Ty Burna's All Hip Hop Thread

[LamaNamaneumi]

for me it had to be the FAT BOYS. They were the first hip hop group I heard. I would say DJ JAZZY JEFF AND THE FRESH PRINCE or VINNALLA ICE got me into it.

I remember my brother saying MA$E was going to be " the next big thing in hip hop".

On a side note check out " THE ARCHIVE " on YouTube, I think this man can help save hip hop.

 

[Pimpin]

Well for me the group that got me into hip hop is no doubt my favorite group of all time in NWA. Now whem me & my cousin were chillin up in his room as I was 6 years old at the time, he played their album Straight Outta Compton on his boombox & the lyrics & shit just got me interested as I wanted to listen to more & more hip hop by the second. Luckily for me, years later I got my hands on more hip hop albums like all of 2Pac's albums when he was alive, Eminem's albums & etc.

On a different note, I do agree that Ma$e could've made it big had he not have retired, but he had loads of talent as I do enjoy listenin to his albums.

 

[SK]

Hello Hip Hop fans, now while I really enjoy rap, I don't post in here very often because I don't know a lot of underground artists because I live in England and it's hard to keep tracks and keep up with underground Hip Hop just via AllHipHop.

Anyway, what I would like to ask you is, as Americans and fans of Hip Hop, what do you think of international and more specifically UK Hip Hop/ Grime?

How do you think international Hip Hop compares with American Hip Hop? Obviously record sales and popularity show International Hip Hop stars aren't commercially successful and there's only really English born Slick Rick who has found any acclaim in America. It seems in England now that our 'rappers' are shying away from American accents and beats and trying to do their own thing, which is finding some success with MC Tinchy Stryder recently reaching number 1 in out charts.

Another question is do you think any International Hip Hop will ever challenge American Hip Hop and become successful? This hasn't been the case before, do you think this is because of quality, or the fact that as Americans, any other type of Hip Hop or Rap just sounds wrong?

I would love to know your thoughts and opinions on this.

 

[Ty Burna]

Alright alright alright let's settle this once and for all because I want this to fucking explode with as much smoke as a gravity bong hit.

Who was better, 2pac or Biggie? Give your reasons like usual, and I want you to bring it hard when it comes to this argument because I don't want no pussy footed answers like: Biggie was better because his quality was better blah blah blah. No I want motherfucking breakdown and analysis of each rapper and come to a conclusion why they are the better of the two. I don't want any other rappers being brought in for a comparison, this is a straight up duel.

Now, 2pac was clearly the better of the two. Why? He's put out far more material than Biggie ever did, Biggie got even more popular because of 2pac (more into this later), and 2pac had that poetic flow on the mic that Biggie could only dream to have.

Analysis time motherfuckers:

2pac - Arguably one of the most gifted lyricists that spit on the mic during the 90's. He was controversial, he was loved, and he was hated. The man had ideals and ethics that he held close to his heart. The man literally took the word Thug, which to some means True Hero Under God, and ran with it as a lifestlye and a mindset, rather than just a term or a title. He started out with Digital Underground, and it was more of a laid back humour style rap, it originally began as a more social activist group like your Public Enemy. As 2pac got onto Death Row, he started to rap more about social issues and created songs that connected more with what his audience was going through than songs about "blunts and broads" like Biggie was always rapping about. While Pac had his share of songs such as that, he was always better at them then Biggie was. Biggie was influenced too much by Puffy, and because of that his music suffered. If Biggie had full control over his music instead of Puffy yapping into his ear, I think Biggie would have been better than he is already. But clearly, 2pac was the better gangsta rapper, had more social activism in his songs, and had the better lyrics.

Biggie - Biggie is dope, no doubt about that. But the biggest problem when it comes to Biggie, is that he doesn't have the same ability lyrically as 2pac does, and like I said earlier, suffers from the flash and glitz that Puffy kept surrounding him with. Biggie became essentially too famous to keep it where he came from, the streets. Once he made it big, I don't think he really tried to connect with the streets anymore, while 2pac was always about keeping his music connected with the people on the struggle. Another thing that I have against Biggie, not much of a big thing, but it is a negative, is that Biggie became even more famous after his death, but truly it was because of 2pac's death first and the East/West rivalry that gave Biggie his initial fame. I admit, it was sad to hear Biggie and Pac die, but Biggie only had 2 albums, while they were great albums, I don't see how he is as influential as 2pac was.

2pac in my opinion, was the quintessential gangsta rapper in the 90's. He not only rapped about the Thug lifestyle, he lived it every minute of his life. He was as real as real could get when it comes to hip hop, while Biggie who came up as a drug dealer, became suddenly a flashy Pimp instead of staying true to his roots.

If you need further proof, which of the following diss songs is better?

