Trackmasters v1.8 by Trackaroo

Trackaroo has released there newest release for there data acquisition for the Android phone. If your into racing, autoX, or HPDE and have a Android phone, you should be using this apps. I haven’t compared to a gps acquisition from like of maxQ or Trackmate, but for $5 you can’t go wrong.

Trackmaster provides the following features:

* Record the following track data: position, speed, acceleration, altitude, bearing, absolute time, split times, elapsed times, and lap times.
* Record your track data using multiple trigger modes: immediate, by movement, delayed, or by first split marker.
* View your lap times and split times with graphical analysis on your phone.
* Replay your track data instantly on your phone.

List of the new feature for v1.8 after the jump.

Hey bloggers,

This Saturday had to be one of my favorites, if not my favorite of 2009. I was able to attend a music conference here in Little Rock, AR called “All The Right Elements Symposium”; http://www.alltherightelementssymposium.com; There I was introduced to a lot of new and old friends whom will most likely shape my future drastically.

The Panal Included:

1. Sway Calloway-MTV Executive Producer
2. Rahman Dukes-Director of Urban Media at MTV
3. Rich Nice-A&R and Marketing Executive; Founder of Production Team “The TrackMasters”
4. Angela Yee-Radio Personality at Sirius XM Internet Radio on Shade 45; http://www.teamyee.tv
5. Kelly Jackson-President of Golden Shepard Alliance

There I learned a lot about publicity, new media, radio, creating your own niche, becoming a better artist/executive, along with so much more. I really look forward to putting all the information and advice given into motion. Personal note…if you get a chance to attend, you most definitely should.

I met a lot of up-and-coming talent at the event and I have to say that Im really happy with the way Arkansas is starting to shape up. All the panelist were very honest and straight to the point when telling artists about their music during the demo listening session.

furthermore, the 1st Annual Urban Fashion Show was that night too. Even thought I was able to attend even though I had bought my ticket, it seemed to be a big success. I wish them luck in their future endeavors.

Lastly, Philander Smith College’s homecoming concert was tonight which featured national acts such as Young Dro, Huey, Tierra Marie, and a few others. I have to say that the performances were great.

Hard Facts: ALWAYS BE PREPARED! You never know who you are going to meet and always having a business card, CD, and/or being able to perform on the spot may get you. Going back to what Rich Nice said “You ONLY get an opportunity like that ONCE!”

It’s a wrap, until the fingers bless the keys again…

Darryl Thomas-CEO of ASUE LLC

this reminds me of the 90s. hyper rhythmic/poetic flow, somewhere between d’ology and jay electronica. i did this specifically for rappersiknow.com and out of great respect for the are

I asked you guys if you could find the sample behind LL Cool J’s single “Loungin’ ” featuring Total earlier this week. Much to my dismay no one found the source.

But a friend of mine (Hey Jess!) correctly guessed the sample for the album version. She gets some E-brownie points for that but in today’s economy her winnings add up to $Nada.99!

Anyway, Trackmasters got the sample from the beginning of Bernard Wright’s “Who Do You Love.”

This song was Bernard Wright’s biggest hit (and his only video I believe.) Wikipedia, among other sources, tell me he grew up in NY as a talented keyboardist who played with Funk legends like Tom Browne and Lenny White in his teens. He recorded his first album, ‘Nard, at sixteen and his label waited until he became more recognizable as an artist two years later to release it. His debut dropped in 1981 and didn’t make waves sales-wise but heads consider it as a funk classic.

“Who Do You Love” was a single Wright’s third album Mr. Wright in 1985. Trackmasters just added some bells and whistles for the beat and raked in the dough. There isn’t anything wrong with that as they made a summertime banger.

I knew I saw the video before as I remember the “rolling camera” used in it. I think it’s a really dope shot. It also  shows that you don’t need a million dollar budget to get some nice effects in your flick.

Well that’s it for this edition. Keep it locked for another sample challenge coming soon.

Let me start this review with some information that many of you do not care about, after a fun night at Atelier in the King St W area of Toronto, I am running on approximately 3.5 hrs of sleep. On top of that, I missed the boat on posting yesterday, as I was sidetracked with the acquisition of the “I am T-Pain” application. So, I definitely know I have time to make up for and after waking up this morning, going to church, a cemetary, the mall and out for dim sum all before 1pm; I knew I was on the right foot.

