Here's Paula Campbell's new video "Just A Man."

Labels: Paula Campbell, video

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

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

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

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

Man, I'm loving that most of the mp3s I've been throwing out for this series of posts have been getting like 30 downloads or more, makes me wonder how many people are actually grabbing every single song they don't already have, which I think would be really awesome. Maybe after it's all over next week people can start leaving comments with what their favorite songs are, which I'd like to see a lot:

31. Diablo - "Round My Hood" (mp3) - March 11, 2006
32. Debonair Samir - "Throw It Up" (mp3) - March 28, 2006
33. Little Clayway - "B-More Hip Hop" (mp3) - April 2, 2006
34. E-Nahledge - "F.W.Y.B." (mp3) - January 23, 2007
35. Paula Campbell f/ Rod Lee and Tim Trees - "How Does It Feel" (mp3) - March 31, 2005
36. Mullyman - "Party Walk" (mp3) - April 26, 2008
37. Raphael Saadiq f/ C.J. Hilton and Stevie Wonder - "Never Give You Up" (mp3) - October 7, 2008
38. N.E.K. - "Face Down (Remix)" (mp3) - June 17, 2005
39. Ogun f/ Jitter B.U.G. and EJ - "Bmore (Remix)" (mp3) - December 24, 2005
40. Born King - "Blue Lights" (mp3) - May 19, 2006

Labels: Baltimore club, Born King, CJ Hilton, Debonair Samir, Diablo, lists, Little Clayway, mp3, Mullyman, Ogun, Paula Campbell, Rod Lee, Tim Trees

Termanology f/ Paula Campbell - "Please Don't Go" (mp3)
Statik Selektah f/ Reks, Ea$y Money, Royce Da 5'9 and Paula Campbell - "Take It All Back" (mp3)
It's been 6 years since Paula Campbell released her first local hit in Baltimore, 4 years since she released her independent album, 3 years since she signed a major label deal, 2 years since she made a record with Three 6 Mafia, and 1 year since Ne-Yo signed her to his production company and started writing songs with her. And even though she keeps making progress, it doesn't seem like she's any closer now to releasing an album or getting real mainstream exposure. But does sing on two fairly high profile independent albums that have dropped in the last two months, Termanology's Politics As Usual and Statik Selektah's Stick 2 The Script, both of which are pretty good. And as a side note, "Hard Out Here For A Pimp" was recently included at #80 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs, and it was the version with Paula that was listed.

Labels: mp3, Paula Campbell

Labels: D.O.G., flyer, Huli Shallone, Paula Campbell, Skarr Akbar, Tim Trees

D.O.G. - G Pack Music (7 Entertainment/Invisible Set Entertainment)

Two and a half years ago, D.O.G. remixed Blaq Starr's "Ryda Gyrl," and while it wasn't the first hip hop version of a Baltimore club song, it was by far one of the biggest, and in a way its popularity was the main catalyst for my City Paper article Best of Both Worlds about the crossover between rap and club music. One of the things mentioned in that article is that D.O.G.'s main in-house producer, Sean "Mocca" Banks, was teaming up with Booman, who's also D.O.G.'s tour DJ, as the Baltimore Boys to do more club-type beats, the first of which was the mixtape track "Look In My Eyes." It was all pretty exciting, but then D.O.G. got signed (I guess he's still with Universal?), and his whole camp seemed to go quiet for a year or two, which was a bummer, and I figured that idea was dead.

