The Ultimate Top 5: Dead or alive

When 2Pac died, it was widely believed that Hip Hop had lost the greatest rapper that ever lived. He was popular, his music touched millions and his voice lived on long after his death. In many people's eyes, 2Pac was the turning point of 'old skool' Hip Hop and modern day Hip Hop. Many have emulated, and most have failed. So who is the greatest rapper of all time? It seems a topic that nobody will ever be able to agree upon.

Now we must define the aspects of what makes a rapper the best. I mean Soulja Boy sells records, and so does Gucci Mane, Rick Ross and Young Jeezy, but I would be taking serious bribes if I listed any of those names in my list. So really, sales does not come into it and we must look closer, at other aspects.

The next aspect to look at, is flow and delivery - a very technical aspect of a rapper's success. Unfortunatly, this gets looked over by many record labels, and much of this talent remains unsigned, unnoticed and unheard. Record labels would rather sign a young kid who has a story to tell, flaunts a lot of ice and is marketable, and meaning he is not always the slickest MC. However, in 2008, one example seemed to slip the net of this rule. A new MC who did not have a story to tell, had not been shot, and was certainly very skillful with what he said.

I am of course talking about Flo Rida. Flo is able to reach out to his millions of fans with club anthems that you only seem to know the words to the chorus rather than his verses. When he spits, his words rocket from his mouth at such a speed that it takes many listens to learn them, yet each syllable flows around the up-tempo beat consistantly, like clockwork.

But, would I lose my respect as a music journalist if I said the best rapper alive is someone who makes hits for the club, and those on the street cannot relate to? So obviosly Flo does not tick all of the boxes required to be 'perfect' and so I must look elsewhere.

Although Flo Rida is with it lyrically, he does not use punchlines, and many people will say that they are a key ingredient to success, especially someone who has killed it underground in the battles first. One artist who has done that, is Cassidy. Now, Cass exploded onto the scene when he dismantled the already signed, Freeway, in what has become one of the most viweed rap videos on Youtube (click for Part 1 & Part 2) and was highly humiliating for the artist who had been spoken so highly of by Jay-Z, and had just been signed to Jay's record label. In fact, if Jay was correct, Freeway was one of the best from Philly until this video surfaced. The point is, Cassidy put so many punchlines out, many of them have been quoted all over the internet, and propelled him to sign with producer, Swizz Beatz' record label, J Records. Cassidy has many styles, whether he is rapping for the street, the ladies, the club dancers or those just wanting inspiration in life. His flow is so perfect that he sounds layed back, as his talented mind is piecing sentances together with multiple syllabic rhyming, but yet it sounds like he is just talking a normal conversation, rather than thinking of stuff that sounds good. In my opinion, Cassidy is the most under rated rapper that has ever lived, and a position in the top 10 greatest rappers of all time is not enough - he needs to be listed at the top.

But there are some who say that Cassidy is 'too lyrical', and the days of songs such as 'Hotel' with R. Kelly are over, and had nothing to do with being the most talented MC in mainstream rap. So now we must look for someone who has a lot of commecial success with punchlines and rhyming, and immediately, Lil' Wayne is the nest artist that comes to mind. Weezy has a unique rhyming technique that placed him at the top of MTV's top 10 best rappers alive a coupleof years back. His album, Tha Carter III became one of the most anticipated albums of all time, and despite much of the material being bootlegged weeks before, the CD sold over 1.5 million in its first week an became the best selling album of 2008.

Weezy's wordplay is so unique, it is almost childish. He has a 'giggly' voice as he plays around with words and their meanings. Sometimes, they will fly over your head, but when you do pick up on one, a Weezy punchline can be enough to make you want to rewind the line and hear it again and again. But he is not always consistant. Sometimes, his features can leave listeners wondering what he is talking about, and the is not fit to be on the same record as other greats such as Kanye West. Many people will say he was over rated, and he is just living off hype, but there are many who think the south has produced a rapper that neither the East or the West Coast can compete with.

And that might be the problem. Those in New York will always say that the East Coast produces the best rappers due to the high competition, the amount of battles that takes place in the cold streets, rather than a different culture of Hip Hop from down south, where as long as it sounds good n a club, it is a hit.

