The Best Rap Album of December 2011 - Presents...David Thompson by Kooley High

This dude Mistah Fab has to be the hardest working man in the rap game. What's so cool about this dude is you see the improvement of his skills and production with each effort which includes two albums this year and several mixtapes.

Not content with following the trend of very lazy rhymes and copycat beats of his peers Mistah Fab actual takes chances because of his ear and innate creativity. I am sure he wants lots of downloads and cd sales but he doesn't seem willing to sacrifice his voice and sound to make a knockoff Drake, Lil Wayne or Rick Ross album and I for one appreciate that.

Mistah Fab, I love you my ninja but I can't give you the pick for rap album of December with your new joint I Found My Backpack 2. Extra special shout out to Boog Brown and her outstanding album The Brown Study Remixes. Amazing work my love big things to you in 2012.

The Best Rap Album of December 2011 is Presents...David Thompson by the group Kooley High.

2011 was the year that North Carolina pulled down its pants and showed its ass in this hip hop game. Rapper Big Pooh dropped two albums, Fat Boy Fresh Vol.1 and Dirty Pretty Things, both of which are destined to be classics, Phonte made noise with the excellent Charity Starts At Home and for December the rap group Kooley High Released the brilliant new album titled Presents...David Thompson. Which prolly should be titled, Kooley High Presents...David Thompson but I can only go by how it is labeled by the major distributors and you should search by bold title to make it easy to find. And you must get this album.

Kooley High is comprised of six members all of whom met on the campus of North Carolina State University some of whom are from NC and others NYC. Presents...David Thompson is their second album released this year also and in my opinion better than Eastern Standard Time which was released in March of this year but check it out for yourself.

Staying with the roots of rap music, R&B and Soul music respectively, Kooley High did an amazing job of giving post pubescent hip hop listeners exactly what had been missing from rap music for about a decade except for a scattered few artists who actually love the sound and stay true to the melodies and boom bap that make your head nod. Presents...David Thompson takes its rightful place in a long line of real hip hop albums we can all enjoy and be proud of and what a great way to end 2011. Thank you Kooley High, much respect.



Other Outstanding Albums in December 2011 

**** Special Shout out to Boog Brown and her album The Brown Study Remixes****
Mistah Fab  I Found My Backpack 2 
Futuristic The Fly Trap 
Brand Nu Leather & Kush 



The Best Rap Album of August 2011 - Watch the Throne by JayZ and Kanye West

First I’d like to say thank you for viewing my little blog. I apologize for the delay of the August post but I wanted to listen to everything I possible could to give all artists a fair chance. Although some of the “artists” certainly don’t deserve it for the trash I was forced to listen to last month.

A couple of “artists” asked me why their albums weren’t mentioned in previous months and the reason is quite simple. I refuse to speak negatively about a specific artist unless they really annoy me. It’s not my place to publicly diss someone who really did their best and are attempting to live their dreams. I applaud that. So if I didn’t mention your album just be thankful that I didn’t put your garbage on blast for the entire world to see and I do mean the entire world.

I have been very fortunate to see my readership reach almost every country on the planet except for Argentina for some reason. I guess they have no taste for hip hop there but whatever. Shout out to the Dominican Republic and Jose Lee, the Philippines, Serbia, Haiti, South Korea, the U.K. India, Pakistan, Algeria, Nigeria, Germany, Australia and every other country. I thank you all.

Now, let’s get down to business.

Allowing Kanye West to reference more playful aspects of contemporary rap music while he stayed true to his harder lyrical inspiration Jay-Z creatively and brilliantly I might add, allows Kanye West to be the opposite side of the same coin for a masterpiece of an album that appeals to all demographics that enjoy hip hop. It’s a slick move that works and I hope continues on future songs if not entire albums.

Musically Kanye West and Jay-Z sprinkle in enough elements of Houston chopped and screwed, Mid-West soul, and East Coast flavor from Rza and Pete Rock that every song is damn near flawless. There is not a single person that I turned on to this album that doesn’t enjoy more it each day. You must BUY this album. Support your favorite artists folks, steal something else but let’s pay these cats for their work. Isn't it time to start considering yourself a patron of the art that you claim to love?

The Rap Album of the Month for August 2011 is Watch the Throne by Jay-Z and Kanye West. The album is genius and JayZ is brilliant.  Purchase it today.

Other Albums I Enjoyed

Lil Wayne, The Carter IV

The Cool Kids, When Fish Ride Bicycles

Median, The Sender

Verbal T, Self Less

Nu Jersey Devil, Mr. Red Bottoms

Consequence, Movies On Demand 3
Rasi Caprice, Loud Pack

The Best Rap Album of February 2011-The Greatest Story Never Told by Saigon

2011 started off great with the release of Talib Kweli's album Gutter Rain which received my best album of January pick and it was tough because Mistah F.A.B. From the west coast came in at a very close second.

This month's choice was more difficult but not because of the quality of Hip-Hop albums released but the quantity. A lot of straight bullshit was dropped in February. I guess the record companies were doing their spring cleaning. It was painful having to listen to all that garbage but I dig in the crates so that you wouldn't have to.

Clear the award of The Best Hip-Hop Album of February 2011goes to Saigon and his released titled The Greatest Story Never Told.

Only time will tell if its a classic but it is clearly the best album of February 2011.

Joined by an all-star cast including Jay-Z, Marsha Ambrosius, Raheem Devaughn, Faith Evans, Bun B, Fatman Scoop and Q-Tip, amongst others. The Greatest Story Never Told succeeds in not sounding like so many albums that are nothing but duets. These artists add their talents respectively to elevate Saigon's craft and enhance each song rather than dominating them and that in itself is a feat worth praising.

Is this a perfect album? By all means no. The songs Better Way with Layzie Bone and It's Alright fell kind of flat to me but hey, they might be perfect for you. Several others fell just short because I heard potential not realized either musically or lyrically but they may be perfectly acceptable to you.

Back to the point of it all, there are enough songs that are winners that provide more than an hour worth of head nods guaranteed to produce a stiff neck if you aren't careful.

The Greatest Story Never Told

Station Identification: 3 Stars

The Invitation: 5 Stars

Come On Baby: 4 Stars

War: 3 Stars

Bring Me Down Pt.2: 3Stars

Enemies: 4 Stars

Friends: 4 Stars

The Greatest Story Never Told: 4 Stars

Clap: 4 Stars

Preacher: 4 Stars

It's Alright: 3 Stars

Believe It: 3 Stars

Give It to Me: 5 Stars

What Lovers Do: 4 Stars

Better Way: 3 Stars

Oh Yeah: 3 Stars

And the Winner Is: 3 Stars

Too Long: 4 Stars

And there you have it The Best Hip-Hop Album of February 2011 is The Greatest Story Never Told by Saigon, get it.