Hey, has anyone else looked into this HS87 dude?



This is a great album. Just noticed it a few weeks ago. Hit boy and More guest.

you guys haven't heard that Rich Gang tape yet, huh? easily my #1 project of the year so far. Young Thug is my fav rapper in the game right now.

On the contrary, my good louder. I downloaded the mix tape as soon as I had the the opportunity. It's.. very good. Like, yeah- undeniably good. They carry the hefty weight of this really fuckin' long mixtape with ease. However, like it as I may it's far from my favorite tape/alb. of the year.

I actually really like Thug's tape with Gucci Mane from earlier in the year. Maybe as much as I like this one. And it has nothin' on the trio of Underachievers joints, or IntoXXXicated, or Pinata, Animal Serum (Prince Po & OH NO), fuckin' Dark Comedy, etc.

It's entertaining as hell, but it's a very traditional YMCM joint. But fuck yeah, it's definitely a heavy-hitter. "Flava" has some seriously high brow flows in it, which is good because it boasts an equal amount of really, REALLY low-brow shit. Haha.

...

So, fear not. You talk somepin' up, and you can rest assured I'll be checking it out.

Speaking of which, what do you think of all the albums I've rec'd this year??? ;)

Oh, and fuckin' Dream.Zone.Achieve... and Honest... Soul Tape 3...

It's way harder to keep track of this year's good hip-hop than it was last year. There are fewer major releases of repute (no Yeezy, Jay, Drake, GFK, A$AP releases sharing the spotlight). Instead, this year's major releases have been relatively forgettable. Even the good ones, like Blacc Hollywood & Honest... but the lower profile shit has been consistently off the hook.

I mean- shit. OHNO has two dope releases this year. Guilty Simpson & Small Professor, SmokeDZA, Open Mike... and this We The Plug joint (my introduction to HS87), KIT, etc. all just killin' it.

that mixtape is just a teaser for the album that will come out next month man, but seriously, it's already my fav project of the year.

with that said, i haven't been that fond of '14 releases so far. i really like Honest too, but Future could still do better in my opinion. he was trying to appeal to a wider audience and it hurt his creativity (yes i sorta think of Honest as a "sellout" album :o).

Days Before Rodeo by Travis Scott is pretty damn good too. and i still appreciate Pinata, just never really have the urge to listen to it anymore. i feel like good rapping over nice beats isn't enough anymore, you gotta be creative, take some risks and step out of your comfort zone to make a really great rap album.

i'll check out some of the stuff you've mentioned that i haven't heard yet.

Travi$ Scott's one that I keep forgetting. Damn good.

I'm always talking about Piñata (or at least mentioning it in my list updates) but I rarely get the urge to listen to it anymore either.

For me the obvious heavyweight champ of the year so far is Cellar Door. If you add Blessings From the Grey and Conversations W/ a Butterfly into the mix, it's really one hell of a project. Underachievers blew the roof off with Cellar Door alone, but for anyone who thinks that album is a bit too "samey" (fast flows throughout, not a great deal of variation in dynamics) the solo mixtapes are a MUST. They give the project an extra dimension or two, and cover more sonic ground. I'm not sure why they didn't just lump it all together into a longer LP, or maybe a double. But I hope they reissue Cellar Door with a second disc containing the solo EP's before the year is over.

You should really like We the Plug. It has the same kind of feel as the albums you have been digging lately. And that cover art is just awesome. No idea why, but it really appeals to me.

just listened to the Ca$h Out album today and it's immediately one of my favs this year. the whole album is just club bangers but the production by 808 Mafia, DJ Spinz, Dun Deal, Metro Boomin, etc makes it awesome.

I like the Nehruiviandoom album.

Yeah, I suppose it's not bad compared to the mixtape (which just plain pissed me off). I still think Bishop has a fairly weak flow, and that he really needs to grow the fuck up a bit before I'll be able to take him seriously.

there was a mixtape?

I actually like Nehru's flow a lot. Very cool and clumsy in a good way. I don't really like the ladies jam track. But the rest is good.

BTW, heard the Flylo x Kendrick track and it's dope. The video is mad emo and I like it.

I picked up my non-promo, bought and paid for, official copy of You're Dead! the other day, and it's definitely one of the year's best. I mentioned in another thread that having an album like this drop only a couple weeks after SYRO makes for quite a one-two punch. So far it's looking as though most of my top picks of the year are largely instrumental albums (SYRO, You're Dead!, Black Light Spiral, MyLittleGhost, Bécs, Reachy Prints, AURORA etc) which is unprecedented.

