When A Tribe Called Quest broke up people thought it was all over for Q-Tip and the crew but little did people know when Q-Tip dropped 1999’s “Amplified” that something special was going to happen. But over the course of the new millennium The Abstract has suffer allot of label set backs with his sophomore album “Kammal The Abstract” not seeing the light of day except with an ultra rare full length promo that has circulated the internet for years. And with the announcement of “The Renaissance” allot of fans of A Tribe Called Quest rejoiced and couldn’t wait.

From the jump Q-Tip flips the light bulb on wit “Johnny is Dead”, “Won’t Trade” and “Getting’ Up” all set the vibe of the album up wit strong dope rhythms, beats and rhymes. For the most part I think Q-Tip flow is similar to Rakim “Ageless” and is proving time and time again that no matter what you’ve done in the past you can keep it moving “1nce Again” (similar to what A Tribe Called Quest did on Beats, Rhymes and Life album). I think Q-Tip found his niche and rolls through with it. Allot of the production tends to feel and come off very clean and well edited which Q-Tip doesn’t really deviate from that course. For the most part the whole album is done by Q-Tip and here’s where it’s interesting the lone other produced track is J. Dilla joint “Move” which uses The Jackson 5 “Dancing Machine” sample to the tee. The track is prolly the highlight of the album because it has such a tight loop and very hard but light enough drums to give the song a strong danceable kick that the clubs would love. And Q-Tip comes so flawless over a Jay Dee beat.

One of the more beautiful things is Q-Tip could have came off as a disgruntled emcee and say all the negative things about the current state of hip hop but he didn’t and I applaud him for that. Instead he gave praise on one of the smoothest tracks I’ve heard some spit over in a while on “Life is Better”. Thus this track gave love to cats like Ludacris and Nas but also gave love back to forgotten pioneers such as Schoolly D and Dana Dane.

Overall Q-Tip goes in hard giving the album strong styling that few cats in the game can match better than he. I feel like this album brings him back to the light where giving him a rebirth. Regardless of how allot of people feel I think Q-Tip on the board does allot of what allot of older rap heads couldn’t dream of is instead of recreating his sound Q-Tip simple answer was updating it without any compromise. For most the album there isn’t a forgiving misstep to behold until maybe “Manwomenboogie” but other than that it’s so soulful, jazzy, electronic, hard, boom bap every hip hop adjective one could muster is what this album is sonically. I feel in some regards this album is more of a cross between “The Love Movement” rather than “The Low Dow Theory” but has the feel of Tribe’s debut album. I’m giving this album a 4.5 stars out of 5 because what Q-Tip does is such a strong effort that it’s amazing while most albums are so over saturated with guests and multiple producers theirs no cohesion what so ever and with slim amount of guests mostly all singers it’s dope to see someone think out side the box wit some dope messages rather than be just another cat trying to keep up wit the jones.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Ben Berrios

Check out: http://www.myspace.com/qtip

You know when it comes to various producers that are also rappers some names come to mind Jay Dee, Kanye West, Dr. Dre, RZA and Black Milk. Now out of all the names I mentioned it’s not hard to say after his last album “Popular Demand” garnered him status he’s continued to blaze a trail for Detroit and the rest of the independent artists out there. With “Tronic” Black Milk expanded his sound to where it isn’t sample heavy and moved toward more instrumentation. And with songs like “Give the Drummer Sum” you see Black Milk’s progress as a producer and say wow. But what is a huge difference between “Popular Demand” is the fact that Black Milk’s rapping and the minimized features are something of rarity in this day and age of consistent collaborations among artists.

Most of the album Black Milk carries it by himself wit sparces of collaborations such as Dwele on “Long Short Story” which is the opening of the album then to most likely the ill collaboration this year. Which happens to be “The Matrix” featuring DJ Premier, Pharoahe Monch, & Sean Price in which all the guest flips their rhymes so well over a beat that kills wit such a strong drum programming and Premo’s scratching just makes this “song of the year” to me. Other songs that have the strength and fully shows Black Milk’s progression as a producer and as a rapper is “Bounce”, “Losing Out” featuring Royce Da 5’9” and “Try”. These particular songs I think make that statement that independent artist’s can do it too without a million dollar recording budget.

