Barnes - Block Work Featuring Barnes (DJ Jabril)

AllBmoreHipHop.com and DJ Jabril recently released the first volume of the Block Work series, which it looks like they're kind of grooming as a Baltimore answer to Gangsta Grillz, a kind of legacy brand for single-artist mixtapes, which I think is a shrewd idea, will be interesting to see how that pans out with future volumes. The first installment is with Barnes, who released an album on Street Official 3 years ago that I thought was pretty dope, had national distribution and a few songs on 92Q, although I dunno, the guy has never left a huge impression on me. This is good, again kinda generic but some hot songs. I heard great things about the last mixtape he had out but I haven't checked it out yet. I'm not wild about all the drops and DJ shouting, but again that's kind of the vibe they seem to be going for. Cover art's by Skarr Akbar, you can download the whole thing at WWW.ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM/BARNES.

Barnes f/ Bump - "Ay Boy" (mp3)
Man, I like this beat, it sounds fuckin' evil.

Labels: ALLBMOREHIPHOP.COM, Barnes, Block Work, DJ Jabril, mixtape/album review, mp3, Skarr Akbar, Street Official

First of all, let me say that this is not The Government Names 2006 Baltimore Hip Hop Poll Results, which I posted the other day, and also that I kind of apologize for my attitude in that post. I knew going into it how it might turn out, and I still got a little bitter about it, and inadvertantly disrespected some of my favorite artists. But it seems like people understand now that I wasn't trying to diss anybody, and it's water under the bridge. Now, onto my official year-end wrap up, which is completely my opinion and noone else's. I won't say much about what my opinion means, because I'm just one person and I have my own biases, but the fact that I've heard this much local music, and that I know too many of the artists to feel any obligation to any one of them beyond saying how I really feel about their music, should speak for itself. But still, take it with a big grain of salt and understand I'm rooting for everybody. Enjoy the feast of mp3's, discover some artists you might like, click the links and get to know them. I'll be posting less often for the next 3 weeks or so, so you'll have plenty of time to digest this.


1. Little Clayway - Still Movin' Independently: The Takeover (Clayway Records)
Government Names review
Clayway Records website
Little Clayway on MySpace
Little Clayway - "Clay Family Story" (mp3)

This is kind of an offbeat choice for #1, I don't think a lot of people heard this one, but in my opinion it was just the best, most complete album I heard out of the scene this year. Clayway doesn't rap real fancy but he has a laid back, conversational flow you can relate to, and by combining new material with some older career highlights, he put together a good, balanced album. But what I really loved about it was the personal storytelling perspective of songs like "B-More Hip Hop" and "Clay Family Story," squeezing years of history into brief songs and letting you inside his head.


2. Dirty Hartz - It Is What It Is Vol. 2 (Dirty Hartz Ent.)
Government Names review
Dirty Hartz on MySpace
Dirty Hartz - "The Hartz Is Here" (mp3)

Verb and everyone else in DH can just rhyme their asses off, and with a really hot selection of industry beats and original tracks by Debonair Samir, they did the mixtape thing more consistently than just about anybody this year.


3. Tyree Colion - Tyree Colion presents Hustle Hard Blvd (Rare Ent./Hustle Hard Blvd)
Government Names review
Rare Ent. on MySpace
Tyree Colion - "Help Me" (mp3)

I was pleasantly surprised by how highly this placed in the poll, considering that Tyree got locked up before it was officially released and as a result it was never really promoted or heard by many people. But I think everyone that heard it has to respect the accomplishment of a triple CD where every disc is as consistent as most other dudes' whole mixtapes.


4. UnReal - Dat Boyz A Problem (UnReality Ent.)
Government Names review
UnReal on MySpace
UnReal - "Breath" (mp3)

UnReal has been a favorite of mine going back to his track from Hamsterdam, and he really pulled together almost all of his best joints for this one.

5. Mullyman - Still H.I.M . (Major League Unlimited/DJ Gemini)
Government Names review
Mullyman on MySpace
Mullyman - "Old School Tribute" (mp3)

Mullymania never totally lived up to my expectations, but he really came hard on the follow-up mixtape and let people know he wasn't going anywhere.


6. DK - King Me (730 Commission/DJ Kay Slay)
Government Names review
DK on MySpace
DK - "You Ain't Fooling Me" (mp3)

I don't think people in the city really realize yet who DK is, let alone how talented he is and that he's signed to a mid-sized national indie label. Maybe when he drops the album they'll start noticing.


