E-40 - “Earl,” “Wake-Up” & “Got Rich Twice” Videos
GENERAL By Corey Bloom on November 25, 2008 at 9:05 pmI don’t expect the rest of the Rap world to hold E-40 in the same regard as I do. It’s a case I’ve taken to trial for years, with similar results each time; motherfuckers ain’t trying to hear it. People are comfortable handing him the crown of the Bay, but it ends there. It’s not a situation of props or respect, that’s already been paid. But for whatever reason, 40 is never credited as a great MC; one of the best to ever never do it. One of the best still doing it years after surpassing fellow legends who started the race at the same time and are now watching from the sidelines.
Maybe he needs a Primo track for folks to really look at him as a “real” MC. Maybe it’s a song with Jay to be considered a legitimate contender for lyrical heavy weight. Maybe it’s record sales, or a number one single. At the rate things are going now maybe it’s a blog or a YouTube channel. I don’t know what it will take, but I know what it hasn’t been.
It’s not the longevity. Releasing 14 albums to be exact, nearly two decades after financing the jump-start of his own career. It’s not innovation in rhyme style or delivery, sound or slang. Surely it has nothing to do with being balanced and multi-dimensional, combining street intellect with the ability to tell a story from more than one perspective. Being a boss and never fronting on the microphone or taking the position lightly, apparently it’s only good for nods of approval.
And we won’t even get into the business aspect of things…
A T-Pain hook and a Konvict seeded single aren’t a good argument for supremacy, but a “Got Rich Twice” and an “Earl” are. 40’s latest, The Ball Street Journal, drops today and while I’m not going to lie and say it’s a masterpiece, I will testify that its strokes of individual genius dull the attempts to sell the product. Just listen and say dude isn’t spittin’. Do the same to the last album, and the one before that, and so on and tell me how the next rapper and the one before him is better. At this point, I need to be proven why I’m the one who needs convincing.
The Ball Street Journal features appearance by Akon, Bun B, Gucci Mane, Snoop Dogg & The Game as well as production from Jonathan “J.R.” Rotem, Lil’ Jon & Drumma Boy. Album is in stores now.
Previously Posted - E-40 - “Poor Man’s Hydraulics” Video
Posted in GENERAL, MUSIC, SMOKE BREAK, VIDEO — Tags: Akon, E-40, Ice-T, The Ball Street Journal, Turf Talk
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46 Comments
WHAT UP FAM IM BACK BITCHES!!!!!!
My innernet was down for a damn WEEK!!! Felt like i was in rehab or some shit!!!! Now im goin back to catch up!!!!
I think Prop Joe.. and Earl look so similar… maybe its just me…
in the 90’s e 40 was looked at as one of the elite rappers…at least among my circle of hip hop fiends.
he kind of fell off for a second but he came back with it and brought it back to the bay.
I feel you Turk, mine was out for 3 days last week and I was shivering and shaking like a fiend.
I would’ve pushed for 4 Cigs on My Ghetto Report Card
I think what 40 is lacking is mass appeal. Unless you’re heavy into the Bay/Hyphy/Mobb sound, you most likely won’t take 40 seriously. It took alotta convincing from my midwest homies in school & a co-sign by Pac to get me to give “In A Major Way” & Tha Hall Of Game” a listen. Dude is different & creative which cats always say that hip hop is lacking, but usually aren’t ready for it. I mean, I don’t really mess with dude that heavy, but it’s been proven that if you put 40 over the right beat, he’s gonna come with some heat.
4 cigs? For a 40 album? I can’t see it. Great production does not = a great album.
God damn have you guys heard the new seal - soul album? I saw it on some commercial for target and saw him singing “its a man’s world” so I checked it out -aka downloaded it for the five finger discount - and it isnt bad.
@ Amp
It had a good deal of bangers on it. One of his best. It was close. And Bloom is the big 40 supporter, seeing that he’s on the Left Coast, but I can rock to his joints occasionally.
first off, mad props to Mr. Corey Bloom for consistently declaring his unwavering allegiance to E-Feezy, lol
I’m always somewhat bewildered as to why there are certain artists from Cali, E-40 among them, that just don’t garner the respect that they deserve.
See, I’m from The Yay. I came up listening to hip-hop back when there were really only 2 regions on & popping…NYC & Cali (of course, not to discredit anyone else, there were absolutely a few notable exceptions in between both coasts).
