Dot Rotten - You Wasted My Time (cover)

I am often awake at these stupid times, asking myself "WHY WHY WHY AM I AWAKE?!". I never usually have a good reason... until today, courtesy of Dot Rotten, for if I had retreated to my slumber at a normal time like a normal human, I would have missed out on Dot Rotten dropping a bomb.

A little over 24 hours ago Krept and Konan gave us the UK remix of Don't Waste My Time. It being a madness, naturally encouraged me to post about it here, and if you read it, you will see written in ink/pixels, me telling you to be excited because it is these types of tunes that get the whole scene going on one. And that's when good ol' Dot comes into play.

Since Dot's fairly decent album, he hasn't really been doing much, or not enough to be causing a stir at least (except on twitter). Well, I assure you after you let you ears get assaulted by this then you'll be saying: "Sorry I forgot just how good you were Mr Rotten because GAT DAHHHHHHM!". I don't know what ruffled his feathers, it could be absolutely anything because, as I said before, judging by his twitter, lately he seems to be frustrated with anything and everything on the UK scene that isn't Minarmy. Whatever it was, he let something go fo' sure and consequently he absolutely, unequivocally, totally and completely went in RUTHLESSLY during this therapy session he partook in, in his studio. It's evident that once he embarked on this outburst he couldn't stop; "F*** THAT I DONT WANNA HEAR NO CHORUS...!!!!", only this is a much more skilfully executed outburst than your usual. The bars are well constructed. His delivery, even with the 'Tempz Next Hype' level anger, is controlled and as a listener you're not just left drowning in a mess of poorly executed bars flung carelessly at us. This control is packed into two flows, the first; a fast, more spiteful, yet calmer flow and a second slower but heavier flow, adopted after the beat drops. Considering that this remix was one of the first to fall at our feet, and it being a freestyle at that, you'll feel yourself wanting to apologise to Mr Rotten yet again for forgetting how good he is.

Go and 'ave a listen m8.

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Don't Waste My Time UK Remix - Krept, Konan, Chip, French Montana,Wretch 32, Chinx Drugz and Fekky

2nd of January, everyone awoke from their slumbers, rubbed out the eye bogeys and sat in their beds at 11:30am scrolling through twitter forgetting about the words of "wisdom" they were blabbering the other day across all thier social networks about productivity, pumping up the work rate and positivity. Amongst the "WE BE ALL NIGHT LOOOOOOOOOOOVE"//It's not everyday...//Real men shouldn't this and should that tweets as they scrolled they would have come across snippets of drama (which was very much over hyped by twitter land) surrounding the two Don't Waste My Time remixes dropped today. Now although I'm here to talk about the track, not the industry politics and the misunderstanding surrounding it, I must quickly address one thing...

Due to all the hoo-har on twitter, the one real issue in all of this was overlooked: the lack of respect French (along with pretty much the rest of the US scene) showed for the UK. He used a UK song for his mixtape. Okay, that's cool, thanks. But could he not have even credited Krept and Konan on the track listing? Is this twitter - there are no character limits. And did he really have to take the UK artists off the song to put it on his mixtape? Last time I checked, Lana Del Ray wasn't part of Coke Boys but she's still featured so it cant be that  he took off Chip, Fekky and Wretch's verses because it's a purely just a Coke Boys project. They executed strong verses - it would not sacrifice the Coke Boys' rep or quality of mixtape to keep them on there. He's not obliged to do anything but if the UK scene was rated let alone respected then just a simple gesture to support our scene would not harm himself, his career and would take him minimal effort. I guess it's that American artist "superior" attitude thinking that remixing one UK track is one too many favours for us.

That's just my thoughts but anyway...

The original version of 'Don't Waste My Time' is a straight greezy, raw, gas-material track. It doesn't carry the substance Krept and Konan's more concious stuff does, and although I love me some music with a message, from time to time you have to switch it up and give credit to the bangers that, when blasted, have you nodding your head like you're the don dadaaaaaaaaa. This is exactly why I was clinging onto the edge of my seat for the remix to drop. It's these types of tunes that get the artists on their toes making sure they go H'IIIIIIIINNNNN competing for the hardest verse whether they get put on the remix or do their own cover. And that's the real beauty...it gets the whole scene going!

