Daaamn homie... you used be the maaaan homie...

I was one of those die hard Canibus fans who thought he would be hip hop's savior from the shiny suit era. I was wrong. The trajectory of Canibus' career stands as one of my most disappointing memories in hip hop. So much potential wasted. You can blame Wyclef, you can blame LL, you can blame the industry, the label, whomever you want... but as it stands, let's just face it, the music never lived up to the hype he built for himself. I've expounded upon this in a previous post before so I'll end it at that.

So now he is about to release his 10th album (!) on October 5th. Ever since "2000 BC", I've kind of half-heartedly been keeping my ears open to what he's been doing since. The harder-dying fans will swear that albums like "Mic Club" and "Rip the Jacker" are classics... but nothing has really sparked my interest since his second album. But then I stumbled upon this album sampler for the upcoming "C of Tranquility" and my interest has once again been renewed. Bis spitting over beats by Primo, DR Period, Scram Jones, Jake One, Domingo, and more?? These are the producers he should've linked up with years ago. Check it out... maybe there is life in Rip the Jacker's career yet.

Canibus Snippets (v2) from Interdependent Media on Vimeo.

Strap your Combat boots on.

As I've expressed multiple times before, I love these behind-the-scenes stories about the hip hop industry. Combat Jack, entertainment lawyer by day, hip hop blogger by night, has shared his stories with Complex behind some of hip hop's biggest classics. Check out the stories here:

COMBAT JACK PRESENTS: True Stories Behind 25 Rap Classics.

And here's an excerpt to spark your interest:

"Jay-Z, In My Lifetime"

"Clark might have convinced Dame that Jay-Z was the best rapper alive, but no labels were signing dude. Along with Dame and Clark, we must have shopped Jay to every label under the sun. I remember specifically sitting in Def Jam begging Lyor Cohen for a shot. He passed. I also remember how some exec at Polygram asked us why they should sign a Jay-Z when they had the platinum-selling group Black Sheep on their roster. Eventually, the only label that showed interest was this small indie called Payday Records which was run by record exec Patrick Moxey (who later managed Gangstarr). Moxey signed Jay for like 25-30K, had Jay locked in for a couple of singles and several albums. Jay dropped the single 'In My Lifetime' with minimal marketing support. You already know, the one with the yacht that Jay, Dame, and Biggs chartered with their own money. For the record, 'In My Lifetime' was Jay's second official solo single. His first was 'I Can't Go For That,' which Dame and 'em dropped from out the back of their trunks a year prior. 'In My Lifetime' was dope, but because Jay was totally unknown, the record flopped. Shortly after the single dropped, Moxey and Payday dropped Jay-Z. Yes, dropped Jay-Z. Two years later, Jay dropped Reasonable Doubt. To this day, whenever I run into Moxey, I get the feeling he can't look me in the eye because of how I know how he dropped Hov. Not a good look to say the least. No shots, though."

To all my LA people...

Go check out my homeboy... just signed to Snoop Dogg's Doggtown Entertainment... POPPA HEAT... settin' fire to the West Coast! Live at the Burgundy House, 6202 Santa Monica Blvd, LA CA... Saturday September 18th!!! Doors open at 9PM.

Your favorite rapper's favorite rapper.

I'm not just saying this because it's en vogue these days to say Scarface is one of the greatest... but since I initially started becoming the pathologically obsessed hip hop fan that I am (1990 or so), Scarface was one of the first genuine hip hop artists I liked (along with Public Enemy and NWA). I admit his grimy slow flow and introspective, macabre tales are not for everyone. But I think that's what drew me to his music. He is one artist you can truly say, regardless of what you think about his music, there is nothing sell-out about him.

I also love reading these "making of", "behind the scenes" type articles. So this was a great read for me... and hopefully will be for you too. The original poster on SOHH does not list a source but it seems legit. So here is the link directly from their forums.

Scarface breaks down his solo and Geto Boys catalog...

Taking you back... way back... back into time...

These days it is damn near impossible to be first to share any new track with anyone. Anyone with internet access can hear a song the second it's available. We even hear the tracks that aren't meant to be available for public consumption just yet. So once in awhile, I go back and see what tracks people might have missed...

To me, this is Kanye West's most underrated beat ever. I think most people in the general public, anyone other than dedicated hip hop fans, likely have not heard this song. I don't even remember when Smitty's album dropped... even though he had a Swizz Beats track as the lead single and everything. Anyways, I always thought this was the era Kanye was at his purest. Before he got too experimental and big headed. This is when he was just straight digging in the crates and finding the sickest soul samples to speed up. Anyways, if you've never heard it before... enjoy...

Judged by 12 or carried by 6?

Either way, hip hop is still not doing well. Well, maybe I just wanted to an excuse to use that Cube line because I always loved it. And it was the first hip hop lyric off the top of my head that used the number "six" in it. But it is also appropriate because, as the perpetual pessemist in me (well, when it comes to the hip hop industry, at least) will always insist, hip hop music is still slowly dying. But as it stands, here are a few of the lone reeds standing tall amidst the vile cesspool of cliches and consumerism flooding the airwaves per usual. (And now as I finish typing this post, I just realized I only have five tracks, not six. Oh well...)

Royce Da 5'9, "Over" Freestyle

T.I. "I'm Back"

Reflection Eternal, "In This World"

Nas & Damian Marley, "Strong Will Continue"

Young Chris & J. Cole, "Still the Hottest"

Slaughterhouse indeed.

Royce kills the new Drake beat "Over". I've only heard the Drake version once and I'm kind of glad. Because the beat was the best part. And Royce goes homicidal on the Boi-1da beat. How come Royce can't cop more beats like this for his own albums?? I have to say Street Hop did not live up to my expectations. And ever since Royce first came on the scene, I always thought he had the potential to be a classic MC. So far, only "Death Is Certain" has come close to his potential, recording wise.