The Original Dom Kennedy (MIXTAPE Review & Download)

01 INTRO

02 PLAYAS PUNCH

03 GOODBYE

04 THE HOMIES

05 TURN ME OUT

06 BET YOU WANT ME (NOW)

07 DESIGNER SH_T

08 CAN'T LET GO

09 CDC feat. Casey Veggies & cARTer

10 N_GGA 4 LIFE

11 ON THE WAY HOME

12 [BONUS] WHEN YOU SEE LOVE

Intro - The intro is a just some talking. A story.

Playas Punch - This is the definition of west coast production. Smooth with a funky bassline and some smooth synths. This was a short track. Just a verse but it was pretty dope.

Goodbye - On here he's spitting some real shit. Talking about the grind and how you have to start from nothing to get to where you want to be. I don't really care for the hook but it's not bad. Overall a solid song.

The Homies - The production on here is definitely west coast. I like the shot at Funk Flex because him taking a shot at Pac after his death was a bitch move. He's talking about his homies. This is a cool track but would be better with a real hook.

Turn Me Out - This is a cut for the females. It has a cool vibe and I like the beat. I like the verses but, again, I don't really care for the hook. By the end of the song the hook grew on me. Dope track.

Bet You Want Me (Now) - This reminds me of some Drake shit for some reason (not a bad thing). It's the beat and tempo of the flow. I really like this one. This is dope as hell. My favorite track so far.

Designer Shit - This beat is too dope. I like this a lot too. This just took over as my favorite track. I don't even have much to say. It's just a dope ass song.

Can't Let Go - OK Dom. No singing for you. This is wack. You sound like Diddy, bro.

CDC feat. Casey Veggies & cARTer - I think this is supposed to be some "A Milli" shit. It's cool. This guy Casey Veggies sucks. cARTer sucks too. I don't even know which is which but everybody except Dom was pretty wack on this one.

Nigga 4 Life - This is dope. He's spitting some real shit on here. Pac talking on the hook. I like this track too. Kind of inspirational.

On The Way Home - This sounds like Kid Cudi if it was his first time behind the mic. I'm not feeling this at all. He's rapping too old school or something. I don't know what the hell this is supposed to be.

When You See Love - This is cool. Smooth track. I like it. The hook is dope.

Conclusion

Dom is nice on the mic and he proves that on this tape. It's not Lupe level lyricism but it's good. He's just spitting everyday shit that people can feel. My main gripe is the lack of hooks but I can't be too mad because he mentioned it himself in one of the verses, stating that his focus was on "rhymes". It's definitely a nice project. It doesn't seem incomplete or anything. I just hope he has a full fledged album in the works because I want to hear him on some different shit. You can tell he didn't really have a particular aim for this tape as the subject matter stays the same on most tracks but it is good for what it is. Worth a spin so check it out at www.DopeItsDom.com

Drake: So Far On

Fast forward past the beginning and we have Drake arriving on the scene in 2009 with a hit single (Double Platinum) in "Best I Ever Had" which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Top 100. The song, which was originally featured on a free mixtape, became so popular that they decided to release the original songs from the mixtape as an EP. The So Far Gone EP went on to achieve Gold status with the RIAA, bringing in over 500,000 sales.

From there Drake began to pop up on hooks for everyone from Birdman to Jay-Z. He quickly made it known that he a commodity when it came to song writing. Along with Alicia Keys and his producer Noah "40" Shebib, Drake wrote what would become one of his biggest songs to date. Un-thinkable was a hit and stayed at #1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hop chart for 12 consecutive weeks. The song helped push Alicia's  The Element Of Freedom to Platinum status.

In March of 2010 Drake released the first single from his debut album. The song "Over" peaked at 14 on the Hot 100. It was a cool song but got old pretty fast. I haven't listened to it since April. The 2nd single was the Kanye West produced "Find Your Love". I never really felt the song. It sounded like a throwaway track from 808s & Heartbreak. It received higher recognition than "Over" and the Billboard charts prove it. It was actually his biggest song since "Best I Ever Had". The album Thank Me Later released on June 15th, 2010 and didn't take long to achieve Platinum status. They went on to release two more singles from the album with "Miss Me" and "Fancy".

A lot of people seem to hate Drake and his music. Some of them are early fans who say he sold out. Others say he isn't good enough as a rapper. I have seen countless people compare him to J. Cole which baffles me. Their music isn't close to being similar. J. Cole's singing isn't comparable to Drake's singing. I have never heard him sing a full song. J. Cole may have a little more depth with his lyrics and subject matter but his music is boring. Drake is entertaining and that's exactly what music is supposed to be. Drake isn't the greatest rapper but he touches on topics most people can relate to and he understands what a song is.

People say he's going to have a short career but I'm going to have to disagree with that. He understands music. He understands how to structure songs and how to convey emotion. The only thing he doesn't understand is that you can't use the same flow on every song. He also needs to understand that he looks silly doing those little dances and hand waves. All in all I hope Drake is around for awhile. He does him and he doesn't rap about selling drugs, which is always a plus. He just has to continue to grow as an artist and he'll be alright.

On a completely unrelated note. I need to hear a collaboration between these two. IT MUST HAPPEN!

Jay Electronica: The Part-Time Rap Star

Like any other rapper some people were already on to Jay Electronica's music before he dropped Exhibit C in 2009. Although he was known by a nice amount of people Exhibit C is the record that blew his name up to the "masses". I put masses in quotation marks because no one outside those of us who spend countless hours on the internet every week knows who he is. He is the newest act on Roc Nation and he even has a Mountain Dew commercial. He seems to have a lot going for himself right now except music.

