Friday, October 11, 2013

Mommy, What's A Backpacker? AKA What The Hell Is A Cannibal Ox?

If you've ever been on a music related messageboard before or on in a hip hop thread you've seen the word, if you've ever heard the word/term used as a description or a derogatory term (i.e. Fuck you fake ass bitch Lupe Fiasco lovin' niggas! Y'all need to take that backpack bullshit back to the surburbs and listen to some real shit like Young Jeezy!) and wondered what the hell it meant or even where it came from, I'll explain it to you in the following blog. This blog is about not just where the term came from but its also about the grand Kansas City Shuffle executed by the government approving the Telecommunications Act and Viacom, Emmis Communications and Clearchannel in the roles of The Boss, The Rabbi, Mr. Goodkat and Slevin Kelevra (If you haven't yet seen "Lucky Number Slevin" do so...it will all make perfect sense then).

Let us begin....at the beginning. There was a time when if you didn't at least make a effort to speak about issues or put a conscious cut on your album you were clowned incessantly (Ask LL Cool J or any kid that rocked in African medallion back in the day for the same reason). At one point being afrocentric or conscious was mainstream. That changed over time and we entered the 90s. 1990 was a transition year and hip hop was searching for a new direction. 1991 brought that direction, style and a bunch of new talent to the forefront (along with mad classic albums). Everything fell into place the following year, though.

After 1991 brought the hip hop world a new influx of hip hop groups, style changes and classic albums, 1992 turned into what was called The Year Of The Underground by most hip hop publications (especially The Source). That year Das Efx, Redman, EPMD, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Black Sheep, The UMCs, Fu-Schnickens, Cypress Hill, House Of Pain, Del The Funkee Homosapien, Mobb Deep, UGK, Common, 2Pac, Diamond, The Pharcyde, etc. all came out and either did big numbers, made a classic LP/single and/or dominated the charts...plus, they all were different.

Some were super lyrical, some just spit party rhymes. They were diverse in their styles and influences, some wore crazy ass clothes, others rocked work gear, hoodies, BDUs and Timberlands most of the time...some rhymed about space age shit and others came up with straight up street tales, others spit battle rhymes. It didn't matter what approach they took to the music or where they were from....they were all regarded as hip hoppers/rappers....oh yeah, a lot of them often rocked backpacks.

Whether it was Grand Puba (who popularized the look in his lead single and video for his 1st solo LP "Reel To Reel"), Leaders Of The New School, Das Efx, Black Sheep, Redman, Black Moon, Ruff House Survivers (who had a single called Check Da Backpack), Mobb Deep or Onyx, heads used to rock backpacks from the corniest to the grimiest. You could keep all your shit in 'em! Your rhyme book, your black book (for graf), your contact information, your weed, guns, knives, pens, money, whatever! Rockin' a backpack wasn't an issue at all...Hip Hop also began invading the mainstream, moving units and becoming more and more popular with the youth across the board (Mostly industry fallout due to the crossover appeal of Dr. Dre's dominant release "The Chronic Album").

It began seeping into MTV's regular video rotation and taking spins away from rock videos, eventually MTV began to mix urban music videos in with their regular rotation of mostly rock music due to the surging popularity of Yo! MTV Raps. Hip Hop was on the rise creatively, musically and influence wise. 1992 also kicked off what would be later regarded as the Second Golden Age Of Hip Hop....it would last until 1996...What does tall of this shit have to do with backpackers now? I'm getting there!

In 1993, Wu Tang Clan (RZA, GZA, Ol Dirty Bastard, Raekwon The Chef, Ghostface Killah, U God, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, & Method Man), Boot Camp Click (Black Moon, Smif N Wessun, Heltah Skeltah & O.G.C.), Tha Alkaholiks and the Likwit Crew (King Tee, Lootpack (Madlib, Wildchild & DJ Romes) and Defari), Hieroglyphics Crew (Del The Funkee Homosapien, Souls Of Mischief, Extra Prolific, and Casual), The Beatnuts, Onyx, E-40, Snoop Dogg and The Roots all hit the hip hop scene hard. These names are legendary in the hip hop industry now and are extremely influential even to this day. A long ass list of seminal hip hop albums and classic releases was to come over the next 4 or 5 years so I'll skip around liberally.

In 1994, Notorious B.I.G.'s "Ready To Die", Nas' "Illmatic", Jeru Tha Damaja's "The Sun Rises In The East", OutKast's "Southernplayalisticadillacmusik", and Bone Thugs N Harmony's "Creepin On A Come Up" EP were all released. In 1995, Mobb Deep released "The Infamous", The Dogg Pound's "Dog Food " dropped, Raekwon released "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" and GZA released "Liquid Swords". In 1996, Jay-Z released "Reasonable Doubt" while Ghostface Killah's "Ironman", Busta Rhymes "The Coming", Lil Kim's "Hard Core" and The Fugees' "The Score" dropped...

The radio was playing all of these artists' material and their videos were getting burn on MTV and BET. The South wasn't represented very well in the mainstream and on the radio...weirder still, Southern artists were moving more units INDEPENDENTLY and properly using their channels of distribution and marketing QUIETLY FOR YEARS! A Southern rapper/group could sell 100,000-300,000 by word of mouth, shows and creating a buzz so large that it locked down whole regions of the country....no videos, little or no radio airplay. The thing was that while Hip Hop was extremely inventive, ground breaking and influential to pop culture...IT WASN'T SELLING VERY WELL. If you think I'm joking go find a list of classic Hip Hop albums from 1986-1996 and look up how many units they sold. I was shocked to find out that albums like K-Solos classic LP "Tell The World My Name" from 1990 only sold 81,000+ units! This album had 2 major hits and 3 singles, Spellbound, Your Moms Is In My Business and Fugitive.

If you continue to check on the sales figures of some of the most lauded and universally loved rap/hip hop albums you be shocked to find out that between 90-95% of them caught a brick (which is why they can be found on blogs all over the internet because they're out of print)! Right around the end of 1996, the industry had to go into a different direction or there would be trouble for the music industry...or so they say.

In 1996, the Telecommunications Act was passed. This allowed larger companies to go and buy independent radio stations and put them under their umbrella. The companies that benefited the most from this were Emmis Communications and Clearchannel. Soon there were chain radio stations in effect across the country. Next, record labels began to trim the fat and whole labels folded and several acts that were prominent before 1996 either became dropped from their labels or they experienced diminished roles of importance in the industry. Artists such as Large Professor, who was signed by Geffen years before and was seen as a landmark signing at the time...until they realized that he wasn't ever going to move a lot of units...they shelved his album and released him from his deal immediately. Right around this time a division in the industry began to happen...by 1997, it would be completed.

