Features

The ATG Interview: Fonzworth Bentley

2011-04-28T18:53:23Z

ATG chatted with consumate hip-hop ornament Fonzworth Bentley over at BET. Reggie's Q&A interview goes deep.

The ATG Interview: Atmosphere's Slug

2011-04-27T18:50:38Z

ATG spoke to Atmosphere's rapper half, Slug, over at the City Paper. Dude is nice. Literally, he's a swell guy.

The ATG Interview: Black Milk

2011-02-22T19:59:23Z

ATG spoke to exceptional Detroit producer/slightly-less-exceptional-but-wholly-dope rapper Black Milk over at the City Paper.

ATG10: The Year in Hip-Hop [Songs]

2010-12-16T18:38:58Z

All photos by Callie Richmond for ATG.

First, the internal, editorial decision was made to give up on the medium and forgo a rundown about rap videos. There were some cool ones, but listing them wouldn't be indicative of what was being bumped in the clubs, the streets, the subways, the cars, and through the earphones. More importantly, there's no competition.

As individualistic and fickle as listeners continue to be, this year-end list is defined by uniting, thumping moments that kept everyone zoned out in headphone bliss for days on end. In 2010, heavyweights emerged and veterans forcefully pushed back, but not in a Raekwon v. Kid Cudi, two schools sort of way like last year. By now we all understand it's all good. With such a precondition firmly in place, creativity burned down regional barriers like never before. Save for New York City's inbred, traditionalist talent pool (good luck there pushing Vado, you guys), American rap soared and 2010 will stand along any year's genre output.

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30.
B. Hardy - "#GroceryBagFreestyle"

Dallas' B. Hardy spent 2010 rattling trunks throughout the vast underground. ATG heard him, dude put this humble rag on blast, and this humble rag felt compelled to cross ethics lines and celebrate Hardy's moment of clarity/our shout out. Of course, the sick flow doesn't hurt.

- Ramon Ramirez

29.
Meek Mill - "Rose Red"

An exciting Philadelphia prospect lit a fire on his excellent, DJ Drama-hosted mixtape with this tape-opening street banger. A repetitive, driving hook ("I like my Rose Red/I like my diamonds blue/keep a dime chick like five times two") balances crowded, frenetic verses.

- RR

28.
Phranchyze - "Dolo"

ATG's favorite battle rapper switches gears, wakes, bakes, cuts excellent video for knocking, smooth single.

- RR

27.
David Banner & 9th Wonder - "Slow Down"

Lamentably, producer 9th Wonder's former bandmates, Little Brother, not only called it quits during spring, but went out limping and retreading like Brett Favre. 9th continued to find meshing partners for his limited, targeted, soul sample-based instrumentals. ATG looked forward to the southern cooking of 9th and David Banner's Death of a Pop Star album all year (the thing hits stores at last on December 21), wholly because of this neck-breaking, in-the-pocket teaser.

- RR

26.
Yelawolf - "Stage Lights (remix)"

Hip-hop's figurative red rope lounge brimmed wall-to-wall with exciting rookies, the most interesting of which was an Alabama-bred white guy who worked as a fisherman in the Pacific Northwest. Owning the melodic sensibility of really good down south rappers, with a blue collar, punk snarl, and with the self-confidence to rap about alien love, Yela's meth lab stylings won ATG over by second chorus.

- RR

25.
Curren$y - "Michael Knight"

Known for word association verses of the highest order, New Orleans' Curren$y carved pop from "Night Rider" imagery, funny, mimicking vocal noises, and excellent production from Ski Beatz.

- RR

24.
Bun B ft. Drake - "Put it Down"

Drake's love for Bun B has always seemed touching and genuine - the kid who takes care to show respect to his elders; who uses "sir" and "ma'am." Repaying the decorated veteran for his memorable turn on So Far Gone's "Uptown," Drake blesses Trill O.G.'s lead single with one of his certified hooks. The elder stays relevant, and the younger gains cred. Win, win.

- Reggie Ugwu

23.
Tyler, The Creator ft. Hodgy Beats - "French"

The delegates from the angry, young, and quirky constituency are clear: Lil B of the 155 MySpace pages, and critic favorites, Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All. ATG can only unanimously agree on Odd Future, so the winner comes from the aforementioned collective's guru, Tyler. Screwed passages, a slow-churning beat fitted for Def Jux-era militants, horrible things as themes.

- RR

22.
Lloyd Banks ft. Juelz Santana - "Beamer, Benz or Bentley"

Fading glory from the G-Unit fellas.

- RR

21.
Freddie Gibbs - "ThisIsFreddie"

Freddie Gibbs failed this year but only by his anointed, high standards; by bearing the burden of saving rap and restoring order to the kingdom. Gibbs' industry anger was welcome, but with so much fruitful output across the board, his Str8 Killa EP sunk in static. Just before South by Southwest, he dropped a promo for 50 Cent's social media website that annihilated, well, most everything.

- RR

20.
Big Boi ft. Andre 3000 - "Lookin For Ya"

ATG's principal issue with Big Boi's recent comeback album is that one of its best songs was nixed by governing label legalities. Sleepy Brown croons a classic hook, Andre rattles two inspired bits about love; and we at least got to hear the best OutKast song since 2003.

- RR

19.
Lil Wayne - "Single"

Wayne's affinity for Mars is well documented, but what planet does 40 come from? From where do these moody, minimalist aural narcotics emerge like water from a bubbling brook? "Single" didn't sound like anything on radio or elsewhere, but Wayne rides it out like a new whip - justifying his philandering with vivid depictions of a relationship on the rocks. But the real star is that beat. It warbles to and fro on a reverberating synth like a meandering, undying thread. It sounds like some more technologically advanced erotic utopia. Otherworldly.

- RU

18.
Eminem ft. Rihanna - "Love the Way You Lie"

Eminem the advocate for battered women, with Rihanna singing the year's most popular song's chorus? Absolutely.