7. Tha Annexx Click - Banga Bill Presents Chapter 16: Tha Return Of Da
Blue (Knokville Ent./Street Official Ent.)
Government Names review
Banga
Bill on MySpace
Tha Annexx Click - "Funky Fresh" (mp3)

Tha Annexx Click is one of those crews whose history goes back way further than my knowledge of the scene, back in the 90's, so I don't know how this measures up to the old stuff, but it made me a fan.


8. Skarr Akbar - The Cerebellum: General Part Four (Akbar Enterprize/DJ Radio)
Government Names review
Skarr Akbar on MySpace
Skarr Akbar - "Picture Me Rolling" (mp3)

Skarr released so much music this year that it's hard to say what his best release was -- he just put out a DVD/CD at all Downtown Locker Rooms this week that I haven't heard yet -- but this one is my favorite of the ones I've heard.


9. Barnes - The Last Shall Be First (Street Official/Sugar Water)
Government Names review
Barnes on MySpace
Barnes f/ Goddi - "Real Nigga" (mp3)

Barnes did it big with radio hits and national distribution this year, but I think the fact that he got locked up right for a while right after his album dropped kinda hurt his momentum. He really put out a quality album, though.


10. Bossman - BulletProof B (One Up Ent.)
Government Names review
Bossman on MySpace
Bossman - "You're Wrong (live)" (mp3)

Bossman hadn't really released too much new music since getting signed last year, but then recently he unleashed a whole 2 CD mixtape to make up for it, and I hope it really gets people ready for the Virgin album in the next few months.


11. PX (Parts Unknown) - Hood Therapy (Street Legal Entertainment/BRM Music/MDL Music)
Government Names review
PX (Parts Unknown) on MySpace
PX (Parts Unknown) - "Hood Therapy" (mp3)

I still feel really bad about disrespecting PX the other day, because they've been in this scene a long time and really didn't fuck around with this album, got good distribution and made sure people came out in droves to cop it, and not a lot of people around here have really accomplished that. And they've got a real unique sound that's all them, too.


12. B. Rich - Born Rich (Sure Shot Recordings)
Government Names review
B. Rich on MySpace
B. Rich - "Angels" (mp3)

For a lot of people around here, B. Rich's story is a cautional tale about how not to get treated by the industry. But it's really to his credit that he came back on an independent level all these years later and actually made an album that was better than his first.


13. Midas - Pay-Per-View (Team Green/Beat Game)
Government Names review
Midas on MySpace
Midas - "Movies" (mp3)

I think Midas is one of the most promising MCs in the city right now, and this feels like a really good appetizer for the album he's dropping in '07.


14. PenDragon - Revenge Of The Harm City King (Team Arson Music/DragonMoon Records)
Government Names review
PenDragon on MySpace
PenDragon - "Sweet Dreams" (mp3)

Probably the best pleasant surprise I heard this year, as far as getting sent a CD by an artist I hadn't previously heard of.


15. Ray Lugar - Exclusive Respect II (Stay Hi Ent./Team Fifty)
Government Names review
Team Fifty website
Ray Lugar - "I Know" (mp3)

I just did a big City Paper feature on Ray Lugar and the Low Key God that's coming real soon, so I won't say too much other than that these dudes are legends and you need to be familiar with them.


16. Labtekwon - The Ghetto Dai Lai Lama V. 777 (Ankh Ba Records/Morphius Urban)
Government Names review
Labtekwon on MySpace
Labtekwon - "The Gift" (mp3)

I don't know why Lab went back to a 2005 album and re-released it with some minor adjustments, but every change he made (compare the old version of "The Gift" to this one if you have both) made it better.


17. Comp - Independence Day: Bang-A-Rang Mixtape Vol. 3 (DNA)
Government Names reviewa>
Comp on MySpace
Comp - "B-More Anthem" (mp3)

Like B. Rich, Comp is someone else I respect for getting fucked over by the major label system but still coming back independent.


18. Backland - Back In Business (Charm City Records)
Government Names review
Backland on MySpace
Backland - "What Would You Do?" (mp3)

I think I would have liked this mixtape more if I hadn't gotten his previous one, The One, which is really great, right around the same time, but it's good to have Backland back on the scene.


19. Finacy - Napoleon Complex (Infinite Legacy)
Government Names review
Finacy on MySpace
Finacy - "Round 1" (mp3)

I only got around to really listening to this album a lot lately but it's been growing on me fast.


