Backland - Block Work: None Better (DJ Jabril/Block Boy Music)

I’ve posted so many songs and videos hyping up this project since it was announced way way back around January, so when Backland’s contribution to DJ Jabril and AllBmoreHipHop’s Block Work series finally dropped last month I wasn’t even in a huge rush to cop it since I felt like I’d already heard so much of it. Like a lot of folks in Baltimore, I will forever check for Backland just off the strength of how classic his 106 & Park Freestyle Friday rhymes were, but I definitely have enjoyed his last couple mixtapes too. Like a lot of successful battle rappers, he’s probably not trying to let that reputation cage him in, so sometimes you get a little less of that humor and cleverness and a little more kind of standard mixtape rapper bravado, but he carries it well and the beats are pretty solid. I do hate the song "Who Da Fuck Are U" where it sounds like Backland is doing an OJ Da Juiceman impression, though. DJ Jabril hosts it, Skarr Akbar did the artwork, and 100 Grandman, Hunit Stackz, Caddy Da Don, Comp and B.O.M.B. drop verses on it.

Backland - “Do You” (mp3)
This was already my favorite song on the mixtape when DJ Jabril came in at the end and shouted out "Al Shipley, Government Names." I love when shit like that happens.

Labels: 100 Grandman, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Architects, B.O.M.B., Backland, Comp, mixtape/album review, mp3, Skarr Akbar

Skarr Akbar - Pursuit of Happyness 2: The Introduction of Stephen Tatum (Akbar Enterprize)

This is a classic example of why I get frustrated with the laziness of mixtape titles -- Skarr Akbar is one of the most tirelessly creative rappers and producer in Baltimore, but when it came to put a name on one of his best mixtape albums earlier this year, he just nicked the title from a random Will Smith movie. And since it turned out to be pretty popular, now he’s made a sequel, which means that one of Skarr’s most anticipated projects to date is dropping with a generic title like Pursuit of Happyness 2 that just makes it sound like a random workaday mixtape. Then you add the subtitle The Introduction of Stephen Tatum, which doesn't even make sense with a sequel, and man, that's just terrible. The music on the CD itself is good, I'm just saying, dude shouldn't have a song called "Amazing Imagination" and then come with such an unimaginative album title.

In any event, this is a solid follow-up to the first Pursuit of Happyness, lot of good original beats by Skarr and others, really some of his most emotional and honest music to date. I think dude is realizing that people respond to those times when he really vents about his personal life and kinda lets you into his head, so he's really letting it all out here. I like that some of the tracks are only 2-3 minutes long but still feel like complete songs, Skarr doesn't overdo it and make them any longer than they need to be, you get 15 songs in under an hour, which is pretty economical by rap standards. There are guest spots by Jahiti of Brown F.I.S.H., Smash and 100 Grandman, and you can download it at AllBmoreHipHop.com.

Skarr Akbar - “Sumtymez” (mp3)
This is one of my favorite songs on the record, although it presents some disturbing evidence that Skarr might be catching the "what else" syndrome from Comp.

Labels: 100 Grandman, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Brown F.I.S.H., mixtape/album review, mp3, Skarr Akbar, Smash

Architects Recording Studio presents Street Radio 7 The Overdose Edition: Hosted By Comp (ARS Productions/Surface II Air Street Media)

I was late to posting about Street Radio 6 the other day, so I thought I'd just post about the next installment back to back. This one is the same format, with an artist hosting instead of a DJ, this time Comp, but for whatever reason I'm not feeling this one as much. Plenty of artists I like, just not into most of the songs they used. Street Radio 7 features music from Skarr Akbar, Bossman, 100 Grandman, The Boy Blest, Ogun, Barnes, and many others, and you can download it at allbmorehiphop.com

Tonio From Da Top f/ QG and Bar Cardy - "Twist Ya Fingers Up" (mp3)
A lot of Baltimore cats try to make anthemic crunk records like this, and they are rarely ever this effective, like if I heard this on the radio I'd be blasting this shit.

