AS I SEE IT VOL.1
If you hadn’t noticed I like to give my opinions on this blog. Mainly about things I know about, such as music, comedy and wanking. So I had a thought, why not start a little feature, where every couple of weeks I will divulge my thoughts about the music game, as I see it. Most people won’t read it, but at least one or two of you might find it mildly interesting.
I should really start off this feature with a nice look back at 2008, note down all the big moments, give a pat on the back to the years big hitters, stand-up Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Jay-Z, T.I and Nas. It was too be expected right? 2008 was a good year for music, and a very good year for Hip-Hop, sure Lil’ Wayne was the only one hitting Coldplay figures, but good music was made and it set up for in my opinion, 2009 being an amazing year for Hip-Hop.
So the talk is now over, 2009 is here, people have been debating and still are about who will own 2009. Will it be one of the Freshmen? Stand-up Kid Cudi, Asher Roth, Charles Hamilton and Ron Brownz. Or will it be one of Hip-Hop’s stalwarts who are dropping albums this year? Stand-up Jay-Z, Dr.Dre, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Kanye West and Nas. The truth is I don’t have the answer. But what I can give you is my opinion, which has a low success rate of becoming an actuality, but I say it with a smile on my face and the merit is fully present. Jay-Z drops ‘The Blueprint 3′, Jigga’s pop star status has risen dramatically in the UK and Europe following Glastonbury, and this will help his sales over here. He might even sell like a white rapper! Kanye West claims to have given all of his best beats to Jay-Z for the ‘The Blueprint 3′, I don’t believe that one bit, we all know ”He saves all the best beats for himself, Rocafellas only n***ers that help”. But if the first few leaks are anything to go by, well, Jay-Z is going hard on this record, and it doesn’t seem to be a rushed job like the last two efforts. Sorry, ’American Gangster’ was a good album, but ‘Kingdom Come’ was terrible… awful. It was made worse by the fact the NME gave it 9/10. Dickheads who know nothing about Hip-Hop.
Dr. Dre is set to release the eagerly awaited ‘Detox’ in 2009, but then again, he has been meant to release it for the past 8 years. But it’s pretty certain this is going to be the year ‘Detox’ comes to coalesce. Only if he can stop flogging his shitty headphones. I jest, I hear they are very good, but are nuff’ expensive. So Dre, make music fool, not headphones. You don’t have anything too listen to through the headphones if you don’t make music. So get Jay and Eminem to write you some bars, and get yourself into the studio. (takes deep breath) Yeah so, if Dre wants 2009 to be his year, he can have it, he just has to want it badly enough, it is his year for the taking. But the feeling is there deep inside of me that ‘Detox’ will be a lack-lustre effort, from an artist that is well beyond his sell by date. But as we all know, time rules over all, and we shall see.
Kanye West has promised a 2009 release, this is one man that really wants it, at the moment he is making out that he doesn’t care about awards, sales and all round love from the men upstairs. I predict he will drop ‘Good Ass Job’ as planned, obviously one album later than intended. My soul is telling me he will go back to rapping, not totally abandoning singing and auto-tune, but we will see more of the old Kanye, with a hint of the Raf Simons interning, fiance’ free, bitter and angry Kanye. I can’t wait.
Now to the freshmen from across the pond, all of whom want to make a big splash and upset the old men hogging the much sort after money, respect, hate and sales. Kid Cudi will be the years biggest cross-over star. It is a shame it took the Crookers remix to bring him to the masses conciousness in Europe, but whatever it takes, right? It is an amazing club track. I think his album will be amazing, and like nothing else we would have heard before, think Hip-Hop, Soul and Electro, mixed with fairy dust on Mars. Did I go too far? Who knows? Also as Biz wrote earlier, he is diving into the film industry, before even dipping his feet properly in musical waters, let’s hope it doesn’t distract him and only inspires him to become bigger and better. He really does freestyle hooks and choruses that most musicians couldn’t write in a life time. That’s where the talent is, incase you are wondering, he really is worth all the hype. Philli’s Asher Roth is going to set Hip-Hop alight this year, still hasn’t released an official single, only has one video, which is a spoof of ’Roc Boys’ and he is still tipped to take over Hip-Hop. So selling records and becoming loved by Hip-Hop heads, indie kids, Mums and stoners alike shouldn’t be his challenge, it will be dealing with the Eminem comparisons. You can’t deny his talent, compare him to his white counterparts all you like, but he will hold his own against almost every MC going. So forget Charles Hamilton, Ron Brownz, Curren$y, Ace Hood and Big Sean, all very talented, but they won’t doing anything too special this year. Especially Charles Hamilton, he is too busy playing kiss chase with Soulja Boy.
