Earlier in the week, producer David Kirkwood filed suit against Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records claiming that he is owed $1.5 million for his work on Tha Carter III. Now add the Texas production duo Play-N-Skillz to those seeking payment after the claim they’re owed millions in royalties for their work on…get ready…”Got Money.” Add these names to earlier producers with similar suits – mostly notably Bangladesh (“A Milli”) and Darius “Deezle” Harrison for $20 million – and I’d say they should all get together and file a class action lawsuit.

Future Carter IV producers, get ready.

[AHH]

Lelani Lee

Laurence Fishburne Exits CSI After Two Seasons [OMG]

Working While Drinking [Creative Loafing]

Yao Ming Still Has Ankle Problems [Inside Hoops]

Wanda Sykes: It’s Harder to Be Gay Than Black [The Root] Read the rest of this entry »

Generally, the bickering and babbling that coincides with ranking the year’s best LPs tend to blur the focus on the overall picture.

While some albums directly catered to personal preferences more immensely than others, all the selections emerged amongst the year’s best in regards to quality, visibility and of course, durability. Behold fifteen albums deserving of all the accolades and praises heaped upon them throughout the course of 2008. And their value will only solidify going in to 2009.

No order. No bias. Just noteworthy Hip-Hop.

Nas – Untitled

“From the brooding opening piano loop of “Queens Get The Money” to the uplifting snares on “Black President,” Nas channels his inner Walt Whitman as he explores the Black Diaspora. Lyrically though, his wordplay and delivery are sharp as ever as if all the attention to the title made Nas put extra effort and focus into his words…“ — From “America” – Review Of Nas’ Untitled Album

BONUS – Get familiar with Nas & DJ Green Lantern – The Nigger Tape Read the rest of this entry »

Rolling Stone has deemed Tha Carter III the best Hip-Hop album of the year. MTV has called “A Milli” the best Hip-Hop song of the year. The latest chapter in Tha Carter series has gone cabillion platinum. Like it or not, history has painted Tha Carter III as a modern day classic marking Lil’ Wayne’s arrival.

But this is only the latest transgression in Lil’ Wayne revisionist history. Many act as though he crash landed from Mars right around when Dedication 2 dropped. The fact is, Lil’ Wayne has had a career spanning roughly a decade. During that time, he’s at worse been an above average MC with a grand catalog of great solo songs. After revisiting literally over 450 songs, here is the definitive career-spanning list of the top 20 Lil’ Wayne solo songs.

No features or Auto-Tuning allowed.

20. “Fuck Wit Me Now”

In Lil’ Wayne’s 500 or so songs, not a single one sounds like this. Wayne gets his Twista on to keep things completely gutta. He spits over quadruple-timed Mannie beats in a flow that is completely A-typical for Lil’ Wayne, but it works for the young spitter.

19. “Upgrade U”

You ever see Drunken Master? The premise is that Jackie Chan needs a certain specific amount of alcohol that allows him to be smooth and impervious to pain enough that it makes him a better fighter. Drought 3 is where Weezy reaches that same sort of cracked out equilibrium that allows his wackiness to be a sign of brilliance. No track exhibits this fact as much as Wayne’s destruction of the Beyonce single. He even takes time to give a R.I.P. to Apollo Creed mid-song. Read the rest of this entry »

Featuring Bobby Valentino, who’ll I’ll throw a pass for rockin the S-Curl fade, circa Ronald Johnson, while singin’ “whoop whoop” in the background. You’re safe this trip Lil Bobby.

I’m more irked by Wayne. Did this lil aggin just employ some strange hand motions around the 1:30 mark? Oh really Dwayne? I swear this dude & Souljah “Shoutouts To Slave Masters” Boy are the prime reasons I don’t watch videos now. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By David D.

I think we can all agree that Tha Carter III was not exactly what we were expecting. The lyrical expertise that we had experienced for years now had been replaced by the Aunt Jemima sippin’, autotune sangin’, wacked out Martian that the mainstream has been so fascinated with. Wayne was more concerned with creating a body of music that would sell a few million copies. For better or worse, he accomplished that goal. Unfortunately, the album lacked the “holy shit” moments that The Drought and Dedication series’ offered us. I was actually scared that the sizzurp had taken a toll and Wayne’s eccentric and sometimes wack rhymes (“I’m rare like Mr. Clean with hair”…shoot yourself) were to be the norm. Thank the lord almighty that a few of Wayne’s new tracks have surfaced and put a rest to my doubts. Though the lyrical monster may never see the light of day in retail, Wayne the MC still has some lyrical fire to hand us.