The next rapper was listed as the 'Most Influencial person in Hip Hop', and many old timers will say he is the best that ever did it.. I am of course talking about, Jay-Z, but you are forgiven if you did not get that straight away. When Biggie died in 1997, a hole was left in New York rap - who was the 'King of New York'? Several applications were received by the fans from rappers asking for that position to be theirs. Jay-Z and Nas has a feud over the title, after both claiming it was their crown, and it resulted in what is unarguably the greatest diss record of all time - 'Ether' by Nas. Many people feel that this clinched it, and after a public apology from Jay-Z's mother, the feud died down, and both became friends. But, although Jay-Z is lyrically, he was always going to win the title in the eyes of commercial rap. Although Nas destroyed Jay-Z on wax, Jay-Z had commercial advantages. His songs had better radio play, allowing him to get closer to the fans, and of course, later on, he had Beyonce. When a rapper becomes popular, it becomes hard for him to lose a feud to a rapper who has a smaller fan base, nd that is why the likes of Jermaine Dupri Canabis or the Insane Clown Posse could possibly challenge Eminem or Dr Dre - they would lsoe even if they won the battle...if that makes sense.

But although Jay-Z is talented with what he writes, he is not complete, in that he lacks punchlines, and what he says does not always make sense because he has to change what he writes so that it rhymes. In my opinion, although Jay-Z would make the top 20, possibly top 10, he is certainly not anywhere near the number 1 position. I think Jay-Z creates music which enables him to have the honour of one of the best around, but lyrically, there are more skillful artists.

Nas on the other hand is another example of a rapper who is very complex to listen to. Even The Game said it:

"For my n***** it was too complex when Nas rhymed, I was the only Compton n**** with a New York State of Mind"

Its becomes hard to say Nas is the best rapper alive, as he remains grimy, and his lack of commerciality in the majority of music means he is hard to compare with the likes of Weezy, or Cassidy.

Next up, is the man who calls himself 'Loso'. This is of course Fabolous, a man who grew up a stone's throw away from Jay-Z himself in Brooklyn. Fab models himself around a slow, layed back style of rapping, which almost sounds like he has been disturbed after he is about to drop off to sleep. However, each line is packed with multiple rhyming throughout and again, clever punchlines and metaphors. I could probably best describe him as a cross between Mase and Cassidy - he has the same vocal style as Mase, but with Cassidy's talent. Fab can often be heard on remixes of other artist's songs, and often a candid to rap over an RnB track. However, I feel that Fabolous has tried to hard in the last year or so, especially on the new album, 'Loso's Way', which I did not think was his best material.

Although there are many more artists I could talk about in terms of the way they rhyme, I have saved the best for last. Nobody would take him seriously when he first entered the game more than a decade ago now, but with the reputable insistance from one of the world's best music producer, a so called 'mis-fit' of rap soon took to the air, and has overshadowed everybody else in the game. His rise to the top is more unusual than other artists, mainly because of his style in terms of song subjects, themes, and colour of his skin. I am in fact talking about Eminem, the man I feel is the most influencial figure in Hip Hop.

Eminem delivers so much energy in his music, as well as so much emotion. The one minute comedy voice, can soon change to an angry 'get out of my way' voice that flows through bar after bar. Eminem used his lyrical abilities to fend off competition in the early years, and despite a racial element to his snubbed battle performances, Eminem seemed to use that to build himself up even more, until now, he is feared among every other rapper (except Rick Ross, who perhaps feels he could defeat Em in a battle). The turning point for Em's career came when he featured on a ollaboration with Jay-Z, the song called 'Renegade'. This song seemed to show the world the Eminem could officially be crowned the king of Hip Hop. Maybe this was the reason Jay-Z had Drake's verse removed from their collaboration they did on his latest album, The Blueprint 3? Perhaps he did not want a repeat of another artist outshining him on his own CD?

Other artists can be 'King of New York', or whatever, but Eminem was even more devinly ranked. Despite a few comedy records for the radio, fans of Eminem knew that his real music came on the albums. Another factor which makes Eminem stand out as being the most influencial figure in Hip Hop, is the fact that culturally, he brings people together. His music opened up an opportunity for a whole knew batch of fans, myself included, which is why I feel the need to pay tribute to such a legend. Eminem has fans in America, the UK, Australia, Africa, Japan and all over - with people who dont even speak fluent English being able to learn his lyrics. And as well as being the best MC, he has even moved to the side as a producer, and helper to up and coming artists in the game, like Dre did to him all of those years ago. That is why Eminem is more influencial than anybody else in Hip Hop.

