2009 Grammy Nominees Announced

Wednesday night saw a special Grammy Nominations Concert held on CBS. During the show in Los Angeles several of the nominees for the 51st Grammy Awards scheduled for February 2009 were announced. The show also featured performances by Mariah Carey, the Foo Fighters, BB King and Celine Dion, and had Taylor Swift and LL Cool J as the hosts. Here's a look at several of the nominees for the 51st annual Grammy Awards.... 2009 Grammy Nominees Best New Artist (presented by Ne-Yo): - Adele - Duffy - Jonas Brothers - Lady Antebellum - Jazmine Sullivan Album of the Year (presented by Celine Dion): - Viva la Vida by Coldplay - The Carter III - Lil' Wayne - Year of the Gentleman - NeYo - Raise the Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - In Rainbow - Radiohead During the "Best Rap Performance by a duo or group" intro, it was discussed how rap has been honored since the Grammy show in 1991, and now artists of many other genres perform together with rappers. This wasn't the case in the award category this year, as it was rappers featuring rappers. Taylor Swift presented the nominees which included Jay-Z, Young Jeezy & Lil' Wayne. Best Rap Performance by Duo or Group: - Royal Flush - Big Boi feat. Raekwon & Andre 3000 - Swagga Like Us - Jay-Z & TI feat. Lil' Wayne & Kanye West - Mr. Carter - Lil' Wayne feat. Jay-Z - Wish You Would - Ludacris feat. TI - Put On - Young Jeezy feat. Kanye West Record of the Year (presented by John Mayer): - Chasing Pavements - Adele - Viva La Vida - Coldplay - Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis - Paper Planes - MIA - Please Read the Letter - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Mariah Carey opened the show with one of her classic songs from her past Christmas album. The show also culminated with a classic duet performed by BB King and John Mayer for "Let the Good Times Roll". Also announced during the show was the news that a new Grammy museum will be opening later this week. While not every category was announced on air, most likely due to some of the titles in thebest rapp solo performance category, here's a look at what else is up for an award... Best Rap Solo Performance - Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)... Jay-Z - A Milli Lil Wayne - Paris, Tokyo Lupe Fiasco - N.i.*.*.e.r. (The Slave And The Master) Nas - Sexual Eruption Snoop Dogg Best Rap Song: - Lollipop (Lil' Wayne) - Low (Flo Rida feat. T-Pain) - Superstar (Lupe Fiasco feat. Matthew Santos) - Sexual Eruption (Snoop Dogg) - Swagga Like Us (Jay & TI feat. Lil' Wayne & Kanye West) Best Rap Album: Best Rap Album: American Gangster Jay-Z Tha Carter III Lil Wayne The Cool Lupe Fiasco Nas Nas Paper Trail T.I. Lil Wayne may be cleaning up the awards this year, but it'll be interesting to see which album wins best rap album. Both The Carter III and Jay-Z's American Gangster have been given critical acclaim and are considered recent classics material. In terms of top nominee, Lil' Wayne took 8 nominations for his work this past year from The Carter III. Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West each earned six nominations. View all of the 2009 Grammy nominees here. The 51st Grammy Award Show will be held February 8th, 2009 on CBS.

Kanye's Tour & Sample Lawsuit

One of the must-see concerts of the summer is easily Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark Tour" which not only features West, but also R&B singer Rihanna, fellow rapper Lupe Fiasco, and the alt-rock band, N.E.R.D. New York Times recently gave a write up about the stage show by Kanye, praising it as Mr. West’s set was the most daring arena spectacle hip-hop has yet produced, and in some ways the best, even as it jettisoned standard hip-hop expectations. The rhymes, the beats and the narcissism were there; the block-party spirit and sense of community were not. Until the encore Mr. West had no human company on the arena stage. The Chicago Tribune also jumped on the spaceship, with a recent Leisure blog discussing the concert. In the blog's review, they discuss how this seems almost like a one-man play with Kanye singing, dancing and rapping on the Space Odyssey style stage. West rapped, sang and danced himself into a sweat-soaked frenzy, the veins popping from his neck, his arms flailing. He even did a few push-ups. The songwriter-producer portrayed himself as hip-hop’s answer to Jean-Paul Sartre: an existentialist whose narrative was abetted by cosmic video and smoke machines, and salted with references to Samuel Beckett, Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” and David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” The Tribne blog mentions that it would have been better if Kanye left the song "Homecoming" out of his encore tracks, and suggests that with Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell and Kanye all present, they would have done well to perform their collab "Us Placers". Sources: Ego-Fueled Hip-Hop Sci-Fi Space Odyssey @ New York Times Kanye West takes a one-man trip to dark side of the moon @ Chicago Tribune's Leisure blogs In other news, Kanye West is among several rappers being sued for illegal use of samples. "Upon the Rock" by Joe Farrell is the song sample in question, and the lawsuit was brought by the late musician's daughter. The Farrell song was sampled for the following rap songs: Kanye West "Gone" Common "Chi-City" Method Man & Redman "Run 4 Cover". Read more at hiphop-elements.com