Then, last December around the time I posted about D.O.G.'s last mixtape, The Feeling - Bring It Back, I saw a flyer for this G Pack Music album he was releasing, which turned out to be the club music-themed project he'd been working on. Supposedly it was out in Downtown Locker Room, but I looked for it a couple times and never found it. So I didn't get a chance to finally hear it til D.O.G. hit me up about the new video and free download of The Feeling and I asked him for a copy, and it's pretty damn good. Booman isn't credited on it, but Mo Banks is, so I guess he did the beats, and if so, he's pretty good at club tracks. It's just 9 songs and a half hour long, so it's kind of an EP or a street album, but it's 9 dope tracks, all pretty much club tracks with D.O.G. rapping on them. Ironically, the only one that's at a slower tempo is "Automatic Lover," a remix of Blaq Starr's club track of the same name with pretty much a completely different beat. This album should've been a monster local hit, but I never really heard even "Automatic Lover" on the radio more than once or twice, I hope it ain't just that they missed the right moment to drop it. Between this and the 410 Pharaohs album there's some exciting stuff going on with club/rap fusion right now.

D.O.G. f/ Paula Campbell - "Back In The Club" (mp3)
Oh man, speaking of people who disappeared as soon as they got a record deal, good to hear something from Paula again, here's hoping she gets to release another album in this lifetime.

Labels: Baltimore club, Blaq Starr, D.O.G., mixtape/album review, mp3, Paula Campbell

Greenspan - Got Green? (Federal Reserve Music Group)

This week I reviewed a couple local discs in the City Paper, including this one by Greenspan. I wrote about him in Noise a couple times last year and noted that he has "one of the tightest live shows in the city," and earlier this year I included him in my Gov't Names 20 Most Anticipated of 2008 list of artists that I hadn't heard a full length release from but really wanted to. So I was definitely primed for this album/mixtape, and I was not disappointed at all. I pretty much explain why in the review, so you can read that, or just listen to it on DatPiff.com. This dude can really just flow his ass off, he needs to get his props from people here who care about that sort of things. I could make my usual stock complaint that I wish there was more original beats and fewer freestyles, but it's whatever, this is dope and I'm sure Greenspan's capable of making a real album. The CD features a guest appearance by Paula Campbell, production by DJ Booman, samples of Blaq Starr and Ogun, and drops from Darkroom Production (Greenspan had a dope song on Hamsterdam 2), Ahk from Strictly Hip Hop and Vicious V.

Greenspan - "Playing Dead" (mp3)
I referenced this track in the review, which is a freestyle over "The Turn" a song by M.I.A. that was produced by Blaq Starr. It's funny how things have come full circle lately; three or four years ago, I was so sick of this girl M.I.A. that a bunch of other rock critics worshipped and thought was gonna be this big crossover star on urban radio, and to me her music sounded like bad videogame techno with awkward vocals and terrible lyrics and had none of the appeal of the American genres she was influenced by, including hip hop and Baltimore club. But suddenly, this summer, her song "Paper Planes" is in a big movie trailer, climbing up the charts, and getting remixed by a different mainstream rapper every week or so. And even here in Baltimore, where I thought the only people feelin' her were the same kind of hipsters feelin' her in most other places, suddenly it feels like she's crossed over; you've got Greenspan doing this version of one of her songs (there's also a clip of her song "World Town," which jacks the hook from Blaq Starr's "Hands Up, Thumbs Down," on Got Green?. And before DJ K-Swift passed away, I'd heard her spin the M.I.A. song "Boyz" both at Artscape and on 92Q, right in the middle of a Baltimore club set, and it actually sounded alright to me.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Blaq Starr, Darkroom Productions, DJ Booman, Greenspan, magazines/newspapers, mixtape/album review, mp3, Ogun, Paula Campbell

Labels: 92Q, DNA, Dru Hill, flyer, Paula Campbell, The Wire, Tim Trees

Metromix.com's Baltimore page recently ran a little piece on local music with a "a brief history of that B-more sound" and a round up of notable artists. It's got a couple of the more established artists you might expect (Mario and Sisqo, and also Tupac, which is kind of a stretch), a lot of the artists from The Wire soundtrack (Bossman, Mullyman, Diablo, DJ Technics and Rod Lee), plus a few others (Paula Campbell, Young Leek, and a girl I'd never heard of named Shiré a.k.a. Talia Burgess).

