SOHH Left Coast

Every now and then, some backpacker artist and someone from the other end of the track get together and make some music; sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. This is one of those cases where it works.

Zion I have been making waves on the underground scene for over a decade now, and the same can be said of The Grouch and his crew, Living legends. For those who don’t know by now, Grouch and Zion I teamed up to drop Heroes In The City Of Dope towards the end of 2006, which turned out to be a pretty decent album.

While two of the three guest spots on the album were from artists you’d expect to see on a Zion I album or on a Grouch album- those artists being Esthero and Jurassic 5’s Chali2na -the third guest spot most likely drew some confused looks from at least a few backpackers. And that artist is Mistah Fab.

While Fab has been getting his fair share of shine lately, he’s also been getting a good amount of negative publicity in recent times. Some of that has been due to his decision to champion the hyphy movement with such bravado, when a good portion of hip hop fans across the nation have a negative feelings towards the genre due to the whole ignorant vibe a lot of people associate with hyphy.

Nonetheless, Fab’scurrently one of the bigger stars to come out the bay, and it’s definitely a good look to have him on the album, In fact, it’s questionable as to whether or not the single would even be getting spins on the radio without Fab’s verse on there. Not only that, but his verse doesn’t sound out of place alongside the verses of two other Oakland emcees, even if their verses are just a bit more lyrical.

Zion I and Grouch have put in a lot of work up to this point, and have even dropped a couple of classic songs together (“Silly Putty” and “Flow”) before recording this album. Their music is a lot different than a lot of the stuff that’s been blowing up out of the Bay Area recently, and it’d be great if some of the hype off of this song and their new album led to people checking out some of their older stuff. Although a few of you might have heard this track already, some of you may not have, and the video is fairly new so check it out.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (29)

Apparently I’m a little late on this, but it’s just too fucking ridiculous for me to not talk about.

For those who don’t read the Left Coast blog all that frequently, in the first week of November, I posted a blog about G-Unit’s mentally handicapped new rapper, Hot Rod. He had just dropped the video for “Be Easy” with Mary J. Blige, and I thought the song especially sucked. I went to his myspace site to find that it was actually all of his music that sucked, so I decided to write a blog about it.

I made a mistake in making some desparaging comments about the state of Arizona, which I regret, but I still stand by everything I said about Hot Rod and his wack-ass flow. If you haven’t had a chance to read the aforementioned blog, you can check it out here: http://blogs.sohh.com/sohhleftcoast/2006/11/for_lack_of_a_better_blog_titl.html

At any rate, here it is nearly three months later, and I finally find out that in late November, this Hot Rod douchebag apparently had his legal guardian read the blog to him, and released a diss to SOHH in response. Yes, you read that correctly- he’s trying to battle a hip hop website. The diss was on a song called “50’s Advocate,” and included this little lyrical gem: "S-O-H-H, nah ya'll ain't great/talking bad about the boy/ya'll better save face/throw your site in the lake/whipe the smile off your face...”

Unfortunately, his rap game is still severely lacking, so SOHH won the battle without even having to fire back. But for the record, if this Hot Rod dude wants to continue talking shit, all he has to do is release some more shitty music for me to bag on.

If you want to check out “50’s Advocate,” go to: http://www.murderinc-online.com/usforum/t25671-hot-rod-disses-sohh.html. Make sure you have some Tylenol handy for afterwards.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 1:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (86)

The year was 1993, the beginning of an era that many would later refer to as “The Golden Era.” A year after Steve Rifkind started up Loud Records, emcees Tash and J-Ro, accompanied by their producer/DJ/sometimes emcee E-Swift, released a classic party abum that defied the sound that was predominant in the Los Angeles region at that time. That album was 21 & Over.

After making guest appearances on the tracks “Got It Bad Y’all” and “Bus Dat Ass” from King Tee’s criminally underrated opus Tha Triflin’ Album, Tha Alkaholiks showed they were ready to step out on their own, and they did so with a vengeance. From Tash’s opening verse on “Likwit,” the group made a mission statement that they would stick with for the majority career. They would release lyrically potent party jams that largely focused on the finer things in life- which was, in their case, blunts, bitches and brew.

5 years after EPMD sampled “Seven Minutes of Funk” by Tyrone Thomas and the Whole Darn Family, Tha Liks followed suit with “Only When I’m Drunk.” The beat was used three years later by Jay-Z and Foxy for “Ain’t No Nigga,” which definitely caught some more shine than Tha Liks’ version, but it’s debatable which song was better; although they’re completely different songs, they’re still of equal quality in my mind. The remaining 8 songs of the album (yes, this was back in the days when artists would release albums with 10 great songs, instead of 5 good songs, and 17 filler tracks) were all of equally high quality... although my faves are still “Last Call,” Turn Tha Party Out,” “Make Room” and “Who Dem Niggas.”