- RR

17.
Lupe Fiasco - "I'm Beamin'"

The nerdy wizard ATG adores spent the past two years in detention, with an album called Lasers shelved seemingly indefinitely. In just that brief lapse, hip-hop outgrew its need for preachy dissent on materialism. Fiasco's recent leaks and murmurs have been mostly good, but completely nonessential. Then came this futuristic hymn.

- RR

16.
Theophilus London ft. Blu - "Life of a Lover (Remix)"

It's telling that this song, with a haunting loop forming almost its entirety, is the most straight forward rap song on Theophilus' excellent summer mixtape, I Want You. It's also telling that it was the single: He's an avant gardeist, but he still wants to reach out to the base. Blu, another of hip-hop's most forward thinking new stars, shows up for the remix, adding even more lyrical dexterity than Theo in New York Rapper mode. It's a memorable mix.

- RU

15.
Roscoe Dash ft. Soldja Boy - "All the Way Turnt Up"

Bratty, uneducated, faux-hawked. There's an urge among hip-hop heads to tell punk kids like Roscoe Dash and Soldja Boy to get off the lawn. But their brash exuberance cannot be denied. Not while it continues to produce chart-stomping anthems built around wickedly irresistible hooks like "Turn My Swag On," "No Hands," and "All the Way Turnt Up." Haters, hate, but guess what? They sing along, too. The kids are always smarter than you think.

- RU

14.
Slim Thug ft. Z-Ro - "Gangsta"

These guys are evergreens. If you're a Houston rapper and you stay away from lean, you basically have a career for life. It's like tenure. If you're reading this in Houston, they're probably playing this song on the radio right now. Which is fine, of course, because it's a good record. Slim and Z-Ro are in their wheelhouse, two local heroes holding forth over a vintage, dripped-out beat. The formula still resonates. You can't help but smile when you hear Z-Ro sing lines like "I'm so goddamn clean I'm givin' haters the blues." Do what it do.

- RU

13.
Oddisee - "I'm From P.G."

One of the genre's most dynamic, emerging producers hails from the mean streets of the 'burbs. Specifically, Prince George's County, Maryland. While it's the most affluent suburb with a black majority in America, the reverse white flight into downtown D.C. suddenly springs a new frontier of credentialed talent proudly representing gritty enclaves like Allentown, Pennsylvania and Oddisee's P.G. His beat, his bars. ATG just moved to D.C., so it'd be disengenous to claim credit for Andrew Noz's regional analysis.

- RU

12.
Rick Ross ft. Kanye West - "Live Fast, Die Young"

Kanye's beat on "Live Fast Die Young" highlights one of his most underrated talents as a producer: programming and pioneering that rattling drum sound.

- RR

11.
Freeway - "She Makes Me Feel Alright"

Freeway's thirst for and consistency on the mixtape circuit is almost overbearing. He's a consumate rapper happy to let the business stuff work itself out. For this attitude he has paid dearly as a professional, bottoming out from major labels. But producer Jake One harnessed the raw grizzle into a sleek work that lived as a semi-underground beacon of lyricism. The excellently-packaged Stimulus Package's best moment is built around familiarly addictive soul and Free going off about his (likely) Puerto Rican mami that doesn't speak English.

- RR

10.
Donwill - "Laura's Song"

All warm loops and plinking keys, "Laura's Song" is instantly pleasurable and infectious. Donwill's reluctant lothario narrates with personable aplomb, detailing the beginning, middle, and end of a rueful relationship. All of the elements that made his debut album such a compelling listen are on display in these four minutes: brutal honesty, emotional intelligence, and an ear for distinguished production.

- RU

9.
The-Dream - "Yamaha"

"Yamaha" is an obvious standout. It's the kind of track that you hear and think "oh, this is what this artist is capable of." Prince is the reference point here (care of an immaculate production by frequent Dream collaborator Los Da Mystro), but '80s drum machines have had a kind of resurgence that, in a weird way, makes this sound more "now" than a lot of songs on this list. That's always been the most exciting thing about The-Dream: not his voice or appearance or love life, but his ability to channel the greats of R&B in a way that's preternaturally intelligent and fresh.

- RU

8.

Drake and Lil Wayne - "Right Above It"

&

Drake and Lil Wayne - "Miss Me"

After a certain walking tornado of tweets and track leaks, the year belonged to a tag-team: Drake and Wayne, Drizzy and Weezy. Appearing frequently on each other's songs and dominating approximately 95% of urban radio play, Young Money's General and Lieutenant have an obvious, inimitable chemistry. Their charismatic back and forth is rooted in two kinds of kinship: one outside of the booth and one inside, based on shared sonic ideas and subject matter, i.e. an unabashed love of women. Drake's rambling proposal to Nicki Minaj and Wayne's playful missives ("I'm a love machine, and I won't work for nobody but you") transformed "Miss Me" into the year's most swagged-out love song.

- RU

7.
Big K.R.I.T. ft. Yelawolf - "Hometown Hero (remix)"

Alabama and Mississippi in tha building. Tell the white boys in the Chevy pickup trucks Yelawolf is coming home.
The south's most interesting new voices link up to redo a money moment from K.R.I.T.'s Wuz Here mixtape. Both rappers recall growing up in rural America like weathered knights, and wax humble: "A successful rapper? I might as well hit the lottery/instead of becoming a diamond-wearing novelty/I'll rock beads and by my mama some property."

- RR

6.
Jay Electronica ft. Diddy - "The Ghost of Christopher Wallace"

Rap's prodigal hypeman spent the year exploring sounds in Europe. His biggest contribution to the game, however, stemmed from a year-long fanboy crush on moody, detached urban legend, Jay Electronica. Through Tweet bromance, Diddy birthed an instantly memorable semi-tribute to Biggie Smalls and, on the long version, spent four of the track's six minutes talking about party people and the usual hype fanfare. Good thing Jay crushes the first two minutes and says some shit you have to look up: "the flow so Tolstoy/Fyodor Dostoy [yevsky]/half oyster, half shrimp/fully dressed 'po boy."

