Killah Priest earned his place in the Rap Buzz hall of fame years ago. Knock Knock with DOOM is reason enough to cop this album.
MED and Blu do not disappoint either with their smooth wordplay. Madlib manages to mix up soul arrangements with heavy industrial sounds to great effect. With projects like Bad Neighbour, he is approaching Dilla status. Madlib has already cemented his place in the pantheon of hip hop. Together with ALC, they form one of the finest partnerships out there. Oh No has earned his position as a leading figure on the mic. The highlight is the smash everything-type track Sheet Music featuring Havoc and the late Sean P.
From audibly friendly tracks like Reversals to the jazzy Gluttony, ALC delivers with panache. This will be one of the most rough and rugged projects you’ll listen to this year. The Alchemist and Oh No are back in style. Props to Apollo and the whole Mello Music crew for continuing to deliver such high quality products. Guests include Masta Ace, Evidence, MOP, Ras Kass, Sean Price, Vinnie Paz, Evidence, Rapper Big pooh, and Chino XL. But why change a winning a formula? With a host of A-listers dropping thoughtful verses, Grandeur does its title justice. Arguably his sound hasn’t really evolved from his last few outings. Respectful to his boom bap upbringing, Apollo uses soul and blues loops to great effect showing incredible maturity. Mello Music’s in-house producer, Apollo Brown, does it again. Tracks like Psalm 82 and Iron Rose remind you why these cats left hip hop heads dumbfounded back in 2001. Bill Cosmiq (a more than worthy ‘substitute’ for El- P) also does brilliantly to capture that classic Ox sound. From inspired religious references to social commentary, the duo’s lyrics are on point. It’s got everything you’d expect from Vast Aire and Vordul Mega (and more). Blade of the Ronin is simply one sick album. And no, we aint crazy Def Jux nostalgics (well, kinda). No, we aint going to compare Blade of the Ronin to The Cold Vein. There will undoubtedly be a third episode in this saga and we’re already looking forward to it.įirst things first.
None of this can take away from a masterful album by two of the finest going around. Raekwon (Tony Stark’s nemesis here) and Chino XL come through strong on the feat ticket, but there was certainly space for other guest verses. The production is still on point, but for some reason there is a slight lack of depth. The duo manages to execute the concept well, albeit without the novelty factor that made Part I unique. In the second instalment of their highly successful 12 Reasons to Die project, Ghostface and Adrian Younge swap Italy for New York. Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge – 12 Reasons to Die II With production credits going to the likes of Ayatollah, Large Professor, Statik Selektah, and Jahlil Beats, Lessons is one for the real heads.ĩ. This is the kind of album that makes you wanna see these guys live. From the fiery opening track Future to the powerful yet humorous 7 Continents, CNN go in hard. What more can a hip hop head ask for? While Channel 10 and The War Report 2 may not have been to every CNN fan’s liking, Lessons reminds us of why The War Report was a game changer.
#Jahlil beats genius instrumental download full#
Capone-N-Noreaga – Lessons CNN with Tragedy Khadafi.įor a full album. That said we’re thankful to the artists on our list for making a very difficult 2015 bearable! It wasn’t easy to compile this list (it never is), so make sure you scroll down to check out the well- deserved honourable mentions too!ġ0. However, in terms of solid albums that can stand the test of time, we weren’t particularly blessed this year. The likes of Sean P (RIP), Dave East, Huss Kingpin and Your Old Droog released quality tapes and Redman and Pusha T put out decent album preludes. A number of eagerly anticipated projects, including Immortal Technique’s The Middle Passage and the GZA’s Dark Matter, failed to drop and an array of high profile artists fell well short of the mark (Raekwon, Method Man, and The 3 LOX members come to mind).