TheUrbanian.com » Jay Z

Rick Ross Feat. Jay-Z & John Legend – Free Mason [Song]

nmmchugh — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:51:26 +0000

Thick, soulful cut from Rick Ross and Jigga off the upcoming Teflon Don LP. John Legend is a nice complement — we wouldn’t want to leave the hook solely to the Bearded Boss. The Inkredibles handle production masterfully, with piano keys and percussion in perfect balance.

Jay gets very lyrical on this one, indirectly refuting allegations that he is a devil worshipper, the devil himself, and/or a soulless devil-made man. Conspiracy theorists hiding in the blogosphere have been keen to that idea for awhile, with mostly musical reference as “proof.” For those who don’t know, The Freemasons are a fraternity that in folklore are tied to devil worshipping. Then is this song more food for the imagination? Not after Jay clears it up: “Bitch I said I was amazin’/Not that I’m a Mason.” Jigga’s merciless slaughtering of this beat isn’t done justice unless you read his entire verse, so here it is:

Niggas couldn’t do nothing with me
they put the devil on me
I would have preferred if nigga squeeze the metal on me
Rumours of Lucifer
I don’t know who to trust
whole world want my demise turn my music up
here me clearly, if y’all niggas fear me
fuck all these fairy tales
go to hell
This is God engineering
This is Hail Mary pass,
y’all interfering
he without sin shall cast the first stone
so y’all look in the mirror
double check your appearance
bitch I said I was amazing
Not that I’m a Mason
It’s amazing that I made it though the maze that I was in
Lord forgive me I never would’ve made it without sin
Holy water my face in the basin
Diamonds in my Rosary shows He forgave him
Bitch I’m red hot, I’m on my third six but the devil I’m not
My Jesus peice flooded but thou shall not covet
keep your eyes off my cupboard I’m a bad motherfucker
it’s HOV
just say you love it.

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Skullcandy x Roc Nation Headphones

Kenny — Thu, 20 May 2010 03:19:22 +0000

Well, anyone could have seen this coming. Given Dr. Dre’s Beats by Dre line striking a chord of success amidst audiophiles and hip hop heads nationwide it was only a matter of time before another brand sought out another music mogul to co-sign a competing line. And who better than Jay-Z? Now cue Puff Daddy signing on, somewhere, with someone. From the press release:

Skullcandy strikes an aural coup and announces a unique partnership with Roc Nation to advance the audio experience. This first joint venture for the two brands affords both the opportunity to collaborate in the marketing as well as the creative direction of all merchandise. The power of this partnership will push new levels of style and sound in the marketplace and redefine the music listening experience.

Commented Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, “Our passion is creating amazing music. We’re dedicated to delivering the best in live performances. Now with the Roc Nation/Skullcandy partnership, we’re offering the best way for people to experience the soundtrack of their lives.”

First up in this venture is the Roc Nation Aviator. Designed with superior metals, polycarbonate headphone cups, plush memory foam ear cushions, and premium materials previously only seen in the realm of high-fashion eyewear. Utilizing top-grade components, the Aviator’s replication of studio music delivers a phonic experience with clarity and pure fidelity.

Commented Rick Alden, Skullcandy CEO, “This partnership is an incredible opportunity for Skullcandy. By teaming up with Roc Nation on both the creative and marketing direction of these products, we are able to set the bar at a new high – challenging the future quality of what emerges in the industry from here on out.”

I can actually attest to the sound quality on these as I’ve used an unlabeled pair so to speak, and they sound pretty damn good. Solid lows, crisp trebles, and an overall well designed pair of headphones. They’re slated to be available in June 2010, and more information can be found at http://www.skullcandy.com/rocnation.

Will Eminem’s “Recovery” be Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks?”

Bradley Kevin MacDonald — Thu, 20 May 2010 00:02:38 +0000

Both are known for their lyrics. Both are known for their drug use. Both are known for their interesting relationships with women. Both saw their own forms of controversy. Both are from the Midwest. Bob Dylan and Eminem will always be regarded as two of the greatest and most influential artists of all time in their respective genres. Both have seen highs and lows, and both have a similarity when it comes to their discography trend.

In July of 1966, Dylan was fresh off his European tour when he crashed his motorcycle near his home in Woodstock, New York. The details of his injury were never fully disclosed, but Dylan says he cracked many vertebrae in his neck. What we do know for certain is Dylan disappeared from the limelight a bit, rendering him recluse from any public appearances.