You don't even need to get past the first verse for proof of this - Chip wins! He said it was a "killer verse" and he tells no lies. It's not technically  the best in terms of lyricism blah blah but for the type of track it is, the verse is perfect. For me, French got a bit lazy on this. Although they're decent bars - they're recycled and given that he always raps about the same old stuff anyway it's nothing more than a poor effort from him especially for something he is putting out on his mix tape where it's usually nice to deviate and experiment in the safety of the non-mainstream waters. Moving on...Wretch has never been the "greezy" type of rapper and if you were to match a track to him, this wouldn't be it - it's way darker, far too trappy and hence a lot more Americanised than his usual stuff. However, he manages to sound more than comfortable on this track controlling his verse and letting it build momentum as it progresses, leaving on a good, solid ending;"kabooooooooooom". Surprisingly, it's not his lyricism that stands out for me in this, but it was his delivery that took the spotlight - it was strong and was what gave his verse fire. Another piece of evidence proving he is one of our most skilled and versatile rappers right now. Chinx Drugz verse was decent. I'm not gunna lie, I haven't really made effort to listen to his other stuff so I can't really comment against his other work but judging from this he is iteeeee. If I wasn't the eager beaver I am, after hearing this I probably wouldn't have much motivation to listen to anything else of his. Fekky was good. Not at his best for me but he was decent and definitely continued the theme of Team UK > Team US which echoes through the track. It goes without saying that Krept and Konan's original verses were hard and even with the new additions they still remained strong (if I had to choose between the two though it would be Krept).  

The team US link up (although slightly messed up with the way French dropped his remix first) is a great move for Krept and Konan but the US efforts on this are lazy. A straight UK link up with a few more of our homegrown artists could have this looking like the new 'Game Over' and definitely worth my time. I'm just excited for the next few days where everyone is going to be dropping their own verses over this. Round 2 commence *DING DING*

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Wretch 32 - Daily Duppy

It's Sunday. A day of reflection. So let us recall one event of the week in particular. Wednesday. The day of the storm. The storm that ripped up the UK rap scene. Wretch 32's Daily Duppy. 

There is a reason I have always loved Wretch. He has been my favourite UK Rapper since "End Scene" days where his story telling skills first captured me. On a lyrical front Wretch the Wordsmith has always been untouchable and it's the very reason I feel he is underrated by so many - because his lines simply go over too many people's heads. It's such a shame because there is nothing like sitting on the bus and getting that gas mark 100000000 feeling after uncovering the double (sometimes even triple) meanings hidden amongst the bars - and I can assure you there is not one artist that has got me pausing, rewinding, looping the track as much as Wretch has so I can bask in that very feeling. That's probably why I still haven't got over his Daily Duppy. Until Wednesday I didn't actually think it was possible for him to elevate any higher on the lyrical front. The wordplay was unmissable (quite literally as good ol' GRM daily illustrated it all for us) and if BBM didn't flop then I could predict with 99.9999% confidence that my recent updates would be full of lines taken from this very masterpiece (amongst the odd 'pop up I'm bored'). After taking a few deep breaths and getting over the content, you can then begin to appreciate that full power in the punch does not finish in his words, but lives on in the charisma that leaks out of his delivery and that strong flow - both of which have always been present in his work (if you need proof listen to his Woo Riddim Freestyle), but have also been upgraded, continuing with this theme of growth which we can clearly witness.

I forget in which interview, but I remember when talking on the topic of his achievements, him saying: "it's less celebrating and more elevating". He is improving with success. He reversed the formulae. Charts have changed him - but for the better. He's not sitting around getting too comfortable and allowing himself to slack. That's the kind of mindset that will get him the attention of the US scene. The attention and recognition he definitely deserves because if he was from the USA, this Daily Duppy would have the world going mad.

NOW CAN I GET AN AHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAH

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Kendrick Lamar "Diss Track"??