While Tha Alkaholiks made it a point to include their mentor on several tracks (something they later accused former Likwit Crew member Xzibit of not doing), they also introduced the world to The Lootpack on “Turn Tha Party Out.” Although that group would go on to release Soundpieces: Da Antidote in 1999, it was group member Madlib who would go on to gain the most recognition in the hip hop world, especially due to his work with Jay Dilla on the Jaylib album and with MF Doom and the Madvillain album. There’s word that Lib is also currently working on a collabo album with E-Swift. Over the years, other Liks albums would also introduce us to Strong Arm Steady’s Phil Da Agony and the biggest star to come out of the Likwit Crew, Xzibit.

Although Tha Alkaholiks ended on a sour note with 2006’s shameful final effort, Firewater, they did leave us with with 2 fantastic albums other than this one (Coast 2 Coast and Likwidation) and one other album that was decent (The XO Experience). But still, their debut showed a hunger that wasn’t seen in their later work, and in my opinion, it still stands out as their best album.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

First off, one last word on yesterday’s blog... I posted the blog about El-P’s new album because it was the best hip hop album I’ve heard in years, simple and plain. And in response to people whining about how something like that should be posted in the NY blog, part of the reason I decided to write about it was because I had a feeling that SOHH NY probably won’t write about it, and I thought that some of you might appreciate being exposed to something new... but that obviously wasn’t the case, as proven by this guy:

“YOU SQUARE WE READ MURDER DOGG FUCK XXL AND FUCK DEZ WEAK CATS U TRYNA PROMOTE TELL ME BOUT MYSTICAL GETTIN RELEASED OR MAC MINISTER OR ONE OF THA MOB FIGGAZ”
Posted by: bluntblazer at January 25, 2007 4:30 PM

Thanks for dropping that knowledge bomb, big guy. Now if you get the chance to put down your issue of Murder Dog for a second, you should try reading one of the many blogs that I’ve written about members of Mob Figaz.

And now, on with the show...

On Wednesday, Snoop Dogg plead not guilty to the first of his three pending court cases. If Snoop can talk his way out of one- just one -of these cases, he may still have enough time outside of jail to record a few more albums in his lifetime- which is what he what he should be doing right now, had he taken notes on how Husalah did it before his bid. (Hey bluntblazer, there it was... your Mob Figaz reference for the week!)

Evidence of Dilated Peoples will be dropping his album The Weatherman on March 20th, 2007. The album will feature production from Alchemist, Sid Roams, Jake One, Babu, and of course, Ev himself; no word yet on guest emcees on the album. Can’t wait to hear this one... it should be a banger.

In other release news, be on the lookout for a new Sick Wid It album from E-40’s cousin Turf Talk. The new album, titled The West Coast Vaccine, will hit the shelves on April 3rd.

And last but not least, some guy on here has been bugging me all week to talk about the new Ya Boy mixtape from DJ Skee and mixunit.com. Well guess what chief? Mixunit.com quit slangin’ mixtapes after after they got all shook from the whole RIAA/Drama/Cannon bootleg fiasco, so good fuckin' luck finding it.

As always, have a good weekend. Play it safe.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (247)

As stated in Tuesday’s blog, I got two albums in the mail on Monday that I’ve been waiting on for quite some time. Today, I want to talk about El-P’s sophomore release, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, which is finally dropping this March, four years after he dropped Fantastic Damage. If you’re looking for an explanation as to why I’m writing about a New York artist in the Left Coast blog, it’s because this album is important enough to ignore the boundaries. If you’re looking for anything more in-depth than that, go read Tuesday’s blog.

And if you’re looking to come on here to piss and moan about how I should be writing about The Game or Snoop Dogg today, you can save your breath. This one’s for all the underground heads who’ll actually buy an album even if there isn’t an ad for it in XXL.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last ten-plus years, El-P (or El-Producto) is the founder of Definitive Jux, a label that is home to Aesop Rock, Murs, Mr. Lif, Cage, Cannibal Ox, Hangar 18, Perceptionists and others. El started the label after leaving his former group, Company Flow, who was signed to the indie super-label Rawkus. If you’re not already familiar with Co-Flow’s groundbreaking album Funcrusher Plus, you should be hanging your head in shame, as it is a certified classic, and has been since the moment it was released. Upon the group disbanding, El made no secrets about his feelings about his former label- as was the case with many of the other artists on its roster -going so far as to drop the line “And signed to Rawkus? I’d rather be mouthfucked by nazis unconscious” on the track “Deep Space 9mm” from his solo debut.

After taking some time off to work on albums from other Def Jux artists, El is back with a vengeance, and not a moment too soon. His brand of grimy, dark production is of an even higher caliber than it was with Damage, and his lyrics and unique cadence are as potent as ever. Subject matter ranges from sci-fi love stories to politics to wack MCs, and whether it’s narration or braggadocio, there are not a lot of MCs out there who could come close to touching El on a lyrical tip. If it sounds like he’s one of those outer-space type of backpack rappers who rap all over the place about a bunch f bullshit, don’t get it twisted- EL’s a straightforward MC, and there’s never been any room to doubt it.

