Only Adding To Our Legend

Say What's Real

I can't rap about being broke and selling drugs no more, 'cause I'm not broke and I'm not selling drugs no more - The Notorious B.I.G.

Just recently rapper Rick Ross was named the hottest MC in the game according to MTV, with little dispute from the masses. In the past two years Ross has not only risen to the top of the rap game with singles such as "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)" and "MC Hammer", but has also made one of the strongest label stables with his Maybach Music Group with fellow rappers Wale, Meek Mill, ~~Pill~~, and Stalley. As there's nothing wrong with Rozay being the hottest rapper out, the deeper issue lies in what he represents. Ross, who claims to have been a central figure in the Miami drug game, has always stood his ground in his authenticity. Even after pictures surfaced of him as a correctional officer in 2008, he continued to make music depicting his drug dealer past, in which fans still supported him. So the question that still remains is if being real is really necessary or even believable in rap music today?

Hip hop has always defined itself with trends; rather it be gangsta rap, conscious hip hop, or trap music. Recently a new wave of rap stars have brought a more positive vibe into music, straying away from gangsta personas their predecessors developed. Some of the leaders of this new movement have never led street lives, and don't pretend to either. Big Sean kept a 3.7 GPA before graduating from Detroit's Cass Tech High School. J. Cole (who was excluded from the hottest MC list) received his bachelor's degree from St. John's University. Wale (who had been called the white/black rapper before signing to Rick Ross' MMG label) boasts that "I never spent a minute up in the streets" from the title track from his 2011 release Ambition. YMCMB rapper Drake recently said in a Complex interview that you have a better chance finding girls than thugs at his concerts. Drake, who has been known to be brutally honest in his music, received major backlash for claiming that he may catch a body one day in his single "Headlines". Even one of the most respected artists of the decade Kanye West stated in his first album that his style is more spoken word, rather than coke and birds. With that being said, all of these rappers were ranked lower than Rick Ross.

When it comes down to it, when keeping it real two things must be done. Either you have to fake it until you're exposed, or you have to keep it real when real life happens. In 2007 when indictments were made against the Black Mafia Family drug ring kingpins Big Meech and Southwest T pled guilty and were sentenced to more than 30 years. Rapper Bleu DaVinci chose to remain loyal and go down with the BMF ship and received 5 years. Young Jeezy, who affiliated himself with Big Meech and BMF, distanced himself from the gang during the indictments. This led to Bleu DaVinci questoining his realness in a recent interview. Now who knows if Jeezy really did the things he says he did in his lyrics, but everyone saw how he turned the real switch off when the heat was turned up. It seems like a lot of rappers turn the real switch on in the studio, then turn it off when the police come around.

Now first let me say that I haven't watched MTV in more than five years, and there's no way in hell I'm going to let them have a say in anything hip hop related. As much as I hate MTV, they do have right with Rick Ross at the top. Now you can't possibly believe that Ross was selling cocaine with a cartel connect while working as a correctional officer, but you can believe that Rick Ross is one of the most talented rappers out right now who knows how to entertain. Ross knows what sells, and he knows how to make good music that makes a lot of money. The rap game is similar to reality television now. Yes, VH1 could make a series showcasing how elegant wives of basketball players interact with each other, which would probably consists of them just staying at home most of the time. As exciting as that sounds, VH1 can make the highest rated show by showing B-list players' ex-girlfriends fighting every week. So as with everything, the dollar has the last say. Everyone wants to be entertained when they listen to music, and unfortunately fiction sells more than talent.

The Greatest Love of All

I have nothing if I don't have you - Whitney Houston

Late last night news broke that legendary singer Whitney Houston had died. She was at a Beverly Hills Hilton hotel getting ready to attend Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy party when her lifeless body was found. Early reports say that she was found head-first in the bathtub when a hairdresser came in to check on her after an hour of waiting for her to exit. Houston's passing concludes the tragedy that her life had become as fame, fortune, and drug use destroyed one of the most beautiful and talented woman the world has ever seen.

Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey where she first started singing in the church choir. She was discovered by Clive Davis as a teen after she began performing in night clubs with her mother. She began singing backup vocals with stars such as Chaka Khan and Jermaine Jackson before releasing her self titled debut album in 1985. With classics like "Saving All My Love for You" and "Greatest Love of All" Whitney became an instant star. By the end of the 1980s Houston was the biggest name in the world next to Michael Jackson. As she would enter the 1990s the decade would prove to be the best and worst of her life.