So I was doing that whole wake-up-scroll-through-twitter-find-out-what-the-world-is-on-today routine and my TL was full of "KENDRICK" "DRAKE" "DISS" ... "Say whaaaaaaaaaat?" was my immediate thought. I proceeded to scroll deeper into my timeline to find a link to this "diss track" and upon listening to it, it turns out Twitter was playing Chinese whispers again. Nevertheless the track was on the opposite end of disappointing.

In celebration of the fact that Big Sean's upcoming album "Hall Of Fame" is now available for pre-order, he released "Control", a 7 minute track featuring Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica, which didn't make it onto the album due to sample clearing issues. It's a straight rap track bursting at the seams with street, grit, fire and UUUUURGHHHHHH. Consequently it has gassed every human being that's heard it. All 3 artists were evidently in beast mode when recording their verses as it is laced with that "who gon' stop me huh?" attitude -  recklessness, elevation, breaking boundaries, doing the unstoppable. Jay brought the flow, Sean Don brought fire yet this was all overlooked because Kendrick brought it all.

Like the brewing of a storm, all was calm as Kendrick built the bridge of the track with a poetical flow thus doubling the impact of his following verse by letting us recover from Big Sean's rhymes only to, out of no where, hit us even harder with his. His whole 3 minutes radiated "ruthless" but it was these lines that got everyone talking:

I'm usually homeboys with the same n*ggas I'm rhymin' wit

But this is Hip Hop and them n*ggas should know what time it is

And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale

Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake

Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller

I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you n*ggas

Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you n*ggas

The don't wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you n*ggas

Now whether the track has disrupted your humble Tuesday morning or you've just read the above (if your case is the latter then you need to hear it ASAP #NoRocky), I'm hoping you're with me and my line of thinking in that this isn't a diss to Drake or any name he spat. He is just calling them out, sort of sending for them or more of a warning that he's coming for their careers. Whatever it is, much of it has been blown out of proportion due to the whole hype factor of the song and everything surrounding it. For instance the essence of Pusha T's tweet in response to the track: "I hear u loud and clear my n*gga... @kendricklamar" has definitely been exaggerated. Surely being part of GOOD music, and this track belonging (I use that loosely as I think the owenership has been signed over to Kendrick to be honest) Big Sean, Pusha T must have heard it already, and his tweet was there to merely build more hype and publicity and not to mark the start of a war.

Truthfully, he is complimenting them - highlighting that they're at the top of the game right now and the ones to watch. Yet it IS still a diss. A diss to those he didn't mention - highlighting that they're irrelevant in the game right now and no competition for Kendrick, one of Hip Hop's newest saviours. If I was an american rapper in the game right now I'd want to be at that level where I was Kendrick's competition. I'd be begging for Kendrick to be sending for me...especially if it meant I was part of a verse as hard as that.

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Born Sinner and Yeezus Review

Before the anticipation of the 8th of June leaked away along with both albums, when J Cole moved his release date forward to compete with the highly controversially titled product of Kanye's that is Yeezus, Born Sinner suddenly became top of my to-do list as I was fascinated to see if what J Cole had produced was actually worthy enough to compete against King Kanye (or more appropriately Lord Yeezus) or if it was just a cleverly thought out marketing ploy to boost Mr Cole's sales because of the public's newly provoked curiosity to compare. I thought it was probably going to be the latter...Miss America dissapointed me and although Power Trip was a great record, I felt J Cole had a long way to go before he was on Yeezy's level, especially since Kanye's latest deliveries came in the form of Watch the Throne and Cruel Summer - some of Hip Hops heaviest.

Turns out all my assumptions were wrong.

I was expecting more from Yeezus, and my expectations grew when the hype all down my Twitter timeline from the aftermath of the Yeezus leak was much more immense than any of what I had come across following the Born Sinner leak.

Soul Culture's interview with J Cole as part of their #OkayNotToBeOkay campaign revealed that the making of Born Sinner helped him overcome a phase of depression. This naturally led me to expect a whole lot of emotion and a trace or two of darkness packed into the album, but compared to Yeezus, Born Sinner is dusk.

