Snoop Dogg – Ego Trippin’
Geffen Records (03/11/08)
Rap / Hip-hop
2008 marks the 15th anniversary of Snoop Dogg’s solo career. While I’m one of the few people left who was there from the beginning, I was really hedging on whether or not to buy Ego Trippin’, his ninth studio album. The first single (”Sexual Eruption/Sensual [...]
Another year has come and gone, kids. Here at MGF, we take our status seriously as the best damn music site on erf. But, that doesn’t dissuade us from the predictable publication of the ubiquitous “year in review” columns.
I spent the first six weeks of 2006 on the Bootleg beat, bringing three years [...]
Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead
Def Jam (release date: 12/19/2006)
Rap
When I first heard about the latest release from Nasir (Nas) Jones, I figured Hip Hop Is Dead would follow the pretentiously dull preaching that overwhelmed his bloated ‘04 album, Street’s Disciple.
Make no mistake: Disciple was a disaster and unequivocally answered the question of whether or [...]
Various Artists – Eminem Presents: The Re-Up
Shady/Interscope (release date: 12/5/2006)
Rap
So, did the “Eminem Era” of rap ever really end?
In just a few months, we’ll have passed the eight-year anniversary of his 1999 debut The Eminem LP. One could make a legitimate case that Em’s first album was one of the most important releases ever. [...]
Akon – Konvicted
Universal/Motown (released 11/21/2006)
Urban/R&B
My wife and I tend to run in entirely different musical circles.
She’s not much into the “urban” scene, save for the occasional made-for-radio work of artists who are more style than substance. So, her reaction should’ve come as no surprise when I told her that I’d received a review copy [...]
Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
Star Trak/Jive (released 11/28/2006)
Rap
In this sea of holiday releases that, so far, have included new albums by Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and The Game, it’s quite possible that the single most anticipated joint isn’t from any of them.
Thanks to a load of label drama and other administrative delays, The Clipse’s Hell [...]
2Pac – Pac’s Life
Amaru/Interscope (release date: 11/21/2006)
Rap
This is the 16th Tupac album since his commercial career began in 1991.
OK, maybe it’s more like 14th, since no one really counts those two pretentious poetry albums. Then, again, 1994’s Thug Life and 1999’s Still I Rise aren’t really Tupac solo albums, either. And, while we’re [...]
Jay-Z – Kingdom Come
Roc-A-Fella (release date: 11/21/2006)
Rap
Let’s see if I can finally get one of these right from the reader’s perspective.
Way back in my pre-Bootleg, early review days, I wrote up Jay-Z’s Blueprint album and scored it a 7.5 (out of 10). For months, my inbox informed me that I was “jealous” of Jigga, [...]
Snoop Dogg – Tha Blue Carpet Treatment
Geffen Records (release date: 11/21/2006)
Rap
As someone who’s followed Snoop Dogg’s career for almost 15 years, I can honestly say that Tha Blue Carpet Treatment is his most anticipated album since Snoop’s Doggystyle debut. There are lots of factors driving the hype (in no particular order):
-The return of Dr. [...]
Jibbs – Jibbs Feat. Jibbs
Geffen Records (release date: 10/24/2006)
Rap
Sometimes I wonder if the rap industry has passed me by.
Jibbs was born in November 1990 or about 18 months before Kris Kross first blew up. I didn’t understand kiddie rappers then and I still don’t, but calling the 16-year-old Jibbs a “child” is probably more [...]