- RR

5.
Drake - "Karaoke"

ATG remains fascinated by rap's most promising mainstream star. June's Thank Me Later brims with soundtracking moments that lurked at countless gatherings. The paranoid duet with Jay-Z was astonishing. The dawn sunrise with Alicia Keys was wonderfully honest. The Jeezy collab was starving and big. But Drake stands alone on his album's best song, the Francis and the Lights-produced pop masterpiece, "Karaoke." An elegant beat, a prideful vocal performance, (another) narrative about a break up's regrets that charms like Hitch's origin story.

- RR

4.
Rick Ross - "I'm Not a Star"

It takes a self-made character like Rick Ross to bark a line like "If I die today remember me like John Lennon" with a straight face. He can boast at that level of absurdity because he's not getting high on his own shit - he's just actually larger than life. The unsinkable don from Florida has shown that telling your own story is not only liberating for the artist but also the audience, who enter his world as willful participants. "I'm Not a Star" is a clever trick - a dark, guttural appeal for street-cred that can also be read as a hint that not all is what it seems. Ross is a star through and through - that's all he is - but like any great entertainer he leaves you not only accepting the artifice, but begging for more.

- RU

3.
Kanye West ft. Pusha T - "Runaway"

ATG loved this observation from Slate's Jonah Weiner:

"...the rapper runs his vocals through a distortion effect so severe it makes him sound like a synthesizer on the fritz. He says what sounds like "I'mma be honest," but after that his words aren't merely unintelligible; they're barely identifiable as words at all, just a mush of pained sound. This cyborg cri de coeur is among the most arresting moments on West's new album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and a jarring formal disruption: We come to hip-hop songs expecting to be able to hear what the guy on the mic is saying - it's a big part of what goes into being a rapper as opposed to, say, being Thom Yorke - but what we discern most clearly in West's "Runaway" coda are his hungry gasps for air, sucked down between bars. The effect is of a man - one for whom words have proven both cash cow and albatross over his turbulent career - drowning his words, and himself, in noise."

Also, Pusha T's verse is perfectly performed and written. Did you catch him on SNL? Pusha slayed.

- RR

2.
Big Boi - "Shutterbug"

Big Boi's best single as a solo performer was in fact recorded in 2007 and produced by Scott Storch (where's he been?); the actual raps are overshadowed by the tremlbing beat and funk-fueled hook. Big Boi probably knows this, and his lack of ego about it is a big reason every white publication inserted Sir Lucious Leftfoot as its token rap pick of the year: critics were too busy dancing to the big beats to notice words.

- RR

1.
Kanye West - "All of the Lights"

On what is very likely the biggest and most luxurious rap song ever produced, Kanye West locks out other rappers. Championed for its comical guest list (Elton John, Rihanna, Kid Cudi, Charlie Wilson, crowning serenades of horns and strings), the bombast stays on point with a redemptive theme of spousal abuse, jail, a baby daughter in the ghetto. Whereas "Power" was a would-be king building his own castle, and "Runaway" was self-involved and purposefully selfish, "All of the Lights" isn't about Kanye West. It's a relatable, humanist, no name cautionary tale. The art of storytelling is a fading element in popular rap. Every great rap album in recent memory is about its creator and his or her journey to the booth. Well beyond welcome renewal, Kanye's verses are big-hearted, passionate, and witty. They barely fit over the noise but just squeeze in. Exhausted with his positive anthems about imminently improving conditions, Kanye lets the bottom fall before selflessly ceding the spotlight to reprisals from Charlie Wilson and Cudi. And about those noises: there's multiple choruses, a dissenting female voice fights to the front of the line to grieve about unemployment and drug abuse before jetttisoned backwards into trumpets and echoes. Excess be damned, "All of the Lights" is the most vital song of the year.

- RR

What Fiona Did to Get Her Dream Job

2010-12-03T14:41:16Z

Reggie on a friend's dignity-eroding, social media-based challenge taken on for the benefit of a summer internship. He puts the thing in generational context, it's a great read penned for The Awl.

Shameless Plug: Phones Edition

2010-11-22T14:11:06Z

Head over to Complex Mag to see one of those epic, click-til-your-fingers-bleed GOAT lists authored by yours truly. It's about the best phones... EVAR. Also, I take a cheap shot at MIMS.

>> The 50 Best Mobile Phones of All Time (Complex Mag)

Summer of Rap

2010-11-10T01:57:33Z

The biggest summer hit of 2009 was from an unknown Canadian breaking hearts without an album. This year found its cultural cornerstones scored by big rap songs from big rap albums. Whereas summer '09 became book-ended with would be comebacks from Raekwon and Eminem, 2010 hip-hop has seen its brightest stars converging on the opportunity to top charts. Drake sold nearly half a million in a week. Em over 700,000 copies of his sober, wordy work. I heard Rick Ross's Teflon Don blaring from four separate outlets (car, truck, nice car, loudspeaker) on one August night walking between Bloomingdale to the New York Avenue metro, and through to Dupont Circle.

Detecting an inviting climate, second tier rappers like Paul Wall and Guilty Simpson and Curren$y got their songs carbon manifestations available in stores and moved away from the tired formula of converging with stupid blogs to build buzz. M.I.A. sort of crashed and burned after a high profile New York Times piece tore into her guarded public image and reviews of her third album soured after the near-comic level of blind fanaticism that blanketed her old stuff.

Interesting comebacks surfaced: white people loved Big Boi's return to form. Rhymefest, after teasing El Che for three years, finally got a chance to see another commercial release tank miserably. Bun B's otherwise regional release elevated to national news when The Source awarded Trill O.G. its once prestigious five microphone rating. The last five mic rating this eroding-in-relevance rag handed out? Lil Kim's The Naked Truth. The award did lead rap fans down warm memories of how fraudulent and stupid The Source has been since the late '90s.

