I always like to take time now to reflect on releases from the previous year. There’s so much music coming out that it is difficult to make up your mind on a top 10 at the end of the year. You’ve got to wait until early the following year and let the music sink in, sit with the output a little while before you can put a best of list together. We’re now almost at the end of February and I feel like I can present my top 10 for 2023. So here we go for another ranking, starting from the top with number 10, and making my way down to number 1. 10. Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday 2 I’ve never been much of a fan. I’ve always seen Nicki Minaj’s music as pop rather than rap and hip hop. That was until I checked out her 2018 album “Queen” on which she leaned a lot more on the rapping than the singing and that album I kind of liked. Nicki Minaj had not released a proper project since then and there was much anticipation for “Pink Friday 2”, even more so that this is the part 2 to what his seen by most a...

This solo effort by Outkast’s Big Boi recently had its 6-year anniversary last June and I just happened to play it again in that same month. I can still remember picking up the CD from Barnes & Noble in L.A. while on holiday on the Westcoast the week of its release, so I’m excited to get back to it for this review. Let’s see if it’s as enjoyable a listen as it was back in Summer 2017! Starting with the short intro track “Da Next Day”, Big Boi wastes no time asserting his confidence on the instrumental rapping a straightforward fire verse which sets the stage perfectly for the album. The following song which features Killer Mike and Jeezy, the single “Kill Ill”, sees the three Southside rap heavyweights trade hard hitting bars over a dope Asian sounding beat. You just find yourself wishing Big Boi’s raps were much more present on the track even though the cringe worthy bars about Bill Cosby supposed innocence (i.e. it’s all a conspiracy). This is actually one of the complaints from ...

  I first listened to R.A. the Rugged Man on the Soundbombing Vol. 2 compilation from Rawkus records. He appeared on the disc with the solo cut “Stanley Kubrick” which was a highlight. This same song’s beat he later accused producer The Alchemist of stealing from him for the Royce da 5’9” underground hit “I’m the King”, as heard on album opener “Lessons”. I haven’t checked much for R.A. ever since, but recently came across his debut album “Die, Rugged Man, Die” in a sale and decided to pick it up. Here’s my Rewind << Review for this 2004 release. The album kicks off with the aforementioned “Lessons” on which R.A. basically uses stories of his long career prior to the release of this debut album to reintroduce himself to listeners. The beat is pure hip hop and the verses are full of gems. I had no idea R.A. had been around so long and the song is the perfect way to start the album. The following track “Casanova (Fly Guy)” has R.A. talking about his white trash, loser ways bein...

     So I’ve been picking up a lot more new music than usual lately. Some of it is music I’ve been waiting to become available physically again because hard copies are out of print, and some of it is music I picked up randomly. Most of it, if not all, are albums and compilations that date back a few years and as I wanted to write about them, I thought I’d start this new series of “Rewind<<Reviews”.      First in line is an album I bought randomly for less than €2 and what a gem of a find that is! “Philly 2 Cali” is the debut album by rap trio Tangled Thoughts. Clocking in at 19 tracks, full of Dr. Dre-sounding beats and with DPGC rappers Kurupt and Roscoe heavily featured throughout, this album has been in heavy rotation this month. Let’s jump into this.      Tangled Thoughts consist of 3 Philadelphia rappers: Young De, Casanov and Tek Nizzle. I was already familiar with De (now named Demrick) who after releasing this group album went o...

          Maybe it's the recent Halloween with its horror themes and skeletons. Or maybe it's the fact that the group recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of their 3rd and most critically/commercially successful studio album "III: Temples of Boom" (released on 31st October 1995, same day as Halloween). Recently I have found myself listening to a lot of Cypress Hill, which is bringing back a lot of great memories from my first years getting into Hip-Hop, and has inspired me to write on this blog again.      I first got into Cypress Hill while spending some time in Austria on a school exchange programme. Back then I was listening to a lot more Alternative Rock and Metal than I did Hip-Hop. My only reference was Eminem... I remember watching TV from time to time and leaving it on a channel playing back to back music videos (probably because I could not take watching any other German-speaking TV channel then). Besides a music video from some ...

One could argue that while it is not getting as much exposure as it used to in the mid- to late 90s (except for a brief return with the Hyphy movement circa 2005-2007), the Northern California rap scene is amongst the most prolific there are. It’s yielded a bunch of great talent like Too Short, E-40, Mac Dre, C-Bo, Yukmouth, San Quinn and many more. It's also built a solid reputation for the independent grind of its artists, most of them controlling their own labels and with movements of their own. The Northern California scene is also known for the many beefs between acts. Sacramento’s Mozzy and Oakland’s Philthy Rich are great examples of that. Both have released well over 20 projects each in the 10+ years they’ve been rapping, showing their dedication and hard work. They also recently engaged into a full fledged war of words with each other, exchanging a slew of diss tracks in the last couple of months. These two were frequent collaborators and there’s no denying Philthy ...

I was shocked to hear about Nipsey's murder earlier this week. The L.A. rapper had been active for nearly 15 years when he finally released his major debut "Victory Lap" last year to both critical and fan acclaim. He was the poster child for how hard work and dedication finally pay off when you don't let go and don't compromise. His message of approaching life as a marathon rather than a sprint resonated with all audiences no matter where you're from or what your upbringing was. He really was bigger than life, and like a Tupac before him, his message touched a lot of people and he was trying to do a lot of good for his community. Outside of the "Victory Lap" album, his discography is very long and you should check out his "Bullets Ain't Got No Name" and "Marathon" mixtape series. It's been just over a year since "Victory Lap" released and as I was listening to it yesterday I couldn't help but think that...

I can't believe it's been so long. On this day 20 years ago (23rd February 1999), Eminem released his breakout album "The Slim Shady LP". While this may not be Eminem's best album ("The Marshall Mathers LP" and "The Eminem Show" top this one for me) and it is far from classic in my books, this should still be on everyone's must-have list. And what better occasion than the 20th anniversary of its release to revisit this project. I must admit I am a little biased when it comes to this album. And when I popped my original copy of the album in my CD player today, the nostalgia kicked in. The memories came back rushing of this being my first Rap/Hip-Hop CD I ever bought, back in 2000. This is this very same CD that got me into the genre in the first place. Now that I go back in, I realise why most of the hip-hop community back then saw Eminem as a gimmick and why some even saw in his rise to fame a conspiracy orchestrated by the establishm...