Good news

It's amazing how internet can change your life. Because not only is internet a impressive tool of knowledge, it also became a cookie of fortune, depending on what you find in your email box, your favorite google search or whatever.

Today, I decided to check for a simple search on my album (the only actual album on the net), "a soul has no shape" and guess what I've found :

- a lot of internet sites that actually dig into hiphopbootleggers to feed their followers have taken my album from there
- I found myself in some rapidshare search engines
- Reviews and critics for the album


But the best surprise is a DJ selection. Yes, a DJ selection. Well the DJ is obsessed with robots so he made 2 podcasts with two of my beats in 'em ! How cool is that !

Here's the link for the two podcasts, kid's name elmattic :

http://elmattic.podbean.com/2009/10/02/bombs-over-cyberiad/
http://elmattic.podbean.com/2009/09/04/sympathy-for-the-database/

And thank you elmattic, nice job, you made my day !

Peace to all.

Raekwon's OBCL II Review

Well after some 5 years in the making, here it is finally. was it worth the waiting ? Here's the review :

1/ Return of the norh star :

Good soulfull intro, with knowledge brought by poppa wu, ok. But the instrumental changes like three times and suddenly rae starts talking… Let’s say it’s too long and confusing for an intro.

Instrumental 7/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

2/ House of flying daggers

Oh my ! finally a wu banger ! The instrumental is easy, repetitive and yet blazing fire ! All guests spit fire with special mention to Deck who outshines any other guest on this album. Extra bonus for the great visual on the video.

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

3/ Sonny’s missing

Ok. I get the story. I get the connection with one of the best producers ever. But it just doesn’t work that much. Could expect a better production from Pete maybe. Plus no hook… MMMh

Instrumental 6/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

4/ Pyrex Vision

I just love this track, the sample, the flow switch, except it’s not a song, just a snippet of what could have been a highlight of the album. Too Bad…

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

5/ Cold Outside

The instrumental isn’t that spectacular, but the feeling and the theme are interesting. Ghost is pure heat when it comes to describe the violent bitter of the street. Rae can thank Suga Bang Bang for that hook. Good track.

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

6/ Black Mozart

We all know the sample already. Diddy used it, Ayatollah used it… but hey, it’s the godfather anthem ! You can’t make a classic mobster album without mentioning
Coppolla’s masterpiece.
Problem is I can stand that fuckin’ chorus ! Deck kills it again. RZA did the minimum on the production though.

Instrumental 6/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

7/ Jihad

One question : what if this track never been on the album ? Would it have been a loss. I don’t think so. Baby production, classic rhymes and theme, lazy chorus. Don’t feel it at all…
PS : Shout out to a horny Ghost on the joint !

Instrumental : 5/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 6/10

8/ New Wu

I’ve been crazy for this joint since its leak. Great inspiration by RZA, a nostalgic/classic chorus by Meth, plus he kills it with his own verse : “… And two divas with the tops missing, now that’s living to me, I’m what this kids killing to be, but I don’t want my children to be…” think about it…

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 9/10

9/ Penitentiary

Classic 50/50 track Rae&Ghost on a old boom breakbeat, I can walk with those two mastering teachers in OZ !

Instrumental 7/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

10/ Baggin’ Crack

I can smell the coke cookin in the kitchen with this track. Got that old 70’s funky crack era shit, really great production by Sermon. Could’ve been better with a chorus though.

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

11/ Surgical gloves

Ok, ALC & Rae. Been waiting for this collabo since I heard Alc will be featured on the productions. But ALC didn’t come really fresh with this and I really find the chorus lazy as hell… disappointing. Prodigy would kill this beat.

Instrumental 7/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

12/ Broken Safety

Highlight over here man ! Waw, Jada is a beast as he always is on a feature, but the biggest surprise is the production which is really interesting with all that snare switch and shit. How about a Nas verse on this ? Funny how people always call Jada and Styles for features, never Sheek Louch… wonder why…

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

13/ Canal Street

Track takes way too long to begin, can stand those strings, Rae could have skipped this one. Mixtape song.
Instrumental 6/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

14/ Aason Jones

I have a problem with this one. Lyrics are all sentimental and shit but this beat is so perfect without a voice on it ! Sorry just getting my producer geek shit ! Dilla RIP !

Instrumental 10/10 – Lyrics Vibe 8/10

15/ Have Mercy

We are back in the 90’s with this right here ! Anyone agree with me that blue raspberry never knew how to sing ! I had that joke with Qrazsirs about Blue singing and humming in the studio without listening to music and then RZA would just put her voice to any random instrumental.
Really good verse by Beanie.

Instrumental 7/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

16/ 10 bricks

Those horns at the beginning of the song are so vintage ! love that one shot guitar riff, it smells like heroin ! Thx Dilla, I love u man ! Cappadonna is lazy though (how about a scarface feature on this ?), but the construction of the beat is really good and makes you forget everything. too bad it was already on "Champion Sound" album..

