Legacy Track of the Week: J Cole - High For Hours
“American hypocrisy, oh, let me count the ways, they came here seekin freedom, then they end up ownin slaves” Jermaine Cole is without a doubt the most significant MC of the time period - where although his contemporary Kendrick Lamar gets all the unanimous praise - nobody is more descriptive when describing the ills of humanity, all the while providing the most hope that we have enough means to stimulate change. On this monumental record that will go down as another miscellaneous 💎 from Cole’s catalogue (by now it should be known that miscellaneous Cole is as good as mixtape/album Cole) Jermaine raps about everything from contradictions in Christianity, his recent Q & A with President Obama, followed by his own newfound reservations for the theory of revolution - within three timeless verses that are Hip Hop at it’s absolute finest - J Cole is perhaps the most important artist to the genre since Tupac Shakur.
Fabolous & Jadakiss ft Tory Lanez - Rapture
“Caught up in the rapture of love, rock the 7's in Toronto, show the Raptors some love, take a picture with my ***** tryna capture the love, we from the bottom but we tryna adapt to above” Freddy vs Jason is on the way thus it’s only right that Fab & Jada would drop some heat on Friday the 13th, where here they deliver over FIRE PRODUCTION from Vinylz & Cam’Obi, the latter who also has production credits (along with Elite) on J Cole’s 'High for Hours' detailed above. All the same if Freddy vs Jason has production like this then Hip Hop fans will have a lot to look forward to in the near future.
Wizkid ft Drake - Hush up the Silence (no stream available)
“Tell me your secrets, I'm not messy, steady it for me, girl, hold steady, I wanna put you in my life, your hair smell like the tropics, your body look nice” Wizkid and Drake collaborate again for some more Caribbean flavor and they got another one 🔥🔥🔥 you never know who writes it but Drake doesn’t miss
Royce Da 5’9” - I Got The Keys (Freestyle)
“And I got something for them crooked cops too, let him pray, turn his wedding day Freddie Gray, let that machete behead him, set him straight, let it devastate, let his soul levitate, let the levies break” Royce has spit flames his whole career and these last two freestyles are no exception. Eminem even wrote him a private message about these freestyles (private that Royce put public - never a fan of that no matter the circumstance) thus Slim Shady is apparently impressed as well.
Lupe Fiasco ft Gizzle - Jump
“Tell me call up Soundtrakk, have him send a couple beats, not that ‘Superstar’ shit, she wanted somethin' for the streets”... we all hope that there aren’t too many ‘Superstar’ records on DROGAS light (although the hook on ‘Pick Up The Phone’ isn’t a good sign), yet per usual Lupe Fiasco is spittin heat on this, and if nothing else that’s always the redeeming value.
DMX ft Swizz Beatz - Bane is Back
“Man, cats nowadays be spittin' that fuck shit, bird ass ***** spittin' that duck shit, I'm from the old school and that there we don't fuck with, been locked down on lockdown so you suck a dick” DMX over Swizz Beatz??? GAME OVER!!!
Westside Gunn - Don’t Trust a Soul
“Ayo ??? shot Trump, shot up his whip left him on the steering wheel slumped, grippin the pump, shooter was lunchin, he pulled over and took a bump” smh 🔥🔥🔥 I’m fully tuned in to this movement out of Buffalo, and at this point I’m expecting 2017 to be a breakthrough year for both Westside Gunn & Conway.
Juelz Santana - Drake Voice
“Told 'em sample Drake Voice, make that my anthem, I'm Hype Williams with a handheld, Bobby Brown with a handscale, y'all ***** on a treadmill, just runnin at a stand still” This is all about the Jahlil Beats instrumental with the Drake “Feel like Juelz Santana” sample… yet if you fux with Dipset & Santana you’ll definitely enjoy this record
MIKExANGEL - Anxious
“What are we doing? What should I call this? I guess I gotta break it down to you like this, we just having fun now, you'll never know how, I'll never know how it feels, for you to be my main bitch” The bonus off Anticipation 3 is a heater and one of the better records off the project, performed an entirely by MIKExANGEL, an upcoming artist featured on more than half the records
Trey Songz ft MIKExANGEL - A3
“Pullin up to your crib, baby, you know we about to have a lil party (I brought some party favors), you know girl, you know that we 'bout to get started (and I got all kind of flavors)” The intro to Anticipation 3 is cool but it’s definitely not Anticipation 1 level… which is likely the most underrated R&B release of all time… and is definitely Trey Songz finest work of his career.
Trey Songz ft MIKExANGELl - If It Ain’t Love
“If it ain't love then why, why, why, why?” A decent cut but you’re better off just listening to New Edition
August Alsina - Wait
“I'm not telling you to wait, I'm not telling you to wait on me…” The second single off the upcoming Drugs album is cool… nothing major tho…