Labels: 100 Grandman, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Architects, Barnes, Bossman, Comp, mixtape/album review, mp3, Ogun, Skarr Akbar, The Boy Blesst, Tonio

Architects Recording Studio presents Street Radio 6: Hosted By Ogun (ARS Productions/Surface II Air Street Media)

Last year when ARS brought back the Street Radio series with Vol. 5, DJ Radio, who had done every previous installment, was still on board. But starting with this one earlier this year, they've switched up to a no DJ format with an artist hosting, with ARS's own Ogun as the first host. With my review of the last one I complained about the song selection, but this time around I feel like they really picked some joints, including some of my favorite songs I've posted here in the last year like OOH from Brown F.I.S.H.'s "Let The Light," Nummy's "One Night In Baltimore" with Smash, 100 Grandman, B. Rich and Comp and Ogun and DJ Excel's "Ever Since I Saw You." There's also music by Skarr Akbar, Tay-Eaz, EJ, Barnes, Tha Profitt, Savage Da Beast, and many others. Download Street Radio 6 at allbmorehiphop.com

Blue - "Elevator Man" (mp3)
This song's really catchy, unless they jacked the beat or the hook from something I don't recognize (it's one of the only tracks on the mixtape without a producer credit), I feel like this has single potential. I don't really know anything about Blue besides that he's in the Gritty Gang, but I definitely wanna hear more from him.

Labels: 100 Grandman, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Architects, B. Rich, Barnes, Comp, DJ Excel, EJ, mixtape/album review, mp3, Ogun, Skarr Akbar, Smash

Backland f/ 100 Grandman and Hunit Stacks - "All I Need" (mp3)
I was just making a joke on my Twitter recently about how it's kind of confusing and redundant that there are 2 rappers in Baltimore named 100 Grandman and Hunit Stackz (who used to be just called Stackz), but I have to admit it's kinda dope to see them on a track together and know they're cool with having similar names. I've probably posted more music from Backland's Block Work mixtape here now than in advance of any other release in the history of Gov't Names, but fuck it, he keeps trickling out these joints, and I like this, kinda has a "Rubber Band Man" vibe.

Labels: 100 Grandman, Backland, Block Work, mp3

Tony Austin - Gangsta Grillz: The Influence (DJ Drama/Austin Entertainment/The Aphilliates)

I wrote a City Paper feature a few weeks back about Tony Austin, but I hadn't really posted about his mixtape or put up any songs from it. I definitely think Tony's story is interesting and thought it was worth talking to him and covering him, but even he'd tell you he's not the greatest rapper in the world, so you definitely have to bear that in mind going into this CD. It ain't bad, he has a few verses and hooks that come off pretty fly, but like I just listened to it back to back with the new Gucci Mane mixtape, and it's clear that while a lot of people may disagree, it does take some talent to do this kind of music really well. Gucci guests on here, as do OJ Da Juiceman, Yo Gotti and Beanie Sigel, but Tony used all Baltimore producers for this like D. Banks and Nummy, and in addition to Baltimore guests like 100 Grandman, Caddy Da Don and Jay Luv. You can download this on DatPiff or any number of other sites.

Tony Austin f/ 100 Grandman and Caddy Da Don - "Play" (mp3)
The Baltimore posse cut on here is pretty dope, great beat. Tony's been talking about starting a group with himself, 100 Grand, Comp and another artist, will be interesting to see what happens with that. Caddy's got probably my favorite verse on this one.

Labels: 100 Grandman, mixtape/album review, mp3, Tony Austin

Bossman - The Re-Up (1Up Entertainment)

Obviously, Bossman's second official album has been a long time coming, and as a big fan of his first, 2004's Law & Order, I'd been really looking forward to it. A few weeks ago, I sat down with Bossman and Nieze from One Up to listen to a rough cut of this album, and wrote a preview for Splice Today. But I didn't get to hear the full finished product until it was released this week, and it was interesting to hear. Some songs sound better now, some sound worse, and there are a few things that weren't there the first time I heard it -- in particular, I didn't hear the song "Dessert" in the preview, and it's probably the worst song on the album, so I could've lived without that addition.

Overall, though, I'm pretty happy with the album. I think Bossman at his best strikes a balance between brash, commercially minded hip hop and something a little more thoughtful and personal, and in the years since Law & Order a lot of his singles and mixtapes have tipped toward the former without as much of the latter. I still hate the first two singles off The Re-Up, "Break Me Off" and "All Over U" (the "Imma need pampers" song, haha), and it's not like I turn up my nose at all pop rap -- they're just not good pop rap, too obnoxious and not catchy enough. Like, the "So Fresh" record he did a few years ago, I loved that, wish those songs sounded more like that. But fans of "Off The Record" like me will find a lot to enjoy on this album, especially "Pain" and "2XLife." And as usual, the One Up production is really on point, those guys have really grown and continued to improve and diversify their sound. The Re-Up has a lot of Baltimore guests, including Smash, 100 Grandman, Keys, NOE, Dollars and Paula Campbell, and the album's out now on iTunes, and in Downtown Locker Room and other retail stores, although the place I got it where it seemed to have the best price is the Amazon mp3 store.

