Monthly Report: September Albums
1. Lil Boosie - Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz
Ever since Lil Boosie's first major label album, 2006's Bad Azz, I really thought he had the potential to build on his regional following and become a pretty big star, at least on the scale of, say, Jeezy. But, as I wrote a few months ago when posting about his mixtape Thug Passion, since his first album in 2006 "it almost feels like he's been avoiding making a new album or actively trying to ascend to the next level of stardom no matter how big his buzz is or how many great underground releases he drops." He kept guesting on uptempo songs like "Wipe Me Down" and "Rachet" and "Independent" that ended up being thought of as Boosie songs even though they were technically by other people, while never really seeming that interested in making radio hits himself. So it was kind of weird and depressing in the last few weeks for him to suddenly finally drop his long-promised second album without barely any kind of hit or mainstream buzz and get outsold by fucking Kid Cudi, and almost immediately afterward get a 1-2 year prison sentence, like all that waiting was just building to such a depressing anticlimax (although apparently he's got another album in the can ready to drop the moment his bid is over, so there's that to look forward to). But at the very least, Superbad is a pretty killer album and the almost complete lack of crossover bullshit is to its benefit. Really the only thing keeping it from being an ideal Boosie album is the many many shitty Trill Ent. guest spots that pad out a fairly concise 13-minute album to almost an hour.
2. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II
I'm not sure what I could say that I haven't before that could get my theoretical rap blogger credentials revoked, but my best bet would probably be to admit that I'm really not as huge a Wu Tang fan as most guys my age, and haven't heard a lot of their key '90s albums, including until recently Cuban Linx. But once I realized the sequel was out of Aftermath purgatory and actually coming out and might be good, I finally got around to hearing the original, and it's kind of cool to familiarize myself with both at about the same time and really appreciate how close he got to the vibe of the first one. I thought maybe if I put them both in a playlist on shuffle I might not be able to tell the difference, but there are enough guests and familiar singles on both that that didn't quite work, but really it's that the vocals are a lot more cleanly recorded on the new stuff.
3. Paramore - brand new eyes
As much as I loved Riot! at the time a couple years ago, it really hasn't stayed in consistent rotation alongside other haircut emo masterpieces like Fall Out Boy and Say Anything's last albums since then, and going back to it more recently I wasn't feeling it as much. So I don't know if this will be the same way and be a lot less fun after the buzz of newness wears off, but right now this is a really enjoyable and affecting album. "The Only Exception" is so gorgeously lilting that even when I think about what a perfect crossover song it would be I just end up not caring and just swaying and loving the song, and "Looking Up" is kind of an awesomely inspiring litttle almost-broke-up-but-didn't referendum that comes off like a more hard won version of the triumphant "Born For This" from the last album.
4. The Entrance Band - The Entrance Band
I saw these guys open for Sonic Youth over the summer, and was surprised how much I liked them given that the whole pyschedelic indie revival thing is really not my scene at all. But they've got a good strong power trio dynamic here with melodic basslines and propulsive drumming that kind of overcomes the fact that the vocals aren't great and the guitar playing is kinda standard. It's funny how every reviewer seems weirded out by how earnest and sincere "M.L.K." is, as if they've never rocked out to "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" or would find it distasteful that a contemporary band could do something with a similar sentiment.
5. Beanie Sigel - Broad Street Bully
An undeniably minor but competent and aesthetically committed Beanie record ending up more enjoyable than a big deal Jay-Z album released around the same time might be surprising if the same thing hadn't already happened in late 2007. The dubious rise of Young Chris as a supposedly estimable mixtape rapper aside, the resurrection of State Prop in '09 has been really fun lately, because these guys were never really very accessible to the mainstream to begin with so there's no weird illusions about them crawling their way back, they're just making the same grim and grimy music they always have on a smaller budget. The bitterness on "Run To The Roc" is probably a little misplaced, though: the members of SP collectively got to release 10 albums on Def Jam over the space of 8 years without a single one going platinum (and only one going gold). Patronage like that is practically unheard of these days, and it can't last forever. It's not like Bleek is dropping an album on Roc Nation either!
