Nas' LIFE IS GOOD: Album Review

For those of us hip hop lovers with an ear for good music Nas delivers just that. If you haven't heard the album yet here is a review of what to expect.

The initial track NO INTRODUCTION smoothly welcomes us into the album with a piano solo as the Justice League beat summons in. Nas reflects on his past and how it effects his present and hope for the black nation. He ends the track properly dedicating the album to a few well known people, as well as his ex Kelis and his loyal fans.
The Large professor produced LOCO-MOTIVE gives the fans a taste of the past with a 90s era beat and flow reminiscent of a young 'Illmatic' Nas. As Nas proclaims in the track, "It's for my trapped in the 90s niggaz". A QUEENS STORY has a funky basement beat accompanied by a collection of strings. During this track Nas proclaims his love for his hometown of Queens and pays personal homage to his old stomping ground as he proclaims himself a "real O.G." This record celebrates fallen soldiers from his old hood and a shout out to people from the area who made it out and became successful despite facing many obstacles.
ACCIDENT MURDERERS features The Bawse 'ROZAY' where Nas tells stories almost convicting man who boast about being killers, but truly mistakenly become their self proclaimed title. Nas also honors the innocent bystanders who become victims of these young killers. Nas further stresses how he once embraced these young men as children, but as they became men they've become cold blooded and reckless. As Nas Laments "I want to build with him, but will he change really."

The direction of the album becomes more love influenced with the inception of DAUGHTERS. Nas discusses the hardships of being a father and how his many earlier mistakes led his daughter to question him. We get it Nas, you love your daughter. Nas not only sounds like he is trying to convince his daughter to make better decisions but it also seems to be a PR move to show that he is a good father despite some controversial events surrounding his daughter.

The next few tracks follow a theme of relationships and heartfelt ode's that quite frankly bring down that mood of the album a bit. But that is quickly followed by SUMMER ON SMASH which is quite simply a club song. Ushered in by notorious Anthem beat maker Swizz Beats along with singer Miguel adding vocals. This track is far removed by the intellectual concepts in the previous tracks but all in all it's a song that'll get you bouncing and wake the listeners up some. On THE DON and NASTY Nas flosses on the tracks and asserts himself as a New York Dondada. This is followed by a few soulful tracks that Nas' Jazz father Olu Dara would sure appreciate.

Also, BYE BABY is sure to get a lot of attention based on it's subject matter. Nas speaks on his relationship with his now ex-wife Kelis. Throughout the song Nas reflects on the many problems of the relationship and how even though he loved Kelis, after they were married the relationship began to tumble until the eventual demise. Nas also addresses the naysayers calling him a fool for marrying and failing. As he puts it "Atleast I tried".

In Conclusion, this album starts off very strong with some great production features and enthusiastic rhymes that are reminiscent of a young Nas entering the rap game. In much of the album Nas takes several trips down memory lane often reflecting on past experiences and telling vivid stories that only Nas could masterfully project. The album loses a lot of momentum in the middle following the Daughter's track with Nas seeming to teach more than flow. In the end this album has some incredible beats including the James Bond themed track in the end and a surprise feature from the late Amy Winehouse. Nas has cooked up some good tracks with this album so as the saying goes, Hats go off to the chef!

Subject Matter: 5
Lyrics: 5
Flow: 4
Production: 4


Overall Rating: 4 Mics!

Holla Back
-Achmone

FIRST Televised Peformance from Frank Ocean

Singer/songwriter Frank Ocean sent social media waves galore with the news of his "coming out" of the metaphorical closet. After learning of this latest revelation from the usually reclusive and young artist many fans either voiced their disapproval or support towards the popular singer. I myself have to admit that I was also taken aback from the rumors and eventually the announcement via twitter from Mr. Ocean himself. Not surprising was the opinions of my heterosexual male friends who shared my sentiments. After all, how could we listen to a male rnb singer who clearly is not singing love songs to women, (pun intended lol), but actually to men like us. I myself even went as far as to say that I probably wouldn't be able to listen to his music the same, including "Nostalgia, Ultra" or future records.