 

[FromTheSouth]

Two questions in one


The first rap album that I got up on was 1994's hit The Diary, by none other than Scarface. The violence in that album was immense, but not nearly as prevalent as the emotional journey listeners were taken on. We visited jail, the hood, the lab, Texas, California, and New york. It was amazing. I had heard some rap before that, a lot actually, and I liked it, but Mr. Scarface is the one who made me the fan I am today.


Tupac is better than Biggie. Pac's sheer volume of material is five times Biggie, and there is not one bad song. I think that Biggie might have the best song of the two, Juicy, but Pac consistently made hits that you could sing along to. His first album with Death Row was perfect, both discs. Biggie was good. Both of his albums were excellent, but Tupac just smokes him.

And to tie it all together....

[youtube]L0Vk0EL-r8g[/youtube]

 

[Big Sexy]

Pac and Biggie are two of the greatest rappers of all time, but when it comes to who's better the answer is Tupac Shakur.

Tupac- Pac was larger then life. He was more then just a rapper, the man was like a poet. You hear guys like Kanye talking about how they are a lyrical genius, but Tupac was an actual genius lyrically. For every song like "I Get Around" he had 5 like "Brendas Got a Baby" "Keep Ya Head" "Dear Mama" "Thugs Cry" and "I Ain't Mad At Cha." He could go from being a gangster to making socially conscious songs at the drop of the dime. "Hit Em Up" is also possibly the greatest diss song ever. He absolutely crushed Biggie on the song.

Biggie- Biggie was definitely great, there is no doubt about that. His flow was ridiculous and his rhyming was top notch. However, he was no where near as influential as Pac was. He didn't rap about as many social issues either. He had a few songs like "Juicy" and "Suicidal Thoughts" that touched on some issues but overall he just didn't measure up to Pac's greatness.

Great Pac Songs

[youtube]MWPnDdj2lLo[/youtube]

[youtube]PAMgSUgtAAw[/youtube]

Great Biggie Songs

[youtube]OsT8FaZnzdE[/youtube]

[youtube]p18uNMfwp34[/youtube]
Go to 1:10 point in the song if you just want Biggies verse.

They recorded verses for a song at the same time around 1994 and a few years ago Eminem put it together with a new hook.

[youtube]xuhH1UeVscc[/youtube]

 

[Tenta]

Biggie- Biggie was definitely great, there is no doubt about that. His flow was ridiculous and his rhyming was top notch. However, he was no where near as influential as Pac was. He didn't rap about as many social issues either. He had a few songs like "Juicy" and "Suicidal Thoughts" that touched on some issues but overall he just didn't measure up to Pac's greatness.

I'd agree with this, though that's quite the curious thing to say, as so many people place these two rappers so close into the annals of rap history, and these two are always so intertwined between one another. The fact is, these rappers, from a philosophical standpoint, were nothing like one another.Biggie was a rapper that would succeed more than 2Pac in today's society, should they have debuted around today's spectrum of rap music. Where as Tupac went the extra step to speak openly about racism and prejudice, and black man's need to succeed in the society that has been designed for African Americans to have struggles. Biggie was far more interested in creating hit singles, and though he was aware of the struggles of blacks, was far less inclined to speak out about the issues that struggled.

Which brings me to this question, regarding hip hop. There used to be a period in which rapping actually meant something. Not only were you concerned about selling, you were concerned about spreading a message to the masses, and speaking out to a culture that otherwise has gone through major struggle. Now, it seems like rappers are more inclined to fall upon the stereotypes that people have come to label African Americans with, and to prance around, singing of the importance of "ice" and "money". My question I'd like to throw out is how rap devolved to the sugar coated artificial ness that you plaguing our radio streams and iPods right now? Why have artists grown content with their evolution, and have become more prone to use their success as a celebrity to plug their own shameless face, as opposed to offering a message to society. I could say this about all music. However, this issue tends to plague rap and hip hop more so than any other music.

 

[Big Sexy]

Which brings me to this question, regarding hip hop. There used to be a period in which rapping actually meant something. Not only were you concerned about selling, you were concerned about spreading a message to the masses, and speaking out to a culture that otherwise has gone through major struggle. Now, it seems like rappers are more inclined to fall upon the stereotypes that people have come to label African Americans with, and to prance around, singing of the importance of "ice" and "money". My question I'd like to throw out is how rap devolved to the sugar coated artificial ness that you plaguing our radio streams and iPods right now? Why have artists grown content with their evolution, and have become more prone to use their success as a celebrity to plug their own shameless face, as opposed to offering a message to society. I could say this about all music. However, this issue tends to plague rap and hip hop more so than any other music.

The reason is simple. It's all about the money. Talking about jewelry and "swag" sells records. Albums are getting sold because of a couple club songs that get released as singles. There's no longer a reason for rappers to rap about real issues because they can make money without doing that. Take a guy like Soulja Boy. If you look at the lyrics of all his songs they are atrocious. It's just an entire album of club songs. It would probably take about 2 hours to write all the lyrics to his album because it's all simplistic rhymes and repetitive hooks. But he knows that he can take shitty rhymes that took no effort to write and make a million dollars, so guys like that don't feel the need to make records that talk about real issues.

