My 10 favorite rhyme spitters ever.

In no particular order, I present to you my ten favorite rhyme spitters of all time.  No, they may not necessarily have created the best songs or albums (some have but that is irrelevant to this discussion).  These are just the MC's who, verse-for-verse, I have enjoyed listening to most from a purely lyrical/flow-wise/delivery-wise perspective.  Think Vince Carter.  And with all that considered, here is...

INSPECTAH DECK.

When Wu-mania invaded America with a fury in the mid-90's, some Wu members definitely reaped the ensuing benefits better than others.  Meth had the mainstream fame, Rza instantly became a legendary producer, ODB had the notoriety, Rae and GZA had the backpackers (before the phrase devolved into an insult) going wild.

And then there was Deck.  The Rebel INS.  He was the straight spitter of the group.  The MC's MC.  No overt kung fu references.  No overblown coked-out alter ego.  And especially after his opening verse on "Triumph", hip hop head thoughts they had another true lyricist to be reckoned with on their hands.  Which they did.  But something happened along the way.  What was it?

His solo joint (rumored to be called "Assassination Day") was long delayed.  Urban legend has it that it was to be entirely produced by the RZA (in his hey day, no less) but all the beats originally slated for the album got lost in a basement flood (when will these producers learn that when the flood comes, gravity will lead it to the lowest floor first?  Q-Tip anyone?).  And when the album finally dropped, it dropped with a thud.  Not that the album was terrible, mind you.  Deck was still as lyrically sharp as ever.  And unlike your average super-freestyler,  he even seemed to be able to diversify his content rather than drop track after track of 100-bar marathons.  He just seemed to have caught the Canibus-itis... The beats (no longer exclusively RZA's) just didn't seem to pack the same punch as Deck's lyrical prowess and ability.

With Wu-Tang's popularity starting to wane by then, Deck seemed to fade further into obscurity.  If Meth, Rae, and GZA's follow ups had trouble finding the same audience as before, what chance did Deck have?  Regardless, to this day, I still enjoy putting on those 90's Wu albums as much as any hip hop head.  And Deck's verses will always remain highlights... not to mention reminders of what could have been.

The Evidence.

"C.R.E.A.M."  "But as the world turned I learned life is hell/Living in the world no different from a cell..."

"Guillotine (Swordz)"  "Poisonous paragraphs/smash ya phonograph in half/It be the Inspectah Deck on the warpath..."

"Triumph"  "I bomb atomically/Socrates' philosophies and hypotheses/Can't define how I be droppin' these..."

"Cold World"  "Extortions for portions of streets/Causes beef/Having followers of Indians tryin' to play chief..."

"It's Yourz" "It's only natural/Actual facts are throwin' at you/The impact'll blow tress back and crack statues..."

"Above the Clouds" "The maker/owner/plus soul controller/The Ayatollah rest in the sky/The clouds' my sofa..."

"Tru Master" "I bang with the big boys/Those who hold game/Amateurs get hung with their own gold chains..."

What's the difference between me and you?

The s**t is just frustrating.

As you've probably heard by now, Maino has a mainstream hit out, "All of the Above".  It is produced by Just Blaze and features T-Pain autotuning the chorus to his heart's content.  Now I don't begrudge the man any success.  God bless him.  It seems like so few mixtape rappers make it out of the starting gates these days, any of them that get a chance to release a hit single (much less, an album) should be lauded.

The song itself though sounds vaguely familiar to a song that was a hit sometime last year and continues to get radio spins on the regular... T.I.'s "Live Your Life".  That joint was also produced by (surprise, surprise) Just Blaze and features Rihanna in full autotune mode on the chorus (T-Pain must've been booked).

Now I have nothing against T.I. either.  And this post is definitely not a rant against Just Blaze (whom I have immense respect for as a producer, even though he seems to be going to the well one too many times with his new found formula for mainstream success).