The bottom line is that El-P sounds hungrier than ever on I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, and he’s light years ahead of his peers when it comes to production work. Where most hip hop albums these days have a serious depletion in the substance department, ISWYD is thick in creativity, intelligence, lyrical depth and imagination; I’ve listened to the album 4 times in the past two days and I still don’t feel like I’ve had the chance to fully take everything in yet.

I know it may sound like a bold statement, but this album is hands down the best hip hop album I’ve heard in the last three years. With that said, modern day mainstream hip hop has people so fucking brainwashed that they won’t know what the fuck to think if they hear this record... which is a damn shame.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (32)

I understand that the vast majority of you had never heard of Disco D before SOHH posted a small blurb about his death yesterday, but I’m still gonna take a second to pay my respects.

Although he started gaining a little bit of mainstream notice in the past two years (with a feature in Urb magazine and production for Nina Sky, 50 Cent, Lil Scrappy, Trick Daddy and most notoriously, Kevin Federline), Dave Shayman was still flying under the radar of most hip hop heads. But dude was a talented producer, and his beats were living proof that he just wanted to make people have a little bit of fun.

I first heard of Disco D about 7 or 8 years ago, when he was mainly a ghettotech producer. I had the chance to see one of his DJ sets once, and I can still remember hearing a ghettotech mixtape that he did with a San Francisco DJ named Flux that was called Mazel Tov Cocktail. The cover of the mixtape had the two Jewish DJs mean mugging the camera, surrounded by piles of diamonds, torahs, blinged out Korahns and jewel-encrusted goblets; to this day, it stands out in my mind as one of the most clever concepts for an album ever brought to life. Over the years, his name would pop up here and there, especially in ‘05 and ‘06, and it was always nice to see him getting his dues.

Maybe the topic of Disco D’s suicide hits a little too close to home for me, since my dad committed suicide when I was 15. While it pisses me off that anyone could be so cowardly as to back down from pressures that life presents and just give up, it definitely makes you wonder just what kind of tremendous pain they were going through to think that taking their own life was the only way out.

If you have 50 Cent’s The Massacre laying around at your house, go pop it in and give “Ski Mask Way” another listen, or listen to “I Pop” off of Trick Daddy’s new joint, and see what this kid could’ve been capable of had he stuck around for us to see his talents develop. Or better yet, go dig up some of his older ghettotech shit and check it out.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)

I’m going to have to step outside of my jurisdiction for a second here today, so forgive me. But as a fan of hip hop in general, this is one of those situations where the issue at hand is more important than the fact that this is a West Coast Hip Hop blog.

Being from California, of course I have love for a lot of West Coast hip hop that your average cat from NY or Philly or Atlanta or wherever might not be feeling. But I also have a lot of love for good hip hop from every other part of the U.S., because it is what it is: good hip hop.

Today I got advances for two albums in the mail that made my whole month. One album I’ve been waiting on for the last few months, ever since a buzz started to build around it. The other album, I’ve been waiting on for four years, with no idea as to what the release date would be until finally a date was given around a month ago. The two albums are both from New York artists, but they are as different as could be. And I’m mad excited about both.

I’ve only listened to about half of Sean Price’s Jesus Price Superstar, but it’s already 10 times better than Monkey Barz, which wasn’t even that bad of an album. If the rest of the album is as good as the first tracks were, then all of the hype surrounding Superstar was well-deserved. This album is just about everything that hip hop is missing right now.

The production (5 tracks from 9th Wonder, as well as production from PF Cuttin, Khrysis, Ill Mind and others) is on point, and Ruck sounds as hungry as he did when Heltah Skeltah dropped Nocturnal. And apparently Ruck and Rock are planning on teaming up to drop D.I.R.T. sometime soon, although there is currently no release date set. That said, I can’t wait to hear Rockness Monstah go for broke all over a new album... shit is going to be crazy.

Next up, we have the new album from El-P, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, which drops March 20th. You’ll have to tune in tomorrow for the full review.

You can holler at the SOHH Left Coast myspace page at www.myspace.com/sohhleftcoast

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (30)

It’s Monday, which means it’s about that time. Today we’re gonna take it back to ‘95 and take a second to remember “New York, New York” by Tha Dogg Pound.

It was the height of the whole East Coast/West Coast feud, and although a lot of performers have said that the media blew certain aspects of it out of proportion, there was beef. After the Death Row camp got booed at the Source Awards, it was obvious that the tension was reaching new heights. And when Kurupt and Daz dropped this track, things only got worse.