Seeing Sounds with NERD

Pharrell Williams, rapper and producer from the Neptunes, has produced for just about any radio or hip hop act you can imagine from Britney Spears to Bustah Rhymes to Lupe Fiasco and Jay-Z. Skateboard's P the certified hitmaker behind the smash "Drop it Like its Hot", Ludacris' "Moneymaker" and many many more recognizable tracks. On top of all that he's front man for the always imaginative and experimental alt-rock/hip-hop group known as N.E.R.D. Included with Pharrell in the group is Chad Hugo, also of Neptunes fame. The group's name is an acronym for "No One Ever Really Dies". N.E.R.D. currently is on tour with Kanye West for the "Glow in the Dark" tour, and is preparing for their next album, Seeing Sounds, set to release later this year, possibly October. According to the group's official website: N.E.R.D lies – in the time-warp, where boundaries and borders and linearity succumb to the openness of truth. Because in life, there are two paths to choose from but only one direction to go in – and you can either Fly or Die. Previous hits from the group have been Lapdance, Rock Star and She Wants to Move. As for their latest project, the first single is already out called "Everyone Nose (All the girls standing in line for the Bathroom)". The site TheClones has stated the album will drop in October and provides the following tracklist. Seeing Sounds Tracklist: 1. Intro 2. Everyone Nose 3. Spaz 4. Time For Some Action 5. Kill Joy 6. Anti Matter 7. Happy 8. Sooner or Later 9. Windows 10. Yeah You 11. You Know What 12. I Can't Get It Out My Head 13. Someday I'll Laugh About It 14. Laser Gun Carrying 15. Love Bomb As for subject, the title "Seeing Sounds" refers to the "reference to a neurological phenomenon called Synesthesia, where senses cross so a tone correlates to, say, a color". There's even a discussion of what that means exactly at Wikipedia. To sum it up, it's all about "seeing the music". According to Hollywood Insider at EW.com, Pharrell wrapped up work on an album with Madonna then got down to work on the NERD project, as he was "just waiting for the right sounds". Hopefully the sounds will be just right and fans will be seeing them soon. Seeing Sounds is available for pre-order at Amazon.com

Latest on Jay-Z & Lupe Fiasco

Lupe Fiasco says that many up and coming rap stars idolize Jay-Z but not for his musical talents and accomplishments. Instead Fiasco says it's Jay's business sense that inspires many. From teenmusic.com: "Fiasco - real name Wasalu Muhammad Jaco - says, "We (rappers) want to be Jay-Z, because we can be Jay-Z, and have some of the same lyrics as Jay-Z and even be compared to Jay-Z, but what he trumps everybody with is his business sense." "Every couple of weeks there's a new announcement of Jay-Z buying something." Meanwhile Wu-Tang rapper Raekwon has a different take on things. He believes Jay-Z and Kanye West have lost their musical presence because they've lost their connection with the hood. From teenmusic.com: "Raekwon claims they are missing out on a whole generation of hip-hop enthusiasts, because their wealth and success has alienated them from ordinary people. He says, "A lot of street people don't put stock in them anymore because they aren't doing enough to excite anyone. (They should) Come back to the hood and drop $100,000." Jay has released a live version of the song "Pray" on the Rocafella website. It's his second single from the American Gangster album, but owners of the album will notice a difference in the track. Jigga is also dealing with verbal attacks from both Joe Budden and Peedi Crack. Lupe Fiasco is planning to release his next music video from "The Cool" on the internet in a viral marketing campaign. From MTV.com: Fiasco's follow-up video to "Superstar" is going to be a low-budget affair and head straight to cyberspace. After that, he said some exec at Atlantic records is going to sign off on a big check for the next clip. "We're shooting a lot of videos," he promised. "The next viral record is gonna be 'Hip-Hop Saved My Life.' We're gonna leak that to [the Net]. The next main video is gonna be 'Paris, Tokyo.' Were planning a huge, big, kinda exotic, grandiose production for that. That'll probably come in February."...