However, after watching this first and latest televised performance by Frank Ocean on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon", with band accompaniment from "The Roots, it's safe to say that I'm having a change of heart. Check the vid and speak your mind.

Holla back.

-Achmone

Maybach Music Group - Self Made Vol. 2 (Album Review)

Back and self made once again..it’s your favorite label's favorite label...Maybach Music Group. MMG's most recent compilation release "Self Made Vol. 2" showcases an array of lyrical talent from Rick Ross and his label mates to a variety of top features (Kendrick Lamar, Gunplay and Nas - just to name a few) who capture a unique sound over mediocre beats making this album only marginally better than its predecessor...

As the "up and coming" Maybach Music Group develops their own specific sound and brand, they do not fail to continuously satisfy and meet expectations. "Self Made Vol. 2" has only a handful of "good" tracks and gives good beats which display a great deal of development and progression from both Wale and Meek Mill, while it lacks more from its "head hancho" - Rick Ross and (on a more disappointing note) Ohio native Stalley (who is completely underrated and embodies his own type of style and flow lyrically). Also, not to forget the most recent MMG signee - Omarion, who provides casual catchy hooks on majority of the album, but is more or less the same as he's been in the past - mediocre.

"Self Made Vol. 2" gets off to a good start with a great lyrical display of talent on the 8 mins plus track "Power Circle" in which Rick Ross begins the song by alluding to the "fact" that, "..if Michael Jackson came alive right now...he'd ask you to smoke one for 'em. So in his honor..." **I'm sure MJ is probably turning in his grave**. However, the track goes on to display all of MMG (minus Omarion) with the addition of Triple C artist Gunplay all of whom create a chemistry that makes the song on of the better tracks on the album.

Meanwhile, the album progresses with typical Drumma Boy-"esq" beats and continues to live up to the MMG sound with tracks such as "Bag Of Money" and the French Montana assisted single "Actin' Up".......from this point on through most of the other 11 tracks Omarion graces the label's second compilation album with various "catchy" choruses and what seems like his own song, on the Wale assisted "M.I.A." (which isn't half bad after a few drinks with a crowd of friends - and by few drinks I mean a few shots!)....yet, the album strives to save itself from its yuppie love seeking Omarion ballads with rather lyrically intriguing tracks "The Zenith" and "Fluorescent Ink" (which both feature Wale & Stalley - arguably the best rappers in MMG).

In retrospect and reflecting back on how I felt after the first listen of the entire album, I didn't really give it much of a chance as I was expecting WAY more given my paltry reception to the first Maybach Music Group compilation. However, after really taking time to listen to a few of the songs and coming to terms with the fact that Rick Ross will only really put on musically, artistically and lyrically for is own album (and mixtapes - i.e. Rich Forever)...I was able to really accept MMG "Self Made Vol. 2" for what it really is....a marginally better compilation album from a label that is still in the midst of forming its identity in a competitive hip hop industry. However, if this is only a sample of what is yet to come from MMG...then we can expect more good music (no pun intended) to come in the future.

- KJ

Big 3 or Big 2 in Miami debate?

This past week the Miami Heat organization celebrated their first championship win in the new "Big 3" era. And for the first time in the past year all of the harsh criticism of the Miami Heat had to take a backseat (for the moment atleast). And as the Lebron is only good for the three quarters jokes begin to die down and we take the overwhelmingly high pressure off of the shoulders of the Miami Heat organization we have a chance to now reflect on and answer the question that has been asked since the inception of the "Miami Big 3": How important is Chris Bosh to the success of the Heat anyway?