 

[Ty Burna]

Which brings me to this question, regarding hip hop. There used to be a period in which rapping actually meant something. Not only were you concerned about selling, you were concerned about spreading a message to the masses, and speaking out to a culture that otherwise has gone through major struggle. Now, it seems like rappers are more inclined to fall upon the stereotypes that people have come to label African Americans with, and to prance around, singing of the importance of "ice" and "money". My question I'd like to throw out is how rap devolved to the sugar coated artificial ness that you plaguing our radio streams and iPods right now? Why have artists grown content with their evolution, and have become more prone to use their success as a celebrity to plug their own shameless face, as opposed to offering a message to society. I could say this about all music. However, this issue tends to plague rap and hip hop more so than any other music.

I think we've touched on this before, but it was more in the vein of why mainstream hip hop sucks now. I'd even go so far as to say that these newer mainstream "rappers" are the new pop artists. Think about it, when was the last time you heard a real hard gangsta rap ever grace the radio as of late? Don't worry I'll wait. It isn't going to happen, and I believe there a couple mitigating factors to take into consideration in regards to this issue.

The very first issue is the record companies in my opinion. They are the ones that are signing these cotton candy rappers in the first place and keep churning out garbage music after garbage music. Lil Wayne I have to give a slight exception to this because he was with Cash Money from the start, but I'm still blaming Baby for fucking up Cash Money records by letting Juvenile, BG, and Mannie Fresh go, but that's a topic for another day. These record companies don't give a damn about social messages, and because the record companies often have more creative control than the artist, they can force them into making these club songs that we see as a plague on hip hop.

Which then brings me to the next issue. The record companies not only sign the cotton candy rappers, but any that do have any skill are suppressed to doing on club songs. Why is this? Because it's all about the money. I believe this is the biggest factor of them all. These cotton candy rappers today are no better than someone who stands in the park and dances to some music on the hopes people passing by will give him money. It's damn near a form of prostitution if you really think about it, and I think Chamillionaire has even mentioned a lot of rappers today are getting pimped out by their record labels. The labels make a ton of money, while they give the artist a bonus and not any actual profits from the album sales. This is why I support the mixtape scene so much, the artist themselves makes a lot more money by doing their shit independent, and their music is better because of no record label breathing down their neck.

Take a look at the Houston hip hop scene, that will give you a very solid understanding why mixtapes are so much better. You have artists like Trae, Z-Ro, Lil Keke, and the list could go on, that made their money starting off on mixtapes, and for quite a few, the lucky chance to be on a Screw Tape. Taking that money they were able to create their own record labels and release music on their own, unfiltered, and as raw as they want to make it. This is why H-town hip hop is my second favorite region nowadays, and why the Midwest hip hop is simultaneously thriving on the underground, but not being represented well in the mainstream. You have labels like Rhymesayers in Minneapolis which has given numerous alternative and underground artists a chance to record and release music, a chance most would have never gotten through mainstream labels. Mo Thugs Records and Thugline Records out in Cleveland also give unknown artists a chance to shine, especially alongside veterans of the game Krayzie and Layzie. Chi town has a very strong underground hip hop scene that has been growing as of late, and I can't even start on how many solid Detroit underground rappers there are. Meanwhile we have motherfucking Kanye West parading around like he's worth anything to the hip hop game, complaining and bitching all the god damn time. This is basically my point, underground artists are doing it correct, while the mainstream artists are nothing more than money ****es pimping themselves out to labels and the 14-18 year olds who don't have a fucking clue what hip hop is all about.

This of course leads into my final point. Hip hop is around 30 years old depending on when you believe it started. Many of use are in that range of age where when we got into hip hop, it was when the likes of Pac, Biggie, Dre, Snoop, DMX, NWA etc. were the big names in hip hop. And they made gangsta rap. Now imagine if you will, people that grew up on the 80's hip hop, you could make the case that they were probably thinking the same way we are now in regards to the club hip hop, only in regards to the gangsta rap. I hate to say it's just a generational thing, but you could make the case for it. Maybe this is just the next step in hip hop, a devolution in my opinion, but does anyone honestly seeing it getting any better anytime soon? I have a feeling it won't, as long as these teeny boppers go out and eat up bullshit music like Lollipop, or Superman, or whatever the hell else is out there, what we know and love to be hip hop, will be on the underground, and in the albums that we've been listening to for years. To be honest, I could be alright with that. Let the kiddies have their cotton candy rap, I know where to find the legitimate hip hop, the kind I've grown to love and enjoy, and that's on the underground scene, where it started, and honestly, maybe where it should stay.

Now with all that being said, I want to get to something a bit more positive, I"m tired of always talking about what's wrong with hip hop etc etc. So I want to roll with an idea Tenta gave me a few weeks ago that I just never got around to doing. What I want to do, is I want to just kind of profile some artists out there, create a bio, list albums, their best songs, overall rating, and other shit you can find about the artist. Just something fun to do, so we can have people profile their favorite artists, and generally have fun with it. Let me know if it's something y'all wanna try out or do.

