Very slept on album in my humble opinion. The 5 Percent Album is Lord Jamar’s first solo effort that’s a certified underground banger with a very Wu-ish feel to it. PopMatters with a review below. You can cop this one here.

100% Dope

Lord Jamar’s solo effort, The 5% Album, is a sprawling, ambitious concept album based squarely on the ideology and way of life of The Nation of Gods and Earths (the NG&E).  The NG&E, commonly called The 5% Nation or The Five Percenters, was founded over 40 years ago by Clarence 13X Smith, who had physically and ideologically split from the Nation of Islam (NOI) over the NOI’s belief in one God (in the person of Master Fard Muhammad) and Clarence 13X’s belief that every Black man is a manifestation of God. 

Fully understanding that split and the 5% movement requires some familiarity with a cultural context that involves figures and organizations such as Master Fard Muhammad, Marcus Garvey, A Noble Drew Ali, Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, the FBI, and the CIA—and that’s just warming things up.  Understanding that cultural context is key to understanding Lord Jamar’s project. But, to understand the context, you need working definitions for terms like Asiatic, Original Man, Knowledge of Self, Yakub, the 120 Degrees, The Book of Supreme Wisdom, the Supreme Alphabet, Cipher, the Supreme Mathematics, and even the term Five Percenter.  Is it all interesting? Absolutely.  Is it easy to discuss? Absolutely not.  I’m exhausted already.

As you might imagine, there are lots of conflicting stories about the 5% movement. For instance, I once heard some hip-hop heads saying that the rapper Grand Puba called himself a “Five Percenter” because he believes he’s God, and he can “beam” his essence through walls like Star Trek particles.  Actually, the term “Five Percenter” developed from the teachings and lessons of the Nation of Islam, most notably from the Lost-Found Muslim Lessons that every member was required to recite. Elijah Muhammad taught that the world’s population could be divided into three groups: The Ten Percent, the Eighty-Five Percent, and the Five Percent.  Since the Ten Percent had hoodwinked and enslaved the Eighty-Fivers by teaching them to believe in a “mystery god”, Elijah Muhammad called the remaining Five Percent the “Poor Righteous Teachers” (yep, like the rap group).  The Five Percent rejected the Ten Percent’s teachings and were instead charged with teaching the Eighty-Fivers about the “true and living god” as well as generally promoting freedom, justice, and equality.

There’s much, much more. But, luckily, Jord Jamar has included a 90-page booklet with his release, illuminating his own background, as well as fashioning a cohesive timeline about the NG&E with the help of “The Word”, a newspaper distributed by the Nation, and excerpts from Michael Muhammad Knight’s book The Five Percenters.  You might recall Knight’s 2004 novel, The Taqwacores, that explored Islam in the context of punk rock. 

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Been expecting the new Sadat X for a little bit, I sure hope it’s worth the wait! A bit of additional info from www.hiphopgalaxy.com:

The self-proclaimed Dot Father himself, Derek “Sadat X” Murphy, has returned with his brand new, fifth solo collection, the appropriately titled, Generation X. The Will Tell produced project, in a one-off deal with urban indie, Affluent Records, is being introduced by the set’s hard hitting, lead offering, ’Never.’

Not having heard from X since ’06’s solid, but commercially panned, Black October, Sadat is back in fine, rare form, showing that he hasn’t missed a beat since the days of old with his group-mates, Grand Puba and Lord Jamar, of the legendary Brand Nubian collective.

Originally known as Derek X, the Brooklyn, New York, resident emcee made his national debut in 1989 with the release of the group’s premier single ’Brand Nubian’ b/w ’Feels So Good,’ followed by their critically acclaimed, first outing, One For All. The classic set spawned three additional hits ’All For One,’ ’Wake Up,’ and ’Slow Down.’ Inspired by the teachings of Islam, One For All eventually sold over 350,000 units, nearly going gold, and won the coveted 5 Mic rating in Hip-Hop magazine, The Source.

Sadat, who borrowed his moniker from former Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, eventually recorded and released his solo debut, Wild Cowboys [1996]. The stellar record contains superb production from some of the industry’s finest beat-makers ; Buckwild, Diamond D, Minnesota, Da Beatminerz, Pete Rock, Showbiz, and Dante Ross.