When the world was first exposed to the free agency of 2010 in the NBA there were many exciting developments that occured. Amare to the Knicks, the possible departure of D-Wade from the Miami Heat, of course the Lebron Decision fiasco, and the opportunites for Chris Bosh. Out of all those possibilities and more, the development of the pre-throned Big 3 became the most compelling storyline of the last two years. While most of the criticism, mostly harsh, remained directed at the leagues biggest star Lebron James, many could not help but recognize the struggles and sometimes dismal performances by Chris Bosh. Throughout Miami's 2010 and 2011 campaign many questions were posed about the legacy of Lebron and chemistry of this collective group, but many critics including myself begin to ask how good is Chris Bosh anyway? In fact this question became one of the spotlight topics of the Big 3 especially during the regular season of 2011-2012 in many sports radio circles, shows, and ESPN debate television broadcasts. One anchor on the show "First Take" shown daily on ESPN has repeatedly referred to Chris Bosh as Bosh Spice. These criticisms escalated as the Miami Heat found themselves tested against a young and ambitious Indiana Pacers team. With the Pacers taking a 2 to 1 advantage early in the playoffs many questioned the dominance of the Miami Heat and furthermore speculated the result of an early playoff exit for this Miami squad. One of the suggestions were to trade Chris Bosh for a stronger center or a few strong dominant inside the paint players. These conversations quickly changed when Chris Bosh suffered an injury and left the Heat to play without one of their high profiled player. This was the opportunity that all the critics and Bosh haters waited for. Many sports fans, myself included, expected the Miami Heat to finally flourish in their play without the baggage of Chris Bosh on the floor. Finally, Lebron and D-Wade could rule the court without their sometimes non respondent center/power forward on the floor killing the chemistry. And the unexpected occured. The Miami Heat struggled without Chris Bosh. People are quick to forget that Chris Bosh used to be the man in Toronto. The 7-time All Star player was much needed in the playoffs for the Miami Heat. And when he arrived in the Boston Celtics series, he not only came back and played well, but he played a pivotal role in the Heat's championship run. Indeed, Bosh has struggled as a player for the Heat these past two seasons, and in many cases was considered the third wheel in the Big 3 conversation, but in these 2012 NBA Finals Chris Bosh finally showed his true colors. The man that was once called CB4 showed his superstar ability and helped propel Miami to another championship. Now will people stop criticizing Miami, probably not. But if this playoffs has shown us anything, we can expect some more big things from the Miami Heat.

DAMN SHAME: MOMENT OF THE WEEK

In New York a chubby kid decides he wants to swing. That's all to the good... but the toddler swing??? Now that's just stupid. As a result this is what happens.

This kid will have to live with this moment for the rest of his life in this neighborhood.
This is funny and sad at the same time hahahaha!!!

WHO SAYS "POLITICS CAN'T BE FUNNY"?

In the latest GOP debate one of the funniest moments happened during presidential nominee hopeful Rick Perry's explanation of his plan. It's what we simpleton's call a "brain fart" hahaha!



Holla!

-Achmone

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 REVIEW: Booooo!!!

Yoooo I just checked out the new Paranormal Activity 3 and although I kept hearing people say, "Awww don't go see that s#%t it's stupid", and "man I heard it's not good, it's phony", from my point of view I thought it was good. In fact, and I'm ashamed to say this, but I was scared as hell. Now I saw the other two movies just cause I'm a movie buff and I thought they kind of sucked. But this one, mannn let's just say I was the first person in the theater to jump. In fact I jumped and cursed out loud.

The great thing about the 3rd edition of this franchise is way more action. The ghosts don't just show up at the end of the movie. Their presence is known probably ten minutes in. It's some real FREEKY scenes in their. Nooo not that kind of freaky... Yes spooky freaky (Keep your head out of the gutter).

It's not Halloween season anymore but if you want a good scare check out this movie. I like this movie so much I'll take you a little secret... as I was leaving the theater I smelled boo boo in the air. Yea that's right... I think somebody in the theater was so scared they s%#t themselves.

But this is just one man's honest opinion. We've come along way from "The Blair Witch Project" (remember that?).

Anyways check it out for yourself and as always... Holla!



-Achmone