A list of CDs getting major airtime here at the Rizoh Mansion:

10. Guilty Simpson - Ode to the Ghetto
9. Little Vic - Each Dawn I Die
8. Lupe - The Cool
7. Soulbrotha - The Exodus Mixtape
6. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
5. Talib Kweli - Ear Drum
4. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
3. Amp Live - Rainy Dayz Remixes
2. Prodigy - H.N.I.C. 2
1. C.R.A.C. Knuckles - The Piece Talks

What about you? What have you been bumping lately?

[click to enlarge]

I’ve been in Austin all weekend and I’m so ready to head back to H-Town. I have to admit that Austin has better live music culture than Houston, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the hippie band that entertained us at Salt Lick BBQ last night. I’ll just take solace in the fact that we have better music overall.

The drive is anywhere from 2.5 - 3 hours depending on traffic, so I’ve strewn together a 2-hour, 32-song playlist of mostly new music to make the journey worthwhile.

What do you think of my playlist? Feel free to holla if you need any of the tracks on the list.

Here’s what an average hip-hop artist’s career cycle looks like (the long-standing ones, at least):

–>Starts off with 1 - 2 supa dupa album(s)
–> Gets stuck in a creative rut for 2-5 years
–> Bounces back with 1 exceptional album to hush the haters
–> Hits creativity wall again…You get the picture.

P’s bounceback album was the appropriately titled Return of the Mac, one of the Top 10 albums of 2007. Thankfully, he keeps the creative juice flowing throughout H.N.I.C. 2. He sounds more mature, more articulate, yet more irreverent than ever. Now, all that will probably change after he goes to jail. I can’t think of too many rappers that have been able to drop a decent album after being locked up. Must be that jail food.

Tracklist and Production Credits: (more…)

I first heard of Akrobatik in 2001, a year after the arrival of his debut EP titled, well, The EP. His song “Internet MCs” was popular in the underground circle. I, being knee deep in text-battling at the time, had mixed reactions to lyrics like “You ain’t a MC just because you could type/On the mic in real life your ass’ll get sniped.” In 2003, however, Ak made an indelible impression with his first full-length, Balance. One of the songs on Balance would end up becoming my favorite rap song ever. If you’ve never heard Akrobatik’s “Remind My Soul,” stop reading this and get to googling right away.

Anyhow, it’s great to see Ak back on his grind after a 5-year hiatus (not counting the Perceptionists’ group album Black Dialogue). I’ve been bumping his latest joint, Absolute Value for a couple of weeks now and like fine wine, it gets better with time. It’s loaded with fresh cuts and the guest lineup is unbelievable. Proceed for the tracklist and a couple of audios.

(more…)

Georgia & Dudley just lost mad street credibility ’cause of that cello

Let me get a couple of things of my chest before I get to my list of Heavy Rotation. Finding Forever (aka Be 2.0 ^©O-Dub) was cool, but its replayability value is zero. Ear Drum, on the other hand, has been enjoying plenty of airplay at the Riz Mansion. That’s not necessarily saying that ED is better than FF. I’m not mad at Kwe for whining about toothpaste and the Bible, but he was flirting with preachy territories right there. Oh, and all those clichés…”They say life is not about the destination, it’s about the journey”; “They say you can’t please everybody.” No sh*t.

That being said, 90% of Ear Drum bangs and it’s still one of the most enjoyable CDs out so far.

Now that I’m done with my rant, back to TRU’s regularly scheduled programming. Which CDs, old or new, have been getting major spins in your system lately?

Here’s my list:

10. Underground Kingz, UGK
9. Ear Drum, Talib Kweli
8. Noreality, N.O.R.E.
7. The Jewelry Box Session, Planet Asia
6. Polluted Water, Ice Water
5. Mixtape Messiah 3, Chamillionaire
4. “Coulda Been” (That one song by Lupe Fiasco)
3. Monster Maker, C-Ray-Z Walz & Sharkey
2. The Message Uni Versa, G & D [Georgia Anne Muldrow & Dudley Perkins]
1. Most Likely to Succeed, Luckyiam

Remove whatever’s in your system right now and replace it with Monster Maker. Then kick back and enjoy the best 40 minutes of your life. Obvious hyperboles aside, I haven’t felt this good about a rap record since Louis Logic unleashed Misery Loves Comedy.

C-Rayz Walz and Sharkey manage to cram some of the fiercest cutting edge hip-hop music of the year into 12 songs. Best of all, the album’s brief run time leaves little room for redundancy. So, even if you end up not liking Monster Maker at all (trust me, some of you won’t), you would’ve only wasted 40 minutes, as opposed to, say, the 1.2 hours I squandered on that new Turf Talk album.

At everyone’s behest, I decided to wriggle out ten good hip-hop albums from an otherwise uneventful first half of ‘07. In case you missed it earlier, here’s my list in order of bias appreciation:

10. Black Milk - Popular Demand
9. Hell Razah - Renaissance Child
8. El-P - I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
7. Joel Ortiz - The Briick: Bodega Chronicles
6. Evidence - Weatherman LP
5. Devin the Dude - Waiting to Inhale
4. Pharoahe Monch - Desire
3. Prodigy - Return of the Mac
2. Sean Price - Jesus Price Superstar
1. Brother Ali - Undisputed Truth
(Full gist)

Bonus List:

Rizoh’s Favorite Non-Hip-Hop Albums of 2007
5. Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad (shhh)
4. Jill Scott - Collaborations
3. White Stripes - Icky Thump
2. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
1. Feist - The Reminder

Sidenote: I was looking at Bol’s Best 10 yesterday and thought, “Wow, we agree on all but four albums.” In fact, two of the albums I briefly considered for my own Top 10–Ear Drum and Hip-Hop Lives–also made his list. (Btw, that Prodigy album is good, please believe.)

What’s yours?

Just a few albums I care about right now…

10. DJ Babu - The Beat Tape Vol.1
9. Shaman Works - Retrospective: Looking Back to Look Forward
8. DJ Bunty - Hip-Hop Ain’t Dead
7. KRS-One & Marley Marl - Hip-Hop Lives
6. Brother Ali - The Undisputed Truth
5. Wise Intelligent - The Talented Timothy Taylor
4. DJ Jazzy Jeff - Return of the Magnificent
3. Blue Scholars - Bayani
2. Ayatollah - Louder
1. Wax Taylor - Hope & Sorrow

What’s in your changer right now?

Just what I’m diggin’ at the moment, Ladies & Gents….

#5.

Soulful and cohesive from start to finish. (Cop this now.)

#4.

You can bump this while cleaning up your house without worrying about skipping a track. (Cop this now.)

#3.

Dope beats, dope rhymes, what more do y’all want? (Cop this on May 15th.)

#2.

Devin’s half-sung raps and southern fried grooves can get you through the worst traffic no matter where you’re headed in life. (Cop this now.)

#1.

An emotionally honest record laced with a litany of broiling gems. The undisputed best rap album of the first quarter. (Cop this on April 10th.)