I’ll admit, early on, I had an East Coast bias…Native Tongues, P.E., BDK, L.O.N.S, Heavy D, etc…but, also, of course, being from where I’m from, there was Too $hort, N.W.A. (later, Ice Cube), Rodney O. & Joe Cooley, Sir Mix-A-Lot, local Bay dudes like Chunk and, of course, E-40.
106.1 KMEL & 107.9 KSOL (back when radio was good) ALWAYS gave love to ALL artists making that hot shit. I remember hearing the “Walk Into The Sun (Remix)” by Organized Konfusion & “Blue Cheese” by U.M.C.’s on during a mix show on KMEL…shit like that was almost the norm…but, there was always a balance.
I feel like I’m digressing here…
I don’t think that love was reciprocated.
show me an instance where a mix show in NYC had a Too $hort or E-40 song on its playlist back in the early 90’s, and I’ll give you a hundred dollars.
I’m not trying to point fingers here or beat a dead horse, but there used to be a contentious relationship between NYC and what they deemed to be its inferior country cousins from out of state.
As time went on, with other regions gaining prominence/dominance, NYC had no choice but to accept and adapt, and reevaluate its relationship with artists from other regions, especially the South & the Mid-West.
but the Bay Area…I dunno, it seems to me like they’re the red-headed stepchild of the hip-hop regions.
E-40 (& other Bay Area rappers) are polarizing public figures within hip-hop…people show love or have shown love to (or at least tolerate) UGK, ‘Face, Lil Jon, Ying-Yang Twins…
during The Hip-Hop Honors on VH1, the love shown to $hort was disappointing…
it’s kinda like there’s always gonna be this Anti-Bay bias…
i mean, really, what’s good?
I view it as a double-standard that The South would be so accepted and not The Bay…granted, there hasn’t been much hot shit coming from outta there, and the music is very regionalized, but what gives?
I thought it was dope when I first heard it, but it’s not an album I’d pull out on the reg. Don’t get it twisted though, I still root for 40. Just on the strength of the fact that he’s a vet & he’s still relevant, he gets my respect.
@ Teef
The only artists from the Bay who really put they’re stamp on the game are 40 & $hort. There has yet to be another MC from the Bay to really rep the area properly & have the rest of the game take notice.
^ I totally agree with you there, but even 2 of our greatest don’t get as much recognition…
or am I just imagining this perpetual cold-shoulder? lol
I mean, you could go up to Bun B, Luda, ‘Face, Big Boi, Killer Mike…not even just the recording artists, but the DJ’s too, in The South and other places not New York….ask them about The Bay, and 40 Water & $hort in particular, and all propers will be given.
but then you got other artists and DJs that just look down their nose at The Bay…that may not be the case now, but it certainly has been in the past, and it never really sat well with me, for people to be so prejudiced, lol
awwww, fuck it.
this post is really just a cry for help, and for all of us to hold e-hands and sing “Kumbaya, My Lord…”
or maybe it’s absurd to have a “Why Is The Bay Area Like Rodney Dangerfield?” discussion
The Bay needs new blood. Imagine if The Game came out repping’ the Bay? That’s the kinda artist that the Bay needs, not another Keek or another Mac Dre, who’s only gonna shine locally. I thought The Pack had a good chance of really breaking through, but as quickly as everyone jumped on the Hyphy bandwagon, everyone jumped off.
Mistah Fab?
^ faggot-ass radio politics at KMEL ain’t gettin’ dude no spins on that station last I heard
but Mistah Fab does have a bit of potential
& The Bay DOES NEED new blood, ain’t no doubt about that, I’m just tombout a lack of respect for the guys that done did it, not just E-40 & $hort, but Rappin’ 4-Tay, Mac Dre, Mac Mall, Ray Luv, The Coup, Spice 1, The Luniz, J.T. The Bigga Figga, Hiero, Soulsides…or maybe it’s just a lack of respect for elders in general, i dunno
maybe it’s like go-go music from DC…just appeals to the natives
Yeah, Fab was on Snoop’s joint.
He caught Royce dozin & we ain’t heard from him since. That ain’t gonna put the Yay back on the map. Music out the Bay is an aquired taste & it’ll really take a couple of strong MC’s to crack mainstream before the get the respect they’re looking for.
“Music out the Bay is an aquired taste”
^ that’s a nice way of putting it, lol
hell, I hated the taste of beer, now look…
awww, fuck it, the defeatist/pessimist in me says a post about E-40 and/or Bay Area Rap just ain’t gonna pop off like a post about Kanye, Lil Wayne, autotune, or NBA2K9…lol….oh well
Have 40 use auto-tune on a track produced by ‘Ye, featuring Weezy & T-Pain & throw it on the soundtrack for NBA2K10(?) & he just might have something lol.