“Ransom” Feat. Drake

Wayne and new Young Money member from north of the border spit for five minutes straight over a beat that can only be described as “Milli-Lite” with the same snare throughout. Drake holds his own with lines like “I should have the most bragging right/ cuz a nigga spit crack, bag it tight.” Drake sets the pins up for Wayne to come through for two straight minutes of that Weezy we love/hate culminating in the fool rapping. The. Whole. Alphabet. It’s crazy, but name an MC that could pull it off without batting and eye and make it sound as fresh. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Patrick M.

While the singles “A Milli” and “Got Money,” continue to receive rotation on the Clear Channel matrix and sales of the Tha Carter III have slowly crept over 2 million, Wayne and the album seem strangely absent from Hip-Hop’s buzz lists. And my iPod rotation. The monsters of ’07, Graduation and American Gangster, have both stayed in popular Hip-Hop’s orbit 6 months to a year after their releases. Hot 97′s playlist confirms this fact: both “Flashing Lights,” and “I Know,” remain in their primary rotation. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By K1NG

Whenever Lil’ Wayne comes up in some kind of hip hop debate, it starts a long circular conversation between people who think he’s the best thing since the iPod and people who think he might be more Rain Man than Superman. I’m usually on the “hater” side of that conversation as the Weezy fan’s tend to call it, but what they don’t understand is that I have great respect for Wayne as a rapper. Tha Carter I and II were both 4 cig albums in my book. But once he started doing off the wall vocoder songs and considering himself a Martian, I feel like he devolved from his former self considerably. Read the rest of this entry »

I Spied from RTNY

Previously Posted — “3 Peat” – Review Of Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III | Lil Wayne – A Milli Remix

According to the Billboard 200, young Dwayne Carter has managed to sell another 309K in its second week on the charts, which sharts on most cats first week numbers.

And in a recent Q&A with Rolling Stone, the future of rap spoke on a reference made by the reigning king. Read the rest of this entry »

I sold 1.5/Hip-Hop is alive…

Hopefully this completes the circle of countless remixes.

Lil Wayne – A Milli Remix

Previously Posted — “3 Peat” – Review Of Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III

Lil Wayne Feat. Jay-Z – Mr. Carter (Alternate Version)

And for those aspiring rappers & less than famous deejays making money Read the rest of this entry »

Last night, the homie shot me this feature interviewing most of Tha Carter III producers. I posted it in the review but I think it went unnoticed and it prolly shouldn’t have. So…

“A Milli” (produced by Bangladesh)

Bangladesh: This girl I produced for, Shanell, got it to him. But I never went to the lab with him. If I had my way, I would like it more. But I wasn’t around, so what he felt, he put on there. I just thought he would make more of a song out of it, honestly. He’s just rapping. If it was going on the mixtape, it’s cool, but not on no album or single. It’s saying “a milli.” He needs to pop about being a millionaire. He switched it up and tried to make it “ill.” If that was somebody else, it wouldn’t be on the radio. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s what you all been waiting for ain’t it? What people pay paper for ain’t it? For some the anticipation has been too much to bear. Because Dwayne Carter has elevated his status to where fans, fanatics, and of course, critics eagerly await his next move. Let’s face it: the kid generates buzz. And not the kind that will fade when the cameras go off. We’re talking the type of hoopla where his cameos on a hook generate more attention than the actual song. His tenacious work effort over the last couple of years has successfully produced an audience who swear allegiance to his every verse, forgettable or not. So with the release of the oft-delayed Carter III finally here, it’s all eyes on Weezy to see if he can hit a home run at the height of his stardom. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Jada G.

“No governor, no help from the mayor. Just a steady beating heart and a wish and a prayer…”

It’s hard to pinpoint when the tide’s turned, but it seems like overnight, I started paying attention to young Hot Boy turned self-proclaimed “Best Rapper Alive.” And with all the anticipation surrounding Tha Carter III, good or bad, it would be hard not to take notice. Lil’ Wayne leaves the cocky swagger and clever wordplay for perhaps the most vulnerable moment on the album, “Tie My Hands.” He reflects on the aftermath Read the rest of this entry »