I could go on for days talking about artists with a lyrical ability - such as why Lloyd Banks constantly gets overlooked by 50 Cent, why Busta Rhymes never comes out on top of favourite rapper lists, and of course, Juelz Santana - the ladies man of Hip Hop, with humourous metaphors is better than the cappo, Jim Jones, but sells less, but below I have made my own personal lists. Feel free to agree or disagree with me, by dropping me a message on Twitter - twitter.com/rob_davies - and remember, its all a bit of fun... everybody will have a different preference.

Top 5: Dead or Alive

1) Eminem

2) Cassidy

3) Fabolous

4) Nas

5) Lloyd Banks

Most under rated rappers

1) Busta Rhymes

2) Juelz Santana

3) Ludacris

4) Chamillionaire

5) Pharoahe Monch

[Review] Fat Joe - J.O.S.E. 2 (Jealous Ones Still Envy)

Artist: Fat Joe
Album: J.O.S.E. (Jealous Ones Still Envy)
Release Date: 6th October 2009
Guests: Lil' Wayne, Ron Browz, Akon, Pleasure P, T-Pain, Lil' Kim, Rico Love, T.A, Raekwon, Rob Cash, Swizz Beatz, Benisour & Cherlise.
Producers: Swizz Beatz, Ron Browz, DJ Infamous, The Inkredibles, Rico Love, Jim Jonsin, Eric Hudson, Shief, Raw Uncut, & E-Hood & E2

Fat Joe has always been a rapper that has been there for years, made hits, collaborated on other records and remixes, but for some reason, never gets listed as one of the best rappers. In fact, I have never heard any rap fan say their favourite rapper is Fat Joe. Yet, with an 8th album ready to drop in October, I was wondering whether Joe was ready to start gaining more respect.

It is exactly a year and half since Joe's last album came, 'The Elephant In The Room', and I think even Joe himself, will admit that the album did terrible, despite good/average reviews by several media sources. Whether a recent feud with 50 Cent was to blame at the time, I doubt it. The album had a lead single with J.Holiday, a banger with Swizz Beatz, and a street single with Lil' Wayne that even appeared on the Grand Theft Auto IV game. But anyway, that is all old, and the game has changed.

For instance, there has been a row over the use of Auto-tune on songs - and track 5 on the new CD features T-Pain, in what I can only say is one of Pain's dullest hooks he has written. I mean, who doesn't skim through a new album until they get the usual T-Pain collaboration, expecting a catchy hook that will feature much attention from the likes of Tim Westwood?

OK, so now I decided to listen to the album properly. The album begins with the Ron Browz produced track 'Windin' On Me' with Lil' Wayne. Despite being quite a successful hit with radio stations in the US, I thought it was a rather unusual way to begin an album. I mean, the number 1 rule when recording a Hip Hop album, is to have a powerful intro that draws the listener in, and not the secret weapon that is the lead single. 50 Cent used the famous coin flip and lighter sparking up sound effects, leading into 'What Up Gangsta' on Get Rich Or Die Tryin', Cassidy cleverly constructs battle raps between his current style, and the old Cassidy from the previous album, and Eminem uses an interlude. Although it is a good song, and I sound picky, but it just didn't seem the right way to go in, and perhaps Track 2, 'Joey Don;t Do It' would have been a better intro.

I have worked out, tht over the years, Fat Joe has worked with some of the most respected producers in the game, from Ron Browz, Swizz Beatz, Cool & Dre, Jim Jonsin and Danja, but I often feel that he doesn't get their best work from them. A track called 'Drop' was produced by my favourite producer, Swizzy, but it didn't have the usual punch from back in the 'DMX days' and the same is with The Inkredibles - I was left wondering whether they had left their cheapest beats for poor Joey? 'Ice Cream' is a track with a 'mixtape beat' and certainly should not be on an album with so much anticipation. Another track produced by The Inkredibles follows, 'Okay Okay', which is a bit better, but not a classic. The track 'One' with Akon was however a better track, although I have heard better Akon hooks.

