Only Adding To Our Legend

I Miss You

I have trouble accepting the fact that you're gone, so I won't. - DMX

Those were the words DMX spoke ten years ago in the music video for "Miss You". In what started out as song recalling a past boyfriend who has gone off to college sadly turned into a tribute song when on August 25th, 2001 Aaliyah along with eight others were killed in a plane crash. She had just wrapped up filming the music video for "Rock the Boat" in the Bahamas and was returning home when the plane she was in went down shortly after takeoff. She was 22 years old.

Aaliyah first burst onto the scene at age 14 when she released her debut album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number under the wing of R. Kelly. While R. Kelly seemed to play the mentor role in tailoring her sound, it would later be discovered that the two were much more than that. In what would be the beginning of a long history of underage affairs Kelly, then 27, married the 15 year old Aaliyah after secretly eloping in Illinois. Despite the controversy, songs like "At Your Best" put Aaliyah in the R&B spotlight. A sultry voice mixed with her cool vibe made Aaliyah's music both radio friendly and Afrocentric. She had a uniqueness about her that separated her from other singers.

After her relationship with R. Kelly ended Aaliyah began working with one of the hottest new producers in Timbaland. The album they would create, One in a Million, would become on the of the greatest albums of the 1990s and turned her into a superstar. The chemistry that she and Timbaland had was second only to the likes of Michael and Quincy. Along with others in the Timbaland camp (including Missy Elliot, Ginuwine, and Playa) Aaliyah kept making hit after hit. In this time she also made her film debut starring in Romeo Must Die alongside Jet Li and DMX. Aaliyah was praised for her natural acting ability and her quick transition from the music studio to the big screen. In the summer of 2001 she released her self-titled third album, continuing her trend of critically acclaimed albums. Aaliyah would be the last album she would record.

I still remember hearing the news of Aaliyah's passing on MTV. It came as such a shock that someone so young and so talented could go out like that. I remember Detroit's primary urban radio station WJLB playing her songs all day as it really clicked that she was gone. Seeing numerous stars break down on t.v. as they reminisced on their past memories. The one that sticks the most with me still is listening to DMX start crying as he reads a poem that he wrote for Aaliyah. At her funeral her casket was carried in a white carriage drawn by horse, and twenty two doves were released for every year of her life. The investigation of the plane crash revealed that in a rush to get back to the United States the plane was over packed with cargo and the excess weight was a factor in the crash. A further investigation showed that pilot Luis Morales was not approved to fly that plane, and his autopsy revealed levels of cocaine and alcohol in his bloodstream prior to takeoff. A wrongful death lawsuit was later filed.

In the ten years since her passing a lot has changed. Beyonce has taken off as the unofficial queen of R&B (a crown many say Aaliyah would be holding right now), Timbaland has gone the pop route in recent years, Missy and Ginuwine have be M.I.A. as of late, and R&B as a whole hasn't been as good. One thing that hasn't changed since that August in 2001 is that we haven't forgot about Aaliyah. She had swag before it was cool. She was sexy and classy at the same time. She could dress to kill one moment, then the next she could kick it with the boys in a Tommy Hilfiger fit. She stayed true to herself and made music that people really enjoyed. She's been imitated by many over the years, and her style is still trying to be duplicated. As they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery.

It's still hard to wrap my mind around a decade of her absence, but time waits for no one. We miss you babygirl, and you truly were one in a million.

In The Tapedeck: The Weeknd - Thursday

The weekend on a Thursday?

After months of waiting The Weeknd finally releases his follow up to House of Balloons with Thursday. Dropping last night with only an hour to spare before it was technically Friday, The Weeknd gave fans the next fix to overdose to. The release was so anticipated that the moment he put the download link up on his site, it crashed for more than an hour.

