blakroc

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Mos Def – Quiet Dog Bite Hard

Ah, the best song category. Even though my choices were limited to hip-hop, I had a nearly impossible time compiling this list and selecting a victor. In the end, I narrowed the short-list down to the songs that got progressively better with each listen and chose the winner from that. “Quiet Dog Bite Hard” might not grab your attention in your first listen. Like me, you might ignore this song for months before giving it another chance. As you give it that second chance, then a third, a fourth and so on, you begin to realize that “Quiet Dog Bite Hard” is an addicting song. It’s lively, up-tempo bounce puts you in a good mood and the beat that drives this feeling is hard to dislike. The Latin flair in the instrumental feels more rhythmic and energetic than any standard hip-hop beat from this year.The quiet “simmer down” hook accentuates the high-energy verses, making the balance in this song on point. Party song or not, Mos Def delivers with some tight lyrics and his flow is just as rhythmic as the beat. “Quiet Dog Bite Hard” is not the best song of 2009 because it draws you in on the first listen; rather, it’s the best song because it retains your interest for many more listens to come.

Check out and listen to the full list of honorable mentions after the jump.

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Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon: The End Of Day

This was not an easy choice. I was struggling between this and Mos Def’s The Ecstatic for weeks, but ultimately, I felt that Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon: The End Of Day was the more complete album. Presented as a mini-movie with its division into acts, narration by Common, and movie poster included with the CD, this album took the listener on a trip through Cudder’s mind. Not much straight rapping is actually done on the album (only a few tracks have verses that are solely rapped), but it still felt like hip-hop. Man On The Moon is so far the greatest work expressing the new school of thought in hip-hop, which proves that the genre is not defined as songs performed through rapping just as rock is not defined as songs with guitars. The production on this album was fantastic and it works well with the concept of a voyage through the mind. All that being said, Kid Cudi doesn’t let the album get weighed down by deep, heavy tracks and keeps it all in check with the inclusion of some more light-hearted songs like “Make Her Say” and “Pursuit Of Happiness”. Is Cudi a lyrical maestro? Absoulutely not. But this only makes me eager to see what he’ll be able to achieve once he becomes a more developed artist. 

See which albums made the list of honorable mentions after the jump.

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Blakroc

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Song: Stay Off The Fuckin’ Flowers feat. Raekwon

There have been many instances in music history when rap and rock collided to form products that we would much rather forget (insert Limp Bizkit joke here). Although the idea itself does not seem radical or impossible by any means, the success rate of rap/rock projects is abysmal. This was definitely not the case for Blakroc, a collaboration project between blues-rock duo The Black Keys and Dame Dash which exceeded everyone’s expectations. This project succeeded because of how well blues-rock works with hip-hop and because of the calibre of talent amongst the artists on the album allowed the music to come about naturally as opposed to contrived and forced (which is how many rap/rock projects sound). Everyone on this album brought their A-game; hell, even Jim Jones surprised everyone by spitting two of the hottest verses on the entire album (need I remind you that we’re comparing Jim Jones to other featured rappers like Mos Def and Q-Tip). Blakroc is the best collaboration project of the year because it never once felt forced.

After the jump, read and listen to the full list of honorable mentions for this category. Read the rest of this entry »

Kid Cudi – Solo Dolo (Executive Producer, Kanye West; Co-Executive Producer, Emile Haynie)

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Best does not always mean biggest, and this instrumental proves just that. Kanye and his co-producers helped make the movie/play concept of Man On The Moon: The End Of Day come to life by offering the perfect backdrops to Kid Cudi’s lyrics. The beat behind “Solo Dolo” captures the eerie loneliness in the words with its pizzicato minor triad looping through the verses leading into the full sound of the strings section in the chorus. Even the reverb is perfect, allowing notes to resonate through otherwise silent moments. Kanye and Emile prove that the producers should never steal the show but rather build the stage upon which the show is acted out.

Read and listen to the full list of honorable mentions for this category after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

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Yet another leaked single off of the new Dame Dash/Black Keys project, Blakroc, coming out the 27th of November. The moment this track started, I immediately thought it was so dirty and so raw – which is perfect for Raekwon. Honestly, try listening to this track without nodding your head along with it. Definitely go check out The Black Keys’ earlier work because their blues sound will sit well with hip-hop heads. One last point and that is I’ve always been on the fence about having curse words in song titles, because it makes it that much harder to push the song – then again, this is 2009, it’s not like anyone’s shocked anymore.

Download: The Black Keys feat. Raekwon – “Stay Off The Fuckin’ Flowers”

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  This is the first buzz song for the new album by The Black Keys, Blakroc. As I mentioned in an earlier post, they’re an Ohio-based blues-rock duo who are collaborating with a slew of rappers for their upcoming album. This track makes me want to say something that I never thought I would say: Jim Jones murders this song. This is by far the hardest I’ve heard him go in (and by hard I don’t mean fake thuggery) and I was totally impressed. Mos Def sings the hook only, so no new verses from in. Strangely enough, that didn’t even matter with how well Jones did on this joint. I will definitely be posting up any more buzz tracks/leaks to come off  this album as time progresses. Download here.

My prayers have been answered. Literally just yesterday, I asked in a post for more recorded hip-hop to be backed up by talented bands, and now I’ve got it. The Black Keys are an Ohio-based blues-rock duo and they will be releasing a collaboration project with a motherload of incredible rappers called Blakroc on November 27 (Black Friday). Here are just some of the rappers the duo will be featuring on their latest album:

• Mos Def
• RZA
• Ludacris
• Pharoahe Monch
• The late ODB
• Raekwon

Click here to see the teaser video on their website (seriously, watch it: if you aren’t excited about this news yet, you will be after hearing this collection of snippets from recording sessions). I am positively ecstatic right now. This is a talented duo that personifies genuine American blues-rock, and they’re comfortably reaching out to hip-hop. Without a doubt, the greatest advancement to occur in this decade’s hip-hop is the community’s bolder openness to breaking the mould and fusing styles.