In the early 90s Whitney began dating New Edition bad boy Bobby Brown, against many of her friends' warnings. The two were married in 1992 and eventually had a daughter together. Later in that same year Houston would star in The Bodyguard alongside Kevin Coster, which began a successful acting career. The movie's soundtrack (yes, when movies actually had soundtracks that mattered) became one of the best selling albums ever, and spawned the Dolly Parton remake "I Will Always Love You". The song stayed on top of the Billboard charts for 14 weeks. It seemed destined that Whitney would go on to become one of the biggest female entertainers of all time.

By the late 90s Whitney's career, and more importantly her life, began to spiral out of control. There had been rumors of drug use within Whitney's and Bobby's marriage. Houston was accused of erratic behavior, and her voice and live performances suffered. After signing a $100 million record contract (the biggest in history) Houston performed at Michael Jackson's 30th anniversary concert, where concerns about her appearance resurfaced. Whitney's personal problems became public when her and Bobby became filming their reality show Being Bobby Brown. Viewers were watching the downfall of Whitney "hell to the no" Houston every week on their television.

In recent years it seemed like Whitney was beginning to make a comeback. She divorced Bobby Brown, and had not made any crazy appearances. Her last album I Look To You reached number 1 on the Billboard charts, showing that the icon still had the voice. Whitney was looking and sounding good, and it looked like this new image was here to stay before Don Lemon broke the news to all of us last night on CNN. In a sad and ironic twist, Whitney was on her way to see Clive Davis, the same man who discovered her more than thirty years ago.

With her unfortunate passing, it's important to remember the music. Like Michael Jackson, we all grew up on Whitney Houston. At every bbq in the Summer a few Whitney joints were necessary to make it right. Her music touched everyone. Even the thugs get up and dance when they hear "How Will I Know?". Through all her personal problems we'll always remember the voice. She had that voice that made you feel good inside, and when you heard it you knew exactly who it was. Even though she hasn't been relavent in the last ten years, whenever a new singer's voice is compared it's always to Whitney Houston, and it's never as good as she would sing it. Whitney's death is just another example who the evils of life can grab a hold of anyone, no matter who rich or famous you are. So today just turn on a Whitney song and just reminisce. We probably will never hear a voice so pure and strong, and with so much soul. It's a shame that our biggest stars seem to always have the biggest problems also, but I guess that's just life. So today is for Whitney, and we will always love you.

Whitney Houston

August 9, 1963 ~ February 11, 2012

I Do, I Do, I Do

Last night after a late drive gravity assisted touchdown, the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl XLVI. With their second win in four years, the G-Men once again relied on a heroic catch to save the game and eventually get them the W. After all the confetti settled the real story being talked about was Eli Manning. In a sports world where championships mean everything, many sports analysts began to question if Eli is one of the best to ever play the game.

Now as much as I hate Eli Manning (for no reason other than he looks like he has down syndrome most of the time), I'll be the first to admit that this win does put him in the elite class of current quarterbacks. Winning one Super Bowl is hard, winning two is harder, and winning both against Tom Brady is nearly impossible. By all accounts Eli should be the best quarterback in the league.

Here's where I differ from most people. RINGS DON'T EQUAL GREATNESS. All I ever hear in sports is that championships equals greatness, and it's just not true. As long as these are still team sports, one player's status on championships that they don't win by themselves. We all know it takes a good team, and usually another superstar to win championships. In the NBA Michael had Scottie, Magic had the whole Showtime squad, and Bird had a Hall of Fame Celtics team. Even with one of the best players to ever touch the rock, Kobe Bryant has never won a championship without Shaq or Pau Gasol. In fact, in the years between the two Kobe didn't make the playoffs and was eliminated in the first round after not showing up in a game 7. Really, the one player to almost win a ring by himself is the man everyone loves to hate Allen Iverson, who almost won it all with this group of bums.

The worst part about the ring factor is that it takes away from truly appreciating great players while they are here. LeBron James is one of the most amazing basketball players in history, and yet every morning I have to hear Skip Bayless hate on him. There's only one trophy per season, and winning takes time. You can see that with former MVP's Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett, who won in the later part of their careers. With that being said, there will always be great players who weren't in the right situation to win a ring.

