He weaves three different narratives of African struggle while referencing conflict-torn regions like Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Rwanda. Henry Adaso has written about hip-hop since 2005 and founded the award-winning blog The Rap Up.
This year gave us a Post Malone song we wish we didn’t like so much and a bunch of Kanye music we wish we liked more. For individual lists from our staff, I wanted to pull rank and sneak that Chunklet David Lee Roth vocal track or the Andrew W.K. See, kids, hip-hop is mucho inspirational. Its confident jangle and generous bounce guide it through warm harmonies and reassuring piano, the sound of a wide grin in a new car, the top down and the sun shining. How real is that?
"Beth Ditto claims that what she's hollering about on this urgent, irresistible disco-punk anthem is gay marriage and the Bush-era assault on civil rights – not that it'd be possible to guess from its lyrics.Anybody who believed the retirement would last more than a couple years has to be among the planet's most gullible people. Yesterday we gave you Rolling Stone's top 50 albums of '08. As blissful as these four minutes feel, though, they're the torturous culmination of Yoni Wolf's cyclical neuroses. Beyoncé Drops Vibrant ‘Already’ Video Ahead of ‘Black Is King’ Visual AlbumSee Chris Cornell’s Daughter Toni Cover Pearl Jam’s ‘Black’ for Lollapalooza LivestreamSee Alanis Morissette’s Daughter Sabotage Her ‘Ablaze’ Performance on ‘Fallon’Drake and J. Cole’s Loosie-Filled Attempt to Age GracefullySkip Marley Aims for Good Life in Bad Times on ‘Make Me Feel’ With Rick Ross, Ari Lennox / Ran through 'em all, but I'm just not sure," he raps on the lead single from "Silverback Guerilla." [Eminem proves that his lyrical chops are still intact on this radio freestyle announcing his comeback album, "The Relapse." So fresh and so clean. Do you remember your favorite rap songs from 2008? The best in culture from a cultural icon.
Linking to these websites does not constitute an endorsement by Music Outfitters or any of its employees. It's difficult hearing any writer toil through this sort of detailed torture on tape. [Former Dr. Dre signee Joel Ortiz recalls his fondest hip-hop memories over Salaam Remi's sample-heavy production. Somehow the Gorillaz needed a cartoon band to smuggle this seamless merger of Damon Albarn's melancholy Britpop and The melodrama was vintage Sixties girl-group-style, with gorgeous Spectorian wall of sound production by Mark Ronson. Freeway's gasoline flow alone will keep your rewind button fully employed.Kid Cudi crafts a trippy psych-jam for the lonely stoner who wishes to "free his mind at night. 's "Paper Planes," and you have the perfect street anthem.Jay-Z has never been one to get political on the mic, but this year he was front and center stumping for Barack Obama's presidential campaign like his rap contract depended on it. Kid Cudi continues to impress, and Blu proves he still doesn’t know how to waste a rhyme. How could we, when he's cranking out intoxicating rhymes like, "Crack and I have a lot in common. Easily the year's best concept rap song.Jay Electronica's brooding piano on "Queens Get The Money" is a perfect match for Esco's stream-of-consciousness rhyming on this dashing intro to the Queens rapper's album.Reks' passion for hip-hop is so intense you can hear it in his voice.