After numerous announcements, that got very tiring, chicano rapper Lil' Rob finally released his 7th solo album "Twelve Eighteen, Part 2" in late October.
While Part 1 of "Twelve Eighteen" has been entirely produced by the great Fingazz, this one has also production by Simes Carter, Bionik and Moox.
This record was supposed to come out in late 2006 at first, it finally hit the stores in late 2008, so many fans lost their interest on it, it's a big question why it took so long for Upstairs Records to put it out. True fans will forgive Lil' Rob though, because he really let the music speak on this record as you can hear on the album's entrie "Bringing It Back" which features production and talkbox by Fingazz. A typical westcoast track to bump in the lowrider, with a heavy kick and the obligatory whistle in the background. Lil Rob also uses a voice-sample off one of his most popular cuts "Summer Nights" on this track: "Right next to the pacific, to be specific." - that's where he's at and the music sounds exactly like that.
The second track "Slow It Down" is the generic ladies-track, with a smooth bassline and a r'n'b-sounding hook by Frankie J. Many of you will know Frankie J from the Baby Bash hitsingle "Shorty Doowop" back in 2003.
1218 Part 2 starts really chilled and smooth as 4 of the first 6 tracks are slow jamz, mostly female pleasing and slow-flowing. You got the hanging-out "Leanin On The Weekend" with its nice bass and sleepy hook and the lowrider anthem "Let's Go" which features Fingazz again, on which you are able to experience the usual crispy clean rap by Lil Rob, it's for the good times. On "Let Me Come Back" you hear Lil Rob using the popular auto-tune vocoder. For those of you who will think of T-Pain now, there is no need to worry because Lil Rob brings a very vintage feeling to this track which is backed by Fingazz on the hook, he doesn't sound like a copycat at all. The production of this song is awsome, Fingazz still does what he does best: Summertime anthems.
Of course you can find the more party and up-tempo tracks as well, but they don't sound as much mainstream as they did on "Twelve Eighteen Pt. 1". I would call "Bang Bang Boogie" and "Fast Life" the only tracks with mass appeal. "Bang Bang Boogie" with another Fingazz production and vocal feature starts like a typical T-Pain single but turns into a bangin club joint. The heavy synthezisers and the booming bass make this song sound very vivacious. You could compare it to Rob's 2005 hitsingle "Bring Out The Freak In You" but this one sounds even more stylish and colourful. The other track, "Fast Life", is just a corny contribution to Michael Sembello's "Maniac (Flashdance)".
The other perfect track to dance to is "Do It", an 80's-influenced cut, very funky and happy-tuned. On the other hand you find a dedication to the oldies with "Out Of My Mind" as well as gangsta rap with "Brown Side". To feed some stereotypes, you will always find the brash and street-smart tracks like "Microphone Rippin" on Lil Rob's albums, which is nothing new at all but it still does its job.
"Just One Of Those Days", "Stuck With You" and "Cortez Shoes", the three singles of this album (while the two first mentioned tracks were released in 2007) are the perfect examples why this album is in my list of the best albums in 2008: They all got the summertime vibe to it, a catchy hook and a not too attention-craving sound. I guess this is the secret behind this type of records, especially behind the countless Fingazz productions in the past years. You want to hang out with your friends? Bump this record. You need background music while barbecueing? Bump this record. You want to boogie a little bit? Just bump this record. The biggest minus of this album is just the release-date, because this isn't really an album for the winter.
----Rating: 8,0 / 10
Si-Chill
The West Coast is going to invade Europe with two crazy festivals in Amsterdam (April 1st, Heineken Music Hall) and Paris (April 2nd, Le Zénith).
Yes, it's true: A line-up so big that you are immediatly remembered of the 'Up In Smoke'-Tour, who would have ever thought that this will happen in 2009? Ice Cube, Xzbit, WC, DJ Crazy Toones, E-40, Tha Dogg Pound (Daz & Kurupt), Too $hort and Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs, some of the greatest West Coast rappers / musicians of all time will perform live on stage and make sure that you put your hands up in the air and wave 'em around like you just don't care!
The ticket price for the event in Amsterdam amounts 49,50€ in the regular pre-sale. The West Coast rap network dubcnn.com offers a discount ticket-price of 40€. To order the tickets send an email to tickets@dubcnn.com or visit http://www.heineken-music-hall.nl/ .
This will be a great day for rap-fans, so get your ticket now and have a really nice evening with some of the greatest rhyme-spitters and storytellers in the game.
