The Message Blog: Rant and Rave: Boss of All Bastards

Review - Wu-Tang Clan: Pollen - The Swarm Part III

Posted by elmattic On June 24, 2010

In 1898, the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists led the Boxer Rebellion in China. They attacked thinking that their martial arts training would make them fly, be immune to bullets and call on spirit soldiers. Guess what, that didn't work out too good. Pollen is kinda like the Boxer Rebellion. The Wu's been rolling for 17 years now, and the ancient arts of shadowboxing on their own aren't enough in the modern world. I mean, what exactly is the point of another album of the A and B team Clan over middling beats?

Review - Everliven Sound - Freedom 2

Posted by Wally $ean On June 23, 2010

With the underground hip-hop scene producing so many new artists, it’s surprising to see how many are looking at the industry with the assailing eye of veteran rhymers. Take the duo Everliven Sound, also known as emcees the UK's Skit Skam and NJ's Cymarshall Law: although both are relatively fresh-faces in the game, their attitude, style and sound are something of a throwback. On their latest project together Freedom 2, Skit and Cy once again exhibit wisdom and abilities beyond their years, despite a number of problems.

Review - Godilla - Jaguar Paw

Posted by Wally $ean On May 19, 2010

The Jaguar Warrior was a terrifying Aztec soldier who brutalized his victims and captured survivors for ritual sacrifice...With an M.O. like that, it's no wonder why rapper Godilla seemingly pays homage to them on the cover of his LP Jaguar Paw, and he does so with good reason. The Easton, PA emcee and Snowgoons collaborator is out for weak emcees' blood on this album. Although it's not a perfect, with some lackluster beats and bars, it's an inspired, cohesive album that harkens back to he golden era of hip-hop while adding a dash of Latin flavor to spice up the recipe.

Review - The Closers - Bullpen Sessionz

Posted by Wally $ean On March 21, 2009

Hardcore gutter rap is something of a rarity these days. Apart from artists like Blaq Poet and Roc Marciano, very few emcees these days spit that raw shit that sounds like the soundtrack to getting yapped for all of your personal belongings. Yet hope is not lost for fans of that hard-body, get-mushed-or-moshed-out-type steez: The Closers - a four man collective of Shabaam Sahdeeq, Red Eye and the production combo Thorotracks - are up to bat with their latest project Bullpen Sessionz, and they're swinging away like the Baseball Furies.

Review - Statik Selektah - 100 Proof (The Hangover)

Posted by Wally $ean On February 10, 2010

For the past three years, Massachusetts producer and DJ Statik Selektah has had the underground hip-hop scene firmly under his thumb. With a barrage of mixtapes, guest productions and a nearly annual onslaught of album releases, Statik has managed to transform his little Showoff Records imprint into a burgeoning success, helping to propel emcees like Reks and Termanology into the spotlight. Now, Mr. Spell My Name Right is back with his third studio album 100 Proof (The Hangover).

Rant and Rave: Boss of All Bastards

Posted by Wally $ean On Saturday, July 04, 2009

I gues I'll start the day off with a nice lil' rant. I checked out Nah Right this morning to see what was good in the Hip-Hop world, and I found out that the Evil Empire release a new Cam'ron tape. Cool, right? Nah. You see, the mixtape Criminal Minded Part 2 contains a couple of leaks from Cam's upcoming DJ Drama tap Boss of All Bosses. And when I say "a couple," I mean 9 out of the 20 are from the tape. Take a look at the tracklist and see for yourself:

1. Arab Muzik feat. Vado and Byrd Lady (Boss of All Bosses)
2. You The Baddest feat. Vado (Boss of All Bosses)
3. We In This Thang feat. Yung L.A. (Produced by K.E. On The Track) (Boss of All Bosses)
4. Cocaine feat. Vado (Boss of All Bosses)
5. Different Cloth feat. Vado (Boss of All Bosses)
6. Horror Story feat. Vado (Boss of All Bosses)
7. Lennox and 7th feat. Vado and 40 Cal (Boss of All Bosses)
8. Professional feat. Byrd Lady and Vado (Boss of All Bosses)
9. We Here Now feat. Vado (Boss of All Bosses)
10. Where I Know You From
11. Chalupa
12. Get It Get It
13. Who
14. Cookin’ Up
15. Silky (No Homo)
16. Cookies and Apple Juice feat. Skitzo and Byrd Lady
17. Curve
18. Get It In Ohio
19. Crime Pays
20. You Know What’s Up

See? The Evil Empire is cannibalistic with this. Maybe I'm crying over spilt milk, but it just seems wrong to jack that many songs off Drama's as-of-yet unreleased mixtape. And on top of that, the other 11 songs are off of the 24 track album Crime Pays. Why not just put up the other 13 while they're at it? I know mixtapes do thrive on stealing cuts from the album sometimes, but making over half of a "new mixape" songs from one single album ain't being a DJ, it's being a wack motherfucker. So instead of posting the miztape, I give this rant. Maybe you agree, maybe you don't. Either way, I don't really care. I've always known the Evil Empire were a bunch of crooked motherfuckers, but now, I refuse to support them. Also, they're mixtapes usually suck anyway. So please, cop Boss of All Bosses wen it comes out and forget this bullshit.