Another Firm drop, here’s AZ with his try at a Lost Tapes compilation.

Widely considered to be one of the most gifted-yet-unheralded MC’s to touch the mic, Brooklyn MC AZ has an unheralded track record in hip-hop. Classic albums such as Doe Or Die, Pieces Of Man, 9 Lives, & Aziatic have combined sales of more than 1.5 million units to date. Most known for his groundbreaking appearances on Nas’ hip-hop classic Illmatic and membership in the hip-hop super-group The Firm (which included Nas, Foxy Brown, and Nature), AZ has become synonymous with real hip-hop. Final Call: The Lost Tapes are unreleased, never heard before tracks that show AZ in his true hip-hop light. These songs showcase timeless flow and effortless lyricism. Final Call will be a must get for any true hip-hop fan.

Tracklist after the jump. You can cop this release here.

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New album I just saw drop. Listened to the first few tracks and this dudes lyrics are definitely sharp. Check it!.

The Internet is killing the record industry.  Album sales have been shrinking all decade, showing double digit declines each year; it is so easy to get music for free that paying for it has become a concsious, moral decision similar to buying organic.  As album sales get smaller, so do recording budgets. It no longer makes financial sense for record labels to spend millions recording albums that will only go on to sell hundreds of thousands.  Labels are starting to treat albums as a way of promoting an artist and leading fans to different revenue streams, including ringtones, live shows, merchandising, and whatever product tie-ins they can come up with.  It’s no longer about the music, and it is all about the artist as a brand.

There is a sliver lining in all of this. It is easier than ever for bands to record their music and get it out to listeners. It is fairly inexpensive to set up a decent  home studio. Any band that has been together for longer than ten minutes has a Myspace page with several tracks posted. Radiohead released their last album as a pay-what-you-want download on its website, cutting out the record company altogether (not counting the years and millions of dollars that EMI spent promoting and developing them). Nine Inch Nails has followed suit, releasing pay-what-you-want records as well as free downloads. These releases depend on buzz and word of mouth, but they have allowed artists to get stuff out there quickly, efficiently, and cheaply. The luxury of spending months in the recording studio has been replaced by the freedom of getting music out with a minimum of hassle and overhead.

Which brings me to Sankofa’s “Music With Friends 1″ EP, the perfect example of how the Internet might mark the rebirth of the music industry. Sankofa is always DIY, so the fact that this is released on his own label, Obese America, isn’t surprising. What makes this a good model of how the record industry might work in the future is how it was put together. El Keter, who produced Sankofa’s stellar 2007 album, “The Tortoise Hustle,” suggested that Sankova work with beatsmiths AO and Purify. Sankova contacted both of them, got some beats, and three weeks later posted the result on his website as a free download. The result is an album that makes up for its lack of polish with its feeling of freedom and spontaneity. Read the rest of this entry »

Queensbridge stand up! Sure looking forward to that G Rap feature.

Nature first came to the world’s attention in the mid-90s doing intros for DJ Clue’s mixtapes, solo and alongside early mentor/rival Nas, and his notoriety peaked with his collaborations with Nas, AZ & Foxy Brown as The Firm, although ongoing collaborations and associations with Tragedy Khadafi, Mobb Deep, Cormega, Capone & Noreaga have kept his fanbase aware of his presense in the game. He returns to the arena with “Pain Killer”, a lethal injection to the stale state of Hip Hop in 2008, a seamless sequence of deft lyrical deliveries over innovative beats. His debut on Columbia “For All Seasons” is considered a classic by many Rap fans, alongside “Illmatic”, “Ready to Die” and “Reasonable Doubt”, as one of those early ’90s full lengths that succeeds start to finish. This new album, evidence that Nature has not been growing stale since his last release, is a showcase of today’s up-and-coming beatmakers, anchored by more seasoned producers Dub Sonata and Scram Jones. Nature’s confidence is evident by his sparing use of guests that compliment his style; N.O.R.E., Prodigy, Doo Wop and Kool G Rap each provide a verse here or there, as well as a rare microphone appearance by board man Scram Jones himself. The effect is a return to “Illmatic” - era albums, with the focus being the emcee, rather than the crew, and it’s a quality listen. (Via Queens-HipHop.com)

Tracklist after the jump. You can cop this release here.

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So here’s the info on Kanye’s latest garbage ass album. Please don’t get me wrong. I like Kanye West. I loved The College Dropout & Late Registration. Graduation was nice and I love all of his previous production efforts and a good many of his collaborations but this is just garbage. I know, I know. He’s being creative and artsy and blah blah blah it’s a pop album blah blah blah. It’s still garbage. I’m not a hip-hop elitist or anything like that. I mean yes, hip-hop is my genre of choice, but like pop. I own Mariah Carey, Maroon 5 and Destiny child records. I have Coldplay, Daft Punk, Gorrillaz and Jamiroquai CDs. I just don’t like this shit.  I don’t think I can find the words to explain how disappointed I am in this effort. I mean I knew I wasn’t going to get a “classic” album after hearing a few singles, but good GAWD. I wouldn’t use this piece of shit as a coaster if somebody left it on my doorstep. I don’t mean to knock you if this it the kind of garbage you’re into, but all I’m saying is I wouldn’t recommend anybody listen to this ever period is all. On a post I made on WGTJ about his latest video somebody told me to open my fucking mind or some shit like that, but I’m afraid if I do it anymore I might start acting like a cracked out Duran Duran fan… sorry.

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So here’s the info on Kanye’s latest garbage ass album. Please don’t get me wrong. I like Kanye West. I loved The College Dropout & Late Registration. Graduation was nice and I love all of his previous production efforts and a good many of his collaborations but this is just garbage. I know, I know. He’s being creative and artsy and blah blah blah it’s a pop album blah blah blah. It’s still garbage. I’m not a hip-hop elitist or anything like that. I mean yes, hip-hop is my genre of choice, but like pop. I own Mariah Carey, Maroon 5 and Destiny child records. I have Coldplay, Daft Punk, Gorrillaz and Jamiroquai CDs. I just don’t like this shit.  I don’t think I can find the words to explain how disappointed I am in this effort. I mean I knew I wasn’t going to get a “classic” album after hearing a few singles, but good GAWD. I wouldn’t use this piece of shit as a coaster if somebody left it on my doorstep. I don’t mean to knock you if this it the kind of garbage you’re into, but all I’m saying is I wouldn’t recommend anybody listen to this ever period is all. On a post I made on WGTJ about his latest video somebody told me to open my fucking mind or some shit like that, but I’m afraid if I do it anymore I might start acting like a cracked out Duran Duran fan… sorry.

Read the rest of this entry »

Just did a re-design of our new sister site (www.wevegotthejazz.com) and now we’re officially looking for help for both WGTJ and CTR. Anybody interested just drop us a line at checktherhimeblog@gmail.com or wevegotthejazzblog@gmail.com We’re looking for about 3 cats. If you want to help with WGTJ just let us know what you’d be interested in doing (interviews, reviews, mixtapes, singles, everything, etc.).