Bossman - "2morrow" (mp3)
Bossman had called this song "Today" during the preview, so I got the title wrong in my article, but this is really one of my favorites off the album.

Labels: 100 Grandman, Bossman, mixtape/album review, mp3, NOE, One Up Entertainment, Paula Campbell, Smash

DJ Jabril featuring Smash - Melt Da Pyrex (Surface II Air Street Media/Street Congress Entertainment)

Despite the way the cover art kind of plays up his presence, this really isn't a Smash mixtape like you might think -- it's really more of a DJ Jabril various artists mixtape along the lines of his Stash Box series, with Smash doing intros and drops and appearing on just a few songs (like 5 out of almost 30). And that's fine by me, since Smash is the kind of artist I only feel like hearing in small doses, a quick freestyle or a guest verse, and a lot of the other stuff on here is pretty good, other than way too many beats from wack fucking Drake songs. It has the Bossman/Mullyman joint, and songs by Ogun, Skarr Akbar, Barnes, Tonio: From Da Top, Only, and a whole lot of other cats, good mix of artists. Incidentally, I've downloaded dozens of mixtapes from allbmorehiphop.com now and this is the first one that's actually all properly tagged (song titles, artist name, album title) when I load it into my iTunes, so congratulations to them on finally getting that together, hopefully they keep it up.

Nummy f/ B. Rich, 100 Grandman, Smash and Comp - "One Night In Baltimore" (mp3)
No idea who Nummy is and LOL @ his name, but it was definitely clever of him to sample a line from "Whoa Now" and get B. Rich himself and a lot of other notable Baltimore MCs together to make it a posse cut, this is kind of a jam.

Labels: 100 Grandman, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, B. Rich, Barnes, Bossman, Comp, DJ Jabril, mixtape/album review, mp3, Mullyman, Ogun, Only, Skarr Akbar, Smash, Tonio

KG - The Voice Of Da Streetz (B.O.E.)

KG is one artist that I've seen live and heard on various mixtapes enough to know he's really grinding and making his presence known, but I haven't really actually heard much of his music, so out of respect for his grind I checked this out on AllBmoreHipHop.com. I gotta say, though, I'm kinda filing it alongside a lot of Baltimore street rap these days as being kinda generic and sounding like it could've come from anywhere (whereas 3-5 years ago I really feel like the artists in this lane usually sounded distinctly Baltimore, or at least not like fake ATL). Plus his voice is kind of annoying, not quite in Dre Babes territory but getting there. I still like this more than a lot of the other mixtapes I've heard in this style lately, though, mainly because it's more of a 'street album' with mostly original beats. 100 Grandman guests on a song and Skarr Akbar did the artwork.

KG - "Fly Guy" (mp3)
This song is kind of on the generic swag rap tip that I'm not crazy about, but the beat by D. Banks is really killer and is what makes this sound like an actual potential hit.

Labels: 100 Grandman, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, mixtape/album review, mp3, Skarr Akbar

Paula Campbell - DreamMaker (DNA)

I've always been a fan of the early singles and independent album Paula Campbell put out in 2003 and 2004, and for a long time since then she's seemed like Baltimore's best hope for another mainstream R&B star after Mario. But to be honest I don't really know what's been going on with her career since then. She got signed to Sony 4 years ago, and started working with Ne-Yo 3 years ago, but doesn't seem to be any closer to dropping an album now. She finally has a song out featuring Ne-Yo called "Denial," but it's kind of mediocre and sure isn't a hit. Still, I give her props for still representing her Baltimore roots and doing a lot of stuff with artists here still, as well as this new 'street album' with DNA that's on AllBmoreHipHop.com. It has some new songs along with a lot of the singles she's released over the last few years, including the latest ones "Denial" and "Get Back 2 U," and older ones like "Champion," "Crying Tonight," "Won't Love U Back," and "Ain't Nobody Stupid." Sadly, again, hearing all these songs together is just a reminder that none of these songs went anywhere or were particularly good. She still has an appealing voice and I think just needs the right material, but for whatever reason she had better songs earlier in her career, especially on that indie album Who Got Next. The bonus track at the end of the mixtape is a megamix of the DMX and Baltimore versions of the "Where They Do That At?" remix that includes the Smash, 100 Grandman, Mullyman, Los and Comp verses, among others.

