Here’s a sample of whats to come from Yeezy, who’s been locked away in his studio in Hawaii for the past few months. Glad to hear Kanye’s officially back to spitting bars and hip-hop (eventhough I did enjoy the r&B driven 808’s & Heartbreak). This song gave me the same feeling that Stronger (lead single from Graduation) did, as far as fresh-ness creativity wise. Two thumbs up.
Kanye’s been back on his rapping/hip-hop ish. Mos def one of the most anticipated albums of this year. This is just a 27 second snippet but sounds like good things will be coming from the G.O.O.D. Music camp.
Love seeing the G.O.O.D. music familia collabing like this. Most def my favorite team (and strongest lyrically) in the game (Young Money close 2nd). Consequence’s sophomore album “Cons TV” dropping soon.
“Common is returning to his roots. After linking with The Neptunes for the majority of last year’s dance friendly Universal Mind Control, the Chi-town MC is reuniting with Kanye West and No I.D. for his ninth studio album, The Believer.
During the benefit show for his Common Ground Foundation over the weekend, Com told XXLMag.com that he has already recorded tracks with Kanye and No I.D. for the project, which he expects to hit stores sometime next spring.
No I.D. has been producing songs for the rapper/actor ever since Com first broke out onto the scene in 1992 with Can I Borrow A Dollar? He went on to produce the majority of Common’s next two albums: Resurrection and One Day It’ll All Make Sense.
Along with signing the fellow Chicago resident to his G.O.O.D. Music imprint, Kanye produced the bulk of Com’s highest selling album 2005’s Be, as well as 2007’s Finding Forever.
Common also said he has been in the studio with beatsmith Twilight Tone, who he hasn’t worked with since his debut.”
Nike is auctioning off two one-of-a-kind pairs of his signature Air Yeezy, with all of the proceeds benefiting the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon.
One pair features a black leather upper and Jordan VI bottom, the first and only time the shoe will be made available with a Jumpman logo, and the other pair is THE Air Yeezy that Kanye worn on The 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
Jay touches on the VMA incident everyone has been talking about the past few days in an interview with BBC radio.
“Of course it was rude because it was her moment, but that’s how he really felt… I said that to him as well. The way they’re treating it, it’s not like he killed anybody… I think he has to watch his passion. At the end of the day, we’re going to celebrate him for his passion, more than vilifying him. The same thing that causes him to make Graduation and all these great records, is the thing that causes him to step out of line sometimes… Let’s move on, I don’t think he should lay low. I think he should go on tour and have a brilliant career. It’s an award show… He’s been that passionate since the first record. The first Blueprint he was jumping on the tables rapping, I’m like ‘this is not the time for that.’ That was just him. If he had changed because of his success, then that would be one thing. But he’s always been that passionate.” - Jay-Z
Here is an excerpt from Jay-Z’s Fade To Black DVD. With all the hate going around right now going on about Kanye, I decided to shed some light on something positive and show the reason why he is as big as he is today. Eventhough a lot of his music doesn’t sound like this anymore, this (College Dropout-Late-Registration era) was probably my favorite “Kanye stage” (Graduation was bananas though).
If you haven’t caught this movie, go rent it/buy it/YouTube/Netflick it.
Bottom Line: People make mistakes, and grow from them. Hopefully he learned from his. If you haven’t caught this movie, go rent it/buy it/YouTube/Netflick it.
This song/beat is old. Loved the original as it was but here’s some guest verses for ya’ll. If you didn’t know, NOW you KNOW! Production by one of the hottest out!