The Blueprint is a perfect example that lightning does strike twice, this album should’ve been a clear sign and declaration that Jay is the best to ever do it. This, of course, is merely opinion and a topic that will be argued until the end of time, but let me state my case. Here is a typical list of other rappers that people consider the “G.O.A.T” (Greatest Of All Time) B.I.G, Wayne, Nas, Eminem & 2Pac.

Allow me to state my case against all the aformentioned:

Nas – Illmatic is classic. It Was Written is extremely dope, 1 step away from classic. Stillmatic was solid. I Am & Nastradamous were very mediocre. Everything else is not mentionable and that is why he doesn’t get my vote, too many questionable pieces.

2Pac – I don’t mean to discriminate, but if you were born after 1985 then your opinin doesn’t count (when it comes to Tupac). I’m talking about the 17 year olds wearing ‘Pac t-shirts and immortalizing a man/artist they know nothing about, yall are pretty much worshipping something/someone you heard about. Why 1985 you ask? If you born in 1985, you were 9-10 when “All Eyez On Me” came out and as we all know, that was his last real album. Although, 9-10 is still kinda young to form a respectable musical opinion, I’m gonna give them the benefit of the doubt. Okay, here is the final nail in the coffin, aside from him only having 1 classic (All Eyez On Me)

If you are a hardcore Tupac fan, then you might not want to read this:

TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR was not a great lyricist. His messages were powerful, but his wordplay & creativity was lacking. He was authentic, son of a Black Panther and definitely one of the realest & most influential artists ever, but he did not have flow/rhymes like the other people in this category. I’m a fan of his and I believe he made incredible music, but let’s be honest people: Can you compare his flow to Em? Storytelling to Slick Rick? Punchlines to Big L? Wordplay to Biggie?

Yea, I didn’t think so. Next!

PS. For anyone stewing in haterade right now: 1. I don’t care 2. Relax, I’m a fan, but I’m realistic

Wayne – Everything before Carter 2 was absolutely trash, Carter 2 was good and Carter 3 is modern day classic. Enough said!

Eminem – No classic albums, no classic songs. I still think he has the best flow of all time and some of his concepts are out of this world brilliant (Stan) but it still comes down to songs & albums for me.

And the biggest argument of them all (no pun intended)…

Notorious B.I.G – Ready to Die is classic and Life After Death is great, but his untimely passing leaves a lot to the imagination and too much guessing. Who’s to say that he wouldn’t have made 1-2 garbage LPs after those? Basically, I think he had an amazing flow, witty lyrics, strong storytelling abilities and one of the most charismatic personalities Hip Hop has ever created, but I can’t crown someone off two albums. But, don’t worry, we’ll always love Big Poppa.

Wow, have I even started the review yet? Anyway, at this point I’m sure you’ve noticed and guessed that I really like this album, so I’ll to keep the actual review as short and sweet as possible.

This album was truly the coming out party for Just Blaze & Kanye West, Pause!

Just Blaze: “Girls, Girls, Girls”, “Song Cry”, “U Don’t Know” & “Breathe Easy”

Kanye West: “Takeover”, “Izzo”, “Heart Of The City”, “Never Change” & “Girls, Girls, Girls 2″

Daaaaaaaaaamn. Thats crazy isn’t it? “Heart Of The City” & “Never Change” are the two most soulful (modern day) songs I have heard and along with “U Don’t Know” are my favourite tracks off this album.

I guess one of the selling points from this album initially is the freshly cooked beef between Nas/Prodigy & Jay at the current time, if you are unfamiliar then check the timeline here: BEEF

If you’re wondering, I still think Jay took that one, because Nas never really said anything meaningful, just playground personal attacks. As for Prodigy, thats not even a fair competition and the fact that most people would have to google the name of the Alchemist produced diss track that appeared on “The Infamy” tells me who won that one. “Takeover” took on Nas, Mobb Deep and a slew of nobodies, with a Doors sampled Kanye beat that is still crazy to this day. With a combination of insults, facts and swag (swag being an appropriate word for that time period) SC definitely handled his business and is still the only MC involved to have made a recovery since.