Just when the pressure and hype for Dylan was really building up – lots of touring, multiple solid albums in just a couple years (Bringing it All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde), and a manuscript for his novel due soon – Dylan disappeared and fell off due to the crash, and just maybe, the pressure.

Eminem quickly made his way through the hip-hop ranks in the beginning of his career. He was catching major attention from The Marshall Mathers LP, to his now infamous verse on Jay-Z’s Renegade, and his film, 8 Mile. The beginning of the aughts was a hectic time for Eminem, much like the mid-60’s were for Dylan.

Surrounded by controversy, it only made his popularity grow. However, after The Eminem Show, things got drab music-wise, and things got bad in reality for Eminem.

His 2004 album, Encore, was disappointing and seemed half-assed. He went on to cancel the European leg of his Anger Management Tour for a quasi-retirement and to enter drug rehab for his dependency on sleeping pills, much like Dylan had to cancel tour dates after his accident.

Just like that, Shady disappeared from our ears for awhile. He would pop up every now-and-then, however we never saw the serious Eminem resurface.

Soon the announcement came of a new album, Relapse. What resulted was an album only true Eminem “stans” could appreciate.

During Dylan’s slow return to music and the spotlight, there were many disappointments. Fans had to endure several disappointing albums. John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, New Morning, and Planet Waves all had their moments; but they fell flat when compared to his masterful albums in the 1960s. It wasn’t until 1975 – When Blood on the Tracks was released – we saw Dylan turn in something to compete with his previous mastery. A full nine years went on by where Dylan went on a hiatus, a recovery, and churned out underachieving work.

It’s now been eight years since The Eminem Show, the album many people deem his last great effort in an album in its entirety. Since then, Eminem has went on a hiatus, a recovery, and churned out underachieving work.

The first taste of Recovery we get is Not Afraid. Eminem has a history of the first singles to albums being very fluffy and radio-friendly – We Made You, Just Lose It, Without Me; to name a few.

If Not Afraid is the most radio-friendly song in Eminem’s arsenal for Recovery, then we are looking good. With the accent from Relapse gone and lyrics full of positivity in the song, it appears we are being prepped for quite a release. Relapse may have just worked out all the kinks and cobwebs in Eminem’s system, providing a full cleansing for his return to solid work.

The proposed question of whether Recovery will live up to the hype surrounding it won’t be fully answered until it drops on June 22. If Eminem really is following in the steps of Dylan, then we may be in for a hell of an album. What we do know, is Eminem needs to deliver on it. What would be great if there was a “Forgot about Shady” track with a feature from Dr. Dre. This time it could be Eminem telling us he’s getting hate mail saying Shady fell off.

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You can contact Brad at brad@theurbanian.com or on Twitter.

The Good & The Bad Behind Collaborations

Bradley Kevin MacDonald — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:38:12 +0000

Collaborations in music can be one of the most exciting things to happen, and also one of the most oddball things. In the past there have been amazing and unique ventures in the art of collaboration, along with some peculiar ones, leaving some fans in disarray.

Over the past year we’ve seen brilliant collaborations in the Blakroc project, the new Gorillaz album, Kid Cudi’s work with RATATAT, and most recently, Nas and Damian Marley Jr. What made these collaborations so great wasn’t necessarily because of the names involved, but the production, thought, and uniqueness aspects. The Black Key’s bluesy production meeting the lyrical greatness of the likes of Mos Def, Raekwon, and Q-Tip made sense. The project also yielded some of Jim Jones’ best work because the production made sense with his voice, tone, and flow.

Blakroc ended up being one of the best albums of 2009, yet flew under the radar of many listeners. Would it have sold better if it featured verses from the likes of Lil’ Wayne, Jay-Z, or even someone like Wale? Yes. Would it have been as good? The answer to that is debatable, but the fact remains this album was superb, and that was mostly due to the rappers featured being the perfect mold to the sculpture that was the production by the Black Keys. Bigger names would have resulted in bigger sales but probably not a better finished product.

While there are plenty of smart collaborations, there are also plenty of collaborations that happen just to happen, it seems.

The most recent example of this is Katy Perry’s California Gurls, which features a guest verse by the legendary Snoop Dogg. Perry has found much success in the past couple years, skyrocketing to become one of music’s pop darlings. So of course the first official single to her new album is going to catch major attention before it’s even released, and will also be extremely radio-friendly. Like other Perry songs, it’s in fact very poppy and dumbed-down; but unlike others, it comes equipped with a verse by a rapper who is generally well-respected in the hip-hop community. Snoop provides an extremely mind-numbing verse with lyrics like: “The girl’s a freak/she drives a jeep/in Laguna Beach.”

