When I first heard this, I couldn’t help but think to myself “Obie”. Statik Selektah on the boards shows his versatility by crafting something in can only presume was made with Obie in mind. It’s got that rolling, light-feeling to it that reminds me in some ways of Obie’s hit Got Some Teeth. That said, I won’t be paying too much attention to this in terms of how I think the album will sound as I feel Obie is going to go in like he did on his criminally underrated Second Rounds On Me. April 3rd is the date.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Shady collective come together for what is the standout session from the BET Cyphers, with each rapper delivering a set of raps that would have probably dominated in any of the other cyphers. Yelawolf opens proceedings with his blinding, breakneck delivery, whilst Joe Budden follows up with a slower, more lyrical affair that will understandably claim top spot for many, with a slew of clever, attention grabbing punchlines. Crooked I follows up with an excellent performance that will also have many fans, throwing some smart lines into a tongue-twisting flow, whilst Joell comes through with a verse that sits somewhere between Budden and Yela’s, though is certainly the weakest of the bunch. Royce brings the biggest quotable with his hilarious ‘Hi Rihanna’ line, and group captain Eminem finishes things off with a solid verse, though not quite as slick as some of his signees. And the second Shady/Royce collaboration to get visual treatment is also released today, this time for the much more mellow Lighters track that featured on their Bad Meets Evil EP. Not really a fan of this track, mostly because Bruno Mars’ chorus here annoys me too much. However both verses on this are great, if you can look past the chorus (and poptakular beat). It is a track that was hugely successful commercially, so maybe I’m in the minority when I say I’m not big on this song! Long-term Royce fans may feel the content of his songs no longer hold the same introspective vigour it once did, but this track is one that proves he’s still among the best of them when it comes to lyrical dexterity. I like how this track flips to the DJ Premier remix too in this video, showcases that the lyrics aren’t reliant on the extremely heavy and boisterous production of the original. Writer’s Block is filled with punchline after punchline with a perfected flow, with the visuals just as crazy as the verses. Unfortunately we don’t get to see Eminem in this video performing his chorus, but I guess that would have held too many parallels to Rock City…don’t worry though we have some Eminem and Royce visuals coming up in a bit. Free download of this track and further analysis (courtesy of Murray) of this song can be found over here. Em’s fourth single from last years’ superb Recovery gets the visual treatment here with a starring role for former pornstar Sasha Grey. As to be expected here, the video captures Em’s introspective tip and whilst telling a story through the cinematography still manages to keep the focus on Em adding emphasis to his lyrics. And that’s probably a good thing as I find it hard to take Sasha Grey seriously having seen what she’s capable of. If the audio to this is new to you then I recommend you crawl out from that rock you’ve spent the last year under. Much anticipated visuals from the highly anticipated Hell: The Sequel EP from Eminem and Royce Da 5’9″. The track itself ws accurately summated by Murray, with ‘razor-sharp, tongue-twisting, triple-time lyricism from two emcee’s back on top’, over a solid and unobtrusive production. Unfortunately, the video just doesn’t match up. Whilst the animated/visual lyrics style of videos works for some artists, it just feels completely incongruent with both the song itself and the somewhat ‘serious’ (for the most part) nature of each artist. The effects are massively overused and consequentially reduce the song to a secondary factor behind an ill-thought out cartoon, adding a playful quality that doesn’t juxtapose favourably with the lyrical content. In small doses, it may have worked fine as a supplementary effect on the gritty, industrial scenery they’re surrounded by, but unfortunately its extended use only serves to dilute that more fitting scenescape. Disappointing video, but the audio has enough quality to survive. Grab that here if you haven’t already.
Probably not as enjoyable as the previous leak, but June 14th is the day hip-hop stands still in awe.
The cover itself is actually pretty awesome and cleverly thought-out, for I had feared it would be some bundled together effort as Eminem races around trying to dominate 2011. The concept of them both sat on speakers with scattered records around mimics that of a graveyard tying in with the title and hopefully the dark, hardcore content which we will see on the EP itself. Get the first single Fast Lane from Hell: The Sequel here. Couple days ago we heard that first drop from Royce and Eminem’s upcoming Bad Meets Evil EP. Having liked what we heard, here’s a little more to keep that appetite nice and moist. MTV caught up with the numerous producers involved in the project (Havoc, Mr Porter, DJ Khalil and Bangladesh) with each giving you their own little insight into what to expect. All I’m going to say is: Havoc: “It sounds like you going down a dark hall with a whole bunch of monks just screaming at you.”
