RSSConsumer Guide by Review Date: 2013-01-25
2013-01-25
Big Boi: Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors (Def Jam, 2012) Claims hip-hop, represents r&b, ends up neither here nor there ("Apple of My Eye," "She Hates Me") ★
Death Grips: Exmilitary (Third Worlds download, 2011) Death-metal hip-hop for El-P fans who secretly wish the Insane Clown Posse wasn't so dumb ("Blood Creepin," "Klink") ★★★
E-40: Revenue Retrievin': Graveyard Shift (Heavy on the Grind/EMI, 2011) Everybody should get to know one of the dozens of genially thuggish albums by the hyphy king, and this is the one I landed on ("My Lil Grimey N*gga," "Spooky," "Trapped") ★★
Lupe Fiasco: Food and Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 (Atlantic, 2012) Veteran wannabe avers amid thousands of words that if he were a Buddhist he'd be reborn as himself ("Bitch Bad," "Hood Now [Outro]") ★★
Lushlife: Plateau Vision (Western Vinyl, 2012) Orchestrally textured, beat-driven alt-rap enlists vocoder and Satie-Shad-Kool Moe Dee collab ("Magnolia," "Gymnopedie 1.2") ★★★
Roc Marciano: Reloaded (Decon, 2012) Anybody who says a clitoris tastes like porridge would obviously rather keep his mouth where his rhymes are ("Deeper," "Tek to a Mack") ★
Meek Mill: Dreams and Nightmares (Maybach Music/Warner Bros., 2012) To utilize Saigon's formula, the dreams are rap and the nightmares are reality ("Traumatized," "Who You Around") ★
Beanie Sigel: This Time (State Property/Ruffhouse, 2012) Quite possibly the most assiduous Jay-Z impressions you'll ever hear ("No Hook," "The Reunion") ★