Paula Campbell - "I'm The Ish (PC Rmx)" (mp3)
I'm kinda completing a set here, since this is just about the only "I'm The Ish" remix I haven't posted here at some point (although I mentioned it in the DJ Class Best of Baltimore piece last year).

Labels: 100 Grandman, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Baltimore club, Comp, DJ Class, DNA, Los, mixtape/album review, mp3, Mullyman, Paula Campbell, Smash

Bossman - Block Work: The Tester featuring Bossman (DJ Jabril)

Obviously, the big news with Bossman lately has been the song and the concert he did with Mullyman, but he's been moving forward with his own solo career too. He just launched a new official website, Bossman410.com, and is prepping his official album with MySpace Records, The Re-Up, for release in May. And the latest in his never ending stream of underground mixtapes is the third installment in AllBmoreHipHop.com and DJ Jabril's Block Work series (the first two being Barnes and the Gritty Gang). There's a few familiar tracks on here, including the joint with Reks and Statik Selektah I posted a while back, the "Break Me Off" remix with Gucci Mane, Raheem DeVaughn, Jim Jones and NOE, and the "Where They Do That At" remix (just Boss's verse and Paula Campbell's part appear here), and it's got that goofy "All Over You" single he's pushing right now (or as I call it, the "Imma need pampers" song). But for the most part it's an hour of new music, mostly freestyles over current radio hits but also some new songs, with beats by 1Up Ent. and other producers, featuring D.O. from NEK and 100 Grandman and TestMe.

Bossman f/ 100 Grandman - "I'm Da Man Where I'm From" (mp3)
This song is pretty dope, and kinda plays off both of their names ending in "-man." Really this probably shoulda been the song he did with Mullyman if you ask me.

Labels: 100 Grandman, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Block Work, Bossman, DJ Jabril, mixtape/album review, mp3, NOE, One Up Entertainment, Paula Campbell, TestMe

My stuff on the Baltimore City Paper's Noise blog this month included a review of ScholarMan's new album, Free Spirit Of A Troubled Soul, and live reviews of Reina Williams @ Peace & A Cup Of Joe, Balti Mare and the Baltimore String Felons @ the Sidebar, and Bossman and Mullyman @ the Black Hole Rock Club with DJ Booman, DJ 5Starr, 100 Grandman, TestMe, Smash, Pork Chop, Skarr Akbar and others.

Labels: 100 Grandman, Baltimore City Paper, Bossman, DJ 5 Starr, DJ Booman, Mullyman, Noise, Pork Chop, ScholarMan, Skarr Akbar, Smash, TestMe

Comp - The Pay Attention Edition (Mr. Pay Attention/Love Me Or Hate Me Ent./Bang-A-Rang Gang/Shape Shifter Ent.)

Comp just dropped his first official album last summer, but he drops mixtapes that might as well be albums all the time, and true to his work ethic he's back barely six months later with a mixtape full of original productions. And more importantly, for the first time this tape has production credits on all the tracks, and you can really see how many of the beats Comp did himself. I always knew he produced some tracks going back to his earliest releases, but I had no idea how proficient he was until this mixtape, where he did all but 2 beats on the mixtape, with one of the others done by Jay Funk. And even though his sound is definitely kinda weird and low budget, I really respect his grind as a producer, not many other rappers in the city who can do both that well. It's definitely lighter material than the album, the kinda more playful, laid back Comp that you tend to get on mixtapes, but it's still pretty good. The "Where They Do That At?" remix (with Pork Chop, Skarr Akbar, Smash, 100 Grandman, Barnes, Los, Bossman, Paula Campbell and Mullyman, among others) is a bonus track at the end, and you can download the whole thing at RapBasement.com.

Comp - "Wut Else" (mp3)
When I wrote about his The Man With The Hand album last year, my one big criticism is that Comp's been the NYC rapper "what else" ad lib and really running it into the ground, and I even counted out 44 times he said it in the course of the whole CD. So I have to say it was pretty hilarious to put in this new mixtape, and the second track not only is called "Wut Else," but features him saying the phrase 42 times just in that one song. I didn't have the energy or patience to count "what else"'s for the whole CD this time, but he says it 19 times on the next song, "Action Figure," so he's really stepping it up. I'm not as annoyed by it anymore, maybe because I'm just numb to it now, but I still think it's lame to take a really played out phrase from another city and make it your 'thing,' Comp is creative enough that he should be able to come up with his own signature ad lib.

