Beastie
Boys
To the 5 Boroughs
Aptly titled, To the 5 Boroughs sounds just like it came out of New York circa 1985. It's old School and it’s oldest—stripped down beats, orchestra hits, scratching and rhyming. That’s it. This works great on “Ch-check it Out,” “Triple Trouble” and “An Open Letter to NYC.”
While hip-hop has always been their forte, the Beasties generally keep it interesting by mixing a bunch of styles. Unfortunately 5 Boroughs, is void of all funk or punk rock rants.
The irreverent boys of License to Ill are almost 40 now. They rap more about politics than partying, but most of these new songs still manage to get the party started.
For The Hip-Hop Fans...
|
From the Dirty South |
|
Hip
Hop Must-Haves by Mike Lightfoot |
| Outkast--Speakerboxxx/The Love Below |
| Cee-lo--Cee-lo Green is the Soul Machine, |
| Jay-Z--The Black Album |
| Jay-Z--Unplugged |
Kanye
West
The College Dropout
I am by no means a very reliable source for hip-hop critique. Nevertheless, I enjoy the genre from a distance.
I had the chance to check out The College Dropout by Kanye West. West is famous for his production skills, most notably for hits like "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" that he produced Jay-Z. This record marks West’s first attempt behind the mic.
Kanye West is not the most noteworthy rapper, but this album still shines because of the catchy beats. College Dropout draws heavily from soul and gospel samples. The standout tracks are “Spaceships,” a track about losing it at your day job, “Never Let Me Down,” with Jay-Z and “Jesus Walks” which contains the coolest line of the album, “God show me the way because the devil’s trying to break me dowwwwn.”
The drawbacks are:
1.
The many high-pitched, Chipmunk-like background voices
2. Skits that break up the flow of the album
3. The hit “Slow Jamz.” (I know this a huge radio hit, but
you should know how strongly I disdain all slow jams.)
Overall, a pretty good record.