Someone explain to me why ageism is an issue in rap? I don’t see it.

[Stolen from The Rap Up; thanks to Rizoh]

I’m not one for advocating one side over the other so when Solar responds I’ll be sure to post that too. Until then, sobering words.

Good to see a few things: 1. Charles Hamilton – part of me thought he had died. 2. Charles’ sense of humor – part of me thought that might have dislodged due to punches a la upset woman. 3. A new mixtape, Normalcy. Give Chuck another chance? DOWNLOAD.

“If you weren’t a part of it, at least you got to witness” One day (and a day, not very far off), Mr. Watts will be quoting Drake’s line from Forever to describe his own place in the game.  With the release of his birthday mixtape, entitled 24, DK steps into his grown-man shoes even more than on previous projects.

His subject matter is Rated M for Mature without being unrefined, which is what we have come to expect from the proud son of the DMV. Musically, his selections can most accurately be described as “experimental” (not the experimental genre, but that he experiments with different sounds than we are used to hearing from him). Watts tests out new lyrical styles with his faithful soul or jazzy samples, always careful to remain positive and expository. The truth about DK aka Wayne Watts is that he will never escape the posture of a teacher. Through and through, his goal appears to be personal development and passing the lessons of his own experience in generalizable ways to his listening audience.

The most exciting part about the mixtape inspired by the adventures of Jack Bauer is not what has remained consistent, but rather the things that we have not seen before. We are all accustomed to listening to the artist from “Run Route 1″ or from “Stop this Train”, but the personal reflection of “Left-Hander’s Anthem” or lyrical complexity of “24/7″ without losing the carefree attitude that rounds out his personality are what highlight the growth of DK as an artist. His departure from the cadence of his Slick Rick style for the major portions of the mixtape allows listeners to get a better view of the versatility of the birthday boy as well. The negative result of this departure will most likely prove to be the confusion of his long-time listeners in relation to his intended direction. The late 2009 version of Wayne Watts looks a little more like Will Smith met up with Wale, Drake, and Lupe for a makeover. He is simultaneously informative and positive, while remaining assertive and ambitious. The ability to express such range of thoughts with his uber-referential style will always develop into widespread appeal. He is the artist to look out for in DC/Maryland/Virginia area.

His grown-up talk, financial aspiration, and thematic changes even in storytelling give a snapshot of a 24 year old rapper who is ready to flex his muscles on the hip-hop game for those who have historically pigeon-holed his style.  The important thing to remember is that 24 is a mixtape. If this is the preview to the movie, my suggestion is to buy your tickets.

For more info on DK aka Wayne Watts: Follow him on Twitter

To Download 24: Click Here

Thanks to my brother from another blogging mother, Ivan, over at Hip-Hop Is Read, I lined up an interview with Minneapolis’ own Brother Ali the day after he, Evidence and Toki Wright, played Canes in San Diego while on the Fresh Air Tour – a show that I’ve got more than enough reasons not to forget. Hit the jump for some Q&A with the Good Brother on playing in San Diego, his touring plans and some music he’s looking forward to hearing.

– The show at Canes was fantastic, all three of you guys absolutely killed your sets. How do you like playing San Diego?

Brother Ali - I’ve performed in San Diego before; probably four or five times. There is always a lot of really good energy there and aside from it being a beautiful place, the people are always really good to us.

– Is there anyone you’ve found or listen to that’s from San Diego?

Brother Ali - Yeah, Kahlee, a San Diego rapper.

– Since US came out what’s been your take on the response your fans and critics have given?

Brother Ali - Great, pretty much everyone seems to like it.

– So the album’s out. What’s next?

Brother Ali – Well, with the album out we start a two year tour through Europe, Canada, Autstralia. Bunch of places.

– How does a tour like that affect your home life?

Brother Ali – It’s really rough; I try to set up times where we [the family] can have some good quality time together but there’s no way around the fact that I’m just gone.

– The show at Canes really showcased the sample-based stuff that you’re using and have used but for fans who have followed your career I’m sure there’s been a transition in sound and content since Rites of Passage in 2000 to US eight years later.

Brother Ali – You just challenge yourself, you know. Just dig deeper to find new things to bring out in the writing, new things about yourself, new things about the world, give your own unique perspective. Musically, we’ve gone from sampling to more and more live musicians.

– How do you and Ant work together when you’re in the studio? What’s that dynamic like?

Brother Ali – Me and Ant are partners, anything we do is collaborative.

