State of Hip Hop

2009 was not a vintage year for hip hop, rather it was a transitional phase, although with that being said there were several notable album releases.  New York was notably absent from the hip hop top table in 2008 and the first half of of 2009, only a Nas album in late 2008 representing for NYC.  I think all 'heads' like to see MCs representing NYC having a significance influence on the game to keep hip hop tied to it's roots and thankfully the second half of 2009 saw NYC back where the should be.  Hov released the best selling album of the year (although it was rubbish), Raekwon released the best album of the year by far, Blaq Poet released an album I have been waiting for about  5 years for, straight-up thug music, and OC & AG released a very solid effort, Mos also dropped his best album for a decade, surprising me as I thought he had lost his appetite for music.  Fitty also released an album, not many people bought it, I did not listen to it; I wish he would cease and desist making rubbish music.


It was a quiet year for the South, I can't think of releases by any ATLien of note apart from Gucci Mane, I loved his album and I just do not understand why he has so many haters.  Weezy toured 'Tha Carter III' for most of the year and constantly pushed back the release of 'Tha Carter IV' and his rock/rap crossover 'Rebirth', although amazon.com shipped it in error; I tried to listen to it, but gave-up after six songs which were awful.  Not much released on the album front from the Mid-West either; Brother Ali released two very good albums, which you should all have; Brother Ali is perhaps the most consistently good rapper of the decade and he deserves far more success and recognition than he has received.  Virginia's finest, Clipse, released a rubbish album, I have removed it from my iPod as it saddens me to think that artists who have released two of the greatest (including THE GREATEST) albums of the previous decade can no longer do it; The Neptunes have run out of beats and Pusha T & Malice lack ideas.


Detroit had a big year!  Black Milk, Guilty Simpson (woah, just seen that 'Ode to the Ghetto' came out in 2008, was it really that long ago?), Elzhi (best of the bunch) and Royce da 5' 9".  Em released an album for some reason, I listened to it once, I wished he had not bothered.  Let us hope the good music keeps flowing from Motown going into the next decade.


West Coast?  Ev released a good EP, Fashawn probably released the best album out of the Bay Area, probably best out of the whole of Cali, I cannot even think of anymore!  Snoop released some dross that I did not even bother to listen to.  West Coast rap is not in the best of shape, although there green shoots of hope, as we will come to later.


2009 was also the year of 'emo-rap', which I lack enthusiasm about; if you need music to wet the bed to, listen to some Coldplay!  I cannnot hate though; Wale, Kid Cudi and the aforementioned Fashawn all dropped really good albums.  Fashawn is not really part of the same scene as the others and his album 'Boy Meets World' is vastly superior, the genuine depth and heart that he put into his songs really got to me.  The boy needs to man-up though!


Looking forward to what we can expect in 2010, I am very optimistic.  There a few new kids on the block who released fair to good mixtapes in 2009 and have set high expectations for their upcoming albums and a lot of established artists are scheduled to release albums.  Firstly, let us look at the newcomers:


Everyone knows that 2010 is supposed to be the year of Drake; I thought his mixtapes from last year were fairly good, but I think he is being too over-hyped by Young Money/Cash Money; they turned a med-school drop-out from Hounslow into a Billboard chart topper, so I am not betting against Drake becoming a massive success, but do not expect his album to make my year end top ten.


My great hope for 2010 is for Freddie Gibbs; he is old school 'gangsta', his rhymes and flow are second to none and he is doing more for West Coast rap than anyone, despite being from Gary, Indiana, no matter what the haters at XXL say.  If any of you have somehow missed his mixtapes from 2009, stop reading this and go DL them now!  We have a new mixtape to look forward to soon and an album is sure to follow, although it will be interesting to see how he releases it considering the nightmare he had while being signed to Interscope.


Of the rest of the new kids, I expect Pill, J. Cole, B.o.B. and Pac Div to release good albums and we should also expect good music from Jay Electronica (although not a conventional album).  Chip The Ripper and Travis Porter are due to release albums and they might be good, but I have my reservations.


Thankfully, there is a long list of hip hop heavy weights scheduled to drop albums this year, and in no particular order, they are: Reflection Eternal, Common, Bun B, Young Jeezy, Lupe Fiasco, The Roots, Dr. Dre, Black Milk, Evidence, Immortal Technique, Big Boi, Nas & Damien Marley, Beastie Boys, Kid Cudi, Kanye West, I have heard that Ghostface, Raekwon & Method Man are doing an album together and if Weezy if released from prison before the year is out (although he has not even gone in yet) we might get 'Tha Carter IV'.  That reminds me, if Gucci gets out this year, I reckon he will push out an album too, T.I. is schedule to come out in March and will porbalby release something later in the year.  Yo Gotti will also finally release his first major label album too, which  expect to be great based on his Cocaine Muzik mixtapes.  I have high expectations for the albums from all of the aforementioned artists; NYC, Detroit, Cali, Chicago, Atlanta and Phili are all well represented, but it looks like the Mid-West and South are going to have a particularly strong year.  I must confess to be most looking forward to music by Freddie Gibbs, Big Boi and Young Jeezy and of course Dr. Dre, although I hope NYC surprises me with some strong releases.


