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On a weekly basis, the amount of coasters that make their way to my PO box is despicable. No offense to those who do send all those discs but I refuse to listen to all that shit because the majority of it usually is some offbrand, niche style of rap that doesn’t float my boat. And lord knows most of the majors don’t acknowledge our existence as purveyors of freshness so the BP3‘s and such don’t make it until after the release, if they even make it then.

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But once or twice a month, the gods do shine down & the comeuppance is sweet. This month’s blessing came early in the form of David Dallas’ Something Awesome cd. Since it arrived from New Zealand on the 1st, I guess that means I have 29 days worth of shitty deliveries awaiting me…but that’s fine & dandy.

Besides that, September is chock-full of releases that I’m anticipating & none are by artists from artists named Shawn or Shallah. The fuss over BP3 & OB4CL2? Miss me with that. None of the major releases do anything for me musically.

I gave both a casual listen but don’t think I’ll be revisiting either heavily. Too much of the same thing repackaged & passed off “he’s backkkk!” No, he’s not, he’s just trying to keep pace but lagging behind. The rhymes, beats & themes are interchangeable with their previous works. Whatever Jay does on this album will be mimicked, for better or worse, until his next album drops and then rappers switch to follow suit again. OB4CL2 would be a great album, if only it had released during the same time & space as the originally. Now, it sounds like another Wu album in a clusterfuck of Wu albums not released by Ghostface. In fact, Ghost runs laps around Rae, only making the differences all the more glaring.

“So what are you anticipating?”

Mayer Hawthorne’s A Strange Arrangement. Of course, Boosie’s SuperBad. Lastly but certainly not least, Shafiq Husayn’s Shafiq En A Free Ka. You can also say something about the aforementioned Mr. Dallas, Mike’s Underground Atlanta, CuDi’s album & the M.O.P. release.

No direct relation between the sounds of any of those right? Riiight.

By no means is this an attempt to eschew the norm. It’s just that all of diversity in rap & this expansive thing called the internet leaves me wanting more from my music. And after attempting to digest all of the music that lands in my lap, I’m always seeking something that’s either pushing the borders of what rap is or taps deep into the music’s roots.

Dah well, enough about my choices. What are your top five from this early fall harvest?

Stray Shots

DJ Smallz And DJ Neptune – Southern Smoke TV Vol 4 (Hosted By Dorrough)

A Tribe Called Quest – Love Movement Instrumental LP

B.O.B – Cloud 9 Mixtape

DJ Screw – Ball Till Ya Fall-2CD

Laura Izibor – Live At Crawdaddy Dublin EP

Menahan Street Band – Make the Road By Walking

Novel – 808s and Mixtapes

Shabba Ranks – Rough & Ready Volume 1

Stray Shots