– I know you just started touring, and during the show at Canes Evidence was talking about how he was using the time on the road to write some material for his next album. Are you doing the same?

Brother Ali – I’ve got a few ideas for the next album but for me being on the road isn’t the easiest place to work on it.

– How is touring with Toki Wright and Evidence?

Brother Ali – Me and Toki have been touring for a few years now. Evidence is someone that I’ve respected and listened to his music for a long time and now that we’ve been on tour for a month we’re great friends. Our music is a little different, he’s a little more traditional like some boom-bap hip-hop.

– So if Evidence is boom-bap how would you describe your own sound?

Brother Ali – I won’t do that. It’s corny.

– Fair enough. What do you listen to regularly? I know just from listening to you that soul music has got to be on your iPod.

Brother Ali – Soul music is really big, a lot of blues, a lot of older hip-hop. Nina Simone, Donny Hathaway, Public Enemy, Stevie Wonder.

– Whose projects are you looking forward to hearing?

Brother Ali – The new Mos Def album he’s making with The Black Keys and that’s called Black Rock.

A truthful survey of my opinion on the current hip-hop game’s climate around the time that Raekwon’s OB4CL2 came out would have included a treatise on the death of the “gangster lyric” in hip-hop. Make no mistake, it isn’t my belief that those lyrics are gone from the landscape, only that they have lost all of the minimal contact with the reality of the artist’s lives that they may have previously had. For as much as the studied observer of hip-hop music and culture may decry the general apostasy from the image and the styles that they’re used to, is it truly possible to deny the disconnect between lyrics and reality? It is the opinion of the writer that a person who has reached a certain age along with a certain level of success should show an appropriate shift in subject matter reflective of their state of being – then again, if you believe that the biggest drug kingpins in New York are 50 Cent, Cam’ron, and Raekwon this argument will continue to be lost on you. The point being, that no matter what a person used to do, the public expects an artist’s message to mature as time goes on and circumstances change.

To that point, Royce da 5’9 has consistently been a part of the hip-hop movement rooted in violence. Despite his highly developed method of delivery, his content has consistently held him back outside of Detroit (and at least partly) for that reason. However, it’s possible that his recent interactions with more lyrically genuine acts have provided the polish that his presentation needs as well as promoting him in markets and to fans that generally would not give his catalog too much consideration.

Street Hop, Royce’s latest project comes on the heels of the highly critically successful Slaughterhouse album of which he was a part. This album pulls out all of the stops with a mix some of the most popular and most venerated names being associated with production. Additionally, Mr. Montgomery is, lyrically, at the top of his game on this project not only with thought-out lines and verses but also entire songs that would seem to be the product of painstaking craftsmanship. In addition, he appears to have mastered the art of what could be called “the lyrical crossover” in which he leads one direction to get to his point with a mid-range metaphor, then switches back to a much more powerful one. (“I was hot before your first sh*t. Not your album, but before your mama potty trained ya”).

Even with that said, the lyrical high point of the album is the way in which Royce explains his role as a storyteller and does not claim to be the character from the movies that his songs portray. This refreshing bit of candor serves as the biographical apology which explains his role as associate to a street lifestyle which shares a mutual relationship of inspiration with the artist.

Despite its many high points, there are some disappointing aspects to this album as well. Street Hop has a distinctly non-Detroit sound and style (with the glaring exception of “Gangsta” ft. Trick Trick). From the producers that were chosen to the lyrics that he laid down, Royce doesn’t seem to have much of a connection left to his home city. This could have to do with the fact that he has lived on the road for the last year or so and has tasted the fruits of having a national fan base to a greater extent, but he must wonder at what cost these good things come. In terms of cadence, Royce has recently begun to slip into a style that listeners might recognize as distinctly “Joe Budden-esque” to the chagrin of the 5’9 faithful. Additionally, this album features the use of the recently popular Auto-Tune studio effect on “Thing For Your Girlfriend”. Despite being candid about his reasons for falling prey to the sensation, Royce is known as a member of rap’s old guard in many respects and will generally be expected to aim higher in terms of production as a close associate/friend of DJ Premier and as an artist from the city of the late J. Dilla.

Overall, the album will be remembered throughout history as one of the highest points of Royce da 5’9’s career as it garners respect from critics across the country. Additionally, it seems to have all of the necessary ingredients that it takes to be a SoundScan success as long as the promotion program was in place. Royce promised to bring us the “real Street Hop” at the end of The Revival EP and it’s safe to say the wait is over.