That about wraps things up, please leave comments below about what you are looking forward to most in 2010.


Holla!

The White Ribbon - Review

Michael Haneke's 'The White Ribbon' has received much praise in 2009, I enjoyed 'Hidden' (2005), although I am not sure I understand it even after post viewing research, so with this in mind I was expecting to find the film to be another obscure parable. What I found was a beautiful and subtle film, however, unlike 'Hidden', Haneke is quite clear and direct about what he wants the viewer to take from his film.

The film masterfully captures an idyllic agricultural village in Germany just prior to the outbreak of the First World War in which a series of unfortunate happenings occur. It becomes apparent that these events are related and viewed in hindsight affords us an understanding of what is to come in history.

Despite the idyllic backdrop, Haneke portrays the village as a society addled with sinister malevolence and immorality, largely ignored by the puritanical Lutheran pastor. The pervasiveness of evil spreads unchecked, vanquishing innocence (which is represented by a white ribbon).

Last year the first film I saw was 'The Spirit', which was one of the most awful films I have ever seen, this year begun for me with 'The White Ribbon'; I have a good feeling about this year, although I suspect it will be a long time before I see a film better than this.

Top tens galore.

Okay so I'm a little slow. 2009 has gone and the whole best of lists thing is a bit out of date. But you know what - I'm gonna do it anyway. It's pretty hard to compose these lists. As Nic pointed out it's damn near impossible to see all the promising movies from the past ten years so any list is a little inadequate. Perhaps the answer is to limit your scope and only watch one film a year. That way at the end of the decade you won't have to think too hard. Just a suggestion.

Anyway here are my top ten movies of the past 10 years:

10.United 93
9. 21 Grams
8. Junebug
7. Lost in Translation
6. The Wrestler
5. The Squid and the Whale
4. The Dark Knight
3. Before Sunset
2. Eternal Sunsine of the Spotless Mind (Philip - how can you not like this movie?)
1. There Will be Blood

I also want to give honourable mention to City of God, Assassination of Jesse James, Anchorman, The Royal Tennebaums, You Can Count on Me, Into the Wild, Knocked Up, Downfall, Life Aquatic, Babel, Zodiac, American Splendour, Sideways, Superbad, The Bourne Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, and all the other ones I've forgotten.

I'm also going to throw my two cents in on the hip hop front. Here are my 10 favourite hip hop albums of the past 10 years:

10. The Ecstatic by Mos Def
9. Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco
8. The Love Below by Outkast
7. Rising Down by The Roots
6. The Renaissance by Q Tip
5. Late Registration by Kanye West
4. Nas by Nas
3. Game Theory by The Roots
2. Ear Drum by Talib Kweli
1. Be by Common

So there you go the definitive selection. I'm sure there will be no disagreements with any of these choices.

I will be back shortly with reviews of the new Clint Eastwood film 'Invictus' and the new Jason Reitman movie, 'Up in the air'. Stay posted Robot Socks world.

Top 10 Hip Hop albums of the decade

I fell out of love with Hip Hop early in the decade and only came back to it in the past few years, so the middle of the decade does not feature highly in my top ten, but we have had a good decade of rap, although perhaps not as good as the previous. My top ten is:

10. The Recession (2008) Young Jeezy (Corporate Thugz Entertainment/Def Jam)

9. Food & Liquor (2006) Lupe Fiasco (1st & 15th/Atlantic Records)

8. Quality (2002) Talib Kweli (Rawkus/Universal)

7. The College Dropout (2004) Kanye West (Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam)

6. The Fix (2002) Scarface (Def Jam South/Universal Records)

7. Let's Get Free (2000) Dead Prez (Loud Records)

6. The Mouse and the Mask (2005) MF Doom & Danger Mouse (Epitaph Records)

5. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II (2009) Raekwon (Ice H2O/EMI Records)

4. Phrenology (2002) The Roots (Geffen)

3. Stankonia (2000) Outkast (LaFace/Arista)

2. Electric Circus (2002) Common (MCA)

1. Hell Hath No Fury (2006) Clipse (Re-Up/Star Trak/Jive)

I know number 10 is a bit controversial, but I love that album! 2002 was the strongest year by far, three classic albums dropped. Only two NYC MCs made the list, which reflected how the decade went, but 2009 was the comeback year for the home town of Hip Hop and the next decade looks rosy for them.