Now for allot of rappers/producers sometimes their albums come off brilliant with some replay value and others it’s too progressive and turns allot of fans off. But with Black Milk falls more in the middle of both because he’s shown and displayed he’s lyrically capable to spit on his own without any help at the same time his beats carry this album equally. And for all that measure I’ll say that overall this album isn’t a classic but it’s has album of the year written all over it. This album deserves a 4 out of 5 stars I think in 10 plus years this maybe be looked at as a classic until then enjoy this album.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Ben Berrios

Check out: http://www.myspace.com/blackmk

Not since Dangermouse toyed around and created the best mash up mix tape up until now with the “The Grey Album” which was an interesting collaboration or mash up between The Beatles and Jay-Z (via his Black Album). And now Mick Boogie & Terry Urban dare to do the same with “Viva La Hova” and some of hip hop’s elite underground producers from 9th Wonder to Cookin’ Soul.

Most mash up albums, mix tapes and collaborations featuring various artists such as Run DMC, Aerosmith, Jay-Z, Linkin Park, Method Man, Redman, and now Coldplay. Now thus collaborations have always been met with mixed reviews. And thus when the idea of creating this mix tape based on a simple question: what if Jay-z & Coldplay collaborated on an album what would it sound like? Now that was posed to marid of listeners Mick Boogie and Terry Urban dropped what they feel would be something memorable in the form of “Viva La Hova” (a play on words on Coldplay’s last album “Viva La Vida”).

So if you take the varied verses from Jay-Z (via Blueprint, Black Album, Kingdome Come & American Gangster era) mixed with the rhythms, samples and hooks from Coldplay’s last album and you get something very original.

From the actual collaborations between Jay-Z & Coldplay “Lost” (Pt.1 Remix) & “Beach Chair” to all the mash ups from “Hola Blanco” to “A Spy’s Prayer” to “Take The Hill”. Now on this note I’m not going to give away any details on what verses are what most of them are blatant obvious to most listeners and I think this mash up was more about the question the two dj’s Mick Boogie and Terry Urban ultimately asked and I think for the most part this turned out to be more anticipated and also come across as the proverbial “Classic” that’s tossed around so much. Regardless of this reviewers bias towards the mix tape I think songs like “No Love Coming Home” is the triumphant example of how dope a remix, mash up and possible collaboration could turn out with the grit of Jay’s lyrics and soulfulness and the strong rhythms from Coldplay make this type of collabortation better than Jay’s previous duet with Linkin Park because I think they match grit with a soul that exudes something special that has catapaulted Jay-Z to the spot light which is his endearing honesty such as “Lost” (Part 2 Remix).

Overall this is most likely the hardest look at a mixtape I’ve listened too since “The Gray Album” because it’s just that damn good that makes it hard to nit pick. What I do like is after this release both camps of both artist loved it and who know this could plant the seeds for a collabo but who knows. Well most of all the dopest stand out is “Cold Success” featuring both Nas & Jay who both kill amazingly to Coldplay’s synth guitar style back drop on this track. I’m going to give this a 5 out of 5 because it doesn’t have any short comings or hangs ups.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Ben Berrios

Check out: http://www.myspace.com/mickboogie

Quarantine

Directed by John Erick Dowdle

You have to love a good horror. Quarantine is just that. It’s very simple and very nasty. The story is about a news reporter (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman (Steve Harris) who after a day of hanging out with a fire department waiting for something to happen, get their wish. The group gets a 911 call to a building where screams have been reported. While inside, the crew discovers that one of the tenants has been infected by an unknown virus and it has turned her into some type of psychotic, animalistic human. One thing leads to another and soon, everyone is running for their lives from those infected.

What makes this movie so fun to watch is that they literally have nowhere to go but that building and as much as the un-infected people scream for help, the police on the outside just stare at them thru the window knowing they must remain in quarantine and die. There are lots of jump out of your seats moments. Although there are no big star names in this film, there are quite a few recognizable and likable faces that round out the great cast including Columbus Short (“This Christmas,” “Stomp the Yard”) and Jay Hernandez (“Lakeview Terrace,” “World Trade Center”).

The directing is great. It’s almost shot documentary style, which makes it that much spookier. And the script was simple, clean and interesting. The time goes by quickly and at no time are you looking at your watch. I didn’t really like how the film was wrapped up in the end but all in all…good flick.