Top 10 Albums of 2007

2007 could be described as a lackluster year for rap. It's no disrespect or credit taken from some of the top artists and offerings this year, but overall there seemed to be a lot lacking. It could be the continuation of more and more 1 hit wonders and watered down anthems coming out. It made this top 10 list even easier to compile, just in time for the arrival of a new year, and hopefully more great releases. 1) American Gangster - Jay-Z 2) Graduation - Kanye West 3) Finding Forever - Common 4) 8 Diagrams - Wu Tang Clan 5) Big Doe Rehab - Ghostface 6) Eardrum - Talib Kweli 7) Return of the Mac - Prodigy 8) The Weatherman - Evidence 9) The Cool - Lupe Fiasco 10) UGK - Underground Kingz (Double Disc) The top 3 on my list definitely are several steps above the rest of the list. Jay, Kanye and Common showed brilliance on their releases. Hopefully the Grammy awards will commemorate Kanye or Common for their works as well. I'd love to say the same about other efforts, but it just wasn't there. That's not to say the rest of the top 10 doesn't show flashes of good stuff. They each offer some standout cuts and great music and are worth owning if you're a fan of any of them or rap in general. And there's some other notables that don't quite fit with the "hip-hop" or rap genre even though the artists releasing the album are typically there. Timbaland's compilation, "Shock Value" and the Beastie Boys' instrumental cd, "The Mix Up" are two albums that come to mind that were worthwhile releases in 07'. You can find any of these mentioned albums at iTunes Store Music. Special thanks to Ms. Reb from Rebelvision Network, who has provided her 10 album picks for 2007. These picks come from the Hip-Hop and R&B genre... As I Am - Alicia Keys Futuresex/lovesounds - Justin Timberlake Veteran - Marques Houston The Solution - Beanie Sigel Don't Talk, Just Listen - B5 Welcome to the Zoo - Gorilla Zoe Road to Exclusive - Chris Brown Notebook Paper - Huey UGK - UGK (Uunderground Kings) Back up in Da Chevy - Boyz N Da Hood Thanks again to Ms. Reb, and make sure to stop by Rebelvision Network! You can find all of the above albums and individual tracks for download at iTunes Store Music Also see DJ Destrovega's 2007 Music in Review at Escalator Music!

Lupe Brings The Cool

Lupe Fiasco dropped his follow-up album, "The Cool" this past Tuesday. Previewing several of the tracks, the album is definitely a far cry from his first, "Food & Liquor". Not only is it lengthy at around 22 tracks, but it also seems to have many slow tempo songs. There's still several gems and creative beats such as Go Go Gadget Flow and Paris/Tokyo. While I haven't fully reviewed the album, I wouldn't place it above Common's Finding Forever, Kanye's Graduation or Jay-Z's American Gangster. It may be amongst the top 10 though, as Boston Globe claims in its recent review: Boston Globe reviews "The Cool" by Lupe Fiasco My main concern with Lupe Fiasco is he said he's only doing 3 total albums then focusing his creative efforts elsewhere. It would seem smarter to hold off on putting this album out until he had the makings of a classic. And a 22 track album in rap is almost never a classic. There's also an interesting shout out one of the final tracks of the album. Lupe shows out a blog, lupethefiasco.blogspot.com. It's run by several female fans of Lupe's and you'd have to believe it will be getting some extra visits based on Lupe's shout. Check out http://lupethefiasco.blogspot.com

Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool" Tracklist

According to Billboard.com, Lupe Fiasco has a crazy album on the way, which even features Lupe rapping from the perspective of a cheeseburger. Interesting. Here's a look at the tracklist for Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool". Iesha Poem "Free Chilly" "Go Go Gadget Flow" "The Coolest" "Superstar" featuring Mathew Santos "Paris Tokyo" "High Definition" featuring Snoop Dogg and Pooh Bear "Little Weapon" "Hip-Hop Saved My Life" featuring Nikki Jean "Gold Watch" "Street on Fire" featuring Mathew Santos "Hello Goodbye" "Gotta Eat" "Dumb It Down" featuring Gemini and Graham Burris "The Die" featuring Gemini "Put You on Game" "Fighters" featuring Mathew Santos "Go Baby Go" Not too many guests on this, aside from Snoop, Gemini and Matthew Santos. Santos who's featured on 3 tracks including the single "Superstsr" has a Myspace profile here which lists his EP and upcoming LP, "Matters of the Bittersweet".