With the climate covered, ATG prepped a list of top summer albums. But the writers split over finalists while carb loading at Tom's Restaurant Monday night. This before transferring colors and taking trains out to Yankee Stadium, where most of the list hung out and exchanged anthems behind unifying, bright colors and sunglasses at night. The tight-knit fraternity became, for better or worse, an indistinguishable mob of hitmakers. So, here are the songs that got me through the move, the heat, the job search.

J. Cole - Villematic

Nas - Last Real Nigga Alive, Pt. 2 (Power, Paper, Pussy)

Drake featuring Jay-Z - Light Up

Ron Isley featuring Lauryn Hill - Close to You (Cover)

Yelawolf - Looking For Alien Love

Big K.R.I.T. featuring Yelawolf - Hometown Hero (remix)

Blu - So Perfect

Yelawolf featuring Gucci Mane - Wanna Party

Trek Life - Ready to Live

Rick Ross featuring Jay-Z, John Legend - Free Mason

Curren$y - Breakfast

Eminem - Cinderella Man

Badio - Kiss the Sky

Big Boi featuring Andre 3000 - Lookin' For Ya

Now back to mid-September.

DEF NFL PREVIEW RAW 2010

2010-11-10T01:53:13Z

Right on schedule. For this edition, J. Couch and I break down the divisions into separate nuggets of streaming files. This way, you don't have to sit through a 50-minute podcast. Even if said podcast culminates with a perfect Super Bowl matchup, as ours did in 2009. We'll do the AFC on Tuesday, the NFC on Wednesday, roll out big predictions and playoff trees Thursday.

And now, the respective playoff trees are unveiled. The last AFC team to make the Super Bowl not from Indy, Pitt, or New England? The 2002 Oakland Raiders. Couch and I both think 2010 is the year an upstart breaks through and breaks up the hegemony.

In the NFC, the regular season is crucial: secure home-field and you're in the Super Bowl. These home crowds become too strong a variable for contending forces like Dallas, Minnesota, Green Bay, New Orleans. Any of those teams host the NFC Championship, they will advance. As a bonus, the two of us delve into college football for some reason.

AFC Playoff Preview

NFC Playoff Preview

Why Won't You Forgive Lindsey Lohan? An Inquiry

2010-09-29T00:10:44Z

Reggie penned his first feature for The Awl recently. It's a categorical analysis of celebrity offenses and their respective roads to public redemption. It's a fairly shallow analysis but the graphic is cool and as a blog post, it kicks ass.

Congrats bro.

The ATG Interview: Oddisee & Trek Life

2010-09-29T00:09:52Z

I caught up with Prince George's County's Oddisee and West Covina, California's Trek Life just as their collaborative LP, Everything Changed Nothing, hit stores. It's a well-pieced effort worth your time.

Check out the interview in the City Paper.

The ATG Interview: Donwill of Tanya Morgan

2010-09-29T00:08:37Z

Sort of. Spoke to Donwill for the Washington City Paper.

Read.

The Cypher: Drake's Moment

2010-07-20T14:46:31Z

Reggie Ugwu
Tuesday, June 15 at 5:18 p.m.

So I looked in Slate today and everything I've wanted to say about this Drake shit was staring me in the face. It was uncanny. At first I was thrilled, and then I was profoundly dismayed. Kudos to Jonah Weiner, and death to Jonah Weiner.

Thank Me Later is not a bad album. But compare it to his earlier work, as those of us who have been following his career closely for years are want to do, and it feels like a significant disappointment. There is very little to be excited about, and frankly, the sonic palette is kind of a snooze. Are Weiner and I the only ones feeling Aubrey fatigue?
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Ramon Ramirez
Tuesday, June 15 at 5:31 p.m.

No, not at all. Drake's Thank Me Later has swelled into the most polarizing hip-hop release by a newcomer since The Slim Shady LP. Purists rally around aesthetics and privilege, heads attack the skills (though to be fair, most of the ending phrases on "Fireworks" feature the convenient inclusion of the word "it"), most critics think the album is just ok.

TML is a collection of good songs and great songs with two clunkers we'll attack first. The closer, "Thank Me Now," though solid with the bars, features a throwaway beat and a ghastly chorus that fuses a pseudo-Cuban accent (Drake as the shape-shifting poser from nowhere) and really nasally, pointless background crooning (Drake as the condescending, cheesy, would-be r&b singer). In other words, it's why people hate Drake in three minutes.

"Cece's Interlude" is deeper than "I wish I wasn't famous" but most of us missed it because the song is bad. Per a helpful commenter on the Slate piece:

"What happens in the narrative Drake puts forward after he utters that 'I wish I wasn't famous' complaint? He gets laughed at. The joke he's making is on him, stepping outside of the first person and crafting that exchange without disrupting rhythm or explaining himself, heady stuff. CeCe says 'You just want what you can't have' in response to Drake's whining..."

Save for these misfires, I dig the rest. You?

Reggie Ugwu
Tuesday, June 15 at 7:57 p.m.

It's interesting, I have to disagree with you on the "Thank Me Now" front. Friend of ATG, Terence "Trackjacka" Finley, also singles it out as a misfire, but I quite like it. I love the way he says "You can thank me now!" and "Oh my goodness, you're welcome." Throughout, he sounds more unhinged and less trapped inside his own head then anywhere else on the record. He just spits. "Mahalo from the hardest act to follow." It's the counterpoint to the moodily self-reflective opener "Fireworks." On one he's rhyming like Common Sense, and the other he lets his swag do the talking a la Jay Hova.

"Fireworks" is good. I love the line about being a gentlemen where he actually rhymes something with "cutlery." That's gotta be a first. But it's impossible to hear that song and not think of "Lust for Life," the slow-burner that Drake used to start off So Far Gone. Last time it was a bold statement, this time it feels unremarkable. Alicia's contribution is an afterthought.