This release will also forever remembered because it was released on September 11th 2001 and despite it’s tragic coincidence, it still managed to sell over 420,000+ units in USA during the first week. The album is currently certified double platinum in the USA alone and is an absolutely marvelous piece of music, one of the most complete Hip Hop albums ever. It’s really tough for me to choose between “Reasonable Doubt”, “The Black Album” and this one, when it comes to my favourite of all-time.

As a nerdy Hip Hop sidenote, I remember reading an interview online where 9th Wonder was commenting on the production and he mentioned that Timabland’s “Hola Hovito” was just an average beat, but he absolutely loved Eminem’s “Renegade”. When I read that, I was kinda like.. Wow. It’s kinda cool to hear super producers talk about each other and critique other peoples beats, maybe I’ll ask 9th about it when he is here for Hip Hop Love on Sept. 19th

There is a lot more I can talk about, but I feel like I’ve covered a good amount for a little review, I definitely recommend this album for not only Hip Hop fans, but music lovers in general. Appreciate the lyrics, production, message(s), flow, artistry and the blue case it originally came in! Not to mention, it has 2 of the best bonus tracks ever!

11 septembre 2001. Alors que deux avions détournés par les hommes de Ben Laden s’écrasent sur le World Trade Center, Jay-Z percute le rap game de plein fouet avec son cinquième opus. Quand les tours jumelles s’effondrent, Jigga Man dévoile son plan. The Blueprint - sorti sur Roc-A-Fella Records – fut bien l’unique réjouissance de cette journée chaotique. Il y a des signes qui ne trompent pas, celui-ci en faisait partie. Depuis 1996 et Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Z restait sur des succès critiques en demi teinte. Sa trilogie In My Lifetime, Hard Knock Life et Life And Times Of S. Carter ayant séduit que moyennement les puristes, The Blueprint devait être l’album du renouveau. Une renaissance artistique qui devait impérativement passer par une nouvelle équipe de producteurs. Et c’est ainsi que Kanye West, Just Blaze et Bink furent impliqués dans le plan…

Jusque là, aucun album de Jay-Z n’avait vu le jour sans qu’un morceau ne soit produit par DJ Premier, Ski ou Swizz Beatz. Mais pour le Blueprint, la donne changea. Exit les Primo, Swizz Beatz et consorts, Jigga voulut du sang neuf. En 2001, Al Quaida bouleversa la face du monde, Jay-Z celle du Hip Hop. A ce jour et sans compter Reasonable Doubt, l’artiste n’a jamais fait mieux que cet opus. The Blueprint est un petit bijou qui révolutionna une culture au début du nouveau millénaire, et vous allez comprendre pourquoi.

Dans ses deuxièmes, troisièmes et quatrièmes albums, la musique de Jay-Z avait commencé à prendre une tournure différente. Et pour cause, les succès commerciaux engendrés par ceux-ci lui ont ouvert les portes du show-business. A noter qu’ Hard Knock Life, son troisième essai, a quand même fini quintuple disque de platine ! Dès lors que les ventes ont suivi, Jay-Z est tombé presque logiquement dans le piège du formatage radio. Moins street, plus commerciaux, ses tubes se sont embourgeoisés et le rappeur a commencé à baisser dans l’estime des critiques. Pas de quoi le blâmer cependant, sa musique restait honnête, puis Nas a fait la même chose (cf. I Am, Nastradamus).
Et un jour, le Hip Hop l’a appelé, lui a dit de revenir comme en 1996 et lui a donné rendez vous. La suite, on la connaît. The Blueprint naquit…

Quand sort ce disque, Jay-Z est déjà un homme d’affaires. Cependant, son empire n’est pas aussi important qu’il ne l’est aujourd’hui. En 2001, le trône de Def Jam ne lui appartient pas encore, néanmoins c’est bien lui le boss du Roc-A-Fella. Et par conséquent, le mentor d’une flopé d’artistes, dont le jeune Kanye Omari West. Avec cette œuvre, le producteur – alors âgé de 24 ans – va se hisser au sommet du game et apporter une immense bouffée d’oxygène au milieu Hip Hop. Pour Kanye West, The Blueprint sera une révélation, et pour Jay-Z une renaissance.

