07. Lee Majors come again - Beastie Boys (Hot Sauce Committee, 2011)

The energy in this song is Tazmanian explosive. It does slow down midway through, but that’s only to rev up for a second zoom zoom around the block. It’s Beastie Boys returning to form - who needs speed when you got Beasties? It was the only song this past year that made me feel exhausted just headbanging along with it. Several dozen times.

Keep watching the throne, Ye & Jay. Childish Gambino is terrorizing the kingdom something pretty fierce. Camp (Nov. 15) is, as they say, the sh*t. I want it, now.

04. Hombre - M.I.A. (Arular, 2005)

In addition to her immense talent as an all-around artist, M.I.A. has the kind of sensual voice that’s meant to paint pretty pop songs. Yet, she opts to rap over heavy beats and distorted sounds instead. A loss for pop is a gain for rap, where too few female singers make the cut above ground. Her unique voice box gives her the edge over other rappers, as she retains a melody to her rapping that others often lose in the rapid fire spitting game. Her in-your-face attitude lends a certain tigress quality to her delivery: feisty, sexy, and at the odd times, even playful. I love Nicki Minaj, but nobody got miss Maya beat on this playground. Best voice in the genre, hands down.

Here she is, at the two ends of her sexiness:

{My 50 ALL-TIME FAVOURITE FEMALE VOCALISTS list continues (tagged Female Vocalists)! The criteria are simple: they are female of the species, I love their voice, and they have attempted to sing in English at one point in their career. The present list is focused mostly on the quality/uniqueness of their tone (voice box), and their ability to emote the hell out of the songs.}

Ni**as in Paris - Jay-Z & Kanye West (Watch the throne, 2011)

Don’t get in the zone! Not the zone! Somebody throw a fillet at them!

The funniest, braggiest, catchiest, illest song on Watch the throne is also the best that Ye and Jay have to offer on their latest collaboration. They took turn counting the ways honey lined their path to rap’s throne, with Kanye occasionally one-upped Jay for good measure (Ye’s response to Jay’s braggin’ about having a hot chick at home? “You know how many hot bitches I OWN?” - maybe he’s talking about female dogs? Or are we back to owning people now?) They threw in dubstep 2/3 of the way through, just because.

While Ye and Jay are front and center, this album is far from a two-men affair. A few other collabs - Beyonce, La Roux’s Eleanor Jackson, Frank Ocean, Pharrell Williams, Swizz Beatz, and Q-tip - made more than the line notes. Admittedly, Ye’s last brilliant album makes this less than spectacular for me though. They can’t be all twisted fantasies eh?

P.S. I don’t get Frank Ocean’s hype.

P.P.S. Please drop Mr. Hudson from your roster, Jay. Chipmunk singing is NOT balling.

P.P.S. H.A.M. sux.

(Source: heavensrejection)

Please, no pictures (feat. Das Racist) - BBU

This fun little collaborative spit-rhyme is produced by the Hood Internet. How is it that these folks always manage to find each other?

(Song link via The Culture of Me)