But just when you think this album is going to be trash, it was Swizz Beatz to the rescue, almost at the end of the CD! 'Blackout', an obvious album track due to its lyrical content, but Swizzy's hook is great, an Fat Joe kills it for once. The beat is is pure grime and the trademark up tempo double claps guarentee this a place on my iPod.

Another track I was suprised with, was 'Porn Star' with Lil' Kim - once again, Joe owns the Jim Jonsin beat. The track, which is full of moisture due to Kim's lyrics - although I wonder if Joey really needed the Auto-tune on his verses. I mean he would have killed it without it, and Auto-tune is fine on hooks no matter what the 'for attention' comments by 'should get with the times' Jay-Z says.

And another Fat Joe tradition is to keep albums short - only 12 tracks left me feeling the CD was a little shortI felt Joe could have at least extended it since it was pushed back so many times. I was also wondering where the presence of DJ Khalid was. There had been rumours on internet sites that there was a dispute going on behind the scenes, and although the guy annoys the hell out of me when he shouts over songs he hasn't even produced or rapped on, and then puts them on an album, I was still wondering where he was. His lack of presence wwill not exactly lower my overall rating by all means.

Overall, I was quite pleased with this attempt. Joe is obviously still a rapping legend due to his early affiliations with Big Pun and the old Terror Squad days, but the fans need to realise that those days are over. I to was a fan of the old freestyles the he and Pun were putting out, but Joe has moved on and is completely different, afterall, Joe hasn't worn his 'TS chain' on an album cover since 2002.

The album has more depth than the previous few attempts, and Hip Hop in the media for all of the right reasons (Jay-Z album hype, and Ja Rule & DMX squashing their beef), this is a good time to release some fresh material. I think Joe just needs a big hype track to propell him back into the mainstream attention - something like 'Lean Back' or 'What's Luv'. I also think there is a lack of an opportunity for various artists to jump on a remix, which would again add hype to the album.

7/10

[Reaction] Ja Rule & DMX end their beef

When two Hip Hop rivals decide to end a feud, the moment becomes captured, and is remembered for a long time. When Jay-Z and Nas ended their feud, many people whitnessed a moment of Hip Hop history which they would never have thought they would have seen. With Nas seeming to be the harder of the two rappers, following diss records such as 'Ether', it was Jay-Z that signed Nas to Def Jam, leading many people to perceive that Jay had come out on top, which I strongly disagree. But not all feuding is kept on the records, as Ja will tell you.

Ja Rule has been no stranger to a little bit of beefing. In the early 2000's, he was engaged in a bitter feud with is local rival, and upcoming MC, 50 Cent, and despite Ja seeming to brush this off at first, as being a jealous 'kid' from the area trying to catch a little fame, we all know how much further 50 would go ahead, and despite fake police papers leaked onto the internet trying to label 50 a snitch, many people will look at this feud as the downfall in Ja Rule's career.

So where did the Ja Rule/DMX feud come from? To me, this seems to stem from jealousy. DMX thought that Ja was using the same style of rapping, as DMX was once embraced as the 'rough voice' rapper until Ja started having number 1 records.

So despite DMX firing a couple of diss records towards the Queens rapper, it seemed pretty much dead in the street, until 'The Chicago Incident', which is still a mystery to everyone, with only little facts to enlighten us to what actually occured at the airport when the two entourages met, apart from DMX claiming he saved Ja's life.

The beef was apparently squashed back in 2006, when mutual friend, Irv Gotti arranged a meeting between the two rappers in a jail, where DMX was currently serving time (DMX has had so many felonies, that it is actually impossible for me to find out what he was doing time for in this instance), however, DMX said he would only end the beef if he could 'have five minutes alone in a cell with Ja' so he could 'sort it out like grown men'.

And after the tension had died down, a track was leaked onto the internet from Ja Rule (later included in the leaked album, 'The Mirror', which I reviewed a few weeks back) called 'Judas'. Ja raps:

"Dear Judas what's the deal homie?
How you feeling theese days n***a,
I'm little lonely, no D, no Y, no E, no Kiss, no Styles, no Ruff, no Rydas, doubble lost findes,
We grown men n***a, I tried to put it behind us, but n***as always restate weakness and kindness, so it gets to violence..."