Le chicagoan produit cinq des treize titres de l’album dont “The Takeover“, “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”, “Heart of the City (Ain’t no Love)”, “Never Change” et le remix de “Girl’s Girl’s Girl’s” placé en fin toute fin de disque. Tous sont des tueries !
“The Takeover” apparaît en seconde position sur le tracklisting et fait polémique dès sa sortie en bacs. Pour résumer l’affaire, cette chanson est devenue le point de départ d’un des plus gros beef de l’histoire du rap, opposant Jay-Z à Nas. En introduction, Jigga entame une apologie des artistes du Roc-A-Fella avant d’enchaîner sur trois couplets assassins envers Prodigy (Mobb Deep) et l’enfant prodige du Queens, Nas. La réponse viendra trois mois plus tard avec “Ether“, diss-track monumentale contre le patron du ROC.
La production de Kanye West est très brute, très puissante, presque violente. “The Takeover” puise sa force dans le “Five To One” des Doors, samplé pour l’occasion. Hormis ce titre, tous les instrumentaux de Kanye West prennent source dans la vieille Soul des années 70. De David Ruffin aux Jackson Five, les échantillonnages du jeunot sont précis et diablement efficaces. La triplette “Heart of The City“, “Never Change“, “Song Cry” se passe de commentaires. Kanye et Just Blaze gèrent seuls les musiques, Jay-Z s’occupe du reste. Ca semble simple et logique, pourtant c’est complexe et délicat. Bref, majestueux.

Avec “Girl’s, Girl’s, Girl’s“, “U Don’t Know“, “Song Cry” et la deuxième partie du morceau “Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)“, Just Blaze réalise également un quasi sans fautes. Harmonisant parfaitement ses productions avec celles de Kanye West et de Bink, l’ensemble du disque est cohérent au possible, apparaissant comme allant de soi. Autres détails : Timbaland pose son empreinte sur “Hola Hovito” tandis qu’ Eminem produit et rappe sur le célèbre “Renegade“. Jay-Z est comme un coq en pâte autour de ces offrandes successives et nous régale tout au long des 63 minutes 52 de l’album.

Cinquième opus et deuxième coup de maître pour Jay Hova en cinq ans de carrière. 2001 fut une année charnière, autant pour les Etats-Unis que pour le rap. Celle-ci aura marqué l’éclatement du conflit entre Jay-Z et Nas mais aussi la certification d’un nouveau classique du Hip Hop pour The Blueprint. Avec cet essai, le rappeur de Brooklyn a bouleversé la face du rap East Coast à l’aube du nouveau millénaire. The Blueprint fut aussi un tremplin pour le jeune Kanye West qui, après avoir produit sur cet album, a sorti son premier solo (The College Dropout) en 2004. Après ce coup de massue infligé au rap game à la rentrée 2001, Jigga Man a tenté de recréer l’exploit un an plus tard avec The Blueprint² : The Gift & The Curse. Mais une fois encore, le numéro deux n’a pas pu égaler le numéro 1. The Blueprint premier du nom reste à ce jour un des seuls opus de Jay-Z (avec Reasonable Doubt) capable d’aller titiller des sommets de perfection rarement atteints.

19 / 20

Guess who showed up to the party with some new ish*…. (This is off a Tapemasters mix)

Andre 3000 – Lookin’ 4 Ya<<<<<LISTEN
DOWNLOAD<<<<<<

First of all, I wanna big up everyone who checked me out during the first week of DanjLovesThe90s. Just to let y’all know, I’m just gettin’ started, so be sure to keep coming back!

NOW… if you love Hip-Hop and R&B from the ’90s, you kinda automatically love the ’80s by degree of separation. A lot of the biggest hits from the ’90s were songs that borrowed heavily and liberally from ’80s R&B and Pop music. Most artists spent the first half of the decade trying to get away from the one before it, but they ended up spending the second half revisiting it. I ‘m kinda surprised that music of the ’90s hasn’t been heavily re-used during this decade in a similar manner, but then again… I guess it’d be a lil’ harder to do.

A lot of people cried foul when this craze was going on, because they felt it was a little lazy to just snatch loops from songs that were already poppin’ years prior. I saw where they were coming from, but at the same time, I think a lot of them only felt that way because they vividly recalled the songs that were being used. It was no different than when half of Cali spent the early-’90s using funk records from the ’70s, or when hip-hop of the late-’80s practically raided James Brown’s catalog of the ’60s. It was just more in their faces now that the music of their youth was being jacked.

