No More Album Reviews

I've been kinda slacking on the album reviews lately. It took a few emails from dedicated readers to remind me that some people like to get an outside opinion on an album before purchase.

With that said, I will no longer be posting album reviews. I'll still do posts on music but I'm done reviewing whole albums. There's two reasons why I came to this decision. First, I haven't heard an album in a while that I can listen to from start to finish. There's always a few filler tracks that are sub-par and I'm not into giving bad press. As a MC I get enough criticism from half-wit critics who have never written a song in their life. That I rather not critique other artists on a social platform. I want people to listen to the music with no preconceptions and give their own critique.

Second, This blog was created to share my interests in a broad spectrum of fields.There are so many interesting topics to cover in the fields of technology, science, and art. That spending time reviewing another persons material (for free) is a waste of blog space. With that said I leave you with new tunes from my fam in France, DJ Modesty. Also Hynief, Saigon, Gensu Dean, Ruste Juxx, and Tyger Vinum. 

Tyger Vinum live

I've been doing allot of shows lately in between working on new music. My most recent show was at the Little Stage in Berlin on September 3rd. The venue was nice, the vibe was cool, and the people know how to party. 

Before that I did a show  at the CC Muziek Cafe in Amsterdam on August 16th. That was a different vibe all together. The venue was more of a lounge performer set-up. There were instruments of all types on the stage for singer/songwriters to display their talent. The audience was a mix of middle aged to young Dutch and international people who weren't ready for me to unleash the beast.

Tyger Vinum live was a one hour set with my homie DJ Illskillz playing mostly new material and a few older joints. The crowd didn't know how to react at first but after the two songs they were hungry for more. Below I posted clips from the CC Muziek Cafe show for those who want to see how I get busy. I didn't have a camera for my last show in Berlin but I'll be back doing a show at the Acud Session Cafe on November 18th so I'll have some footage from that performance to post.

Album Reviews

Since there's allot of new albums being released and I'm an opinionated bastard I thought it only fitting I did an album review post. If you're familiar with my previous posts you know how I grade music. If you're unfamiliar here's the scoop. I rate in a five star system 5 being the highest 1 the lowest.  

The elements of a good album are production, dope rhymes, delivery, and overall message. That's four points and the last is a combination of the minor details. For example, If the album has to many interludes, to many features and not enough solo tracks, or if the artists image and music aren't congruent then the album loses value. With that said lets get it in. 

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy **** (4.5)

Say what you want about Kanye and his ridiculously tight jeans, but that is one talented dude. His 5th album shows artistic range mixing elements of Hip-Hop, funk, soul, and jazz with industry heavyweights like Jay-Z, RZA, Rick Ross, Pusha -T, and many others. I've been listening to Kanye's albums since the "College Dropout" and I gotta say this is one of his best.  

Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday *** (3.5)

There's been allot of hype over Nicki Minaj and anticipation for this album release. After a thorough listen I feel some of the tracks like Roman's Revenge" ft. Eminem and "Massive Attack." While others are heavily dance music influenced with allot of synthesizer,  auto-tune and not my taste. 

For a first album this is definitely a worthy offering and if you're a Nicky fan support your artist and buy a copy. While you're at it go buy a copy of Home Street Home by Misstrezz. She's coming from Europe but I would put her in the ring with any MC.

Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon vol:2 Mr. Rager ** (2)

The first song I heard from  Kid Cudi was his single smash "Day 'n' Nite" which reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. Since then he has moved away from his Hip-Hop roots to the hard rock genre. The majority of the album is rock and dance influenced, which is nothing like the first Man on the Moon. 

I can't say if the album is good or bad cuz this is just MY opinion. What I can say is Kid Cudi doesn't display enough of his rhyme skills on this album. If you're looking for Hip-Hop this isn't it, if you want to hear Kid Cudi as a rocker go buy a copy.