 

[Ty Burna]

I'm bored, no one is responding to my post god damn it, so here we go, the first rapper profile that I want to do. Now I could start with a legend here, but I want to do somethin a little bit different and start off with Chamillionaire.

Stage Name: Chamillionaire
Real Name: Hakeem Seriki
Born: November 28, 1979 in Washington D.C.
Labels: Chamillitary, Universal
Region Represented: Houston, Texas

Chamillionaire is known as the Mixtape Messiah, and according to Cham he's been in the mixtape scene all the way back since 1998. He originally started off making mixapes on unknown labels, usually working alongside his friend Paul Wall. His big break came when he and Paul Wall were handing out flyers about their mixtapes, they ran into legendary mixtape and chopped and screwed producer Michael "5000" Watts. It was after this that Wall and Cham began working for Watts' record label Swishahouse, doing promotional work for the label.

It was at this point that Cham and Wall asked Watts to record a freestyle on a mixtape he was working on, Watts agreed and soon after Cham and Wall began making regular contributions to the mixtapes Watts was putting out. What's interesting about that initial freestyle, is that they were able to get Watt's himself to freestyle. Watts was not known to ever rap or freestyle on his own mixtapes. One could only imagine the type of freestlye the two were able to pull off in order to get Watts to join in, in my opinion it would have to have been off the charts.

Chamillionaire really started to make a name for himself around Houston because of his association with Swishahouse. However, things started to sour between Cham and Swishahouse. Chamillionaire claims that Swishahouse wasn't paying him on time or the money he was owed. Swishahouse, and most notably, Paul Wall stated that Cham was always late for recording sessions, often times not showing up. This lead to a split between the two, and publicized feuds between Chamillionaire and Paul Wall and Mike Jones.

This lead to what some consider the best mixtape Cham ever put out, and really put him on the map in regards to mainstream labels showing him attention. Mixtape Messiah 1 was a 3 CD set that showed off Chamillionaire's gritty freestyles, including the entire disc 1 dedicated to dissing Mike Jones and Swishahouse. The success of Mixtape Messiah 1 lead to the creation of Cham's own record label Chamillitary.

Chamillionaire then signed on with Universal Records and recorded his first full retail album The Sound of Revenge. The first single from the album was "Turn It Up" featuring fellow Houston rapper Lil Flip. Cham suddenly gained fame and recognition with the release of the song "Ridin Dirty" featuring Krayzie Bone. To date The Sound of Revenge has gone on to sell 1.5 million copies and is certified platinum. "Ridin Dirty" set the record for most ringtone downloads ever, and if not mistaken, still holds the record to this day.

Following the success of The Sound of Revenge Chamillionaire began releasing the successors to his Mixtape Messiah. The mixtapes he started to release following his retail succes gained him an extreme amount of success, especially in regards to normal mixtape sales. The quality of his mixtapes started to rival those of retail albums put out by other artists. His record label was also busy, signing Cham's brother Rasaq, as well as releasing mixtapes for Cham's group The Color Changing Click.

After working on his mixtapes for a couple years, Chamillionaire came back with his newest retail album Ultimate Victory. The album was noted for not needing a parental advisory sticker as no profanities were used in any of the tracks. The first single was "Hip Hop Police" featuring Slick Rick. Unfortunately for Chamillionaire, this was essentially his sophomore slump, as the album only sold 380,000 copies, a large drop off from his first retail album. In my opinion this was actually a more solid album than The Sound of Revenge but it just did not have the big hit to go with it.

Chamillionaire now is working on releasing his final mixtape in Mixtape Messiah 7. He stated that he wants to focus more on his retail albums instead of releasing so much material on his mixtapes. He had a third retail album named Venom in the works but proceeded to cancel it and his Mixtape Messiah 8. The first single from Venom was supposed to be "Creepin Solo" featuring Ludacris. He is now working on new material for an unnamed and unannounced third album, with no release date set.

Personal take: Chamillionaire is an artist that I truly admire and respect. He is constantly working on his rhymes and his flow, attempting to better his skills at all times. He is also a hook writer and also harmonizes with himself with multiple vocal tracks laid on top of each other. I think he gets a bit of a stigma because he's known mostly because of his one single hit "Ridin Dirt". This is far from the truth as to me he is one of the best mixtape artists to ever come from Houston. It's a shame that he has decided to quit making mixtapes, as I feel that is where he does his best work. He does try a little too hard on his retail albums to cater to the mainstream fans, but otherwise his retail albums are often a small cut above his mixtape work. He is an artist I see really progressing in the future, and in my opinion, the future of good hip hop in the face of the club hip hop prevalent today.

 

[Big Sexy]

I think the artist profile thing is a great idea. The first artist I'm going to profile is Cassidy.