Although you would have to stretch to find any kind of outright coastal disses in the verses, the intention of the song was clear, due in part to the hook. And when the video dropped, they certainly weren’t pulling any punches, what with Snoop kicking over buildings in Godzilla-like fashion

In response to “New York, New York,” Capone N Noreaga fired back with “LA, LA,” featuring Mobb Deep and Tragedy Khadafi. Only problem is that when Mobb Deep tried to perform it in Los Angleles, Rifleman (aka Ellay Khule) from Project Blowed and several members of his camp got onstage, took their mics, and booted them off the stage.

When all was said and done with the so-called East Coast/ West Coast beef, both coasts had each lost artists who were arguably their most talented rappers. The media frenzy surrounding their murders sought to place blame solely on rap politics, but the truth is, there are few people who will know exactly why their lives were taken. But in case anyone were ever to say that no such beef ever existed, we have this song here as proof that shit wasn;t always sweet.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (69)

Seriously.

After T-Boz divorced him and took out a restraining order in 2004, dude's been laying wayyyy low.

Maybe he just caked up on the profit from Rap Snacks and now he doesn't have to work anymore...

Actually, that can't be it; they mailed us a couple bags of these at the magazine I used to work for, and they were terrible. Although I gotta say that the Master P BBQ ones were stuntin' on the Bell Biv Devoe Ranch flavor...

If anyone else here would be down to hear a new Mack 10 verse pop up somewhere, please speak up. In the meantime and in-between time, here are some old Mack One Oh verses to tide you over...

As always, have a good weekend.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (45)

So today while I was driving around running some errands after I got off work, one of the local hip hop stations (and I’m using that term very loosely in this case), KBMB, debuted a new DJ Quik song called “Can U Work Wit That,” featuring AMG. And hoooooooly shit, it’s a banger; in fact the DJ (whattup DJ Mofo!) had to bring it back 3 times within an hour just to give everyone a chance to take it in.

And just like that, our boy Quik is back in the building.

Quik just wrapped up a five month bid (for allegedly waving a gun at his sister during an argument) in November of 2006, and apparently he wasted no time getting back on his grind. Word has it that he’s working on a collabo album with AMG, and if the rest of the album is going to turn out anything like this, things are looking promising at this point.

I know that if someone wants to complain about something on the track (which is always the case), it will likely be that the beat is too reminiscent of snap music. And in all honesty, all of this shit with people scrambling to categorize something as hyphy or snap is getting old really quick; the same people who complain about the fact that “hyphy music” or “snap music” even exist are the ones who keep all of this dumb media bullshit alive by trying to associate every song that comes out of Atlanta or Oakland with a genre.

But all of that aside, I don’t give a fuck what category you want to put the beat in, because the beat is clean. If anything, it just confirms that Quik has been- and still is -one of the most versatile producers in the entire hip hop game.

There definitely is something a little strange about the track though; although Quik (apparently he dropped the “DJ”) comes ridiculous with the lyrics, as does AMG, Quik’s voice sounds weird as fuck. Truth be told, it barely even sounds like Quik. A couple people even called in after the second time that the song played to question whether it was actually Quik rapping on there.

Maybe this song won’t blow up nationwide, but Quik hasn’t had a huge hit since “Tonite”- although production-wise, the beat he did for that Truth Hurts song “Addictive” definitely made him a household name again -and if there’s a track that can revive his rap career to the thriving level of his production career, this is it.

You can listen to “Can U Work Wit That” here:
www.grounduphiphop.com/2007/01/02/dj-quik-feat-amg-can-u-work-wit-that/

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (174)

I’ve been throwing up for the last 3 hours, and I’m not really feeling like writing a blog in between puking sessions. So I’m gonna go ahead and leave today’s blog up to you for the most part.

Today, let us know your pick for the next emcee to blow for 2007.

For the record, I’m going with Clyde Carson from The Team. Although he just signed to a label with the one of the largest inactive rosters in hip hop history (Black Wall Street), he’s already made plenty moves for himself and he’s not really showing any signs of slowing up at this point.

I’m not sure about other the other regions of Cali, but Clyde just dropped a joint called “Two Step” that hit the Sacramento airwaves like a ton of bricks. Dude’s flow isn’t bananas or anything, but he comes with it, and he’s got a good voice and a cool cadence. The sing songy hook is a little bit of a 50 Cent bite, but the song is bangin’ enough that not too many people are going to call him out on it. And while the beat sounds a bit Dre-ish, it actually came from a new cat named Nephew out of Dre’s camp.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the song yet, you can hit up the SOHH Left Coast myspace page at www.myspace.com/sohhleftcoast and listen to it there.

I’m off to go lay down now and drink a Sprite...

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (46)

So I can’t tell everybody where I dug it up because the bosses might holler at me for redirecting you to another hip hop web site (unless you’re as dumb as a doorknob, that should be enough of a hint), but I stumbled across a new track from The Game called "My Spot" today, and I must admit that the shit is pretty fire.