Labels: Baltimore club, Bossman, Diablo, DJ Technics, Dru Hill, Mullyman, Paula Campbell, Rod Lee, Young Leek

New stuff on Noise @ http://noise.citypaper.com lately: I did a Noise in Brief column full of small Baltimore music news items and links about Bossman, Mullyman, Paula Campbell, The Wire, Blaq Starr, Labtekwon, Monarch, Thrushes, B.O.M.B. and Darkroom Productions. I interviewed DJ Tigga for The Club Beat. I saw a bunch of producers compete at the Beatman Battle II @ 5 Seasons, which was won by B-Banks, and featured some great beats by Comp, Max-A-Million, Dave Da Barber, E-Watts and others. Also, I caught Sonar's "Hip Hop For The Headstrong" night with Flawless, State Of The Arts, J-Optimo, Snapz, and Planet SB, and T.I. and Ciara and T-Pain @ 1st Mariner Arena, Michael McDonald @ Pier Six Pavillion (Bret McCabe to me at the Best of Baltimore party the other night: "so...Michael McDonald, huh?"), and They Might Be Giants @ Rams Head Live.

Labels: B.O.M.B., Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore club, Blaq Starr, Bossman, Comp, Darkroom Productions, Labtekwon, Mullyman, Noise, Paula Campbell, Sonar

Listen to Paula Campbell's interview on www.vvcradio.com this weekend, and also check out her new video for "Ain't Nobody Stupid" directed by Ciara, which I also posted on Noise last week.

Labels: Noise, Paula Campbell

It's been almost 2 years now since Paula Campbell signed with Sony, and I haven't heard much about her in a while. But she's got a new single called "Ain't Nobody Stupid" up on her MySpace page, along with the announcement that she won this contest, where the prize is that Ciara will direct her next video, and a bunch of tourdates for upcoming shows where she's opening for Ne-Yo:

Jun 12 2007 8:00P
House of Blues w/ Ne-Yo Los Angeles, California
Jun 13 2007 8:00P
House of Blues w/ Ne-Yo San Diego, California
Jun 14 2007 8:00P
House of Blues w/ Ne-Yo Anaheim, California
Jun 15 2007 8:00P
Filmore w/ Ne-Yo San Francisco, California
Jun 17 2007 8:00P
Showbox w/ Ne-Yo Seattle, Washington
Jun 20 2007 8:00P
Myth w/ Ne-Yo Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jun 21 2007 8:00P
Six Flags w/ Ne-Yo St. Louis, Missouri
Jun 24 2007 8:00P
Toyota Park B96 w/ Ne-Yo Chicago, Illinois
Jun 28 2007 8:00P
Six Flags w/ Ne-Yo Boston, Massachusetts
Jun 29 2007 8:00P
House of Blues w/ Ne-Yo Atlantic City, New Jersey
Jun 30 2007 8:00P
Copacabana w/ Ne-Yo New York, New York
Jul 1 2007 8:00P
House of Blues w/ Ne-Yo Cleveland, Ohio
Jul 2 2007 8:00P
Summerfest w/ Ne-Yo Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jul 5 2007 8:00P
Six Flags w/ Ne-Yo San Antonio, Texas

Labels: Paula Campbell

Over the past few months, I've written a lot about The Wire, including my thoughts on recent episodes and a comprehensive guide to Wire cast members' appearances in music videos over on my other blog, Narrowcast. And with the season finale fast approaching on December 10th, I thought I'd put together a guide to the ways in which the show has become intertwined with the Baltimore hip hop scene (aside from everyone making references to it in the lyrics, which maybe I'll do a rundown of another time).