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

17/ Fat Lady Sings

Again a baby production from RZA ,but the sample is so addictive, so 70’s, so fitting the album concept that you just can miss with this one.

Instrumental 7/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 9/10

18/ Catalina

Wow ! Smells like chronic ! Na really DRE is a beast with this and Rae just doesn’t miss the connection. It’s dope, it’s dre, what more can I say ? Special dedication to that intro “don’t disturb the doctor”

Instrumental 9/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 9/10

19/ We will rob you

One of those Wu collabo’s that you find in any solo album, really great verse by GZA… but was Slick Rick necessary ?

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

20/ About Me

A little less blazing production by DRE, but there is Mr. bus a bus in this and his verse is simply nuts ! I love it when he spits with that deep laid-back flow.

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

21/ Mean Streets

Except Deck’s verse, there’s really no need for this track. Allah used to bless us with better productions.

Instrumental 6/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

22/ Kiss the ring

Really good final track, thank deck for the chorus and the verse, acknowledge the wu as the greatest and kiss the ring bitch…

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 9/10

Overall :

Instrumental : 7/10
Lyrics/Vibe : 8/10

Conclusion : I have been waiting for this album for the last 5 years and I can’t say I’m disappointed nor glad with the result. Rae has always been a great rapper to me, I even recognize him as the best lyricist on Wu-Tang’s Forever double LP, but after more than 15 years as a hardcore wu fan, I’m kind of had enough of all the coke stories and robberies.
It’s like all those mafia movies, you can’t always have a godfather or a scarface. That shit happens once in a decade. Even served with some great productions this album has some flaws and there are a lot of tracks that could(must) have been trashed.
So here’s my advise if you still wanna make it up with Rae’s album and switch into a new classic : redo the final tracklist as followed :

1/ Return of the north Star
2/ House of flying daggers
3/ Sonny’s missing
4/ Pyrex vision
5/ Cold outside
6/ Black Mozart
7/ New Wu
8/ Baggin’ Crack
9/ Surgical gloves
10/ Broken Safety
11/ Have Mercy
12/ 10 bricks
13/ Catalina
14/ We will rob you
15/ About Me
16/ Kiss the ring

Try this at home… Peace God !

First review

Well I'ma try smt new for yall : a music review, so here's the first one, JAY-Z Blueprint 3.
Tell me what you think, and don't forget to post comments, that's what keeps a blog alive.

1/ What we talkin’ about

I’ve been down with those lyrics since the Vegas freestyle, but I couldn't expect a better production. One great song to begin an album with. “I don’t run rap no more, I run the map…”

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 9/10

2/ Thank you

Confusing. The horn samples always seem to perfectly suit the voice/persona/charisma of Jay but I can’t stand that fuckin’ clap ! Come on NO ID ! It’s blueprint for god sake ! Jay second verse sucks, but the third one (without snares !) is lyrically sharp, so mmm…

Instrumental 7/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

3/ DOA

Hi haters ! You will never hear a track like this in your life again ! You will never here gimmicks like that in your life again ! You will never make a video like that again ! This shit violent ! That saxo back is killin’ me ! I love this shit right here ! Verse 2 and 3 could have been better though…

Instrumental 9/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 9/10

4/ Run this town

Ok, remove Kanye’s verse, the stupid Nanananana shit from the chorus, you could even get rid of Rihanna, and then you’ll get a great hiphop track ! Because jay’s verses are really catchy ! “All black everything…”. Great production by Kanye though !

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

5/ Empire State of mind

Best song in the album period. I’ve been playing this in my car for the last days. Alicia’s singing breaks through the sky-scrappers and spreads worldwide. All you can do is love NY even more after this song. Jay is the Sinatra of the hiphop world.

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 10/10

6/ Real as it gets

Someone on the net blogged that Jay bought a song from Jeezy’s last album. Couldn’t be more real… as it gets. Some random hustler’s anthem with a easy/catchy/lazy ? production… Could suit an OST, but not a follow-up to a classic.

Instrumental 7/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

7/ On to the next one

I’m on to the next song. Fuck Swizz beat and fuck jay even more for fuckin’ with him. Can wait to see how much he paid for this beat.

Instrumental 3/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 5/10

8/ Off that

I don’t agree with all the hatin surrounding Timbo’s latest production. This is a regular bounce track by timbo. And the running theme of BP3 “I already did everything and I’m not quiting kiddo” is really enhanced in this track. Plus that “ay ay” add lib from tim is really addictive. Plus second verse is crazy !

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

9/ A star is born

I don’t feel this shit at all even if the lyrics are kind of resuming hiphop history as seen by Jay. But the “everyday a star is born” on the chorus is just annoying. Good verse by J. Cole though. Kanye time to upgrade your game, son.

Instrumental 6/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 7/10

10/ Venus vs. Mars

Probably one of the best tracks in the album. Love it for the originality of both the beat and the construction of the verses and the flow. Try a lapdance with your chick on this.