Admittedly, in some instances, it was unimaginative and somewhat of a get-a-hit-quick move. I’d still have to say some quality songs came out of that trend, though. In keeping with the m.o. of DanjLovesThe90s, I’ll now mention a few of what will be a number of instances where the ’90s sampled the ’80s to great effect. And, as usual… you wanna hear ‘em, click ‘em.

Jay-Z’s “Can’t Knock The Hustle” (Remix) sampled Meli’sa Morgan’s “Fool’s Paradise”: In ‘86, Meli’sa Morgan was a big-haired R&B talent known for her hit “Do Me Baby” and her smaller hit, “Fool’s Paradise”. The latter song found Meli’sa hoping her significant other hadn’t gotten caught up in the “bright lights and big city”, as it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be from her standpoint. 10 years later, Jay-Z recruited Mary J. Blige to sing a piece of the song for his single, “Can’t Knock The Hustle”. In light of its’ popularity, he remixed it with the full “…Paradise” sample and a Meli’sa feature (which she KILLS). Couldn’t knock it.

Foxy Brown feat. BlackStreet “Get Me Home” sampled Eugene Wilde’s “Gotta Get You Home Tonight”: Speaking of Jay, he also wrote an even bigger hit for another artist around the same time. Brooklyn’s Foxy Brown was 17 years old and the raunchiest female rapper out, second only to Lil’ Kim. However, she toned down the “playin’ inside my pubic hairs” talk long enough to score a smash with “Get Me Home”, which sampled a 1984 hit by Eugene Wilde. With BlackStreet on the hook and the Trackmasters on the… track, Foxy set things off nicely for her debut album, Ill Na Na. Oh, and props to whoever suggested Fox throw in the “uh-oh, uh-oh!” on the hook.

AZ’s “Sugar Hill” sampled Juicy’s “Sugar Free”: I’ve mentioned a few times on other sites that while AZ has spent a lot of his career being considered “Nas‘ homeboy”, he actually did something with his first single that Nas didn’t do until his fifth: he scored a legit nationwide hit. The MissJones-featured “Sugar Hill” was hot around mid-’95, and it borrowed from a song that was moderately popular 10 years prior. Juicy’s “Sugar Free” was a minor R&B hit that my mother happened to love, thus I already recognized (and appreciated) it once AZ used it.

Lost Boyz “Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless” sampled Club Nouveau’s “Jealousy”: This one fucked my head up, because I was completely oblivious to it for a whole 12 years after “Lifestyles…” dropped. “Jealousy” was a minor hit by Club Nouveau in 1986. It was also a “dis record” of sorts aimed at the Timex Social Club, whom Nouveau member Jay King had a falling-out with after producing their hit, “Rumors”. Producer Easy Mo Bee managed to slow this record waaaay down and utilize it for the LB Fam’s first hit in ‘95. Only a visit to The-Breaks.com in ‘07 gave me any idea that “Lifestyles…” sampled “Jealousy”. I’m usually good at spotting samples, but for years, I’d liked both of those songs without ever connecting one to the other.

Much like the “Posse”, I’ll be revisiting this topic here and there in future entries. There’s a lot more that did just as well (if not better) at making the ’80s new for a whole ‘nother generation. It was definitely an important part, for better or worse, of ’90s Hip-Hop, as well as R&B for that matter.

“Illuminati want my mind, soul and my body. Secret society, tryin to keep they eye on me.”  – Prodigy

In 1995, LL Cool J released one of his biggest albums Mr. Smith.  The LP’s  double platinum success was due to the smash hits Loungin with/ Total, Doin It w/ LeShaun, Hey Lover w/ Boyz 2 Men plus most of the production being handled by Rashad Smith & The Trackmasters.  The Mr. Smith album wasn’t all bubble gum however, LL assembled Representatives from some of NY’s finest crews [Fat Joe (Terror Squad), Keith Murray(Def Squad/L.O.D.), Prodigy(Mobb Deep) & Foxy Brown(The Firm)] for the remix to his controversial record I Shot Ya.  Directed by Hype Williams, rumors swirling of Keith Murray tossing Prodigy around at the video shoot & loads of cameos this is a classic Hip-Hop video from a better era.