Music Used in the Show:

As has been covered on this site and in the pages of the New York Times and The Baltimore City Paper, Wire music supervisor Blake Leyh has recently begun incorporating music from numerous Baltimore artists this season (in addition to Baltimore club tracks by DJ Technics in previous seasons), including Darkroom Productions (who came to The Wire's attention after naming their mixtape Hamsterdam, which was inspired by season 3), Diablo ("Jail Flick"), Mullyman ("Get Ready (Bodymore Soldiers)" and "The Life, The Hood, The Streetz"), Dirty Hartz ("That's Da Sound"), Tyree Colion ("My Projects"), Tha Plague a.k.a. GEM, Paula Campbell ("Love You Back") and Rod Lee ("Dance My Pain Away"). I've already posted several of these tracks as part of a continuing series as the episodes have aired:

as heard on The Wire, part 1
as heard on The Wire, part 2
as heard on The Wire, part 3

This season also featured a memorable scene in which hired killers Chris and Snoop sniff out New Yorkers dealing on Baltimore territory by quizzing them on their knowledge of Young Leek's single "Jiggle It" and 92Q's Big Phat Morning Show.

Cast Connections:

Michael K. Williams appeared on skits for Bossman's mixtapes Charm City's King and This Is A Warning in character as Omar.

Richard Burton, who played Shamrock, right hand man to Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale, in the first 3 seasons, is the architect of the Believe Tour, which has featured Baltimore rappers such as Bossman, Tim Trees, Huli Shallone, Mullyman, D.O.G., Cooli Hi, Young Leek.

Teenage actor Nathan Corbett, who is featured on the 4th season as Donut, the kid that keeps stealing cars, is also a rapper signed to K-Swift’s Next Level label (the actor who plays Namond is also starting a career as a rapper, but I don't think he's from Baltimore or working with anyone from Bmore).

Cameos by Baltimore Artists:

Ammo, of the Gritty Gang and Real On Purpose Entertainment, appeared in several episodes in seasons 3 and 4 in a recurring role as Spider, one of the teenagers who boxes at Cutty's gym.

Skarr Akbar appeared in two episodes in season 2 with a speaking role as an unnamed rival dealer engaged in a turf war with Bodie and Poot.

In the second episode of season 3, “All Due Respect,” the guy who shoots Dozerman is played by Little Clayway.

Blankman of the group PX (Parts Unknown) appeared in the fourth episode of Season 4 as the security guard at the card game where Omar robs Marlo.

Rapper and Hip Hop 101 host Sonny Brown appears in two episodes in Season 4, once as one of the cops who runs into the cafeteria when Omar stabs someone in jail, and another where he helps break up the riot in front of a bar when the cops are making unnecessary arrests.

Labels: Darkroom Productions, Diablo, Dirty Hartz, DJ Technics, G.E.M./Tha Plague, lists, Mullyman, Paula Campbell, Rod Lee, Skarr Akbar, The Wire, Tyree Colion, Young Leek

The current issue of Rolling Stone magazine has a feature on page 90 called "Where Hip-Hop Lives" which profiles 5 cities that could be "the next Houston," and one of them is Baltimore. Darkroom Productions, Deep Flow Studios, Bossman, Paula Campbell, Club Choices and 5 Seasons all get mentions in the article. I don't know what's up with them saying "stunna shades" are the must-have accessory in Bmore, though, isn't that more of a Bay Area thing?

Labels: 5 Seasons, Bossman, Darkroom Productions, Deep Flow, magazines/newspapers, Paula Campbell

Three 6 Mafia f/ Paula Campbell - "Hard Out Here For A Pimp" (mp3)
A few months ago, I broke the news that Triple 6 would be re-recording the song that won them an Oscar with Baltimore's own Paula Campbell on the hook, and it was also reported in her City Paper cover story recently. Well, the new version of the song just came out this week on the special edition re-release of their Most Known Unknown album, and here it is.

Labels: mp3, Paula Campbell

Paula Campbell is on the cover of this week's City Paper with a feature by Jess Harvell, and Kelly Connelly also wrote a cover story on Paula in last month's Music Monthly. Paula's Sony album I Am Paula Campbell isn't out for a few months, but you can hear samples of some tracks from it on her official site and MySpace page. I'm not too crazy about the song she predicts will be her big breakthrough hit, "Crying Tonight," but I like that "Champion" joint that 92Q's been playing lately.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Paula Campbell