#MSI: Music Scene Investigation- Dance Party Review!!!

Its nothing better than waking up at around 8AM to a tweet about your song being reviewed by some industry big wigs! Set the tone for my day totes!  Did everything with a little uumph, because life made it a point to show me the perks of hard work!  Notice how I've been putting exclamation points after every sentence because I'm still on that high lol.  I set aside special time to give the listen my undivided attention.  There criticism was on point as some things they said were even things i questioned, but as an artist you rarely ever reach what you feel is perfection, so after several record listening sessions  it was agreed that the song was great, and I was just being worrisome.  Awesome to know that I'm on the same wavelength as the seasoned panelists over at #MSI.  I wish I was able to sit in on the listen and review, cause there's somethings that I want to add, to get further perspective on the track.

1.  The 1st minor issue was that maybe the mixing could be a tad better, but its right there.  Agree with it totally, and that was something me and the engineer went back & forth on several times before giving it the final mix-down.  In the end we reached what we thought was a common middle ground and went with it.
2.   The next issue was that the hook could have been better.  Thats understandable, it's a love or hate hook.  The reasoning behind it is based on two major factors.  Its a remix of an original song I had entitled Dance Party.          The 99 of course was inspired from Prince's ultimate dance song "Party Like its 99", but I constructed the verses way before the actual hook.  The opening line of the song is what really sparked the thoughts of Prince, one rhyme lead to another and the hook was born lol.
3. The third & final issue was the final 8 bars of the song.  The homie Ian said he felt that they didn't fit the song, but this was done intentionally.  As I stated earlier its a remix of a song I made a year or two ago, so the last 8 bars are just an ode to the original as they were the highlight of the song.  That & the fact that I just particularly love those bars, some just stick with you, lol.

 

Well I hope this gave some good insight to why the song was constructed the way it was, but I greatly appreciate the constructive criticism.  The only way you'll get better is to fix what isn' working, but you can't fix a problem you don't know about so I'm always up for going under the microscope!  Huge Shout Out to the folk at Music Scene Investigation, can't thank you enough!!!  Check out the original Dance Party 99 release blog >>here<<!  Stay in tune with me and my music by subscribing >>here<<.  Thanks for everyone supporting, and riding with me on this journey, it gets better & better!!!

 

ALbums of Interest 2k14

2k14 is being reported one of the worst years for hip hop album sales ever, with no albums appearing in the To 40(unless you count Pharell as a hip hop artist whose album came in 15). J. Cole was the only artist to break gold thus far with sales of 350k his first week. With all the other artists that dropped albums last year you're like, "Is hip hop really getting that bad?" Well #YourFavoriteBlackGuy took a Sunday drive to the iTunes store to see if hip hop had really gotten that bad or was the economy just f*#k'd up?