1. What We Talkin’ About (Feat. Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun) (Produced By Kanye West) The Dark Hours divx Role Models film
2. Thank You (Produced By No I.D.) The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past the movieFinishing the Game rip
3. D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” (Produced By No I.D.)
4. Run This Town (Feat. Kanye West and Rihanna) (Produced By Kanye West & No I.D.)
5. Empire State of Mind (Feat. Alicia Keys) (Produced By Kanye West & No I.D.)
6. Real as It Gets” (Feat. Young Jeezy) (Produced By Timbaland)
7. On to the Next One (Feat. Swizz Beatz) (Produced By Swizz Beatz)
8. Off That (Feat. Drake) (Produced By Kanye West)
9. A Star is Born (Feat. J. Cole) (Produced By Kanye West)
10. Venus vs. Mars (Produced By MGMT)
11. Already Home (Feat. Kid Cudi) (Produced By Kanye West)
12. Hate (Feat. Kanye West) (Produced By Kanye West)
13. Reminder (Produced By Timbaland)
14. So Ambitious (Feat. Pharrell) (Produced By The Neptunes)
15. Young Forever (Feat. Mr Hudson) (Produced By Kanye West)
Without a fancy intro or provocative thesis statement, simply put, Jay and ‘Ye have been going at each other’s throats for the better part of a decade. Their latest project didn’t help calm the debate either. Similar to how I’ve done in the past, I’ve taken the liberty to flashback and examine their rich and competitive lyrical history.
For the record, the only songs considered valid were records they’ve appeared on together (with one exception). Anyway, let’s talking, more research. Without further adieu, bring on the debate.
Jay’s Quotables: “She call me professor, say ‘Daddy come and test us’/ So she can fail on purpose and repeat the semester/ I’m like, ‘At this rate ma, you’ll never graduate’/ She said, ‘I ain’t no fool, I’ll make it up in summer school…’”
Kanye’s Quotables: “You remind me of my jeep but not Nokia/ We can talk on my cell but not Nokia/ It be goin’ in and out that’s why i barely hear ya/ It be goin’ in and out like a robberia/ I’m tryna take dis money like Rob and Gia/ And I’m a take you to my house like Trick and Trina…”
Synopsis: It wasn’t an official remix, but best believe if Kanye made the beat, you know he had to have verses on it. His offering was catchy as all hell, but you’d be hard pressed to find someone who did this track more justice than Jay.
Jay: “He patterns hisself the rap J.F.K., you wanna pass for my Jacqueline Onassis?/ Then, hop ya ass outta that S-Class/ Lay back in that Maybach, roll the best grass/ I ask/ Have you in your long-legged life ever seen a watch surrounded by this much pink ice?”
Kanye: “So you take the Destiny Child girl in the Coupe/ And I’ma try bag the ones that got kicked out the group/ I figured that’ll be simple, I’ll just help ‘em with their demo/ Help ‘em to the limo, play the I’m Good instrumentals/ And she – grabbed my tattoo, peeped my credentials/ And she – grabbed my pants, felt the potential/ And I – brought ’bout every essential/ To have fun breakin’ her fundamentals…”
Synopsis: I always wanted this to be over the original “Excuse Me Miss” instrumental. Yet and still, as much as I loved “La, La, La”, that Kanye line was just too sick to ignore.
Jay: “Rumor has it, The Blueprint classic/ Couldn’t even been stopped by Bin Laden/ So September 11th marks the era forever of the revolutionary Jay Guevara…”
Kanye: “Did ‘Takeover’, do you got beef with Nas?/ I did take over the game, brought back the soul/ Got tracks to go, got plaques that’s sold/ Platinum and gold, yeah that’s the flow…”
Synopsis: Two years after providing the framework for the original Blueprint, ‘Ye gets his first mainstream opportunity to go bar for bar with Jay on the second installment. While Jay’s intro bars were nothing short of amazing, there aren’t many artists who’ve outshined Hov, let alone a newcomer. Kanye can say both.
Jay: “Just to get by nigga I sold dope/ Nigga I pushed lah/ Carried a fo-five, claimed I was ‘Ready To Die’/ Promised never to cry, held it all inside…”
Kanye: “Lord willin’ I ain’t killed nobody/ But I have a feeling with this album that I’m gonna make a killin’/ Or not a schilling, this is love it or hate it music/ But…at least we made it music/ And we didn’t make it industry/ This is gon’ be interesting/ This’ll be the end of me or I’m going to be an entity…”
Synopsis: For as dope as Jay’s verse was, Kanye’s was prophetic. Pretty much everything he said has come true. I feel bad for Talib, however. No one ever quotes his verse.