Going back to Eli Manning, there's no one on Earth who will say that the kid can't play. It's obvious by how we leads his teams to wins. At the same time, you can't place him above some other players. If someone came up to me and said Eli is better than his brother Peyton just because he has one more ring I'd get the baby powder out and slap them. In a case like this, Eli just had a better opportunity to win. I'll even argue that Eli isn't better than Tom Brady, even though he's beaten him twice in the Super Bowl. Now don't get it confused and think that rings are meaningless, that's why you play the game. All I'm saying is championships have to be taken in context. If rings are everything then Robert Horry is better than Michael Jordan, and Barry Sanders is one of the worst half backs to ever run the ball. With that being said, I think it's time to start measuring legacies by how good a player actually was, and not by how much their team won.

In The Tapedeck: The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence

You just want me 'cause I'm next - The Weeknd

This man Abel has done it again. Right after Thursday dropped The Weeknd said that he would release his third album this Fall, and in typical Weeknd form he waited until the last half hour of Autumn to release Echoes of Silence. As I opened iTunes and put on my Beats by Dre's I was thinking in the back of my mind that he could not do it three times in a row; and once again he lived up to the hype.

The only word that can truly describe The Weeknd's music is amazing. When I saw the first track titled "D.D." I thought nothing special of it, until about 30 seconds in when I realized that he flipped the classic Michael Jackson song (and my personal favorite MJ song) "Dirty Diana". Now usually it's an automatic loss when anyone tries to cover Michael, but "D.D." is probably the best Michael Jackson cover I've ever heard. At nine tracks long, EOS follows suit with House of Balloons and Thursday as it sounds like one cohesive album, and like the others this album is almost flawless. Other standout songs include "Same Song" and "Next". It's honestly mind-blowing that someone who is only 21 is making music on this level, and is doing it so consistently. In this new era of music we're lucky to get one solid effort every couple of years, and duke has done it three times in one year.

So if you haven't heard of The Weeknd now it might be time to find that ratchet and off yourself. He took Drake's Take Care to another level, and it's obvious that he's been rubbing off on Drake. As we can expect more collaborations between Abel and Drake, he should also be signed to a major record label soon. There were even rumors that he turned down a $7 million dollar deal, so a very lucrative contract could be in the works soon.

In the meantime, download Echoes of Silence and just enjoy. I don't think the magnitude of what he's done this year has been fully appreciated. Music like this does not come around very often, and a singer so talented with a sound so refreshing is rare. So as 2011 is coming to a close, if you haven't already download The Weeknd's mixtapes, and it will probably be the best end of the year decision you'll make. He claims in his music that he has next in this game, but in reality he has now.

Download Echoes of Silence at The-Weeknd.com

Who Got the Juice?

And like that Showtime was back. Yesterday reports came in that the Lakers had traded forwards Pau Gasol and Lamar Kardashian for superstar point guard Chris Paul. It seemed like Kobe Bryant was on his way to a sixth championship when The Man shut it down like Public Enemy. As the trade was being finalized commissioner David Stern blocked the trade between the Hornets and Lakers, citing conflict of interest. As L.A. fans took to social networks to vent, this led to the question of how much power should the commissioner have, and what parties, if any, should influence trades.

Now first let me say that I am not a Laker fan by any means, but this shit is cray. I can see why people are scared that there will be a league full of Miami Heats, but when David Stern actually vetos trades not only does it make the NBA look bad, but it ruins basketball as a whole. Stern said that the trade to the Lakers was a conflict of interest (The NBA owns the Hornets), and that the trade did not benefit them as much as the other team. What Stern failed to see is that this was probably the best players that the Hornets were going to get for Paul, as either way he has said he will leave after this season as a free agent. Now there is a possibiity that the Hornets will lose CP3 for nothing, just like the Cavs did with Lebron. More importantly, in a league that just ended a lockout that pitted players against owners, fans do not want to see the biggest owner of them all making decisions with their favorite teams.

While Chris Paul is only one player and the Lakers are only one team, this decision might come back to haunt the NBA. Now when it coming to trading players it's up in the air on what is a fair trade and what isn't. Basically Stern can allow one trade, but not allow another. Many are already speculating that all-star center Dwight Howards request to go to New Jersey might be denied. Teams should be able to whoever they want no matter how it looks on the surface. Even when the Lakers received Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies for what many said was nothing, Memphis ended up signing Marc Gasol who became a key piece in their playoff run. With the Paul decision Stern has only added to his "dictator" persona. It's obvious that he's been sipping on the juice that Bishop drank.

