Review: Rick Ross - God Forgives, I Don't

Rick Ross is a point of contention among Rap music fans. He has been criticized for a lack of authenticity and street credibility since 2008 when photos of a young Ross working as a correctional officer surfaced.  Those images conflict completely with the drug kingpin of Miami image that Ross has built for himself, going as far as to adopt the name and characteristics of real life Los Angeles drug trafficker “Freeway” Rick Ross. Despite the arguments of authenticity, Ross has become one of the largest figures in Rap music. With each album he has built a finite image of a luxuriant lifestyle with a cinematic scope that could easily soundtrack a film about the rise, and eventual fall, of a major cartel boss.

The two years since Rick Ross released his last album, 2010’s Teflon Don, have seen the rappers reach and presence within the game grow. His Maybach Music Group imprint label has acquired new talent, signing Ohioan backpacker Stalley, R&B singer Omarion and rapper everyman Rockie Fresh, as well as released two compilations, Self Made Vol. 1 & 2. Earlier this year MTV named Rick Ross the hottest MC on their annual list, and he released his Rich Forever mixtape to much critical acclaim. With his stock rising, Ross has capitalized on the moment and dropped a summer blockbuster of a fifth album, God Forgives, I Don’t.

Review: Joey BadA$$ - 1999

There is an oft ignored word in the discussion of Hip Hop, one that has played an important role in the rise to prominence of many an MC: hunger. There is much talk of talent, style and personality. But as Hip Hop continues to descend into monotony and artistic intentions become more fiscally focused, a truly hungry artist is a rarity (this of course is not the same hunger that motivates Action Bronson).  In 1993 Wu-Tang Clan released Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) which represented the ravenous vision of 9 emcees. During an interlude at the close of the track “Can It Be All So Simple”, Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah expound on the thesis of the Clan’s purpose citing: world domination, establishing a lasting legacy for further generations and displeasure with the current musical landscape.

All of this is an important consideration when listening to 17-year-old Brooklynite Joey BadA$$’s debut mixtape 1999. Stylistically the album harkens back to the 90’s glory days of the 5 Boroughs, combining boom-bap, do-the-wop, and East Coast grit. Lyrically BadA$$ and his featured cohorts display a consciousness that surpasses their age, taking a critical eye to their surroundings, while also displaying an array of battle tested, braggadocio drenched rhymes. Despite being born at the tail end of his influences’ prominence, 1999 sounds like an album lost in the crates and just now unearthed.

Review: Curren$y - The Stoned Immaculate

Curren$y’s The Stoned Immaculate is being prefaced as Spitta Andretti’s first major label release, and the sheen of a major’s money can be gleaned from the diversity of producers and featured artists. Previous releases have found him working with two producers at the most, typically Monsta Beatz and Ski Beatz, but The Stoned Immaculate boasts 13 producers for the Deluxe Edition’s 16 tracks, including production juggernauts The Neptunes and J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League as well as contributions from regulars like Monsta Beatz. As for the features, there is the usual cast (Wiz Khalifa and Big K.R.I.T., as well as Jet Life Recording artists Smoke DZA, Corner Boy P, Trademark da Skydiver and Young Roddy), but also major label signifiers like Estelle, Pharrell, Wale and the ever featuring 2 Chainz. Despite these changes in the supporting cast, Curren$y has produced an album that both lives up to the major label expectations of accessibility while remaining true to the laid back grind he started in 2008 with mixtapes like Higher than 30,000 Feet.

In the past four years Spitta has released roughly 20 projects, be it mixtapes, EPs or independently released albums. His prolific pace alone has made him a point of contention, an argument of flooding the market but also perfect utilization of internet social marketing that caters to listeners short attention spans. What these releases represent though is a singular vision, coined “life style rap” by Curren$y: a laid back, smoked out and jazzy world informed by weed, women and cars with the occasional sports reference. All of this amounts to a monument of an independent man using independent money to make independent money. The Stoned Immaculate in a way represents a compromise; the signs of major influence are present on the album but the record also represents an artist indulging in the privileges of major label money rather than conceding.

Review: Big K.R.I.T. - Live from the Underground

Preface: I have, as a listener of rap music, never been much for Southern Rap. My Hip Hop experience and exposure has been dedicated mostly to lyricism which I found lacking in a majority of Southern artists. Also as a Midwesterner I have no real reference point for the regional archetypes of Southern Rap. This is not to say I am ig’nant of Southern rap but have only focused on a select few artists, namely Outkast, Goodie Mob and Scarface. Despite this Meridian, MS’s Justin, Big K.R.I.T., Scott has delivered an album steeped in Southern Rap idioms (old school candy coated slabs with the wood grain and featuring Southern stalwarts like 8Ball & MJG and Bun B) but with a level of developed lyricism and personality that has sparked an interest in the artists that have influenced him, leading me musically backward.

Regionalism has always played an important role in the development and progression of Hip Hop. The impact of the internet has changed not only the marketing and consumption of music but has also begun to blur regional lines. A$AP Rocky represents the singularity at the center of regional collapse, an East Coast rapper who is largely influenced by Houston and Cincinnati. 

As an artist Big K.R.I.T. could easily be dismissed as a rehash of nearly two decades worth of Third Coast Rap, his inflection even at times sounding eerily similar to Pimp C. But instead of allowing this history to overshadow his efforts he has focused them into what amounts to a primer in Southern Rap. Given Southern music regionally brewed for roughly ten years before reaching the populace in the early Aughts, K.R.I.T. stands in the perfect position to become an historian for a movement, giving Southern Rap both a future while also remaining firmly rooted in the past.