The last two or three weeks I've been listening to Eminem's latest album, RECOVERY. One of these days I'll give you my detailed thoughts. All in all, Eminem's back to bringing his A-game lyrically. For all of you long-time Eminem fans that thought he got soft and pop based on the Radio Singles... you've obviously haven't heard the album. It's contains some of Eminem's most ambitious rhymes (in a variety of ways). To me, it's the best Eminem I've heard since his 2nd Album (The Marshall Mathers LP). I'm glad he's back!

My favorite track on the album is NO LOVE guest-starring Lil' Wayne. Lil' Wayne starts things off very strongly. Then Eminem slays EVERYONE and EVERYTHING. You feel like Lil' Wayne brings his 'A' game (and it's a very solid 'A') and then Eminem follows it up with such lyrically dexterity and intensity that convincingly proves that, at his best, Eminem is Super Saiyan levels higher in his MC skills than anybody else in the rap game. In many ways this is like Jay-Z's song RENEGADE guest starring Eminem off of the Blueprint 2 album (look it up if you haven't heard it!).  

Enjoy!:

As I already mentioned on my twitter account, I'm LOVIN' the new Childish Gambino CULDESAC album. One of the freshest young voices in hip-hop and it happens to come from an already established actor/writer by the name of Donald Glover. Donald Glover is best known for his role as Troy on NBC's COMMUNITY (co-starring Chevy Chase and Joel McHale). A few episodes in, Troy and Ahbed did an amazing pseudo-freestyle and beat box rap in Spanish that caught my attention. Little did I know that the skill in that bit was due to much practice by Donald Glover under the moniker: Childish Gambino.

As Childish Gambino, Donald Glover's released a variety of mix-tapes and albums. It is his recently released third album, Culdesac, that has officially gotten my attention. With rhyme stylings that mix the melodic delivery of Lil Wayne with the heart and cleverness of Kanye West, Childish Gambino has put out my favorite hip-hop album of 2010. Glover's rhymes and wordplay are consistently clever. And he goes beyond the clever word play by using them to sincerely portray himself as a complex individual that struggles with addiction, success, loneliness, fame, and arrogance.

I'm amazed with the variety of levels with which the album can be appreciated. Lines and music hit with their swagger, cleverness and occasional vulnerability. It's about 70% rhymes and 30% singing. Glover's singing isn't as strong as his rhymes, but you consistently feel his honesty and heart. His rhymes sometime feels a little too much like Lil' Wayne's style (for example 'I Be On That' is a great song, but is super close in production and rhyme delivery to Lil' Wayne's 'A Milli'). All in all, it's a solid album. One I wouldn't hesitate to pay full price for... and it's offered to everyone for FREE. Childish Gambino is now on my very short must follow list. Free or full price, I'm getting his next album!

You can download the entire album for free on the Chilidish Gambino website (HERE). No excuses. Download it and listen, damn it. Below is a sampling of some of the great tracks on the album.

DIFFERENCE

GOT THIS MONEY

I BE ON THAT

I've been going back and revisiting some of my favorite old albums. Whenever I do that I ALWAYS am reminded of how great the Pharcyde was. Those first 2 albums hold up really well (the first one particularly). Pharcyde brought humor, mc skills, and jazzy instrumentation together in a manner that no other group has done since. There's a sense of emotion and depth to their music that allows it to stand the test of time. It's just a shame that they didn't get the major props they deserved with their debut album.

The second album has some solid production from the legendary Jay Dee/J Dilla during an early time of his career. Production-wise it's a solid album... but you can feel a bitterness and frustration in the Pharcyde's rhymes that wasn't present in the first album. For me, that makes it an inferior album to te first. Despite that, the 2 singles on the 2nd album are as good (if not better) than the best bits from the first.

Below are the 3 best Pharcyde videos: 'Passin' Me By', 'Drop', and 'Runnin'. 'Drop' was filmed by the super famous Spike Jonze (back when he was just doing music videos and skateboarding tapes).

PASSIN' ME BY

DROP

RUNNIN'

Michael Jackson. You have and will continue to mean so much to generations of people. You defined what it meant to be a music icon. You taught us the full potential of a music video. You showed us that dancing can be cool. You made one of the finest examples of a Popular World Music.

Yeah, there was a time when the crotch grabbing during dances got out of hand (although it gave us an excuse to intersperse spazzy dance routines with our own crotch grabs amongst parents and elders!). We were bummed that you couldn't see that you were a naturally handsome dude the way that we all did. The fascination with Peter Pan and animals was a little weird, but we didn't care... because you were Michael FREAKIN' Jackson.

More than anything we all wished you could understand that we loved you for your music, performance, and humanity.

Thanks for the music. Thanks for the entertainment. Thanks for that awesome glove and swagger. You will be remembered as more than a talented human being. You will be remembered as a superhero. :-)

Here are a few of my favorite Michael Jackson bits:

SMOOTH CRIMINAL

REMEMBER THE TIME

THRILLER

MJ, PRINCE & JAMES BROWN

I'm really loving this new Eminem video, "We Made You". The song is mediocre when compared to Eminem's best stuff. But the video showcases Pop Culture mockery at its best.

Spoofs include bits on Jessica Simpson's weight, Kim Kardashian's butt, Lindsay Lohan's lesbianism, Sarah Palin's milf-ery, and Bret Michael's 'Rock of Love'. It's like they took 20 of the best skits from SNL/Mad TV and whittled them down into a 4 minute video.

Musical production is standard Dr. Dre/Eminem fare. Eminem's flow has become so refined that's its a sonic chainsaw (vrrmm, vrrm, vrrrrrrmmm!). The ideas are all there lyrically, but I wish Eminem would get back to what made his earlier stuff worked. With the speed and preciseness Eminem is now rapping at, you lose the time and space to let any genuine emotion breath. This is the stylistic approach he's been refining since his 3rd album... but it takes away from the deep resonance of anger that you can feel on his first two albums.

Maybe, Eminem has nothing to be angry about? He's embraced by the Mainstream. But there's gotta be SOMETHING that'll work him up. Em's best when he's got something to prove. I was hoping that he'd start going off on the political culture that existed during 2000-2008. But I guess he's not a political dude.

Can somebody please get Eminem angry? Asher Roth maybe? I feel there's still more greatness in Eminem. But to get to it, he needs something to hate. He needs to be so pissed off that he HAS to unleash it in his music. You can FEEL that. I just haven't really felt much of that since the MARSHALL MATHERS LP.

At the end of the day, mediocre Eminem is better than most Hip-Hop. It's just tough to embrace when you know there's more in the guy. Imagine 2pac without his passion, intelligence, and insecurity. Imagine Biggie without his swagger. That's what we've been getting from Eminem... and it's bums me out a bit.

My current favorite song: "Swagger Like Us" by T.I. featuring Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Lil' Wayne. Production is by Kanye West using a brilliant sample from M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes". Everybody is bringing they're A-game. Ironically, although T.I. is solid, his style is distinctly different from Jay, Ye, and Wayne's sing-song delivery. T.I.'s more 2pac or Nas with a tighter rhythmic delivery and solid introspective lyrics. The rest just bring it with tons of melodic attitude and word play. Hearing this makes me feel like the trio of Jay-Z, Kanye, and Lil' Wayne would be the penultimate hip-hip group. They complement each other perfectly.

Ignore the fake video... it's all about the music.