The Bottom Line: 8.5 of 10

Raekwon the Chef. The man has been cooking up lyrical flavor for 16 years and with the release of Only Built For Cuban Linx 2 he takes us right back to the kitchen – and it’s stocked. Rae’s original Cuban Linx album, released a whopping 14 years ago and known as his masterpiece, brought the rap audience back to his original Wu-roots as he, yet again, painted pictures of the grimy street-life that New York has to offer.

The album begins with “Return of the North Star” which features Papu Wu. The track serves as an introduction to the album through the taped dialogue that is played talking Raekwon’s reputation. The track’s title is a little less subtle.

The second track, “House of Flying Daggers” is a good old Wu throwback with production done by the late J. Dilla, the eerily vacillating strings and pounding bass pull the melody back and forth while Rae and guests preach on the fact that they’re still street soldiers – filling their resumes with stories filled with drugs and violence in order to do so. One of the concerns I had with this project when I first started listening to it was that the lyrical content was situated around the street-life, which in my mind isn’t congruent with Raekwon’s current place in rap and is fairly annoying considering his perspective from the top, where he actually is, would be a much more engaging one than the one he utilizes.  Regardless of actual content, Rae’s penchant for storytelling is very much still intact as he weaves  stories  together not just giving the listener the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ or ‘where’ but the ‘why’ which adds immeasurable depth to his lyrics.

Tracks like “Black Mozart” and “Catalina” showcase the talent and variety of the production on the project. Black Mozart’s ominous organ line and basic drums makes it the feel like a track out of a Tarentino flick while Catalina’s standalone piano and subtle hand percussion give the feel of a sluggish salsa track flipped for rap use. The album’s varied production, coming from 14 different producers, shows not only that each of the men behind the boards have talent doing what they do but that Raekwon still has an ear for beats and the talent to write to them.

Aside from the static lyrical content, CL2’s above-par beats and Rae’s storytelling makes the release fantastic to listen to and dynamic enough to stay relevant from a musical perspective for much longer than other releases from this year.

For more information on Raekwon or Cuban Linx 2, click HERE.

I got lucky enough to bag Phoenix’s own Random for an electronic sit down to discuss, well, whatever I wanted. Now, it’s been a while since my last interview, and when he challenged me a bit to toss some heavier-than-average questions out I bit at the chance. Firm in his beliefs, articulate and well grounded, the RAHM Nation emcee was a fantastic interview. Now let’s hope our readers hold their ADD in check for long enough to make it to the last question.

– What do you bring to hip-hop’s table? – be it musically, personally, whatever.

Random – I try to bring honesty and purity…I guess those are kinda cliché at this point but I feel like those are my strong points. There’s no character or marketing image I have to uphold; I’m just me. I rap as the guy most rappers are deep down inside but are too insecure to let out.

– Who are your influences?

Random – More than ever these days, it’s not who influences me, but what. I’m inspired by what I see everyday on the news and firsthand. Things are rough out there and even rougher for kids. Musically, I’d say Marvin Gaye, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Journey, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, KRS-ONE, Rakim, Nas, 2Pac, LL Cool J…pretty much anyone who refuses to conform to what the “norm” is. Other non-musical influences include Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Spiderman.

– What are you trying to accomplish as a rap artist?

Random – I just wanna tell my story man. If I set a goal for myself and accomplish that goal I would probably quit or get lazy after that. I have small goals that I pick up along the way; they’re like ‘Achievements’ on Xbox games…they’ve ranged from recording at a major studio (unlocked), putting music in stores (unlocked), being able to fund my music career WITH my music career (unlocked), to getting my music into a video game (unlocked – peep www.casterthegame.com). I just want to be able to speak to people and allow them to relate to where I come from and where I am. I think what I say can help someone, somewhere and I want people to be able to say, “I feel him.” And make a little money on the side, haha.

– How do you define yourself as a rapper and as a person?

Random – I’m a son, and a God-fearing black man. I’m a college graduate, an educator and then I’m a musician. I don’t even like to call myself a rapper due to the negative image this usually conjures. One of the last things you’ll learn about me if you just meet me is that I rap.

– How’d you get into this video game rap genre? What do you call it?