Si-Chill
It is kind of late, but I will begin my "Best of 2008"-series now with the 6th album of Guerrilla Funk CEO Paris, called "Acid Reflex". This series will contain my collection of the best albums released in 2008. Unfortunately, it was quite easy to choose the best records from the past year because of the downfall of quality music in this genre. 2008 was a very bad year for music at all, especially for rap when you look at the sales-numbers also. Even Snoop Dogg didn't manage it to go platinum for the first time in his career despite his hit-single "Sexual Eruption" ("Sensual Seduction"). Nowadays, many rap-artists try to flood the market with non-quality music to make the quick dollar and the rising of digital releases reflects the crisis of the music-industry. Of course, there still are some artist trying to put out quality music instead, whether on a major label or not, but it is sad to see that even those artists rarely fulfil the expectations of the fans.It took the self-proclaimed "Bush Killa" 5 years to put out his latest solo-effort "Acid Reflex" through his own Guerrilla Funk label and the controversial cover speaks for itself. The lyrics are highly political as usual and Paris tries to show his state of mind on the system in the election year. Still sharp, still embittered and still radical, Paris raps about a country being based on apprehension, lies and consume but the music differs a bit from the album's forerunner "Sonic Jihad". The beats are less banging and "gangster" and also less jazz-funk influenced but are more monotonous and more simple, meaning the drums do not sound that elaborate and there are only a few funky arrangements in the background. The music is still professional produced and well balanced, but it sounds more slow and similar. The barnstorming groove is kind of missing on this CD.The albums has its musical highlights for sure, though. I have to mention the lead-single "Don't Stop The Movement" - which features newcomer T-K.A.S.H. on the hook - at first, because this sounds just like the Paris we know from "Sleeping With The Enemy"-days. You may put the CD into your system and the first track just bombs you away like "whoa!" (see also: my full review to this song here) and you sure will expect more of that sound. But you will get belied a little bit then, because most of the other songs cannot compete with this one. There is no "filler" or complete failure on this album, but most of it is not really thrilling or special - besides some of Paris' raps. As I said before, his raps can still carry you. He is still aiming on the president like on "The Trap":
>>I vote but never stop the problems around
Them soldiers, only murderin the black and the brown
I get my gun and stun 'em we run 'em out of the town
I'd rather, shoot now Congressman, shoot the President<<When it comes to punchlines, there are only a few rappers that can see Paris at all and he proves this with his lyrics on "Winter In America" also. This song features Chuck D by the way. Paris turns the light on the abuse of 9/11 as a political and social tool to manipulate people:>>9/11 is no longer a conspiracy
It's being used to reduce civil liberties
Speak critically, they can legally ignore you
And let the verachip think for you<<
Another great track is the drum and guitar based "True". The background effects combined with the echoed synthesizer plus the deep-toned bass keep the thing working, as well as Paris' lyrical effort does:
>>I know you think the West coast started with Eazy and finished with Pac
But think again, we got it just as hard out here
You act like the government ain't in charge out here - man
Pass the Molotov, light it up and throw it at the city hall
Administration, station
Face the Nation, I ain't talkin 'bout the President
I'm talkin 'bout the flag with the star and the crescent in it<<
He also loses a few words about the actual state of hip-hop and you can feel him not being content with it:
>>I'm a threat cause mainstream rejection didn't spook me!
Rappers tried to make me switch and couldn't move me
Kufi salute me and true niggaz choose me<<
>>Now tell me what's so gangster 'bout flossin your bank account
for some quick attention from the women while the people in the hood suffer<<
As usual, Paris' skits are also packed with a political message, so is "The Violence Of The Lambs" on which you can hear Pastor Jeremiah Wright stating some unpleasant facts about America (read here). America's chickens are coming home to roost, somewhat reminding me on the proverb "what goes around, comes around", you can have your own opinion about it.
The CD is listenable from beginning to end, with its great moments here and there, but it misses some replay value in the long run. I would name 5 standout-tracks, including the remix of "Don't Stop The Movement", which is easily the most exciting track I've heard in a minute.
With "Acid Reflex" Paris dropped a very solid and vintage sounding album, but as I said, I think he could have done a little bit better, measured against his earlier releases. This shows, that even grown artists like Paris seem like they do not really know which direction they should give to their music. Compared to the bulk of lame and uninteresting music by other rappers these days, this album is a blessing though. It's good to see that there are intelligent people, putting out intelligent music, don't let themselves get dumped by the industry and keep the funk alive (at least a bit).
So keep in mind:"The people united, will never be defeated."
----Rating: 7,5 / 10
Si-Chill
