Kid Ink- My Own Lane ALBUM REVIEW

To be honest, this is an album I was really not excited to listen to, and a review I was just not excited to write. Kid Ink is easily one of my least favorite rappers at the moment. He has an irritating voice, and he has never really had any lyrical ability in my opinion. There are definitely a lot more pop rappers who I enjoy more right now This California rapper also seems to be stuck between mainstream and underground right now, putting this album in a bit of an awkward spot. Will Kid Ink make me a fan with this new studio album?

As a rapper, Kid Ink's weaknesses eventually outnumber his strengths. Unfortunately, for all his catchy hooks and occasionally solid lyrics, he struggles mightily with delivery, flow, and just putting together good verses. This guy's verses are just so empty to me, as he isn't really saying anything aside from the nice punchline every once in a while. I got extremely bored during his verses all over this album. None of these songs have really distinct lyrical ideas, as all of them are either about the same old lame topics: women, haters, or his come-up. Even what Kid Ink labels as a "personal track" ends up sounding like the others and doesn't make me feel anything. My favorite songs on this album are the ones with catchy hooks, because at least these are listenable. The first two songs, Hello World and The Movement, were both upbeat, good songs with extremely catchy hooks. Rollin was a decent song that I enjoyed compared to the others on the album, but it really was not a very good song. Even some of the feature tracks that I was excited for were disappointing. Murda, which featured one of my favorite rappers, Pusha T, was a pretty corny track overall, with a lackluster Pusha verse. Iz U Down featuring Tyga was boring as well. One of the worst moments on the entire album came from Machine Gun Kelly's guest verse on No Miracles. Absolutely terrible. The worst song, though, that I'm saving for last, is the nauseating love song, Tattoo of My Name. This song topic was just stupid and the ballad type track that Kid Ink was going for turned out awful.

The beats on this album were definitely better than the rapping, but of course, that isn't saying much. The instrumentals, while catchy, were not anything new or interesting. My favorite beat here was probably the song The Movement. The fast, upbeat nature of this beat had my head bopping the whole time, and is just had a very cool and infectious sound. The song I Don't Care was a pretty good, atmospheric beat and Murda was the most experimental of the bunch, with a vocal sample throughout that created a dark vibe for the song. Besides these, a lot of these beats sounded similar, like regular radio commercial hip hop beats. Some of these really sounded rushed, thrown together, and generic. Hello World, Main Chick, Rollin, and No Miracles all had extremely lazy, common instrumentals that I feel like I have heard hundreds of times.

MY OWN LANE WRAP UP
+Really catchy hooks on some songs
+Some good instrumental moments
-Kid Ink is a weak MC; no flow and terribly uninteresting
-Generic, rushed instrumentals all over
-No variety in anything; lyrics, song topics, beats
-Features didn't bring anything, not even Pusha T

Best: Hello World, The Movement, Rollin

Worst: Tattoo of My Name

Kid Ink- My Own Lane
3.8/10

Roc Marciano- Marci Beaucoup ALBUM REVIEW

Roc Marciano is one of those rappers who will always kill a guest verse, but hasn't yet put together a great solo album. His last album, Reloaded, was pretty good, but had very little replay value, with zero features and a similar flow and delivery on every track. At the same time, Roc's flow and delivery are both sick. The guy is easily one of the best and most technically skilled rappers right now. With this album having a lot of features and full production from Roc Marciano himself, I was pretty excited to listen to it.

From an instrumental standpoint, Roc Marciano proves himself to be a very sharp producer. Roc quickly establishes that his beats have a signature sound: old school samples and smooth instrumentation. While at first the production seems a little too samey, further listening proves some beats do stand out compared to others. My favorite beat on this album is easily the first track, Love Means. The sample is just looped and cut so well as it repeats over and over. The beat is smooth, relaxing, and just an awesome instrumental. While a number of beats on this album, such as the songs 456, Cut the Check, Drug Lords, are very peaceful and calm, there are some harder, high energy instrumentals here.  The song Didn't Know has an awesome mixture of high pitched piano keys and loud, booming drums, giving it an old school hip hop feel combined with new flavor.  I do have an issue with several of the beats on Marci Beaucoup. This issue is that a lot of them, particularly the ones with samples, are a little overdone. The samples are sometimes too loud, taking attention away from the rapping. This doesn't happen on that many songs, but it definitely gets a little annoying on 456, Psych Ward, and Soul Music.