Lupe's "Fiascogate"

Lupe Fiacso was part of the recent VH1 Hip Hop Honors show as he performed or attempted to perform a verse on the Tribe Called Quest classic "Electric Relaxation". Apparently the rapper messed up his part on the song, forgetting the lyrics. A confusion occurred because people thought Lupe had gone as far to say that he even bumped MC Hammer's stuff way more than Tribe's back in the day. Complete craziness, but those comments preceded his mess up at the VH1 show. Lupe is now suing Vibe magazine for what is being called "Fiascogate". The suit is over defamation of character based on the interview Lupe did with Vibe discussing the whole listening to MC Hammer more than Tribe when he was younger. So the two areas are unrelated but relate to Tribe, as it all seems to be putting down a legendary group which really paved the way for backpack rappers like Lupe. Fiasco's sophomore album, "The Cool" is said to be "Coming Soon" by his website.

Kanye + Lupe + Pharrell = ?

According to Billboard.com, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell may be cutting a rap album together. Odds on that happening are slim with the frantic schedules of these 3, but it would be great to hear if it happens. From Billboard.com: "Having already released one song via an online mixtape, CRS (Child Rebel Soldiers), the hip-hop supergroup featuring Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams, is hoping to find time to craft an entire album. "Us Placers," which samples Thom Yorke's "The Eraser," was performed by Fiasco earlier this month during his set at Lollapalooza in Chicago. "Now [our labels are] working it out," the artist tells Billboard.com. Whoever is going to pay is going to pay a whole hell of a lot. Everybody is excited, [but] 'Us Placers' is the only record we have." In related news, Fiasco has pushed back the release of his sophomore album, "Lupe Fiasco's The Cool," from Oct. 30 to Nov. 20. Work is continuing on the album with producers from his 1st & 15th camp, including Pro and Soundtrack. Previously, Fiasco had avoided big-name producers ("It's too expensive," he says), but "now we're doing CRS, [so] I can get all the music for free." And despite the critical acclaim afforded his debut, "Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor," the rapper says he is going to stop releasing mixtapes and may not have many more studio albums in him." Kanye West's album is starting to sound like a strong contender for rap album of the year. A recent review from Kanye's listening audience here.

Coming Soon - The Future of Hip Hop 2007

XXL recently posted a list of the "Top 10 Most Anticipated Albums of 2007" with a blog review explaining why the future of hip hop is bleak. Sometimes its tough to be optimistic, but looking at their list, you can see why they wouldn't be. Here's my own revised list of top 10 albums to anticipate this year, for hip hop/rap: 10 - Saigon - I won't front or lie on this one. I don't know what to expect but have heard word from others that this guy's gonna blow up the scene with his album. But we know in the hip hop game its always hit or miss, depending on production..you can be the craziest lyricist out there and get lousy beats that just dont work, making your 1st effort a failure..Nonetheless he's anticipated off great microphone skill to bring us a dope album.. 9 - Papoose - More of the same as #10, both guys are two of the hottest new emcees in the rap game. Papoose gets the edge lyrically, after dropping solid mixtapes and a hot to death verse on "Where It All Started" off Hi-Teknology 2 by Hi-Tek. Papoose offers much anticipated wordplay and rap skills.. 8 - TI - King is considered another top album from 2006, and TI gave several tracks to ride to or bump to on it. Expect more of the same from the King of the south.. 7 - Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II - Raekwon's original album is a hip hop classic, still bumped all across the US and elsewhere. If Rae's hookup with super-producer Dr. Dre and the original man behind Wu, RZA work out right, this is definitely a top release of 2007..Raekwon failed on his last try to follow up his amazing debut, but Wu's got the formula for success, not to mention about 10-20 guests at their disposal who can bring skills on any track.. 6- Lupe Fiasco - I'd put him much higher on the list, except for the fact we almost know we can expect hotness and the other albums are more anticipated such as Wu or 50, who haven't blessed the rap game in a while..Lupe brought out probably the top album of 2006 in Mainstream Hip Hop and has a promising future ahead, in terms of his rap career, production, skateboarding teams and collecting cool robot memorabilia..Expect another top notch release here.. 5 - 50 Cent - Been a while since the original G-Unit gangsta has dropped something of his own on the game (pun intended) This time its personal, 50 has to answer to the album The Game released which was a near classic and definitely one of the top albums of 2006. 50 will be staking the G-Unit rep on this one, so that makes it anticipated.. 4 - Lil Wayne - Have heard alot of hype and good things about this one. Claims that the production is on the level of the Game's last cd which was solid overall. Also the claims from Lil Wayne himself that he's better than Jay-Z. Thats a tough comparison to make, if Wayne backs it up, this one's worth having in your collection. 3- Wu Tang Clan - The 8th Sign - You gotta bank on the creativity of Wu Tang to churn out a pretty solid album. RZA says it was tough to get everyone together to even talk about this and due to money situations its not always easy to pay for everyone. But they claim they will revitalize Hip Hop this summer with another Wu Banga.. 2 - Kanye West - Graudation - Kanye just keeps elevating his game. The production he's had on recent albums such as Game, Nas and Lupe Fiasco is on a futuristic level, showing Kanye has even more in his bag of tricks..His rhyme skills keep improving as well, and he's got the pull to get those hot guest verses..Kanye should be graduating to a whole nother level with this one, so stay tun 1 - Common - Finding Forever - He and Kanye are interchangeable up here. Since Common's the more skilled rapper & has Kanye producing him plus had a smash classic album in "Be" last year, it only makes sense this should be up here. Common has always been one of the best emcees in the game, just underrated and at times un-noticed. But with last year's success, his recent movie roles and Gap commercials, he's only become more known to mainstream hip hop heads as well..