No, this post is about the now-proven-to-be-gutless Atlantic Records.  Both of these artists are on Atlantic.  And yet there was only one artist on this label who I've been dying to hear from.  That would be SAIGON.  And guess what?  Before either of the above-mentioned songs had even been conceived, Saigon ALSO had a potential hit single on his hands called, "Believe It".  It was ALSO produced by Just Blaze.  It ALSO incorporates a catchy synth melody as its foundation.  It ALSO featured an autotune chorus (sung by Just Blaze but he later revealed they were originally reference vocals for T-Pain).  Yet two of the artists pictured above have hit singles and one got booted from the label.

Saigon tried to do what Atlantic asked him by delivering a hit single.  Which he would've had.  And we would've had "The Greatest Story Never Told" finally in record stores.

I can understand backing a proven hit maker like T.I.  I can even understand giving Maino another single and video since "Hi Hater" was a modest hit.  What I can't understand is if we are to believe that music companies actually LISTEN to the music they try to put out, could not ONE person have seen that "Believe It" was just as commercially viable as the other two songs and given it at a chance?  Do they truly believe that the listeners will blindly flock to names they may have heard on the radio before without actually listening to the music?

The more frustrating part may be I can't definitely answer that last question.

Countdown to "Relapse": 12 days left.

I guess someone out there has "Relapse".  It's just a matter of when they want to leak it.

It's amazing what the internet has done to the music industry these days, for better or for worse. It's seriously got people running around like fiends. It's only appropriate that the new album is called "Relapse".   So for those who find themselves scratching themselves like Tyrone Biggums, here's another couple quick fixes.  New snippets floating around the net...

"Underground" snippet.

"Stay Wide Awake" snippet.

Once again, the beats sound pretty good, flow's on point, lyrics are solid... but THAT ANNOYING ACCENT is still around.  I just hope it doesn't ruin an otherwise good album.

"If I don't like it, I don't like it, that don't mean that I'm hatin'."

Countdown to "Relapse": 2 weeks left.

Now the Interscope machine is going full steam ahead with the promotion of Eminem's "Relapse".  This week we have...

Eminem's new music video for "3 AM".  This song is a solid one.  And despite the slightly obnoxious delivery (still can't stand that accent), the song itself is reminiscent of the "Slim Shady" Eminem.  The accompanying video is really good though.  I love the old school horror flick feel it has.  Given all the copious amount of blood present in the video and violent theme, I doubt this plays on MTV (I don't watch MTV so I can't confirm that).  No wonder it debuted on Cinemax.

Eminem, "3 AM".

Then next up, we have the new song "Old Times Sake", featuring Dr. Dre.  The song itself is also solid... not amazing, but good.  It's a "Business"-type album cut backed by Dre production (also not amazing, but good).  I've always felt Dr. Dre gave better beats to other artists.  A lot of Dre's beats on Eminem's album have always seemed a little below Dre standards to me.  Maybe it's just the way Eminem sounds on Dre's beats.  Or maybe he doesn't want to overwhelm Eminem's already-over-the-top style.  

In any case, I still don't feel blown away by anything Eminem has released from "Relapse" thus far.  Yet I still am highly anticipating it.  Have my expectations for good hip hop just fallen this far?  Or do I just believe Eminem is saving his best stuff for the album to make us believe cohesive albums (as opposed to random collections of hit-or-miss singles) still exist?  I am hoping for the latter.

The come up.

I don't get hyped too often about new artists these days.  Part of it is the sheer oversaturation of the market these days (who doesn't have a mixtape out?) and part of it is, well, the music just sucks.  

But I've been listening to this cat J. Cole lately who is supposedly Jay-z first signee to his new label, Roc Nation.  I have to admit I'm catching on a little late... but this guy does have skills.  Drake seems to be getting all the love (not undeserved but probably also) from his association with Lil' Wayne.  J. Cole also has that seemingly effortless flow... sounding smooth but street-rugged at the same time.  And maybe that's what I like about him versus the rest of these up-and-comers.  I don't care about the Kid Cudi's, the Wale's, the Charles Hamilton's.  Maybe I'm guilty of just lumping them all in together with that hipster-hop scene (and to think of it, I am because I can't recite one single Charles Hamilton lyric... but he reps Sonic the Hedgehog for god's sake).  I just want that to-the-point, lyrics-no-chaser hip hop back.

