Birthday’s come once a year, but 2 Chainz’s hit “Birthday Song” won’t go away. Outside of the gentleman’s club, the track is a grating listen. Chainz opens his verse with the flat line “She got a big booty, so I call her ‘Big Booty’”. Matters are made worse with the ridiculous chorus, “When I die, bury me inside the Gucci store/When I die, bury me inside the Louie store.” Kanye eventually shows up to the party, but fails to leave […]

Chief Keef is a terrible rapper. After signing to Interscope in June, he released his debut Finally Rich six months later. Aside from Young Chop’s production (“Love Sosa”, “I Don’t Like” ) Finally Rich is sonically bankrupt. Throughout the project, Keef’s incoherent (“Kay Kay”, “Laughin To The Bank”) and incomprehensible (“No Tomorrow”, “Understand Me”, “Citgo”). When he’s not not rapping in fragments (“Hate Bein’ Sober”), the closest he comes to articulating a sentence is on the title track, “Finally Rich”. Money can’t buy […]

Nas’ seed is a big girl now. And for his single “Daughters”, he reflects on his own child’s growth and development. Backed by No I.D.’s soul samples, Esco  evaluates his parenting skills with honesty (“Plus she’s seen me switching women, pops was on some pimp shit”), confusion (“One day she’s ya little princess, next day she talking boy business”) and even a lil’ regret (“I’m too loose, I’m too cool with her”). Carmen would disagree, but hey, father knows best.

French Montana isn’t the best rapper. But when grouped with others, the results can be promising. Such is the case with his single, “Pop That”. Propelled by Luke’s “I Wanna Rock” and a funky drum pattern, French and his affiliates update a rump shaking classic. If the sample wasn’t memorable enough, Weezy’s “Suck a nigga dick for some Trukfit” line probably was.

Azealia Banks kept it short on 1991. But depending on who you ask, she probably could’ve kept it to herself. Azealia’s efforts are admirable, but her EP is a messy integration of dance and hip-hop. Filling the void of Snap! and Crystal Waters is tough, but unlike her predecessors, Azealia’s lyrics are convoluted and shielded behind mindless instrumentals. 1991 was a good year, but we’ll leave this one in 2012.

Papoose is gearing up to release his long-delayed album Nacriema Dream on March 5th. Here’s the video to his single featuring the Gully God, Mavado.

Big K.R.I.T. and Mike Will Made It hooked up for the first time down at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta. K.R.I.T. says that he plans to feature him on his next album, but before then he’s releasing his next mixtape, K.R.I.T. 

P-Double stopped by The Usual Suspects show on PNC Radio earlier this week. He says he’s spoken to Havoc since their split and kicked a quick acapella before the close of the show.

The Bay experienced a bit of a resurgence last year courtesy of E-40’s “Function”. Featuring YG, Problem, and IamSu, a monotone bass liquidates 40 Water’s spit (“I’m tossing this sloppy, offa my broccoli, Bacardi/On fifty one out of my body, I’m about that green like wasabi”). I’m just sayin’ man, “Function” was the kind of event we all wanted to attend.

Lupe went against the grain on the second single of Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Pt. On the didactic “Bitch Bad”,  he addresses hip-hop misogyny with sensitivity and parental care. On the first and second verses, he explains the side effects of the B-Word, but by the third, his parable falls on deaf ears, “Bad mean good to her, she really nice and smart/But bad mean bad to him, bitch don’t play your part.” Bitch bad. Song […]