Download Mr. Smith —>http://rapidshare.com/files/218609630/LLCJ_-_MS_-_320.rar

Artist: Fabolous
Album: Real Talk
Year: 2004
Quality: 320 kbps

depositfiles.com

Artist: Foxy Brown
Album: Ill Na Na
Year: 1996
Quality: 320 kbps

depositfiles.com
rapidshare.com

Jay-Z feat./ Gwen Dickey- “Wishing on A Star”

“…breaking day in the club/surrounded by my own thoughts, playing the cut.”- Jay-Z on “Wishing on A Star”

NOOOOO “Late Night Digging” is not ONLY going to post songs by Jay-Z and Nas, it’s just that this song SOUNDS like underground, grimey hip hop. Everything from the muffled-quality of Jay’s vocals and the rough sampling and arrangement of the beat to the retrospective tales of the hood…this is a time capsule of mid-90’s Hip Hop. Produced by Trackmasters(so you KNOWWWW it’s old) and wait…THIS SHIT HAD A VIDEO!! Pretty cinematic(Like all of Jay’s videos from Reasonable Doubt and Vol. 1). This is how rare this shit is. It’s on the EUROPEAN BONUS SONG of In My Lifetime Vol. 1. I know some serious Hip Hop heads are reading this like..”THIS NIGGA LATE!!” But hey, ain’t nothing wrong with some reminiscing. 

.(DOPE).

Je vais vous présenter un des albums les plus attendus de l’année. En soit, la sortie d’un nouvel opus de Ludacris est toujours un petit évènement mais là il s’agit de faire la comparaison avec T.I. afin de juger qui des deux artistes pourra reprendre son statut de ‘roi du Sud’. Vous souvenez vous de cette phrase sur ma chronique de Paper Trail : “Puis en ce qui concerne son statut de King Of The South acquis en 2006 après le succès de King, il faudra attendre la sortie du nouvel album de Ludacris pour en décider“. C’était il y a environ deux mois. Désormais Theater Of The Mind est dans les bacs et nous réserve plusieurs surprises. En premier lieu on note l’apparition de Ludacris derrière la caméra. Non vous ne rêvez pas, j’ai bien dis derrière la caméra. Après avoir connu l’homme rappeur et acteur, le voici réalisateur le temps d’un disque, son sixième après l’excellent Release Therapy. Et justement cet opus sorti en 2006 nous avait tellement enjoué que nous attendions son retour avec une impatience démesurée. Pour cet album concept pas moins de dix huit invités sont venus jouer les acteurs, supervisés par Monsieur Ludacris. Mais pour qui se prend t-il celui là, pour Spike Lee ? Tenez vous bien je vous ai dis, vous n’êtes pas au bout de vos surprises…

Pour commencer, rappelons les objectifs de l’artiste. L’idée de ce disque était de se mettre en scène afin de créer une histoire pour chacun des titres, avec des voix off, des contextes particuliers, des interludes et des acteurs différents ( ce qui explique le nombre important d’invités ). Avec Theater Of The Mind, Ludacris a sûrement souhaité faire le lien entre sa carrière musicale et cinématographique. Comme dans un vrai film, nous retrouvons des transitions entre les morceaux, aussi bien comiques que sérieuses.

” Lights, camera and ACTIOOOOOOON !!!! “

Dès l’intro, le ton est donné. Ludacris revient plus enragé que jamais et promet un cataclysme auditif. Désormais c’est une tradition pour lui, chaque album doit débuter par une bombe atomique. Qui ne se souvient pas de l’intro de Chicken And Bear ou de Release Therapy ? A présent on pourra ajouter celle-ci au palmarès des tueries introductives. On enchaîne sur le morceau qui est également le premier single, “Undisputed” feat. Floyd Mayweather. Un mois avant noël, Don Cannon joue les Santa Claus en faisant don à Ludacris d’un instrumental de grande classe. Pas de gros banger en perspective, juste ce qu’il faut de Soul pour faire décoller le flow toujours aussi percutant du rappeur.
En regardant un film, le spectateur connaît plusieurs états. Il peut passer du rire aux larmes en quelques minutes, de la joie à la peur en une fraction de seconde. De même, la fiction de Ludacris suit ce procédé. Ainsi, “Wish You Would” contraste grandement avec “Undisputed“. T.I. vient jouer les seconds rôles sur cet hymne sudiste, le premier de l’album. Après “Top Of The World” sur Paper Trail, les deux hommes se sont redonnés rendez pour ce titre très mainstream produit par DJ Toomp, vraiment moyen. En revanche “One More Drink” m’a davantage surpris. A la vue du ‘feat. T-Pain‘ j’avoue avoir cru à un énième tube stéréotypé fait de strasses, de paillettes et d’artifices en tout genre. Que nenni ! Très bien produit, ce morceau se veut comique, à la fois pour ses paroles et pour son clip qui repeint parfaitement le cadre musical inspirés des réunions de parlotte.

