Charli Baltimore – Cold as Ice
Untertainment/Epic (Release date N/A)
Hip-hop / Rap

Charli Baltimore’s career is a mystery. Well, maybe it’s not a mystery; she was Biggie’s girl and he put her down. But the fact that she’s yet to release an album while being a decade into her career is certainly cause of puzzlement.

Charli Baltimore’s debut, Cold as Ice, was due to be released in 1999 on Untertainment, Lance “Un” Rivera’s second label. As usual, “label politics” came into play and the album was pushed back and eventually shelved.

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Q-Tip – Open
J Records (Release date N/A)
Hip-Hop

Way back in 2002, Q-Tip tried to release a sophomore album. Kamaal the Abstract featured live instruments accompanied by more singing than rapping, and was promptly shelved, but not before review copies were sent out to media outlets.

Q-Tip secured a release from his label, Arista, seeking refuge on J Records, where he began work on an alternate album, Open, which was intended to be released in 2005.

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Foxy Brown – Ill Na Na 2: The Fever
Def Jam (release date TBD)
Rap / Hip-hop

Sadly, in 2007 Foxy Brown has been known more so for making headlines than making music. However back in 2003 she recorded Ill Na Na 2: The Fever. Naturally where Foxy was, drama followed. After losing her unborn child and squabbling with her label the album was shelved.

Yet, miraculously, MGF found a copy to review.

An unreleased album is like a rare glimpse into an artist’s heart. Sure they intended to have it out in the open, but it never made it, which makes it kind of a treat. If you like Foxy Brown, you’ll like this album. If you’re not really a fan, you might find yourself oddly enjoying the album.

“Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep” comes off as practically absurd, with Foxy attempting to claim her stake among the top emcees. It’s a moment of hubris that only becomes more ironic given her recent history and the album’s fate.

On “Open Book” Foxy puts her claims in a historical context, comparing herself to Roxanne Shante over a sped up sample (which was the fashion at the time).

“Magnetic” features Pharrell doing his best “Bomb Squad sampling James Brown” impression on the beat. It’s actually quite an interesting beat that almost overshadows Foxy’s rhymes.

For some reason, Foxy felt the need not only to put together a crew of less talented emcees (including her brother Gavin) but also to let them appear on the album. “Jumpin’” is clearly that obligatory “this is my posse” cut.

Many of the beats on the album (“Why Why Why”, “Streets Love Me”, “The Original”) have a Caribbean feel to them. And there are some songs that feature familiar samples (the otherwise flawless and almost poignant “Memory Lane”).

All in all, it’s a solid album, with the only flaws being those befalling most hip-hop albums; being too prideful and trying too hard to put your peeps down. Still it would have been nice had it seen the light of day.

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Jean Grae – Jeanius
Babygrande (release date TBD)
Hip-hop / Rap

The Internet can be a cruel mistress. Sure, it’s good for communicating and finding information and even sharing. But apparently some kind of sharing is wrong.

That’s the case with Jeanius. This 2005 collaboration between underground wunderkind emcee Jean Grae and (then) up-and-coming producer 9th Wonder was heralded as the second coming and the album that would finally make Jean a name and get her the respect she deserved.

Sadly the album leaked on the Internet and despite universal praise it was shelved. Having heard it, I can say that it’s a shame it never saw the light of day.

First off, Jeanius made me a believer in Jean Grae. I’d heard her praised and heard some of her guest spots, but this album made me a fan. Furthermore, it serves to fan the spark within anyone who wants to believe in hip-hop again.

Jean manages to be intelligent without coming off as she’s talking down to the audience. She’s also clever and witty without resorting to too many pop culture references. She’s like if Eminem and Posdnuos had a kid.

“When the Rain Comes Down” is a tale of abortion that comes off as heartfelt and confessional rather than self-serving. On “This Girl” Jean’s flow matches 9th Wonder’s triumphant, building beat.

Speaking of 9th, he deserves his share of the spotlight considering he’s Jean’s collaborator. Jeanius truly is a joint venture. His beats carry his trademark soul samples and throwback vibe. Chopped loops and sped up samples are all present creating an atmosphere where the beats play the background while still remain worthy of attention.