The UK scene has more of a chance then ever to break through to the mainstream in 2009. The bar has been raised in the last couple of years, no longer can you get away with a making a mixtape/ep/lp sort of thing and label it an album, and no longer can you get away with making 8 mixtapes and no albums. We have genuine talent that are as good as the talent in the US. Actually we have always had that talent, we just wasn’t as savvy. We have the internet and labels are sniffing around, it is a major corner we are turning in the Grime scene, will it spin off course and crash, or can it turn the corner without damaging all that is good about our scene? Something to think about…So now to my tips, Wretch 32 has every man and his dog biting his flow and copying his rhyming patterns, he should drop some more singles from his brilliant debut album ‘Wretchrospective’ this year. Bashy has it all in place, didn’t like his last mixtape as much as ‘The Chuppa Chups Mixtape’ but he has had a very good year, ‘Black Boys’ and ‘Kidulthood to Adulthood’, you can’t deny that. If he can go bigger and better this year he will be hitting the Top 40 and shifting albums. Gettz formerly known as Ghetto is one of the meanest MC’s around, but you don’t need me to tell you that, he goes so hard you think he might eat the mic up when he spits a 32. I stated to my friend yesterday that he will have a bigger year than Kano in 2009. He didn’t agree.
Whatever happens, it doesn’t matter, as long as Lil’ Wayne doesn’t die from the Sizzurp, Lupe doesn’t actually retire, Ironik unfortunately gets his tongue ripped out and can’t try to rap with his terrible lyrics and sickly production, also let’s hope Vis stops making appearances on Wretch 32’s tracks, he nearly ruined it for me. Only joking. Thats one of my favourite on the album. Promise. So as long as all that goes to plan, we should have a great year of Hip-Hop.
bafic
January 5, 2009 at 10:13 pm
big post GK! you didnt say nothing about the “king of the web” Soulja Boy he got robbed and they put guns to his head! it was on his twitter “souljaboytellem”
when you gonna drop “go hard” tropical tv the still look dope!
gingerkid
January 5, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Haha cheers bro! TropicalTV wil be live and by the end of next week.
And I hadn’t heard about Soulja Boy! HAHAA! Glad he got robbed, I would happily place myself at the scene and take the rap for that. It’s worth the time in Jail.
anon
January 5, 2009 at 10:51 pm
who gives a shit.
gaza is burning down and nobody seems to care.
hiphop aint gonna solve that problem.
what is hiphop these days anyway?
it means nothing to me anymore. its soulless.
gingerkid
January 5, 2009 at 10:55 pm
HAHAAAA…BRAPPP! I agree with all that u said.
Except for it’s soulless…
Buy – Kane and Q-Tips new albums. Full of food for the soul.
gingerkid
January 5, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Oh and think of this post as a break from thinking about the war in Iraq, economy troubles, personal troubles. You come to this blog to enter a new world, not worry about how much money is in ure bank account or who is bombing each other in the middle east or what 14 year old kid has been stabbed on your doorstep.
But we can do all that chat aswell.
Just had to let that out.
Cheers.
