Mixtape Monday

Well hello there folks! It's been a little bit but I have some good stuff for you all. So my friend Ronnie introduced me to this guy a few weeks ago. It's actually his cousin. So he's tellin me about him and I ask what he does and he told me he's a rapper. My inital response, "Oh great, a rapper! Who isn't one these days?!" But he was quick to assure me that he wasn't like most of the rappers out and had more of a "a Q-Tip style, 90's golden era rap" feel about him. So as I usually do, I took his word for it. So I hung out with this guy, who's name is AD by the way, short for Adalesson. He's a Chicago native and is very passionate about music, which is always a good thing. He played a few of his tracks for me. I was rather impressed. I didn't expect for his voice to be so smooth and seamless over the tracks he played for me, so of course I wanted to hear more. He gave me a copy of his first mixtape[Room for Growth] which I thouroughly enjoyed and then sent me a link a few days ago to download his second mixtape [Listenin' for Breaks] which I'm listening to as I type and loving it. I'm a sucker for lyrical and "chill" music. Music that you can just sit in the house, have a glass of wine to and this tape has defintely done that for me. First of all, I love the fact that he appreciates so many different types of music as I do. All of the beats on this tape are so classic and most of them have a jazz inspired feel to them. Much different than most rappers you hear when they create a mixtape. And again, his voice goes so well with the beats he chose for the tape. I would definitely have to agree with Ronnie's original assessment in that he does remind me a lot of a lot of the music that came out of the early 90's. I love the intro's to some of the songs he has ("Royal Wit Cheese", "Karma Sutra"), very creative. He has a few other local rappers featured on the tape(Illuminate Mics, Trilogy, Drunken Monkee, Pro Wonder, Bullet, and Cos G) Anyhoo, I'm going to include a link on here so you guys can download the tape. WHEN you do, leave a comment and tell me what you thought about it. I'm sure he would enjoy feedback.

Straigh from the horse's mouth: "Track listing is composed of 27 songs, 6 emcee features , 3 producers and 1 DJ (SYZYGY) and lovely instrumentals by Khrysis, Madlib, J Dilla, Black Milk, J-zone, D' Angelo, charles hamilton, Dj Premier, Big Daddy Kane , Samiyam, Roy Ayers, 9th Wonder, Nujabes Dwele and Peter Rock"
I can't name my favorites, because the beats alone make me like all of the songs. But some of my favs are Laidback Desperado, World Change, Ex 2 Next. Ok that's all you're gettin!! Check out the tape(s)!!


Download Adalesson(1st tape): Room for Growth

Download Adalesson(2nd tape): Listenin' for Breaks

Get Ready to Cuddle

So after talking with some people and getting some constructive criticism about the blog, I’ve decided to make a few changes. (I just have to make sure to stay on top of them). So instead of doing the album reviews on the day the album’s released, I’ll be doing them before hand so you guys can actually know what to expect before you grab the album. Secondly, I’ll be adding more of a breakdown of the albums and not just my personal opinion. You’ll see the difference in the next few posts. And lastly I will choose certain days of the week to run “trending topics” ©Twitter. Ie: Throwback Thursday’s, where I’ll review a throwback album that I like. And although I love my R&B, I’m gonna work to try to do more on the hip hop scene and expose those underground and “slept on” artists like I said I would in the first place. So get excited for the changes and any other things you would like to see happen, feel free to leave comments. I’m always open for suggestions! (btw, Thanks Kevo for the advice) Now on to the task at hand….