So now Chris Paul is stuck in New Orleans, a place he knows he doesn't want to play and in and a place he'll be leaving soon. Numerous reports are saying he's looking at ways to form a lawsuit against the NBA. All indicators say he'll take the Lebron route and go to New York to join Melo and Stat, but who knows if that will go through now. Lebron's former boss added his input by writing a letter to David Stern saying that the other 29 teams should have a say in another team's trade, which is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. It looks like just when the league takes steps to improve they just fall back again, which is why the NBA keeps losing fans. The resolution of this problem is on David Stern and what he decides to do in the future. There's no way he can regulate every trade. The whole point is to improve your team, and sometimes it seems lopsided. Stern is becoming more like NFL policeman Goodell, and that's not a good thing. As the basketball world did a collective Kanye shrug, as J. Edgar Stern showed who really ran things all I could think of is no one man should have all this power.

Albums of the Year

2011 has been a great year for music. From the many debut albums, to the compilation albums, to rappers dropping mixtapes damn near every day, 2011 will go down as one of the most productive years for hip hop music. So as the year is winding down I am going to give you my top 5 albums of the year.

2011 was mostly dominated by debut albums and mixtapes. G.O.O.D. Music artist Big Sean released his highly anticipated debut album Finally Famous following suit from his mixtape series. The album featured the hit "Dance (A$$)" which was accompanied with this video that had me thanking Sweet Baby Jesus. Perhaps the greatest debut this year was from Kendrick Lamar with Section 80, which was very close to making my top 5 list. Section 80 is great, with K. Dot making an album he wanted to make without sacrificing any of the qualities that make him unique. Other debuts included Dom Kennedy's From the Westside With Love II, Phonte's solo debut Charity Starts At Home, California trio Pac Div's The Div, and the "major label" debuts from the How Fly boys Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y with the Planes dropping Rolling Papers and Weekend At Burnies respectfully. Collaboration albums took over the summer as Kanye West and Jay-Z released Watch the Throne which had everyone thinking they were cray. Eminem and Royce Da 5'9" stuck to their Detroit roots with Bad Meets Evil. Finally the Teflon Don Rick Ross and his Maybach Music family released their joint effort Self Made: Vol. 1. The mixtape game was also gravy this year, with some of the best tapes coming from R&B newcomer Frank Ocean with Nostalgia, Ultra, Pusha-T with Fear of God, Fabolous with The Soul Tape, and Lloyd Banks with The Cold Corner 2.

As you can see music was seemingly endless this year, but with no further ado, here is my top 5 albums of this year.

5. Big K.R.I.T. - Returnof4eva

Big K.R.I.T. hit the scene with his critically acclaimed mixtape K.R.I.T. Wuz Here in 2010 and didn't disappoint with his sophomore project either. Essentially a studio album in mixtape form, K.R.I.T. continues his triple threat pattern of rapping, singing, and producing with a cd that will make your mind think as well as make your trunk rattle and rearview mirror shake. With anthems such as "My Sub", "Time Machine" and "Rotation" K.R.I.T. has mastered the art of crafting a banger with a message. With co-signs from Ludacris, Bun B, and David Banner Returnof4eva has replay value for days and is a must have for any music fan.

4. Wale - Ambition

Wale just can't win. When he makes the music the people want to hear his "fans" don't support him (his debut Attention Deficit sold only 28,000 copies the first week). Then when he signs a lucrative deal to join Rick Ross' MMG label those same "fans" say he sold out. The man is constantly playing Russian Roulette. Wale's second album should really be named Balance, because with this cd he has found the perfect balance to keep both fan bases content, since it seems that keeping them happy is impossible. With songs such as "Legendary" and "Focused" Wale goes back to his straight hip hop roots, which any rap fan can appreciate. "Chain Music" and "Tats on My Arms" is for the parking lots with monstrous beats. To complete the trifecta "Lotus Flower Bomb" and smash hit "That Way" keep is classy for the ladies. Ambition is a hell of a comeback for Wale, and it's safe to say Rozay won with his free agent signing.