Whaddup my good people? I just got back from visiting the wife in Colombia. anybody holding a working link to 808’s? Thanks in advance.
^ shhh..
http://rapidshare.com/files/165480698/808-2008-turbocity.rar
see what I mean? Big Fonz ain’t been up in TSS for a minute, and right off the bat, he wanna come in this E-40 post and ask for a link to some other s’aggin music…lol
wuddup Fonz…you stay visiting wifey in Colombia…what, you don’t wanna bring her up here? lol you prolly got a chick up here too, haha
Columbia? I’m sayin… i dun heard the stories… Columbia is supposed to be Brazil with less beaches and more blow.
I’m about to play myself with this one, but is anyone holding Natalie Merchant’s Tigerlilly?
I’d settle for some new Rhymefest as in El Che which is supposedly floating around.
Teef you are the illest. We need to publish your first response, couldn’t have said it any better.
basically I feel like the standards people use to hail rappers as legends, 40 meets them all. not one or two, but all of em. People don’t talk about 40 as a storyteller or a social commentator. I’m not saying 40 is better than any of these people, but people love G Rap for the rugged street shit, Kane for the rhyme structure and flow, Pac for both anthems and revolutionary joints, Big for lyricism and blunt honesty within, Jay for the consistency and the business mind, Wu for the slang. I could go on, but Teef pretty much summed it up.
Partially the motivation for this post came from Ludacris being hailed as one of the greatest all of a sudden. I’m a fan, trust that, but I just find it ironic that all of a sudden after a Primo track and co-sign, and a song with Jay and Nas, he’s getting looked at in a whole new light. I’m not mad, it’s just interesting to me.
you stay visiting wifey in Colombia…what, you don’t wanna bring her up here? lol you prolly got a chick up here too, haha
=========================
That WOULD be the G move.
Unless you’re all in love & stuff lol.
Just effing witcha Fonz =)
And Canseco, what, you getting in touch with your “feminine” side? That’s mighty “Lilith Tour” of you lol.
@ Teef - Yeah, you know I got orders put in while I was down there. So I gots to deliver tomorrow.
I put the paperwork for her to come up back in June. It’s just a long ass process. It’s a fuckin’ waiting game is what it is. No side chicks up here though. She’s pregnant now too soooo…..I got to go down as often as I can. 5 months now.
@ BC - Where I be, there aint too much of that goin on. That’s mostly in the jungles and shit. I don’t fucks with all that.
Oh yeah, it’s Colombia, not Columbia.
Y’all fools crazy son! Thanks for the link Teef. forgot to mention that.
oh shit, Lil Fonz, haha, congrats!
lil muhfucka (excuse the language) gonna be downloading shit like his pops…lol
dag, 4 more months….gonna have a hard-headed Taurus baby! hope wifey’s up here by the time she’s ready to pop! lol
yeah, you gonna need to hustle hard, slangin’ them bootlegs…formula and diapers ain’t cheap, lol
http://wearesimian.net/files/66be6f625746b1d5cd8cf0d3e8323f23-28.html
Alfa Mega shirt.
No doubt. SHE is gonna be a beast though. We gonna name her Sofia. I think she’ll be born down there though. It’s all good though ’cause I’m a US citizen, so that means that she will be one too.
^ i am seriously considering copping that shirt
I’m a fan, trust that, but I just find it ironic that all of a sudden after a Primo track and co-sign, and a song with Jay and Nas, he’s getting looked at in a whole new light.
===============================
Give 40 that Premo track & get Nas & Jay to come thru. I still don’t think that album goes platinum.
aight, that’s what’s up. good luck with that little girl!
@ C. Bloom - thanks!
as far as E-40, i think Amp’s right….maybe his music is an acquired taste…
i was thinking, it’s gotta be the VOICE and his delivery. same thing with Keak The Sneak. both totally unconventional. even I gotta admit that I’m not the world’s biggest E-40 fan…I can take his music in small doses, but he’s not wack, not by any means, and for someone to proclaim him as such is, well…ludicrous
his timing and breath control is impeccable, not sloppy at all
agreed, it’s an acquired taste. we’ll say a fine cognac.
Peace to Amp, TC and Teef for the validity
nice post. ball street journal slaps. i’m glad he shot video’s to got rich twice and earl. i want to see ones for Tell It Like It Is and 40 Water.