No track fades into the background and lets you subconsciously nod your head to the beat while you get along with your day. Instead your back is against the wall and you are forced to listen to his screams which accompany, what I feel, is a battle of his sins. You are submerged into a chaotic sea of of unpleasurable listening with clashing instrumentals, samples that just don't fit and sour lyrics. It finishes with your ears thinking "Why Kanyeezy?". Is it that the displeasure and exhaustion that is caused is a punishment? I would say it's a punishment to us (which it kind of is) but I doubt Kanye even stopped to consider his fans with this record. Instead, he reaches the heights of vanity and reinvents himself as God, or Yeezus, allowing him to look down on himself, and punish himself for his sins, without actually damaging his ego because he still holds the title of Yeezus...God...the highest figure of power of all.

Now I don't like to be all negative. With my iPod on shuffle, I stumble on upon some of the tracks and on their own and they're actually decent. Put together, however, is too overwhelming for me. Maybe I've misunderstood and didn't catch on to Kanye's artistic genius. I'll attempt to try again and translate his vision...when I have the energy.

It came as a relief to listen to something on the other side of the spectrum - Born Sinner.

After Good Kid MAAd City, I was worried that Kendrick was possibly going to push J Cole over to the sideline (lolz...Sideline...J Cole...) especially as nothing J Cole released so far seemed really strong and it seemed for a while like he was getting forgotten. Born Sinner proved my worries were pointless, because J Cole has come back on top form and ticked every box on his way up. Unlike the unsurity surrounding what Kanye was trying to achieve with Yeezus, Born Sinner is a definite self reflection and checkedy-checking himself before he wrecks himself. While addressing his own personal needs through his music, he hasn't failed to address the needs of his fans by bringing out - yeah I'm gunna say it - the best Hip Hop album of 2013?

J Cole still possesses his fantastic ability as a skilled storyteller which adds a sense of intimacy and a resultant connection can be built with this album - even if you can't relate to his life, you can feel the real. The beats are alright, his lyricism is intelligent and interesting - from touching on topics such as homophobia to letting his idol down - ,his flow is tight tight tight, and he has kept it trillllllll. From the direction of the Power Trip video to the production of most of the instrumentals, this whole album is an exploration of Cole's creativity and capabilities as an artist. Okay maybe he hasn't quite mastered the art of production - but he has scored highly everywhere else (face included). What he has presented is a product of his progression and I'm pleasantly surprised.

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Dot Rotten - Voices In My Head

As Dot's first studio album, it's a decent body of work.
I was actually surprised with a couple of the tracks on the album. Obviously as his first album since commercial success, it was bound to be more varying sound to reach out to more people, but considering the tracks Dot has released as singles, I still wasn't really expecting Dot to deliver some of the tracks he did.

The first part of the album that greets your ears comes in the form of "Hello". It begins, gaining momentum with Dot "bringing you poetry", making your introduction to the album...well pure. As the track gets into it, it's a bit downing a glass big glass of cold water on a hot day... I normally associate Dot with a dark sound, so this lighter and dainty track is something new and refreshing and I really like it. This mirrors my reaction to the other lighter track on the album; "Thank You" - it's a buoyant track dedicated to his fans out there that have supported him - especially those that have stuck by him while he's switching up his sound and climbs up and down the chart. I like the little statement he makes by thanking the fans that have stuck by him since the underground, on a track that is so not underground. It's a blatant fist bump to the supporters, and a subtle two fingers up to the haters that say he's "sold out". I think these people forget that a slight adaptation in sound doesn't undermine the skill that he obviously still habours.

Running through most of the rest of the album are the heavy, anthemic beats that Dot's been associating himself with for a while now. Underneath these beats though, I get the sense of both growth and frustration from Mr Rotten in some of these tracks. It's almost like recently he has learnt a lot and he's come to some sort of realisation. There is a hunger back there which make me feel like he feels to achieve something more with this album itself. Maybe it is infact, the Voices In His Head, that are holding him back? I don't know - this could me just going off on one and getting some random vibe off it but never the less, on the topic of achieving something with this album - I think Dot can be proud of this one.