Stage Name: Cassidy
Real name: Barry Adrian Reese
Born: July 7, 1982
Labels: Former- Ruff Ryders, Sony. Current- Kross Over Ent
Region Represented: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cassidy first made a name for himself after defeating Roc-a-Fella artist Freeway in a freestyle battle. In 2003 he recorded his first album "Split Personality." The album was fairly succesful and ended up going Gold. He ended up being nominated for Lyricist of the Year at the 2004 Source Awards.

In 2005 he recorded his second album "I'm a Hustla," which featured a single by the same name. It was another great album and "I'm a Hustla," (which is one of my favorite songs) became one of the first ring tones to ever be certified platinum.

Shortly after his second album he fell on some hard times. He was accused of of two separate murders and ended up being convicted on lesser charges in both of them. He ended up serving 8 months in jail. A few months after he was released Cassidy was in a major car accident that fractured his skull. He was able to recover and released his third album in 2007. B.A.R.S. "The Barry Adrian Reese Story" was not as successful as his first two albums and Cassidy became frustrated with his label. He was sick of trying to release "radio friendly" material so he left the label.

In 2009 he signed with Carmelo Anthony's Kross Over Ent. He is set to release his fourth album, C.A.S.H. "Cass A Straight Hustla" before the year is over. Cassidy has also released tons of mixtapes over the years with his latest one "Apply Pressure" being released earlier this year.

Personal Take: Cassidy is best known for his ability to freestyle and in my opinion he's probably the best battle rapper around today. With his new label he has a lot more freedom with his music and I expect his next album to be by far his best ever. If you listen to his mixtapes or any of his freestyles then you will be able to hear his real talent. His first three albums do not do his ability justice.

Here is his freestyle battle with Freeway so you can see his battling ability.

[youtube]FHxOEQt0jqk[/youtube]

[youtube]fT-_3rq3P-Q[/youtube]

 

[LamaNamaneumi]

I know I'm kinda slow, but I heard Bone Thugs got a new album "UNI5" comming out in SEP.

Will Bone be able to bring that" E. 99 " funk (I think that's their best) or will it just be another cd?

I can't wait a new Bone Thugs and The return of THE DARK CARNIVAL......Fuck I can't wait for SEP.

 

[Ty Burna]

I know I'm kinda slow, but I heard Bone Thugs got a new album "UNI5" comming out in SEP.

Will Bone be able to bring that" E. 99 " funk (I think that's their best) or will it just be another cd?

I can't wait a new Bone Thugs and The return of THE DARK CARNIVAL......Fuck I can't wait for SEP.

I think the E. 1999 style they had back in the day is pretty much over with. What we're looking at now is more of their fast rap with some harmony in the choruses. The great thing is now they finally got all 5 members back, Flesh is out of prison, and Bizzy is back with the group. I think it'll be bring back the magic they had together back in the day, but it's going to be different from Creepin on Ah Come up, and E. 1999.

Here are couple of songs they've leaked for Uni 5.

The Game Ain't Ready


I'm liking this song, Bizzy sounds crazy as shit with that new style that he's bringing to the table now. Flesh sounds even better than when he was on BTNHRessurection.

Nuff Respect


Not a bad song either, Krayzie has a sick verse on it, and I like how they're focusing on certain members for each track, while giving all 5 a verse on them.

I'm really hoping this is a great album, but me being a huge Bone Thugs fan, you know that I'm going to love it either way. So far it's sounding damn good.

 

[Ty Burna]

I was looking through some of my old cds today and I found the first hip hop album that I ever listened to. It was Ma$e's debut album "Harlem World." I remember finding it under my brothers bed when I was 9 years old and when I listened to it I instantly became a hip hop fan. Then a couple months later Eminem came out with the Slim Shady LP and I was hooked for life.

To this day I still consider Ma$e one of my favorite rappers and Harlem World one of my favorite albums because that's what introduced me to hip hop. I still love listening to songs from the album like "24 Hours to Live" feat The LOX DMX and Black Rob, "*****z Wanna Act" feat Busta Rhymes, and "Take What's Yours" feat DMX.

So my question is what artists/albums introduced you to Hip Hop?

Wow I completely missed this question, my apologizes Big Sexy. Anyway the very first artist that I started listening to was actually The Fugees, Lauryn Hill, Pras, and Wyclef Jean. The first album of theirs I ever bought was their Bootleg Versions album, and that was on cassette. I then purchased the excellent The Score Album with the song Killing Me Softly. So they were the first to get me into hip hop, immediately following them I got into DMX, Foxy Brown, Ja Rule when he was good, Jay-Z when he was good, and the rest is history as they say. Nowadays I have so many hip hop artists that I listen to that it's extremely hard to even remember all the music that I have no. Crayz isn't it? Going from nothing but cassette tapes on a small cassette player with my headphones, to a 150 GB music collection and a surround sound system at home to bump it in, and an excellent system in the car as well. I've come a long way since I started listening to hip hop.