Ironically, the song also takes subliminal shots towards former label mate, and collaborator, Ashanti, with whom Ja performed with last night at the same awards show that he ended the feud with DMX. Eminem was also expected to appear, which would have added another twist in the night, as Ja and Em had a famous feud when Ja Rule dissed the Detroit MC in retaliation associating himself and for signing his enemy 50 Cent, to his Shady Aftermath label. Eminem and DMX had collaborated with another Shady Aftermath artist at the time, Obie Trice, and made a diss record titled 'Go To Sleep', to which DMX had said:

" Easy going with the same one that started the fight,
He be knowing how dog get, when dog gone bite,
Tried to show him the dog shit, it's dog for life."

So with the DMX/Ja Rule beef now put to sleep, and a 'ceasefire' between Ja and Eminem - it just leaves a couple of more questions. Will this lead to Ja calling it quits and squashing the beef with 50? And speaking of 50, was this a publicity stunt, similar to that when 50 and The Game had apparently ended their beef infront of the cameras, only for it to continue rumbling on? I think the answer to both of these questions is 'no'.

DMX has been in enough trouble, and has said in the past, that he wants to sort himself out, and I cant see personal issues such as this stand in his way. And finally, Ja Rule and 50 Cent have been sworn enemies for pretty much their careers - it was Ja Rule that accused 50 Cent of snitching and sending his man to jail, and is believed that the man who infamously shot 50 Cent nine times, was an associate of Murder Inc and Ja Rule, and lets not forget the incident where Ja Rule's entourage stormed a recording studio where 50 was, leading to him getting stabbed by a Ja Rule associate, Black Child. This kind of beef is perminant, and will never be resolved.

But in the mean time, it has gone quiet, and I think the two have decided there was better things to do than diss each other - focus on their own.

[Review] New Boyz - Skinny Jeans & A Mic

Ahhhhhhhh Sorry, I dont have time for this one.

[Review] Dizzee Rascal - Tongue N' Cheek

Artist: Dizzee Rascal
Album: Tongue N' Cheek
Label: Dirtee Skank
Release Date: 21st September 2009
Guests: Armand Van Helden, Chrome & Calvin Harris
Producers: Armand Van Helden, Calvin Harris, Shy FX, Cage, Footsie, Dizzee Rascal, Tiesto, Aaron Lacrate

When So Solid Crew's '21 Seconds' reached number 1 in the UK singles chart, I was firmly under the illusion that UK Hip Hop and Grime was to be a force to be reckoned with. As a nation, the UK has a strong Rock and Indie scene, a strong dance scene, and a relativly strong urban scene, despite most of it coming from overseas. However, we seemed to lack in the Hip Hop department, and that was the reason I was disappointed when So Solid Crew could not maintain a strong hold on mainstream success.

However, Eight years on, and our urban scene still only consists of a hand full of mainstream rappers, although I must admit, I can say for sure, it is on the increase.

Dizzee Rascal first came to my attention around 2002, long before any of the studio albums and chart success, when he was a young boy from Bow, in East London making a name for himself on the mixtapes and pirate radio stations. I knew he had potential to make good music, but I lacked confidence is the mainstream radio stations such as BBC Radio 1, Galexy, and Metro taking a risk by playing tracks from a Grime artist. Grime is still considered to be an underground only genre of music, and this was long before the days of 1Xtra.

However, Dizzee was able to deliver, much due to the buzz created on the underground scene. Songs such as 'I Luv U' and 'Flex' have become well accepted on the UK music scene, and not just with the urban fans. This became so much so, that Dizzee was even featured on a charity single 'Do They Know Its Christmas'.

But four albums into his career, Dizzee has cemented his place at the top of the UK scene, and with hot new artists such as Tinchy Stryder, Master Shortee, and Wretch 32, to add to a growing list of mainstream UK rappers such as Kano, Wiley, Skepta, Scorcha and Bashy, it is now becoming a question of when the UK Hip Hop scene can grow into America.