This album really does make one feel that there’s a chance for hip-hop despite the current landscape. It reminds you how how pure hip-hop can be and gives you hope. However, the fact that it has yet to be released, or even scheduled to be released, dampens that hope a bit.

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Bilal – Love for Sale
Interscope (release date: TBD)
R&B

The life of a musician must be a tough one. You work hard to create your art for a record company, only to find it spread across the internet, and then, to add insult to injury, the label decides not to release it officially. But what’s really got to hurt is when it’s a genuine masterpiece that’s received nothing but praise.

It’s not like I really needed another reason to hate Interscope, the home of Styles P, 50 Cent and Eminem, but here it is; Love for Sale may be the best album to be shelved in 2006. I’ve had it in heavy rotation for nearly a month and I’m a musically fickle guy, with a short attention span, who hates R&B, yet I love this album.

One has to admire the complete submission/devotion that’s referenced “Make Me Over”. It’s rare in this day and age that a man (even a character in a song) is willing to submit so completely for the sake of love. “Get Out of My Hair”, a song about a Ms. Wrong, has a seductive bass line and a chorus that instantly finds a home in your head.

“Lord Don’t Let It” is a poignant song of heartbreak about a “playa” that finds and loses the woman he feels he’s destined to be with. The sweeping epic “All for Love” makes for a great follow-up as it details the dangers of lingering on loves past.

“White Turns to Gray” sounds like the best Prince slow jam that Prince never made. You can practically hear the eggs being fertilized to this song.

Those are just the “highs”, and there really aren’t any “lows.” In fact the only flaw that the album has is that it’s not been released. I’d love to pore over the liner notes and find out just whose productions are soothing my soul and providing the soundtracks to my dreams.

Love for Sale has given me faith, not only in R&B as a genre, but also in Bilal as an artist. It’s better than his impressive debut and head and shoulders above anything released recently. While I’m a fan of irony, folks should be able to purchase this disc.

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Q-Tip – Kamaal The Abstract
Arista Records (Release Date: TBD)
Hip Hopish

You’ve really kind of got to feel bad for Q-Tip. I mean the guy has appeared in what could be considered both of John Singleton and Spike Lee’s worst films, his ex is shagging the ugliest man in the music industry (and he’ll hold that distinction until Zombie Joey Ramone puts out an album) and the guy has two, that’s right, two albums that got shelved! Q-Tip is on the receiving end of some vicious karma.

To make matters worse, his first shelved joint, Kamaal the Abstract could have been considered revolutionary and was ahead of its time.

Can you imagine the press that would have been generated if a member of a hip hop group known for being different went off and recorded an album that used live instruments and featured him singing more than rapping? Oh wait, of course you can… that’s the story of Andre 3000 and The Love Below.

However, it very well could have been the tale of Q-Tip and Kamaal the Abstract. Set to be released in 2002, Kamaal the Abstract was a vast departure from Q-Tip’s debut Amplified (which itself was a departure from his work with A Tribe Called Quest.) Given the fact that it was such a departure, didn’t have many obvious singles, and nearly half of the songs are over five minutes long the label scrapped the album, after they’d already sent copies to reviewers.

Fortunately we live in the age of the Internet, where albums that would in the past be considered “mythical” can now be found if you know where to look.

Upon listening to the album one can kind of appreciate the label’s position, as the album is hard to classify. It’s more than “rap” but certainly not “neo soul” or “R&B.” It’s very much an artist being artistic, which can be a tough sell.

But the album can also be great. The live instruments create a sense of vitality that’s lacking in most hip hop offerings. It’s very jazzy, which will probably remind most fans why they dug Q-Tip in the first place. You can almost picture “Barely in Love” as a single that actually gets airplay. Almost.

However, the album does have its flaws, primarily that at nine tracks any missteps really stick out. The piano driven “Caring” is a complete vibe killer and halts the momentum the album had built up to that point. “Heels”, while a dynamic groove appears to be Q-Tip confessing a foot fetish.

All in all, the album is solid, if locked in limbo. Sadly if it were released tomorrow there would be many who would accuse Q-Tip of biting Andre 3000’s style.

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