Albums Of Interest 2k14

So 1st lets talk about why I picked the albums I picked. All of the artists execpt for one (Kid Cudi) I had never listened to before but were interested in hearing their albums. They also had albums that ppl around me were talking about, and I have an eclectic following to say the least. Ok say lets get down to it, since I'm familiars with Kid Cudi so we'll go ahead and discuss his allbum first Cudi went with the no promo tactic that several artist went with this year when they released their album. "Satellite Flight: Journey to Mother Moon" was released on iTunes with barely a lead single. As I stated before I’m a huge Kid Cudi fan so I was eager to hear this one, especially because I didn't know about it. After a quick scan of the cd I was disappointed honestly, but all true fans of any artist know you can't just rule out an album after just one listen so I gave it another full spin. The album is actually an EP that Cudi explains as a link between Indicud & Man on the Moon 3. Cudi kept the vocals simple on this one and to a minimum making it more of an emotional experience rather an album. It starts out on a bright note and gradually gets darker but ends on a silver lining* The highlights of the CD for me are the first actual song(Going To The Ceremony), and the last one(Troubled Boy), which makes you want more, but unfortunately you gotta wait until the next album:( If you're not already a Cudi fan then I wouldn't recommend it for you as I'd say its not his best work IMO, but hey if you just let it ride then you may totally get into it as I did. TDE released at least three albums last year and Isaiah Rashad's "Cilvia Demo" EP was one of them. The name of his project is honestly what drew me in, and when I saw that he was with TDE I thought to myself yeah he has to be worth a listen. I pressed play and at 45 seconds I started the CD over again. The intro (Heredity) was amazing to me, had me eager to hear the next track. Again I was blown away by the production, there's a euphoric..90s type feel to his beats and I can definitely say his beat selection is crazy. His flow wasn't bad either, but IMO the actual content is what made the CD a bit lackluster to me. Im big on lyrics, messages & themes, so like I said the name made me wonder why Cilvia? Wanted to listen to the project rather than research why he named it that, & found no real connection. Some of the songs I feel didn't even have a real connection amongst the verses; rather a bunch of lyrics that displayed wittiness and wordplay but didn't say anything as a whole. I have no doubt that he'll get better with time but this one didn't make me a fan, maybe next time :( Ab-Soul, possibly one of my new faves dropped his album "These Days" early 2k14, and after his project Soul Control I was really eager to hear it. Though I found it not better than Soul Control it was still very impressive. Felt comfortable letting the album play-through without wanting to skip any tracks. He did have a few songs(Hunnid Stax, Sapiosexio, Twact) on this album that I felt like he dumbed it down a bit to pertain to a larger audience but they weren't bad records, there's enough solid material on the album to over-ride that anyhow, and it brings the album full circle in a way that you’d have to listen to to understand. All in all I'd say Ab-Soul gave us another great album containing dope production with substantial lyrical content; and when you pair the two, you can never go wrong. From my 1st time hearing Schoolboy Q I knew he'd be a problem. 1st song I heard from him was Hands on the Wheel, followed up by Blessed and from that day on I was like...Yeah(head nods). So when I heard about Oxymoron I knew it'd be dope. Naw he may not be as lyrical as Kendrick Lamar or Ab Soul but the way he mixes his wittiness and wordplay with G-Fonk is ridiculous! This is another one you could just put in and let it ride all the way through; possibly best album of the year. Think of DPG in their prime rolled into to one person, over a beat selection thats amongst the likes of his fellow TDE conglomerates and you have Schoolboy Q's Oxymoron in a nutshell. As far as highlights he released 7 visuals from the album and they are all knockers so you take your pick. Did I also mention that it debuted at #1 on Billboard in its 1st week? Last but certainly not least we have J. Cole. Up until now I had never been a fan of Cole; his songs always just seemed kind of bland to me, until I heard Crooked Smile and was impressed. The track made me want to hear a few more track maaybe, but not check out the album, so when I first heard about Forest Hills Drive I didn’t even lift my head. Then one day while listening to Pandora several weeks ago, I heard his track No Role Models and it stuck with me...for some days. After hearing about how good the album was doing, and how good it was I had to check it out for myself. He converted me. Again, another artist with a beat selection that seemed 90s inspired which made me tune in to give the lyrics a listen. Cole definitely has substance which boosts his replay value and the fact that he did it with no features shows his ability to stand on his own, giving him mega kudos since hes still kinda green. The album is a really smooth listen transitioning from one track to the next perfectly. If I was forced to choose a fave it’d have to be Love Yours, really hope he releases some visuals for it! #OfficiallyAFan Well that about raps this up, feel free to leave comments if you have any rebuttals, wanna share views, or think there’s someone that I should look into. I’m always looking for good new music besides mine!

Your Favorite Black Guy

2k14 Rap Up

     Well just like that its over. With about two days left in the year (given all goes good) its safe to say we've made it thru another one, and lets hope that life is larger and grander in 2k15!  But before we rush off into the new year, lets recap 2k14, and get a feel for what to expect in these coming days. I give you the first #NoCondomRapUp:HipHop in 2K14.!