The rapping on Marci Beaucoup is pretty good, overall. Roc Marciano sticks a feature on every track, giving this album a lot of personality and variety. My favorite collaboration here is easily the second song, Squeeze. This one features Ka and Guilty Simpson, and both of them kill it. Ka's laid back, quiet rapping style was perfect over this beat, and Guilty Simpson follows with a lot of energy and some nice lines. Another solid feature track is Didn't Know, which has Freeway and Knowledge the Pirate. While Knowledge the Pirate really wasn't that great here, Freeway more than made up for it. He absolutely murdered this verse, with quotables all over the song , and I just love how animated he is while rapping. The last feature song I want to talk about is the song War Scars featuring Cormega and Ag Da Coroner. There is not much to say about this one, as it was just a very good track with nice verses from all three rappers. Other good features for me were Boldy James, Evidence, Maffew Ragazino, and Blu. All of these guys made their songs better and had great verses. Roc Marciano himself was very consistent throughout this album, but almost to a fault. His verses on these songs were good, but it seemed like he didn't change anything up throughout  the album. All his verses really sounded similar, with great flow, awesome wordplay, and a quiet delivery. It gets a little monotonous. I still respect how great of a rapper this guy is, though.

MARCI BEAUCOUP WRAP UP
+Roc Marciano has amazing technical rapping ability and lyrics
+The features were pretty solid for the most part
+Smooth, relaxing production with some nice samples
-Roc Marciano spits the same kind of verse on every song, gets a little boring
-Some of the songs sounded rushed
-A few of the instrumentals interfered with the rapping, creating some awkward songs

Best: Love Means, Squeeze, Didn't Know

Worst: Soul Music

Roc Marciano- Marci Beaucoup
7.4/10

Evidence & Alchemist- Lord Steppington ALBUM REVIEW

This review is one that I have been very excited to do, as this album was one of my most anticipated for 2014. This is California MC Evidence and famed producer The Alchemist getting together for a collaboration album, titled Lord Steppington. The Alchemist has been killing it for the past few years, producing albums for rappers such as Action Bronson, Domo Genesis, Boldy James, Prodigy, and more. Evidence is the latest MC to receive the Alchemist treatment. How will this ver anticipated album end up sounding.

Starting with the rapping, Lord Steppington actually features Alchemist rapping on almost every song, unlike his other projects. Alchemist holds his own on his verses, though, as he has a unique voice and his flow is pretty solid. Some verses are a lot better than others, but overall, he was pretty good rapping on this album. The highlight, though, is Evidence. He is a sharp MC, and I absolutely love everything about his style. He has a lazy voice and delivery, but he goes at a lot of different speeds and his flow is always changing. On songs like More Wins and Legendary Mesh, Evidence carries the tracks with some sick verses and great lyrics. Besides the great duo of Evidence and Alchemist, the other highlight of this album would be the features. They really elevate the project and bring variety to it. On the song Byron G, Domo Genesis and Mad Skillz put in great verses to really make an epic song. On Mums in the Garage and See the Rich Man Play, which feature Action Bronson and Roc Marciano, respectively, the guest verses make already great songs even better. On the other hand, some of the features make songs that were a bit forgettable and make them good. This happens on No Hesitation featuring Styles P, and also on Draw Something featuring Oh No. Finally, the song Tomorrow is a relaxing posse cut with Rakaa and Blu spitting great verses on it. Overall, Evidence was fantastic, Alchemist was pretty good, and the features were just awesome.

