Last I heard, Max was still slated to do 75 years. Stories of appeals come and go, but I never heard anything official. So as of this moment, I don’t expect to see Max B again as a free man. Hopefully I’m wrong though. The last thing I want to wish is someone incarcerated for a crime they didn’t commit. That being said, the man who made “wavy” cool left behind an immense body of music to enjoy and analyze.

Between his time with Dipset, his partnership with French Montana and his own solo projects, he had more than enough music than I could ever keep up with. To many, Max is known for his penchant to hold on a grudge (see Jim Jones and Hell Rell). To even more, Max is known for creating a catchy hook in his day. Dig through the crates deep enough and you’ll find more than a handful of records to support this. One of my favorites was “Never Wanna Go Back.” (Keep reading…)

Chances are if you ask me to name my 10 favorite projects from 2000 – 2009, I feel confident in saying Mood Muzik 2 would be one of the selections. This was before the social media explosion took place, so your favorite artist still had a sense of mystery around them. I’m not saying they don’t now, but times have changed and artists are more accessible, which can (or cannot) be an excellent thing in many ways. In 2005, we all knew the story of Joe Budden. Buddy was neck deep in a beef with what seemed like the entire institution of music industry.  In turn, however, it helped spawn timeless music. At least, I like to this so.

I’ve listened to MM2 from front to back more times than I’d like to admit over the past five years. It’s riddled with classics like “Are You In That Mood Yet?,” “6 Minutes Of Death,” “Three Sides To A Story” and my personal favorite, “If I Die Tomorrow.” Joey laced venom on the entire project. I like to think it still ranks as one of the rare instances of what it’s actually like to hear someone’s heart speak over instrumentals. One of the rawest tracks and one I still readily identify with to this day is the cryptic tune, “The Future.” (Keep reading…)

This is actually the second B.G. “Catalog Catch Up” in recent weeks, but this is well deserved. At least, I believe so. Leave it to the internet to show its value at the drop of a hat. I consider myself a respectable B.G. fan. Not the most diehard in a sense, but I am the owner of a nice catalog from the New Orleans O.G. The other day, my homie Dre from DGB uploaded a “Duffle Bag” worth of rare B-Gizzle records that most people do not have in their possession. Myself included.

In 1995, Cash Money Records was in its infant stages – still three years away from making a mainstream impact. B.G., who actually was a ‘baby gangsta’ at the time, released True Story. One of the records was the bouncy, yet rugged “From The 13th To Tha 17th” which featured a young N’awlins upstart, Baby D. (Keep reading…)

If you’re thinking of picking up an album, strongly consider The Roots new project How I Got Over. This Philly based group is one that I’ve always felt people respected. However, I feel many never took the time to get to know what their music actually symbolized. They’ll never be a mainstream commodity, but the LP’s has always spoken for themselves. I’ll even admit to not being their biggest fan ever. Yet, I always took the time to listen whenever they released new product. It’s called consumer confidence. That and I’ve been a Black Thought fan since he went syllable for syllable with Big Pun on “Super Lyrical.”

Found on 2008’s Rising Down, “The Show” featuring Common and Dice Raw is an excellent showing of lyricism, meshed over triumphant instrumental. (Keep reading…)

Technically, this isn’t a “catch up” because it’s only been out for a few days. I still believe it deserves its own post for two reasons, however:

1) Big K.R.I.T. is nice. Not simply “fly by night nice,” but like “the real deal nice.” If you haven’t downloaded K.R.I.T. Wuz Here yet, stop cheating yourself and do so.

2) This may be the third “Exhibit C” remake I’ve listened to out of the hundreds which have surfaced. (Keep reading…)

Putting a crew on it’s exactly the easiest thing to do in Hip-Hop. Sure, 50 did it for awhile with G-Unit. Kanye is currently doing it with everyone under the G.O.O.D. Music umbrella. And Wayne with Young Money. That said, they happen to be rare cases. I’ve always respected Ludacris and the way he managed to hustle the industry (and is still doing it).

The brand “Disturbing The Peace” has always been one that’s known, but for the most part never really made any defiant impacts on the genre. Flashes in the pan, yeah. But never anyone who could compete with the start power of Luda. Well, Chingy did, but no one has heard from that guy in about a half a decade.  With all that in mind, I could be just “hating” though.

Even still, that’s not to say some good music hasn’t resided from Luda’s Hotlanta based camp. One artists who always interested me was I-20. (Keep reading…)

Nowadays, Young Jeezy is basically accepted as one of the premiere artists in the game. Funny to believe that just five years ago many were saying he was “killing” Hip-Hop. His coke raps were too simple and his style was supposedly easily replaceable and didn’t have the staying power to become a true force. Great assessment that was, Hip-Hop.

During those days in 2005, it wasn’t uncommon to hear fellow Boyz N Da Hood member Jody Breeze was actually superior to Jeezy’s drug riddled lyrics. That may or not have been true, but fact still remains the two did make good music. Take the conversational-style track, “Trap Niggaz” on the group’s self titled debut, for instance. It mirrored the same style as T.I.’s “T.I. vs. T.I.P.,” but featured a mature Jeezy attempting to school a wilder, more reckless Breeze about the inner-workings of the streets. (Keep reading…)

At some point this summer, I’ll be in New York. There isn’t even a solid reason for me to go other than the fact that it’s New York in the summertime. Even if the Big Apple hasn’t been the center of the Hip-Hop universe in recent years, it is still the place where everything goes down and remains a polarizing city as far as the genre is concerned. Plus, I believe if I go up there I’ll fall right into the opportunity that will change my life forever. A long shot, yeah. I know.

Speaking of New York and Hip-Hop, they’ve had their fair share of anthems throughout the years, too.  (Keep reading…)

After the Hot Boys fell apart and life took its course, I did my best to keep up with each individual member. Juvenile, who was my favorite at one point, never actually saw the same commercial success after leaving Cash Money. That and something crazy happened with his voice. Turk caught a case, went to prison and is still dealing with legal ramifications. We all know what happened with Wayne’s career. But B.G. managed to always keep his head above water. At least on my radar, he did.

One thing about Gizzle is that his music has always be three things: raw, honest and vivid. On 2006’s The Heart of the Streetz Vol. 2: I Am What I Am, the Chopper City general exhibited all three of those characteristics on the song “I Ain’t Got Nothing.” Four years ago, the “stop snitching” movement was alive and well and B.G. did his part to promote it. See, other rappers at the time took and ran with the slogan, but not many were as believable as the former Hot Boy. I mean, there really isn’t anyone out there who can attempt to assassinate his character. If there is, they would have done so by now. Read rest of story…

The past few weeks have been a microcosm of Nas’s entire life – at least in the public realm. For as timeless and powerful as his music has been, a woman has always seemingly been a thorn in his side. His incredibly anticiapted duet album with Damian Marley, Distant Relatives, hits shelves in less than a month. Coincidentally, it seems as if Kelis and her perceived greed are all the tabloids care to focus on.

With all the hoopla surrounding his life, the music always brings Nasir back full circle. In 2008, when he and the ex were still on good terms, Nas released a tape with Green Lantern which, to this day, does not receive the credit it truly deserves. The N*gger Tape was released shortly before his Untitled project. It proved to be a great stepping stone for the album, while some actually considered it superior to the “official” project. One of the standout records proved to be his stic.man (of dead prez) featured record, “Association.” (Keep reading…)