Although Game finally managed to base an entire hook around name-dropping (Pac, Big, Dre, Jigga, Snoop, Pharrell, Young Jeezy, Lupe Fiasco, Lil Weezy and Kanye, all in under 20 seconds), which will provide plenty of ammo for Game-haters, he comes with a pretty decent verse. The Nu Jerzey Devil beat is kind of so-so, but newcomer Riz pulls the track together with his verse and with a shout out at the end to all of his influences.

One of the most notable things on the record, though, is the line where Game name-drops 50 Cent: “Hip hop metaphors, careers is over- can’t fuck with the Game, borrow a line from Hova, and a bridge from 50, and a hook from ‘Pac- get a Bad Boy chain, then throw up the ROC... and you just might have a chance to dance with the rap James Brown- takin’ my moves, then bitin’ my style.” Maybe I misinterpreted that shit, but to me sounds like the truce might be back on again... for this week, at least.

To be honest, there’s another track that just dropped out of the Black Wall Street camp that puts this one to SHAME. Tune in tomorrow and I’ll put you on.

There’s also a new Bishop Lamont joint that’s pretty decent on the aforementioned site (although the hook on that one is hella weak), so you should check it out while you’re over there... um... if you decide to go over there. And for all of you fuckin’ retards who swore up and down that the “One Blood” Super Posse Remix marked the official return of wack ass Ja Rule, make sure you check out his new joint and let me know if you changed your mind yet.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 1:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (59)

And everybody say, 'I remember way back when...'

I think everybody over the age of 21 can remember back in ‘94 when “Back In The Day” came out. Although it seems like all the songs we reminisce about came out in the Summertime, I remember that this one actually came out towards the end of spring. Since the whole theme of nostalgia ties in so perfectly with this song, I’ll take it back for a second.

The one memory that I actually associate with this song was my junior high graduation picnic. I remember packing a few cassette singles to listen to on my Walkman- there was some Kokane single, “Back In The Day,” and that song “Many Clouds Of Smoke” (“smoke two joints before we smoke two joints, and then we smoke two more”) from Total Devastation.

Some kids brought vodka on the bus and were drinking it in the back (my first sip of alcohol) and a couple other kids were smoking weed and blowing the smoke out of the open window. When one of the teachers caught one of the kids drinking, dude had to sit in the front of the bus with them; the kid was so faded that after repeatedly asking them to stop the bus so he could pee and repeatedly being denied, he peed in his pants. And although that day was pretty fun, and I had backpack full of good music to listen to, I’m gonna have to say that no, I don’t wish I was a kid again. Especially since I can always one of many bars/clubs in my city if I ever get the urge to see someone act a fool after one too many drinks.

While Ahmad did have a certified classic with “Back In The Day,” his career since then has been far less notable. He did have another classic song in “Come Widdit” with Saafir and Ras Kass off of the Street Fighter soundtrack, but not a lot of people caught that one. After his one solo album in 1994, he disappeared from the scene for a few years before showing back up at the head of a hip hop/rock group called 4th Avenue Jones. Although none of their music was all that great, at least Ahmad did give us a pure, fun, thoughtful song that anybody can relate to, and that can be passed down through the generations.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)

So yesterday’s blog actually surprised me... I figured we’d have some more New York dudes on there hating on the Bay Area because it’s the new cool thing to do. But surprisingly enough, there were a lot of positive responses to the song.

For people who can take the song for what it is, “That Go” is enjoyable as hell. For hip hop purists who take themselves too seriously and jock the fuck out of a mediocre Nas album full of bullshit filler beats just because it’s a Nas album, then the song sucks because Keak doesn’t come with enough crazy metaphors and he doesn’t discuss conflict diamonds or conspiracy theories about 9/11.

Here’s a news flash- HIP HOP DOESN’T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE SERIOUS. In fact, hip hop started out as party music, and a balance can actually exist. While educational, thoughtful, introspective hip hop is definitely one of the positive aspects of the evolution of the music and culture, it is ok not to take yourself too seriously. If hyphy music (and this song isn’t even on some hyphy shit) is any different than when Humpty released “The Humpty Dance,” than maybe I’m losing my mind. But I’m not seeing too much of a difference, and if I remember correctly, everybody let loose and acted a fool whenever that song used to come on- in fact, a lot of people still do. So what the fuck happened? Has the ego maniacal posing and posturing of hip hop artists and all of their mimicking fanbase really gotten so out of hand that it’s not cool to smile anymore?