Jay: “Young, the archbishop/ The Pope John Paul of y’all niggas the way y’all all follow Jigga/ Hov’s a living legend and I tell you why/ Everybody wanna be Hov/ And Hov still alive…”
Kanye: “I get down for my grandfather who took my mama/ Made her sit in that seat where white folks ain’t want us to eat/ At the tender age of six, she was arrested for the sit-ins/ And with that in my blood, I was born to be different…”
Synopsis: While it was painfully difficult to pick against Kanye considering his subject matter, Jay was just too much to ignore.
Jay: “How could you falter when you’re the Rock of Gibraltar/ I had to get off the boat so I can walk on water/ This ain’t no tall order, this is nothin’ to me/ Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week…”
Kanye: “People askin’ me is I’m gon’ give my chain back/ That’ll be the same day I give the game back/ You know the next question, ‘Dog yo, where Dame at?”
Synopsis: The sad thing is, Kanye’s verse was hot, but Jay stole the show, the song and the acclaim thereafter with his. ‘Ye, himself, went on to confirm it on “Big Brother.” What was the lesson in all this you ask? 1) Even in “retirement,” Jay was NOT to be fucked with and 2) Bleek was officially awarded his “full scholarship” on life. Kick back young man, it’s green pastures from here.
Jay: “I put Mike Jack on stage, Summer Jam ‘Billie Jean’/ I put Prodigy in his place on that Summer Jam screen/ I put ‘Preme in my truck, told him leave them streets alone/ I predicted jail would happen, shit I tried to put him on/ All these niggas takin’ credit for the work that I put in/ If you really put me on, put yo’ self on then…”
Kanye: “I feel like it’s still niggas that owe me checks/ I feel like it’s still bitches that owe me sex/ I feel like these butt niggas don’t know this stress/ I lost the only girl in the world that know me best…”
Synopsis: Here’s the exception I was referring to. I know this selection is going to ruffle quite a few feathers, but Jay gets the vote by THIS much. With that said, I think we’ve all wanted ‘at least one of Russell’s neices’ at some point.
Jay:Crazy Eights movie “But I can’t teach you my swag, you can pay for school but you can’t buy class/ School of Hard Knocks, I’m a grad/ And that all blue Yankee is my graduation cap…”
Kanye: “My attitude is tattooed/ That means it’s permanent, so I guess we should address it (huh)/ My swagger is Mick Jagger/ Everytime I breathe on the track, I asthma attack it…”
Synopsis: In hindsight, they were both battling for second since T.I. had the best showing. Kanye wins because of Jay’s brief stint into singing towards the end of his verse.
Jay: “On dark nights, it’s like I see better/ On ‘Dark Knight’s’ I’m like Heath Ledger/ Even if I overdose on drugs motherfuckers can’t kill my buzz…”
Kanye: “I’m a tell you like George Bush told me/ Fuck y’all niggas I’m outta here…”
Synopsis: Jay proclaimed he would go harder than “bay bro” and an argument can be made he did. On this record, however, Jay was Johnny Drama while ‘Ye served as Vinnie Chase.
Jay: “And they ain’t spendin’ no cake/ They should throw they hand in cause they ain’t got no spades/ My whole team got dough/ So my bankhead is lookin’ like “Millionaire’s Row…”
Kanye: “We give a damn about the drama that you do bring/ I’m just tryin change the color of your mood ring/ Reebok baby? You need to try some new things/ Have you ever had shoes without shoe strings?/ What’s that Ye? Baby these heels/ Is that a May…Whattt?/ Baby these wheels/ You trippin’ when you ain’t sippin’, have a refill/ You feel like you running huh? Now you know how we feel…”
Synopsis: The most lopsided of the entire bunch. Sorry if that was anti-climatic.
Jay-Z – 4
Kanye – 6
So, there it is. What’s your take? 6-4 Jay? 7-3 Kanye? Whatever your tally amounts to, one thing’s for sure. It won’t be easy.
I have yet to see the Cudi show but I did see Kanye at the Glow In The Dark Tour last fall. HANDS DOWN..the greatest presentation/display of a set of music I’ve ever seen. This dude is the puppet master of all the effects/lighting. Real dope.