The division was mainly between the normally underground/gutter/grimy and conscious hip hop heads and the artists that rhymed about material wealth and the like. A rift had already formed between artist such as Notorious B.I.G. and members of the Bad Boy camp or associates of B.I.G. and Jeru Tha Damaja, O.G.C. and even Ghostface Killah, Raekwon and Nas. Jay-Z dropped Reasonable Doubt and made rhyming about wealth, extravagance and hustling seem so fly that between B.I.G. and Jay Z, they spawned a LEGION OF BITERS!!! None of them took into account that Jay-Z and B.I.G. were two of the greatest lyricists of all times and that attributed to the music being so appealing...they figured If I name drop Gucci, Versace, Donna Karan, DKNY, etc. and rhyme about selling crack, I'll BLOW UP!

On the other side of things, 2Pac, who first burst on the scene with Digital Underground and dropped his first album "2Pacalypse Now" back in 1992 (check the sales numbers!) had become a veritable superstar in his own right. He dropped "Strictly For My N.I.G.G.A.Z" in 1993 before being incarcerated and was released to drop the double album "Me Against The World " to huge sales and much fanfare. The same went for his next album "All Eyez On Me". 2Pac had a SERIOUS beef with B.I.G. (that involved factors other than just music...even though he admitted to using it to move more units to some journalists such as Danyel Smith and Dream Hampton. 2Pac was a giant in the industry as was B.I.G...his sophomore album was set to come out as well as Bad Boy's "Hell Up In Harlem" starring Puff Daddy & The Family..a crew of young upstart emcees that Puffy signed strictly off of the strength that they got to be on the same label as B.I.G.

The mainstream and hip hop media wrote story after story, feature after feature about the East Coast/West Coast Beef. Sales shot up, media coverage increased...very few noticed the Willie Lynch theory being put into action and played into it entirely. 2Pac had readied a few projects as well, looking to get out of his 7 album deal with Death Row early...he recorded non stop. Ultimately, one fateful night 10 years ago....2Pac was gunned down before he got to put the finishing touch on his 3 part Makaveli series and his "One Nation" LP that would have finished off his Death Row deal and made him a free agent again. Tensions increased and much animosity was sent towards the Bad Boy camp and especially Puff Daddy and Notorious B.I.G....2Pacs first Makaveli project dropped posthumously and did HUGE numbers...it still sells to this day.

The radio has changed completely by 1997, as did MTV and BET...MTV switched their former format of mixing independent music, college radio favorites and hip hop/urban videos along with rock ones...They introduced a new flagship show called Total Request Live AKA TRL. The era of Grunge/Alternative Rock had also come to an end just as the Second Golden Age Of Hip Hop had...Record labels instead looked to sign the next big thing. Pop music made a HUGE comeback. Boy bands, girl groups and teen acts were tested with the public and MTV's TRL became a testing market/showcase to the teenybopper consumers that it was attracting...Ratings went through the roof for MTV after they introduced a new countdown show that launched the careers of NSync, The BackStreet Boys, 98ยบ, The Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore and a host of other pop acts...Sales were up and the industry was back!

Hip hop labels and execs knew what direction they had to take to get sales up..Notorious B.I.G. was about to drop his sophomore album Life After Death and that would set the stage for everything...until tragedy struck ONCE AGAIN. The Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down in California before his album was released. This sent a ripple effect throughout the industry. Notorious B.I.G.s sophomore album dropped and did HUGE NUMBERS...sense a pattern here, people? After B.I.G.s passing, a hurt Puff Daddy threw himself into his work and re-recreated his Hell Up In Harlem project into No Way Out. The album was released after some largely successful singles and did HUGE NUMBERS.

Jay-Z released In My Lifetime Vol.1 as was seen as the next to become King Of New York. They even crossed over into mainstream radio. Record labels also discovered that if they signed southern artists that they could make noise in the industry as well. Think for a moment...if you sell 100,000-300,000 units WITHOUT A VIDEO, RADIO AIRPLAY OR NATIONWIDE DISTRIBUTION, how many units would you move WITH THEM? No Limit Records, Suave House Records and later Cash Money Records would change the face of the music industry forever continuing the legacy that Houston's Rap A Lot Records had laid down.

With the shift in the hip hop industry that happened in 1996/7, the underground became its own separate entity as opposed to just being a part of the larger hip hop diaspora. These emcees and groups refused to emulate the jiggy/shiny suit/cash flow/thug/mafioso/hustler image that was blowing up all over the radio at the time. Groups that were once juggernauts, such as Wu Tang Clan, Boot Camp Clik, and even Bone Thugs N Harmony began to experience a decrease in popularity, and in airplay, video play after releasing their 1997 albums. The industry has shifted...Two thrones were now vacant, and EVERYONE was rushing to fill them. There were Biggie and Pac imitators everywhere. Independent distributors like Fat Beats Records, Sandbox Automatic, and many others began to specialize in putting out independent vinyl releases made by groups that were played on college radio and circulated on underground mixtapes.

Indie labels like Solesides, Stones Throw, Rawkus, Fondle Em, Raw Shack, Bomb Hip Hop, Hydra and Brick began to release singles that attracted many fans that were turned off by the rap now getting spins on the radio. They began to utilize the internet to sell this underground music and make it possible to listen to it all over the world. Heads would log on to 88HipHop.com, Duckdown.com, Rawkus.com, HipHopSite.com, UndergroundHipHop.com and SandboxAutomatic.com to hear the latest J Live, Company Flow, Hieroglyphics, Sir Menelik, Mos Def and Latryx joints that they couldn't hear on the radio where they lived or purchase the music that they heard on college radio but didnt have a place to buy it. Long story short, THE BACKPACKER WAS BORN!!!


By 1998, Def Jam had found the formula to make hits again and released DMX, Ja Rule, Method Man, Redman, and Jay-Z albums that made serious noise. Along with the Cash Money Records roster, No Limit Records roster, Roc A Fella Records and Lauryn Hills The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. Rap music had made HUGE inroads into pop culture and once Def Jam sent the Survival Of The Illest Tour and Hard Knock Life Tour out and they were highly successful and without any incidents of violence in small and large venues. This occurrence opened the floodgates for major hip hop tours to play to huge arenas again. This also put the nail in the coffin for the Underground to ever join the Mainstream rap scene again. A hip hop Civil War has been going on ever since.

