I've never really fucked with Obie Trice or any of the Shadyville characters for that matter..Today however I stumbled upon a twitter post claiming a new LP from Obie Trice entirely produced by Premo! My sentiments were the same. The fuck out!! I figure this shit is worth a bit more of a columbo. I dug a little deeper and discover last year he departed from the the white boys camp(Shady Aftermath) after a little boo-hoo over some track and since then he's teamed up with not Preem but one of his proteges, Canadian producer Moss. Moss being recently signed to Preems production label "Works of Mart".
False information flourishes on the interweblar don't it. Shit had me going for a second.
Albums called Special Reserve, released 15 December Singles called Got Hungry and it ain't bad especially the beat Check it..
Id formally like to welcome my hard boiledcom padreBRUE to the Royal Rundown. Buz track, beat map with a bitch slap extraordinaire. Kikos got a toolbox of realness which will leave you flakes for dead. Get it in & be abouts yours with the internets son!
Even though Ironlaks Clash of the Titans event was postponed Revok managed to get amongst the Melbourne mayhem for some mashin..All at a hefty little cost. TSL artists gear is available from the store HERE
Remember the post that The Royalist put up a minute ago about indie rockers The Black Keys and thier hip hop fusion album that appeared to be helmed by Jigga's one time off-sider Dame Dash? Well here's a brand new track off that very album! I can't tell you too much about The Black Keys, but i can tell you that we here at The Royal Rundown don't mind a bit of the Chef Raekwiz from time to time. So in saying that, i thought i'd take this opportunity to go on record and say i really enjoyed (and continue to do so) Raekwon's Only Built For Cuban Links 2. The internet, in all it's blogging glory, had an almost field day upon the release of this album with the majority of bloggers and hip-hop nerds choosing to "pan" it outright on the strenth of a few youtube and myspace leaks. Anticipation was high, rumour had it that GZA would be replacing Tony Starks as Rae's co-protagonist and it's release would be handled by Dr. Dre and the Aftermath camp. As with most Aftermath artists (see Joell Ortiz, King Tee, Busta Rhymes and Rakim amongst others) Rae left stifled but on good terms with his OB4CL2 album later seeing the light on his own independant Ice Water Inc. label. It's never easy for a major artist to top thier career's pinnacle. Nas tried it with Stillmatic, Jay tried it twice with The Blueprints 2 and 3, Lil Wayne did the same as Jay releasing three The Carter's, while only Prodigy of Mobb Deep springs to mind as someone who crafted a sequel (HNIC2) that captured the essence of its predecessor. OB4CL2 was cursed from the jump. The original Only Built For Cuban Links was released in late '95 and is considerd a master stroke of hip-hop by almost all that listen to it, ranking it amongst the top 20 hip-hop albums of all time. Such lofty heights can rarely be reached twice, especially when you call in the assistence of outsiders who weren't involved in the original. Imagine if Francis Ford Coppola hadn't directed The Godfather 2, instead someone like Brian DePalma or Martin Scorsese was left to man the sequel, it wouldn't be the same. Sure the latter two know how to make a great gangster flick but they wouldn't be able to capture and make use of Coppola's subtleties. The same can be said for Cuban Links 2. How can a great sequel be crafted without its original team firmly in place. RZA being replaced by producers as diverse as Dr. Dre, Marley Marl, Necro and the Alchemist, while guests included The Lox, Busta and the usual Wu stand-ins you'd expect. While the inconsistencies are obvious, they aren't to say its bad album. Quite to the contrary, it's a fucking great album! Not enough complete albums are being made these days in favour of a singles driven itunes market, Raekwon has made a great almost cohesive album. Cuban Links 2 it ain't though. Had it been given an alternate title i don't think the internet and magazine reviews would've been as critical and in some cases scathing as it marked an absolute return to form of one hip-hop's most masterful and relevant MCs. You can't make everyone happy though. Me? I love it! Fingers crossed on a vinyl release.
Its not Cuban Links but its that welcome return to form i've been talking about. Off (another) posthumous J-Dilla release from a month or two ago called "Jay Stay Paid". Its feelin like '96 all over again, The Chef Raekwon teaming up with Havoc of Mobb Deep. 24K Rap.
As the Royalist said, diggin in Japan was fucking ballistic! Price and Variety was second to no-where in the world the only thing really holding us back was time. I snatched up some dope Lp's and Japanese only 12" pressings with alternative covers. The HipHop was cheap and plentyful tho that being said most of the wax I picked up can be found online all year round. The soul and funk selection was equally good tho the price wasn't quite as nice. I was aware of the price jumping a few years ago due to the large amount of diggers hittin up the spots but yeah I dug me some raer gems for a ridiculous price. My shit was def the prog rock, European and Japanese.. I had to dig a little harder through the colossal amount of 70's rock they had on offer but came out on top. Heres some of the HipHop I scored.
Tokyo city is massive and to visit every record store in a week would be impossible. One of the music store chains Disk Union had 6 stores in the Shinkjuku district. Here is a flyer with the locations.
Despite the locals insisting that Tokyo's record game has 'fallen off' im already thinking about my next Tokyo invasion....
Big ups to Jake for holding it di-down that necro video made me laugh my guts up! Queens bridges finest Cormega is back with a new album Born And Raised heres a clip for the Large Pro produced track 'Journey'.
I don't want to harp on too much about our recent trip to Japan, all I can say is that the record stores are fucking nuts and cheap as shit in comparison to over here. I'm not sure about funk and soul as I didn't really get the chance to look for much of it but the hip-hop cost next to nothing. Along with some tasty little scores for sampling I picked up in dollar bins here's a few hip-hop pieces I couldn't pass on. I didn't pay anymore than 1200yen(approx $15) for these.
I couldn't be fucked listing everything and where I got them from but Chubb might give it more of a rundown if he gets time? He went large and scored some gems.
Searching for kicks on Harijuku st was an experience in itself. Jaw dropping amounts of exclusive shit you will not find anywhere else. The budget only allowed a pair of max 1 joints.
On another note Masta Ace and Edo. G have a new Lp out called Arts & Entertainment. This track fucking fire..!