This character who once fronted on his own city and upbringing to be accepted in northern cities delivers 3 songs a year, MAXIMUM and they aren't even really songs because they rarely have hooks. Yes, he can rap but his raps are just backpack with a twist of religion. He's the one man version of Jedi Mind Tricks except he doesn't yell like Vinnie Paz LOL. I'm 100% sure if Just Blaze never gave him a beat no one else would have given a fuck. He's just another rapper that was hyped up by the internet. He has a, seemingly, terrible work ethic and has not released a full project (not even a mixtape) since he has started gaining notoriety.

It looks like Roc Nation is the new label for rappers who have no mainstream appeal. Jay Electronica raps for hood niggas who read a book or two on philosophy and think they're scholars. The lost Wu-Tang member if you will. What do you think?

Wale: The VERY Mad Rapper

Hear Wale's exchange with the radio station.

 We all know artists can get rather emotional at times and Wale is well known for it but I think it's warranted this time around. Kid CuDi basically opened the "Wale Slander Floodgates" when he said "We don't fuck with you musically." It seems like since then his name has been getting dragged through the mud. Onto the topic at hand.

Apparently there's been some ongoing stuff between Wale, radio station 92Q, and some local Baltimore rapper named Bossman. Wale called the station sounding VERY pissed off about the whole situation. It seems that the radio station has been playing ever diss song that Bossman made towards Wale. He says they're playing him, which I agree with. Radio people are good talkers, though, and they do a decent of convincing Wale that they aren't to blame. He goes from saying "y'all" (92Q and Bossman) to "he" (Bossman). I know Wale knows he's still right about the radio station but it's politics. Anyway I agree with him 100%. He probably could have handled it a little better but this is what happens when your name is being slandered 24/7 for no reason. I see people shitting on Wale all the time from Twitter to TV so I know the slander is real.

Im happy that he finally stood up for himself. It might have been on some kind of childish shit but I think he got his point across.

The Aftermath Umbrella and How They Ruined Hip-Hop.

Aftermath Entertainment was started in 1996 by Dr. Dre. He claims that it was started with a quality over quantity standard but I don't buy it. His first release was The Firm album in 1997. It sold enough units to go gold but it was never highly acclaimed by critics. The group disbanded shortly after. In 1998 Dr. Dre sold his soul to the devil in exchange for Eminem (I mean he had to do something, right?). This is where it all starts. Eminem brought in all of these kids who had never liked Hip-Hop before. He had a crazy impact. I won't front like I didn't buy his first two albums but i quickly outgrew his subject matter. Now, 12 years after his debut you have these same kids who didn't listen to Hip-Hop until Eminem giving their opinions on any and everything Hip-Hop like they deserve that respect. Eminem's music, outside of an album's worth of songs, is worthless. He's a really talented rapper who makes really stupid music. I don't see how these kids get all excited hearing him try to rap faster than the speed of light about how good of a rapper he is. If that's all they did it wouldn't be a problem but they claim Em is the GOAT and, since he's white, if you disagree they will call you a racist. It is amusing but at the same time very annoying and childish. 

In 2002 Eminem signed one of the most negative influences we have ever seen in the world of Hip-Hop. 50 Cent came on the scene with an even bigger buzz than Eminem (which is fucking absurd). Due to his 9 gunshot wounds and street background he became a huge hit with suburban america. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. His debut album Get Rich Or Die Tryin' went 6 times platinum and he became a global icon basically overnight. 50 may be best known for his "beefs" with other artists (which were really just marketing ploys to sell his albums) which his career seemed to live (Ja Rule and others) and die (Rick Ross) by. In these "beefs" all 50 did was talk about how none of his adversaries sell records. In turn leading his simple minded fans to believe that selling records has anything to do with being talented or making good music. That mentality has stuck with Hip-Hop for awhile now. It basically voided lyrical ability in a battle. How is that good for Hip-Hop? Now there are millions of people out there who believe that if you don't sell records your music isn't good and if you do sell records you're great. That is retarded. 50 Cent's buzz has died off but he still doesn't want to let go. Now he's running back and doing songs with the artists he "beefed" with which is pathetic and shows that he never really had a real beef with anyone. It was all marketing.

This is the same guy who made "High All The Time" but claims not to drink or smoke. Hip-Hop has always been about authenticity and while I believe that you can stretch the truth a little every now and then lying about getting high is just corny. He said he would retire if Kanye West outsold his Curtis album with Graduation. Kanye did outsell him and the AntiRap is still around making music. What a fraud.

In 2005 he did the unspeakable. He added newly signed rapper The Game to his G-Unit line up. The Game is one of the most AVERAGE rappers ever. Fans of Aftermath artists seem like EVERY artist on the weak ass label because they all have that similar formula to their music. Dr Dre's beats have sounded exactly the same since around 2003. There is no evolution in the Aftermath umbrella. There is no honor. There is no love for music. Their whole existence is based on greed and the bastardization of the music we know and love.

Remember Detox? Yea, THAT Detox. Dre finally dropped a single for it. Guess what? Nobody cares! I think the run of their formula has run out or people finally wised up. Either way their buzz is dying (except Eminem's but we know why that it) and I can't wait until is completely gone and they are no longer around tainting the music that I USED to love so much.

There is a reason some of the most respected artists that have been signed to Aftermath left the label. They probably didn't want to sell the fuck out like some lames. Art is only art until you stop caring about it. Since 2003 the Aftermath umbrella has been manufacturing music for mass distribution. It is basically brainwashing music for idiotic people. The good news in all this is that it seems Hip-Hop fans are slowly but surely going back to listening to music because it's actually good. Thank God.