If you were born in the late 70's or the early 80's you are already aware of everything that I broke down above, if you were born afterwards, you might possibly consider Lupe Fiasco to be a "backpacker"/"backpack rapper". This term can be used as an adjective or a derogatory term given the context. It makes me laugh, really. None of the people that use this term realize that its all basically the product of a perfectly executed plan to remove the creativity, lyricism, fun and consciousness from mainstream rap. The Willie Lynch theory was once again put into effect. Conscious vs. Material. Hustlers vs. Emcees. Underground vs. Mainstream. Crunk vs. Hyphy. Reggaeton vs. Grime. Old vs. Young....Yes, indeed.

So think about the next time you see or hear someone use the term backpacker and think about the events that happened in the past that started 10 years that brought this term into creation and common usage. Keep in mind that mainstream rap is ONCE AGAIN at a crossroads and experiencing a drought as far as appeal, influence and sales numbers are concerned. MTV doesn't even CARE about Rap or Hip Hop right now and they seem to be distancing themselves from it. What chain of events will happen next that will cause someone else to be writing another blog 10 years from now recounting how the Hip Hop industry got to be the was it is in 2016 going into 2017?

One.

Originally posted on AllHipHop.com and my Myspace blog on September 15th, 2006 after users on AllHipHop kept on sending me PM's asking me to define what a "backpacker" was and why everyone on the IC (Ill Community) seemed to hate them with a passion. Original blogs will continue tomorrow and be posted up through the end of the month.

Friday, January 1, 2010

The Grand Finale © N.W.A.

This post is the last one in the life of Poisonous Paragraphs, a blog that represents three years of continuous work. I had left my job in management & quit emceeing between October 2005 & Summer 2006 and I needed a new direction. I used to have no problem getting work in record stores or video stores but they'd been all but phased out by then & they no longer needed to hire knowledgeable staffs anymore due to new advances in technology.

I needed to get into Hip Hop journalism but I had spent the past 10 years working and I had no resume, writing credits or journalism degree so no one would dare hire me. I needed a plan. I ended up running a stickied thread on AllHipHop.com called "School Me On Some Hip Hop" and frequenting Hip Hop blogs but it wasn't until the AHH users began posting blogs by Tara Henley, Sickamore, Billy X. Sunday (who I didn't know was Dallas Penn @ the time) & Byron "Bol" Crawford. Needless to say, I soon became a frequent XXL blog commenter as Poisonous Dart.

Other XXL blog comment regulars of the same time include Meka Soul (Meka @ HipHopDX & 2DopeBoyz) and Khal (Khal @ Rock The Dub) so I was in some distinguished company back then. Most of my comments were venom directed towards Byron Crawford, though. I noticed that of the 100 hateful comments direct towards him he'd often respond to mine. That let me know that I was on to something.

Back in the summer of 2006, XXL blogger, mixtape DJ and Atlantic Records A & R Sickamore started these series of blogs called "80 Reasons You're Not An 80's Baby" . I thought that he had a point to some of the stuff he was saying though I didn't totally agree with his viewpoint.

Most older heads just got pissed off and blindly attacked him and the younger generation for not knowing their Hip Hop history and reveling in their ignorance of it. Every Hip Hop site with a message board seemed to have a flame war going on with older heads on one side and younger heads on the other (usually Dipset fans...why was I not surprised?).

Rather than take part in this "divide and conquer/Willie Lynch" mentality, I decided to stay out of it and try to bring the sides to a middle ground if I could by posting on AllHipHop.com with more regularity. I was already running a stickied thread called "School Me On Some Hip Hop" along with some other regular posters but I wasn't big on posting in "The Reason" because it was wild ass hell on that messageboard (those that used to frequent it before the new version went up can attest to that) and it was hard as hell to get a point across to readers as The Reason wasn't really used to reason, ironically enough.

After Sickamore fanned the flames with the second post of what was to be a four part series I could see that by reading the third part that he really ran out of stuff to write about and began using shortcuts. I knew that he probably didn't feel like doing a fourth part and that he would only do one at his own leisure because it seemed like his heart really wasn't in it. I figured that if I made my own version of his blog series, but for older heads it would help the situation out some. I had to go all out, though. I decided that I had to do "100 Ways To Know If You're A 70's Baby".

My first draft was about Coleco Vision and Atari 2600 and shit only a kid born in the 70's would be able to relate to. I realized pretty quick that my blog would actually help more if it could be relevant to a wider cross section of readers. After all, most heads that old weren't the ones actively frequenting Hip Hop messageboards anymore. I wrote another draft of my blog and began revising it all night until I got it where I wanted it to be.


I posted it up on my MySpace page first (the same place I posted all my early blogs that only about 20 people read) and then I posted it up in The Reason section on AllHipHop.com early in the afternoon. I was surprised to see that people were reading it like crazy. Eventually it got stickied and I began getting PM's and e-mails from all over the place. I thought that would be the end of it...not even close. That night, Sickamore posted up a new blog on XXLmag.com ...mine.


It turns out that he went on to AllHipHop.com that afternoon and read it himself and liked it so much he posted it where even more eyes could see it. Now the e-mails and PM's really started coming in like crazy. It got to the point where I even asked Odeiesel (of AllHipHop.com) for a bigger PM box. He responded by saying yes provided a post a regular blog each week on AllHipHop.com and posting it in The Reason. I said "Hell yeah".



That one blog ended up being posted all over the internet and MySpace. If I Googled it I'd find it all over the place. I was in shock that so many people read it and responded to it. It was then that I decided that as much as I posted on all of these messageboards all over the internet that I might as well write. It's pretty much what I had already been doing anyways if I really thought about it.


After four months of blogging every week on AllHipHop.com, I decided that on January 1st, 2007 I would start my own blog where I could write about whatever the hell I wanted at any time. Blogging was like playing Uno with two people to me...mad fun ("Skip you back to me, skip you back to me, reverse you back to me, reverse you back to me, Wild draw four and the color is green...Uno!" and the one card you have left is a green nine that looks like a six with the line underneath it).

I decided to call it Poisonous Paragraphs after the underlying name of my blog series on AllHipHop which was called "The State Of Hip Hop: Poisonous Paragraphs". I initially started that series to directly combat the ignorant shit posted on Bryon "Bol" Crawford's blog at XXL.mag, he had what I wanted...mad readers. I eventually realized that he's a grown ass man that has to answer for his own ways and actions and going at him was a waste of time when I should be focused on myself and my own writing (though, he still does piss me off with the ig'nant shit he posts from time to time).


