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We have to start with the fact that LL Cool J is a genre-shaping talent. His acting career and fly casanova demeanor make it hard for hardcore hip hop heads to respect it, but the man had an impact on…
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Ian – “Figure It Out”
Ian’s goofy prep school image is anything but honest. Trained to lie by Dallas Jesuits, he understands how important visual misdirection can be, especially when your product is carefully studied blackface bullshit. To his dubious credit, his Mid-Southern African-American imitation…
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Jace! – “Goose Creek”
I get mad worried when I see rappers wearing gloves, man. Whether it’s in a video or onstage, gloves are a relentlessly reliable red flag that some nerd bullshit is afoot. Jace!, aka TGE Duwap, aka iayze, is a struggle…
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Juelz Santana – “SCORE”
A seven minute music video is stupid excessive, but this was also stupid fun. Mashing a short film into your new single is highly permissible when you’re official as fuck. Signed to Priority in high school, snatched up by Roc-A-Fella…
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Lupe Fiasco – “Cake”
Having a fanbase that swears you are the greatest rapper alive is more curse than blessing. This is very different from being merely “under-rated,” which applies to nearly anyone. Winning one Grammy instead of five is sufficient proof that the…
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Big Body Bes – “Survivor”
Big Body Bes is, first and foremost, a human cartoon character. The Juggernaut played by Joe Pesci. TV personality, actor, rapper, jet-setting chubby hand model, all of this is only a consequence of who the man is. Most people have…
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A$AP Twelvyy – “Bronx Zoo”
I’ll admit, I kinda forgot this dude existed. I’ve never been a fan of anyone but Yams from that set, but I do respect Twelvyy as a pure technician of the artform, another NYC cat in the cypher with 100…
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Estee Nack & Futurewave – “DATEWITDEF”
Dropping multiple projects in a single year isn’t much of a flex in 2024. That’s just the table stakes to be part of the conversation these days. Crazy prolific is the baseline expectation, and very few artists get to step…
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Wu-Tang; Forever.
I bought a new copy of Wu-Tang Forever for $30 in 1997. They were definitely price gouging us out here in the boonies. I kept that in rotation for about a decade before someone snatched it. By then, every word…
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Roddy Ricch – “Survivors Remorse”
Roddy Ricch is a name I’ve seen around for years but never checked out until his publicist hit me up. I didn’t miss much. This is exactly the kind of melodic Hip Hop Product™ that’s been making my skin crawl…