With a two year break from his last album, Dizzee is now ready to go at the charts again, but with a new style - dance. 'Dance Wiv Me' became in instant club success thanks to a collaboration with DJ Calvin Harris, and that was soon followed by 'Bonkers' - an unlikely catchy tune made huge thanks to Armand Van Helden. And with Wiley also making dance tracks, such as 'Wearing My Rolex', I was wondering what direction the UK Hip Hop scene was travelling in.

There was also a point when I was worried the new album was going to become a CD of dance songs, written specially for a new breed of fans - the clubbers. I was wondering if I would ever hear Dizzee spit over a grime beat, or I'd hear another 'Sirens'. But I was happily corrected when I first skipped through the album. I tried the 'five second rule' for each of the songs (as you do) before going back and listening to the album in full, and it became clear to me, that the man I once qued a couple of hours to buy a ticket for to see live was still the same man rapping on the new CD.

The CD opened with 'Bonkers', which I soon skipped to track two, a song called 'Road Rage' which instantly became attatched to my taste, and has since become my favourite song on the album. It is a certain classic with the car fanatics, as it deals with general road user frustrations. Track four, 'Freaky Freaky' is another great song, depicting explicit sex ventures the stereotypical young male from East London may encounter.

In fact, by the end of the album, I was genuinly enjoying it. 'Holiday' became an annoyance to me, as I thought it would only appeal to holidayers on Islands in the Med, but I was soon absorbed into it, and out of the three singles from the CD, that one became my favourite.

There is also an additional CD called 'Foot N' Mouth' which has interviews, promos, and other tracks from artists on Dizzee's 'Dirtee Skank' records. Since I saw the Newham Generals live when they supported Dizzee, I made sure these were soon uploaded onto my iPod.

So overall, I would say this is a great album, but far from Dizzee's best. For me, it would have to go a long way to top the last album, 'Maths + English'. For me, that was Dizzee at his peak, and I am not sure whether he has it to be able to go one better. Songs like 'Flex' , 'P***yhole' and 'Sirens' are classics, and are much better than the dance tracks he is producing for the radio and clubs these days, but dont get me wrong, this is still a good buy.

7/10

[Review] Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon: The End Of The Day

Artist: Kid Cudi
Album: Man On The Moon: The End Of The Day
Label: GOOD Music
Release Date: September 15th 2009
Guests: Billy Cravens, Ratatat, Common, Kanye West, & MGMT
Producers: Kanye West, Emile, Jeff Bhasker, Dot Da Genius, Crada, Matt Friedman, Free School, Crookers & Plain Pat.

Throughout the next 12 months at awards shows broadcast on BET, MTV or whoever else is deciding to dish out awards these days, Im sure you will hear 'Kid Cudi' mentioned under the catogory of The Best New Comer. In fact, as writing this, I have just seen this year's BET nominations, and I am so far correct.

To a lot of people, this name will conjour up something incorrect. Holiday makers may recognise the name from Ibiza, Malia, Kos, Kavos or Zante last summer, where Kid Cudi was the artist of one of the biggest dance songs that swept across the club scene, spreading to the UK, and eventually onto Radio stations that heard the buzz. From there, Cudi landed on top of the Official Singles chart. Of course, although it was Kid Cudi, it was an Italian DJ duo, known as the Crookers. The duo had sampled the original 'Day N Night' song they had heard while in the US. The outcome was so massive, that it has overshadowed the original.

But the fact of the matter is, that the real sound of Kid Cudi is far from that. If you buy the album, you will not here any dance songs. You will not hear anything that any club DJ will play.

OK, so next you will probably see that Kid Cudi is a protege of Kanye West. "So if he is not interupting award shows, surely Cudi is making Hip Hop tunes for the street, or with catchy autotune hooks, dancing in videos with pretty girls and driving fancy cars" you might ask next? Nope, none of these. Despite being on a label with names such as Kanye, GLC, Consequence and Common, Cudi is far from this too.

The only way to describe the sound of this CD, is to imagine that your asleep. That seems to be the album theme, with the first few tracks sounding very sureal. In fact, it sounded 'too sureal' for me, and had me feeling droopy. The album is split into several sections - End Of The Day, Rise Of The Night Terrors, Taking A Trip, Stuck & A New Beginning. So the album follows the average person's sleep patterns.