To read any of my old ass blogs from the State Of Hip Hop series read 'em here (some have been posted here already). I'd like to thank my boy Rideout from Detroit who first encouraged me to blog by doing his MySpace blogs. I'd like to thank Odiesel and all the heads and moderators from AllHipHop.com for being first to acknowledge me and giving me a forum to address people.

I'd also like to thank all of my old BostonRap.com, RepDaBean.com. Okayplayer.com and Dissensus.com compatriots for trading information with me and putting me on to things I normally wouldn't be into. I'd like to thank all of the bloggers I met when I did those legendary threads on Okayplayer where I'd go around the internet finding links to out of print albums for understanding that I wasn't just jacking their links and not giving them credit..that's how I met a great deal of the bloggers I know now.


I'd also like to thank all of the regular readers of this blog for bearing with me even when I didn't know how to post links to albums until February 2007, post pictures on the blog until May 2007 and imbed YouTube videos until April 2007.


I wish knew when I first started to switch to Firefox from Safari when posting blogs from my Mac so I could use "Compose" and add functionality to Blogger. In September 2007, I went into Newbury Comics and saw the cover of a New Avengers comic book drawn by Lienil Francis Yu that gave me my now iconic avatar/logo.

In the past three years of blogging on Poisonous Paragraphs I've run though about 4 laptops, run afoul of a bunch of bloggers, writers, websites, film studios, television networks, celebrities (both local & international) and record companies. I've also learned how to be a better writer by regularly reading posts by the best bloggers, writers and journalists in the game. I don't understand why so many people use the word "blogger" as a blanket derogatory term.

The print media is dying so many of us bloggers that would be writing professionally for a publication or didn't attend journalism school will never get the chance to become "legitimate"writers. I don't give a fuck what company you draw a check from, you're either good or you're not. Period.

I'd like to thank all of my blogging brethren & sisteren for tolerating me posting up eleventy billion jpegs thereby freezing your Blackberries and writing all the goddamn time like a graphomaniac madman (anyone who follows me on Twitter can attest to that). I'd also like to thank you all for making me step my game up over these past 734 posts over 156 weeks and 1,096 days.

I'd like to thank the collapse of the print media for preventing me from ever getting a job doing this, eMusic for fronting on the dough once they realized I was going to bankrupt them and all the publications & sites I turned down because I refused to write some bullshit about some wack artists I didn't believe in.

In turn, I'd also like to thank all of the producers, emcees & artists that made material that inspired me to get up every day and write. I'd like to apologize for being a damn ninja to all the people in Boston's Hip Hop community since late 2005 as well. All my peoples that knew who I was and didn't say anything get all the props in the world. I'm ending this blog without compromising my integrity and keeping my reputation & principles intact which is more than I can say for some folks. You'll be seeing me soon. Believe it.

Steve "Dart" Adams
Poisonous Paragraphs/Bloggerhouse
poisonousparagraphs@gmail.com

One.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Dart Adams presents It's Almost Over....

Back @ 12:37 AM January 1st, 2007 I made my first post on Poisonous Paragraphs. While I had an idea of what I was going to do with this blog I had no damn idea it would become what it did. I wrote the following statement:


"The sole purpose of this blogsite for me to write about whatever the hell I want to at any time. When I write articles, I usually write about subjects that someone else has suggested for me to speak on...some I usually don't give a goddamn about.

I can write about any and all of the things that interest me in the fields of Hip Hop, film, sports, entertainment, etc. The best part is that I don't have to wait for the article to come out, get edited, censored or get printed....as soon as I post the joint and press PUBLISH. There it is for the world to see.

Just a warning for people that go on blogs and don't want to read anything....You're on the wrong damn page, fam. I WRITE...A LOT. Anyone who's had to block out time to read one of my long ass blogs can attest to that. Happy New Year to everybody. One."

Needless to say I did exactly what I wanted to do on this blog if not exactly with it. Poisonous Paragraphs was supposed to be my de facto writing resume, needless to say that the print medium all but died during the three year run of Poisonous Paragraphs so I had to come to grips with that fact and go on ahead doing my thing.

It's gotten the the point where I need to make it so I can be free to write on other projects or have the freedom to freelance. After three years of 5 posts a week this blog is so saturated with posts of varying subjects & types (not to mention pictures & images) that it's a chore to search it even for me and I remember damn near everyone of my own posts.

In any event, the final post on Poisonous Paragraphs will be made in 8 hours and I will move over to Bloggerhouse for good and leave the site up so people can read through it at their own leisure. I'll touch on everything else in my final post later on tonight.

One.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Dart Adams presents Who You Think I Am? (Revisited)

Way back in the days when the Wu Tang Clan first hit the scene they featured an emcee named Ghostface Killah. Ghost kept his visage covered with either a stocking or a ski mask during the crew's earliest videos and press pictures because he had a case pending and because he thought it added to his mystique as an emcee.

I thought it was a dope idea because you had nothing to judge him on other than his lyrics or the consistency of his bars/verses throughout his career rather than other perimeter shit. I also thought about the whole superhero/supervillain dynamic when you never get to see their faces and you have to take them who they claim to be and judge them solely on their actions.

In 1996, before Nas released his second album "It Was Written" he did an interview with The Source and he discussed how he wished he could just rhyme without all the other bullshit involved in the industry. He remarked about how ill he thought Ghostface Killah was because all he had to do was just lay down his verses and that was it.


Photo shoots and videos wouldn't be overpowered by his image because all that mattered was how he came off on that track he was on. Of course, once Tony Starks face was revealed to the world his career changed immediately. Now it was about expanding on his image, the wallabees, the bathrobes over the clothes and the golden eagle bracelet. Before no one knew what he looked like none of that ever came into play.


Nas' comments were overblown by the Hip Hop media and fans alike but I completely understood what he meant. What if Biggie was allowed to remain the grimy Brooklyn ex-drug dealer with the army jacket over the jeans and Timberlands rather than becoming the suited playa/Big Poppa/Frank White that Diddy turned him into?


What if Kimberly Jones never adopted Nelda (The Original Queen Bee)'s whole image and stayed herself? Would she have still gotten so much plastic surgery if she felt she was enough already? Think about Inga Marchand and how different her career would have been if we only focused on her bars and NOT her bras. Remember how girls responded to Method Man when they first saw him? Why do you think Def Jam made it such a point to sign him?

Think about the people you add to MySpace/Facebook/Twitter every day. Appearance and image matters. I personally focus on content rather than flashy shit in my every day life so I figured if I was going to commit to that philosophy in my writing and commentary then I couldn't be a hypocrite.