” Silence, moteur, ca tourne ”

Le gros point fort de Release Therapy résidait dans l’alchimie et l’homogénéité dégagée. Les quelques invités faisaient vraiment figure d’invités contrairement à ici où le monde est tel qu’on aurait presque l’impression d’écouter une compilation. Ce coté est quelque peu dérangeant, voire rageant, surtout lorsqu’on connaît le potentiel de Ludacris. Mais je vous rassure, il y a aussi de quoi sourire. Seulement, ce que je reproche à ce début d’album c’est d’être beaucoup trop brouillon quant à la ligne directrice suivie. Certes le MC a souhaité inventer une histoire pour chaque titre mais pour le coup il en a oublié le fil conducteur. On passe d’un morceau assez musical ( “Undisputed” ) à un énorme banger gavé de basses ( “Wish You Would” ), pour revenir à un morceau plus posé ( “One More Drink” ) avant de repartir pour un son West coast ( “Call Up The Homie” feat. The Game et Willy Northpole ). Individuellement, les tracks sont plutôt bonnes ( exceptées “Wish You Would” et “Call Up The Homie” ) mais misent cote à cote le résultat est déroutant. En réalité ce constat est valable surtout pour le début du disque car à partir de “Southern Gangsta” on retrouve un certain équilibre. L’agencement de ce titre est assez particulier. Ludacris, Rick Ross et Playaz Circle posent chacun leur couplet après avoir été présenté par une voix off au ton grave et mystérieux. Ceci donne une dimension plus palpitante au morceau surtout lorsque arrive le tour de Rick Ross : “He’s the biggest boss (…) I present for you, Rick Ross, the boss …“

Quand Primo s’y mèle…

Je vous l’avais dis, ce Theater Of The Mind nous réserve bien des surprises. La première était de voir Ludacris se la jouer réalisateur, la deuxième est la présence du légendaire DJ Premier à la production. L’œuvre, ou plutôt le chef d’œuvre se nomme “MVP” et figure à la douzième place dans la tracklist du disque. La patte de Primo est reconnaissable dès les trois premières secondes. Un long scratche annonce l’arrivée imminente du génie new-yorkais. Et au final, du Luda sur du Primo ça passe à merveille, en même temps le travail du DJ est tellement excellent que le reste coule de source.
Nous arrivons à présent aux meilleurs moments de cet opus. Juste avant cela se sont enchaînées deux très bons morceaux. Le premier, “Contagious“, agréable ballade soulful chantée par Jamie Foxx, de bon augure avant son prochain album. Le deuxième est le terrible “Last Of A Dying Breed” avec un Lil Wayne plus en forme que jamais. Ca c’est de la tuerie comme on les aime. Un instrumental ultra violent et deux MC’s aussi affamés que des cannibales, j’adore.
Mais Luda a gardé le meilleur pour la fin. Imaginez un peu un hommage au hip hop réunissant Ludacris, Nas et Jay-Z sur une même chanson. Ca s’appelle “I Do It For Hip Hop“, c’est sur Theatre Of The Mind et ca se passe de commentaries.
La chose la plus inattendue restera l’épilogue de cet opus. Sans qu’on s’y attende une voix enfumée vient réveiller la nation hip hop. Mais,… mais,… mais c’est Spike Lee !!! En effet, le célèbre réalisateur américain de 51 ans vient dissimuler quelques sages paroles pour conclure avec l’album le plus cinématographique de l’année. En plus de cela, Common est invité à “Do The Right Things” en compagnie de notre sympathique Ludacris.