20. ShellBe RAW - Do You Like It Raw? (A.R.S. Entertainment/DJ Radio)
Government Names review
ShellBe RAW on MySpace
ShellBe RAW f/ Che Ray - "Do It For You Freestyle" (mp3)

ShellBe really earned her hype with this one, although I kinda wish there were more original beats, since the ones that are on here are good.

21. Cutthroat - Words Can't Explain It Chapter 2.5 (For The People Entertainment)
Government Names review
Cutthroat on MySpace
Cutthroat - "Painter" (mp3)

The production on this album is really beautiful and subtle, Cutthroat succeeded at making a really different album from most of the stuff on this list.


22. C Love - Respect, Vol. 1 (ItsBaltimoreBaby.com/DNA)
Government Names review
C Love on MySpace
Brown F.I.S.H. - "45" (mp3)

What up, C Love! It's harder for me to rate various artist mixtapes but there's some great tracks on here.


23. Mike Malachi - Malachi's Way
Government Names review
Mike Malachi on MySpace
Mike Malachi - "What Y'all Really Want To Do" (mp3)

This record sounded really promising but inconsistent to me, I hope Malachi lives up to his potential on the next project.


24. Gritty Gang - Street Certified Goods (Real On Purpose Entertainment)
Government Names review
Real On Purpose on MySpace
Ammo - "(Say) Gritty Gang" (mp3)

Nobody brings people together in Baltimore quite like Ogun and ROP, this was a real interesting project and I wonder if it's gonna keep going, good assemblage of people.

25. Real2Real - Playground Legends (Street Official Records/Headnod Entertainment)
Government Names review
Real2Real on MySpace
Real2Real - "Like It Or Not" (mp3)

I think I need to listen to this some more, it might be better than I realized.



26. The Yung Huslas - Strickly Business Volume One (Rare Ent.)
Government Names review
The Yung Huslas on MySpace
The Yung Huslas - "Pop!" (mp3)

Along with Ammo, these kids are making being a teen rapper from Baltimore more respectable than the stuff getting played on the radio, they gotta be good to get co-signed by Skarr Akbar and Tyree Colion.


27. Hots - The Introduction (One Up Ent./Lil Skrilla)
Government Names review
Hots on MySpace
Hots - "Criminal Individuals" (mp3)

This is another one that's kinda grown on me with time, might end up belonging higher on this list in retrospect, but I'm not sure yet. Anything with One Up beats is worth copping, though.


28. Billo "The Hood Rockstar" - Daily Grind Vol. 2 "We Got Another
One" (For The People Entertainment)
Government Names review
Billo on MySpace
Billo f/ Yuk and Cut - "I'm Ballin'" (mp3)

This one's a little inconsistent to me but when it's good it's pretty damn good.


29. M.O.L. - Money On Da Low (Top Of Da Hill Records)
Government Names review
M.O.L. on MySpace
M.O.L. - "You Don't Know" (mp3)

There's kinda too many MCs that I can't tell apart in this crew, I think if any of them dropped a solo joint I'd like it, though.

30. Ray Victory - Ready 2 Go! (Strong Arm Entertainment/Nite Life Entertainment/DJ Nelly Nell)
Government Names review
Ray Victory on MySpace
Ray Victory - "Same Shit" (mp3)

Another mixtape bogged down with too many freestyles, but the original material is on point.


31. Third Kind - Disaster Relief (Sweatbox Recordings)
Government Names review
Third Kind on MySpace
Third Kind - "The Movement" (mp3)

Some of the production on here is really crazy, crate digging shit.


32. Profound and Ogun - Oil And Water 2 (Real On Purpose Entertainment/DJ Radio)
Government Names review

Real On Purpose on MySpace
Profound - "Cash Crop" (mp3)

This mixtape kinda has me hyped for Profound to do a full-on solo joint.

33. Alevan - Came Here 4 (Alevan, Inc.)
Government Names review
Alevan on MySpace
Alevan - "Ride Wit' Me" (mp3)

Maybe a little too mellow but a real consistent mood and a pleasant surprise from a crew I wasn't familiar with before.


34. Bigg Patch - Goldenboy Volume 2 (Diamond Life Records/Unruly Records)
Government Names review
Bigg Patch website
Bigg Patch - "Move" (mp3)

A few great tracks but some real repetitive lyrics and weak hooks.


