Thursday, November 1, 2007

What's New In Dart's iPod #12 AKA North, South, East & West

Due to the fact that I had previously written this review and since I did another week passed, this will be a kind of double review post. I didn't have the time to write out full critiques as I am backed up like crazy right now so I'm going into the speed round on this one. I'm reviewing Witchdoctor's "Diary Of An American Witchdoctor", Jay-Z's "American Gangster", Undersea Fam's instrumental opus "Raw West Coast Future", Statik Selektah's "Spell My Name Right" and Cassidy's "B.A.R.S.". Here's the breakdown of my ratings system for all the new readers that ain't up on thangs:


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 not saying I'm number one. Oh, I'm sorry I lied. I'm number one, two, three, four AND five! © KRS One


I'm sure you've seen the promos that are running on Cartoon Network during Adult Swim for this album. EJ the Witchdoctor from the Dungeon Family got down with Kno and the CunninLynguists and released his first LP since the slept on "A S.W.A.T. Healing Ritual". Here's the rating and my favorite tracks below:

The Judgement:

Best Joints: "Suicide Bomber", "Spell On Them Hoes", "The Barrel", "Best Year", "King Of The Beasts", "Mercy"
Hot Garbage: N/A


The beatmaking/emcee collective Undersea Fam (Kas One, Medi-Cal & G Rocka) have all been included in my 50 Producers On MySpace That You Need To Hear Right Now list and now they have an instrumental album out. Here's my rating below:

The Judgement (for beatheads strictly):
Best Joints: Nuthin' but heat on here (36 joints and no track names)
Hot Garbage: N/A...buy it here.


Jay-Z saw the Ridley Scott film "American Gangster" early (who didn't?) and was moved to make another album. Did I like it as much as I did the movie? Find out below:

The Judgement:
Best Joints: "Pray", "American Dreamin'", "No Hook", "Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)", "Ignorant Shit 2007", "Sweet", "Say Hello", "Party Life" (borderline), "Fallin'", "Blue Magic (grew on me)", "Success", "American Gangster"
Hot Garbage: "Hello Brookyln (dammit Wayne!)", "I Know (should've been a Pharrel song...on a Pharrel album).


Statik Selektah told me that his album would have everybody on it...homie wasn't lying. If you made a list of your favorite rappers I would guarantee you that most of them made this project. AZ, Cormega, Styles, Jadakiss, Joell Ortiz, Termanology, Kool G Rap, KRS One, Royce Da 5'9", Slum Village and the list goes on. Check my rating and favorite tracks below:

The Judgement:
Best Joints: "Stop, Look & Listen", "6 In The Morning", "What Would You Do", "G-Shit", "Back Against The Wall", "Hardcore", "No Mistakes Allowed", "Big Dreamers", "No Holding Back", "Got Me Goin' (Hip Hop)", "Time To Say Goodbye"
Hot Garbage: N/A


Cassidy was easily one of my favorite up and coming emcees around 2002/3. He signed a deal with Swizz Beatz' Full Surface label and has delivered two lackluster albums and landed in the bing a couple of times...No wonder they call him "Tha Problem". Here's my quick review of his new project "B.A.R.S.":

The Judgement:
Best Joints: "B.A.R.S. Vs. Da Hustla", "Damn I Miss The Game", "Done 4 Me", "All By Myself", "Celebrate"
Hot Garbage: "My Drink N My 2 Step", "Where My Niggas At (where's the instrumental at?)", "I Will Never Tell (Uh Uh)", "I Pray", "Innocent Man (featuring Mark Morrison AKA Akon's dad)", "Cash Rulez", "Leanin' On The Lord (dammit Angie!)", "Take A Trip", "I Get My Paper" (Cassidy, pack your shit and get as far away from Swizz as you can if you value your career).

Late Passes (for doz dat slept...myself included):

Archetype-Bleed For Them

Vandalyzm-The Free EP

Gnotes-Rhymes & Beats

Esoteric (of 7L & Esoteric)-Egoclapper


Next time, I'll actually do some writing. Meanwhile, I gotta hustle to try to get a new laptop..hopefully I won't have to put the blog on hiatus again to do so. I'll keep you all posted if anything changes.


What I'm looking forward to reviewing once it leaks...I mean drops:







Let that bitch breathe! © Jay-Z

One.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

hey dart, thanks for posting anything at all, and re-creating!!!:) i love your album reviews.

Anonymous said...

the saigon album looks dope, and im checking out the statik selektah one right now..