I agree that Kendrick's performance is absolutely electric, and one of the high points of You're Dead! I wonder how critics will respond to new releases by Kendrick and Kanye dropping in the same year. I hope Ye doesn't end up losing his edge. It's possible that Kendrick will outsell and out-hype him, but thankfully Kendrick doesn't have the musical chops that Kanye does.

I say "thankfully" not because I'm anti-Kendrick, but because when Kanye's involved, everything else is the enemy.

Yeah, there was a Nehru mixtape earlier this year with Doom production. A preview of NehruvianDOOM. I bitched about it, and Nehru's constant "I'm only 16 but I already have [insert proof of cred here]" lyrical approach. He sounded like shit, frankly.

I want Doom to team up with FlyLo for an LP. Clearly, that's Doom's next logical step after Madvillainy and JJ DOOM.

"FlyingDOOM" ... Maybe "Flyvillain" fucked if I know.

Been listening to lotsa DOOMSTARKS lately.

Lotsa doomstarks? Not many tracks tho.

Flylo x doom would make sense. Agreed.

My opinions:
yes to Young Thug and the Rich Gang mixtape
thoughts on FKA Twigs? I say good

I forgot about FKA Twigs. Damn. Yeah, def. One of the year's highlights. But I'm not sure I like it as much as I initially thought I did. I'm going to have to spin it more.

I buy way too much music.

I couldn't get into that FKA Twigs. Thought I would.

Sev, get Spotify. Shit changed my life. I hear everything I want for $8/mo and then just buy the CD's I feel like I need to own.

love her

I've been a Spotify subscriber since it first became a thing. Lol.

Yeah, I use the premium service to keep track of my favorite music of the year. I have a playlist specifically for it. I also have this massive fucking playlist of all the songs I hear that I think will be contenders for the end of the year.
It's mighty long.

I'm extremely thankful for it because, as I've mentioned in my harshly undervalued "Albums 2014 Forgot OR The Most Underrated Albums of the Year" thread, I buy SOOO much music that keeping physical track of a year's most promising work is pretty impossible. And list-making doesn't exactly give me all the information I need (i.e. visual stimuli like album art, etc.) to remember why a 5-star album was a 5-star album.

Spotify is almost better than itunes for this kind of thing. I suppose iTunes allows me to organize and view music by year and rating, but Spotify allows me to view everything at once, or 2014's best albums. For the latter, I usually just pick a really good single song from the album for the playlist to represent the album itself.

It's really funny you should mention Spotify, because I've encouraged my friends and family to invest in it for years.
I have friends whose bands are on it and none of them are satisfied with the pay:play ratio, OR the supposed promotional benefits of being on the service. So you'd think I'd have qualms, but not really... there's no better or faster way to find out whether or not an album that you've never heard of is worth buying.

I actually use my Spotify account more at the record store than I do anywhere else. I peruse new releases and used bins (which, in many cases, actually contain more current/new artists than older ones) and when I run into something that looks appealing-- either because of the cover art, the label, the producer, the guest appearances or whatever-- all I have to do is pull out my iPhone and more often than not the entire discography of the artist in question is at my fingertips.

However, I get pissed a lot at the interface because there are so many missing pieces, especially for international artists or more "obscure" ones. I find that often recent releases are simply not there.

For example: Purling Hiss? They don't have jack shit after 2011. Yet the band just came out with the best album of their career, Weirdon.

Anyway, back in 2011 I was absolutely determined to invest a paycheck... just one paycheck... at the time, maybe $1500... into Spotify. I just had a feeling about it. But the girlfriend didn't approve, so it didn't happen. But .... well, let's not talk about what-if's. Hah.

yeah I use my Spotify to keep track of all THIS YEAR's music. That's like it's primary function to me.

And then of course "I wanna hear THIS album now and I'm in my car" but basically, it's to keep up. IT creates a shopping list for me ultimately. But $ well spent I feel.

DIAMOND D - “DIAM PIECE”

Has anyone else picked up this gem? D.I.T.C.'s Diamond D has just dropped himself back into the cutting edge hip-hop conversation out of fucking nowhere with an album that has more killer guest appearances than the entire Naked Gun trilogy, and makes every emcee on board work HARD to avoid being utterly eclipsed by Diamond's production.

Ladies & Gentlemen: We have ourselves a contender here, believe me.

You can preview the album & read about it RIGHT HERE!! so no excuses about not “getting around” to it.

I didn't even know this record was coming out until I saw it on the shelves the other day. It's already surpassed many of my favorite hip-hop albums of the year, so... Shit is dope.