Now 2014 wasn't necessarily a bad year for hip hop, but it certainly wasn't the best. Not to take away anything from it because the culture as a whole made some big feats as well as did many individuals...but it had its downsides as well. Kick back, po'up, light something as I run down biggest oohhs and aahhs of the year

First Quarter

The year started out with a bang for hip hop as many artist landed huge placements, made some big accomplishments, & the culture itself took some large steps. For example J. Cole graced the SuperBowl with a performance, and they now ask hip hop questions on game shows like Jeopardy!   Yeezy's, "Yeezus" went platinum giving him his 10th(give or take) platinum album...#Beast.  Now on the down side he got sentenced to two years probation for yet another scuffle with the paparazzi

Now Yeezy wasn't the only one doing numbers this year as Pharell's HappY went platinum as well, but somehow Macklemore manged to snatch the grammy for best hip hop album beating some of hip hops best like Kendrick,Drake, and Jay Z.  This caused quite a stir within the hip hop community resulting in Macklemore going public to say K Dot actually had the best album of the year, but folk still fstw.

Speaking of TDE Schoolboy Q released his highly anticipated "Oxymoron" which topped Billboard, and that was a real good look for the game and Q.  They finally freed Lil Boosie and he came home and went right to work.  Boosie  Bad Azz gave the streets a mixtape entitled "Life After Death Row", which got a really good response.  This project is suppose to hold the public over until he releases his double disc album, "Touchdown to Cause Hell", which is said to be finished.  SXSW was successful once again with a line up full of stars, with headliners like Yeezy, & Jay-Z & did I mention it was my 1st year performing?!?!?!

Second Quarter

The next quarter of the year got a lot more interesting as Big Sean was invited to the White House to perform for the president's daughter along side Ariana Grande. He was the first rapper ever to do so.  Also Outkast came together for a string of live shows, such as Coachella and their own tour.  This would be the first time they  performed alongside each other in a decade, and now that we're on reunions, Wu-Tang also got back together to do an album entitled "A Better Tomorrow".  G-Unit reformed also, and made an appearance at Summer Jam as a whole.

     While we're in that Shady/Aftermath area(I know 50's left already) lets go ahead and point out the fact that Dr. Dre sold his Beat headphones to Apple for 3.2 billion, making him hip hops first billionaire!  If that wasn't surprising enough Spike Lee directed an Eminem video...well it was mindblowing to me!  Now on the downside of this quarter, two of the most well-established black celebrities (T.I. & Mayweather) of our time, scuffled outside of a Fatburger in Vegas over Tiny.  I heard Tip swung first...he really loves her is all I can say.  Meanwhile in the middle of the nation, Trick Trick established the No Fly Zone in Michigan locking out any rappers that don't break bread with local artists, and made Rick Ross the first example by not letting him perform at a concert. & who could forget the infamous Jay-Z, Solange, elevator incident?

Third Quarter

2k14 might've been battle raps biggest year.  In addition to The URL having its own segment on BET entitled Ultimate Freestyle Fridays, the genre also had its first ever PPV event presented on national TV, with a reality series that aired in the upcoming weeks of the event!  Even hip hop artists got into the ring to throw punches with battle rap vets.  The two biggest being Joe Budden(vs Hollow the Don) & Cassidy(vs Dizaster) who got paid 250k for his battle!

Drake and Tunechi gave the fans what they wanted and co-headlined a tour together entitled "Drake vs Wayne" and it was a success.  Drake also hosted the ESPY's this year, and appeared on Saturday Night Live, which a few rappers did this year.  Jay-Z's "Made In America" documentary aired as him & B, completed their successful "On the Run" co-lab  tour.  Jigga also kicked off football season, performing for the start of the first official game, with Rhi Rhi.

