This year’s crop of hip hop albums was an improvement over last year. But it didn’t come from the artists expected to dominate.

Around this time in 2008, everyone was buzzing about the “new school” of blog-hyped rappers. They injected the medium with an enthusiasm not felt in ages. So far, however, the results of this youth movement are decidedly uneven. Wale’s Attention Deficit drew mixed reviews; even fans of it must concede that it has plenty of decent rhymes, but lacks great songs. By contrast, Kid Cudi landed a few monster singles, particularly the undying “Day ‘N Nite,” but his Man on the Moon: The End of Day seemed monotone and self-indulgent. Blu and the Cool Kids mostly kept silent, and we all know what happened to Charles Hamilton.

With the jury still out on the so-called “freshman class,” the end of the aughts belonged to the veterans. With the notable exception of Nosaj Thing and Dorian Concept, all of the artists on this list are firmly established. Some mounted surprising comebacks after years of mediocre and sub-par work; others made solid follow-ups to classic albums. Unlike 2008 and Flying Lotus’ Los Angeles (and, I would argue, the Cool Kids’ The Bake Sale), these recordings didn’t establish new stylistic tropes. In a year when populism and stubborn class and racial traditions weighed down American culture, these works met expectations and buffered the status quo, whether it was the true-school ethos or the mainstream’s street-rap-as-blues credo.

That’s not to say that 2009 wasn’t an exciting time: it was. But hip hop music thrives on youth movements, and to see blog rap’s most promising rookies disappear in a cloud of weed smoke, meandering mixtapes and incessant corporate-sponsored tours and marketing campaigns was frustrating. It certainly didn’t convince the old heads from continuing to insist that the genre is a dead zombie walking. Of course, next year could be different. But for now, this is where we are.

I don’t know if this list is unique from any other, but I suspect there may be a few surprises. Perhaps the most contentious entry is for Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt II. It has topped many lists, but it certainly didn’t top mine. If my summary reads negative, it’s in reaction to the universal acclaim that has greeted it, some of which seems unwarranted. People love their action fantasies, and Raekwon’s triumphant return has some great crime narratives. But I think some consider it the year’s best because it fits stereotypes of what a great hip hop album is supposed to sound like; other entries on this list drew strong reviews, too, but they were often considered something other than “real hip hop.”

I don’t know what that “other” may may be. Maybe “alt-rap,” “backpacker,” or some nefarious micro-genre like “wobbly”? But lists such as the Plug One 50 will continue to be an anomaly until fans stop equating the genre with criminal activity and po-faced lyrical schemes, embrace a more complex universe of sounds, and live up to Afrika Bambaataa’s vision of hip hop as a perspective on the world instead of a region-specific, drug-infested street corner.

Yes, 2009 was a good year. We got consistently great music, but we missed the excitement that made 2008 seem like a promise of better things to come. Hopefully 2010 will combine not only the tried and true, but also the shock of the new.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Daily Swarm posted two random message board comments about DOOM’s L.A. concert last Saturday, along with a poorly-lit YouTube video:

It’s hard to see here but you can catch glimpses of him. It was obvious that he was an imposter since he never once laid his hand on a microphone and just played his new tracks on a laptop. I get what he’s goin for here…he’s a VILLAIN, but he’s ripping off his fans! I was super pissed along with everybody else who came to see him.

ConsequenceofSound.net followed up with a post:

According to DOOM’s label, Stones Throw, which does not handle the rapper’s booking, it was “obvious that he wasn’t going to show up at a venue that fits only 200 people when his performance fee requires venues about 10 times that size.” That said, they would neither confirm nor deny if it was indeed an imposter.

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the real DOOM twice. The first time was back in 2000 at the CMJ Music Festival, when Megalon punched a drunk and disorderly DOOM on stage (which MF Grimm later referenced in “Book of Daniel”). Good times. The second was at SXSW in 2004, right before he dropped his mammoth Madvillain project. It was no-frills entertainment, with DOOM cuing up a track, spitting out laser rhymes, and then cutting to the next song. That was a long time ago, before DOOM flipped off his fans and turned into a hip hop version of the Residents (minus the all-important disclaimer that anyone could be wearing the mask).