All you have to judge me on currently is my previous body of work and/or my current material if you want to add me on MySpace/Facebook/Twitter, etc. Once I finally end this whole anonymous charade watch how the entire game will change or how.

Epilogue: The time's going to come when I close this blog and everything changes. I'm not worried or even concerned because while things will change I'll welcome them. I'm not going to write any differently or be any different, though. The only thing that will change is that people will realize that I look a lot like that drawing of Luke Cage. If I couldn't stand your music or blog before I'll still hate you. If you're in the metro Boston area you'll be seeing me around soon.

One of my industry friends asked me recently if I wanted some free Beats By Dre headphones & I told him I wouldn't be caught dead rocking those overpriced ass headphones. I instead copped a couple pairs of Sony MDR-XD100's from Amazon. Ain't nothing gonna change but the year & the URL. Believe me on that.


One.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Dart Adams presents My Personal Favorite Top 100 Hip Hop Projects Of The 00's

This list is a continuation of my Top 50 Hip Hop LP's of the decade list that I submitted to my boy Jeff Weiss this past Summer including my honorable mentions from said list plus my favorites from the past few years (2005-2009) added in. These 100 selected projects represent many but nowhere near all of my favorite albums of the past decade as well as the ones I feel were the most influential. These albums all represent classic material to me.

A lot of you may be wondering where certain other albums are, to that I say look at the album covers displayed on my blog as well as my Top 50 favorite instrumental projects which should better or more accurately round out my personal favorite releases of the past decade. The 00's weren't the 90's but I'll be damned if anyone tell me that they were devoid of any influential or classic Hip Hop. Damn that! © Martin Lawrence

Without any further ado (and no alphabetical order or year of release for each selection because, let's face it, transcribing sucks balls & I'm not getting paid for this. LOL), here is my list. Any comments, praise, disappointment or grievances please feel free to voice them all in the comments sections. Enjoy (or don't):


M.O.P.-Warriorz
Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele
J Dilla - Donuts
50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin’
Reflection Eternal - Train of Thought
Slum Village - The Fantastic Vol. 2
Common - Like Water for Chocolate
Outkast - Stankonia
Madvillain - Madvillainy
Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
Nas - Stillmatic
Jay-Z-The Blueprint
Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing
Kanye West - The College Dropout
The Game - The Documentary
Big L - The Big Picture
The Streets - Original Pirate Material
Cage - Hell’s Winter
Kanye West - Late Registration
Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below
Edan - Beauty and the Beat
Masta Ace - Disposable Arts
MF Doom - Operation: Doomsday
Little Brother - The Listening
El-P - Fantastic Damage
De La Soul - The Grind Date
Quasimoto - The Unseen
Masta Ace - A Long Hot Summer
Blu & Exile - Below the Heavens
Aesop Rock - Labor Days
Dizzee Rascal - Boy in Da Corner
Sean Price - Monkey Bars
Nas - God’s Son
Elzhi - The Preface/Europass
DJ Muggs vs GZA - Grandmasters
Jaylib - Champion Sound
Binary Star - Masters of the Universe
Pete Rock - Petestrumentals
Jedi Mind Tricks - Violent by Design
Black Milk - Tronic
Scarface-The Fix
Non Phixion - The Future is Now
Jay Dee AKA J Dilla-Welcome 2 Detroit
Aesop Rock - Float
J-Live - The Best Part
Tanya Morgan-Moonlighting
Y Society - Travel At Your Own Pace
Invincible - Shapeshifters
Scaramanga - 7 Eyes, 7 Horns (Special Edition)
Godfather Don - Diabolique
Kano - Home Sweet Home
The U.N. - U.N. or U Out?
Dizzee Rascal-Showtime
Klashnekoff-The Sagas Of...
Little Brother-The Minstrel Show
CunninLynguists-A Piece Of Strange
El-P-I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
Blue Scholars-Bayani
Nicolay & Kay-Time: Line
Murs - 3:16 The 9th Edition
MF Mood-MM...Food
Emanon-The Waiting Room
Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030
People Under the Stairs - OST
Jay-Z - The Black Album
Dead Prez - Lets Get Free
Q-Tip - The Renaissance
Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor
Johnson & Jonson (Blu & Mainframe)-Johnson & Jonson
Talib Kweli-Quality
Jean Grae-Jeanius
Viktor Vaughn (MF Doom)-Vaudeville Villain
9th Wonder & Buckshot-Chemistry
Atmosphere-When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold
Immortal Technique-Revolutionary Vol. 1
AZ-A.W.O.L.
Pete Rock-Petestrumentals
Slum Village-Detroit Deli
The Roots-Phrenology
Mos Def-The New Danger
Eminem-The Marshall Mathers LP
Ghostface Killah-Fishscale
Clipse & The Re-Up Gang-We Got It For Cheap
Joe Budden-Mood Music 2
Wu Tang Clan-The W
Black Milk-Popular Demand
Evidence-The Weatherman LP
Common-Be
Sean Price-Jesus Price Superstar
Pharoahe Monch-Desire
Quasimoto-The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas
Kanye West-Graduation
Finale-A Pipe Dream & A Promise
Diamond District-In The Ruff
Asamov-And Now...
Tanya Morgan-Brooklynati
Marco Polo-Port Authority
Lupe Fiasco-Fahrenheit 1: 15 Part II: Revenge Of The Nerds
Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2

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Monday, December 28, 2009

Dart Adams presents Dartflix: The Top 50 Films Of 2009 (The Last Dartflix Post Evar)

This is my final Top 50 films of the year list ever on Poisonous Paragraphs as well as the the final Dartflix post ever it looks like. With no further ado I present my Top 50 films of 2009 and 50 more honorable mentions since I won't be doing this again. Some films are excluded because they actually came out last year & were on my 2008 list (Gomorrah, Red Cliff, Ong Bak 2, etc.). Anyways, here goes:


9
(500) Days Of Summer
Adventureland
American Violet
A Serious Man
Away We Go
Avatar
Big Fan
Black Dynamite
The Brothers Bloom
Brothers
Capitalism: A Love Story
Children Of Invention
Dead Snow
Defiance
District 9
The Escapist
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Fifty Dead Men Walking
Food, Inc.
Funny People
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
The Hangover
Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
The Informant!
Inglourious Basterds
Killshot
The Limits Of Control
The Men Who Stare At Goats
Moon
Medicine For Melancholy
Pandorum
Public Enemies
The Road
Sherlock Holmes
Sleep Dealer
Somers Town
Spread
Star Trek
State Of Play
Sunshine Cleaning
Taken
The Taking Of Pelham 123
Thirst
Tyson
Up In The Air
Watchmen
Where The Wild Things Are
Zombieland


