Month: November 2008

Have you ever heard about a hip hop group called Dirty Water? If not, I’ll offer you a little bit more insight into Joe D and Cool Cee Brown’s duo. The originality of the Washington Dc group probably lies in its astute instrumental choices ( an intelligent mixture of semi loud keyboard sounds and soft vocals). In addition, the clever artists allow the listeners to plunge into the darkness of the ghetto slums. Grimy and rough voices -that can also play it soft when needed- will open up the curtains.
The beauty of Love Style is indeed the combination of all elements mentioned aboved. Keyboards and female vocals will start your walk into Dirty Water’s universe. As you’ll progress in your discovery, the sounds get darker, the voice angrier as syllables decapitate any ghetto wannabe. I enjoyed the song to the fullest. Softness isn’t excluded from the song either. You are gonna like it- for sure!
Call Me starts on a soulful melody based on a short piano-keyboard background, while a male voice breaks out of the delicate atmosphere. Like a susurrous rustle, a boyfriend pours his heart out to his girlfriend. Nice love song.
TDK totally enlightens Dirty Water’s unbeatable’s flow. Let’s get intellectual, political and murder syllables. The artists excel at both. I loved the trumpet background.
Eat My Breakfast Alone: the instrumentals will remind you of some Barry White background. Sadness, bitterness emerge from the song that exposes a load of reproaches aimed a girl who seems to be some kind of gold digga.
A dynamic tempo made of electric guitar sounds introduces Make Me Feel Good. Again, Dirty Water excel at jungling with syllables. This song will rock you.
Discover Dirty Water here.
Copyright by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Global rating of the product: 5 stars
Nasir Jones deliberately chose not to give his CD a precise title. When he first announced his intentions to call it ” Nigger”, the outstanding rap artist was very much conscious of the controversy it would raise all around the world. However- not the N word is the real problem- it is rather the attitude some racists and conceited people still carry towards black people and other ethnic minorities. Prejudice and discrimination are part of black people’s allday life. Sometimes peace can only be gained if you go to war. God’s Son is determined to raise his powerful voice as a prayer and a contribution for a massive change in the United States. Come into his world and understand black people’s fight over the centuries. Let his word penetrate into your mind. Not every truth is easy to swallow. But it has to be said and heard-no matter what. So listen to the rap genius’ words carefully.
One could barely ignore black people’s plight over the centuries, even though some comfortable wealthy Whites would like to do so. Those are the same people who built their wealth on the shameless exploitation of black folks, To them, recalling the scars of slavery and discrimination of any kind will make them feel uncomfortable. Stop with the hypocrisy here: the prophet has spoken and here are his words.
Like an outburst of heavy rain, lyrical and instrumental creativity will pour down the listeners’ ears. Queens Get The Money opens up its curtains on daily ghetto drama that are linked with politics. Slight piano notes will accentuate the overall bad impression. Nas hasn’t lost an ounce of his rhyming fluency despite harsh criticism from his fellow emcees. You are going to love the way he composes his words in which he recalls the Twin Towers collapse. Built on a soulful, yet very dynamic tempo, You Can’t Stop Us enlightens Nas’ sharp lyrical bullets. Loud trumpets introduce Nas’ history lesson. The emcee points an accusatory finger against the white world. The soft chorus contrasts with Nas’ strong words. The atrocity of racial hate crimes is exposed. Never defeated, always consistent in his speech, Nas makes the sword of veracity shine. You can’t stop his folks from moving. Breathe’s jazzy accents will discuss discrimination from the police. Even if some selfish people won’t take it into account, this is actually the way it is.
Make The World Go Round features Chris Brown and The Game. Its syncoped sounds mixed up with female vocals, rhythmic instrumentals unleash incisive, powerful words.
Hero will surprise you with the astute drumbeats/ keyboards combination. An army is marching on, supporting its hero. Get caught into Nas’ verbal typhoon that will erase everything on its route. I was amazed with Nas’ instrumental inventivity and raw verbal energy.
America: with his authentic, grimy and well placed words, the rapping genius raises his voice against America’s fabricated heroes and fake gangstas. Nas will take you back to the slums and make you contemplate the place where he came from. Enjoy his scribble jam and pay attention to his words. Real street talk, from a real emcee. Sly Fox has been written against a corporate American media system that monopolizes all news. Don’t be a sheep and don’t let the system manipulate you. Open your earsand eyes. Don’t believe everything you hear, read and see on the media. Electric guitar accentuates the sensation of discomfortthat is suggested by the song’s melody. Nas also courageously raises his voice to denounce the scandalous exploitation of hip hop culture. It needed to be said. Again, the lyricist’s brilliance needs to be underlined.
NI**ER Heartbeats begin the song that reflects peace after the ouragan. Understand the emcee’s rants.
Untitled: symphonic sounds start the song. Listen to Nas’ variations on the N word. Let him recall black history, express his mistrust about black leaders. Violins, drums and keyboard guide you into a soft musical universe that totally contrasts with Nas’ surgical syllables. In his way of operating, Nas reveals the whole truth about black folks’ lives over the centuries.
Fried Chicken featuring Busta Rhymes is not my cup of tea, though.
Black President, that is built on a Tupac sample, raises some interrogations about Obama’s place in the Presidential race. Is the world ready to welcome him? If so, will he respond to its expectations?
At the time Nas wrote this song, he didn’t know if Obama did actually stand a chance to get elected. The impossible became possible on November the 4th, 2008. Hopefully, America’s first black President won’t disappoint his folks
Since the days of Illmatic, Nas never lost his integrity. Please note that the CD ends up on a very positive note of hope for humanity.
Untitled is a masterpiece, as far as I am concerned.
Copyright by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

