You already knew that I love music in all of its forms. Well, if you didn’t, now you do. So don’t forget it.
I’ve been listening to quite a bit of Wale’s music recently, and to be honest, it’s incredible. Not perfect, not above the some of the particularly trite tropes of hip-hop, but still incredible in a really subtle way. I stopped listening to Wale after Attention Deficit because Ambition didn’t speak to me the same way. Or maybe I was just burned out by Kid Cudi thanks to Man on the Moon II and transferred that over to Wale. My bad. I know I shouldn’t judge one artist for the work of another, but I was going through some things at the time and I had to walk away from everything that kept me in that place.
Anyway, I’ve been hearing “Girls on Drugs” making the rounds everywhere, and it’s Janet Jackson interpolation is incorporated in such an ethereal way that of course, it stuck in my head. Drawn in by the premise, I found myself diving headfirst into the whole Festivus EP, which every now and then in fits and starts drops bits of knowledge that speak to me and the mental space I occupy at the moment. Not to mention that I really appreciate this idea of Festivus, and airing out your grievances. I tend to hold my thoughts and feelings in too hard and for too long, for a number of dysfunctional reasons, and while I find that working with no filter probably won’t get me very far, there is definitely a lot to be gained from developing a balance between tact and being straightforward. I hopped from Festivus into More About Nothing. I wasn’t disappointed. Turns out I fell asleep on the wrong rapper.
You already knew that I love music in all of its forms. Well, if you didn’t, now you do. So don’t forget it.
September is shaping up to be a month of months for freestyles on New York’s legendary Hip-Hop radio station Hot 97. Over the last week, two absolute gems have surfaced, one brought to us by morning show personality Peter Rosenberg; the other, another burning chapter in the books for none other than Funkmaster Flex.
I’m gonna save the best for last and start out with Childish Gambino’s four and a half minutes with Peter Rosenberg. I’ll let the man talk for himself:
Wow. A solid effort by Gambino, no? He starts off a little shaky, but he manages to find his footing and nails an entertaining off-the-cuff performance.
The Good:
It’s refreshing to see Gambino freestyle while ACTUALLY thinking it up off the top of his head as opposed to reverting to as-yet-unreleased verses – a tactic that is horribly overused these days by artists seeking to avoid exposure for scrolling through lyrics on their smartphones.
The Bad:
Gambino reiterates the same things a few times, but I like that he kept finding new ways to say them. I won’t hold it against him.
The Dafuq?!?:
Gambino drops the N-bomb way more than necessary. Be a little more strategic with that shit, son!
OK
Now it’s time to take a feel trip way back to 2002, because G-Unit came through on Funk Flex’s show and put in some work. I remember these cats used to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm when they first caught the spotlight. Over the years, members have come and gone (often less than amicably), but right here, right now, for just a few minutes in September of 2014, we can pretend that Hip-Hop hasn’t been taken over by emotionally loquacious Canadians with the (mostly) original lineup of G-Unit:
Mmmm, taste that good old-fashioned early-millennium rap right there. That was A LOT to take in, and I’m not even referring to the length of the session!
The Good:
Tony Yayo is still comfortable and solid as ever on the mic, and it shows. Good work Yayo. Also props for staying out of trouble.
Kidd Kidd is the new face of the group, and he’s a little rough around the edges, but the Kidd flows for several minutes and looks quite comfortable doing it. He starts to suffer from the same repetition problem as Gambino, but I’m looking forward to more from him (I know he’s been around for a while with Cash Money, but from what I heard, he is still in need of some development).
50 Cent still has some licks left in him, and even though he tried to get out of spitting, it was good to hear a few lines from him.
LLOYD BANKS. I don’t know why Flex wasn’t dropping bomb after bomb after bomb. Hands down, Banks is the KING of the Hot 97 Freestyle. I don’t care what you say. I don’t care who you cite. Shut up. I have never seen him short change a performance yet, and this time around he was clearly eager to get his lines in. *BOMBBOMBBOMBBOMBBOMBBOMBBOMBBOMBBOMB*
The Bad:
One of these things is not like the other; one of these things DOES NOT BELONG. Can you guess WHO it is? I really want to know who convinced 50 to throw Young Buck a bone this summer. In any case, he really needed it.
The Dafuq?!?:
7:43 “Aeey yo fif- Imma just give ’em one, thas cool??” Poor buck got cuckolded so hard. Damn.
Namakemono no Manifesto 