With the beats on this album, Alchemist simply continued his winning streak. The beats on this album are fantastic. In my opinion, his production on this album was some of his best in years. It was a lot more ambitious, varied, and unique than on the projects he produced for Boldy James and Prodigy. He brings out ridiculous samples and puts together some crazy sounds. My favorite instrumental on this album was the song Dr. Kimble. This one was just an infectious, grimy, sick synth riff that just flowed all over the place, and it sounded nasty. Combined with the signature Alchemist drums, this one was an absolute banger. The song Step Masters was pretty similar, as this one featured more sharp drums and unique sounds that just had my head bopping. Mums in the Garage was another beat that really stood out. It wasn't as unique as others, but it still stood it out for its catchiness. The only shaky part of the production was the sampling. On some songs it really worked, like See the Rich Man Play and Tomorrow. On some songs, though, it was just a little too weird and came off sounding corny, this definitely happened on Banging Sounds featuring Fashawn and Buzzing Away. Evidence even produced one track here, Byron G. He really killed it, as the drums sounded sick mixed in with some soft guitar sounds. It was a sick instrumental, definitely one of my favorites. The production on this album was awesome, had a lot of variety, and didn't sound anything I've heard before.

LORD STEPPINGTON WRAP UP
+sharp verses from Evidence all over the album
+Alchemist was very solid as a rapper
+Evidence and Alchemist's chemistry is great
+Terrific features
+Ambitious production from Alchemist
-Some corny moments in the production

Best: Byron G, Dr. Kimble, Tomorrow

Worst: Buzzing Away

Evidence & Alchemist- Lord Steppington
8.4/10

Retch- Polo Sporting Goods MIXTAPE REVIEW

Today, for my first review of 2014, I will be reviewing Polo Sporting Goods, the new mixtape from New Jersey MC Retch. I have heard this guy on a few features and I was really feeling it. He has a grimy, mean delivery and his voice always catches whenever he starts rapping on a track. After seeing the features on this mixtape, I decided to give it a listen. Will Retch become one of my favorite underground artists with this new mixtape?

To start with the production, it is all done by Thelonious Martin. The beats on this mixtape don't have a whole lot of variety to them. I woudn't say this is a bad thing, though, as this happens on most projects that are only done by one producer. There were some seriously great instrumentals on this project, and the first one that really stuck out to me was the song Burgundy Windbreaker. This one made use of some happy, high-pitched synths that went in and out of the same melody throughout the song. It was a very catchy beat and it had an emotional, fun vibe to it. Pimp Sport was another good beat, as it featured a relaxing female vocal combined with some soft percussion sounds. This beat sounded really great. The best instrumental on this album was easily the intro, Graceful Jewelry Removal. It was unlike any hip hop beat I have heard in a while, as it had a very unique and chilling sound effect playing throughout it, and i don't even know what it is, but it sounds amazing. This song also had a sinister synth line going on that gave it a dark vibe. This instrumental was just fantastic. Overall, the beats on Polo Sporting Goods were pretty good, and I really can't complain about any individual one, though I just wish there was more variety.

Retch's vocal performance on this mixtape was just awesome, to put it simply. This guy has some great qualities as a rapper. For one, he raps with a bossy and insolent demeanor on a lot of these songs. He definitely has a lot of personality. He also uses a huge variety of flows and has a pretty unique voice. On the song Odd Sweaters 1992, Retch pulls out one great line after another, as he really flexed his lyrical skills on this song. His flow was also on point, as it sounded effortless and calm. The best song on this album from a technical rapping standpoint was definitely Paul Allen's Business Card. Right from the start of this song, Retch's flow was very different from the other songs, and it was just such a memorable flow. He rode the beat so well and kept changing his delivery and flow up as the song went on. I was very impressed with his abilities on this song. Lyrically, my favorite song on this mixtape was Special Jim. This is really the only song where Retch tells a legit story. He talks about friend named Jim who a paraplegic competing in the special olympics. He really gets detailed, talking about what Jim liked on his ice cream, what he wore, and what his family was like. This track was very sentimental and the lyrics were fantastic. As far as features go, familiar names Ab-Soul, Action Bronson, and Dash make appearances, and they were all decent, but none of their verses were as good as Retch's in the songs they were on. It was a little disappointing. Ab-Soul was probably the best though, just delivering a very solid verse with some nice punchlines.