Now how do you follow up a perfect album? The answer is you can't. House of Balloons was a phenomenon that will be damn near impossible to repeat, but The Weeknd comes close to duplicating his debut album. Thursday in one word is amazing. While it is more up-tempo songs than HOB, it still flows perfectly and can be played from track 1 to 9 with cohesiveness. The opening song, "Lonely Star" sets the tone, and insures listeners that The Weeknd is not a fluke and that he is something special. It's hard to pinpoint highlights on the album because all the songs are high quality and refreshing. Drake makes a surprise appearance on "The Zone" showcasing the chemistry that the OVOXO duo have. As I sat and listened to the whole album last night it was like having déjà vu as I kept thinking to myself that this is quality music that can't be slept on.

So please stop whatever you're doing and download Thursday and House of Balloons if you haven't already and you can just thank me later. The Weeknd is so talented and unique that you will have no choice but to xo 'til you overdose.

Both Thursday and House of Balloons are available for download at the-weeknd.com.

Wasn't I A Good King?

Charge it to the game whatever's left on it. - Jay-Z

As the clock struck 12:00 a.m. Watch the Throne was released to the world. Finally, a joint project from hip hop's top performers was no longer just an unrealistic fantasy, but it was a reality. In the works since late 2010, the album had been kept mostly under wraps and had miraculously not been leaked (the rumor is that the flashdrive containing the files was tied to Kanye's waist at all times). In what was the most anticipated release of the year, the minutes leading up to the midnight iTunes release were comparable to none. Twitter was abuzz as #WTT became the number one trending topic worldwide. Online hip hop forums were filled with threads about the album (at the time I am writing this the WTT thread on Allhiphop.com has 139,893 views). This was perhaps one of the few recent releases that fans were genuinely excited for. But as fans were prepping for WTT critics were doing the same, and the inevitable question arose. Can Watch the Throne live up to the hype? It was up to the hip hop world to answer.

I'll be the first one to admit, I was skeptical about the album. I even tweeted this about an hour before it dropped. First off, I personally believe this album should have been made about three to four years ago. No matter how much we try to deny it, Jay-Z at 42 years old is just not in his prime anymore. Second, I felt like that have been in Hov's and Kanye's circle should have been included on the project; such as J. Cole, Jay Electronica, and especially producer Just Blaze. Finally, there was no way that Watch the Throne could ever live up to the expectations people placed upon it. Ever since "H.A.M." dropped earlier this year, fans had been waiting eagerly for Superman and Batman to finally create a whole album. Through the years we had been given snippets of the chemistry these two had in songs such as "Never Let Me Down" and "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" , but fans and critics alike wanted to know if these two musical giants could collaborate and make an entire album's worth of quality music.

As Watch the Throne was released, it received generally mixed reviews after it's first listen. Many praised the album for it's experimental production mostly handed by 'Ye himself. Others cited both of the emcee's lyricism as the focal point; "Coke on black skin made a strip like a zebra, I call that jungle fever" as Kanye recites in "No Church in the Wild" . Critics of the album panned Hov and 'Ye for using the same old tired themes of wealth and power in the songs. Many critiqued the album simply because it did not live up to the hype surrounding it. Whether the album was loved or hated, one thing that remained true is that the cd was being played; and was being played a lot.

The one theme of Watch the Throne that remains consistent is the idea of symbolism. Everything from the title, to the gold plated album cover, to the Illuminati images and references, and even to the way that Jay-Z and Kanye present themselves. This album is about power, and how rap music has transformed two black men from rough inner cities into two of the richest and most influential people in America. As the titled indicates, Watch the Throne is about letting the world know that Kanye West and Shawn Carter are two of the most talented icons of our time, and that they are sitting on top of the popular culture kingdom with no plans on giving it up. But perhaps on a more personal level the title holds a secret meaning. Perhaps it is more than just watching the throne, but it is watching the hip hop torch being passed from Jay-Z to Kanye West. In the last decade we have been able to witness something special in the way Kanye West has developed from just another rapper to a modern day musical genius. Jay-Z has recognized this, and now it is time for the world to also give Kanye the credit he has earned throughout the years. In the end it isn't so much of us watching the throne. We are watching Kanye West, and we are witnessing something great.

I Miss You

In The Tapedeck: The Weeknd - Thursday

Wasn't I A Good King?

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