Read the rest of this entry »

Since my post on DOOM’s Unexpected Guests last month, Gold Dust Media has changed the track listing considerably. Several cuts have been removed, including De La Soul’s memorable “Rock Co.Kane Flow” single. Others have been added, too, notably a previously-unreleased live version of “I Hear Voices” from the 2001 Operation: Doomsday reissue. And, as shown above, an impressive horticultural image of the Super Villain now adorns the cover. The release date is November 10.

Check after the jump for the new track listing and the earlier, pre-release one.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the fall season fully underway, misanthropic rapper/producer DOOM is making a surprise contribution to the glut of new product. Set for release on October 27 via Lex Records Gold Dust Media, Unexpected Guests compiles several guest appearances, including his classic “Rock Co.Kane Flow” single with De La Soul, along with what appears to be a few new tracks – at least in regards to an official release.

The artwork above and the track listing below are tentative; both may change before Unexpected Guests is released. I’ll update this post if that happens.

(October 28 update: The track listing and artwork has been changed, and the release date has been moved back to November 10. Also, I made an error on the label; Gold Dust Media is releasing the compilation. You can view the changes here.)

Read the rest of this entry »

As many of you already know, Lex Records will release DOOM’s new album Born Like This on March 24. Here’s the usual bio excerpt:

Mask-wearing hip-hop maverick DOOM (previously MF Doom) unveils his imminent new album, BORN LIKE THIS – a tour de force of thrillingly intricate and diabolically original songwriting. …

As well as head-spinningly complex, reference-rich rhymes, DOOM also provides the majority of the peerless production himself with just 2 tracks here featuring the studio skills of others. Credit for crafting the bouncies of beats on short yet sweet BALLSKIN goes to Washington’s Jake One, whilst the much-missed J Dilla’s magical psychedelic jamboree illuminates LIGHTWORKS. Guest vocalists include founding Wu Tang Clan members Ghostface and Raekwon, with the former appropriately appearing in his cartoon-inspired Tony Starks guise. BORN LIKE THIS takes its title from Charles Bukowski’s dystopian poem, ‘Dinosauria, We’, read by its author and re-scored by DOOM on CELLZ. Sharp-eared followers of the interesting end of hip-hop may recognize some of the album’s lineage – the instrumental of LIGHTWORKS is a highlight of J Dilla’s Donuts and an early demo of ANGELZ has circulated in cyberspace – however, the rest of the newborn record’s 16 tracks are 100% fresh and, until now, unheard.

Read the rest of this entry »

Project Mooncircle announced yesterday that it is releasing a new project from John Robinson (a.k.a. Lil Sci from Scienz of Life) titled Who Is This Man?, and that it will be completely produced by MF Doom.

MF Doom, of course, has stirred up a lot of shit over the past two years, most of it not musical. In recent months, Lex Records has strongly hinted at dropping a Doom album before the end of 2008, but has yet to make details available. So this is the first confirmation of a new project by the Metalface Villain since Dangerdoom’s The Mouse and the Mask (yes, it has been that long).

Robinson has worked with Doom for many years going back to the late 90s and Atlanta’s ill-fated Nuwaubian era (okay, we won’t go there). He has already released an album this year, a collaboration with Carlos Nino called What’s the Science? And hey, what a coup for Project Mooncircle, especially after getting a Cyne album earlier this year! Indie hip-hop is alive and well.

Who Is This Man? is due on November 7, and will feature DJ Rhettmatic on the cuts as well. More details soon.

October 6 update: It looks like the album came out via iTunes on September 22. The track listing is below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cunninlynguists are touring the Eastern United States (as well as a Canadian date) next month. No new album, just more shows. The Kentucky trio is still booking the tour, so check back for updates.

By the way, producer Kno just posted an “open letter” dissing the fuck out of MF Doom. I don’t agree with everything Kno says, but after watching Doom gaffle fools for several years (yes, he was doing it way before his ongoing “Doombot” tour) I have to acknowledge that he makes some good points. Here’s a long excerpt — you can read the entire thing at the group’s MySpace page:

It came to my attention in late 2007 that you pulled a series of no-shows and Super Dave-esque stunt double lip-syncing fiascos in Pomona, San Diego, San Francisco, Rock The Bells in San Bernardino and then in Atlanta.  The latter saw the crowd throwing beer at your body double, who subsequently exited the stage only to steal all the merch money and door receipts, insuring no one would be granted a refund for your clone’s piss-poor Milli Vanilli routine.  Classy.