"The Resistance" is similarly a retread. Drake talks about his fears of being a rap star over a beat that's a little bit "Houstatlantavegas," a little bit "The Calm."

"Cece's" leaves a bad taste in the mouth, I agree. At least "Bria's Interlude" on SFG was about sex.

Two songs I unequivocally love: #1. "Karaoke." The masters of understated pop known as Francis and the Lights turn this skittering, slightly uptempo track into something genuinely sublime. And Drake's voice is in top form. Thematically, it's like a sequel to my all-time favorite Drake song and our Best Song of 09, "Successful" - the rise to the top is making it impossible to keep the woman he loves. #2. "Unforgettable." I'm on record as saying we need more Aaliyah-influenced music in pop today. Drake agrees. The sample that opens and closes this song is haunting. The beat is dreamy and submerged in a pool of hazy ambivalence like all Drake beats, but it's also kinetic and Jeezy's presence makes the whole affair sound BIG. The album needed more moments like these.

Ramon Ramirez
June 17 at 12:41 p.m.

Agreed. Total lack of bigness.

Drake's goal is to soundtrack our summer and even anthems are sparsely arranged, moody and devoid of sonic boom. T.I.'s guest verse feels as whispered-in-the-ear as it does efficient and "Fancy" is produced by fucking Swizz Beatz. Kanye West's production talents are wasted on quiet storm afterthoughts. Timbaland's album-closing beat comes from a creative rut.

Most disappointing is Boi-1da. The equally high-rising newbie grand slams on So Far Gone, delivers 2009's quintessential summer jam, victory laps on a portly lead single ("Over") stuffed to the gills with pomp and circumstance and strings and the rest of his production credits are sub par. "Miss Me" is a tired retread of Little Brother's "Dreams;" I've heard the Nicki Minaj-featuring "Up All Night" maybe 20 times and I can't remember how its beat sounds.

Reggie Ugwu
June 17 at 6:43 p.m.

What I do remember is that Nicki Minaj demolished it. Her video made me hate her, but the girl may have a first-rate spitter somewhere beneath the gimmicky exterior. A topic for another day.

What about the implications for hip-hop? By now, even The New York Times acknowledges that our '09 most-potential pick is the future of the genre. And yet it's not clear to me that Drake knows which way to take his own career, much less hip-hop. Thank Me Later represents the maturation of a new generation, one that we've dedicated a lot of ink to. Even though SFG covered all the same territory a year and a half ago, TML's success as a bonafide blockbuster means that we're definitely going to see its formula refracted through some number of mini Drakes - just as Kanye's ascent gave rise to stylists like Cudi, Theophilus and Drake himself.

But what is the Drake model? There's middle-class malaise, open romanticism, tortured self-examination to the point of self-obsession. He's a classic modernist who thoroughly rejects nearly everything that was embraced by the art form 5 years ago. And his message is now uber-mainstream - innately understood by the millions of Clinton babies who were always to some degree removed from the gangster and hustler shit of the last decade. Hip-hop has been inherited by a generation of would-be reality stars and internet celebrities at the center of their own social universes. Drake moans about the pains of being famous and his fans instantly echo the sentiment on their Facebook statuses. We've reached a point when talking about the trappings of materialism and the struggle to connect and find true love over moody pop atmospherics is firmly within the terrain of rappers.

Any guess at how long the new era lasts? What happens between now and the next Drake album? What will the next Drake album be like?

Ramon Ramirez
June 29 at 9:09 a.m.

The era lasts until the next Drake album. He's self-aware enough to realize the style is starting to rot. Drake's follow-up will be produced by Wavves, feature detached indie rock crooning and verses paralleling Jay-Z in 1998 when Hova rapped about hanging it all up and unleashing Memphis Bleek. Or it'll sound like a crisper, more realized epic about stargazing and long nights alone.

Drake's core fans are a class beneath us (editor's note: Reggie is 24, Ramon 25) and the kids love him unconditionally. The Austin concert back in May was a groundswell. Rich jocks from Westlake snuck in totally sweet flasks and acted drunk. Drill team girls swooned. Urban kids with flat-bill, fitted lids rapped along. The rock influence -- Drake's live band is expansive, noisy, messy, mostly crowds 40's bare bones programming -- was likewise an afterthought with the senior skip day crowd. Point is, acting like Drizzy's rise is anything less than an earnest, grassroots movement is incorrect. Whatever the guardians disseminating his propaganda, once these things get to mile-a-minute surfing fans, work rises via a rigorous meritocracy.

It should be noted that since our previous correspondence, my wife and I packed up a UHaul trailer and drove to Washington, D.C. Not to be that guy that touts his demographics for liberal credits, but the Eckington neighborhood is 90% African-American and people are on that Drake. He's all over radio, bleeding from cars, served with cookouts, right on track.

It should come as no surprise, then, that since our previous correspondence Drake went and sold over 467,000 copies of Thank Me Later. As Eskay pointed out in an f-bomb laden rant, just under what Jay-Z's Blueprint III moved opening week.

Likewise, MTV premiered a solid, cosigning documentary on the tense months leading up to June 15. Have you seen it? I was sincerely inspired; specifically during the bit wherein we're told that producer/engineer/tour manager/best friend Noah "40" Shebib has Multiple Sclerosis and Drake's biggest fear in life is 40's potential death.

It certainly contextualizes hook lines like "I don't really know who I'm a lose this year" and brotherhood-first boasts like "I'm so tired of being subtle, it's just me, 40, O and Nek standing in a huddle." There's few things more important than loyalty and Drake's insistence on keeping the movement in-house is greatly appreciated. Take note, LeBron.

Maybe it was the gray drive perfectly accented by TML, or the qualifying media, but I'm falling for this record. Granted, it remains a paralleling sequel with less bravado, lyrics and excitement but it's still well-segued (he saves all his guests for the second half and stacks tracks 7-11: a bold and calculated move) and delectable. And we haven't even harped on the album's best song.