As far as newer talent in the Bay, The Jacka is really coming up and Tear Gas should be a solid product, the new San Quinn - From A Boy To A Man dropped today, that shit is just as good as the new 40. Clyde Carson’s new one should be dropping next year. To me Clyde Carson has the most mainstream appeal.
thanks for showin love to a vet.
First off, the comment about Prop Joe vs. 40 was overlooked and that was hilarious and true now that 40 rocks the dreads! Breaks my heart to watch one of my Top 10 (Rakim @ #1) get the two girls one cup treatment. A few months back, there was a similar post here and there were so many haters commenting. I don’t say haters like “Hi Hater” but haters that really professed their utter disgust for Earl. I just don’t get it. Shit, Ghostface is also in my Top 10 and tell me Ghost ain’t an acquired taste!! It takes non-Ghost fans a good 3-4 listens before they even begin to crack that code… 40 is one of the illest and while I prefer earlier works, I also prefer earlier Outkast and earlier Redman and earlier NaS, Jay and so forth… It is what it is fam. I just love the comments this time around. I feel like the tide is shifting and that’s good to watch. Ooh Ooooooooooh.
props to 40-water for consistently doing his thing. i’m also a fan of the early 40 stuff but i think that’s mostly cause i’m getting older and have an affinity for the music from the late 90s.
sidebar: did ya’ll peep how 40 kicked off this disc with another digable planets sample? do your thizzle E, i’ma stay coppin!
What’s good. I’m feeling this convo without the standard internet haters and dumb shit.
I definetly agree with most of what has been said. I personally hope mistah fab can bounce back or heat it up again and have people look at him as an emcee and not just a hyphy gimmick (atleast that’s the opinion i read about him outside of people from the bay).
And i personally think we need to link up with southern cali more than we have. I think that if we can have nocal supporting socal and vice versa, it could create a huge buzz being that cali is a big ass state…
also:
I’m an artist from Oakland, California and I truly hope to bring that respect for the Bay Area (in terms of being an artist who can represent the Bay and not be confined to the Bay, or regionalized, or looked at as an acquired taste).
so with that, i was wondering…
If anybody on here is interested, i’d appreciate your opinion on my music. you can check it out at http://www.myspace.com/clifsoulo or just email me at clifsoulo@gmail.com and i’ll can email you some links to download it.
peace
Just had to stop in and say that yes, 40 has to be in any top 10 dead or alive rappers list.
Seriously, what more does the man have to do? People really don’t comprehend what he did for the rap game. This was the FIRST RAPPER TO SIGN A MULTI MILLION DOLLAR LABEL DEAL! His deal with Jive set the table for every single fucking rapper today that is eating like they are. 40 set the blueprint for the southern rap sound we hear today - Do you know who broke Captain Save A Ho first? Texas DJ’s. Absolutely huge down South in the 90’s… ask 8-Ball and MJG, ask Master P, they will tell you who the king of the west coast, is, and was. Just look at the records he was featured on in the mid nineties. Even Tupac knew it - he gave props. Ask Biggie who almost had his ass on ice after getting out of line… he’ll tell you E-40.
Oh, did I mention that he built on the independent hustle Too Short laid the blueprint for, and parlayed it into the biggest rap deal *ever* at the time? All this from a goofy looking chubby guy that sounded like Woody Woodpecker on crack. Just think about that…. Oh, and he put his entire family on (The Click), and dropped a couple of Gold albums with them and racked up over a million in sales. Yeah, off pretty much all word of mouth.
Then….
In a Major Way - Platinum (1995)
The Hall of Game - Gold (1997)
The Element of Surprise - Gold (1998)
My Ghetto Report Card - Gold (2006)
+ the other 10+ albums that sold 300-400k every time out with no hit single, no east coast support, whatsoever. Even after ‘Pac died, and the west coast was “dead”… 40 was there holding it down, pumping out an album a year.
Just look at that shit. 11 years after his first platinum album, he came back and picked up another plaque. Tell me who in rap has reinvented themselves more than 40, and done a better job of staying relevant? Let’s see… Nas…Jay-Z…. Wait, 40 has never had the kind of success or universal support that they have had, and he’s STILL done it. He has done everything without the support of the East Coast whatsoever. This man embodies the independent hustle, staying relevant, and is flat out super fucking TALENTED. One of the most amazing stories in rap, flat out one of the greatest hustlers, amazingly underrated as a lyricist, and humble as the day he came out of his momma…
Seriously - the East Coast can keep Nas, can keep Jay Z, fuck all that noise. Give me my ‘40 CD’s.