Huli Shallone - Huli Shallone (Hit 'Em Hard Records)

I'd been saying for a minute that Huli needed to drop a new CD, even though it's been barely a year since It's My Turn, because he's had 2 big radio hits that weren't on that album, and "For My Shorty"'s been one of the most requested songs on 92Q (local or otherwise) for the past 3-4 months. And sure enough, over the weekend, he was on the Q a couple times, calling in during Paula Campbell's guest DJ slot and then visiting Rap Attack, letting everyone know that a new self-titled album would be available at Downtown Locker Room on Tuesday (yesterday). The packaging is really basic, black and white, no pictures or liner notes, with 2 tracks from Huli's old group Nature's Problem tacked on, but it'll probably still sell 10 thousand or more just like his last album. Huli doesn't really have a lot of buzz outside radio play, but that seems almost intentional, because I've talked to people who had a hard time trying to get Huli to do an interview or appear on a mixtape, and he rarely performs live, as far as I know, outside of the Believe tour last summer. I haven't had the album long enough to figure out what I think of the new songs, but production-wise it's pretty similiar to his old stuff. "What Grindin' Do" might be my favorite so far. There's gonna be a release party for the album at Club Mate this Friday, March 3rd.

Huli Shallone f/ Mannie Fresh - "Makin' Moves" (mp3)
This song is pretty old now, it's been on the radio since last summer, but it's nice to finally have it on CD. It was pretty exciting the first time I heard that Huli was doing a song with Mannie Fresh. If Mannie charged him the same rates he charges everyone else then Huli definitely has the kind of cash he says he does.

Nature's Problem f/ Lil Flip - "We From The Streets" (mp3)
Nature's Problem f/ Lil Flip - "It Ain't Nothin'" (mp3)
I'll put up both these tracks in case Gov't Names co-founder and Lil Flip superfan Dylan K. wants to check them out. They both originally appeared on Nature's Problem's 2002 album Welcome To Baltimore City (one of these days I'm gonna do a flashback post about NP's old albums) and were produced by Young Sears, who also did some tracks on Flip's Underground Legend ("From The Streets" even has the same wah-wah sound as "The Way We Ball"!). "It Ain't Nothin'" got some play on 92Q around 2004 when "Game Over" was blowing up, but the song was already a couple years old by then. I wonder if Ostro from Nature's Problem is ever gonna do a solo project.

Labels: Huli Shallone, mixtape/album review, mp3