Few MCs have a track record like Busta Rhymes. During his performance at this year’s Brooklyn Hip-Hop Fest, he showed fans just why he’s had the longest mainstream career of any modern rap artist. Busta went thru his entire career from Native Tongues songs to the Flipmode era and on to the YMCMB movement. His guest MC list was like a family reunion. One thing that is apparent is that Busta is still as fresh today as he was on “Case of The PTA.” And he keeps it fresh, getting down with Gucci Mane on this week’s hottest sh*t “Make It Look Easy.” Shout out to producer Ted Smooth for flipping Biggie’s “Dreams” beat and turning it up on a new level. Peep.
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Melanie Amaro is going to be a super duper star. Her first track, “Don’t Fail Me Now,” was the appetizer for this week’s main course, “Love Me Now.” This is truly an amazing record, with all the key ingredients for a big hit for her. Melanie’s voice is very strong, which is obviously why she won The X factor. The way she sings “Love Me Now” is so powerful and demanding, yet real smooth and subtle. It seems like LA & Tricky Stewart have the right production team married to Melanie’s sound. Her debut album should be a smash.
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You ever heard of Alley Boy? He is the latest goon from the ATL to emerge from the streets and make noise in the hip-hop world. He’s had more than a few records floating around the mixtape and blog circuit. This week though he put out a hot record called “Live This Shit” that could stick if pushed right. First off, the beat that producer/rapper extraordinaire Big K.R.I.T. provided is an ATL strip club’s dream. I’m not mad at Ally’s flow on this either. The sky is the limit for Ally and his Duct Tape movement. In the ATL they definitely have next up.
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It doesn’t matter what Lupe Fiasco raps on, his wordplay is phenomenal. Most if not all of his songs have messages hidden in the words he manifests. Case in point, this new track, “Lamborghini Angels,” he just dropped. The story that he’s telling in this will probably go over the heads of most listeners and will even offend a few others. But what he’s saying and the lesson he’s speaking on is nothing less than remarkable. This probably won’t be a single, but it will definitely satisfy the hip-hop fan’s palate for fresh Lupe music until we get his new album, Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Part 1.
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There’s been a lot chatter about Kid Cudi’s new album, Indicud, that is about to drop. Fitting the album title, Cudi drops an ode to piff smokers worldwide titled “Just What I Am.” The chorus of this song belts out at you like some weird symphony, “I NEED TO SMOKE.” This is definitely a record that will be big in that hipster scene that Cudi has adopted as his own. Just for the hell of it, Cudi lets his Cleveland Brown home King Chip aka Chip da Ripper hit the cypher first. Enjoy. Until we read again.
Brandon ‘TNT’ West
Music Exec / Industry Insider/ The Andy Rooney of Hip Hop Culture
Holla at him @tnt718