Three additional solo projects, and a pair of Brand Nubian efforts later, and the “X-Man” is about to unleash, possibly, his most powerful opus yet, Generation X.

With a career that spans nearly three decades, and possessing one of the genre’s most distinctive voices, veteran rapper Sadat X is definitely a much needed, breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale Hip-Hop sound-scape.

Generation X, which features appearances from Twanie Ranks and Thirstin Howl III, will be released digitally on September 30th 2008, followed by an actual in-store date November 4th 2008.

Buy the CD here.

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I’ve been hearing many good things about this cat along with the huge buzz in the indie community surrounding this free release. I’m only a few tracks deep thus far, but I can already tell it’s a culmination of everything that (to me) is great about hip-hop. The production and lyricism alike reminds me of takes me back to the glory days of acts like Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Brand Nubian, Edo G and likes and although a second listen is always def needed to form a proper opinion of any album, I don’t think anyone who finds the content on this site appealing will dislike this one lest you somehow stumbled upon CTR looking for Lil’ Wayne mixtapes. Peep dude’s myspace page here to thank him for this bright joint or preview a few tracks. Boston in the house…

In the midst of one hit wonders, flash in the pan internet stars and Myspace MC wannabes comes an artist that contains all the elements of hip hop’s new rising star.

Black ELement is an Boston, Massachussets bred/East Windsor, New Jersey native who embodies his generation’s exposure to organic hip hop mixed with a side of swagger. Snatching classic records off his older brother’s shelf, Black ELement engulfed his ears with hip hop staples from the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Nas and numerous lyricists from the Rawkus Records era. While the gift of hip hop was being passed down from his elders, Element began to write poetry, which garnered him numerous awards and accolades from his schools. Eventually, his natural gift for words and new found love for hip hop met and birthed an MC who is ready to lead the new class of lyricists into the fire.

Equipped with a vast knowledge of hip hop culture, its history, and heavy impact on our society Black ELement is able to fuse its historic roots with his passionate poetic heart and entertaining bravado. With fresh innovative ideas and a vigorous hunger to create, Black’s sound screams in a variety of versatile colors that ignite his fun and engaging personality.

As “image” continues to climb in importance for an artist, Black ELement remains true– true to himself, his music, and the people who listen. Ever since his career changing encounter with legendary MC, Talib Kweli, Black has lived by the words of wisdom that were passed down to him that night– “Just do you.”
Ignoring trends, rising above labels, and blooming beyond “mainstream” or “underground” classifications Black ELement has created his own brand of noise that is ready to be embedded into the souls of hip hop lovers everywhere.

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“You try to claim the unknown, the unknown’ll claim you…”

Gravity Sample Track

Continuing on with or addition of more old school albums to CTR’s archives here’s the highly acclaimed sophomore LP from Da Bush Babees. I personally only discovered these cats about one or two years ago, but they seem to fit right in with the rest of my listening patterns. Gravity, which is probably the first LP to master the art of blending hip-hop and reggae in a way that leaves no emptiness or further craving for either respective genre, features tracks blessed by Native Tongues gods Q-Tip and Posdonus and as credited with being the first major exposure for Blackstar’s Mos Def as an emcee. Like Group Home, Black Sheep, Black Star or Brand Nubian? Cliche yes, but you’ll love Da Bush Babees.

TRINIDAD STAND UP

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As any of you who know me can tell, Brother Ali is one of my favorite two MCs of all time (just look at my last.fm page). Unlike most artists I listen to, I didn’t get into Ali from listening to his first album because when I started listening to him the album was near impossible to find. Thanks to somebody who order one of the first 300 copies of Ali’s 2004 Champion EP, Ali’s Rites of Passage finally started to pop up all around the internet late last year. If I had never heard of Ali before I would’ve thought this album was made in the early-mid 90s… which is a good thing, a really good thing. This album takes you back to the time of Brand Nubian, Black Sheep, Black Moon, Tribe and De La Soul from Ali’s lyrics, to his production (he produced this album), even to the interludes. Rites of Passage is a masterpiece of an album, so please don’t sleep on it for your own sake.

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