Nipsey Hussle - Proud of That (ft. Rick Ross)

“Can a nigga live I’m bumping Pac I’m Blowing Big”- Rozay

“It’s not who start the strongest, but whose money’s the longest” - Rozay

Nipsey Hussle and Rick Ross collaborated on a  Jodeci sampling cut released a few weeks back. The smooth beat and Nipsey Hussle’s west coast style make it a natural fit for Rick Ross who applies a laid back flow and makes his verse seem somewhat effortless. Chemistry between the two is evident and there have been rumors of Nipsey Hussle signing to Maybach Music Group this year. He is  featured on upcoming Maybach release, Self Made Vol. 2. Nipsey Hussle is similar to pre-Maybach Wale in the sense that he makes solid music and is a skilled MC, but has been around for some time without capitalizing on crossover commercial success. Maybach Music Group could serve as a distribution platform to bring more attention to his music as it did Wale whose first deal with Interscope was a failure similar to Nipsey Hussle’s failed deal with Epic.

However, I could not see Nipsey Hussle signing for at least a short while due to Maybach’s current focus on breaking blue-collar midwest rapper Stalley and new Maybach signee, veteran R&B singer Omarion. As Maybach Music Group continues to grow, Nipsey Hussle would be a logical addition to the label because he brings a unique style that Maybach Music Group currently does not showcase. His Los Angeles swagger, reminiscent of Snoop Dogg, would bring another region that the Maybach Empire can expand its brand onto after having dominance with rappers from DC and Philadelphia. Ross should sign Nipsey Hussle not now but in the near future.

Clyde Carson - Slow Down (rmx) ft. Bow Wow

 ”young pimpin’ put his mack down bitch from the bay but my weed came from Sac-town” - Bow Wow

Above is the highlight of a quality verse Bow Wow put on Clyde Carson’s Bay area slapper “Slow Down.” The song should at least be a regional hit due to the fact that the Bay area sound is running rap radio.

Back to Bow Wow though, whose struggle with originality has led to there being a good chance his Underrated album does not drop on its initially scheduled June 12th release date. Bow Wow released two new singles in late April. The first single ” Better” is a ballad featuring T-Pain that sounds like a solid R&B hit that would have done really well around fall or winter time due to its slower tempo. It still has not been pushed towards radio (or charted) but a video is being shot so maybe Cash Money will coincide their radio promo with the video’s release. Only criticism on this record is that his flows seem to try to emulate J.Cole’s pretty directly.

The club single released entitled “In The Club” is produced by DJ Mustard of “Rack City” fame and is a definite attempt to recreate the magic of that record. It therefore obviously has no originality and Bow Wow is biting upcoming Compton rapper YG’s* whole flow, style and cadences pretty hard. For these reasons the record is a dud.

Bow Wow who can rap and has displayed hit-making ability throughout his career, needs to come with a single that showcases his own style. “Better” should be a hit, but nonetheless Bow Wow has to tone down copying other rappers if he wants his Cash Money debut to be released anytime soon.

*To expand on YG, every time a rapper releases a standard DJ Mustard record people are saying that such and such is biting Tyga when in fact Tyga’s “Rack City” is a direct bite on YG. This is because YG has been working with DJ Mustard the longest and the laid back style on these records all bite his flow pretty hard. Bow Wow in fact went on to remix YG’s new single “Pop It” after the release of “In The Club,” which is a better DJ Mustard record and has hit potential. A great example is Drake’s verse on Bay area influenced hit “The Motto” which has similarities to YG’s cadences on “I’m Good.” In summation, Def Jam should get behind “Pop It” (original version) sooner than later before more rappers from rival labels keep getting rich off of a sound, flow and style that YG created.

Samples Sampler: God’s Father by Lil B

Below are a few of the many well-executed samples off of Lil B’s God’s Father mixtape which might be his strongest project to date. As far as beat selection, an area based god has always excelled, I’m not sure there is a bad beat on the whole tape that spans a lengthy 34 tracks.

Above I posted “Be A Star” because of the highly based dialogue of a pimpin’ Lil B discussing giving up pimpin’ with one of his hoes (also played by Lil B). 

“February Confessions”

According to Lil B, he impartially feels this is one of the “best” and “realist” songs of 2012 and he might be right. It samples “I Won’t Hold You Back” by the 80s band Toto. The sample may sound familiar because Lil Wayne originally sampled this track in a leak from a few years back entitled “Smoking Section.” Both songs do it justice with Wayne’s version being a tad bit better.

“Keep It 100”

Also considered by Lil B “one of the realist songs of 2012,” “Keep It 100” samples Three 6 Mafia’s early classic “Late Night Tip” and kind of ruins a really good song. The beat is still solid but it would be hard for Lil B to outdo any of Three 6’s original members who all shined on this beat.

“I Aint Neva Won”

My initial favorite song off of God’s Father and still might be. The catchy upbeat track samples the hook of “I’m Still In Love With You” by New Edition. Produced by the Colleagues whose most notable production credit is Maino’s “Get ‘Em Tiger.” 

“Words Not Spoken”

Anyone know what beat he is sampling/covering on this it sounds like something that is classic West Coast?

Young Thug - Keep In Touch

The new winner of the I’ve been blasting this song on repeat for the last half hour and still counting award. Mr. Thug incorporates cadences of auto-tune druggy singing Lil Wayne and Wyclef Jean into a magical combination over a heavenly poppish beat. He even shouts out Ca$h Out of “Cashin’ Out” fame, which is on pace to be #1 record on urban radio as soon as next week. This sweet gesture gets Young Thug brownie points if you’re wondering. At this point based on the ear test there is a 53% chance Epic Records signs Young Thug, and if they pushed this record as a single I would not be mad at them.

DJ Drama - We In This Bitch 1.5 (ft. Drake & Future)

Drake brings vibrancy to this remix or “1.5” version of DJ Drama’s Kane Beatz produced first single off of Quality Street Music. If you take this version and plug in Ludacris’ closing verse from the original version for Future’s verse, this would be a smash. Keeping the structure of 1.5 in tact meaning this sequence:

Drake Verse, Future Hook, Ludacris Verse, Future Hook, The End.

The song would be shorter and of more quality.

OutKast - Player’s Ball (Reprise)

One of my favorite songs of all time even though its a short lived two minutes. ‘Player’s Ball (Reprise)’ serves as the outro to OutKast’s classic debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik  and an addition to the classic single ‘Player’s Ball’ both produced by legendary production team Organized Noize. The song spawned a Lil Wayne remake entitled ‘South Muzik’ off of his acclaimed mixtape Dedication 2 with DJ Drama. That tape happens to have some of the best and varied beat selection for Lil Wayne to cover at a time when he actually lived up to his title as the “best rapper alive.”