50 Honorable Mentions:

Afterschool
Angels & Demons
The Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call-New Orleans
B-13: Ultimatum
The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day
Bronson
Brothers At War
Carriers
The Class
Cold Souls
Collapse
Coraline
Crossing Over
Crows Zero 2
Dorian Gray
Duplicity
The Education Of Charlie Banks
Extract
Five Minutes Of Heaven
Gigantic
The Girlfriend Experience
Good Hair
Grace
The Great Buck Howard
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
In The Loop
The Invention Of Lying
It Might Get Loud
Law Abiding Citizen
Lemon Tree
Lymelife
Management
The Messenger
More Than A Game
The Mysteries Of Pittsburgh
Ninja Assassin
Observe And Report
Paper Heart
Shrink
Sin Nombre
The Soloist
Soul Power
The Stoning Of Soraya M.
Surveillance
The Time Traveler's Wife
Tokyo!
Uncertainty
Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans
Valhalla Rising
Visioneers



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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Dart Adams presents The Top 50 Hip Hop Albums, EP's & Mixtapes Of 2009 (The Final Top 200)

This is a list of what I consider to be the Top 200 Hip Hop LP's, EP's & mixtapes from this year so far. Please keep in mind that in order for me to even narrow this list to 200 I had to exclude all instrumental albums with the exception of Exile's "Radio" (as it could've easily been Album Of The Year) otherwise it would've just been ridiculous and impossible to narrow to just 200 Hip Hop albums. This is the final time I do this, after three years I'm sure you all get the point I'm trying to make by now.

Also keep in mind that I've heard slightly less than 700 different projects this calendar year (my gmail account was bananas). I'm sure that my Bloggerhouse brethren Eric & Travis have quite a few projects in mind that I missed. That should give you all an idea as to just how deep 2009 was with quality material that you probably never even heard of.

In the comments section feel free to gripe, bitch and/or moan about Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Wale, Fabolous, Busta Rhymes or "insert wack rapper's name here" lackluster ass album not being in my top 200. Also feel free to add albums, EP's & mixtapes I missed (like Pill's). I head mad albums that are still in my rotation that missed this cut (Moka Only made so many albums I stopped him at one so "Summer Notations", "Carrots & Eggs" & Ron Contour's"Hot Dog" aren't on this list).

I'm sure listened to WAY more Hip Hop than you this year (and I probably suffered irreparable damage because of it). All you gotta do to check every Friday of 2009 (both the reviews & Late Passes (For Doz Dat Slept) sections) on this blog for proof. Enjoy (or don't) my final Poisonous Paragraphs list:

5 O' Clock Shadowboxers- The Slow Twilight
Aarophat & Illastrate-Black Noise
Apathy-Wanna Snuggle?
Big Tone-The Art Of Ink
Blame One-Days Chasing Days
Braille & Symbolyc One-Cloudnineteen
Brother Ali-Us/The Truth Is Here EP
Che Grand-Everything's Good Ugly
Chief-Collabo Collection
D.Black-Ali'yah
Danny!-Where Is Danny?
Diamond District-In The Ruff
Diz Gibran-Soon You'll Understand
DJ Spinna-Sonic Smash
DOOM-Born Like This
Drake-So Far Gone
Elzhi-The Leftovers: The Unmixedtape
Exile-Radio
Fashawn-Boy Meets World
Finale-A Pipe Dream And A Promise
Freddie Gibbs-Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik
Illogic & Ill Poetic-Diabolical Fun
J Dilla- Jay Stay Paid
JR & Ph7 present The Standard
Keelay And Zaire-Ridin' High
Kev Brown presents Random Joints
MAGr-No News Is Good News
Marco Polo & Torae-Double Barrel
Moka Only-Lowdown Suite 2: The Box
M.O.P.-Foundation
Mos Def-The Ecstatic
Obie Trice & MoSS-Special Reserve
Oddisee-Mental Liberation
Pac Div-Church League Champs
Paten Locke-Super Ramen Rocketship
Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2
Rapper Big Pooh-The Delightful Bars (North American Pie & Candy Apple Version)
Reks-More Grey Hairs
Royce Da 5'9"-Street Hop
Sene & Blu Are...A Day Late & A Dollar Short
Slum Village-Villa Manifesto EP
Skyzoo-The Salvation
Slaughterhouse-S/T
Strong Arm Steady & Madlib-In Search Of Stoney Jackson
Tanya Morgan-Brooklynati
Thaione Davis-Still Hear
TiRon & DJ LowKey-Ketchup
Tiye Phoenix-Half Woman Half Amazin'
yU-Before Taxes

Next 150 (Honorable Mentions):

