My insider's tip: Cardo & Gerald Walker - On Your Side: Part Deux

Rapper / singer Gerald Walker has once again teamed up with Taylor Gang beatsmith Cardo, for the second installment of last year's "On Your Side" mixtape, simply subtitled "Part Deux". Their 2011 release was already slept on, I only got aware of when 2dopeboyz referred to it as they posted the first single "Get High To Get By" of their contemporary project. This track had such a warm and smooth vibe that I was temped to check out their last year's project.

Anyway, last week they dropped "Part Deux" for free download, along the video for their second single "Live It Up" which is not less chilled-out. Check it out below to get an impression of the whole thing:


Compared to their first, this new project is a lot more relaxed, with mellow (synthie) sounds, catchy melodies and a good portion of sequencing. Also Gerald Walker shows some good skills on the microphone as he is able to fill some of his double-timers with decent and witty content. So, in case you missed it, download "On Your Side: Part Deux" for free:

DOWNLOAD: Cardo & Gerald Walker - On Your Side: Part Deux

Kendrick Lamar - Section.80 Review

When talking about the highlights of 2011 in hip-hop, consensus is reached when Kendrick Lamar's Section.80 gets mentioned. The young and charismatic personality from Compton, California is the new “talk of the town“ on the west coast rap scene and even beyond the state's borders. Compton has always been well-stocked whereas famous rappers like Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, The Game or MC Eiht all claim this place their origin, but while all of them are associated with filigreed and explicit gangsterisms, Kendrick is one of the first rappers raising from this Los Angeles district who is boasting with sharp sense, bright creativity and a relentless analysis of today's young generation. Moreover his delivery provides a great variety of style and is on point, whether it comes to speed and technique as on the rattling, brass-sampled “Rigamortus” or to cool and witty raps (“Blow My High”).
Opening up the album by presenting the emblematic personas of today's 80's-born woman who he calls Keisha and Tammy and who will be mentioned throughout the album, he sets the plot at a bonfire surrounded by wisdom and revolution hungry people. Indeed, “F*ck Your Ethnicity” sets the right tone for what's coming after. He once said he wrote this song after recognizing so many different ethnicities at his shows, what told him he was not speaking just for one race but for a whole generation – section 80. Young women of today are showcased on “Tammy's Song (Her Evil)” and “Keisha's Song (Her Pain)” with a shockingly meaningful story of a rape murder and sexual abuse ('And you can blame it on her mother for letting her boyfriend slide candy under her cover / Ten months before she was ten he moved in and that's when he touched her') and a Springsteen-esque chorus line. But especially the third song dedicated to this topic, “No Make-Up (Her Vice)”, emphasizes today's imagery and reality of a lot of females. The very catchy chorus greatly paves the way for Kendrick's morally chanting 'You ain't gotta get drunk to have fun' footnote. The male perspective is revealed on a confessing “Poe Man's Dreams (His Vice)”, the thoughtful and gritty “Kush & Corinthians (His Pain)” and on “Ronald Reagan Era (His Evil)” on which he subliminally accuses the former president's drug and minority policy, explaining that this was a big factor in the creation of the “80's babies”. The same topic gets discussed on “A.D.H.D.”, an ode to the young generation and their problems, where Kendrick shows all his lyrical talent as well as a superb flow. In those parts he seems like a modern-day Tupac, full of visions and with a clear view on his environment and its causers.
He proves that, above all, on the album's lead single, the J. Cole produced “HiiiPoWeR”. That's what he calls the movement he's envisioning to be shared by the 80's~ born generation and he once again reflects it's characteristics and its reason to stand up against the system 'Every day we fight the system, never liked the system'. He sees himself as the speaker of those people 'visions of Martin Luther starin' at me / Malcolm X put a hex on my future'.
Even the interludes find justification to be on this record as they lissomly (“Chapter Six”) and off-beat yet funky (“Chapter 10”) contribute to the album's plot, both lyrically and musically: 'Riding with them boys and girls and we're high / Only work to do is have a good time / Young, wild and reckless is how we live life / Praying we make it to twenty-one'.
If you still think Kendrick Lamar is just another one of those ordinary braggadocio rappers, then he will simply shut your mouth on the sophisticated and jazzy Terrace Martin production “Ab-Soul's Outro” on which you can hear one of Ab-Soul's best verses to date. Kendrick outlines what distinguishes him from the regular rapper: 'I'm not the next pop star / I'm not the next socially aware rapper / I am a human motherfucking being, over dope ass instrumentation - Kendrick Lamar'. And that is the main reason why Section.80 is outstanding.