Oh yeah, and A$AP Ferg is in the new SBTRKT...

Where is everyone?

I'll check out that Dimaon D for sure. Dood is a legend.

The new Vince Staples EP kills it. Like OMGGOOD. So good. Shocked.

Did you guys know that JERU THE DAMAJA has a new EP out?!

Preview tracks are available via free torrent bundles (like the new Thom Yorke), and I just snagged a digital version because the record stores in town don't have it. I literally just found out about it about an hour and a half ago, and I'm not sure if it has a physical pressing, but it's official and sponsored, and appears (from the front and back JPEG inages) to be either self-released or sponsored by several small imprints, in typical mixtape fashion.

It's called The Hammer and so far it sounds really fucking good.

I'm not sure if anyone in the café shares my love of Jeru, or would give much of a fuck about a new release from such a quintessentially early '90s, conscious rap/positive tip emcee in 2014, but Jeru is behind at least one of my all time favorite hip-hop albums, The Sun Rises in the East.

Anyway, I'm surprised as hell about this one. I will certainly come back with a brief review once I listen to the entire release and learn more about it. But if anyone is interested, check out the preview tracks. Surprisingly fresh, if you ask me.

I heard about that Jeru, but haven't heard it yet.

Y'all still sleeping on Wara From The NBHD huh?

yes! but i always knew Vince had the potential. been waiting for years.

tbh he never really stood out to me. He was just kind of there. Good, dependable, but never had me like "oh can't wait for an album."

But THIS. Damn. It's so solid. So focused. Love it.



Unrelated, what's this I hear about another Rick Ross album coming?

Also also, new Game album isn't up on Spotify yet. WTF.

Wait, the new Game is out? Is that what I'm hearing? Spotify usually only shows the released tracks from an album (much like iTunes) before the album is released as a whole... And like iTunes, it's “subject to change.”

Every once in a while they slip up and somehow get an album up before its release. Happened more in the early stages of the program than it does now. I think Breakup Song by Deerhoof and WIXIW by Liars were the last ones I remember.

Either way, I've obviously not been paying enough attentipn to Game news. I didn't even realize it was about to drop. Stoked!

Never mind. Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf, came out 10/14 in the states. I'm heading out to grab it now.

yeah it's out now. But not on Spotify oddly. :\

Y'all tell me if I should check out Game new album because I didnt much like Jesus Piece aside from the kick a$$ cover art

Well, let's see...

I love The Game. Y'all know I am one of Jesus Piece's few staunch supporters. So I'm surprised I lost track of things & bought this new joint after it had been out for an entire week.

So, now that I've been driving around jamming it all night and morning, I can tell you what I think:

Yes- but it. It's a good album. Is it perfect? No. For example, the first song throws some pretty outdated disses at the current rap scene. He calls "new generation" rappers "faggots" (over a pretty sick beat) and basically talks about takings chainsaw to their faces.

He tells Frank Ocean to "go ahead and fuck these niggas," which, considering the "faggot" remark, sounds like a really insulting homophobic dis of one of hip-hop and R&B's most innovative voices.

He talks about "coming up with" Kanye, Jeezy and 50. Which really isn't accurate. He didn't come up with Jay-Z,or Busta, or Nas or Eminem either, but he wants you to know he really likes those guys.
He's closer to 50 and Kanye, having collaborated with them both extensively. But still it's hard to pin down who he hates and who he likes. At one point he says "Fake Ass Kanye, Fake Ass Weezy" and it sounds like he's dissing Ye and Wayne, when he's really accusing someone (??) of ACTING like a "Fake ass" version of Yeezy/Weezy.


Worst of all, he calls himself "THE BLACK MARSHALL MATHERS", which is an extraordinarily self-deprecating comment, and possibly the worst brag line I've ever heard. I really hate the fact that Eminem has become synonymous with "really good rapping" AGAIN. I thought the world was over that. Game's flow is superior to Em's in every way, except for possibly sheer practiced technical delivery, which Em is good at, despite how awful he is overall.

I really like this song, but the whole "Fuck Yall Niggas" thing (he says it approx. 800 times in the first two songs alone, so I guess he really hates these "niggas" because they're not "them niggas," who he apparently feels quite a kinship for)

So apart from the redundancy of some of the lyrics, and his fanboy gushing over Nas, Jigga, Eminem (Hmmm - someone doesn't belong in that group... *chin-scratch*), and the (possibly) homophobic disses against Frank Ocean and other "faggot" rappers (UHH... I've heard Rocky swings both ways, but I'm not sure I believe it), it's a good solid record.