Appart from nearly putting me into a sleep pattern, the only songs I will feel like listening to again are 'Day N Night' (the original version) although I've heard this so many times that this might not be the case, 'Soundtrack 2 My Life' and finally, the second single, 'Make Her Say', which features Common and Kanye West. These are the only two songs with any Hip Hop feel. If you like to listen to music while you drive, do not have this CD on, seriosly, it will probably make you fall asleep at the wheel!

If yo work as a session therapist, then this will be the best CD money can buy for you, maybe apart from Natural Wale sounds or Sounds of The Ocean (Natural Wale sounds is not a reference to another new artist).

I must admit, I am very disappointed with the album. I do not mind albums having themes, but I do like it to have a theme which I can listen to and stay active to.

2/10

[Review] Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

Artist: Jay-Z

Album: The Blueprint 3

Label: Roc Nation/Atlantic

Release: Date: September 11th 2009

Guests: Luke Steele (of Empire of The Sun), Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi, Mr Hudson, Pharrell, J. Cole, Drake, Young Jeezy & Alicia Keys.

Producers: Kanye West, No I.D., Al Shux, The Inkredebles, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, & The Neptunes.

I have often wondered why so many people regard Jay-Z as being the greatest rapper alive. Sure, MTV one said that the title belonged to Lil' Wayne, and I personally believe Eminem cannot be matched for talent, although Fabolous and Cassidy are also as good.

I mean, Jay-Z never seemed to reach out to me in the past, and although my iPod does contain some 'Jigga' music, such as 'Show Me What You Got', 'Prey', and 'Change Clothes' as well as a few more, I never felt the urge to upload entire albums onto that MP3 player. With no disrespect to Jay, I admire his work, especially in the last six or seven years of his career, but I cant help think that without Beyonce being his celebrity girlfriend, with whom the couple collaborated on several occasions, Jay would not have the status he has right now.

I for one feel Nas won he feud, and I rate Nas as being a better lyricist. Jay tried to walk in Biggie's shoes and I also felt he was harsh to artists such as Mobb Deep and Joe Budden - maybe Jay was trying to be a little 'too dominant' with his apparent 'King of NYC' status. I also felt that the best rapper alive should not have been 'out-performed' by his three collaborators on 'Swagga Like Us'.

I am not saying that I am not a fan, in fact I have more to credit Jay with than I can knock him for. I have just been skeptical that too much was expected of The Blueprint 3. Afterall, his last album is listed as a favourite by Mr Obama, and was a tenth sraight number 1 in the US. Although not one of my favourite albums Jay has released, it was only intended to be a concept, and was very much different to the rest of his discography.

The Blueprint 3 began its origins a little over a year ago. Despite coming out of retirement in 2003, Jay announced the new album was going to be his best yet, and would be a classic. After a stunning headline performance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2008, Jay was buzzing. New interest from UK fans had developed from what I can only describe as being a performance of a perfectionist, as a red faced Noel Gallagher sat at home, no doubt wishing he had not bitched to a magazine about Jay (afterall, those publicity stunt comments did not really help sell many copies of the next album did it??). The fact that many people thought his performance was just going to be a standard string of hits, maybe some boos, and objects thrown seemed to lower the bar, for a music legend to do his work. Afterall, the UK has suffered in lack of Hip Hop gigs, and now, interest has sparked up, as Jay is now returning with the band, Coldplay, and demand could be no greater.

Within weeks, 'Jockin' Jay-Z', a Kanye West produced track was circulating the internet, and Jay-Z fans buzzed, as once again, a musical assault on Gallagher appeared in verse two, but for some reason, no reply came (maybe he was too busy arguing with his own brother). The commercial Jay-Z was back, despite a sleight hiatus. Two more tracks followed - 'History' which celebrates the victory of Barack Obama in the 2008 US Presedential Elections, and 'Brooklyn', featuring Santagold, a tribute to the late Biggie Smalls, and would later appear in the movie soundtrack. A track featuring T.I., Kanye West and Lil' Wayne was mouth watering for all Hip Hop fans, and despite appearing on T.I.'s 'Paper Trail' album, it was also set to appear on The Blueprint 3, along with new verses from Nas and Andre 3000 from Outkast. However none of these tracks would make the final cut, as I would find to my disappointment several months later.