Fin du film, applaudissements généraux

La représentation semble à présent terminée, les lumières de la salle anciennement obscure commencent à se rallumer et les premiers spectateurs quittent le lieu par les portes en bas de l’escalier en moquette rouge. Après visionnage et écoute de ce Theater Of The Mind on peut voir des sourires éclairer le visage des gens. Le public a l’air heureux, satisfait, enjoué, sans pour autant avoir les yeux qui crépitent. Personnellement j’éprouve le même sentiment. Ludacris m’a étonné, m’a fait rire, m’a fait diablement kiffer à certains moment et m’a ennuyé à d’autres, moins nombreux. Au final je ressors de cette séance avec la satisfaction d’avoir entendu de la bonne musique, celle que j’attendais. Le seul reproche à faire serait le manque de cohérence global de l’album, mais c’est peut être le concept qui a voulu cela. En tout cas ce n’est pas ce produit qui viendra tacher la très belle discographie de Christopher Brian Bridges.

Reste une question à se poser : Après cet album, qui est désormais le King Of The South ? Personnellement je vote Ludacris sans hésiter, mais vous, qu’en pensez vous ?

15 / 20

01. Call Up the Homies (Co-starring The Game & Willy NorthPole)
02. Do the Right Thing (Co-starring Common & Spike Lee)
03. Everybody Hates Chris (Co-starring Chris Rock)
04. I Do It for Hip-Hop (Co-starring Nas & Jay-Z)
05. Last of a Dying Breed (Co-starring Lil Wayne)
06. Let’s Stay Together
07. MVP
08. One More Drink (Co-starring T-Pain)
09. Southern Gangsters (Co-starring Playaz Circle & Rick Ross)
10. Undisputed (Co-starring Floyd Mayweather Jr.)
11. What Them Girls Like (Co-starring Chris Brown & Sean Garrett)
12. Wish You Would (Co-starring T.I.)
13. Nasty Girl (Co-starring Plies & Swizz Beatz)

Producers are; Clinton Sparks, 9th Wonder, Don Cannon, Kids With Machine Gunz, DJ Paul & Juicy J, DJ Premier, Trackmasters, Darkchild, DJ Toomp and Swizz Beatz

Trackmasters claim that they have made many financial sacrifices for Kim and they basically feel like she hasn’t done what she was suppose to do in exchange. They say that they helped Kim out of the $200,000 debt that she had owed Atlantic Recordsgave her 1.6 million toward Brookland for Kim. Their accusing Kim with being aware of all of investments. The Law suit says “[Trackmasters] reasonably relied upon Defendants’ promise by producing tracks for the mixed tape and album, paying an advance, forming Brookland, and moving its offices and studio to Alpine, New Jersey.” The producers are also seeking full recovery and withdrawal of any material recorded by the Brooklyn emcee under their company, Brookland. In addition to full compensation plus damages, the men are also requesting that all employees and associates of Brookland be restricted from working with Kim on anything music-related.

PROPS TMZ

http://www.zshare.net/download/1815382109ae27e9

Foxy Brown – Xclusive (Feat. Stacey Mckenzie)

http://www.zshare.net/audio/11464981ac1b7938/

Foxy Brown – Hennessy & Bacardi [Prod. By The Trackmasters]

This is the first of my new “Danthology” series, where every weekend I’ll be posting songs from my catalog, and giving you a brief rundown of the relevance of the song, and how it came about.

Alone & Dan Johns – The Message (click to play/download)

This is a 2004 reinterpolation of the classic Nas song “The Message.” Al and I had just decided to record what we thought would be a short EP, which would later become the full-length LP Tech Files.

Tech Files was the first project that Al and I ever worked on together, and it was also the first full-fledged project that I was involved in after my fiance Misty’s death. There is a lot of emotion and passion on that project. The Message didn’t make the final cut, as it was more of a tribute to Nas and us getting familiar with each other as emcees. I always found it cool that the Trackmasters sampled Sting’s ‘Shape of My Heart‘ for this joint, as that is a pretty dope song in its own right. I found the song on a cassette tape years prior to this recording. I dug the tape out of my box, looped up the sample and added drums. I also ran a low pass filter on the sample to bring out the original bassline used by the TM. (yeah, some of yall didn’t know that your boy Dan Danger makes beats from time-to-time)

I was going through songs this morning to see what song would be the first one that I’d put up, and I ended up playing this joint like 5 times. Tell me what you think of it.