35. Golden Seal - The Official Brown Sugar Mixtape (DJ Booman)
Government Names review
Golden Seal on MySpace
Jahli of Golden Seal f/ Ogun - "Cicadas" (mp3)

I was a little disappointed there wasn't more Golden Seal on here, way too much of a mix without much focus.


36. Under Sound Music presents Breaking Ground, Vol. 1 (Under Sound Music/DJ Impulse)
Government Names review
Under Sound Music website
Tislam The Great - "That Feelin'" (mp3)

This is one I kinda panned in the paper but some of the tracks have really grown on me.


37. B.O.M.B. - King Of Da Streets Vol. 1 (Jimmy Beamz)
Government Names review
B.O.M.B. on MySpace
B.O.M.B. - "The Best Of You" (mp3)

B.O.M.B.'s loose, spoken-word-type flow is an acquired taste, but I think I'm starting to acquire it.

38. Jon Boe - Before The Storm
Government Names review
Jon Boe - "Sunshine" (mp3)

This might be the nastiest, messiest, most aggressive mixtape I heard all year, but sometimes that's the kinda thing you really wanna hear.

39. Architects Recording Studio presents Street Radio Volume 2.5 (A.R.S. Entertainment/DJ Radio)
Government Names review
Ogun f/ Che Rae - "My Life" (mp3)

This one was chock full of joints, even though it's like a 'half' edition, I think this might be my favorite in the series so far.


40. The Black Family - The City is Ours
Government Names review
The Black Family on MySpace
J-Nina and Ill Will - "For Baltimore" (mp3)

Another crew where I think having a lot of unfamiliar MCs made it hard for me to tell them apart or get to know their voices, but I think some of them, especially J-Nina, I'd check for.

41. Labtekwon - DJ Jazzy Jerk presents Ghettoclectic Volume WON (King of the Slow
Burn) (Ankh Ba Records)
Government Names review
Labtekwon on MySpace
Labtekwon - "One In A Million" (mp3)

Lab does everything different from the norm, so even his freestyle mixtape is gonna go a bit off the beaten path, but the whole theme of R&B slow jams works really well.

42. Bosslady presents Baltimore State Of Grind: 21 Different Ways Pt. 1 (House of Platinum Records)
Government Names review
Bosslady on MySpace
Amadaye - "Late At Night" (mp3)

A solid compilation based on a novel theme.

43. Imperial Records presents... Operation: Shutdown (Imperial Records/DJ Spontaneous)
Government Names review
Young Dip on MySpace
Bless - "Who Is He?" (mp3)

Not bad, but I'm looking forward to hearing the new Young Dip mixtape, to get a feel for his solo material.


44. Comp - Bangarang City (DJ B-Roc/DJ DMA)
Government Names review
Comp on MySpace
Comp - "Yea" (mp3)

The Comp tracks are good but there's really not enough Comp on here.

45. E Major - The Major General Mixtape (Under Sound Music/DJ Impulse)
Government Names review
Under Sound Music website
E Major - "Bless One" (mp3)

Eyekon really showed versatility with the beat selection on here.


46. Skarr Akbar - The Bidding War Stars Now! (Akbar Enterprize/DJ Radio)
Government Names review
Skarr Akbar on MySpace
Skarr Akbar - "What I Want" (mp3)

It seems like this mixtape was a little more popular than The Cerebellum, but too much of this material is old to me for me to like it as much. It does have some of his best joints, though.

47. Huli Shallone - Huli Shallone (Hit 'Em Hard Records)
Government Names review
Huli Shallone - "For My Shorty" (mp3)

Huli just didn't come as hard on this as his first album, it felt like a few singles with a lot of filler. And then the best single he dropped this year, "Work It Good," wasn't even on it.


48. Team Green - The Hostage Vol 1 (Team Green/Beat Game/DNA)
Government Names review
Team Green on MySpace
Midas - "Team Green Commandments" (mp3)

The first mixtape I heard with Midas on it, after already being a fan of his from Style Warz, but a little too much of other dudes and not enough of him.

49. D.O.G. - Walk On Air: The Mix Tape (Invisible Set Entertainment)
Government Names review
D.O.G. on MySpace
D.O.G. - "Icy Yo D.O.G." (mp3)

Champagne Dreams probably would've been near the top of this list if it had dropped this year, but since D.O.G. got signed to Universal and pushed the album back once again, all we got this year was a mixtape that was way too short.