Snoop’s verse on the tail end of the song is excruciating to listen to and it’s near impossible to not shake your head and think about what the hell Snoop was thinking by jumping on this track. Was he thinking it’d be as crafty and masterful as Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind; Or did he just want a shot at getting close to Perry’s boobs? What’s especially sad is this comes shortly after Snoop’s great and fitting collaboration on the new Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach.

The most devastating collaboration to go down in recent times can most likely be pointed to Ludacris joining Justin Bieber on a track for Baby. Ludacris has built a notorious reputation for being a skilled guest on tracks. To the major hip-hop heads, collaborating with Bieber is despicable and almost whorish. Ludacris now appears willing to collaborate with anyone and everyone. Just like Snoop on California Gurls, Luda throws down a sleep-worthy verse most 10-year-old rappers could write: “She knows she got me dazing/cuz she was so amazing.” Basic rhyming on a song that essentially just says the word “baby” over and over again is boring and makes for a poor collaboration and song. Of course having his name alongside Bieber’s is going to get him extra attention, money, and 12-year-old girl fans; but as an already-established artist, Ludacris really doesn’t need any of that. What’s especially unfortunate is all those incredible collaborations he’s been involved in now has a black mark on his record with this Bieber collaboration. It’s his felony to his rather clean record (let’s consider the Jesse McCartney one just a misdemeanor) of collaborations.

Collaborations can be wildly fun, but when an artist collaborates just to collaborate, the end result can be vapid and trite. Music is not only a pleasure, but an art form as well. It’s no riddle the best collaborative music is one that’s well-thought out and makes sense. A Drake, Lil’ Wayne, Kanye West, and Eminem collaboration may draw more attention, but a Reflection Eternal, Jay Electronica, Mos Def and J. Cole collaboration is better.

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You can contact Brad at brad@theurbanian.com or follow him on Twitter.

What Artists Can Learn from Dr. Dre

Bradley Kevin MacDonald — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 13:13:19 +0000

In the A.D.D and “command T” functioning society we’ve become, it appears a lot of musicians, especially rappers, will constantly be releasing music as fast as they can just to stay in people’s minds. For some, it’s release or be forgotten.

It is sort of true. A lot of artists can release something, generate a huge buzz, and then disappear due to not having any other material to capitalize on the buzz. However, I think Dr. Dre shows that there are ways around that.

Dr. Dre’s forthcoming effort, Detox, has been in the making for years and years. Not only has it been in the making for so long, it’s been talked about for so long. So long in fact, that it has now become a joke to many how it will never come out.

The Detox talk has severely heated up since it became rumored he and Jay-Z were in the studio together working on a track for the album. On April 4, Dr. Dre confirmed the track, the appropriately titled Under Pressure, which will be the first single for the album.

Dr. Dre’s hype and buzz for the album has been generated due to the fact he hasn’t released an album since 1999. And the album before that one came out in 1992. Many years gap between the releases of his albums.

It has been noted many times he is a perfectionist, and really takes his time on anything he works on. He’ll even have artists he’s working with re-record several times. Snoop Dogg once revealed Dr. Dre had Bishop Lamont re-record a verse 107 times.

Now, I understand Dr. Dre is a hip-hop legend, so it may be easier for him to get by for so long without releasing an album while being talked about for so long. I think what’s going on with Jay Electronica proves you don’t have to really be a legend like Dr. Dre to be such a buzz-worthy topic.

Jay Electronica too has taken a real unconventional way to release his work. He has yet to release any official album. He first built buzz in 2007 with Act 1: Eternal Sunshine, which left people wanting more. His buzz grew even more in 2009 with the single releases of Exhibit A and Exhibit C. Coming into 2010, he is now one of the most talked-about rappers. His stock is as high as ever and he’s never released an album.

I just think too many artists feel like they need to rush through the music-making process in order to get albums out. Artists don’t need to constantly release projects in order to stay relevant. If you’re capable of releasing one real good song, people are going to remember that. There’s no need to rush the music-making process. Greatness takes time. Although there has been a shift toward singles being more important than the album as a whole, people will still remember if your album contained a lot of fillers to go along with that hot single.

The bottom line is, like our mothers often told us, patience is a virtue. And that’s something both the artist and the fan needs to remember.

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You can contact Brad at brad@theurbanian.com or follow him on Twitter.

