Well, it didn't work. I will never call a rappers name and diss anyone or step on their dreams but some of these cats need to save some of their per diem for trade school and not think of buying more chains than the couple they have right now.
This month came down to the wire. I was afraid of having my first blank posting since the inception of this blog but two Brooklyn rappers bailed us out and turned in some very special efforts.Old school MC Masta Ace blessed us with his album dedicated to the memory of his mother titled MA_DOOM:Son of Yvonne. I haven't always been a Masta Ace fan, seems that once he made Cali his state of residence he got very, how shall I say, west coast in his music and subject matter. I don't hate west coast rap music I just prefer the sound coming out of the Bay Area more than Los Angeles. I don't know what inspired Masta Ace to do so for this album but he got back to his traditional east coast flow with the good old boom bip that I love so much. He is now comfortable reminiscing about old soul music and childhood friends when rap music was still about having fun and being a raw creative outlet for underprivileged kids who grew up in a school system that provided no materials for creative expressions in music and art.
MA_DOOM:Son of Yvonne is not flawless mind you. A couple of songs including the one with Big Daddy Kane did nothing for me but the rest of the album is classic east coast and made me very sentimental to the way rap music used to be and that was a good thing. Normally this is where I would declare the album of the month but not so fast. Another dude from Brooklyn dropped a project and takes Masta Ace's album head on demanding consideration for the title as well.
Also, shout out to Rapsody and her album The Idea of Beautiful, she and the producer 9th Wonder did the damn thing on that album. Get that for real. I would pay to see Boog Brown and Rapsody in concert.
Skyzoo has mentioned Theo Huxtable and J.J. Evans on past records usually as a one line synopsis comparing the life of a young well off black man growing up in Brooklyn with two parents family to that of the young black man growing up in an inner-city project building in a single parent home with few options and opportunities in life. Once you see the title of Skyzoo's EP and listen to the album you quickly realize that these two sitcom characters really played a significant part in shaping his perspective of the world as he navigated from childhood to adulthood. All the while hoping to turnout like Theo while he grew up in Brownsville Brooklyn in a home much closer to J.J.'s. Skyzoo's album, Theo VS. J.J. (Dreams or Reality) is for lack of a better phrase, fucking amazing.
This is kind of hardcore so I can see why lots of people would rather listen to Masta Ace's album so I won't feel bad at all if you disagree with me when I say that Theo VS. J.J. (Dreams or Reality) is the best rap album of the Month of August.
The complexity of the word play on this album has really been taken up a notch however, what I appreciate the most are the nuggets of information he drops about his ex-girlfriend and her very famous brother. That took a little courage and was a lot of fun to hear. But he doesn't go cornball at all. This is street truth in a very raw but extremely creative form and it works to perfect. I can't wait until the full album is released later this fall however these 8 songs will suffice until the main album drops.
Once again, The Best Rap Album of August 2012 - Theo VS. J.J. (Dreams or Reality) by Skyzoo