Ever since Lil Boosie's first major label album, 2006's Bad Azz, I really thought he had the potential to build on his regional following and become a pretty big star, at least on the scale of, say, Jeezy. But, as I wrote a few months ago when posting about his mixtape Thug Passion, since his first album in 2006 "it almost feels like he's been avoiding making a new album or actively trying to ascend to the next level of stardom no matter how big his buzz is or how many great underground releases he drops." He kept guesting on uptempo songs like "Wipe Me Down" and "Rachet" and "Independent" that ended up being thought of as Boosie songs even though they were technically by other people, while never really seeming that interested in making radio hits himself. So it was kind of weird and depressing in the last few weeks for him to suddenly finally drop his long-promised second album without barely any kind of hit or mainstream buzz and get outsold by fucking Kid Cudi, and almost immediately afterward get a 1-2 year prison sentence, like all that waiting was just building to such a depressing anticlimax (although apparently he's got another album in the can ready to drop the moment his bid is over, so there's that to look forward to). But at the very least, Superbad is a pretty killer album and the almost complete lack of crossover bullshit is to its benefit. Really the only thing keeping it from being an ideal Boosie album is the many many shitty Trill Ent. guest spots that pad out a fairly concise 13-minute album to almost an hour.
2. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II
I'm not sure what I could say that I haven't before that could get my theoretical rap blogger credentials revoked, but my best bet would probably be to admit that I'm really not as huge a Wu Tang fan as most guys my age, and haven't heard a lot of their key '90s albums, including until recently Cuban Linx. But once I realized the sequel was out of Aftermath purgatory and actually coming out and might be good, I finally got around to hearing the original, and it's kind of cool to familiarize myself with both at about the same time and really appreciate how close he got to the vibe of the first one. I thought maybe if I put them both in a playlist on shuffle I might not be able to tell the difference, but there are enough guests and familiar singles on both that that didn't quite work, but really it's that the vocals are a lot more cleanly recorded on the new stuff.
3. Paramore - brand new eyes
As much as I loved Riot! at the time a couple years ago, it really hasn't stayed in consistent rotation alongside other haircut emo masterpieces like Fall Out Boy and Say Anything's last albums since then, and going back to it more recently I wasn't feeling it as much. So I don't know if this will be the same way and be a lot less fun after the buzz of newness wears off, but right now this is a really enjoyable and affecting album. "The Only Exception" is so gorgeously lilting that even when I think about what a perfect crossover song it would be I just end up not caring and just swaying and loving the song, and "Looking Up" is kind of an awesomely inspiring litttle almost-broke-up-but-didn't referendum that comes off like a more hard won version of the triumphant "Born For This" from the last album.
4. The Entrance Band - The Entrance Band
I saw these guys open for Sonic Youth over the summer, and was surprised how much I liked them given that the whole pyschedelic indie revival thing is really not my scene at all. But they've got a good strong power trio dynamic here with melodic basslines and propulsive drumming that kind of overcomes the fact that the vocals aren't great and the guitar playing is kinda standard. It's funny how every reviewer seems weirded out by how earnest and sincere "M.L.K." is, as if they've never rocked out to "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" or would find it distasteful that a contemporary band could do something with a similar sentiment.
5. Beanie Sigel - Broad Street Bully
An undeniably minor but competent and aesthetically committed Beanie record ending up more enjoyable than a big deal Jay-Z album released around the same time might be surprising if the same thing hadn't already happened in late 2007. The dubious rise of Young Chris as a supposedly estimable mixtape rapper aside, the resurrection of State Prop in '09 has been really fun lately, because these guys were never really very accessible to the mainstream to begin with so there's no weird illusions about them crawling their way back, they're just making the same grim and grimy music they always have on a smaller budget. The bitterness on "Run To The Roc" is probably a little misplaced, though: the members of SP collectively got to release 10 albums on Def Jam over the space of 8 years without a single one going platinum (and only one going gold). Patronage like that is practically unheard of these days, and it can't last forever. It's not like Bleek is dropping an album on Roc Nation either!
This entry was posted
on Friday, October 16, 2009 at 8:01 AM.
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kinda disagree with you tho re: the trill ent. lackeys. i enjoy their presence esp on the first two tracks, it feels kinda right for those nasty, swaggering songs to be like posse cuts. the trill ent. group album is probably my fav of all their albums (well, probably tied with either boosie's first album or 'da beginning') so it's def welcome imo. even the kid rapper is dope.
Like he used to work at UPS or something.