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Miguel - How Many Drinks ft. Kendrick Lamar

Miguel goes down in the book with the likes of Bobby Valentino in the chapter of borderline offensive lines that still weirdly sound romantic. I'd say Bobby Valention's: "Slow down, I just wanna get to know you, but don't turn around 'cos that pretty round thing is good to me" makes you feel at least a bit more 'worth it' than "you look good, and yeah I got money but I don't wanna waste my time" from Miguel. But, albeit his dodgy lines, Mr Miguel has mastered sounding like an a** yet making you think "Miguelo Miguelo, where for art thou Miguelo?" at the same time. A good slow jam needs that va-va-voom passion, which Miguel formulates perfectly with his sweet tenderness balanced with blunt sourness. A TRUE slowjam though, is defined by peppermint-spray-in-the-eyes-worthy-chat-up-lines actually sounding like Shakespeare's finest sonnet. And that's exactly what How Many Drinks does.

After 'Adorn', 'How Many Drinks' was my FAVOURITE song off Kaleidoscope Dream, so when I found out it was being released I was happy happy happy. When I heard Kendrick was featuring though, I was a bit wary. I love Mr Lamar but I didn't think the song needed to be or should be tampered with. However, Kendrick pulled it off managing to match the boyish/cheeky side to the song, laying his verse over what was originally Miguel's half-rap. I like that the verse was really Kendrick-ish, even adding in a few "Swimming Pool" references but still actually relevant to the song. God knows how many remixes I've heard when an artist has jumped on a track with lyrics that don't fit with any part of the track except the rhyme scheme. Good job Kendrick, you didn't kill the vibe (harhar).

When I imagined the video to this song, I imagined there would be some sort of story set in a club with a few slick slides across the dance floor over to the bar where the pretty girl is standing. Instead they opted for the whole performance visual, which I think is a missed opportunity and a lazy lick of the envelope to seal a damn-good-package. I will be positive though, and say I like the way Kendrick throws the mic at the end of his verse and Miguel catches it - yeah, I'm amused by the little things... (and NO, that "little things" was not in reference to Kendrick - although he does look like an ikkle cutie in this video).

But yes, although the video isn't "extraordinary" and I think a lot more could have been done with it, it's the closest we'll get to being serenaded by Miguel... *sigh*

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GFrsh - Legoman II Mixtape

FIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

On terms of consistency, range and overall mad vibes - Legoman II has hit the spot. The sun has finally decided to show itself and this mixtape couldn't have come at a better time because mateeeee - these tracks + summer vibes = yes.
 So far, it's the UK mixtape of 2013 (yeah, it's only April, but if there are going to be any UK releases this year that will rob GFrsh of this title then they have got be be fiyaaaaaaaa x2)

Full of braggish bars on hoodish tracks, he gets away with making you get to the end of the track thinking "lol woteva ya little priiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...". Maybe it's the fact that he does actually practice half of what he preaches or the fact that some of these tracks gas you to such a level, you get caught in the energy he delivers and feel you have no reason to envy GFrsh's "20 on his wrist" and the "license for his kicks" ...not that material possessions determine a happy life, ofcourse ;)

The choice of features reflects the true "L.O.N.D-Boy" in GFrsh, with him choosing some of the finest talents floating about the scene at the moment without the man himself being overshadowed. The vaunting verses, matched with the heavy beats add a little American flavour to the tracks. That doesn't mean he hasn't kept it grounded and goes in with that pirate radio flow on a couple of these tracks though - he took it thurrrrr! He manages to go in without forcing himself. Everything on Legoman II is well within his comfort zone - and considering the standard of the tape, it shows the level of talent GFrsh is working with. To be honest, I didn't expect anything less from him, but you may find he's slightly exceeding expectation when you remind yourself this is only a FREE MIXTAPE... muadddddd.

GFrsh has released 3 visuals for Legoman tracks.

Check out the latest visual for my favourite track on the mixtape: #IMBALLLLLLLINNNNNNNNNNN (don't expect to be able to say that normally once you hear it) 

AND if you haven't already - DOWNLOAD THE TAPE HOSTED BY GRM DAILY http://wp.grmdaily.com/gfrsh-legoman-2/

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