Also I wanted to touch on this very quickly, I'm debating between Too $hort and Yukmouth for my next profile, what do you guys think?

 

[SK]

Also I wanted to touch on this very quickly, I'm debating between Too $hort and Yukmouth for my next profile, what do you guys think?

I think you should go for Yukmouth. This guys always been an interesting case, reasonable success with Luniz, but never really made it big afterwards even thought he never really changed his style too much. His albums have all been decent enough, I was more impressed with Thugged Out and Thug Lord than I was with Godzilla or Million Dollar mouthpiece, but his latest stuff isn't bad by any means. I'd like too hear your thoughts on him and why he's never really been too successful. I've always quite liked his music, his delivery is quite good and his lyrical content isn't too bad.

The guy has had so many feuds though, part of me thinks that this guy is just a dick, even if he does come out on top of a lot of his feuds e.g. Game, Too Short, Master P. I thought after 5 on it dropped we'd see this guy use it as a platform for more success but really stayed as more of an underground artist. Don't get me wrong he's had a lot of impressive collaborations, but I just thought he would have been more successful.

 

[Ty Burna]

Yukmouth

Real Name: Jerold Dwight Ellis, III
Born: October 18, 1974
Label: Smoke-a-Lot Records, Rap-a-Lot Records
Represents: Oakland, California

Yukmouth as a solo artists should be known as the walking hip hop feud, he's feuded with countless artists, and generally many people consider him to be the winner of those feuds. But before he started off with the beefing, he was known as one half of the group Luniz alongside Numskull. He is one of the bigger names alongside E-40 and Too $hort that represents the Bay Area hip hop, also know as the Hyphy movement.

At the start of his hip hop career, he teamed with Numskull as the group Luniz, and actually gained quite a bit of fame from their single "I Got 5 On It". Even to this day it is seen as one of the best weed smoking anthems, and from a personal opinion, one of my favorites. Their album Operation Stackola went platinum, mostly because of I Got 5 On It. Unfortunately, as a group they have never been able to reach that same success with their other 3 albums as they were with Operation Stackola.

It is also interesting to note that two of Yukmouth's first feuds started during this time. Luniz feuded with Master P over the use of the P's nickname Ice Cream Man. Luniz claims that Master P stole the name because of a song Luniz made with the same name. Yukmouth personally also has stated that Master P had to change his rapping style because no one cared for his music before he got big. Essentially Yukmouth ha said that Master P is a fraud and had to feed off other artists styles and material in order to make it big. The beef has since been squashed according to Yukmouth.

The second feud Luniz saw them in was with another Bay Area legend in Too $hort. The feud started when Luniz brought their crew and met with Too $hort's crew and they had a battle to see which crew was better. The loser was to buy the winner's pizza. Obviously this started off as a friendly battle, but somehow it broke down into a full blown feud. Luniz would diss Too $hort on many of their albums, with Too $hort firing back quite often on his album. One of the most notable disses was when Too $hort moved from Oakland to Atlanta, Luniz claims Too $hort was run out of town rather than moving on his own accord. Again the beef has been squashed as Yukmouth has lately been making rhymes giving Too $hort respect for being a huge influence in the Bay Area scene.

Yukmouth over the past 10 years or so has been venturing out as a solo artists, with some limited success. His first solo album Thugged Out: The Albulation was certified Gold by the RIAA, while the other solo albums he's released has also received chart listings on the Billboard Top Hip hop, as well as the Heat Seekers list as well. As usual for Yukmouth, he has also been in some high profile feuds since going solo, including his own partner in Luniz Numskull.

He started a feud with G Unit, with disses aimed toward 50 Cent on the song Thug Lordz featuring C-Bo, and also collaborated with former G-Unit member Bang Em Smurf for the song He Ain't a Thug, another diss aimed towards 50 Cent and G Unit in general. Yukmouth has also had a personal feud with G Unit member Spider Loc. According to the story, Yukmouth and Spider Loc ran into each other at a club, with Spider Loc and his crew jumping Yukmouth from behind. Spider Loc was apparently able to steal Yukmouth's chain during the altercation. The chain was returned because of a mutual friend the next day. Yukmouth released a number of diss songs towards Spider Loc because of this, but according to Yukmouth, the feud is over with Spider Loc after they made amends over the phone.

Not only has he beefed with G Unit, but he also beefed ironically with one of G Unit's worst enemies in The Game. The feud started when The Game recorded a diss track towards Yukmouth entitled I Got a Mill On It, over the instrumentals for I Got 5 On It. Yukmouth responded with a diss track towards The Game with Game Over, over the instrumentals for a Young Buck song. They had apparently made amends and were going to record the song Peace together, but that fell apart quickly as The Game dissed Yukmouth on the very song that was supposed to bury the hatchet. The reason that got through was because they recorded their parts separately from each other. They have stopped the beef recently by recording the Song Across The Coast alongside Erick Sermon.