 - 9.0/10

Review / Download: Terrace Martin - Here, My Dear

In late September saxophonist and multi-talent Terrace Martin dropped his third full-length effort entitled “Here, My Dear”, inspired by Marvin Gaye's critically acclaimed hit record. In contrary to his previous releases, this has a whole different concept, to be specific; it’s actually a concept record. Terrace went through an awkward relationship while making this record so it’s all about love, women, relationships and attitude. Although, the special thing about this album is that he released it as FREE DOWNLOAD, even though the production, mixing and guest list is extraordinary, so this is by far not just a mixtape, it’s more of a real studio album.

This time, Terrace went way more into the jazz and funk direction, which suits him a lot better than the gangsta type of beats he made for Kurupt’s new album for example. To prove that, you just need to get into track #19 “What You Won’t Do For Love,” which is a top-notch remake of Bobby Caldwell’s 1978 classic. The talkbox brings back memories of Zapp & Roger and the whole production sounds just too elaborate and soulful for any other ordinary hip-hop record these days. The two-minute outro with synthesizer and saxophone solo by Terrace Martin is a heart-touching and sophisticated finish, which would do justice to any other jazz album from back in the day.

On the third track “Thing For You” feat. Tone Trezure he shows that the mix between modern 808 drum patterns and jazz, assisted by lyrics full of dedication could be sort of a renaissance for rap music in the new decade. Same goes for “Roll Up” which features the newcomer group Overdoz and Wiz Khalifa. What you get in the beginning is a modern hip-hop beat with sharp raps and nice hook but at the end Terrace just flips this track into an atmospheric and late-night jazz masterpiece.

Big names do not miss on this record neither. Snoop Dogg is down on two jams, the J. Black assisted "Hey Girl" where Snoop's talking about how he used to get at girls when he was young and the up-tempo player's anthem "Cheat". This sounds like another part of Snoop's occasional "9-Inch Dix" tracks and is a nice fun track.

You find Murs in his great story-telling mode as well as the funny as ever Bad Lucc on the smooth and key-driven "Expectations," sharing some of their own unpleasent relationship experiences. Terrace drops another one of his kind of philosophical reflections that you can find throughout the album.

"how many of y'all have been stuck and have no idea why you're stuck [...] you're just there. I give y'all some advice, cause I've been stuck before. When you're stuck and you don't know what to do, you have to give yourself options, about two, three of 'em. It's either be with this person for the rest of your life and die miserable or step away from that person and open up for what god my have for you."

The up and coming Kendrick Lamar shines on two tracks as well. "Give Me Some Of You" is a beautiful "hey let's get together"-type of song with a very catchy chorus:

"let's talk about love / let's talk about trust / let's talk about you / let's talk about us"

The vocoder provided "I Had No Idea" is like the opposite of the aforementioned cut, talking how badly you can be wrong about a person and how this turns out. This is topped off with a nice jazzy outro enhancing smooth strings, some gentle guitar tones and a saxophone backing.

This record is perfect for every mood involving love. Whether it's being in love, being depressed or being stressed by your partner of choice, or just being in a good mood - "Here, My Dear" delivers the right atmosphere for it. Plus it is a nice example that hip-hop has so much more to offer than just stereotypes and that it's able to mix with other genres. Another good example would be the nasty "Show Her The Way" which is a nonserious sex anthem to be laughed about and it takes you right back to the 80's with the funky drum pattern.

Everyone who likes good, melodic and soulful music mixed of hip-hop, r'n'b, jazz and funk should get the ears on "Here, My Dear" and give it a listen. Artists like Terrace Martin definitely have to be supported for their sophisticated efforts in putting out quality music and this time it's not even currency related. Again: This project is a 100% free and legal download (click), so help Terrace - spread the word!

Review: E-40 - Revenue Retrievin

Released on March 30th 2010, "Revenue Retrievin" is the second double disc of Bay Area legend E-40 after his 1998 effort "The Element Of Surprise". This one though, was released as two seperate discs: "The Day Shift" and "The Night Shift"

Since the parted company with Warner Bros. after his last album "The Ball Street Journal" he stated that he recorded over 60 tracks with his son Droop-E alone. Other producers on this LP include Rick Rock, Jazze Pha and Daywalk. It was obvious for him to give his fans a large amount of that now that he's back at the independent route and please them with nothing else but modern day mob music.

