One

Every time I listen to The Recession or just see Jeezy on TV or in a magazine or whatever it reminds me that he's the only real rap star we've got right now. Wayne stopped trying over a year ago, to the point where I can't decide whether him mugging it up with Kid Rock at a country awards show is worse because I didn't even bat an eye or because he mugged it up with Kid Rock at a country awards show. Kanye was always more pop star than rap star but even on that front he's on a sabbatical. You could maybe argue T.I., who sold out but still really went at it in some places on Paper Trail, but we won't be seeing his face for a while. After that who's left? Jay? Nas? Plies and Ross? BET is still trying to pretend like Nelly is famous.

I feel kind of lazy even writing about this video. For one, videos don't matter anymore, so this doesn't carry the weight of "Ha" or "Get Ya Hustle On" even though it desperately tries to. I felt this way after the "Put On" video emerged, which did way less than this video does with a song that's worth way more. Secondly, Jeezy's not doing anything special in a video that is pure formula (right down to the McCain/Palin masks), so it would be foolish to classify it as anything more than a bullet point as to why The Recession is great and why its existence matters.

Still, it's intense and moving to see Jeezy rapping this dark, sinister and hopeless song in the middle of a mosh pit. It's still prescient to see a song called "Crazy World" visualized like this. Even the splices of video showing falling buildings and alligators are artfully done. And for some reason, Jeezy riding around in a Go Kart seems to oddly fit in.

Put simply, Jeezy seems to be the only major rapper that cares, not even about real rap, but about the way a famous rapper should carry himself. There's no Ross-like fake kingpin shit that is appropriate in song but smothers you elsewhere. There's none of the shameless genre-hopping that's makes Jay and Wayne fans embarrassed to own their albums. He doesn't play the acoustic guitar or have a blog or a freestyle up on YouTube every two hours. He's humble, smart and judicious. He has the hood on his back but he doesn't flaunt it, and in the case of "Vacation", he gives them as much power as they give him. He puts his art out, take it or leave it.

I sense that Jeezy feels like being a rap star is his duty, both to rap and his fans. I sense that he feels like he's carrying the torch, whereas Wayne and countless others feel like they're the flame. This is why, to me, he carries himself so gracefully.

And lastly, besides the music being really great, there's a reason why The Recession is so powerful: Jeezy lets it speak for itself.

Soulja Boy + Gucci Mane

Soulja Boy + Gucci Mane - "Bands"


Soulja Boy + Gucci Mane, Yo Gotti - "Shopping Spree"


Soulja Boy + Gucci Mane, Shawty Lo (<--please ignore) - "Gucci Bandanna"

Where Soulja Boy sits commercially now is, I imagine, a mystery to everyone at his label. After coasting into 2008 on the back of one of the biggest pop singles of the decade, he's trickled out a few more singles off his album, the biggest of which, "Donk", made a small dent on rap radio in the South but that's about it. The supposed first big single off his follow-up, "iDance", was directly passed along to the morgue about two days after it showed up on YouTube. His new single, "Bird Walk" (video at the end of this post), is a Soulja Boy single to the core: clattering percussion, simple but catchy keyboard line, tons of chanting, huge chorus. If the kid is able to get something this confrontational on to pop radio then he might actually be sticking around for a while.

Over the summer he started posting mixtape tracks to his YouTube channel, some of which featured guest verses from Gucci Mane, one of the first major rappers, to my knowledge, to collab with Soulja Boy. For Soulja Boy, having a respected Southern MC on his songs both legitimizes his art in his mind and, more importantly, gives him a foil aside from the legitimately brain dead Arab. As for Gucci, the Soulja Boy tracks provide for him harder, rawer beats unlike the (really well-produced) Zone 4/Zone 4-rip off joints that highlight his last solo album Back to the Traphouse. But, unlike countless other stuff that Gucci's gone over this year, the Soulja Boy beats aren't too mixtape-y. They're noisy but not muddled, not at all hi-fi but not DatPiff quality either.