The whole thing was shrug-inducing because I’m not a huge fan of your body of work, so pardon my inability to completely connect with the disdain of someone paying $25 dollars to see a slightly rotund, middle aged man in a dirty Gladiator mask stand around onstage and talk into a microphone only to be duped into watching a presumably younger, slightly-less rotund man in a dirty Gladiator mask stand around onstage and pretend to talk into a microphone.  As the old folks say, “buyer beware”.

It was shrug-inducing, that is, until someone passed me a link to a discussion in which a talent buyer for a well-known Cali venue clearly states;

“…needless to say, hiphop will not be taking place at the venue again (we will still book alternative artists like sage, atmosphere, subtle, all through legit agencies that we regularly do business with).”

Ok, now wait a minute.

You pissing on your most dedicated fans by cheating them out of their hard-earned cash, while being completely foul, was ultimately no business of mine.  At worst it might create a small conundrum for Doom fans torn between investing money in your possibly fraudulent live show or using that loot to re-up on another sack of Northern Lights kush.  Not a tough call, I’d assume.

But on the flipside, seeing talent buyers publically saying they’ll only book “alternative artists” like Sage and Atmosphere (Holy awkward racial undertones, Batman) in the future because of your method of handling business?  Now I have an issue.

See, people don’t buy much music anymore.  Touring is what allows artists who aren’t supervillainous children of Latverian gypsies bent on world domination to meet our fans, fuel our art and put money into our projects and pockets.  As part of an “indie” act that operates in the same ever-narrowing circles as you, I can definitely say the ability to book proper gigs with reputable promoters and venue operators is becoming more and more scarce by the month, especially with the poor reputation live hip-hop has for professionalism and punctuality as well as the economic woes of many venues and agencies.  The recession is a sumbitch.

So, if any artist pisses off these promoters, fans or venue owners then ultimately they are fucking with my money.

Read the rest of this entry »

Two years ago, MF Doom was everywhere. He was still basking in the success of his Madvillain classic with Madlib, and had released one of the year’s biggest albums, the Danger Doom banger with Danger Mouse. His early work for Fondle ‘Em sold on Ebay for hundreds of dollars.

Since then, save for the odd guest appearance (he recently produced a track for Hell Razah’s well-received Renaissance Child), the prolific Daniel Dumile has mostly disappeared from view. Dude may be a little eccentric, but he’s a savvy businessman, cutting off the product just when he was in danger of being overexposed. Now, instead of thinking "Dang, another Doom album?", heads are eagerly waiting the man’s next epic. When will Madvillain 2 come out? When will Def Jam finally allow Nature Sounds to put out Swift and Changeable, his album with Ghostface?

On July 24, MF Doom will re-issue his 2004 Rhymesayers album Mm…Food as an expanded CD/DVD package. Imaginatively wrapped in aluminum packaging like a candy bar, it includes a tour DVD, a sticker and a poster. New York zine Impose is also issuing a limited-edition 7-inch of Metal Fingers instrumental material. Finally, Doom is making a brief trip across the States. He’ll mostly stick to major markets, and half of the dates are on the Rock the Bells tour. Hopefull all of these scraps are just mere appetizers for a full course meal in 2008. How’s that for food metaphors? Tour dates are below.

Cutting-edge British imprint Lex Records has unveiled its lineup for 2007. On deck for new albums are Jneiro Jarel, Kid Acne, Neon Neon (a collaboration between Super Furry Animals leader Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip) and Fog. None of them have release dates, but are slated to come out during the next several months.

Lex also holds UK rights to the highly anticipated Ghostface Killah and MF Doom collabo, Swift & Changeable. The album has been delayed for nearly a year, undoubtedly to the politics involved in dropping an independent album by two of hip-hop’s most coveted artists. But everyone promises that it will finally come out this year. Nature Sounds has the U.S. rights, but Lex’s version should entice American trainspotters who like its amazing album covers. The label also hints that a new Danger Doom EP similar to last year’s Occult Hymn will soon arrive.