Alicia Keys is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is how I felt when I first heard the news that she was soon to release another album. I heard “Doesn’t Mean Anything “ and I liked it. Although it did sound a lot like other songs she had done in the past (Unbreakable) I liked some of the runs she did on the track. Then she released “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart” and I dug it. It was a little different from things she previously released. Anyone who knows me, knows that Alicia Keys is and has always been #1 in my book. So needless to say I was extra amped for the release of “The Element of Freedom”.
BUT when I heard it, I was really UNimpressed. There were probably a total of 4 songs that I really liked besides the two singles she released. NOT GOOD. I have NEVER NOT been able to listen to one of her albums all the way through, this one is completely different. The songs I like, stay in constant rotation and are really good, but the rest, I am not impressed in the least bit. I’ve been trying to figure out what it is but I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I feel like she tried to go for a different sound this time around and it didn’t quite work out for her. The songs I do like, are typical, classic Alicia tracks but songs like “Like the Sea “ “Put it in a Love Song” ft Beyonce, “Wait til You See My Smile” and “Love is Blind” are horrible to me. I’m really disappointed because with all I’ve been going through lately, I was hoping Alicia could be the one, as she always has, to make things better, but she didn’t. “That’s How Strong My Love Is” “Unthinkable” “Distance and Time” “Love is My Disease” “How it Feels to Fly” are probably the best songs on the album, along with the two singles she’s already released. “Empire State of Mind pt 2” gets honorable mention. The album includes production by Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, Jeff Bhasker and others. Although the CD wasn’t that great in my personal opinion, I would still advise you to grab a copy, as I will be doing, to support her. Love her, love her music. This was not her strongest album, but she’s Alicia Keys and we know what she’s capable of. You can’t bat 1000 100% of the time. Element of Freedom in stores Dec 15




On the other hand, Robin Thicke will be releasing his new album “Sex Therapy” on Dec. 15. I didn’t know what to expect from Robin this time around because although I liked his last album, there were songs on there that I could do without. But I should’ve known the album would be dope based on the fact that I can’t go a day without playing “Sex Therapy.” That song is so sexy and classy and just amazing all around. BUT the album, is almost just as great. I listened all the way through and never once got the urge to skip a song until I got to the very last song(only because I heard The Game’s voice). Very very solid album. Producers include Thicke himself, Polow Da Don, Teddy Riley and more. All the songs are beautiful, even the faster tempos. He had pretty good features on the album also: Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Jazmine Sullivan, Estelle, Snoop Dogg, and Nicki Manaj and The Game get honorable mention because they made the album, not necessarily because they’re “good features”. I will say, the song he did with Nicki Manaj (Shakin it 4 Daddy) actually made me like her a little bit more. But that’s neither here nor there. I think this might be my favorite album from Mr. Thicke with The Evolution taking a close second. Of course you’ll need to know my favorites: Sex Therapy, It’s in the Morning ft. Snoop, Start with a Kiss(interlude) is really cute and sexy, Rollacoster ft. Estelle, Million Dolla Baby ft. Jazmine Sullivan, 3 Luv Birds, I Got You, Just Right, Mona Lisa, Brand New Love….yeah I pretty much just named almost every track on the album…so make sure you go cop a copy of Sex Therapy. I promise you won’t be disappointed. It’s probably NOT a good idea to have the CD unless you have a boo because it will make you want to cuddle up quick! :) But I do advise you to check it out…thoroughly impressed with Mr. Thicke. It will definitely be in constant rotation in any musical device I have!

Late, but worth the mention

So awhile back, my friend put me on this artist by the name of J. Cole. She had mentioned him before and went on and on about how good he was and how she feels he is the next Drake. A few weeks later, I finally decided to check him out. I must admit, I was pretty darn impressed and found myself with one of his songs [Dreams ft. Brandon Hines] in constant rotation. I'm not sure if I can say he's the next Drake, or even if that's a correct comparison to make seeing that as of late(since he joined Young Money) Drake is becoming rather ordinary. I'm no longer seeing much of the lyricism I once respected him for. He, like many of the artists under Wayne are becoming too parrot-like in their delivery; metaphors every other bar just like Wayne. ANYHOO, I would put J. Cole in a seperate categorty. I like his flow and his delivery and he's pretty lyrical, and with that, he got my attention. I'm interested to see mor work from him and an album(not a mixtape) possibly. He has potential to do big things I just hope he gets there. I'll include a link so you can go download his mixtape "The Warm Up" and a link so you can check out his feature on Wale's Beautiful Bliss, which is one of the best features I've heard in a while. Anyway, keep your ears to the street fo J. Cole. He's doing his thing and personally, I think he can only go upward from here.

