home run for The Roots, who were meticulous and careful on who they selected to appear on this.  While Phonte and P.O.R.N. are both great in their own right, the two who really stood out to me were K.R.I.T. and Raw.  K.R.I.T. showcased again why he may just be the most capable and diverse young rapper in the game today and also confirmed my belief that he's more mature than half the MC's over the age of 30 (to put this in perspective, he's more thoughtful than some of the greats right now, including Shady).  The hooks are also extremely well done and this album has been mixed and mastered (with its seamless transitions) as good as you can get these days.  The album is short, yes, but that's even more of the beauty of it.  Redford died young, yet he may have had greatness inside him had he decided to lead his life differently.  The same goes for Undun.  The album shows incredible promise and is cut short before anyone wishes it would. 

The Verdict: If you've been looking for the album of the year, you may have it with Undun.  It's too early to hand it the hardware, but it's certainly one of the most complete albums I've heard in recent memory.  One thing is for sure though, and that is that The Roots are the best musical group still producing relevant content today.  My only question is: what could they possibly do next?