What it comes down to is that for all the complaining about how hyphy music (and Bay Area rap in general) is lacking in content or promotes ignorance, how is it any different from rap that incessantly promotes drug dealing misogyny or violence? And how can you complain about a lack of lyricism? I don’t know if anyone’s paying attention anymore, but there’s not a whole lot of fucking lyricists out there anymore. You really think The Game or 50 or Jim Jones or Luda or T.I. could even hold a match to real lyricists like Aceyalone, Big L (RIP), Juju from the Beatnuts, Tash from Tha Alkaholiks or KRS? No, they couldn’t... but who the fuck cares? You think Keak Da Sneak honestly gives a shit whether or not he’s a lyricist?

At any rate, the hater of the week award goes to Mr. Literary Critic here, who ironically left a comment that was chock-full of grammatical errors.

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“Tone deaf ppl should not be telling others that they are haters because they don't have a low enough i.q. required to like garbage. The beat may be interesting but since when hip hop only beats? It's just funny that they bay has a few lyrical assasin's yet this is the cat this socially inept blogger picks to write about. Secondly, the stand offish tone of your two itty bitty paragraphs isn't becoming of a good blogger. First step up your taste in the artform and then perhaps you'll be able to really compose a blog about something that is worth ppl's time.
Two thumbs down and one fart in the wind....is my rating for this song and artist. He might as well stikc to doing sweet sixteens for spoiled children.”
Posted by: kayser9soze at January 11, 2007 3:17 PM
------------------------------------------------------------------------

May you choke on your kiwi-strawberry wine cooler, hater.

As for the rest of you, have a good weekend. You'll hear from me on Monday.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (50)

If “That Go” isn’t the next West Coast joint to blow up on a national level, then this world sucks. Ridiculous beat, and Keak Da Sneak murks the fuck out of it.

Your homework: go to www.myspace.com/keakdasneak, give it a listen and give me some feedback. There will be a quiz tomorrow.

And you can save all that “hyphy sucks, Keak sucks, blah blah blah” bullshit if you haven’t even heard the song yet. I know there’s a group of lames that like to come on here and shit on every piece of music that comes out of the Bay, but see if you can bite your tongue for one Thursday out of the month.

Come holler at the official SOHH Left Coast myspace page at www.myspace.com/sohhleftcoast

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (144)

So I’m a little confused. Apparently there’s a special that’s scheduled to air on the Spike network next Tuesday called “Big Snoop Dogg’s Youth authority: California”. The program will find Calvin taking a trip down memory lane, visiting various sites in Long Beach where he used to chill/bang at, the juvie hall he stayed in, and the place where he got jumped into the East Side Long Beach Crips in 1982. Apparently the program’s director is hoping that to “use the stories of kids still caught up in what Snoop once lived.”

Umm... what the fuck?

Last time I checked, Snoop’s still living that life- 2006 saw him breaking new records in the “rappers getting arrested” category, and it also seemed like the year that Snoop decided once and for all to claim Crip on each and every track he ever appears on. If the point of this program is really to prove that Snoop has moved on from being a gangbanger to live the live of a successful adult man, they might want to push the release date back.

I appreciate that Snoop would like to be a positive role model of sorts for struggling kids. But he’s not doing it. I definitely applaud him for doing some positive things in the community (the football program, etc.), but it all pretty much gets negated by all the shit that pops up in the media. And while conspiracy theorists can claim all they want that cops or the media are setting him up (which is unlikely, at best), there’s no one else to blame every time he glorifies gangbanging (on and off wax) or brags about the year that he spent systematically destroying his marriage so that he could go become a pimp. What better way to improve the self images and self esteem of girls and young women than to idolize a man who explained the aforementioned actions (in an interview on allhiphop.com in September of '06) with, “I wanted to see if I could get some money out of a bitch, and I did. I wanted to see if I could make a bitch do what I [told her to] do, and I did. I had fun... That’s what I wanted to do, and I did that and I ain’t gotta explain that shit to nobody.”

I understand that nobody’s perfect, but maybe we could choose our heroes a little more wisely. As adults, the majority of us can discern the difference between reality and entertainment, and that the people we choose to admire for their ethics and/or morals will probably not be rappers. But kids are a bit more impressionable, and to allow a rapper who makes irresponsible decision after irresponsible decision to step up on a pedestal and present himself as the new messiah for inner-city youth is pretty fucking abhorrent.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)

Damn... I know you guys are having trouble deciding what to buy today, being that both Crunk Hits Vol. 3 and Hyphy Hitz are both dropping...

And yes, that was sarcasm.

I’m not going to touch on Crunk Hits 3 - that shit’s out of my jurisdiction. But being that TVT is also capitalizing on the hyphy movement, I guess we’ll take a second to speak on it.

Despite its retarded title, and everything else you would associate with an album called Hyphy Hitz, the album actually has some decent cuts on it. And while Crunk Hits Vol. 3 has a bunch of shit like “Chicken Noodle Soup” and “I’m N Luv (Wit A Stripper)” that people are already mad burnt out on, Hyphy Hitz (even without saying it out loud, it still feels retarded just typing those words) is actually comprised of songs that a good portion of the country is unfamiliar with. Although just about everyone in the Bay knows about Nump, it’s likely that anyone from NY has ever heard of him, and the same probably goes for Dem Hoodstarz or The Team.