The album was taking shape behind closed doors, but for some reason, there was no push behind the above records.records. For sure, 'History' had the right ingredients to be a chart success, but perhaps Jay was looking for another sound. Then Timbaland came out, and claimed he was producing the entire album - I was stunned not only to believe that, but also to think Kanye was not going to be working with his mentor. Jay denied this statement, and left me wondering what on earth was going on - after all, why would Timbaland claim this is it was not true?

It also seemed odd that a few weeks before its release date, all three of the Timbaland produced tracks appeared on the internet. They were also rather weak by Timbo's standards and drew in a lot of critisism from fans on the forums and on social netowrking sites such as Twitter. Was there some tension between the two camps? What was going on behind the scenes?

Before all of this though, Jay-Z announced that the first official single from the album was 'D.O.A. (Death of The Autotune)' - another song that prompted rumours to a fallout behind the scenes, this time between Jay and Kanye. Jay was dissing autotune in this record, despite Kanye's recent use of the feature on his last album and other appearances he has made on other records. It made me wonder why Jay was dissing artists for using it, despite Kanye rebirthing his career with it. Funnily enough, it came just weeks after an internet rumour that Kanye had added autotune on a few of the tracks for The Blueprint 3, and Jay had demanded he took it off. Coicedence? There is no smoke without fire these days.

D.O.A. is a street single, perhaps influenced by Nas' outspoken activity in recent years towards the Hip Hop industry. The song became well received within the rap game, and there are several remixes floating around. It sort of reminds me of 'The Takeover' by using a similar style beat, as well as a rather angry sounding Hova.

The next single was set to be 'Off That' featuring the newest buzz in Hip Hop, Drake, and would be produced by Timbaland. Suprisingly, it was not to be the next big single, and in fact, was one of the songs which was leaked to a poor reception from fans. The beat is boring in my eyes, and Drake does not get a chance to shine like he has on previous records, as he merely sings the hook.

Instead, 'Run This Town' dropped featuring Kanye West and Rihanna, her first appearance since her ongoings with Chris Brown. After the song leaked, there was an anticipation over the video which soon followed to a good reception. The song has a good beat, a strong hook, and quite a good verse from Kanye (without the autotune funnily enough) although I felt Jay failed to do anything with it. Both his verses were dull, and meant nothing to the main core audience of the single - radio. The apparent greatest rapper alive wasn't shining, and I felt it was a missed opportunity to create a smash with three of the biggest names in urban music. I was just hoping the album would not disappoint.

However, when I listened through, closely to every track on the CD, I started to realise that Jay had been hiding something. Tracks began to stand out to me, and I began to regret ignoring the hype to the extend I did. Track 5, 'Empire State of Mind' with Alicia Keys has a bouncy beat and a 'good' set of versus, but Alicia sings a classic hook, and the hook alone could make his a future single, and probably a top 10. Track 15 features the UK band, Mr Hudson, fresh of the back of their smash hit, 'Supernova' with Kanye West, and is another amazing song, with a strong feel about it, although I later found out that the beat and hook sang by Mr Hudson are pretty much the same as the original sample - Aplhaville - Young Forever (1984).

Track 7, 'On To The Next One' featuring the trademark upbeat 'banging' beat from Swizz Beatz (sampling the 2007 smash hit 'D.A.N.C.E. by Justice) and for me, this song has the most 'Hip Hop' feel to it, and the only factor from this being a huge hit is the fact Jay swears too much to make a radio edit.

After this, there is an average song with Young Jeezy called 'Real As It Gets', and does not make much of an impact for me, several dull Timbaland tracks which I have removed from my iPod, and song with Pharrell which does not live up to the pair's previous collaborations.

So overall, to say I was not excited to hear this album would be wrong. But I cannot rate the album a top score based on the fact six of the fifteen tracks on the album are constantly on repeat on my iPod. I have now realised what it is about Jay-Z that makes him the 'great' he is - he is only as good as the beats he has. His flow is unique, but cannot turn a dull, monotinous and dry sounding beat into a good song, such as Fabolous, Eminem, Juelz Santana or Cassidy. But when given something explosive, such as 'Empire State of Mind', his level is raised.

I think this album will become a lead contender for album of the year in the commercial world, but I sense that it is not consistant enough to be an all-rounder.

7/10