The creators of legendary anthems like ‘Illegal Life’, ‘Bloody Money’ and ‘T.O.N.Y’ finally get the chance to make a whole record together. Without mentor Tragedy on deck, will this be more like The Reunion than The War Report?
‘Intro’
Here we get to remember all the classic shit they did in the 90s. Prepare for it all to go downhill from here. It’s gotta be tough for dudes like CNN and Raekwon to forever live in the shadow of near-perfect debuts.
‘United We Stand’
Solid opening. Good beat (with the exception of that annoying ‘swooosh!’ shit). Capone delivers as usual.
‘Rotate’ feat. Busta Rhymes & Ron Browz
The beat on this is pretty hard – Ron Browz on the AutoTune does his best to undo his good work with a horrible hook. Still a great ignorant club record though. (more…)
“I’m ready to name names – you lucky Preemo is cool with you lames!”
This vinyl-only exclusive is the best song I’ve heard this year – I’m non-progressive like that. Taken from the ‘Ain’t Nuttin’ Changed/Don’t Give A Fucc’ single on Year Round Records.
There are plenty of attractive women in hip-hop – the problem is that most of them are just nameless video chicks. When you examine the finest looking rap dames who’ve had kids, the field narrows considerably. Factor in such requirements as aging gracefully and not going mental, and the list is reduced to a mere slither. As a result of hours of extensive research, Unkut Dot Com been able to select what we consider to be the eight hottest rap MILF’s in the game and randomly match them up against each other on the basis of how good they looked way back when, how fly they still look and what talent they might possess to further add to their overall appeal. Sure, you might argue that this kind of objectification of women is further reinforcement of the ‘Man’s World’ mentality that dominates hip-hop, and you’d probably be correct. But spare a thought for the eye candy of limited ability who might otherwise never garner a mention in the columns of this fine website. Don’t they deserve their time to shine too?
It seems that after HipHopDX did a post about the Prodigy Top 40 Letter that a certain comment about Slaughterhouse member Crooked I seems to have gotten back to him and as you might expect, he’s pissed. And wouldn’t you know it – he just happens to do a blog over at…yep – HipHopDX:
I read your letter and you disrespectfully mentioned my name. If you don’t know why Vibe magazine chose to put me in the Best Rapper Alive issue maybe you should have researched me before you wrote what you wrote. Since you have time on your hands, you should check out week 1 thru 52 of my historical Hip Hop Weekly series. Week 33 was a freestyle over your song ‘Get Away’ (one of my favorite Mobb Deep songs). All things considered, there is a price for speaking on a real nigga sideways. Out west we call this price a ‘fade’. I need you to catch my fade, in other words, fight me 1 on 1. Nobody else, just you and me. I’ll wait for your release date since I don’t forget about shit.
P.S. Do some push ups.
The fact that P doesn’t have internets access kinda makes this whole thing pointless unless one of his loyal Stans prints out Crook’s blog and mails it P in the bing, but let’s not get bogged down in the minor details.
On the plus side, this whole thing has given me a reason to listen to something by dude: (more…)
Sure, 55% of Unkut readers “aren’t getting their hopes up” for OB4CL2, (9% would actually “rather drink paint” than listen to it when it drops), but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a certain measure of anticipation to see what The Chef can cook up, now does it?
So there’s a bit of talk about Slaughterhouse, right? Joell and Royce are sick, Buddens has his moments and…err…Crooked I? As I was saying, who would you throw into a smoke-filled studio with a bag of Chinese take-out and a case of Becks? Four MC’s, one wildcard for guest shots. Go in.
Every time Poet hits the booth, he wins. Nothing fancy, just bare-bones gutter shit with a a ton of heart from one of the most reliable troopers in the game.
Wop is a great rapper because he isn’t actually a rapper, doesn’t try too hard, he has a great flow and he keeps it simple, dummy. Plus it’s mostly the voice.
The second and final part of Unkut‘s round-up of New York’s most hardbody housing projects. Thanks again to DP for the assist. In case you missed it….Part 1.
NAME: Marcy Projects.
LOCATION: Marcy Avenue, Brooklyn.
ACTUAL FACTS: Marcy Houses has twenty-seven, 6-story buildings with 1,714 apartments. Completed January 19, 1949, the development is home to 4,385 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Medium rare. In December 2007, nine members of ‘G’s Up’, a Marcy-based crime crew were arrested on drug and weapons charges as part of a joint sting between the FBI and the NYPD. It’s claimed that the crew were raking in around $5,000 a week in cocaine sales, and are suspected to have been involved in a double homicide in the area.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, Sauce Money and The Jaz (aka Jaz-O).
LYRIC QUOTE: “You crazy, think your little bit of rhymes can play me? I’m from Marcy, I’m varsity, chump, you’re JV” Jay-Z [Jay-Z feat. Notorious B.I.G. – ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’] (more…)
The PJ’s have always been an essential part of New York hip-hop, for better or worse. You’ve heard the names of these housing projects shouted out in songs over the years, but unless you’re a well-traveled NYC resident, it’s likely you don’t know a whole lot about some of these landmarks. Here’s a piece I put together (with additional help from the homey Dallas Penn) for Hip-Hop Connection magazine last year for their ‘Violence Issue’ (hence the focus on head cracks)…
NAME: Pink Houses
LOCATION: Linden Boulevard, Brooklyn.
ACTUAL FACTS: Louis Heaton Pink was a wealthy businessman who became chairman of the New York State Housing Board, and was dedicated to the notion that private and public housing efforts would eventually eradicate slums. Louis Heaton Pink Houses has twenty-two, 8-story buildings with 1,500 apartments. Established September 30, 1959, its current population is numbered at 3,810 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. In the mid-80′s Pink Houses was the home of the infamous street gang the A-Team. A generation later the project would spawn the notorious ‘Pink Houses Crew’, a twenty-deep team of thieves accused of stealing $2.5 million worth of jewelry during a dozen robberies that took place between 2003 and 2005. Legend has it that Pink Houses residents used to split sides before fights based on what floor they lived on (8th floor vs. 7th floor etc).
SMART DUMB CATS: Foxy Brown was allegedly robbed outside of Pink Hoses when she dumped her boyfriend after discovering he was a “small-time pimp”. Ironically, he then instructed three of his “employees” to jump her. Foxy was dragged out of her car and relieved of her purse containing $500 cash, her hair weave and her hearing aid. After fingering one of her attackers to police, Foxy later decided to “stop snitching” and instead denied the whole thing ever happened.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 1/5. Uncle Murda: “I’m from Pink Houses, but I fuck with Cypress niggas. I got a lot of problems with Pink Houses. I had a lot of shootouts in Pink Houses and I hurt a lot of people, so they don’t like me too much.”
LYRIC QUOTE: “And then I take a trip to Pink Houses/Check out the girls with the pretty pink blouses” Daddy-O [‘Uda Man’ - Stetsasonic] (more…)