3. J. Cole - Cole World: The Sideline Story

It's a Cole World, get your peacoat. J. Cole had been warning us for years he was coming and his debut album is as great as you can get. Handling most of the production himself, the album has that same Fayettenam feel that his previous mixtapes had. If Drake is the new Jay-Z with all the shine and fame, J. Cole is happy being Nas, not as popular but with more respect from the streets. This album is Cole's story, everything from early family troubles, to finishing college, to getting signed, to finally making it. Humble as person, but cocky as a emcee, J. Cole exceeded my personal expectations for his debut and has a cd that will be remembered for a long time. Standout tracks include "Nobody's Perfect" where he reincarnated Supa Dupa Fly Missy Elliot, "In The Morning", and "Cole World". For a man who has given us so much quality music for free, he has made an album worth paying for.

2. Drake - Take Care

Drizzy Drake Rogers is the future of music. Not just rap, but music. Now with Take Care you will either love it or hate it, and if you hate it I can understand. Drake takes a different approach on this album, adding more singing than rapping. Some hip hop fans have really dogged this album, but this is Drake. This is So Far Gone Drake more polished and refined. Drake has crafted some of his greatest songs ever with "Shot For Me", "Marvin's Room", and "The Real Her", which all include him singing. My personal favorite "Cameras" is vintage Drake and 40 (plus a meeean Jon B sample) with the OVO crew doing what they do best, making smooth songs you have no choice but to vibe to. This OVOXO movement he has building is going to change music, as Drake (with the exception of Kanye) is going to be the next superstar. Not just a trend for right now, but MJ, Prince, and 2Pac status. As you listen to Take Care you have to just listen with no prior assumptions. Drake is not making rap music, and he's not making R&B music. He is just flat out making good music, and it's something special.

1. The Weeknd - House of Balloons

Whoa. Out of nowhere some kid from Toronto may have made one of the greatest albums ever. I remember downloading this just having never heard of The Weeknd just because I kind of liked the cover. It was around midnight and when I finished listening it was around 3:00 in the morning. House of Balloons is amazing. In one of the most cohesive albums I have ever heard, HOB has the perfect sound of every track flowing together as one, but at the same time each song has it's own uniqueness to it. With songs about drugs, love, women, and sex The Weeknd's music is a blend of everything from The Dream, Prince, Sade, and Jodeci and feels like it's straight from some 80's cocaine infested night club. Standout tracks include "Wicked Games", "What You Need", and "The Morning" which are all as close to perfect songs as you can get. This is not was free music is supposed to sound like, and debut projects are not supposed to be this good. Adding the XO to Drake's OVO these two have great chemistry together, and I expect more great music from them. If you haven't heard this album yet I suggest you listen right now. The Weeknd will truly make you xo 'til you overdose.

#OccupyWallStreet

By now if you've been watching the news (for those of you who do watch the news) you have heard of the Occupy Wall Street movement that has gotten the attention of media outlets everywhere. For weeks a small protest group had been constructing a plan to literally go on Wall Street and stage a non-violent protest. The group, which had gained a lot of cult support on social networks such as Twitter, planned to invade the district of Wall Street for up to two months until their sole demand was met. The only problem? The Occupy Wall Street movement has not said their demand for which they're protesting.

Since September 17th hundreds of protestors have been flooding Wall Street every day for what they have just called resistance to American economic practices. Although it has remained a non-violent protest, Occupy Wall Street has gained national attention for the police response they have received. Since day one of the protest demonstrators have been pepper sprayed, barricaded, arrested, and beaten for exercising their free speech in a public place. Many have seen this as a violation of the first amendment by the police, although it has continued at an alarming rate. It has raised the question of the power of the government to deny citizens their rights, and how people have grown tired of "Big Brother" and have fought to challenge it.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is still continuing as of press time with no signs of showing down. They have even gained the support of some celebrities such as hip hop star Lupe Fiasco and film director Michael Moore. Now it is impossible to see how far this movement will go, and there's a very small chance that they can challenge those who control the money and win. But with their internet support in the form of first-hand Youtube videos and instant news feeds from social networks like Twitter r and Facebook, it seems like they are beginning to get their message across. For decades now your money has been used to finance pointless organizations and personal funds, and people are sick of it. As ignorance is bliss, knowledge is power; and you have the right to know what these people are doing with your money. So it is not only occupying Wall Street, it's occupying your money, and therefore occupying yourself.

You can visit Occupy Wall Street's website at www.occupywallst.org or follow on Twitter @OccupyWallSt.

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.

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