Everybody seems to be worried about why Lady Gaga is going to absent from the new Kendrick Lamar album. As if we really cared. Listen to this new track “Compton” featuring the “good kid” from the “m.A.A.d city” and his mentor Dr Dre. Just Blaze did his thing on this record as it’s an anthem for the west coast in general but especially those who rep Rosecrans and Compton Blvd. It hasn’t been since the N.W.A./ MC Eiht era that the City of Compton has seen a supernova of talent like Lamar. I’m sure The Game would disagree, but the fact remains that Kendrick has the most anticipated album to drop this year of any artist in a while. The track “Compton” just sets the table in anticipation of the meal.
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The first time I heard Keyshia Cole sing I knew she was going to be a star. In her song “I Changed My Mind” you could feel the pain of love turned cold in Keyshia’s voice. Who could ever forget that video, which featured an emerging Kanye West, where young Keyshia Cole singing her heart out? This week I heard her latest record “Trust and Believe,” and I got that feeling all over again. What makes Keyshia dope is that she really is that girl from next door who survived a tough life to make it big. Her album Woman to Woman drops soon and it will be another classic.
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The kid Stalley has been getting crazy looks in mainstream as of late. If you haven’t seen his freestyle with Wale for ESPN’s First Take, you should get your Google on. This kid’s flow is so Midwest, grimy, and his latest joint “Loud Motors” is sure to rattle trunks from coast-to-coast. Stalley is the closet thing that Maybach Music has to that underground raw sound these days, underground meaning if you’re not early on this kid’s music you might miss the real gems. I fux with Rozay, Meek, Wale, and the whole click. They have the charts on fire. But Stalley’s music is still that fresh fly sh*t that radio ain’t even on yet.
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I was up at Universal Republic this week for a few meetings, and I heard the beautiful rock, soulful sounds of ZZ Ward’s new song “Crying Wolf” banging through the hallways. After my man Imran put me on put onto who she is, I was flabbergasted and embarrassed that I had never even heard anything to this point. Turns out not only does ZZ have an album coming in a few weeks, titled Till The Casket Drops, but she’s worked with a bevy of hip-hop royalty. Her studio credits include Pete Rock, Asher Roth, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Childish Gambino and Freddie Gibbs. This new joint “Crying Wolf” features Kendrick Lamar. ZZ Ward is a breath of fresh air in a foul business tainted with repetitive artist.
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My man DJ Drama continues to be a trendsetter (Shouts to DJ Sense!) for the city of Atlanta. His Gangsta Grillz mixtape series will go down as one of the most important vehicles for artist exposure in the 2000s.If your lucky enough to live in Atlanta you can still catch his live mixshow on airwaves. And it doesn’t stop, because Drama has a new album dropping called Quality Street Music. Here’s the first sample to heat up the airwaves nationally called “So Many Girls.” It features a who’s who of freshness including Wale, Tyga and Roscoe Dash.
Until we read Again!
Brandon ‘TNT’ West
Music Exec / Industry Insider/ The Andy Rooney of Hip Hop Culture
Holla at him @tnt718