 

Fourth Quarter

All good things must come to an end, or so they say...well in this case its true, as we're seeing all the good news from hip hop this year, is being offset by a series of unfortunate events.  Young Money/Cash Money artists have been insulting their label, and label mates publicly in these last couple of months, starting with Lil Twist back in October who said his management was worst ever in history.  Tyga then came forward claiming that the label was refusing to let him release his album or move forward with his career.  Tyga then went on to say he didn't like the labels marquee acts (Drake & Nicki) personally he just worked with them cause he had to.  As if this wasn't enough, Wayne recently went public about his album being held w/ no release date, & even wanting off the label.  Tunechi has hinted at taking legal action against Cash Money if the situation isn' fixed....whoa.

Just when you thought it was all love in hip hop,damn.  But YMCMB isn't the only group of folk who are divided right now.  Apparently DJ Mustard, (break out producer who made YG's "My Hitta" ) is beefing with none other than YG.  This was literally brought to my attention a few minutes ago as the "IG" beef escalated earlier today.  Dj Mustard is upset over not being paid for the music he provided for the project.  YG in turn and I quote stated "Fuqq you, and fuqq everybody that didn't get paid for my album...".   The two were scheduled to fight but I haven't heard anymore about it.

Well I hope you found our little time together informative,  but hell who am I kidding?  With the way 2k14 ending the way it has I honestly don't know what to expect from hip hop in 2k15, but I know one thing for sure...you can expect to see me on TV!!! Its been great see you guys in 2k15!!!

 Your Favorite Black Guy

( I despise talking about the laws so we won't get into how the hip hop police have been cracking down on artists like Bobby Shmurda and Tiny Doo as of late, but my last post was about it, so if you wanna read up on it just go back a day or two.)

Fvck The Po-Lice!

     Lots has happened in this last quarter of 2k14...especially in hip hop.  Although lots of progression was made, there was a lot of mishaps, unfortunate events, and riffs amongst artist(some of whom appeared to be good friends).  On top of that it seems that the #hiphoppolice are cracking down on artist that affiliate themselves with the streets.  For example they hit new up and coming artist Bobby Shmurda with an indictment "about a week agoooo"(its not funny tho)".  Feds say they busted Bobby & crew GS9 with about 20 some-odd guns, and had other charges against them ranging from murder to drugs.  I read recently that Shmurda is out on bond, but faces 25 years. His lawyer states the case they have against him is all a hunk of bull shyt, for his sake I hope it is.

  Nothing is worse than the article I just read tho.  If you're not into west coast rap then you don't know these guys, but San Diego rapper Tiny Doo is behind bars right now due to a mixtape he released entitled "No Safety.  The cops believe a string of attempted murders boosted the artists credibility which in turn caused the mixtape to do really well, and if you haven't heard(as I hadn't), the conspiracy law imprisons anyone who benefits from the criminal activity in question, even if they had nothing to do with it!  When you add up the facts that Tiny Doo has no criminal record, the mixtape was made a year before the shootings occured, and the songs don't even indicate the shootings, you gotta wonder: Why are they charging him again?  Mr Doo is set to go to trial late January, but I honestly hope this case gets dismissed.  Prosecutors day its not about his freedom of speech, but actually it is.  Now correct me if I'm wrong but I've never heard of a case against a (death-metal, punk) rock artist, even though kids commit suicide all the time, and  sometimes schools even get shot up.  These lyrics can be very disturbing at times, & though every so often ppl point the finger, its never near as serious as the Tiny Doo case.  I hope everything works out in his favor.

 Also in other legal matters in hip hop,  apparently this Lil Wayne leaving Cash Money thing is real.  I've been seeing several reports that indicate Tunechi is ready to sue Baby, & it basically boils down to the release of The Carter V.  I've heard that the ultimatum for Baby is release Tunechi or he's going to sue.  Everything is being kept sort of hush besides the original tweet that Wayne sent out a week or two ago. Will do my best to keep you updated!!!

No Condom…Total Freedom