REVIEW: Creepin (Solo) - Chamillionaire

Chamillionaire's new single called 'Creepin' (Solo)' off his upcoming 3rd studio album called Venom, is a pretty good song.  Although the song is not as good as his previous singles (Turn it Up & Hip Hop Police) it still has the signature Chamillionaire hook and lyrics.  The beat sounds like the beat from 'Bill Collecta' on Ultimate Victory and it has a hint of sound from Evening News.  Ludacris is featured on the song also.  He is a nice addition and he supplements Chamillionaire well.  Once again in this song Chamillionaire shows why he is the king of hooks as he spots another good hook.  Look for Venom in the first quarter of 2009.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SONG FROM CHAMILLIONAIRE'S SITE

LYRICS: 7.5/10 BEAT: 7.5/10 OVERALL: 7.5/10

REVIEW: The Ball Street Journal - E-40

E-40, known as the ambassador of bay area hyphy (and the 'yay' as he puts it), puts out a solid album with The Ball Street Journal.  Although this album is not as good as My Ghetto Report Card, which was his previous album that went gold, the album still has some good tracks.  Pain No More and Wake It Up are some of the best tracks on the album.  This album will not sell as much as My Ghetto Report Card because it has had less exposure and Kanye & Ludacris' album will most likely overshadow it, but then again, sales don't make an album (as we've seen with Lil Wayne's album).  The album has a good list of producers.  Pete Rock & DJ Premier both make apperances.

Best Song: Pain No More (feat. Snoop Dogg & The Game) - A westcoast trio makin' a westcoast original song.  This ones pretty good.

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BEATS: 7/10 LYRICS: 7/10 OVEALL: 7/10

REVIEW: 808s & Heartbreaks - Kanye West

Usually with a Kanye West album you can rely on a good album with good lyrics and good production, but Kanye's new album called 808s & Heartbreaks is not up to par.  Kanye's first album The College Dropout was a classic and to see him go from classic songs like Get Em High to crap like Love Lockdown is completely sad.  Kanye has been labeled as a conscious rapper, but this album is not conscious or rap.  It's a blend of sad R&B with bad lyrics.  The beats are also not very good.  The constant drone of the TR-808 tends to get boring after a while.  T-Pain's new album that came out last week is much better than Kanye's album.  Maybe this is just a bump in the road for Kanye.  With his arrests last weekend maybe he's under-stress.  Horrible album, I'll try to give him the benefit of the doubt though this time.  Hopefully the next one will be better.

Best Song: Amazing (feat. Young Jeezy) - It's not like the album is a complete failure, it's bad for a Kanye album, but we expect more from good rappers.  People like Shawty Lo & V.I.C. come out with stuff like this every album, but Amazing is okay.

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BEATS: 4.5/10 LYRICS: 3.5/10 OVERALL: 4/10

REVIEW: Theater of the Mind - Ludacris

Ludacris' new album called 'Theater of the Mind' could be one of the best mainstream albums of the year.  Every song on the album could  be a single.  From the highly played What Them Girls Like to the lesser known single Wish You Would, the album looked like a gem just from the singles.  Ludacris demonstrates his diversity by showing his soft side on the slow jam called Contagious and showing his nitty-gritty southern side on Last of A Dying Breed.  The album is loaded with enjoyment. Now Ludacris himself has a hard decision.  He'll have to choose from an amazing tracklist for his next single.  This album is a must buy. 

 

Best Song: I Do It For Hip Hop (feat. Nas & Jay-Z) - Every song could have been picked as the best song.  MVP, Do The Right Thang and Call Up The Homies could all be the best song.  They are all amazing there is no line between the songs.

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BEATS: 9/10 LYRICS: 9/10 OVERALL RATING: 9/10

REVIEW: King of the Decks - DJ Revolution

DJ Revolution's new album called 'King of the Decks' is a breath of fresh air in the era of the 'Crank That' and 'Lollipop' rap.  In his new album DJ Revolution has compiled an all-star list of artists to be featured on his album.  Some notable apperances are from KRS-One, Joell Ortiz, Royce da 5'9'' and Planet Asia.  The album contains twenty-four tracks and every track is a banger.  The album brings a dozen or so like minded MCs & DJs together onto one disc to create the ultimate jam.  It's like a custom burnt CD of all your favorite tracks.  It's not like your typical DJ album either.  DJ Khaled looks like a fool compared to DJ Revolution. The albums overall is one of the rawest and hardest hitting albums this year.

Best Song: The DJ (feat. KRS-One) - It could be one of the rawest tracks I have heard in my entire life.  KRS-One slams new artists and DJs and takes listeners to MC school.

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BEATS: 10/10 LYRICS: 9/10 OVERALL RATING: 9.5/10

REVIEW: Get Up - 50 Cent

50 Cent's first single off his new album Before I Self Destruct is produced by Scott Storch and was released on October 7, 2008.  'Get Up' is an improvement from his last album's singles (disasters), although it is a lot more whack than his original work. Hopefully Before I Self Destruct will improve from here and he might be able to reinvent himself.  

BEAT: 7.5/10 LYRICS: 6.5/10 OVERALL RATING: 7/10