Random – Crazy story…I had just finished up my first release “The Call,” and began thinking about the follow-up. I wanted it to be something totally different; nothing like the last album. So I removed myself completely from tap and started playing videogames constantly. I went back to the classics and it brought out all those old memories of sitting in front of the NES with blistered fingers playing games until the wee hours of the morning. I heard the Mega Man music and instantly went online and downloaded the soundtracks. Myself and the team (DN3, Samik) got to work flipping the tunes, I wrote rhymes from the point of view of the Mega Man character, and put it out. Capcom heard the album, agreed to license it and the rest is history. I don’t call it anything – I’ve been very closely associated with the nerdcore sub-genre, which I have a lot of respect for. But, I didn’t even know that genre had existed before I made the album. Labels are for salad dressing bottles. Call it what you want; I’d rather just let the music speak for itself.

– What kind of audience are you looking to garner?

Random – Anyone with an open mind and ear. The audience that is ready for something new with a dash of something old. Someone who pays respect to the veterans that have helped the game become what it is today and at the same time is optimistic about the future of hip-hop.

– Why should I listen to you?

Random – Because I’m the realest, roughest, toughest and most gangsta…and my chain is the biggest. That’s why. Kidding…because I feel I bring a lot of different perspectives to the table. Musicians today are all trying to recreate what’s been done a million times and give it a new name. I just want to make the crowd move, that’s what hip-hop is all about. I give you real life: laughter, love, passion, desire – it’s like an ABC miniseries.

– What sets you apart from the crowd?

Random – Being a teacher/rapper/producer/nerd requires me to come from a unique angle. I approach everything I do, from my stage show to album construction, from a fan’s perspective. I’m proud to say I’m a hip-hop fan…most of the time. I constantly get people after shows who come up to me and say “I don’t usually like rap, but I love your stuff.” I tell them “I don’t like rap either” and laugh. I think I’m rap for non-rap fans. I should coin that phrase.

– What’s your greatest asset as an artist?

Random – My ability to go into any crowd, any audience, any room or any venue and make people have fun. I’ve played in them all, from opening up for Common to hole in the wall venues (shots to the Rhythm Lounge in San Diego), to sold out, wall-to-wall packed anime and gaming conventions where NO ONE there even remotely likes hip-hop, and I’ve come out of all of those situations with more support and more respect than I had when I stepped in. I can never forget when I perform at the most thugged out venue and had people in the crowd saying “yo, do that Mega Man joint!” I used to be afraid of mixing the Mega Man rhymes with the more “traditional” stuff but I’ve learned that that’s what makes me Random. For at least that 20 minutes on stage, or 60 minutes on a CD, you step into Random’s world.

– What’s your greatest weakness as an artist?

Random – Probably my old school mentality. I was raised in Philly in a time that I believe to be the “golden era” of hip-hop. Because of this, I don’t know if I’m fully appreciative of the potential geniuses we may have amongst us today. Because of downloading and stuff, music is so much more disposable these days, so it’s easy to love one project today and not think about it again after that. Album releases used to be big deals – now the leak date is just as important. As an artist this leads me to waste time and bars on wack rappers, wack promoters and wack record labels. I try not to, but it’s hard to break that habit. When I wrote my first verse in 1993, it was me telling rappers not to step to me…I got that from the Kane’s, EPMD’s and KRS’s of the world. Also, it’s part of the teacher in me considering I spend all day trying to correct kids’ negative behaviors and break old habits.

– What’s the biggest uphill battle you face as a rapper?

Random – It’s being taken seriously by the non-rap community. Hip hop is so huge but yet it’s so centralized. Only the hip hop nation respects hip hops elite.

– Rap currently sits as the most socially powerful genre in today’s musical landscape, much like rock was in the 1970s; how does this affect the roles that rappers embody?

Random – Unfortunately, it gives a lot of power and responsibility to a lot of people who really don’t know what to do with it. I love the fact that something that started by young brothers in the park in the Bronx has now traveled around the world, breaking down barriers along the way, making a lot of people wealthy and serving as a voice for a voiceless generation. I hate to say that we’re role models but we are. So it’s our responsibility to give them a fighting chance. We can be rappers and be successful at it, but they need to know that it’s okay to be a doctor. Perfect example of how powerful rap is – I teach 7th graders and I did a rap for the class using our vocabulary words, last week. I read a kid’s journal entry for that day and he said, “I used to want to be a cop when I got older, but now I want to be rapper.”

– If you had to choose one – what would you rather be: lyrics or a beat – and why?