The Kickdrums : Coachella Indio Sessions [DOWNLOAD]

Bradley Kevin MacDonald — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:00:55 +0000

Damn, it’s 9:38 a.m. post-St. Patrick’s and I’m up trying to throw down a post. Here goes nothing. 29 days until Coachella, and for those of you fortunate enough to go, The Kickdrums have put together a mixtape highlighting some of the indio A-Lister’s performing. To name a few, Wale, LCD Soundsystem, La Roux, Vampire Weekend, and Jay-Z. Fantastic mix on the whole, and it’s a free download, so hop on, download, and start your St. Patrick’s day recovery right.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival organized by Gholdennvoice held at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California. The event features many genres of music including alternative rock, hip hop, and electronic music. If you’re familiar with The Kickdrums and our music, then you probably know we’re into all of the above. It was suggested to us to make a mixtape combining all the genres showcased at Coachella with some Kickdrums in the mix. We liked the idea and knocked it out! SO there you have it, we present to you Coachella: The Indio Sessions Day One. An energetic blend of music designed to showcase the biggest tunes from some of music’s most promising emerging artists and some classics from back in the day as well.

Here’s a couple teaser tracks from the mix-tape, download them, and the compilation in it’s entirety FOR FREE, below.

Wale vs. Treasure FIngers – Cross the DCFloor

Vampire Weekend – Kids Don’t Stand a Chance (Chromeo Remix)

La Roux – I’m Not Your Toe (Data Remix)

[DOWNLOAD] Coachella : The Indio Sessons (Day 1) compiled by the Kickdrums

Aziz Ansari Gives Us Some Hip-Hop Humor

Bradley Kevin MacDonald — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:19:02 +0000

The worlds of comedy and hip hop further merge together in this mixtape track from comedian Aziz Ansari.

It appears Ansari is using his alter-ego, Raaaaaaaandy, to drop a mixtape with Dave Sitek. Randy with eight A’s is the cruder version of Ansari and is undeniably funny.

In this track, Ansari manages to poke fun of rappers such as Kid Cudi, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan, Drake, Eminem, and a ton more, while complaining about them being late sending their verses in for the mixtape. Ansari is spot on with every joke. To prevent ruining the jokes, I’m not going to write any of them out in this post. Seriously, just listen.

The entire mixtape was supposed to drop this month, but Ansari mentioned on Twitter that they are running behind and the release may be a bit delayed.

2010 Grammy Performances

Bradley Kevin MacDonald — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:50:50 +0000

As I’m sure you’ve already realized, the Grammys aired tonight awarding the “best” in music. I decided to not watch since I never agree with any of the winners or even nominees they go with. I was ecstatic when I heard Mos Def’s “The Ecstatic” got nominated alongside the other great nominees such as Flo Rida (that was sarcasm). But of course, Mos Def didn’t win and Eminem gets the ‘W’ just because it was his first album in some years.

The highlights of the Grammys are always the performances (Even though Stephen Colbert made a highlight of his own this year). Here’s a few that I thought were noteworthy.

U2 and Jay-Z Team Up To Help Haiti

Sydney — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:47:20 +0000

We have no idea when the song will officially be available, but it has been confirmed that U2’s Bono and The Edge, Jay-Z and producer Swizz Beatz have recorded a song together that will be released as a charity single for victims of the Haiti earthquake. Swizz Beatz broke the news on twitter page this past Saturday:

“ME , BONO ,HOVA, HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT HAITI STAY TUNNED I TOLD YOU I WAS WORKING ON SOMETHING AMAZING FOR HAITI THEY NEED US!!!!!!”

This isn’t the first time they’ve collaborated, as Jay-Z performed with them at the 2009 MTV Europe Awards and added a verse to U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday. He also showed up at a few dates of the group’s 360 tour last year. I can’t wait to hear the song, but in the meantime, in case you missed it, here is their performance at the MTV Europe Awards.

Richard Ashcroft Working With No I.D.

Bradley Kevin MacDonald — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:42:44 +0000

The producer behind some of the hits for Jay-Z and Kanye West is working on a little music crossover project.

Richard Ashcroft, lead singer of recently-split band, The Verve, got hooked to the work of No I.D. after hearing Jay-Z’s “D.O.A.”

Ashcroft is notably known for being the voice behind “Bittersweet Symphony.” No I.D. is the sole producer for his upcoming solo project and the two have already recorded 20-30 songs.

There is currently no release date for the project.