RapRadar just dropped this new joint by him today:

But if you want some more help catching up like I did, check out his mixtape, "The Come Up".

Thank me later.

It's mostly the voice.

Maybe the Eminem that was introduced to us in the late nineties is gone for good.  And maybe it's time I (along with a plethora of other elitist hip hop snobs) should learn to accept that.

This past week, we heard the third Eminem joint that may or may not be on his long overdue comeback album, "Relapse".  First, the Relapse Freestyle.  Then the first single, We Made You.  And now, 3 A.M.  So I'll just ask the same question that's been on everyone's minds...

WHERE THE HELL DID THAT ACCENT COME FROM AND WHAT IS HIS OBSESSION WITH IT?

When I heard it on "Encore", I thought perhaps Marshall was so bored of being light years ahead of the average MC (not to mention the overabundance of garbage that was being peddled as hip hop) that he was merely trying to amuse himself.  And rub it in our collective faces.  And STILL sell millions of records at the same time (I remember hip hop nerds trying to convince themselves Canibus was doing the same with with "C True Hollywood Stories"... except that album sold only a few albums, not a few million).  An elaborate social experiment that could only be concocted by the mind of Marshall Mathers (not to mention one of the few who would have the ability to conduct said experiment with his access to Interscope money).

But now... after all this time away from the limelight... away from the distractions and unwanted attention that comes with the superstar lifestyle... after being able to retreat from it all and just focus on the MUSIC again... he decided to bring that damn accent back along with him.

Don't get me wrong.  Eminem's flow is still on point.  He still has ridiculous amounts of ability.  And 3 A.M. is a solid hip hop joint.

But something about just hearing that accent just reminds me that I have to let go of the music I loved and try to compromise with what's out now.  There is no more Get You Mad.  No more Just Don't Give A F***.  Or Kill You.  Or Locked Up Tonight.  Except on my IPod.  So for now, I'll add 3 A.M. to them and just be grateful that at least Em hasn't resorted to autotune yet.  For now.

FINALLY...

Okay, so it's not "The Greatest Story Never Told".  And it's not over Just Blaze production.  But Saigon has finally dropped an album.  "All In A Day's Work".

Like a lot of people, I first heard Saigon on the "Yardfather" mixtapes (in 2004?  When was that?  I don't even remember) and was instantly hooked.  He had the lyrics, flow, delivery, content... plus had a knack for picking the right beats to compliment his style.  Honestly, the last time I heard a rapper with that kind of potential was 50 Cent in his pre-Shady mixtape days.  Then the buzz grew.  He linked with Just Blaze.  Signed with Atlantic.  Appeared on "Entourage".  The table had been set.  He was being groomed to be the next rap superstar.

Then everything began to crumble.  One album delay after another.  Then the Prodigy fiasco.  Then he claims retirement.  Then he claims it was a ploy to get out of his deal with Atlantic.  Then he's left label-less.  Then we don't hear anything for awhile.  Just Blaze is off making hits with T.I. and the like while the rest of wonder, "What the hell happened to Saigon?"

Then the Joe Budden beef pops off, et cetera et cetera, fast forward to now... we finally have a Saigon album.  And of course I (as many others) am still waiting on his much-vaunted (mostly by himself) proper debut album.  But until then, we have this maybe-not-classic-but-still-very-good "street album" to tide us over.  Statik Selektah's stock has been on the rise as a producer lately... and his gritty beats are an excellent compliment to Saigon's rugged-but-intricate flow.  For all those who constantly bitch and moan about the death of hip hop (myself not excluded), do yourself a favor, visit Itunes or Amalgam Digital's website, and go cop a real hip hop album.

(Here's one freebie to entice you.  Listen to how good just the intro is.)