50. Yung Gist - The Baltimore Son
Government Names review
Yung Gist - "Holla @ Me" (mp3)

This had its moments but definitely did not live up to the "best rapper baltimore has ever seen" hype. He could stand to mumble a little less, it makes it hard to hear what he's saying.

Labels: Annexx Click, Banga Bill, Barnes, Bosslady, Bossman, Debonair Samir, Dirty Hartz, DK, lists, Little Clayway, mp3, Mullyman, Skarr Akbar, Street Official, Tyree Colion, UnReal

Labels: flyer, Huli Shallone, Street Official

Real2Real - Playground Legends (Street Official Records/Headnod Entertainment)

Real2Real (not to be confused with the dance music dude Reel 2 Real who did "I Like To Move It") is a rap group from Baltimore that's been around for about 10 years. They released their first full-length last year, and this mixtape dropped a few months ago. The three main members of the group are Wylie McCreory, LefTy, and Sheist T, but there's also appearances by J Stone, Big Moon and Typheni. Street Official is also the label that brought you recent releases from Barnes and Tha Annexx Click, so they've got a good track record, and Banga Bill produces a couple tracks on here. The first half is real heavy on freestyles but towards the end of the CD there's more original songs. Their song "Bmore City" recently appeared on the C Love/DNA mixtape.

Real2Real - "The Oath" (mp3)
Probably my favorite track with the whole group on it, crazy hi-hat triplets on one of the illest beats I've heard lately, produced by Velly.

Wylie McCreory - "Rap Or Hustle" (mp3)
Wylie McCreory seems like the most prominent member of the group throughout the mixtape, and this is his one solo track that isn't a freestyle, produced by Phat Head.

Labels: mixtape/album review, mp3, Real2Real, Street Official

Tha Annexx Click - Banga Bill Presents Chapter 16: Tha Return Of Da Blue (Knokville Ent./Street Official Ent.)

I guess this is the return of Tha Annexx Click, although I've never heard any of their old stuff so it's all new to me. But I bought on the strength of B-Ill's name, since he's done beats for Mullyman, Barnes, UnReal, Backland, a lot of people, so you've probably heard him shout "Banga Bill!" at the beginning of a few tracks on 92Q yourself. And one of the reasons this mixtape is so consistent and one of my favorite Baltimore CD's of this year is that it's all original beats by Bill, no freestyles. The Click is two people, a male MC named Mack, who sounds a hell of a lot like Jadakiss, and a female MC named Silohette. They kind of take turns doing solo tracks, and do a handful of tracks together. C Love posted about this mixtape a few months ago (I guess that's her thumb in the picture of the cover, haha) and included Silo's "Cleva Girl" on her Respect, Vol. 1 mixtape.

Mack - "Ain't No Sunshine" (mp3)
I would've thought that this Bill Withers sample would've sounded played out, but B-Ill makes it sound fresh on this.

Silohette - "Can't Quit Her" (mp3)
A banger that comes on right after "Ain't No Sunshine," my favorite stretch on the CD.

Labels: Annexx Click, Banga Bill, mixtape/album review, mp3, Street Official

Barnes - The Last Shall Be First (Street Official/Sugar Water)

This album dropped back in April, but I've got a review of it in the City Paper this week (along with a review of the new Backland mixtape, which I'll post about later in the week, and a review by Jason Torres of the Gritty Gang mixtape I wrote about a while back). I posted Barnes' song with Joe Budden a few months ago, and that's on here, along with all his other songs that have been getting spins on 92Q. It's a pretty tight album, and it's got national distribution and you can buy it on iTunes and everything, so that's a good look. I don't really know what's up with Barnes these days, though, because a while back C Love posted a news story that said he'd been arrested as a suspect in a homicide, and people have been leaving "Free Barnes" and "come home soon" messages on his MySpace page. So hopefully he's not in some serious hot water right now.

Barnes f/ Highs-N-Pistol - "Tattoo Tears" (mp3)
I remember way back around last summer when 92Q was playing this song and I never really wrote about it because for the longest time I wasn't sure who it was by. So it's cool to finally have a copy of it, it's a kind of dark, spooky sounding song but it's a banger.

Barnes - "Middle East" (mp3)
One of my favorite tracks on the album, something to really rep our region with.

Labels: Baltimore City Paper, Barnes, mixtape/album review, mp3, Street Official