Rating: 3 out of 5



Reviewed by, Jessie

When it comes to mix tapes and new rappers they go hand in hand by being either making an impact or being very dismissive but Charles Hamilton may not have that overly lyrical style but his concepts are entertaining and also he’s very vividly. As for his latest mix tape about the 5th one in the last two months by making them for various blogs and this latest one is titled “It’s Charles Hamilton” is something cool and very innovative.

I think the fun this young cat brings to game is exuberating because he’s not so much lyrical but rather introspective and very conscious about the spirit of hip hop.

With the opening of the mix tape “It’s” opens with a very strong introspective thought of just being himself yeah he can be cocky, funny and little more cocky but it’s because he’s having fun with his music unlike allot of people that talk about drugs, guns, girls and money. Yeah Charles Hamilton may talk about girls but it’s the prospective relationships and how the dynamics of those shaped young Charles. And allot of these songs come to fruition in the form of “Mr. Perfect” and even more introspective songs such as “Conversations with God” expresses his feeling that “god is female”. One of the more funny hilarious and overly humorous songs is “Lacey Duvalle” (which is dedicated to adult film star of the same name) and I got to admit it’s quite buzz-worthy because of the songs content and nature and allot people would either like it or find it offensive I find it neither but I do enjoy the humor it conveys.

One of ill parts of Charles Hamilton’s rap style is that it’s smooth yet still conversational as he stays on beat and it feels more like he’s talking to the listener about himself rather than selling a fake nonchalant product that artist is endorsing. I think Charles also has a lot of energy, flow and originality he brings to the game. Overall with stand out tracks such as “Wrong side of the Bed”, “Negative Zero” and “The Honeymoon is Over”. I’m going to give this album 3 out of 5 and the only reason why I say that is allot of the skits in between the songs take away from the content of the mix tape it self. But on the contrary the mix tape comes more off like an album with all of its original production.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Ben Berrios

Check out: http://www.myspace.com/charleshamilton

When it comes to production and diversity of the varied artist producers tend to work with Madlib is most likely the most diverse producer I’ve heard in years. A producer with such alias coupled with musical styles such as Yesterdays New Quintet, The Beat Konducta and Quasimoto comes the next entry in BBE’s Beat Generation series. A man that can go from jazz to hip hop to blues and then marry all three genres without such synchronization is amazing and very inspirational. From classic albums with the likes of MF Doom, Talib Kweli and fellow beat-smith and luminary Jay Dee (aka J Dilla RIP) madlib is the go to guy for the best music not just for hits and great songs but if you want the best to brought he’s the producer I think allot hip hop fans want to be.

This album is by Madlib incorporates allot of his styles from his jazzy production on tracks like “Heat”, “Park light” (which is very dope and psychedelic) and allot of others that show Madlib spitting without his “Quasimoto” alias and attributed voice pitch. I think one thing that strikes me with this album is that Madlib packs more confidence than ever in his rapping ability as well as a dope strong production that blows allot the prototypical producers away that similarly rely on gimmicks, etc. but still Madlib shows his diversity off more than ever. As far as the guest artists such as Guilty Simpson, Defari, Oh No, Prince Po, Roc C and Frank-N-Dank among others all give allot of illness and versatility that matches Madlib’s production beautifully. For example Prince Po’s flow on “The Thang-Thang” matches in sync with the ill drums jazzy synth coupled with some tambourines timed so perfectly along with the track sounding so upbeat. And to the album most lyrical track comes in the form of “I Want It Back” (featuring The Professionals) with its dope truncated hi hats with strong boom bap drums that thump hard. But the lyrics by The Professionals shine so brightly that it’s as if they crafted the lyrics to match the beat because they flow fluidly and ride the beat similar to a surfer riding a wave.

