Nicki Vs Em'

Nicki Minaj featuring Eminem - Roman's Revenge by Hypetrak

I just love Ms. Minaj's English accent in this new song from her Pink Friday album, due out later this month.

Another roundup...

A lack of posts this week I know but then the weather has been beautiful so please forgive me. Here's some things that are varying degrees of good...

Eminem and Pink's duet from his Recovery album (@ Pinboard)

This advert for a skateboarding game is very cool. Reminds me of my days boarding really badly in Essex carparks

A new song by Jay-Z (produced by Swizz Beats) called Ultra (@Nah Right)

The always reliable Coral turn out another decent song

My 21 Favourite Albums Of The Decade

Published this list back in March but thought I should repeat it as everyone else is putting theres out now. It was 20 but I had forgot Avalanches. So here are 21 and some honourabe mentions. Think Kid A would be my number one.

Avalanches- Since I Left You
Amy Winehouse- Back To Black
Gorillaz- Demon Days
M.I.A- Arular
M.I.A- Kala
The Streets- Original Pirate Material
The Streets- A Grand Don’t Come For Free
Radiohead- Kid A
The Strokes- Is This It
Kanye West- Late Registration
Daft Punk- Discovery
The Beastie Boys- To The 5 Boroughs
Eminem- The Marshall Mathers LP
N.E.R.D- In Search Of…
Broken Social Scene- Broken Social Scene
Outkast- Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below
Jay-Z- Blueprint
Gnarls Barkley- St Elsewhere
Justin Timberlake- Justified
The White Stripes- Elephant
Arcade Fire- Neon Bible

Honourable mentions: Hot Chip- The Warning, Cornershop- Handcream For A Generation, Gwen Stefani- L.A.M.B, Jay Z- The Black Album, Common- Electric Circus, Wu Tang- The W, Dizzee Rascal- Boy/ Maths, Outkast- Stankonia, Basement Jaxx- Rooty, Lily Allen- Its Not Me, It’s You, Radiohead, In Rainbows.

Any of which would have made my (pretty populist) run down much cooler. But you can’t leave Justin out, right?

10 Best Tracks Of 2009

In my opinion (obviously)

Dirty Projectors- Stillness Is The Move-
Bat for Lashes- Daniel
Jamie T - Sticks n Stones
Lily Allen- Back To The Start
La Roux- In For The Kill (Skream Remix)
Phoenix- 1901
MSTRKRFT (+ John Legend)- Heartbreaker
Eminem/ Dre/ 50- Crack A Bottle
Mos Def- Auditorium
Major Lazer- Hold The Line

Hear these and other things I like here: GET STRAIGHT BEST OF 2009

"Allow me to re-introduce myself

My name is Hov!"



Saw Jay-Z live at Ally Pally this week and this track was my personal highlight. It's from The Black Album and is just an absolute banger right?

Read my review at my day job here

On a side note the producer of this track Just Blaze has done a lot of Relapse 2- Eminem's next disc. Will be interesting to hear some Shady tracks without Dre.

Mos/ Black/ Em

Three of my favourite rappers- Mos Def, Eminem and Black Thought (from The Roots) with DJ Premier on the cut. It's Mos that smashes it though.

Em's Warning To Mariah

This is just brilliant. I mean pretty hardcore but witty and hilarious. The Dre beat is great and the Mariah snippets near the end are worked in so well. As far as diss' tracks go this is up there with Ether. Oh go on then...



Eminem murdered you on your own shit/ you a dick riding faggot/ you love the attention/ Queens niggers run you niggers ask Russell Simmons

Eminem Relapse Review

A lot has happened in hip hop since Eminem’s last album came out five years ago. And a lot has happened in Shady’s personal life- with his best friend Proof shot dead the rapper became addicted to all manner of prescription pills. Hence the album’s overriding theme.

It’s a surprise then that two of the finest tracks on Relapse return to long time preoccupations- or as he calls Mariah Carey the 'permanant fixture in my lyrical mixture.' Bagpipes From Baghdad is the song that's been causing Nick Cannon sleepless nights but also the track where his rhymes sound most alive. On that song and Stay Wide Awake the Detroit native uses a new faster vocal style- which thankfully shies away from his high pitched whine used too frequently in recent years.

In My Mom he returns to his nightmare childhood and adds blame to his mother for recent drug problems. Em' is certainly self aware though and admits "I know you're probably tired of hearing about my mom," before faking a cry.

Eminem has toned nothing down- continuing his Christopher Reeve obsession, love of fart jokes and violent threats (on 3am). He also talks about being abused himself on the aptly titled Insane. The track makes uncomfortable listening as Marshall details child rape in forensic detail. It's like one of those documentaries about paedophiles which is nearly too hard to watch.

As on his last disc Encore Slim runs out of things to say on a few songs- particularly Must Be The Ganja and We Made You- resorting to celeb-baiting and vague threats. The thing is he still says nothing better than Lil Wayne, T.I or his protégé 50 Cent.

On production duties Dr Dre is back to his bass-bumping best- from the west coast piano tinkle on Crack' through the Scottish stomp of Bagpipes’ to Underground's off-kilter darkness. R&B and pop acts are sure to be knocking at the Doc's door soon.

The album peaks when Eminem is raw, open, honest and hurting. On Beautiful and Déjà Vu he is self-pitying but also at his confessional best. And while he never reaches the heights of his Marshall Mathers LP Relapse is enough to confirm the return of one of the most important MCs in the game.

Eminem Artwork

His head is made of pills. They were prescribed by Dr Dre. This could be the album of the year. (Props to Nah Right)

Guess Who's Back? Back Again?

So here it is the proper single from Relapse with a video we've come to expect from Slim Shady. Here's my opinion for what it's worth- Eminem has three types of flows, three voices and therefore three distinct types of song.

He's angry, hard-done-by white trash (Lose Yourself/ White America/ Mosh/ Stan). In medium mode he's calm, thoughtful and self aware (Hailie's Song/ Toy Soldiers). Then as on We Made You (plus Just Lose It, Without Me and Real Slim Shady) Marshall is funny, bitchy and often offensive.

I like Dre's production and particularly the chorus on this new song. I also find the lyrics mostly witty and of course they're a good excuse for the ridiculous video. The only problem is when he raps in this high pitched voice it sometimes turns into a whine. I've said this before but I can't wait to hear Relapse which will hopefully be returning to the form of The Eminem Show and Marshall Mathers.

Guess Who's Back? Back Again...

Finally we got a release date for Relapse this week (May 19) and the news that Em' and Dre have made so many songs that there will be a Relapse 2 before 2009 is over and out.

Lots of people hate Shady including a lot of 'serious' hip hop heads who see him as too commercial. Admittedly he can be puerile, childish, sexist and homophobic- though often he's sending up others' views.

Re-listening to his output you hear a dip in quality around Encore in 2004. He'd ran out of things to say and decided to produce most of it himself. Dr Dre's beats were missed. Now five years on- with The Doc' on the controls allowing him to concentate on lyrics- he should have a lot to say.

But he will also have to convert a new generation of rap fans raised on T.I and Lil Wayne. My 18 year old sister was 10 when Eminem's confessional masterpiece The Marshall Mathers LP was released.

Oh and don't be fooled by Crack A Bottle- Shady always does party records alongside the Stans, Hailies Songs, Toy Soldiers and Kims. Video hits the net this week.