Random – Wow…great question. A hot beat is only hot for so long so I’d rather be the lyrics because great lyrics are always overlooked at first, but get appreciated later and that’s how I’d like to be. Some of the most powerful songs ever written have the perfect combination of words and music, but it’s the words that can inspire and move people. I don’t need earthly rewards or accolades, though they’d be nice, the simple tweet or email I get once in a while that says “thank you,” or “you inspired me” makes it all worthwhile.

Random Stats:

Last full length album: Mega Ran 9

Last mixtape:  TeacherRapperHero Mixtape

Forum: randomhiphop.proboards.com

Future work: Random’s next album will be a combination LP/comic book with First Storm Manga called Language Arts that’ll drop in summer 2010.

Podcast: http://rahmradio.mypodcast.com

Video(s): Peep his video for “Worst I Ever Heard,” which isn’t a shot at Drake, necessarily. Also, check “Push.”

For more information on Random, visit his site HERE or follow him on Twitter.

There’s nothing that the public adores more than a wedding, especially when it comes to celebrities. Because after the orchids, lace, Bentleys, paparazzi and champagne are gone the bushwhacked reality of celebrity is always spawned out of recently wedded bliss. Divorce, custody battles, cheating, strippers, spending sprees, bankruptcy, Celebrity Rehab, babies and more were born and bred out of the (mostly) half-thought machinations of the celebrity mind for the general public’s delight and total consumption.

All that being said, what if for one night only in a perfect universe, we could play cupid to our favorite rap and R&B artists? They’d be the Pinocchio to our Geppetto, minus the growing nose and Jonahesque adventures in the gastrointestinal workings of a whale. We’d get to play matchmaker – and the result? Some of the coolest fictional babies ever thunk up. Pop the lid to witness the diaper changing, baby food feeding, breast pumping madness that we call Hip-Hop Babies.

Click Here to Continue Reading Hip-Hop Babies

I got some phone time with Houston’s own Chamillionaire and asked about his final installment of the Mixtape Messiah series – MM7, what happened to Venom, got his take on his own image in rap and how he sees the media portraying hip-hop. Second half of the interview and review after the jump.

- Why stop at Mixtape Messiah 7? Going with the Biblical theme and stopping at seven or was it just time to focus on other things?

Chamillionaire - It’s just time; I’m a forward thinking person and want go out on a good note, you know? I need to focus on what’s important, which is getting the people the music, so I’m only going to make music that I can do stuff with. I’ve done so many mixtapes, it’s time to get in the studio and think about the albums at this point and focus on the issues I want to tackle through those.

– I’m sure you had goals and ideas in mind when you began the Mixtape Messiah series back in 2004, looking back on it now, how do you see the project and how has it grown?

Chamillionaire - Hype-wise, I think I’ve done all that I can do with the mixtapes. I can’t think of anyone in mixtapes, other than 50 Cent, that’s hustled these tapes as well as me. I don’t think anyone in the world of mixtapes had done it bigger than me.  It’s time to move it out from the underground.

– What other projects are you working on? What happened to Venom?

Chamillionaire - Venom? I scratched it. Everyone thought it was a label move but it wasn’t. The concept had changed from what I wanted to do, and I knew how I wanted it to sound, and it wasn’t exactly that. I wanted to reinvent that dark rebelliousness, that anger so it wasn’t Venom anymore. The new project, it’s just a different kind of dope.

– You’ve always been an openly conscientious artist whose shown that commitment through your music. Where do you see yourself in hip-hop? What role do you think you take and what role do you, ideally, want to take?

Chamillionaire - I see myself as a leader, not a follower. A lot of times leaders do things that go against the grain. Those are the things that people remember, to me that type of stuff matters. I could sit here with no conscience and not care, but I’m not trying to be that person. That’s just how I am. I would be lying by saying that wasn’t me.

– What place does the South have in hip-hop, currently. Do you agree with the direction it’s taken?

Chamillionaire - Hip-hop has just changed. It looks differently and women control of a lot of it. The audience is changing. The same people who listened to Slick Rick back in the day – do you think those are the same people that are listening to the music today? And the South’s been here for a minute man. The songs that make people dance in the club, a lot of those are some Southern tracks – they aren’t trying to do brain surgery, they’re just making people move. We’re getting a bit of recognition.

– What’s your take on the mainstream media’s portrayal of hip-hop?

Chamillionaire - Half of it is right and half of it is not. You know, how many people are really, really mad about Jay-Z calling the death of autotune? The media would make it seem like everyone was really serious about that. So issues get taken and half messed with – it’s a half-right illusion. All I know, man, is it aint’ about music anymore.