In the end this album is very brilliant but the similarly down side to allot compilations is that they tend to be over drawn with guests that don’t match tone or content of the album. But in the case of Madlib’s ‘WLIB AM The King of the Wigflip’ LP is that he truly flipped samples and all the instrumentation so well that it doesn’t give a sign of boredom or labors of trying to hard sort of speak. And that’s what’s so special about this album and that is why I’m going to give this album a solid 4 out of 5 stars this album is about so much being catchy and commercially great but rather is good music especially for hip hop, 2008 is the year underground rule supremely.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Ben Berrios

Check out: http://www.myspace.com/madlib

You know when I first heard of Foreign Exchange it was though one of my good friends at college that put me onto them and little brother. And the amazing story behind Nicolay and Phonte uniting and how they came about with their previous effort “Connected”. And I think for their newest effort entitled “Leave It All Behind” from 1st thought would be the same candor and ill production mixed with though provoking lyrics. Well half of it is true but the lyrics are now sung songs by Phonte who knew he could hold a tune, and he’s seriously dope and refreshing to see something different. The album “Leave It All Behind” is serious the most un sounding R&B album I’ve heard it’s on the level of both John Legends albums that sound more or less like Gospel records than traditional R&B.

But for the album it self it so smooth, unhinging and yet unrestrained album of the pressure of a single and trying to chart which in this day and age is a change. “Leave It All Behind” has allot of depth and introspectiveness in an album with such cuts like “Day keeper”, “House of Cards” and “Take off the Blues” and what is remarkable about the choice of singing verses rapping to me and in my eyes as a listener is that you see Phonte’s raw emotion in his vocal tone. And I think that Phonte sounds amazing and it’s still slightly weird if he’s gonna stay with this the way it’s done with Cee-Lo (from Goodie Mob) none the less I still feel that Phonte kills it on tracks like “Sweeter Than You” and “Valedictation” . Let’s not leave Nicolay out of the equation in which is amazing back drops and choices for beats and ear for dope string arrangements make this album sound strong and is a throw back to old school R&B mixed with Hip Hop by just updating the drums.

I think the sexy smooth soulful nature of this album is the beauty off it. But the possible one turn off is the fact it blends too well together and is sometimes a slight snoozer due to it’s too consistent. Which I think it isn’t all bad and I think too allot of the guest singers such as Darien Brockington, Yahzarah and Musinah pick up allot of the slack that Phonte may leave because he’s no rapping but yet the album is such a dynamic pick up that it’s hard to ignore. Overall I’m giving this album 4 of of 5 stars. This is something that the ladies will appreciate as well as the guys cop this and go make some babies.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Ben Berrios

Check out: http://www.myspace.com/theforeignexchange

You know when I heard about two years ago when Murs got the call up to the mainstream arena of hip hop music via Warner Brothers label I was slightly indifferent and didn’t know how to respond to same cat who made “End of The Beginning”. And I couldn’t believe it when I finally heard the album “Murs for President” in full length and this album comes in with a bang.

From the intro of Murs parading into a LA community to the banger that precedes it in the form of “I’m Innocent” and the ill attempt not lame but a very ill dope sounding attempt at crossing over without sound forced in “Looking Fly” while still keeping it very Murs wit his own type of swag without sound like he’s trying to be accepted by the masses. Allot fans just like me, myself and I feel Murs is at his best when he’s just doing him. And this doesn’t come across any better than “The Science” & “Me and this Jawn”. Now for the most part this album has most like the most diverse and (the way I feel) his most consistent production to date. Not this isn’t taking anything from his stuff he’s done wit 9th Wonder but this album has that glue stuck between the puzzle type of joints such as “Road is My Religion” which to me is like a day in the life song that delves into his life on the road and still expressing raw emotion on how it makes him feel and I think it’s so relatable to allot of people who have to go from town to town for a job.

What makes this album dope as Murs previous efforts such as “End of the Beginning” is because Murs has learned how to come fresh every time wit every album he’s done and not sound he’s forcing it. He’s everyman’s rapper with cuts like “Can It Be”, “Think You Know Me” and “Everything” because he’s raps not about just being from the ghetto but about dealing wit the monotonous crap you deal wit everyday from getting a job to dealing with some chick you barely know. I love Murs for that and he knows how to pay respect to his rap elders whether it’s wit his “Paid Dues” festival and tour or his joint “The Science”. Overall this album is a vote for hip hop smartness not hip hop pimping via the corperation. I’m glad The WB took a chance with Murs because they scored a home run instead of the grand slam Murs got with 3:16 The 9th Edition. This album get’s a 4 out of 5 because his topics and diverseness that he presents. Just don’t know if it has the effort to cross over and be that billboard top 200 though oh well Murs does Murs and that’s why he’s should be out hip hop representive.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Ben Berrios