Finally, but sadly, Yukmouth has had some serious issues with fellow Luniz member Numskull. Apparently the two of them have had ill feelings towards each other for quite sometime. It finally came all to a head while at an awards show, Numskull got on stage and said Fuck Yukmouth. Diss songs were fired at each other, and the issue has yet to be resolved to this day. According to Yukmouth, Numskull came up with the idea for Luniz while he was in prison, but Yukmouth convinced him to change his stage name from The Skinny One to Numskull. In my opinion, hopefully they can squash this beef and start making music together again, as they are awesome as a duo.

Yukmouth has started a number of other groups, including Thug Lordz with C-Bo and Spice 1, as well as The Regime, which includes a number of different members, most notably Tech N9ne. He's worked with a number of different artists, and the list is quite diverse. As said previously he is a leading member of the Hyphy movement that came out of the Bay Area rap, and is someone that should be considered an Underground Legend in my opinion.

Personal Take: Yukmouth in Luniz was amazing, even on their albums that did not sell very well. As a solo artist, he is also incredible, and he's my 2nd favorite Bay Area rapper just a little under Too $hort. As to why he's not been very successful, it's hard to say, but I would have to say that he keeps his music true to himself and doesn't create the style of rap that is prevalent today. In reality if you look at it, pretty much all Bay Area artists have not been very successful in the mainstream media. E-40 has had some success, Too $hort is the same way. It's a shame really because the Hyphy movement is what really paved the way for the Crunk style out in Atlanta, and is also a staple of hip hop in general. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing Yukmouth isn't mainstream, as I think he thrives in the underground like a number of other artists do as well. Yukmouth is one of the few underground artists that have reached the peak of popularity that the underground scene can offer, Tech N9ne and Too $hort being the others in my opinion. Regardless, Yukmouth releases awesome music, and I hope continues to do so as I love his style of rapping, and one day hopefully gets the recognition other than being a great battle rapper.

 

[The Legendary 23]

Hey guys, this is the first time I've posted in this thread, it seems like a great place to discuss hip-hop. I've looked through the thread, did a search, and saw that one of my favorite groups was only lightly mentioned here are there.

Naughty by Nature. After stumbling upon these guys through their hit "O.P.P.," I found that it was far from their best track. I quickly bought their debut album, and then on to "19 Naughty III." The way they utilized samples from "ABC" in "O.P.P." was fantastic, and worked great with the song. In the same album, they used samples from Bob Marley's "Everything's Going to Be Alright" in their own song with the same name. For their time I think that they utilized best samples and the incorporation of samples into their songs. Even though these two songs are largely what powered their first album under the name "Naughty by Nature," I found a love for "Thanx for Sleepwalking" and "Wickedest Man Alive" amongst the other songs that constitute the album. Their next album, cleverly named "19 Naughty III" found less success despite the hit of "Hip Hop Hooray." They then continued their great beats in their later albums.

To this day, this group is one of the best groups in hip-hop history that established a successful blend of hardcore appeal with success on the charts. Treach is unbelievable in some tracks and seems impossible to keep up with. Vin Rock is a very solid performer and had his fair share of contribution to the trio. To top it off, you have the very underrated producer Kay Gee. Their official website says that they are back together and are coming out with an album this year. When I read that I marked the FUCK out. I just hope that they deliver the same 90's style of rap rather than adapt to the modern industry.

What are your guys' thoughts on the group? Like 'em? Dislike 'em?

 

[Big Sexy]

Royce Da 5'9"

Real Name: Ryan Montgomery
Born: July 5, 1977
Label: M.I.C., E1
Represents: Detroit, Michigan

Royce met Eminem in 1997 and the two became good friends. They recorded some songs together under the name Bad Meets Evil. A song with the duos name was on Eminems debut album The Slim Shady LP. They also recorded the song "Renegade" which was later used on Jay Z's Blueprint album, with Jay replacing Royce. Royce also helped write two songs from Dr Dre's 2001 album. Royce was going to sign with Dre and Aftermath but decided against it after Dre wanted him to fire his manager.

He signed his first deal in 1998 with Tommy Boy Records. He recorded his first album Rock City, but after it was bootlegged he left for Koch Records and re-recorded the album. It was finally released in 2002 as Rock City (Version 2.0). The album didn't sell well, but it had two good singles in "Rock City" ft Eminem and "Boom" which was produced by DJ Premier.

Around this time Royce had a falling out with D12 and they started a feud. This was a big feud considering Royce had been friends with both Eminem and Proof. They traded diss tracks for a couple years, but the feud ended around when Proof died. Royce had made amends with Proof in a jail cell a few months before he died. Royce has now made amends with every member of D12 including Eminem. He has even recorded and toured with D12's remaining members.

Royce released a moderately succesful album in 2004 entitled Death is Certain. Then in 2005 he released Independence Day which was also mildly successful. After this Royce was sentenced to one year in jail because of a DUI arrest.

