“Put the Rap game in the choke hold� says 50 in a number of his songs, and this young man has done exactly that. With a hypnotic flow and the superb production done by Dr. Dre and Eminem, 50 cent’s latest album “Get Rich or Die Trying� has made its mark in Hip Hop history. Not only is he the highest selling Hip Hop artist in the music’s history, 50 has made his presence felt in the Hip Hop community, getting everyone from the Hood to the Suburbs screaming G-G-G-G-G-G-Unit! The album itself is pretty good in comparison to what mainstream Hip Hop has been generating for the past year or two.
The production is dope, and less than half the album is hot, other tracks are decent, but 50’s style is extremely addictive to the ear. Some want to compare him to the late Tupac Shakur, but I believe he has a long way to go to bring what Tupac brought to Hip Hop. 50’s music features the same old regurgitated corporate written so-called gangsta lyrics, which are closer to fantasy than the hood. The content of the album is nothing new and if you heard the latest “my money, my guns, my cars� type of album you heard everything 50 has to say. It’s worth checking out to get your own idea of the biggest hip hop artist out now.
Cyro Baptista: Beat The Donkey
This album has been out for some time now, but it is amazing. Cyro Baptista is a madman who has played with everyone from Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson and Herbie Hancock to Medeski, Martin and Wood, Phish and Sting. This composer has created his own musical experience with “Beat The Donkey,� a musical experiment that involves at least 26 artists.
“Beat the Donkey� is based on Brazilian percussion, and is a total mind blow; their performances have been compared to “Stomp� and “Blue Man Group.� The album itself is a radical fusion of rock, funk, jazz, blues, and just straight craziness.
For anyone willing to go on a musical journey into uncharted territories, “Beat The Donkey� will undoubtedly take you there and beyond.
Dead Prez: Turn off The Radio
I don’t know where to start, there is so much to say concerning what these young brothers are trying to do. So let me start by saying they are trying and with “Turn off the Radio� they tried and failed.
In comparison with their last album, they did not do their thing at all. I was offended by this whole “revolutionary but gangster� idea. But, concerning the music of the album, the production was WHACK; I can only say it in so many ways.
There were a few tracks where they sampled popular Hip Hop tracks and did their own thing, like mimicking hooks while adding revolutionary concepts and stuff like that. It worked in some songs but in others I think they where trying too hard and it did not work.
Dead Prez needs to get back in the booth and work on their technique as one of the biggest groups in Hip Hop that have a revolutionary message. What you do with that message is important, and in “Turn off the Radio� the lyrics brought out a lot of “blame the victim� and frankly a bullshit analysis of the black community in America.
Their rhyme scheme, production, message, and presence in the activist community was not up to par in comparison to the first album. It is worth checking out and equally important to support these brothers who still need to work some shit out, but I’m waiting for the next Dead Prez joint.
Abdul Hassan is an editor of Dynamic and is a member of the YCL national council.
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