The apprehension we heard on "Fear" manifests on "Light Up" with perfect lyrics, delivery and the greatest rapper of all-time backdooring the moment in vintage form. It gives me goosebumps. I even like the "Kelsey grammar" line and here we get the most pointed chorus lyric of the album: "who would've thought I'd be caught in this life lesson?" Christ, everything Jay says after "Drake, here's how they gon come at you" kicks kingly knowledge.

How have the repeated spins left you? Talk me off this ledge.

Reggie Ugwu
July 7 at 4:20 p.m.

At spin 25 I'm back where I started. The album is good. No hate here. You're right to fall for "Light Up." But it's very safe. He did what we know he can do. I'll be excited if and when Drake's peculiar and modern bundle of influences gives us another unique hip-hop moment to theorize about. We've already talked about the bits of Yeezy in him, but Kanye is a relentless experimenter. Drake may just be the crooning rapper guy. We don't know yet. He once said that So Far Gone represented him "going left," but then his life exploded and he turned it into a formula. For a guy this talented, you've gotta hope he puts the formulas away.

Metrics: The World Fucking Cup

2010-07-20T14:44:54Z

ATG sizes it all up.

Tomorrow, the World Fucking Cup (WFC) begins in South Africa. The thought of typing up a "WFC for Dummies" guide seemed appropriate but, more than likely, you've read such a document in ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Slate, Time, Newsweek or other formidable publications.

ATG will not provide banal analysis and default to Spain or Brazil. I won't explain why Brazilian athletes have one name. I won't compare and qualify a sport by putting it in perfect, hilarious American context. Rather, I'll advocate total immersion and dissect your barriers to total immersion.

Enjoy the globe-stopping tournament. Hopefully at a trendy, hip, American bar full of pseudo-intellectuals more than happy to break down the offsides rules.
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1. American soccer bro

The true American sports fan - the working class male who likes sports talk and team colors, has been put off by the American soccer bro for decades. They are snarky jerks who played in high school and, more pertinently, worldly dissenters who traveled abroad and came home with scarves. They confuse their fellow Americans by calling it "football" in a land where 99% of people know football as an entirely different game and make arguments like "American athletes are ____" (juiceheads, spoiled, thugs). They go to Irish pubs and wear trendy glasses.

As such, it's impossible to realize soccer is the everyman's game. It's not that complicated. It doesn't require a liberal arts degree to take in and it's for the people. Just like our football.

The American soccer bro always puts the two in competition because of the name. Simple fact is, both sports are wonderful for entirely different reasons. And as much as I grew up around soccer through family, as a Texan I'll never cede its superiority to our football at any level but I shouldn't have to make that argument in the first place.

2. A pointless rivalry hampers unity

Why are Mexico and the United States such bitter rivals? Why do all the white people pick European countries to pull for? It's divisive. Yes, Mexicans are crazy en masse, but considering there's more Spanish speakers in the states than in any other country in the Americas save for Mexico, we should be natural comrades.

Mexican-Americans are going to pull for the team of their fathers, just like any other sports fan. To this day, if a Mexican-American pulls for the States against Mexico I think less of he/she. It shouldn't be the case. We should be inspired by each other's progress; we should be proud that Mexico's exhibition games sell out Giants Stadium. We're the only two real contenders in our regional qualifying, so there's not much threat, and we rarely face off under dire backdrops.

All the retired U.S. players harboring bitter memories of games in Mexico have fueled the rivalry with zany stories. Rivalries are generally key to advancing a sport; I can't help but to think of how many millions Texas has made in the past 15 years by colliding with Oklahoma on a quarterly basis across sports as both became superpowers.

Thing is, Americans should be supporting Mexico in the Cup and vice versa. We're North America. We're both reaching for respect. We're the same land mass. We share borders, food, lovers, and culture. Don't pick the Dutch or the English, pick the Mexicans as your second team. Thanks to the villainous portrayal of guys like Luis "El Matador" Hernandez and Cuatemoc Blanco, Americans are increasingly discouraged from engaging with Mexican fans. This matters because of how contagious and inviting a bunch of drunken nationals can be.

By the same token, pull for Honduras, the ultimate underdog and only other CONCACAF brethren in the tournament.

3. Structure of European leagues, soccer leagues in general

I love sports. I love the Cowboys, the Longhorns, the Knicks and Mexico's national team in soccer. I don't have a dog in the European leagues because there's no salary cap and they're perversely capitalistic, corrupt organizations prone to fixing and the same teams come up every spring: Arsenal, AC Milan, Barcelona, Fair Market FC, Real Madrid.

How do you pick a team? Few matter and there's no allegiance to the big clubs. In short, who cares? It's worth watching because these leagues have the best players, but there will never be a profound attachment.

Bigger problem is the conceptual disconnect between us and them and it boils down to one word: LEGS. In our sports, playoffs are clear: win or go home; win or shake it off and battle tomorrow in a series. This notion that you lose 2-0 and the goals carry over so that the team with a 2-0 advantage in game 2 can play conservative, wussy ball is not the American way. Aggregate scoring didn't work in fantasy leagues because it's just not compelling and it won't ever captive us Yankees.

The World Cup used to count aggregate goals as a metric for advancement until they realized it was stupid. With international competition, it's easy to fix games: in 1978, Argentina needed, like, 4 goals to make it out of the group phase. They were hosts, slipped some money to perpetual doormat Peru, and won 6-0. It's hilarious, really, but an alien premise to our events. You lose 150-70 or 99-98, it should still count as a 1-0 series lead and then you man up, shake it off, play again.

4. Old guard and Carlos Valderamma

Our sports media is full of legends and columnists and career masters who never had to pay attention to soccer. They talk baseball. They talk golf. They're incredible and vital components of our consumption. But they can't talk soccer in depth and so they don't. Hence, fans don't get proper armor with which to talk shop.

