Jay-Z

I have never seen artwork get so much love as when this dropped but since I support the music and not the hype here is the actual song. Lex Luger is certainly not even close to a producer who does stuff I like but we should probably be happy that it isn’t the same as “BMF/MC Hammer” since they are almost identical songs. I’m sure the song will grow on me in the future, but if you are going “Ham” on a track shouldn’t you at least go off on some crazy lyrical shit? This song isn’t really doing it for me but I expect my stance to soften the more I listen and also hope the rest of the album picks up the slack. Shouts to GWHH for the link.

Download: Kanye West & Jay-Z – “H.A.M.” (Prod. Lex Luger)

Kanye has claimed in previous interviews that his Watch the Throne collaborative album with Jay-Z is better than My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and if a few more of these singles surface, I just might believe him. I prefer the rapping Kanye and when he spits with Jay it often pushes Kanye lyrically and has been the source of some of his wittiest rhymes. Kanye continues to mingle across genres by tapping La Roux’s Elly Jackson to sing the chorus for him and Jay and despite the title (and my hoping), she never ends up singing “That’s My Bitch”. Some have said this is a reference track leftover from Kanye’s latest album while others claim it is a leak from Watch My Throne, I am assuming the latter due to the audio quality and polished sound often reserved for near finished album cuts but you never know. Shout outs to NahRight for the download link.

Download: Kanye West & Jay-Z ft. Elly Jackson – “That’s My Bitch”

To honor his signing to Roc Nation Jay Elec unleashes these two songs courtesy of Rap Radar. I wonder how Diddy will take this one since he has been trying to get Jay E under his wing for well over a year now? My guess is he won’t take it well (and judging by the ambiguous betrayal tweets he hasn’t) but you can’t blame Jay for wanting to go with the proven winners at Roc Nation, including the other Jay. I’m hoping this means we will see his album sometimes in the next 6 months but I’m not going to hold my breath for it. Grab both downloads below the break.

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One more G.O.O.D. Friday Saturday, one more track from ‘Ye. Once this series wraps up, this will make for a damn good mixtape. “The Joy” exudes smoothness, and Kanye’s first verse is one of the best he’s spit in a while, as he goes off on the topic of unplanned pregnancies. There’s truly nothing to criticize about “The Joy” because it’s just that solid. Even so, this won’t be on the album, as is shown by what looks like to be the final official tracklist (after the jump).

Download: Kanye West – “The Joy”

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Yet another Friday, yet another musical offering from Mr. West. You might recall that Kanye’s verse to this was released almost a year ago, but now we get the full treatment with a slightly updated beat. Kanye, CyHi, Hova and Pusha T crank the arrogance up to 11 on this, living up to the cockiness of the track name and the overall theme. RZA doesn’t really do anything except repeat the hook (loudly), and Swizz is reduced to nothing more than the world’s laziest hypeman. Fortunately, he at least has the courtesy to not lay down a verse for this one, which is something that we can all appreciate. This shit is rid-ic-a-lous.

Download: Kanye West – “So Appalled”

This is the joint that features Nas’ “Power, Paper & Pussy” song and also a new Jay-Z leak called “Most Kingz” (remember when those two used to have the biggest beef in rap? I was always a Nas supporter in that ish). The new Jay song featuring Chris Martin has an interesting story of how it came to see the light of day which is explained below.

“This is my version working with the acapella…I’ve had this since 2006 and it was supposed to be on the Presidential Invasion mixtape–that never came out. Then Hov rapped these lyrics over his HP commercial drums, and the acapella went to a few different producers in search of a beat for it. I heard a Timbaland version and I think Just Blaze and a few others had it too. But by the time they made Beach Chair, I think Jay was over trying to find a beat for Most Kingz. Then he went to Flex show and the rest is history…” – Green Lantern

Most rappers turn down versions of a song created by Timbaland and Just Blaze lol, either way I’m glad it finally saw the light of day thanks to Green Lantern. Grab the tracklist and download link for the whole tape below.
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Well look who’s delivering on his promises! Ye announced recently via Twitter that every Friday would be G.O.O.D. Friday (chuuch), and talk about starting with a bang. This will be the second song on the Kanye West and Jay-Z EP entitled Watch The Throne, with the first being the “Power (Remix)”  – announced as well on Mr. West’s Twitter. With Kanye playing the role of rap’s Santa Claus, the hype surrounding his yet-to-be titled album continues to shoot up. “Monster” features four ridiculous verses from four different rappers. It’s easy to say that Hov bodied this, which he rightfully did, but Rawse, with his bawse flow and bravado, and Ms. Minaj with her crazy Harajuku Barbie antics do well to not be looked over. Also, applaud the fact that Kanye somehow found a way to fit in indie folk rockers Bon Iver onto this lineup.

Download: Kanye West – “Monster” feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver

Now this is a remix! The beat, the structure, and of course the Hova verse is new, making this a worthwhile wait.  With Kanye going off at a hundred-thousand-trillion, he naturally steals the spotlight. Jay isn’t far behind with some stellar bars of his own either. There’s not much more I can say about this, so grab the download link and check the lyrics after the jump.

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Not long after Khaled premiered this on his radio show, we now have the CDQ to easily the most anticipated track off of  the Bawse’s Teflon Don. The conspiracy theories about Jay and possible Free Mason/Illuminati affiliations stretch way back and have a much stronger following than I could’ve ever imagined. There are people who don’t want a thing to do with Jay-Z or his music, regardless if they admired him in the past, because of their beliefs that he is part of some religious cult. My fondest memory of this conspiracy has to be the post I wrote for the “On To The Next One” video and the endless back-and-forth arguing with a certain Roy who chose to disassociate himself from all things Hov after watching the music video. To this song now, there is no denying that Jay-Z goes in. It’s not often that he addresses issues regarding him such as beefs directly in his music (although he certainly doesn’t mind throwing in a handful of sneaky diss lines here and there), so rest assured that when Jay appears on a track entitled “Free Mason” he takes the argument and shuts it down. The most interesting thing about “Free Mason” however is not the conspiracies themselves, but Hov’s lyrical game. Clearly, he still is capable of stringing together an incredible verse, so why did BP3 sound so tired and uninspired? That’s a conspiracy for another day.

Download: Rick Ross- “Free Mason” feat. Jay-Z [CDQ]

“I’m reading lost words out of the apocrypha”

One more off of I’m Better Than You, which is shaping up to be quite the mixtape. The beat has been thrown around alot ever since the initial leak, and now it’s Mickey’s turn to do his work on it. He doesn’t pull of any triple entendres or make any unecessary Kelsey Grammar shout-outs, but he still does do justice to the instrumental. The biggest difference between this project and #ALPHA seems to be that Mickey is going back to mixtape basics with I’m Better Than You and focussing on showing off his lyrical talents as opposed to going for a general theme or concept, and it seems to be working for him so far.

Download: Mickey Factz – “Light Up” Freestyle

Previously: “Bitch I Think I’m”; “Watch For The Hook” Freestyle