Review: "Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor"

Lupe Fiasco's "Food & Liquor" (4.5 of 5) Chitown's Lupe Fiasco is a somewhat new addition to the rap genre, in that he crosses from the rap field into that of the skateboard culture. Articles written on Lupe claim that during his upbringing his parents offered him alot of exposure to different things in life, and that only helps make his rap lyricis that much more creative. It is a refreshing new perspective for the things to come in the genre. It's hard to poke any holes in this album, as each track is unique and offers a unique message. You don't feel as if this is a southern style "shake this", "clap your hands", "bounce" type album. Lupe has alot to say and the beats serve him well with each of his various messages. Production from Kanye West, the Neptunes and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park don't hurt either. Lupe's creativity shines on these tracks. One example is "Daydreamin' (featuring Jill Scott) which has an old school 50's radio-style hook sung about daydreams. Lupe takes the daydream further into imagination as if he's looking at things from inside of a giant robot. The album has an interesting futuristic feel on many tracks such as the Kanye West produced "Cool" or "Just Might be OK"'s backdrop with a spaced invaders type feel. Other great tracks are "I Gotcha", "Emperor's Soundtrack", "Just Might Be OK", "Hurt Me Soul", and "Pressure" which features the latest verse from hip-hop leader, Jay-Z. Although this album might not seem entirely new to some, due to an internet leak of an early copy of the work several months ago, those that waited to hear this album were rewarded greatly. Many songs from that initial leak were renamed, a few beats were changed and special guests added. Regardless, the album ranks as one of the best offerings in rap music this year.

Who are the Best MC's?

Many circles debate over who the top all time rappers are, so I need to weigh in..these are gut impressions I have, having listened to rap since early on, its a VERY tough list to compile so I broke it down to all time and then my best today: All-Time - quick list 1-Rakim (considered the Godfather of Rap by many) 2-Nas (people say he's fallin off on recent cds, but overall top notch) 3-Jay-Z (you can argue he's commercial but he just keeps makin hot music) 4-BIG (a career cut short, but his personality shone through on the mic) 5-Kool G Rap (in terms of rawness, you cant stop G Rap) 6-Guru (Gangstarr pioneer with a raspy monotone flow) 7-Q Tip (people overlook him way too often, but his verses shine) 8-2PAC (Im not his biggest fan, but he belongs here) 9-Ice Cube (another gangsta rap pioneer, influential) 10-LL Cool J (remember this is the all time list :) Tops Right Now 1-Nas (anticipation is great for his Hip Hop is Dead album) 2-Jay-Z (anticipation is greater for his next release) 3-Common (so underrated and overlooked still today) 4-Talib Kweli (this guy has alot to say and says it well) 5-Black Thought (Roots frontman, also underrated) 6-Lupe Fiasco (he's a newcomer but very promising) 7-Mr Lif (underground cat who speaks volumes w/socially conscious raps) 8-Kanye West (believe it or not this guy does more than produce) 9-MF Doom (former KMD group member now makes ultra-creative albums) 10-Andre 3000/Mos Def (neither rap so much these days but they should be!)