Some of he guest spots are half assed. Lil Wayne is barely recognizeable in "Fuck Yo Feelings." 2 Chains doesn't give a very inspired performance. Ty Dolla Sign is a welcome contributor; he continues to build his reputation as a producer and performer, and when he finally drops a full length LP, it's going to fucking explode.
Also, Freddie Gibbs lends his inimitable skills to "Hit 'Em Hard," and is probably one of the main reasons why it's the album's dopest club banger.

Overall, I have to say it's not as forward-thinking as Jesus Piece, which will hopefully one day be recognized as the classic that it is. But BLOOD MOON: YEAR OF THE WOLF is consistent, and full of the kind of satisfying, bass and beat heavy, sample-light production that should make west coast fans happy. These are direct, hard hitting tracks. No chipmunk soul samples (but of course, there's no Kanye on board to lay them down). I find this a bit disappointing, because I love what Kanye and The Game create when they work together.

Something about the album makes me think there will be a sequel. Don't ask me why.

I think you need to buy it. If Rick Ro$$'s Mastermind is a must-have 2014 album, then so is this.

Too many pictures of his fucking kids in the foldout though. It looks like an Ice Cube family Comedy on the inside, and the cover would be really tight if it didn't have a girl in a ballerina outfit.

Oh, he does *approach* chipmunk soul on "Bloody Moon" where he vividly describes watching his half-sister being sexually abused by... Somebody's dad. Explicit references to the "tip of his penis" rubbing against her face, and something about his semen that my psyche blocked out. It's just the kind of thing that makes a song unlistenable. He could have discussed the topic in a less super-disgusting way, and the result would have been more powerful.

But give it a listen bro. For sure. It's Game. It's good shit.

Wow, I wrote a lot.

I've been through the entire album several times now, and I think it's got a certain "presence" that a lot of high-profile 2014 hip hop records have lacked. Some of these breakout albums by folks like Sage the Gemini, and YG, and Kid Ink, etc. just sound like nothing. I kinda felt that way about B.O.A.T. II #MeTime by 2 Chainz, and even Oxymoron to some extent.

At the very least, Game (like Ro$$, The Roots, Rocky and precious few others in the middle-ground between Kanye/Jay-Z-level superstardom and lesser known/underrated/stuck in mixtape-level artists) has a distinctive and unmistakable sound of his own. Love him or hate him, he commands his records, and he puts his mark on his music... Like Zorro. Swish-swish-swish

:|

I came here to talk about the new Game album, but you said everything I wanted to. The homophobia. The Eminem thing. The horrible Weezy hook. You nailed it all.

It's "good," but it's easily the worst major label Game album. I'll still be spinning it to see how much more it grows on me, but first listen is that it's just ok. It's autopilot. Beats are all good though.

Mastermind is better.

But I mean yeah - bottom line, it sounds like Game. He's always exactly what he wants to sound like and doesn't care of the shit sounds relevant. He might as well record in vacuum. So I still gotta give him props.

Homophobia is part of rap music, effeminate males are derided in black culture mercilessly.. However if you're listening to a gangsta rap album chances are either (a) you've gotten over that or (b) you're possibly listening to the wrong album ;)

So Game is back to just shit talking all these fake a$$ new rappers? I'm interested..

Yeah, pretty much. But as much as I like the album (and I must like it because I keep listening) I've got to agree that it's probably one of his lesser major label albums. I don't know if I'd go as far as to say it's the worst, but it's probably not going to blow the mind of any long time fan.

That said, there's one song in particular (forget which.. Maybe track 3?) that has a very "west coast" beat, and I thought of you (SuchFriends..) when I first listened to it. It's got a beat that could break glass at the right volume... Like a Dre beat straight out of the Chronic sessions. West Coast gangsta to the core, and I knorw you'll appreciate it.

OH! Speaking of Game and Game-related thangs.... He mentions a G-Unit reunion on the new record, and I saw this in the store the other day:



???
So what the fuck did I miss? I didn't read the article, but I am super intrigued... What kind of reunion are we talking here? Tour only? New record? Tour AND new record?

Why in God's name is the café not positively buzzing with excitement about this? Am I so out of touch with things that I missed this entirely, and it's already fucking OVER? Or is this something that's in the works?

NR, I'm staring right at you with some seriously downcast "12th Doctor" eyebrows...

which of these would you say is not better than this album?

-Documentary
-Doctor's Advocate
-LAX
-Red Album
-Jesus Piece

(answer: They are all better than this)

Again, I like it. I do. But still.

the G-Unit reunion? They've already released an EP this year son. And another on the way.

They did at least one live show recently too.