I know you’ve all been waiting for this! At least most of you…well, despite a mad busy schedule, I managed to buy Nas’ brand new CD…I’ll write the review as soon as I can…so stay tuned, folks:)

When most people hear about the D, they immediately refer to Eminem. No wonder: Eminem is probably the most popular emcee on the planet and he’s from Detroit. However- to the real conoisseur- Eminem is only the visible part of the bubbly, murderous, grimy, Detroit scene iceberg. D12’s deepest, more consistent work has to be sought in their solo and underground work as well.
I’ve been a fan of Eminem’s music first-before I started focusing on local Detroit artists around 2003. The Detroit hip hop scene is composed of a panel of various artists with different styles. But all of then do have ( let alone the few untalented clowns from the suburbs pretending to rap): they do carry the city’s dirty, rough, grimy imprint. The 313 is the heart of Detroit’s hip hop music. A lot of artists have contributed to the scene. Some of them, like Esham ( the godfather of acid rap) , Slum Village, 5 ELA, Trick Trick and Da Goon Sqwad, D12’s Proof ( just to name a few) have pioneered it.
Most Detroit artists take much pride in the way they word lyrics and the city is well known for its battle scene that came to life thanks to hip hop dedicated people like Maurice Malone. Much underrated, but nevertheless incredibly talented Royce da 5.9 and Obie Trice are among Detroits’ most creative lyricists.
Are you curious to know more Detroit artists? I’d strongly advice you to check the local mixtapes and CDs, then. There are a lot of hidden jewels like I-Mac’s Ruthless Aggression mixtape, Uncle ILL’s Ya All Know CD, Hush’s Roses and Razorblades CD, Proof’s From Death in collaboration with Da Goon Sqwad…in addition, you can also check my archive regarding the Detroit scene at the Eminem blog:)
A lot of talented Detroit artists have collaborated with Proof-yet their names barely emerge in magazines and newspapers, despite their obvious talent.
Journalist 103 is one of them. He appears in Proof’s “Broken” song and he’s a remarkable emcee. I had the chance to review him several times. Another brilliant emcee too many people forget to put in the spotlight is Dogmatic- Kevin Bailey aka Dogmatic carries the true spirit of the Detroit ghetto. You could barely talk about Detroit hip hop without putting his name on your tongue- which will make his Sicknotes label come to surface too. Sicknotes is an example of Detroits’ amazing creativity. Malaki The Most Hi has some good Proof collaborations at his active plus some inventive tracks of his own. His mouth truly spits fire. How come only a few people name the Sleeper Cell artist when they mention the Detroit scene?
Let’s talk about Swifty Mc Vay: ever checked his Grenade Pins and Forest Fyres mixtapes? Have you checked his collaborations with Raw Collection in which his sister (Reddbone) is an active part of the team? Have you ever heard about Miz Korona, the Laila Ali of rap?
You probably think you know Bizarre? Have a look at his amazing collaborations with Detroit’s most outstanding DJ Odell Perry aka DJ P Dog.
What is so cool about Detroit hip hop is that it is tailored to many tastes. Whether you like the warmth of Latino accents brought to you by DJ Rick and Dirty Politics or the sharp, rough Streetlordz sounds, for instance. The Detroit scene is indeed multi cultural. Emcees come from different backgrounds and each of them brings a different sounds and styles in the hip hop community.
Pure rap geniuses like Mc Lazarus ( whose parents emigrated from Pakistan to Detroit) will impress many listeners with his verbal mastery. Merciless Amir’s rhymes are intentionally enhanced with a subtle oriental touch, in which Detroit meets Lebanon.
Sound the alarm, like Guilty Simpson and Black Milk said it in 2006: Detroit hip hop has some amazing talent. Many of them deserve to have their names written in capital letters.
Not those who are running their big mouths on public places or on the internet. Not the biggest Cd peddlers either. Only the hard working, the heartfelt, hip hop dedicated emcees really deserve it.
But to get more recognition from the world, Detroit artists will need to consolide their unity: this is and will remain my point of view. Deshaun Holton aka Big Proof carried a dream: he aimed at reuniting the most Detroit artists possible in their differences and make them work together.
Detroit, you can make it happen!
Copyright by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

Dymez is not your average underground emcee: he is very passionate about composing his music. When you will enter his hip hop universe you will enter a new, refeshing oasis in which only good music matters. His rhythmic, innovative use of his instrumentals combined with a good dose of ghetto rage and hip hop dedication will allow you to share his enthusiasm for the music.
Hip Hop: in his song, the Philly artist will convince you that the art of hip hop is pretty much alive. Softness, rhythm, a rough spirit matched up all together make Dymez’ originality. Hip hop is something he lives out day after day. Be sure of it. He’ll manage to transport you into his musical universe.
Make It Work: the girly song is not really my cup of tea, though.
Raised In Da Ghetto: move along to the swinging song. You are going to like Dymez’ ghetto anthem. Drums and vocals enhance the euphoric spirit of the song, that reaches its culmination while combining soulful female vocals to the chorus.
I’m also very enthusiastic about the very well handled drum beat in Yung Stunna. Dymez’ flow delivery takes you by storms while he drops his sharps words. Well done:)
Goon 2 A Goblin carries that rough, ghetto spirit. Catch the scary atmosphere, get surrounded by the repetitive vocals that create an unsafe, creepy atmosphere, while screaming violins will cut into the darker keyboard sounds.
Discover an outstanding hip hop artist who masters his art here.
Copyright by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved