In honor of Nas’ Born Day today, I’m using him as an excuse to post a few of my favorite samples. I decided to steer clear of the seven second loops. Instead, I picked the joints you can let ride in your speakers, the ones that can stand alone without the stamp of being “sampled.” Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Prop Jay

During his younger years, Kardinal was a beast on the mic. Recently, he has seemingly gone the way of the dollar sign and has fallen from the high regard that I once held him in. In 2008, he released what could have been an album full of hits as he finally had a real financial backing. Instead, he deviated towards stylings that might be regarded as “Konvict Music.” Beyond these statements I don’t want to even discuss anything he has done post-2005.

The song above was an example of a hidden gem on his sophmore release from 2001, Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol. 1. Overall, the song got a moderate amount Read the rest of this entry »

…as in ya’ll slept!

While taking a little time out of my day to catch up on the world of R&B (since Hip-Hop is the first love), BET did nothing but reinforce my reasoning for ignoring their cornmeal of supposed entertainment programming. Forcing me to be an outsider, all I saw was a bunch of mofos leaning on Chris Brown and T-Pain for their worthless 15 seconds of fame.

Shit, Hip-Hop’s gonna be fine…R&B is in trouble.

It’s a genre not known for it’s die-hard fanbase (ever heard a debate on Ciara vs. Cassie?…Didn’t think so). Hot or not, Usher’s “Love In This Club” sounds like a half-baked, toaster strudel that was baked in a Apple Garageband oven.

Oh wait…it was.

And by allowing candy corn like Madonna and Mariah to blur the lines of what is actually R&B has the entire industry going soulless like Shang Tsung was the CEO.

While the countdowns and radio stations continue to swoon over everything that’s diluted, pardon me as I highjack the Stray Shots to shed some light on some worthy albums that should have gotten just a much burn as their overhyped competition.

Truth Hurts – Truthfully Speaking (Aftermath, 2002)

A triumph and tradegy all rolled up in one. After the chronic smoke had faded from 1999′s 2001, Dre adopted a new protégé in mad Black woman form. With Focus, Organized Noize, Mel-Man, Timbaland, Hi-Tek, R. Kelly, DJ Quik annnnd Dre on the boards, her sultry yet sassy vocals help combine for a nearly-flawless debut. But with her biggest hit “Addictive” featuring Rakim and an uncleared sample, Interscope figured she wasn’t worth half a billion dollars.

Glenn Lewis – World Outside My Window (Epic, 2002)

Usually comparisons to legendary artists can make a singer come off as a gimmick, but even Stevie Wonder himself acknowledged the similarities while recognizing the originality in Toronto native, Glenn Lewis. From the easygoing Read the rest of this entry »