DJ B
January 5, 2009 at 12:01 am
Big post….Don’t really disagree on any of it either. I think Lupe is gonna surprise people this year and hopefully make his best album yet (as far as I’m aware his new album is dropping in 09??!), plus Coolio is going to make a comeback and revisit gansta’s paradisereplacing LV with Ben from A1….it could happen
No-Bizzi
January 5, 2009 at 12:54 am
^^^^^
That would make my year
Clav
January 5, 2009 at 1:10 am
I’ve heard 2 cuts from what are supposed to be joints for “Detox”, one by the good Dr. himself with the usual suspects (Mike Elizondo, Tommy Coster, Marsha Ambrosius etc) and the other by a producer in the Aftermath camp called Focus – don’t get it twisted, that dude’s beats are FIRE (and they should be – he’s the son of Chic bass legend Bernard Edwards)!!!
But, as always is the case, no-one knows if these joints will make the final cut – Dre is a notorious perfectionist and I KNOW he’s feeling the pressure; let’s face it, he’s arguably produced some of THE greatest hiphop albums of all time and if indeed this his last appearance as an artist he’ll take as long as he wants to get it right… (Incidentally did you know he was producing a solo album for Bono!!?? Strange but true!)
As far as I’m concerned the UK grime scene if it isn’t careful will die a death, not because of any lack of talent or savvy on the part of the artists but because fundamentally the UK majors have NO clue when it comes to handling black music and this is the sole reason the US will always win; it’s not a 9 to 5 for them, it’s a way of life and when you have a team that on EVERY LEVEL understands, supports and works all out to achieve only then do you have the opportunity for Li’l Wayne type success.
GK, you DO realise that Weezy sold a LOT more than Coldplay right!? Their albums have been out around 30 weeks each, as of a month ago Viva La Vida’s 1.9m is battered by The Carter III’s 2.75m (and that’s just the US alone), hell even T.I. did 1.3m and he was only out for half the time!
Finally, as much as I didn’t really like the Ironik album I WAS rather impressed by that “Broken” track (featuring Digga?) and the Prince cover (Sometimes It Snows In April) was pretty cool too. Then again, maybe that was because he wasn’t actually rapping on those two records!
Jigga
January 5, 2009 at 1:15 am
Heavy post.
Ain’t too fussed about Dre’s album cos dude been pushing that back like my Grandaddy’s hairline. And when Eminem drops, damn that’s going to be like the return of Jesus whether the album is hot or not.
But for me, 2009 is all about those who lit up 2008 like Lil’ Wayne, the Freshmen like Kid Cudi and looking forward to the UK artists dropping more fiya this year and would agree Ghettz is gonna have a better year than Kano. SWITCH!!!
kie
January 5, 2009 at 9:35 am
alright post…but is it just me….i think lil wayne had a shit year…nothing like 07…every move he made was too easy!
lupe is gonna smash it in 09
new albums i cant wait to hear:
de la soul
Chip tha Rip
Erykah badu (part 2)
outkast (and the solo albums)
LA and Mr Music
ATCM
January 5, 2009 at 9:40 am
Big post GK. I agree with CLAV bout the UK majors killing Uk grime scene.
MistaJam
January 5, 2009 at 10:23 am
@KIE – what are you on? If the moves Weezy made in 08 were easy, you do em then
gingerkid
January 5, 2009 at 11:09 am
Clav you DO realise Lil Wayne sold just over 250,000 thousand records in Europe, when Coldplay sold over 2,000,000! Not to mention Coldplay sold more than double what Wayne sold in Australia, Japan and Canada. But yes he did outsell Coldplay in the US. Just not anywhere else. And don’t get me started on the figures for X&Y, Wayne probably will ever see numbers like that.
The point on the grime scene is totally correct, it’s fun watching what Universal are doing with Tinchy. And Universal are pretty decent compared to the rest.
Clav
January 5, 2009 at 12:47 pm
GK, my bad, reading back on my post I realise tiredness meant I left out that my figures only represent Soundscan sales in the US. The X&Y album means nothing to me in this argument because it came out in ‘05 and I thought we were talking about the last 12 months only!