So Eminem and Royce recently announced that the long-awaited and anticipated Bad Meets Evil EP was finally on the horizon for June sometime. Fast Lane forms the first drop from the EP and serves up a healthy dose of what we all expected: razor-sharp, tongue-twisting, triple-time lyricism from two emcee’s back on top, trading bars back and forth like it’s 1999 all over. Now y’all can’t hate on that. Oh man, what I would have given to have been in Detroit to see this live performance from the next generation of Shady Records. Not the best quality of sound, given it was filmed by a spectator in the crowd, but it’s good enough. Hell, even if the sound was worse than terrible I’d still have posted this. Great seeing the dynamic of these collection of rappers on stage together, you can tell their rapport is genuine. Go grab the audio for this by clicking right here. If you haven’t done so already, get yourselves on the Slaughterhouse & Yelawolf bandwagon now…by the end of the year there will be no room.
Much like Just Blaze’s Session One, the explosive, high-tempo and jumpy piano loop just sits in the background simply providing a vehicle for the inevitable lyrical slaughter. No doubt everyone will have their winner here, but for me? Crook kills it. Just a short video, but it’s always nice to see your interpretation of a video vindicated by the stated intentions of the artists involved: Em and Dre acknowledge the ‘reawakening’ or ‘rehabilitation’ of Dr. Dre. Not a great deal more to say sadly as it is a very short video, but it’s still worth a watch to hear it from Dre and Em, and of course to learn a little more about their motivations and reactions to the video. The actual music video can be enjoyed over here. ‘My life flashed before my eyes‘ would be the best way to describe the opening of this video. Opening up with a look back at the history of Dre’s career and life, we’re treated to a montage of both his finest moments on screen, and short clips of his highly-guarded personal life. Those short clips add a huge dose of credibility right from the off, and certainly add credence to the personal lyricism of the track. The bulk of the video is centred around Eminem’s incredibly honest verses, with his words seemingly acting as a desperate eulogy of ‘words he never said’ to Dre. This video really highlights the passion and intensity behind both Em’s lyrics and his delivery, with the brutal honesty in both verses makes for riveting listening. This emotional outpouring results in the ‘reawakening’ of Dre, and whilst Dre’s verse probably isn’t quite as gripping as either of Em’s, it’s enjoyable nonetheless and arguably suffers from being placed after two of Em’s better verses in recent years. The highest compliment you can pay a video is when it completely reshapes your view on the audio: it’s safe to say that’s been the case here. Previously, I was guilty of overlooking the powerful lyricism of the track in favour of listening purely for that ‘perfect’ Dr. Dre beat, but the production serves its purpose ably here in amplifying the absorbing lyrical work. Audio is available on iTunes now.
Regardless of questionable accents, the lyricism here is a throwback to a more old-school Eminem, bringing that edgy and controversial lyrical style that wasn’t too prevalent on Recovery. It makes for a nice throwback in that sense, though the lack of his angry, driven flows from those early 00′s to match the lyricism makes it feel a little diluted. B.o.B comes through with a decent verse of his own, and with a simple, uninterfering production holding things together, this makes for a fairly enjoyable listen. It’s not classic material by any means, but is a relatively enjoyable mini-throwback to Eminem’s earlier days. Maybe I’m just hankering a little too much for that 1998-2001 Eminem… (Edit: Link re-upped) Eminem-Things Get Worse ft. B.o.B Another Grammy night performance for you now. This time we have Rihanna singing Love The Way You Lie Part II (the audio for this track can be found here), with Adam Levine on the piano (not sure why, but I’m not complaining!). Eminem then comes out to thunderous applause, and lets rip on his final verse to the Love The Way You Lie saga. This is followed by the fantastic Skylar Grey (who coincidentally was the original singer of the aforementioned song) as she opens I Need A Doctor with stunning vocals, outshining Rihanna in my opinion. Em keeps his end of the deal, giving a typically passionate performance on this one, with all of this leading up to the appearance of one Dr. Dre…
A finished CDQ version of this track will apparently be released January the 25th. Detox is
Here’s what Em had to say: “Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse, it’s kinda phase two of Shady. It’s the new generation of Shady Records and as we’re trying to rebuild our label, it’s exciting for hip-hop and with all of these forces coming together and with what everybody’s capable of on the mic, it’s gonna be fun.” Yelawolf also comments on the powerhouse move: “Considering where I’m from and the shit I’ve been through, it’s hard to put into words what partnering with Shady means to me, my team at Ghet-O-Vision, and my state of Alabama. I can tell you that when you’re willing to give your life up to see a dream through, the reward is great. And now that I’ve become an apprentice to one of the greatest artists in the world, my potential reaches beyond anything I ever imagined. Let’s kill this shit.”