Check out: http://www.myspace.com/murs

You know ever since Run DMC did a duet or a collaborator or whatever you want to call it Aerosmith it has spawn a plethora of rap-rock hybrid acts such as Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Linkin Park and the latest into the genre is Rochester, New York’s own Gym Class Heroes. When you decide to forgo the traditional rap style with an MPC, keyboard, gritty drums, some James Brown samples and either a high end producer or an up and coming producer you get the live band or live instrumentation that hip hop is rare to the like of The Roots and i think Gym Class Heroes taken up the mantle and has done it’s own dopeness with their last album being a success “As Cruel as School Children” and “The Quilt” preps to pick up where that left off. For the most part Travis McCoy does his part in pick up the lyrical skills even if simplistic they invoke that funky yet provocative style that is easy for the listener to pick up on.

Even with a slim guest list to the varied dope instruments and variation throughout the album that keeps it consistent whether it’s the catchy “Cookie Jar” featuring The Dream to the seminal “Peace Sign/Index Down” featuring Busta Rhymes to one of my favorite story telling dramatic simplistic “Catch me if you can” the patches in this quilt are stitched tightly together without too much unrevealing. And one of the improvements from their previous effort was tighter lyrics and stronger production that matches the album as a whole rather than just jump around. For being labeled everything from alternative to punk to a rap-rock hybrid they’ve come strong on tracks like “Guilty as Charged”, “Drnk TXt Rmeo” and “Live a Little” which of the whole album is one of my favorite songs because it’s a message to those that sit around all day and complain about life but don’t doing anything.

Overall this album is so soulful, sexy, hilarious, funny and any adjective I could come up to describe this album it’s THAT HOT and it’s also FEEL GOOD. And with all that said I’m giving this album a 3 out of 5 only due to the fact I wish it had a harder edge and less on the pop or smooth edge but still makes a great party album which is rare in these days were it’s about the single.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Ben Berrios

Check out: http://www.myspace.com/gymclassheroes

You know when I think of gritty rap I think of a few people and usually it’s either Wu-Tang Clan or the Boot Camp Click comes to mine. Both crews are very similar and very different but we here to talk about the return of the dynamic duo or rap in the ‘90s and still are the tightest around. Yeah I said it Heltah Skeltah is back wit a vengeance don’t believe me just take a look at what Sean Price did on his own wit “Monkey Bars” and “Jesus Price Superstar” and what Rock has done recently with “Shell Shock”.

From the opening of the album you feel the grittyness and the comedic edge from both emcees on tracks like “Everything is Heltah Skeltah”, to “The Art of Disrespekinazation” to “Da Beginning of Da End” all show the grimy side that NYC has in it. And this album bangs from the various often very consistent productions that doesn’t let up. One of the most standout tracks on the album is the title track “D.I.R.T. (Another Boot Camp Clik Yeah Song)” which is where both Ruck and Rock come super hard and tear it down from the 1st verse to the end of the song. Now I mean the whole album they tear it down but they went extra hard on this song. I think bumped this song back to back (over and over again for like a straight hour when I heard it) and their so relentless especially Rock showing he hasn’t lost it especially after his disappointing mixtape this year which was good but let allot of fans down.

For the most part this album bangs out even the closer track “Ruck and Roll” where they bang out hard knock honest gritty flows over rock influenced drum beats and hi-hats, etc. plus every track is strong and shows allot of grit and grime. I think even the comedic angle on all the songs is very refreshing showing the brutal honesty but not being all serious in a time where entertainment can be an escapism for those that love this type of hip hop music. At the same time it is a good dose of true reality rap that isn’t proliferating everything the radio plays and they stay in their own lane. And I think it’s because the digital community loves this and will latch onto the real stuff not the image package stuff which is all cool cause hip hop is a well rounded cipher at times then again things can be lopsided like a square. So I guess it’ll depend on if you ride wit the Boot Camp Click and love lyricism mixed wit humor this for your if you don’t I don’t know what to say too you.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Ben Berrios

Check out: http://www.myspace.com/heltahskeltah