What's New In Dart's iPod #89 AKA The House Of Flying Daggers Edition

This week contained a bunch of drama stemming from last week's Skip Gates incident in Cambridge, MA. A dumbass Boston cop decided that it would be a good idea to make a racist statement in an anonymous email...he has since been terminated from his position. The President Of The United States, Barack Obama, his pal Skip Gates and the arresting officer all had beers at the White House afterwards. God bless that guy cuz I would've been like "Fuck you!".

The news came out that supposedly David Ortiz failed a test back in 2003 and the Yankees fans came out in force talking shit because the Red Sox are in freefall mode and they're hot right now. The Red Sox are also making some deals to stem the tide and hopefully stop the bleeding before their huge upcoming series with the Yankees that I can't get any tickets for.

The Raekwon Noisemakers that happened this past week was great. The next day piecing together the video and audio from people that were in attendance is the most fun part. Good lookin' out to all my Internets Celebrities that hooked the rest of us up and big up to Eskay, Dallas Penn, Combat Jack & Marvelous Mo on the inaugural airing of PNC/Nah Right Radio. Also, for those who don't know I've also become the newest associate of the brothers over @ Nerd With Swag so expect some of my posts to land over there for the forseeable future as well.

This week I'll be reviewing five new projects that recently hit the 'net/bloggerverse and/or will be landing on store shelves soon in the following order: K-Def presents Beats From The 90's Vol. 2, Kev Brown presents Random Joints, Muneshine "Status Symbol", Slaughterhouse "Slaughterhouse" and Willie Green "...Of Heroes & Villians". For those of you new to this blog, I don’t rate albums on a scale or assign them a numerical value out of 5 or 10, instead I merely answer the all important question of “Is it worth buying or not?”. Here's how my recently revised "Cop It Or Not" ratings system breaks down below:


Opinions be damned. This particular project has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and should come with a Surgeon General's warning and/or a biohazard sticker. It should only be handled by hazmat teams or bomb/demolitions squads. To quote Common & Canibus, this album is your worst nightmare squared.


Oh No! This CD is a drink coaster/table balancer/doorstop/gerbil/hamster room divider/frisbee/discus/makeshift shield/last ditch choice for a visor/alternate shuriken choice. Sell this shit to whoever is dumb enough to buy it from you.

Maeby (Maybe)! Depending on your own set of personal preferences you might like this joint. Give it a listen first to see if it's in your lane or not.


Mos Def! Cop the album when it drops...'Nuff said.

I'm Pacquiao in the Phillipines/illest thing you n*ggas seen! © Crooked I


Best Joints: The Magnum, Watch Out, Preying Mantis, Heaven Or Hell, Survive The Blast, Hey Funkbox, Bring The Gat, Having A Bad Day, Redcoats Are Coming, Mystery Man, Orig Blind 1995, He Is Waiting and Guitar Licking

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: While there isn't anything wack on this instrumental project there's nothing to write home about on here. It just sounds like throwaway beats as opposed to forgotten instrumentals. None of these tracks could be categorized as a banger. I didn't rewind any of these jawns and I wasn't nooding my head the way I normally do while listening to instrumental projects so the best I could do is give this a maybe. Disappointing to say the least.





Best Joints: Listen..., The Random Joint, No Time, The Versatility Joint, The Alternative Rock Joint, The Marvelous Joint, The Hennessy Joint, From My Porch and Lord Help Me

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: I've been hearing people rave about "Random Joints" for a week now and tweeting about it nonstop on Twitter so I finally said "fuck it" and downloaded it from iTunes. Goddamn! I say goddamn! © Mia Wallace. The tracks on this project more than make up for the disappointment I got from listening to the K-Def instrumental LP "Beats From The 90's Vol. 2".

There isn't a weak moment on this project and Bilal Salaam, yU, Kenn Starr, Wayna, Raheem Devaughn, Eric Roberson, Sean Born, Eye-q and Cy Young all rep the DMV quite lovely. Do yourself a favor and cop this if you love Hip Hop or are a Kev Brown fan. I give "Random Joints" a mos def.





