A$AP Rocky

So recently I've been listening to A$AP Rocky. He's a young and up and coming rapper from Harlem. He recently released his debut album called Long Live A$AP. I really enjoyed this album and it was disappointing that it leaked a month before it was supposed to be released.

But anyways, I thought that the album had great production and a bunch of different and creative beats. Also A$AP had a bunch of great features throughout the album and he had a bunch of different flows. I like rappers that try to make every song unique from one another and not sound too mainstream and A$AP does a great job of that. I suggest that you check out "fuckin problems" and "1 train"

It Might Get Loud

While you were gone we watched a documentary about three guitarists called: It Might Get Loud. The documentary was extremely slow and it was actually a little hard to keep track of. However, I did enjoy some of the work that guitarist Jimmy Paige had. I've never been a giant fan of his band, Led Zeppelin, but I enjoyed the riffs and chords that he played. The documentary really did help show different styles of guitar and it helped open me up to new branches of rock. I hope that we continue to explore new and different styles rock through activities such as this. 

Hopsin

Most people probably have never heard of Hopsin before. He's not very mainstream and he hasn't even released a studio album yet. He's kind of a weird guy. In his music videos he sometimes wears white contacts which makes him look like a freak. However, he's a solid young rapper. He speaks the truth in all of his songs and he isn't afraid to diss or say anything to anyone. My favorite songs are "Sag My Pants" and "Ill Mind Of Hopsin" and both of which are posted below. I would suggest that you give them a chance as Hopsin is one of the few rappers that speaks about something other than women and money.

Cali Dreamin'

Earlier in the week, we listened to California Dreamin' by The Mamas and Papas. I actually liked this song a lot. It was a really calm and peaceful song and I enjoyed the rhythm that it kept. I also thought that the flute solo in the middle didn't hurt it or anything. The song is actually pretty catchy too and it got stuck in my head after listening to it.

I'm pretty sure that in class someone said that they heard a remix or that they had heard this song sampled somewhere. I think it was Christian and I doubt he'll even do a blog about this or remember what he was talking about and I actually do know a song that samples this. Kid Ink, the rapper I mentioned in my blog last week, has a song named Cali Dreamin' that samples the original by the Mamas and Papas. I think that the remake of the beat is actually pretty good. You should give it a listen.

Kid Ink

I don't think I've ever blogged about Kid Ink and since he's one of my favorite young and new artists I figured I should blog about him. Kid Ink is a 27 year old rapper that has only been active for about three years. He's produced an album, an EP and a handful of mixtapes. He's got a different style then most rappers nowadays. He sings and raps and sometimes it seems like he's doing both.

I really like the production on his albums and he think he does a great job working over the beats he gets. His hooks are all so catchy and a lot of his songs get stuck in my head. He has a wide range of music as well. Some of his songs are slow and smooth while others and upbeat. I can't wait to hear more new music from him and I hope that he maintains the quality of his previous music. I posted two of my favorite songs by him below.

Pet Sounds

Today in class, we listened to Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. I learned that it was their 11th studio album, which I think is crazy. I think it's amazing that a band can produce that many albums and still produce quality music. Other than Jay-Z and The Beatles, I've yet to discover someone that has produced that many albums and remained consistent. Out of everything that we've listened in the past few weeks, this has by far been my favorite.

I really enjoyed how the band mixed up their sound from the previous Beach Boys that we had listened to. Pet Sounds didn't feature nearly as much "surfer" type music as the previous Beach Boys titles that we've listened to. I still thought that the surfer music was good but I just thought that this was a little bit better. Although the album was only thirty-six minutes, I thought that the quality of the music was outstanding. I'd much rather prefer quality over quantity when it comes to albums. I hope that the Beatles album that we plan to listen to listen to next class is comparable and just as good as what we listened to today.

Old Skool

Recently, I've been listening to a ton of old school rap music. I'm not sure why but I've been getting into a lot of the old school west coast rap.

I've been listening to a lot of Snoop Dogg or Snoop Lion or whatever it is now and Doggystyle. I really like Snoop Dogg's old stuff. All of his new music is just him trying to be something that he's not and it's actually just really really bad. I think that he should've never changed his name or tried to some kind singer or something. I liked it a lot better when he's was just a chill rapper with songs like Lodi Dodi and Gz and Gin and Juice. Even up to Drop it like its Hot everything was so smooth and chill but now he's just gotten weird.

Also, I've been listening to Dr. Dre. Like Snoop, Dre has a lot of nice and calm songs. Fortunately, Dre has still remained the same way he's always been. But, that could be do to the fact that Detox was supposed to come out and it just never did. So the only stuff of his, I've been listening to is The Chronic and 2001. Everything else since then that he's been featured in just isn't that great.

The best songs are when these two guys work TOGETHER and not separate. The best songs with both of them were: Still D.R.E. and The Next Episode. It would be my dream if the two of them could possibly get back together and maybe a little EP with a couple songs that sounded the vintage Snoop and Dre.

Help!

For the second time over the past two weeks, the class watched Help! Personally, I didn't find the movie to be entertaining. I wasn't a huge fan of their first movie and this movie didn't particularly sway my opinion. I didn't find nearly anything in this movie to be comical and there were no moments that sparked. Also,  I feel like there was wayyyy to much information trying to slammed into a ninety minute movie. They kept bouncing from place to place making it nearly impossible to follow. If you sneezed, you missed an important clip of the movie. For example, the intermission and second part were like a combined minute, and ultimately had NOTHING to do with the movie. In the future I hope that we continue to listen to the Beatles music, but refrain from watching their movies.