Labels: 100 Grandman, Barnes, Bossman, Comp, Jay Funk, Los, mixtape/album review, mp3, Mullyman, Paula Campbell, Pork Chop, Skarr Akbar, Smash

Labels: 100 Grandman, Black Hole Rock Club, Bossman, flyer, Mullyman, One Up Entertainment, Smash, TestMe

Over on my other blog, Narrowcast, I recently posted a list of the top 30 tracks that the Philly rapper Freeway released in 2009, and one of them was "Get Wit Me" with 100 Grandman and NOE, from 100's Gangsta Grillz mixtape from last summer. Also, on Free's new album out this week, The Stimulus Package, there's a track called "Never Gonna Change" where he talks about Baltimore and namedrops 100 Grand and Mullyman, who he did a song with back in '05.

Labels: 100 Grandman, Mullyman, NOE

Labels: 100 Grandman, flyer

Labels: 100 Grandman, Club Reality, Comp, DJ Booman, flyer, Mullyman, Ogun, Pork Chop, Skarr Akbar, Smash

DJ Quicksilva f/ Pork Chop, Skarr Akbar, Q, Smash, 100 Grandman, Barnes, Tiara Laniece, Los, Comp, Bossman, Paula Campbell, JP and Mullyman - "Where They Do That At? (Bmore Remix)" (mp3)
It's funny, I was just thinking recently about this song, which the station DJ Quicksilva works for, WKYS, has been playing so much, and the D.C. remix I'd been hearing more recently, and wondering if Quicksilva spinning at a Washington station the last few years had kinda made him forget his Baltimore roots -- his Hot Boy Vol. 1 was one of my favorite Unruly mix CDs back in the day, and Tim Trees credits him with being the first DJ to break "Bank Roll." But it turns out I shouldn't have worried about that, because apparently the Baltimore remix has been out for a few weeks, but I somehow didn't hear about it until Brandon on No Trivia mentioned it, and it's got a really impressive lineup. Really, of all the Baltimore posse cuts there've been over the years, this might be the single biggest gathering of prominent MCs on one track that I've ever seen. Shame it happened with such a goofy-ass song that's a bigger hit in D.C., though, and even at 6 minutes there's only enough room for each rapper to do a little 8 bar verse so nobody gets to really stretch their legs or leave a big impression. Anyone have any idea who Tiara Laniece or JP is?

Labels: 100 Grandman, Barnes, Bossman, Comp, Los, mp3, Mullyman, Paula Campbell, Pork Chop, Skarr Akbar, Smash

Labels: 100 Grandman, flyer, Skarr Akbar

Architects Recording Studio presents Street Radio Vol. 4 (DJ Radio)

The 5th installment of the Street Radio series (there was a Volume 2.5 in there for some reason) comes about 3 years after the last one, and it seems like the series coming back after such a long dormant period is all part of the big push that Architects has been making behind AllBmoreHipHop.com and all the releases being pushed through there. And it seems like they're going at this all the way since the next volume is already being put together. This has kind of a good mix of familiar and unfamiliar names, has a few songs I've posted here like Bossman's "Break Me Off" remix, Ogun's "Go Long," and Mullyman's "Bmore Go Harder", and tracks by Skarr Akbar, 100 Grandman, Barnes, EJ, NOE, Heavy Gold, Banga Bill, and a lot of other folks I haven't really heard before or much. It's kind of a hodge podge, as any various artist mixtape will inevitably be, but some good tracks on here, some people I might have to check out based on this. There's two tracks with "swagg" in the title, which I should probably consider a good thing given how many more there could've been. You can download it, and the previous Street Radio mixtapes, on allbmorehiphop.com/architects.html.

Dave Da Barber - "I'm So Baltimore" (mp3)
I remember seeing 1st Fam perform this at the Black Hole a while back and it went over really well.

Labels: 100 Grandman, 1st Family, ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Architects, Banga Bill, Barnes, Bossman, DJ Radio, EJ, Heavy Gold, Mullyman, NOE, Ogun, Skarr Akbar, Street Radio