Best Joints: Mark My Words, Human Nature, Globetrotters, Foreign Affairs, Waterworld (Revisited), Cats & Dogs, What Now, Liquorhound, Today's Special, Leaving You, Farewell and It's Mine

Hot Garbage: Love You More (I don't like this song)

Dart's Take: This was a pretty good album, it had excellent production, nice guest appearances (Sean Price, Termanology, Nature, Little Vic, Emilio Rojas, Skyzoo, Kenn Starr & D-Sisive) and Muneshine held it down on the lyrical side. "Status Symbol" could earn a spot in my iPod Touch (provided I wanted to kick something else out). It isn't by any means groundbreaking but it earns a recommended maybe from me. Check it out for yourself.





Best Joints: Sound Off, Lyrical Murderers, Microphone, Not Tonight, The One, Cuckoo, Onslaught 2, Salute, Pray (It's A Shame), Cut You Loose, Rain Drops & Killaz

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: The supergroup called Slaughterhouse hit the studio for a week with a bunch of heat from Alchemist, DJ Khalil, Focus, Mr. Porter & Emile amongst others to deliver an album that completely cleaned the slate for the past couple of disappointing Fridays. This was the big release we were expecting it to be. If you thought that the Slaughterhouse LP was gonna be anything other than a banging ass album from 4 of the most underrated emcees of the past 10 years then you may be let down.

This wasn't going to be "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx". It wasn't going to be an instant classic that would "save Hip Hop" or "bring Hip Hop back". What is it, then? Yet another project that should embarass the fuck out of artists and executives on major labels because this jawn was made for a fraction of the cost in a week and is infinitely better in every imaginable way then major label projects that took years to drop.

From the moment you hear Royce speak on the opening to "Sound Off" you know what you're in for. All four emcees merk verse after verse without any unneccesary filler or club tracks (Fabolous, I'm looking at you!). How ill of a group do you think you have to be for Pharaohe Monch to sing a hook on your album? After nodding your head to "Sound Off", "Lyrical Murderers", "Microphone", "Not Tonight", "The One", "Cuckoo" & "Onslaught 2" you begin to remember back when you were accustomed to hearing nice albums as opposed to being repeatedly let down every Tuesday of the Jiggy Era.

I give "Slaughterhouse" a mos def because it lived up to my expectations but I'm sticking "Slaughterhouse", "Onslaught"& "Warriors" on my iPod in addition to these jawns to make my own special edition Slaughterhouse LP. We need more shit like this word to my boy Dallas Penn. Vstyles, you weren't lying! Cop 5 of these when it drops on August 11th.






Best Joints: Final Adjustments, Preparations, A Turn For The Worse, The Plan, Synergy, Snitches, The Message, The Anomaly, First Encounters, A Thrill A Minute, Entermission, Nobody Gets Out Alive, Maid Service, Destination Please, Arrival, Exiled, The Twist, Swords Crossed, Infinity Gauntlet and Family Ties

Hot Garbage: N/A

Dart's Take: What do you get when you add an instrumental project that uses audio clips from old episodes of Dangermouse and He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe not to mention some random sounds from Akira mixed together over a 30 minute opus of sick beats? A must download project courtesy of Willie Green (an alumnus of my original Producers You Need To Hear Right Now lists) and Backwoodz Studios. This version also included two bonus tracks featuring NASA of The Presence (The REAL NASA) & Billy Woods himself. I give it a mos def. Download it here right now.





Late Passes (For Doz Dat Slept):


Projects I'm Looking Forward To Reviewing Once They Leak...I Mean Drop in 2009:

Rhymefest-El Che
Fashawan-Boy Meets World
Jay Electronica-Act II: Patents Of Nobility
Jay Electronica-Abracadabra: Let There Be Light
Royce Da 5'9"-Street Hop
Big Boi-Sir Luscious Leftfoot, Son Of Chico Dusty
Pac Div-Grown Kid's Syndrome
Magnif & J Dilla-Detroit Royalty
Blu-God Is Good
Drake- Thank Me Later
Sean Price, Guilty Simpson & Black Milk-Random Axe
Alchemist & Oh No are Gangrene
Ghostface Killah-Wizard Of Poetry
Eternia & MoSS- At Last
B.O.B.-The Adventures Of B.O.B.
Billy Danze-Behind Gatez
AG & O.C.-Oasis: Together Brothers
Baatin-Titus
Phat Kat and Elzhi are Cold Steel
The Beatnuts-The Planet Of The Crates
Ski Beatz-Half Man, Half Amazing
Evidence-Cats & Dogs
Statik Selektah-The Hangover

This was the coolest shit of the entire week in my biased opinion. If you want to hear the full audio of the epic Peter Rosenberg x Raekwon Noisemakers then just click the picture for the link.

One.