45-The Revenge Of Soul
50 Cent-Before I Self Destruct
6 Fingers-Who Has Lots Of Fingers?
Abstract Rude-Rejuvenation
Ace & Edo (Masta Ace & Ed O.G)-Arts & Entertainment/Extra Entertainment
A Disturbing New Trend-Year Of The Carnivore
Alchemist-Chemical Warfare
Ancient Tongue-Time Tells Tales
ARES-A Red Eye Smokin'
Atmosphere-Leak At Will
AZ-Legendary
Big Quarters-From The Home Of Brown Babies With White Mothers
Blackroc-S/T
Black Sunn-Godsound
Blaq Poet- The Blaqprint
Blue Scholars-OOF! EP
Blu-HerFavoriteColo(u)r
Boycott Blues-Irony
BP & Odds-The Medium
Brokn. English-The Drawing Board
Brown Bag All Stars-The Brown Tape
Buff1-It's A 1derful Life
BK-One with Benzilla-Radio Do Canibal
Camp Lo-Stone And Rob: Caught On Tape/Another Heist
Cesar Comanche-Die In Your Lap
Classified-Self Explanatory
The Clipse-Til The Casket Drops
Common Market-The Winter's End EP
Cook Classics-The New Classics
The Cool Kids & Don Cannon-Gone Fishing
Cormega-Born & Raised
Cradle Orchestra-Velvet Ballads
Crooked I-Mr. Pig Face Weapon Waist
Crown Nation-Slut Bag Edition
CunninLynguists-Strange Journey Volume Two
Currensy-This Is Not A Mixtape/The Jet Files
Deep Rooted-D.E.E.P.R.O.O.T.E.D.
De La Soul-Are You In?+ Nike Original Run
Def Jux All Stars-Def Jux Presents 4
Del Tha Funke Homosapien & Tame One-Parallel Uni-Verse
Dillon & Paten Locke-Studies In Hunger
DJ JS-1-Ground Original 2: No Sell Out
DJ MK presents Skandal-Hunger Pains
DJ Quik & Kurupt-BlaQkout
Donny Goines-The Breakfast Club
DOOM presents Unexpected Guests
Dumhi-Indian Summer EP
Dylan Thomas & Haz Solo-All Jokes Aside
Dynas-The Apartment
E-Flash (NBS)-Know The Ledge
Earatik Statik-The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Earth Crew-Grassroots: From The Ground Up
Educated Consumers-Hello Big Mama
Elucid-The Sub Bass Diet
Emilio Rojas-Recession Proof/The Natural
Eminem-Relapse
Eternia-Get Caught Up
Fabio Musta-Passport
Fatgums x Bambu-A Peaceful Riot
Felt (Slug & Murs)-Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez
Film Skool Rejekts-Midnight Movies
Fresh Daily-The Gorgeous Killer In: Crimes Of Passion
Georgia Anne Muldrow presents Ms. One & The Gang
Ghostface Killah-Ghostdini: The Wizard Of Poetry In Emerald City
Grand Puba-RetroActive
The Grouch & Eligh-Say G&E!
Horseshoe G.A.N.G.-Gangsta MC
Ilyas-I-El: The Prelude
J. Cole-The Warm Up
J. Nolan-Resilience
J. Period & Q-Tip-The Abstract Best
J-Scrilla-Culture Of Honor
JC Poppe-Sleep Therapy
Jazz Liberatorz-Fruit Of The Past/Clin D' Oeil
Jern Eye-Vision
J.J. Brown-Connect The Dots
Joe Budden-Padded Room/Escape Route
K-Os-Yes!
Kam Moye-Splitting Image
Kenn Starr-It's Still Real
Kid Cudi-Man On The Moon: The End Of The Day
Kid Hum & Rock The Dub-Offshore Drilling
Kidz In The Hall-The Professional Leisure Tour
Krumbsnatcha-Hidden Scriptures
KRS One & Buckshot-Survival Skills
La Coka Nostra-A Brand You Can Trust
L.E.G.A.C.Y-Suicide Music
LMNO & Yann Kesz-Devilish Dandruff With Holy Shampoo
Marv Won-The Way Of The Won
MarQ Spekt X Lex Boogie-Guilty Party
Method Man & Redman-Blackout! 2
Mr. J. Medeiros & Boonie Mayfield-The Art Of Broken Glass EP/Friends Enemies Apples Apples
Mr. SOS-How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
Myka 9-1969
Naledge-Chicago Picasso
Nametag-Classic Cadence Vol. 2
Nico The Beast-Dinner Is Served Mixtape
Notes To Self-A Shot In The Dark
OC & AG-Oasis
Outasight-Further
People Under The Stairs-Carried Away
Poorly Drawn People-Motion, Not Emotion
Psuedo Slang-We'll Keep Looking
Print-Comic Books: Unlimited
Quelle-Blue Mondays
Qwel & Maker-So Be It
Rashid Hadee & Pugz Atomz-Stormy
Raydar Eliis & Quite Nyce-Champs Vs. The League
Red Giants-Chain Reaction EP
Reservoir Dogs-Reservoir Dogs Mixtape
Rhymefest & Scram Jones-The Manual
Ro Spit-The Oh Shit! Project
Rob Viktum f/Donwill & Friends-A'ight New Drink
Roc C & IMAKEMADBEATS-The Transcontinental
Saigon & Statik Selektah-All In A Day's Work
Sandpeople-Long Story Short EP
Sareem Poems-Black And Read All Over
Sean Price-Kimbo Price
Sene-Maltas & Music
Sha Stimuli-My Soul To Keep
Slakah The Beatchild-Soul Movement Vol. 1
Sleep-Hesitation Wounds
Sojourn-Sojournalism
Souls Of Mischief-Montezuma's Revenge
St. Mic-Honest Music
Statik Selektah-The Pre-Game EP
Stoupe The Enemy Of Mankind-Decalouge
Strange Fruit Project-Making Art Sound Kool
Substantial/Burns- Sacrifice
Superstar Quamallah-The Invisible Man
Tame One & Parallel Thought-Acid Tab Vocab
Termanology-Heaven Was A Mile Away/Hood Politics VI: Time Machine
Tha Connection-Love Royale
Toki Wright-A Different Mirror
U-N-I & Ro Blvd-A Love Supreme
Wale-Back To The Feature
William Cooper-Beware Of The Pale Horse
Wu Tang Clan-Wu Tang Chamber Music
X.O.-Monumental/Realmatic
yU presents The Charlie Ross Project

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Friday, December 25, 2009

Peace On Earth, Goodwill To Men

I decided to make a Christmas related post that involves some of my favorite elements...animation and a post apocalyptic future where the world is inhabited entirely by animals (Rock & Rule). The original cartoon “Peace On Earth” was made in 1939 at the beginning of World War 2 and the Hanna Barbera remake "Good Will To Men" in 1955 was updated to include a new ending for mankind at the hands of the atomic bomb (which didn’t exist when the first version was created).

I first saw this cartoon on regular TV back in 1978 and it scared the shit out of me. I saw the second version in 1980 and thought that it was even scarier because it started out all cutesy and then turned grimy at the drop of a dime.

When I got older, I did a little research into the back stories of both cartoons and with age I became to appreciate how great both of the versions are. Here’s my version of a Christmas post. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad/Three Kings Day, Joyous Kwanzaa (Harambe!), Great Festivus, and a good Saturnalia to you all (I don’t know what Wiccans celebrate this time of year so happy _____. Both versions of the celebrated anti-war/Christmas cartoon are below:

Peace On Earth (1939)



Goodwill To Men (1955)


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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Dart Adams presents Top 100 Instrumental & Sub Hip Hop LP's Of 2009

Here's my final list of the top 100 instrumental & remix LP's of 2009 according to me (there will be Dubstep). Please keep in mind that a fair amount of this music is completely foreign (ha!) to American Hip Hop heads (Thank you internet & friends from overseas).