Download J. Cole's "The Warm Up" mixtape

Download Wale-Beautiful Bliss ft. J. Cole & Melanie Fiona

Catch Up

ALLLLLLRIIIIGGGGHHHHTTT!!! SO, today Chris Brown released his 3rd studio album, "Graffiti" Although Rolling Stone gave it a bad review, I think it's decent. Is it as good as I expected it to be? No, but I think it's a pretty solid album for his comeback. Some of my favs off the album are of course, I Can Trasform Ya ft. Swizz Beats and Lil Wayne, What I Do, Lucky Me, So Cold, and Crawl(my top song!)

I support Chris and I would advise anyone who does the same to go out and support him by BUYING his album. He messed up, he admitted to it, served(ing) his time for it and is sincerely apologetic about it. The fact that he has messed up does not take away from the fact that he is an extremely talented artist and is still young, therefore has a ton of potential left to grow. Don't allow his mistakes to overshadow his talent. I'm sure he's learned his lesson and is indeed, a "changed man" (pun intended)




Next on the list, is Mr. Timbaland. He has also dropped his album Shock Value today. I've heard a lot of people say that they didn't like the album, but of course, I'm not everybody so of course I enjoyed it! It's different, I think that's what I like about it. I thought I would be hearing more from Timbaland but it's more so a smörgåsbord of artists. Features from Keri Hilson and Drake to Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry. It's like he took all of the artists he was interested in and gave them a beat and put it on his album, but I like it for that reason. The features make the album and very interesting and diverse one. I haven't really paid too much attention to Timb since his earlier days but I dig Shock Value
Of course I have to tell you some of my favs: Lose Control ft. JoJo, Say Something ft. Drake, Tomorrow In The Bottle ft. Chad Kroeger & Sebastian, Undertow ft. The Fray & Esthero, Timothy Where You Been ft. Jet
I would give a link to go and download the album, but it's the day of release so I won't do it. Go sample it on youtube and if you like it, go grab it.


Also released today is Clipse's "Til the Casket Drops" I can say I've been a Clipse fan...well maybe "fan" is not the right word. I've always enjoyed their music, but I can say I've never heard much from them besides the singles and features they've had. BUT I was hearing so much buzz about this album via Twitter that I had no choice but to check it out. Now I am not really a fan of rap, but I CAN be if the message, beat and delivery are all solid. And I can honestly say this Clipse album meets my checklist. I was pleasantly surprised. I would definitely recommend picking this album up. It's such a complete piece. Not to mention, I felt extremely relaxed while I was listening to it, but that's neither here nor there.
"Champion" is definitely my favorite track off the album, but Freedom, Door Man, Life Change, Footsteps and of course I'm Good. I pretty much just named every song on the album so that should tell you it's a little more than decent. It will definitely be on heavy rotation over here. Make sure you grab that


Stay tuned, I think I'm going to start doing my posts how I did today and profile the albums released on the days I post. Keep checkin' back. I'm tryin' to stay on top of it yall!! ;)

Coming Soon

Just wanted to assure everyone that I am not slacking off. I have three new albums that I will be posting before the end of the week. I just want to have a chance to listen to them and make sure I'm not misleading you with the information that will be presented. Until then...enjoy the rest of your week!

Chicago Stand Up

Mr. Lupe Fiasco is back. He dropped a quick little mixtape a few days ago- Enemy of the State. Now I'll say, I've always loved Lupe, granted I haven't heard much of his music but the songs I have heard, I'm always impressed. A true lyricist, I respect his grind. Anyhoo, the mixtape is nice. I've added a link so you can download it and check it out. There are two different versions of the tape. There's one that splits the songs into different tracks and then one that the tracks flow back to back. I've included links for both versions. Enjoy
One track version

Multi track version