There’s definitely some bullshit on the album -- the Babyface Assassins song is straight up ca-ca and both of the A’z songs are pretty weaksauce (although “Yadadamean” would’ve had some potential if those cats had stepped their lyrical game up a little). And what the fuck are Da Musicianz doing on here?

Listening to an album of nothing but fright house synthesizer beats and hearing the word “scraper” repeated on 20 different songs definitely has the potential to get old pretty quick, but if you don’t already own all of these albums, it’ll make a nice a little addition to throwing the itunes on shuffle. And if you can’t get down to Mac Dre's “Feeling Myself” (which is probably his biggest hit other than “Too Hard For The Radio” and is still pretty much unheard to most people outside of the West Coast), you’re a certified dick.

But even as I write this, I’m well aware that somewhere in the vicinity of zero percent of you will be copping this album. I guess I just wanted to let you know that surprisingly enough, it’s not really as terrible as you might think.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (236)

In what must be the most asinine scenario anyone could’ve ever dreamed up, Bay Area rapper Mistah Fab recently appeared on Fox News Network’s "Hannity & Colmes" to discuss the death of a kid who died ghostriding his whip. And although this sounds like it had the potential to turn into a fiasco of Springer-esque proportion, fortunately, it didn’t.

There seems to be a fair amount of people out there (many of whom have voiced their opinions on this blog) who think that Fab is a complete fucking idiot due to some of the subject matter in his songs. These are people who’ve obviously never listened to all of Son of a Pimp or read any of his blogs on the XXL website.

Sean Hannity was, of course, every bit the abrasive prick that we expect him to be, and Colmes even stepped out of his impish shell for long enough to make some accusatory comments. And while he did defend himself from their accusations (his comparison of rappers to pro wrestlers was true in more ways than what he discussed here; the violence is also equal parts fake), Fab kept his composure and did a pretty good job of making rappers seem semi-competent.

I’ve been waiting to see if the would pop up on Youtube, because the only version I’ve seen was of pretty poor quality, but there hasn’t been any such luck yet. For the time being, the only version of the video I’ve been able to find was here: http://ninoybrown.blogspot.com/.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (188)

Somebody posted something yesterday about some dude named Chino Grande dissing Big Snoop Dogg. I went on Youtube to check it out, and this shit is straight up RETARDED.

A classic example of some no-name cat trying to go after a big dog to catch some fame. He also does a little Snoop diss version of “Vato” that brings new meaning to the word “shitty.”

It’s a shame that this will only fuel the animosity between blacks and latinos, especially since the video for “Vato” tried to do exactly the opposite. Shit, even Hillary Swank's out there trying to spread some unity in Long Beach... even though Freedom Writers looks pretty fucking terrible.

I doubt Snoop will even respond to this bullshit, but check it out for yourself in the meantime. I’m not going post the song on here, because I would feel guilty for subjecting you guys to it.

Have a good weekend, everybody.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 1:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (264)

In another not so shocking moment of hip hop hypocrisy (which we should start referring to as hiphopocrisy from here on out)) was announced on Tuesday that Kurupt of The Dogg Pound proposed to his girlfriend Gail Gotti on Christmas day. Isn’t there some oft-spoken rule about how pimps don’t get married?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m married, and I’m all for settling down if you find someone you can spend your life with. But then again, I never wrote this lyric:

“West coast shit nigga
Overdosage - imperial pistols ferocious
Fuck a bitch; don't tease bitch, strip tease bitch
Eat a bowl of these bitch, gobble a dick
Hoes forgot to eat a dick an shut the fuck up
Gobble and swallow a nut up, shut up and get my cash
Backhanded, pimpslapped backwards and left stranded
Just pop ya collar, pimp convention hoes for a dollar
Six-Deuce in a plush, six-deuce impala
Pimpin hoes from Texas to Guatemala
(note: make sure you pronounce it GUALAMALA, like kurupt does)
Bitch niggaz paid for hoes, just to lay wit hoes
Relax one night, and paid to stay wit hoes
Captain Save' Em all day (bitch) well save this dick
Bitch nigga, you more of a bitch than a bitch
You ain't into hittin pussy, or hittin the switch
You into hittin bitches off of the grip, you punk bitch”

Lest I be one who lives in a glass house and throws rocks, I’m gonna have to fess up and point out some hypocrisy of my own- that lyric is probably my favorite lyric of all time to rap along to, a fact that my wife can attest to. At any rate, I’m assuming this marriage business will mean that there’s a good chance that Kurupt will not be including the phrase “fuck a bitch” in 85% of his lyrics, as he has done for the last ten years. Yikes.

Rest in peace, Kurupt the misogynist. Welcome to the world of marriage.

