The tile of Chali 2na's debut solo album Fish Outta Water is perfecting befitting the former Jurassic 5 emcee, and not just because of the fish connection. In respects to both his syrupy delivery and off-kilter content, Chali's always been something of a black sheep in the industry. His iconoclastic emceeing even put him at odds with his fellow 5 members...Fish Outta Water photographically captures a wide variety of emotions and circumstances from the perspective of deep-voiced emcee. While the album lags to molasses-slow pace at times, it's certainly a solid effort from one of Hip-Hop's most talented and underrated emcees.
California's the Alchemist is one of this current generation's most iconoclastic producers. He's been fortunate enough to be featured as the musical backdrop for everyone from Mobb Deep to Dilated Peoples. But Al isn't content with being one of the top go-to producers of the decade. His latest solo LP Chemical Warfare finds Al trying to take production to heights previously unreached. Yet despite the impressiveness of its diverse guest list and sound, Chemical Warfare falls inches short of being something truly great.
After the relative disappointment that was '07s 8 Diagrams, fans and critics alike began to seriously question whether the Wu was actually forever. The nine members were divided over a number of issues, from the RZA's beats to payment to the Wu's business team...Yet Wu fans have a little less reason to fear. While the Clan's latest release Chamber Music isn't an actual Wu-Tang Clan album (GZA, Meth and Masta Killa don't even appear on it), it's Wu-Tang all the way, from the gritty production to the pitch-perfect lyricism.
These past few years have been a drag for real hip-hop. When commercial artists weren't busy getting crunk or snapping their fingers for ringtone money, wimpy, sensitive types began to take over Brooklyn, dressing like the '80s but sounding absolutely nothing like it. And except for a few older gods and staunchly conservative up-and-comers, hardcore Hip-Hop's a thing of the past. But these hipsters and finger-snappers have reason to be afraid: just when you thought it was safe to rock tight pants and rapper over techno remixes of Lykke Li or only make the trap say "Aye!", the Poet has emerged from the depths of QB and he's out for blood.
A lot of things in life don't age well at all: technology, dairy products, Mickey Rourke, just to name a few. Sadly, the emcee more often than not tends to be one of these things. In such a quickly evolving industry, the need to keep up with the times for some "golden era" rappers can be debilitating for their careers, if not utterly fatal. LL Cool J is a prime example; his most recent album illustrates the perishable nature of come rappers. Yet not all classic emcees fall prey to the mousetrap of age, and with his latest album RetroActive, Grand Puba shows how an emcee can be a fine wine in a industry of curdled milk.
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