Tinchy’s on Universal you say? Heaven help him! And don’t be fooled, Universal aren’t pretty decent compared to everyone else, they’re just bigger and so have more money than everybody else that’s all.
Clav
January 5, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Oh, and while it’s true Coldplay sold more albums wordwide, Weezy quite possibly made more money for Universal then Coldplay did for EMI (perversely); if you factor in the actual spend on advertising and promotion as well as recording/production costs it’s painfully apparent EMI effectively bet the entire company on their success (as explained to me by a senior EMI Publishing VP) but even with sales figures like that they may still end up being bought out/absorbed by Universal…
You know your company is in trouble when a dude like Clive Calder snubs your sale offer.
Mr.Londoner
January 5, 2009 at 1:05 pm
‘09 = The year good music prevails..
All we need is that Outkast album, Lupe to drop anything, and that B.P3
Martorialist
January 5, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Nas ran out of ideas about 4 years and, incredibly, his ear for beats just gets worse and worse.
Wayne and KanYe were both lazy as fuck and both drooped duds with barely a handful of good tunes apiece.
T.I continued his tradition of dropping 1 crap album/1 good one with his best shit since King.
2008 was all about ABN/Z-Ro, Big Boi, Mickey Factz, Young Jeezy, Prodigy, Wale, State Property/Peedi Crakk, Killer Mike, P. Brothers, Sick Wid It Umbrella/E40 and B.O.B.
curly haired assassin
January 5, 2009 at 1:50 pm
who the fuck is Lupe?
ww.MySpace.com/Japanesecartoon.
he’s changed.
lil naked boi
January 5, 2009 at 3:44 pm
it’s been a good year for lil naked boi. i dropped my mixtape…i mean trousers.
Mister Pane
January 5, 2009 at 9:59 am
Martorialist: yeah mate – absolutely phenomenal year for all those artists that you just mentioned. Did they all just have kids or something?
Martorialist
January 5, 2009 at 10:23 am
No, but they all actually put out rap that’s actually good. Maybe you should dig a litle deeper than washed up/lazy rappers like Jay, Nas and Wayne.
Anonymous
January 5, 2009 at 10:42 am
^^ did Big Boi actually have a good year? An album that got pushed back and backa nd three songs in a year and one of them he got his ass handed to him by Raekwon and Andre…
Kaptin
January 5, 2009 at 10:53 am
I’m feeling the all the Grime artists you mentioned except maybe Bashy but they all need to step their game up 200% to really make it big. Keep all the half good and no good stuff in the studio and concentrate on what kills it. Although i can’t get excited about any of the American artists mentioned i do think they will all drop dope albums so we can but wait and see. From what I’ve heard of releases for next year so far I’m feeling Dr Who Dat’s new album, Shystie, The Binary Kids, Willo Wispa, Robot Koch and Lowkey. Not sure if they’ll make it to albums but remix / production wise Raffertie and Mumdance are exciting.
Martorialist
January 5, 2009 at 11:07 am
Big Boi’s verse was better than Raekwon’s, there was no shame in him getting outspit by Andre since Andre’s verse was probably the best verse of the year and the 3 songs he did put out were amazing.
Maybe i’m being old fashioned but i judge rappers on the quality of the shit they put out not whether they outsell faggots like Coldplay.
Yemi
January 5, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Ok folks – stop the press!
How can we talk about new and exciting music for 09′ and not mention Jay Electronica??? Erykah’s new squeeze (you know how she’s into the crazy abstract creative dudes – Andre 3K, Commom (and Electric Circus…)
This guy is the future. Incrdible aritist – from lyricism to beat selection – alot of people are gonna be talking about him this year.
When was the last time you heard a rapper spit fire over film soundtracks – yeah he did it – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Goonies!
Im getting a bit over excited here – but point is Jay Electronica should be on your rader for 09′
Ps – he didn’t pay me to write this! Lol!
Pps – Check out the mixtape ‘What the F*** Is A Jay Electronica’