After his release from jail Royce released The Bar Exam mixtape. It was produced by DJ Premier and was very successful. Then in 2008 he released Bar Exam 2, produced by DJ Green Lantern, which was even better then the first. He even released a retail version of the Bar Exam 2.

Right now Royce is part of the group Slaughterhouse along with Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, and Joe Budden. This group is releasing an album next week and they are one of the best things going in hip hop today. The four very underrated emcees have been putting out amazing material. Royce is also releasing his fourth studio album Street Hop next month.

Personal Take: Royce is one of the most underrated emcees in the game today. Lyrically there are very few who can match him. His falling out with Dr Dre likely cost him a chance to be a mega star because at this point in his career it's too late for anything like that to happen, but he is still on the short list of guys that I would consider the best rapper alive. Royce always comes with great rhymes and I can't wait for his next album. If you've never listened to Royce go download the Bar Exam 2 and you'll see that he is just as skilled as any rapper in the game.

Here is the original and better version of "Renegade" with Royce and Eminem

[youtube]K_O_-URLgIM[/youtube]

 

[Mr. TM]

I have told Ty I am not the biggest Hip Hop fan. But I will tell you this. Kanye West is not the future of the genre. I have only enjoyed two of his song thus far, Jesus Walks, and Golddigger. I have heard on this forum many times over that he is the future of the business. But I will tell you this, he is relative and horrendous to the ears. I would much rather put on Jay Z, Dr. Dre, or whatever else to drown out his music.

 

[Kanye South]

Autotune.

What are you guys' thoughts on it? Since about summer of 2008, we have seen an increase in the use of this method. Rappers such as Lil Wayne and Kanye West first used it in the rap genre, and T-Pain has made a career of using it. I don't particularly hate it, but if everybody stopped using it tommorow, it wouldn't ruin my day. However, autotune has it's critics, and I can see why.

It went from just Lil Wayne and Kanye West having it, but it expanded to almost the whole genre. This is the part I don't like about it. It has expanded so much, that Jay-Z made a song about it:

[youtube]aMuf_ekJhOs[/youtube]

I didn't have a problem with autotune when it was just Lil Wayne, Kanye West, T-Pain, Drake. All these guys are okay with it, because they just don't rap and then re-edit it with autotune. No, they make good use of it. Listen to some of Kanye's work:

[youtube]gWzlD7Lc6w8[/youtube]

[youtube]Q3lLp3oTGDU[/youtube]

Kanye West actually made music. He sung the song, and put autotune in on certain parts of the songs to emphasize his sadness. Lil Wayne uses autotune to give his songs a more "rock" type sound. Drake is a great rapper and singer. However, what I don't like about autotune is the overuse of it. I will be back to analyze it some more later. There is a storm in the area I live in, and the electricity is acting up.

 

[Kanye South]

Okay, I'm back, as I was saying, auto-tune is oversaturating the Hip-Hop world. Random rappers are popping up everywhere using the thing, and it's ruining the game. I'm pretty sure that these rappers would definetly get more exposure if they went off their own ability rather than using a method that has already been overused in the first place. Listen to the following artist and tell me he doesn't sound like Kanye:

[youtube]dlA3ntR8VNs[/youtube]

Reasons like that are why autotune should not be used as much as it is.

What are your thoughts on it?

 

[kingdirrtysouth1]

FUCK AUTOTUNE!!!! Give me some grimy, in your face street shit any day of the week over Autotune! I like hearing mutha fuckas spit gangsta shit! I'll take old school Face, Spice 1, & Tupac, and leave that weak shit where it's at!

 

[LamaNamaneumi]

I don't care for autotune. I think it is just a phase and will be done with in a year or two.
Then T-Pain won't have a job.

Check out KRS-ONE and BUCKSHOTs song ROBOT, I like it better than JAY-Zs D.O.A
But that's just me.

 

[The Legendary 23]

Funny thing is, T-Pain is actually a fairly good singer without the autotuning. But that's what he is: more of a singer than a rapper. I believe that autotuning will stick around for a while, but it's not going to noticeably reshape the genre. Like all things in media and entertainment, its use will pass, and less and less will be used in the world of hip-hop.

 

[Ty Burna]

So here I am checking through some torrents to download, and I see Chamillionaire has released his Mixtape Messiah 7, and holy fuck....it's 4 discs in length. This is going to be epic, the download is starting now (I'm doing this at work, 80 Megs Downstream speed FTW) and as soon as I get it done I'll listen to a few tracks and fill y'all in on if it's any good or not. I also got Layzie Bone and Big Sloan - Thug Twinz on the DL right now as well. Oh today is a good day for this hip hop fan, L-Burna with yet another album, and four motherfucking discs worth of Chamillionaire goodness.

Anyway that brings me up to another discussion here, what CD's are y'all looking forward to as we start closin out 2009? Any albums you're looking towards come 2010? Hit the thread up like usual.