Since the overwhelming majority of these artists or groups are unfamiliar to you I'll provide a few website links afterwards where you can become acquainted with most of them and their work. Enough words, God knows people don't wanna read all that shit before a long ass list (that's a bunch of words, ironically enough). Enjoy (or don't):

00Genesis-Monday Blues EP/Re: Re-Runs EP
2econd Class Citizen-A World Without
14KT- Nowalataz
2562-Unbalance
AEED-Synthesia EP
Amede & The Soundsmith-Flat 17 EP
Alex Goose-The Blueprint 3 Outtakes
Annu-Dream Runner EP/Def Vibrations
Apollo Brown-Make Do
The ARE-Iran
Aspect One-Vibe Ready
Astronote-The Remixes: Volume One
Ayiro & J.Bizness-Cali Fire Commission Vol. 1
Beat Dimensions Vol. 2 & Vol. 3
Blockhead-The Music Scene
Bullion-Young Heartache
Dam-Funk-Toeachizown (Vols. 1-5)
Dert-Talk Strange/CMYK EP
Devonwho-Waves/3P
Diego Bernal-For Corners
Dibiase-Up Your Joystick EP
DJ Khalil-Chinatown Wars Beat Tape
Dorian Concept-When Planets Explode
Dr. Who Dat?-Beyond 2morrow
The Clonious-Adroit Adventures EP/Between The Dots
Elaquent-In Colour Vol. 3
Exile-Radio*
Falside-Bugs In Ya' Teef
fLako-The First Space Shit On The Moon
Floyd Da Locsmif-Divine Dezignz 2: Soul, Etc.
Fulgeance-Smart Bangin' EP
Gaslamp Killer-My Troubled Mind EP
Has-Lo-You Can Live Thru Anything If Magic Made It
Haz Solo-June Bug
HBO..-Bionik
Hermut Lobby-Bassfudge Powercones
Hudson Mohawke-Polyfolk Dance EP/Butter
Illingsworth-Twitterverse Traveler
J.Bizness-Reason: Beats & Pieces
J Rawls-Hotel Beats Vol. 1
Jackhigh-Interplanetary Thoughts
James Pants-All The Hits
Jansport J-The 2 AM Tape
Julien Dyne-Pins & Digits
Kan Kick-Beautiful: Opus Of Love Deeper Than Flesh Vols. 1 & 2
KenLo-Craqnuques (Orange)/(Rose)
Keyz N Kratez-Live Mixing 101
Kid Hum-Fossil Fuel
King Midas Sound-Waiting For You
Knxweldge-3P
Koushik-Beep Tape/Out My Window Instrumentals
Luke Vibert-We Hear You
Lunice-Out Of Touch EP
Mary Anne Hobbs-Wild Angels
Martyn-Great Lengths
Michita-Three
Mike Slott-Lucky 9Teen
Mindesign-Light & Tunnel/mndsgn-3P
Mono/Poly & Illum Sphere-Producer No. 2 Part 3
Mr. Chop-For Pete's Sake
Nosaj Thing-Drift
Oddisee-Odd Summer EP/Odd Autumn EP
Oh No-Dr. No's Ethiopium
Paul White-The Strange Dreams Of Paul White/Sounds From The Skylight
Portformat-The Repeat Factor
Powell-Beatnicks Tape #2
Prefuse 73-Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian/Meditation Upon Meditations (The Japanese Diaries)
Rob Viktum-Snack Pack Vols. 1, 2, 2.5 & 3 & 4
Seoul Avenger-Switch 4 Lanes
Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins-Fascinating Fingers
Sid Roams-Monster Muzik
Silkie-City Limits Volume 1
Slumgullion-Disko..
Small Professor vs. Large Professor-Breakin' Atoms (Main Source Edition)/Resurrected The Remix/Slowbus
Stevo-Muffins/Another Space Odyssey
Suff Daddy-Hi Hat Club Vol. 2-Suff Draft
Suzi Analogue-3P
Swede:Art-ABC Alphabeat
Vanderslice-The Big Gold
Various-The Mu School
VohnBeatz-The New Kid On The Block
Willie Green-...Of Heroes And Villains

Check these sites out to get more information about many of the artists/projects listed above and the heads up about future releases:

http://www.moovmnt.com/
http://blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com/
http://nobodydancenomore.blogspot.com/

http://www.brainfeedersite.com/
http://dublab.com/
http://smashcartel.com/
http://92bpm.com/
http://mastaplan.biz/
http://chromekids.blogspot.com/
http://www.freshselects.net/
http://www.rockthedub.com/
http://incubate.wordpress.com/
http://www.rappersiknow.com/
http://www.nodfactor.com/
http://thefindmag.com/

On both lists*

One.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Dart Adams presents the Top 50 Non Hip Hop Albums Of 2009 (R&B & Other Music)

Here is the top 50 list of R&B, Soul & other music for 2009. I had to separate this from the instrumental and producer based albums list due to the fact I heard so many and the different nature of the music I heard this year. It took me quite a while to compile a full list but here it is at long last. List any projects I may have missed in the comments section. Thank you:

AB & Daru-A Work In Progress
Alicia Keys-The Element Of Freedom
Amerie-In Love & War
Ayah-4:15
Bei Bei & Shawn Lee-Beauty & The Beats EP
Build An Ark-Love Volume 1
Carlitta Durand-Carlitta's Way
Carlos Nino & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson-A Suite For Ma Dukes
Chester French-Love The Future
Chrisette Michelle-Epiphany
Daru & Rena-Luv 09 EP/Producer's Luv Tribute EP
The-Dream-Love Vs. Money
Elektrik Red-How To Be A Lady Vol. 1
El Michels Affair-Enter The 37th Chamber
Eric Roberson-Music Fan First
Georgia Anne Muldrow-Umsindo & Early
The Herbaliser Band-Session 2
J.Holiday-Round 2
Joss Stone-Colour Me Free!
Keri Hilson-In A Perfect World...
The Kickdrums-Just A Game
Kinny-Idle Forest Of Chit Chat
Ledisi-Turn Me Loose
Little Dragon-Machine Dreams
Mariah Carey-Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel
Maxwell-BLACKsummer's night
Mayer Hawthorne-A Strange Arrangement
Melanie Fiona-The Bridge
Muhsinah-The Oscillations: Triangle
Nadsroic & Hudson Mohawke-Room Mist EP
Novel presents Suspended Animation
Nicolay-City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez-Old Money
PPP-Abundance
Ragen Fykes-With Love/Ragen Fykes & Ohmega Watts (M64)-EP
Raheem DeVaughn-Art Of Noise
Reverie Sound Revue-S/T
Robin Thicke-Sex Therapy: The Session
Ryan Leslie-Ryan Leslie/Transition
Sa-Ra Creative Partners-Nuclear Evolution: The Age Of Love
Shafiq Husayn-Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka
Shawn Lee-Soul In The Hole
Shuanise-Voice Of Reason EP
Soil & "Pimp" Sessions-6
Suzi Analogue-World. Excerpts. 1-9
Zo!-Just Visiting Too EP

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