“ Me I’m from the apple which means I’m MAC, she’s a PC she lives on my lap…”

Instrumental 8/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 9/10

11/ Already Home

Finally some old, banging, classic old school Kanye beat. This song is good from the beat to the chorus to Jay’s exceptional second verse. This is a song for a blueprint sequel. Finally.

Instrumental 9/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 9/10

12/ Haters

WTF number 1 : Beat is wack, a "808&headaches" left over. Jay, you should learn to refuse a bad song when you see one. Kanye can’t rhyme.

Instrumental 5/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 5/10

13/ Reminder

WTF number 2 : awful chorus means unlistenable song. Production isn’t that good neither.

Instrumental 6/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 4/10

14/ So ambitious

The average Neptune’s song for a jay album. I can work with it. Nothing exceptional, but lyrics are welcome.

Instrumental 7/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 8/10

15/ Forever young

If Jay wasn’t hooked with B, I’d probably say he turned gay… WTF is this song ? Next time you should sample a Boy George song ! Come on jay ? Plus the half rapped/half sang flow is really BS. Aaaargh Jay, if you want to experiment, how about a Illmind or a jake one or a krysis beat ?

Instrumental 6/10 – Lyrics/Vibe 5/10

Over all :

Instrumental : 7/10

Lyrics/Vibe : 7/10

Conclusion : Disappointing is not the right term. Jay is the greatest, no doubt about it. You can listen to BP3 all along even if it's painfull sometimes to go through the whole song. The first 5 tracks are well adjusted, coherent, relevant but once you start with "real as it gets", it becomes everything but... a blueprint. you get lost.

BP 1 was a classic, BP 2 could have been a single CD and be a classic too, but BP3 is just a random new era/pop contaminated hiphop album, that has the luck to be supported by a true and real MC. If it was given to one average newcomer (DRAKE, Gucci Mane or who the fuck ever), I wouldn't listen to the shit at all.

And yeah, Jay ain't too old to rap, GAME...

News

Wassup everybody ? This is me again, the worst blogger of all time !
Well I am really at the edge of quitting music because my life has changed in the most signicant way : back to Tunisia, first official job, 48 hours a week !

anyway, I'll try to catch up with all my projects, but nothing is less sure...

To be continued... or not.

Fuck NBA 2K9

I hate this fucking game ! Makes me feel like a fucking looser !
Every day I come back from work, try to relax, I say "hey, what about a nba 2k9 game ?"
And then I just realise that the fucking xbox CPU just fucknig hates me, and I lose, everytime (Stats : 3 V, 18 L)
Fuck that game ! Come on Kobe with an air ball ? Fuck that. That Jason Kidd puts every shot at 3 !
Fuck it ! When I play with him he just misses every shot !
fuck you cpu !
ok that's all i had to say !
til next time...
peace

Sale opéra pour l'arme de paix

J'écris ces lignes tout de suite après avoir digéré le passage d'Oxmo Puccino sur France2, 'on n'est pas couché' de Laurent Ruquier.

Ce sera très bref, aussi bref qu'aura duré son passage.

1/ On ne fait pas passer Mr. Ox', le black mafioso, le cactus de Sibérie, en dernier, surtout après... Sophie Favier.

2/ On ne donne pas un album de Mr. Oxmo à être critiqué par 2 momies culturelles, Naulleau et Zemmour, qui de leur propre aveu, ne connaisse rien au Rap.

3/ On ne dit pas de "Mama Lova" que c'est un concentré de cliché "rap" parce qu'on y parle de gun et de shit. "Mama Lova", c'est 1998, bordel ! Qu'est ce que vous connaissez à cette "golden era", au choc qu'à representé "Sad Hill", à l'effet Time Bomb ? La dernière musique de jeunes que vous avez écouté, c'est David Bowie !

4/ On ne dit pas que la comparaison avec Jacques Brel est surfaite, et qu'il faut l'arrêter, Jacques Brel est mort, Ox est là, et il faudrait peut être vous y mettre, ou ne critiquer que les albums parus en 1966.

5/ Ox' appelles moi, ou email moi, j'ai des sons et des couplets pour toi... J'ai pris ma plume la première fois grâce à toi, à Chill... et à Aznavour.

Au fond, on est les seuls à écouter Brel et Ox' avec la même passion, et c'est pour ça en fait, qu'on est plus vivant que vous.

Il est vraiment temps que la télé nous représente, nous, les vivants.

Peace !

People, I'm not dead !

Wassup ? I know it's been a while now, but I'm still alive and back for buisness !

I'll be back with more stuff right on time, but here's a little two beats that I made for the illmatic remix contest up on kevin nottingham's site. The beats were not on the final album cut, but I was close, here they are anyway.

Peace, til next time !

Illtravis - State of mine (produced by Rouh)
Illtravis - The World Is Mine Too (produced by Rouh)