In yet another twist of irony, Kurupt and Gail will be having their engagement party in New York.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 1:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (36)

In another not so shocking moment of hip hop hypocrisy (which we should start referring to as hiphopocrisy from here on out)) was announced on Tuesday that Kurupt of The Dogg Pound proposed to his girlfriend Gail Gotti on Christmas day. Isn’t there some oft-spoken rule about how pimps don’t get married?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m married, and I’m all for settling down if you find someone you can spend your life with. But then again, I never wrote this lyric:

“West coast shit nigga
Overdosage - imperial pistols ferocious
Fuck a bitch; don't tease bitch, strip tease bitch
Eat a bowl of these bitch, gobble a dick
Hoes forgot to eat a dick an shut the fuck up
Gobble and swallow a nut up, shut up and get my cash
Backhanded, pimpslapped backwards and left stranded
Just pop ya collar, pimp convention hoes for a dollar
Six-Deuce in a plush, six-deuce impala
Pimpin hoes from Texas to Guatemala
(note: make sure you pronounce it GUALAMALA, like kurupt does)
Bitch niggaz paid for hoes, just to lay wit hoes
Relax one night, and paid to stay wit hoes
Captain Save' Em all day (bitch) well save this dick
Bitch nigga, you more of a bitch than a bitch
You ain't into hittin pussy, or hittin the switch
You into hittin bitches off of the grip, you punk bitch”

Lest I be one who lives in a glass house and throws rocks, I’m gonna have to fess up and point out some hypocrisy of my own- that lyric is probably my favorite lyric of all time to rap along to, a fact that my wife can attest to. At any rate, I’m assuming this marriage business will mean that there’s a good chance that Kurupt will not be including the phrase “fuck a bitch” in 85% of his lyrics, as he has done for the last ten years. Yikes.

Rest in peace, Kurupt the misogynist. Welcome to the world of marriage.

In yet another twist of irony, Kurupt and Gail will be having their engagement party in New York.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 1:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (544)

“It’s the ice cream man, bitch, don’t ya hear the... music?”

There isn’t shit to write about today (although tomorrow we’re going to talk about that Kweli and Madlib album after I give it a couple of good listens), so I’m going to let everybody reminisce for a second.

If you’re up on game, you already knew about this joint before Master P tried to come out in ‘96 like he was the ice cream man after his lame ass moved out of the Bay. And you hated Percy for droppin' some wack shit after Dru and the Luniz came with a Bay Area gangsta classic.

Not to say Yuk doesn’t still have it, but his whole style was so much doper back around the time that Operation Stackola came out. Check his verse on this track and tell me that he couldn't stomp a lyrical mudhole in Spider Loc's ass any day of the week (check up on that beef if you don't already know). Even Numskull came with a ridiculous verse...

I have no idea why “Pimp Of The Year” was the big single off of Explicit Game because this song “Ice Cream Man” blows that shit out of the water. Plus, there’s something about seeing Dru Down cooking crack with m-16 strapped to his back that just makes a motherfucking video.

Damn, ‘94 was a good year. Enjoy...

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)

With the first blog of 2007, it’s only right that we kick things off with the topic that’s on everyone’s mind- is this the year that we’ll actually see Dr. Dre end the anticipation of hip hop fans the world round?

With the wave of highly-anticipated albums that dropped in ‘06, there’s really only one West Coast release that people are already checking for in 2007 and that, of course, is Detox. Although Dre has been saying he would release every year for at least the last 2 or 3 years, this is looking like the year it might actually happen, as a release date has reportedly been set for September 25th. According to hnnlive.com, the lead single is set to drop in late spring, with the first video premiering in June.

Hnnlive.com also reported that Detox is said to have a featured guest on every track, and that there’s a possibility that Scott Storch will act as a co-producer for the album; if that is indeed the case, I’m pretty sure it won’t do much to curb the rumors that Storch frequently acts as a ghost producer for the good doctor. Bishop Lamont and Eminem will be included in the guest roster, and it’s rumored that Lloyd Banks, Snoop, Jay Z, Diddy and The Game will also make appearances.

Although Dre’s repeated postponement of what has been said to be his retirement album has certainly built up shitloads of anticipation, he needs to be careful not to wait so long that people start to lose interest. There’s also the possibility that a good portion of fans will be frustrated by Dre’s self-proclaimed perfectionism and will, in turn, download the album rather than purchasing it. And with the way things have been going lately with hip hop albums, there’s a pretty good chance that will happen whether fans are disgruntled or not.

Based on Dre’s nearly spotless track record (for the most part, that is... we’ve done our best to forget most of Dr. Dre presents: The Aftermath ), there’s not much doubt that Detox will be a huge album, and that we can at least count on the production being tight. But will it be worth the wait?

Hopefully we’ll find out on September 25th... hopefully.

Posted by SOHH Leftist at 2:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (65)