That's what this album is: A bass'd out, upgraded version of what "40 Water" always has done. His lyrics are way improved compared to his last 2-3 records and his flow is partially back at its weird "flamboastin" style. Many people claimed this to be "just another Hyphy record" but it's far more than that. The Hyphy topics are not important on this CD and although the music is filled with rattling basses, heavy synthesizers and freaky, sometimes psychedelic melodies, it feels more like the "old" E-40 is back.

He starts off with "Back In Business" and proves that he hasn't lost anything.
"In order to do some right you gotta do some wrong / Got hella shit goin on / The dusty, the dirty, the smirk / I ain't paranoid I am prepared I ain't nervous / When you cookin birdies in the kitchen / Can't be slippin like a transmission gotta be on your peezin toes / It's hard to make a honest livin when your kids ain't got no clothes"
The beat is somehow like the definition of a subwoofer and comes dangerous with the sample. Droop-E did a major job on this one.

I can't go into every track, that would take several hours, but what I have to say is that 40 even brought the guest appearences back to their best - maybe besides Snoop Dogg and Clyde Carson. Mistah F.A.B. is still able to show his unique and hilarious style on "Outta Control":
"40 the ambassador and Fabby is the prince / I shake your hands but hold up pimpin' please no finger prints / Bossy, flossy, groovyer than groovy / A walkin reality show a box office movie"
and Dem HoodStarz prove why they were considered a dynamic duo before Scoot Dog went to jail last year on the same track.

Ya Boy goes hard on "Wet" even though he still claims himself a rockstar but you can't deny lines like "Say we ain't the dopest, nigga whatchu smokin? / Gotta be da sherm, if it ain't money then it's not in my concern / Money to blow, matter fact money to burn / See her money is mine but my money ain't hers" and he handles a hell of a hook on the psycho-like gangsta track "Knock 'Em Down Music". That is the track where even Turf Talk can shine with his weird-as-never flow and insane sounding voice as he raps:
"He was a friend of mine, then he changed up / He used to be a Crip, now we flamed up / They say I'm loco, crazy, a lunatic / Serve these monkeys with the whole banana clique" (I should post the whole verse but I go with this only). Cousin Fik has two nice appearences on both track as well.

San Quinn may have a strange voice but his lines on the minimalistic-electric "Power Up" are sharper than ever: "Energy of the Hennessey / I spit H1N1, you'll never be as sick as me / ... / If I had a piss test it'd put me in the penetentiary".
Keak Da Sneak is stupid on this track but yet again in a positive way.

E-40's cousin B-Legit "makes love to the block and kisses the corner" on "I Get Down" which sounds crumbling and droning, just typical for a nice Droop-E production.
Too $hort has a funny as always verse on "Bitch" which contains the obvious sample but sounds just as relevant as you need. "You see the shadows, you hear the sounds, but you don't do nothing you just turn back around like a bitch / feelings hurt ready to cry, you can't believe everything she said was a lie"
Even though I just quoted a lot of lines (and I still haven't mentioned 40's best efforts) there are way more lyrical experiences worth checking for and this is just an example of how entertaining this album is. Musically you'll find a lot of which you think it might sound similar in the first place, but you'll recognize it's anything but a monotonous record. E-40's delivery helps much to avoid such an impression. I'm going to list a few of his funniest lines below:

"I'm a boss, but I drink like Hasselhoff" (Power Up)
"I'm feeling like I'm 'posed to be and sober is my enemy, Bailey's and Landy - that's the remedy / Money and power that's a friend of me / Chain lickin like a Mini-Me / Campaignin like a Kennedy / They ain't got no idea where this finna be" (Wet)
"Sometimes I wonder was I planned, maybe / Or was I a accident mayne, a oops-baby" (Streets Keep Callin Me -> awsome hook by Krizz Kaliko)
"I got a million dollar mouthpiece, she got a million dollar vagina / I throw a bitch in the sky and break her 'fore she hits the ground / They call me send-a-bun, send a snow bunny just like a tax" (Attention)
He takes a little shot on the new generation as well:
"I take it back to the 80's when I was servin your momma, the reason why you're crack babies / Which I don't really like to brag about, I had style before they brought 'swagger' out" (Dem Boyz)

This album is not only heavy bass 'bay slap' music, you can also find more instrumental kind of songs. A very appropriate example would be "Let Go And Let God" which is a family collaboration between soul singer Lenny Williams (E-40's father), 40 himself and his son Droop-E on the boards.

This double album is a really great entertainment and the music doesn't sound rushed even though you get so much of it (2:42h of music - no (!) skits, not even an intro or outro). Plus the music is very proper recorded and mixed, it requires a good stereo to unfold its true value. Support the ambassador of the Bay, buy "Revenue Retrievin".