POLO SPORTING GOODS WRAP UP
+Retch is an excellent MC flow wise and has great delivery
+Great punchlines and lyrics
+Pretty good beats, some fantastic ones
+Cool, relaxing vibe to the tape
-Underwhelming features
-Beats were a little samey

Best: Graceful Jewelry Removal, Burgundy Windbreaker, Special Jim

Worst: Blue Fin Tuna

Retch- Polo Sporting Goods
8.2/10

TOP 25 HIP HOP SONGS OF 2013

Similar to my top 10 hip hop albums of 2013 list, these are my top 25 favorite hip hop songs from 2013.

25. Boldy James- Reform School (feat. Earl Sweatshirt, Dash, & Domo Genesis)

Producer: The Alchemist

Album: My 1st Chemistry Set

24. Kanye West- New Slaves

Producer: Kanye West

Album: Yeezus

23. Mellowhigh- Yu

Producer: Left Brain

Album: Mellowhigh

22. Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire- Noble Drew Ali

Producer: Constrobuz

Album: Kismet

21. Mac Miller- Bill (feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Bill)

Producer: Mac Miller

Album: Delusional Thomas

20. Drake- Pound Cake (feat. Jay-Z)

Producer: Boi-1da

Album: Nothing Was the Same

19. Black Hippy- UOENO Remix

Producer- Childish Major

Album: None

18. Flatbush Zombies- My Team, Supreme

Producer- Erick Arc Elliot

Album- Better Off Dead

17. Freddie Gibbs- Harold's

Producer- Madlib

Album- Cocaine Pinata (Upcoming)

16. Earl Sweatshirt- 20 Wave Caps (feat. Domo Genesis)

Producer- Samiyam

Album- Doris

15. Tyler, the Creator, Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, & Earl Sweatshirt- Look

Producer- Nottz

Album- None

14. Tyler, the Creator- IFHY (feat. Pharrell)

Producer- Tyler, the Creator

Album- Wolf

13. Pusha T- King Push

Producer- Kanye West, Sebastian Sartor

Album- My Name is My Name

12. Tyler, the Creator- Awkward

Producer- Tyler, the Creator

Album- Wolf

11. Big Sean- Control (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica)

Producer- No I.D.

Album- None

10. Kanye West- Black Skinhead

Producer- Kanye West

Album- Yeezus

9. Earl Sweatshirt- Sasquatch (feat. Tyler, the Creator)

Producer- Tyler, the Creator

Album- Doris

8. Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire- Paper Hearts

Producer- Dan Freeman

Album- Kismet

7. Durag Dynasty- Funyons

Producer- The Alchemist

Album- 360 Waves

6. Pusha T- Nosetalgia (feat. Kendrick Lamar)

Producer- Nottz

Album- My Name is My Name

5. Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire- Tomorrow's Gone (feat. Danny Brown, Nacho Picasso, & Flatbush Zombies)

Producer- DJ SicksentZ

Album-  Kismet

4. Captain Murphy- Between Villians (feat. MF DOOM & Earl Sweatshirt)

Producer- Flying Lotus

Album- None

3. Tyler, the Creator- Rusty (feat. Domo Genesis & Earl Sweatshirt)

Producer- Tyler, the Creator

Album- Wolf

2. Earl Sweatshirt- Hive (feat. Vince Staples & Casey Veggies)

Producer- Earl Sweatshirt, Matt Martians

Album- Doris

1. Pusha T- Numbers on the Boards

Producer- Don Cannon, Kanye West

Album- My Name is My Name