Besides, how long has soccer been on the verge of crossing over? Since at least the '70s and it's never happened. Part of the reason is because the big soccer players of the era - Pele, Maradonna, Batistuta, Hugo Sanchez, etc. - had absurd names and huge hair. You're telling me American kids are going to see perms, mustaches, mullets, ponytails and jheri curls and get captivated?

Finally, soccer is full of charismatic everymen. It boasts smug villains like Cristiano Ronaldo, and enough cool to compel the coolest country in the world with respects to trends and pop culture.

Get on board folks, soccer fever is inevitable. ESPN. HD. Video games. Globalization. Simply put, it's impossible to be a sports fan and not get hooked. It just is. Ignore American douchebag fans like me and just let go. It beats reading about training camp.

The ATG Interview: Rhymefest

2010-06-10T16:22:44Z

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This week, Rhymefest finally dropped his long (LONG) awaited sophomore album, El Che. An outspoken intellectual and a Grammy winner for his work writing "Jesus Walks" for Kanye West, Rhymefest was at one time considered a formidable rising star in the alternative Chicago rap scene that included now household names like Kanye, Common and Lupe. He was handpicked by super-producer Mark Ronson, who helped catapult Amy Winehouse and Lilly Allen to superstardom, to join his inner circle. But plagued by label troubles, internet leaks, and bad luck (at one point his iPod was stolen and an early version of Che was leaked in its entirety), Rhymefest's once buzzing career languished. Many wondered if he would ever return with a proper follow up.

We called Rhymefest (and interrupted his haircut) to talk about the new record, which was released on Tuesday devoid of any connection to a major label or any of his early production partners. (He did however, link up with S1, who has since found fame for producing Kanye's own comeback "Power").

But as fans who have followed his career for years, and have often been frustrated with some of his actions, we had a lot of other questions as well. Our occasionally intense conversation touches on subjects including his own naivete in dealing with record labels, homophobia and political correctness in hip-hop, his beef with Charles Hamilton, the way new media presents new opportunities for underplayed rappers, what makes a real revolutionary and more. Check it out now after the jump.

ATG: Hey man really glad for the chance to talk to you. We've been trying to set this up for a while. How are you feeling?

Rhymefest: I'm feelin good man. In Chicago. I was getting my hair cut, just stepped out of the chair.

ATG: I'm curious, you were at SXSW recently and I live in Brooklyn now, but I went to school in Austin. Tell me what it was like for you really briefly. Had you been before?

Rhymefest: I'd been one other time. SXSW was good man. We got together with djs and everybody. Hooked up with a lot of good people who I've wanted to meet with down there. Stat quo, Killer Mike, Elliot Craft. We got to basically just vibe and have camaraderie as likeminded brothers.

ATG: I've been listening to El Che and just having it and listening to it is a lot to absorb. I bought Blue Collar when it came out in stores back in '06. So much has happened since then. I wonder if you could take me back to the period immediately following that album release. Did you have any idea how things would go down?

Rhymefest: Nah, man. I was so new. I was so green and everything. And I believed in the label. They said "You're gonna be famous! You're gonna be huge!" And then the album came out and they were like: "Meh. You're pretty popular. You're pretty popular, but you're not a star." Nobody ever blames the label. Nobody ever blames the management. They blame the artist. So I had to take that upon myself. I had to learn to make it on my own.

ATG: How long have you been planning this El Che album?

Rhymefest: Since Blue Collar.

ATG: It was scheduled to drop a long time ago, but it kept getting pushed back. It was pretty far along and I think someone stole your iPod and started leaking tracks at some point? That's insane. How did you deal with that?

Rhymefest: It was just a lot of setbacks. I had to get away from the label. Away from the beaurocracy. Away from the red tape. I had to wake up to the politics of the industry. It's taken until now to get through that process.

ATG: How much different is this version of El Che from the earlier versions? Is it completely redone? I didn't recognize any of the songs really.

Rhymefest: It's definitely completely new. This album is who I am as a person. The real me.

ATG: What about the Allido family, Mark Ronson and them. Are you still affiliated with that camp? Were they involved in this project?

Rhymefest: No. They weren't involved at all. It was just me, Rhymefest. And my people. People like Scram Jones. Basically the hip-hop community came together to help me get this album out.

ATG: You're a rapper who always has something to say. I've read some of your writings, and you've always come across as unusually thoughtful. You must have had a lot on your mind when you were making this album. What were your influences?

Rhymefest: Pain is the influence for this album. Pain. Waiting. I could try and come up with a name of a person or musician, but honestly it's the pain I've been through, and showing my true self. It's my real name on this album, so it's all on me.

ATG: How did you link up with Little Brother?

Rhymefest: Little Brother is family. We're just like minded people. We went on tour with A Tribe Called Quest a while back, so yeah, D-Brock and all them, we cool.

ATG: Who were some of the producers you worked with?

Rhymefest: S-1, Scram Jones, Best Kept Secret, a young fresh group of producers.

ATG: Being so outspoken, you've got a reputation for being a bit of a ball of contradictions. You've been affiliated with backpack and enlightened rappers, but you've also been criticized as being homophobic and sexist for some pretty harsh words you've used. How do you defend that sort of thing?

Rhymefest: Hip-hop in its essence is sexist. Music is sexist. What we hear on the radio... Some of these guys have degrees and jump up and down and have gold in they mouth and what they say is WAY more sexist than anything I've ever said, and people accept it. As far as homophobia, homophobia is an irrational fear of homosexuals. I don't have that. Hey the guy who signed me to my original record deal was a homosexual. The owner of my last label, Clive Davis is a homosexual. You think I was in the label offices like "Whoa let me stay away from you people." Come on. I'm just a man. I think people can't be honest. Nobody wants to have an intelligent discussion about these things.

ATG: What about when you use an epithet like the F-word.

Rhymefest: Does that make me homophobic?

ATG: I don't know. Do you think it's appropriate? Is it right for you to say that?