Mostly though, the songs allow Gucci, a dude who has his eyes on pop music (or at least commercially successful rap music) and a knack for hitting his mark, to enter into the world of a kid who's trying to make the hardest, most nonconforming, most singular pop-rap around. They also make sure that Soulja Boy has good rapping on his songs. It's an excellent mix.

Soulja Boy - "Bird Walk"

Fucking T.I.

It could have been better record but I think I'm done with bothering with new TI material. ti vs tip wasn't that good and this is one is worse. That garbage song with Rhianna is a shitty internet joke that just won't fucking stop. Just listen for yourself

Live Your Life

I mean really? are you fucking kidding me with this shit? Who the fucks idea was this? I never would have guessed that this fucking guy would have the same affinity for shitty songs as fucking T.I. I'm fucking done with T.I. I understand T.I. wants to have some positive/inspiring songs but that doesn't mean they have to be the shittiest fucking songs he's ever made? Fuck I thought What Ever You Like was bad but Live Your Life and Dead And Gone beat it buy a landslide.

Honestly the record isn't all this kind of bullshit, there are some alright joints like I'm Illy, Swagga like us(minus shitty ass kanye), Ready For Whatever, You Ain't Missing Nothing and Every Chance I Get. Those are ok but I'm don't want to hear ok joints. T.I. is capable of so much better than this. He needs to fire his weed carriers and yes men because it's obvious no one is telling dude he's making suspect decisions. Whatever though, that's it for me, it's not worth checking for his new shit when you get this kind of bullshit in your ears.

You're better off copping the new Z-ro anyway.

THANGS

Marshawn Lynch - AC, The Cataracs, Mista F.A.B.

Man this beat fucking knocks hard as fuck. Banging slaps with some screwed chorus is pretty much the easiest thing you can do but man it goes hard. The rapping is kind of garbage. The track is off this Slappin In The Trunk comp I got. Which is more like someone made the comp to put this dude AC on. He's alright some times but dude has lazy delivery. On shit like this you got to have some more presence. Whatever though he's alright on the track, homeboy from the Cataracs though shouldn't even be on this. I like the Cataracs but when they do their shit. They never come through on bangers like this. Same shit, no presence and bring down the energy of the track. His delivery is too slow for the most part and toned down too much. I want to hear some MOP inspired shit over this beat. If I didn't like the beat so much I wouldn't even fuck with it. Whatever, just peep the mp3.

Money Line - Trillville

Been a minute since I've heard anything from the trillville camp. I didn't even know this shit was out until I came across it the other day on the random. The album though is kind of doing it for me. It's not as crunk as their older shit and has a few weak joints but overall it's got some cool shit going. This money line is cool, got that slumping bass. The homer simpson and capital one lines make me laugh ever time I hear that shit.

Dare You To Do It - Trillville

The title sums it up, you know what you're getting with this shit. Bunch of gunplay threats to nameless haters. It's fun for the kids. I like to listen this while I sit on my couch watching football and nursing a hangover.

UH

i'm only transcribing the first verse, surprise yrself on the rest

I'm the mothafuckin beast and i know it so ask yourself
if you dont really want this beef go home and blast yaself
i'm somethin like the passenger, 57 heinz when i close my eyes and squeeze
there's 57 9's thats the ketchup that ya bleed
i'ma make the block bleed man i make it look so easy
trigger finger fuckin 9 i'ma go and get a chopper
operatin' like a doctor flash flood, metal raindrops,
predict it like a doppler, i'm yo weather man
i'm blowin money like a ceilin fan was tied to my bank account
we get money man in large amounts
i kill em with the hustle
i kill em with the flow
the streets are tellin me to go and kill em with it now

My Theme For The Weekend

Bow His Ass Up

just click that shit, turn you speakers the fuck up and crack a beer open. repeat as needed

my neighbors fucking hate me right now