Essentially, it’s the same club banger the original was, but with the added intensity and quality of an Eminem verse. He comes through with a much more humorous and light-hearted lyrical set here, though still manages to cram in some nice wordplay and high-speed flows. Solid remix, and definitely worth grabbing for the jovial Em verse.
This is a track that’s having a pop at the state of the music industry, how hit songs just seem to be about catchy hooks and contain poor lyrical content. Unfortunately this is definitely not a recent song, and is believed to be around 4 years old. This is most telling from hearing Eminem’s flow and particularly the horrible southern accent that he displayed on the albums Encore and D12 World. For that reason this track isn’t really as good as I’d hoped it to be, but I must admit his ironic chorus on this is one I enjoyed. Eminem – Syllables ft. Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Stat Quo & Ca$his
The production is very captivating, with a solid percussion line anchoring the track, whilst wistful and orchestral-style melodies create a backdrop that suits Eminem’s thoughtful lyricism perfectly. He’s certainly on good form with his raps here, as he details his ‘addiction’ to hip-hop, and the consequential ‘side effects’ of fame on relationships and personality: hence, I think it may be a more recent track, as it fits the subject matter and lyrical style of his newer material. Alicia is on great form as ever, taking on this atmospheric beat brilliantly with her smooth vocals for both the hook and a verse of her own. Top all-round track, and it’s a huge loss that it wasn’t included on any albums…unless it’s set for an upcoming one. Edit (Indi): Replaced with a stream, as this is an unauthorised leak that the Shady camp are unhappy with!
Whilst I’m sure many can guess 1, 2 or maybe even all 3 of our remaining picks based on the omissions from the aforementioned list, the order in which they’re placed may be more difficult to pre-empt. Click on to see who the OTU team have voted as the top three MCs of 2010. It’s always great to see big collaborations like this performed live, and you can tell these guys really had fun performing this. They could quite easily have flopped this performance, considering how high energy this song is and how boisterous their verses are. But they really rose to the challenge and provide some great entertainment on the Saturday Night Live show.
The parallels with Eminem’s own post-fame career are clear, and this is said to be ‘semi auto-biographical’ in that respect, replacing the direct representation of rap battles found in 8 Mile with a boxing analogy. Really looking forward to more info on this, there’s lots of potential here.
This is just getting plain silly (and I’ve got another one to come after this!). What a week for hip-hop! Royce and Em hit us with another Bad Meets Evil joint. You thought the first was good? This one is better. The beat and chorus give off a dramatic, rock-inspired edge, something we’ve seen Em do alot of recently and actually doesn’t sound too far off his Recovery material. Once again and as expected, Royce and Em absolutely tear this to shreds. It’s not only fantastic to get material from these two, but actual complete songs which have real replay value and not just them flexing their lyrical weight.
Features are rumoured to include Jay-Z (although not on Under Pressure, which is said to have been scrapped), La Roux (or just Elly Jackson), Game, Akon (on Kush, assumedly) and of course Snoop Dogg and Eminem. I personally expect there to be a few more features, probably from lesser-known artists, including Kendrick Lamar who he name-checked in an interview recently.
Where to start with this. Well after a pensive intro which sounds remarkably like Rihanna (*prepares to offend R&B heads*) the beat, which is unexpectedly unusual, kicks in and Em dominates the mic with a passionate Love The Way You Lie type verse of which he dedicates to his long-time mentor and friend: Dre himself. The hook follows with equally powerful vocals thus rendering the track much more wholesome and listenable then, after another quick few bars from Em, Dre takes centre stage with a pin-point (presumably ghostwritten – hmmm Royce?) delivered verse. This is utterly brilliant, but not 100% finished yet and (Indi tells me) it’s not been mastered yet. Patience people, if we could get you the moon, we would do that too.
Never mind Session One (or even the imminent Session Two) or the fact that Slaughterhouse are pretty much signed to Shady. This is what all Bad Meets Evil fans have been clamoring after since we first heard that Em and Royce had squashed their beef over the phone back in March ’08. Over a much-sampled James Brown Funky Dummer loop we are all reminded how Royce is one of the top emcees in the game as, once again, he provides as much firepower as his Detroit counterpart. In Royce, Em really has met his lyrical match and thus you just know this scares the hell out of 95% of the industry. Needless to say: This = heavy rotation. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright © 2012, Overrating the Underrated - All Rights Reserved |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Recent Comments