Rhymefest: I think it's hip-hop. Hip-hop is edgy. If a homosexual is calling another homosexual queer is he homophobic? If a white man calls another white man a nigga is he racist? As far as I know, Charles Hamilton is a heterosexual. Me knowing that and calling him a faggot, is that homophobic? I think we have to examine these things. If a white man called another white man a nigga, I would probably laugh at it rather than get up in arms. Come on, man. This is hip-hop. Are we really politically correct? Get the fuck outta here. The people who are really saying destructive things and setting us back have hit songs on the radio. Do people take exception to that? Hell naw they dancin' to it. You dancin' to our destruction? The people who get mad are only mad because they're the ones getting talked about. But it's ok when we do it to ourselves? Fuck that. This is hip-hop. Everybody gets it.

ATG: On Twitter you seem to like to stir up controversy every now and again. Do you enjoy throwing people curve balls? Playing with perceptions a little bit?

Rhymefest: What do you mean by playing with perceptions?

ATG: I think a lot of people would be surprised by some of the things you say.

Rhymefest: I think people deserve to be surprised. There's too much predictability in the world. That's not to say I say things just to be surprising. I'm not on Twitter like "Boo, nigga!" But what I am saying is let's be revolutionary by being individuals. To be a gangsta is status quo. To be talking about bricks of coke, that's ordinary. To be a good man, to be a leader to be an intellectual, that's revolution.

ATG: Your Facebook page stays active, too. What do you like about new media as an artist?

Rhymefest: What I like is that It levels the playing field. Right now it takes $100,000 to play a record to radio. Why is that? You gotta pay people. All these intermediaries figure they aughtta get paid off it. It's all fuckery. [With new media] you don't have to pay for magazine covers. Facebook and twitter allows you to build your own audience and reach the hearts and minds of people.

ATG: At SXSW I think you played a showcase on the same bill as Charles Hamilton. How did that happen? What was that like?

Rhymefest: Well, he didn't show up.

ATG: Oh really? So I guess he wasn't a part of the camaraderie.

Rhymefest: Hey that's on him. My album comes out on May 18th. [Editor's note: The album was delayed to June 8th]

ATG: Some people would say you've been pretty outspoken against some of the rappers of this new generation. Would you agree with that? And why would that be?

Rhymefest: No, I don't agree with that. I haven't been critical of this generation. There are certain individuals that I've been critical of. There are certain parts of the last generation that I was critical of. The all-conscious rappers. That ain't human. Slick Rick was one of the most lyrical and poetic rappers, but he also had "Lick the Balls." KRS One had Edutainment. Scarface and the Ghetto Boyz "Real gangsta ass niggaz don't run for shit, cuz Real gangsta ass niggaz can't run fast." That's hiphop.

I'm gonna have to cut this interview in a minute. Maybe a couple more questions.

ATG: Oh... OK. Then tell me who are some rappers you are feeling right now?

Rhymefest: I love B.o.B., I love Skyzoo, Devin the Dude, Foreign Exchange. Those are people who I just admire.

ATG: What's next after El Che? I heard something about a group...

Rhymefest: Working on a group with Juice, Mikkey Halstead and Twone Gabz. It's gonna be our little Chicago supergroup.

ATG: Is there a name for it?

Rhymefest: Nah, we don't have a name yet.

ATG: How does it feel to have this album done and in the can?

Rhymefest: There's a good word that goes with revolution, and that's liberation. I feel liberated.

- Reggie Ugwu

Metrics: Solar Flares

2010-05-28T14:33:56Z

ATG sizes it all up.

This is the most ugly, personal rap beef I've seen since 50 v. Rick Ross. Things are so digital right now.

To recap: Solar is/was Guru's handler/friend/creative partner during hip-hop legend, Guru's final stages of life. When Guru passed, an ominous statement emerged and many assumed Solar was its real author because it was poorly written and Guru's friends were pessimistic about its content. Hip-hop is then predisposed to disliking Solar because the letter attacks beloved talent and Guru cohort, DJ Premier.

Solar's family questions the letter. Details emerge that Guru never regained consciousness following a widely publicized heart attack, despite Solar's reports to the contrary. Now Solar seems like, well, kind of a dick. Add the self-important attitude and wack aesthetic (color-tinted shades, mainly) and he becomes an easy target.

But really, that seemed to be about as far as this story could go. Solar is a shady dude but there's no real way to prove anything. Unless, of course, Solar treats his AOL account like it's Fort Knox and fills it with incriminating evidence including passwords to his other social media and lots of porno. An anonymous internet wiseguy, known only as "Renaldo" hacks into Solar's email account and disseminates the following through Solar's (hacked) Twitter account. We find out:

Solar endagered Guru's health
Solar was planning on using Guru's health and death to sell music
Solar physically abused Guru
Solar kept passwords and tabs on Guru's online presence
Solar kept Guru's family out of all decisions and statements
Solar owed money to producers, including Buckwild
Solar was collecting Guru's royalties
Guru's work with Solar netted hilariously puny royalties
Solar forged Guru's deathbed statement
Solar repeatedly cheated on his wife

On the one hand: good. Solar's actions are indefensible and exposing them is for the greater good. On the other: man, I'm never getting on Renaldo's shit list. Solar talked to Vibe in another exclusive (they scooped you, Source and XXL, though Vibe, you gotta press with follow ups and bring up infidelity claims) and he remains in denial; in "that was taken out of context" mode. He's likewise delusional and it's kind of funny:

"I just hope that this is just another case of a celebrity being targeted at random."

That said, he makes an undeniable point:

"Anything we've released that people don't like they just attack it."

Fans want to believe Premier because he's a way better producer. Besides cheating on his wife, every other action on Solar's behalf can be semi-defended with context claims and the fact Guru trusted Solar for several years. Sorta.

ATG stands with Renaldo, because he seems sincere and makes good point that Solar isn't saying much because he knows Renaldo has some aces in his inbox; because I'd like to be on his good side; because you cannot trust a man with an America Online account.