"You Lookin' Like a Fruit Platter, I'ma Bite Into Your Peach"

Wait a minute...Scott Storch is back?? Going down memory lane for a minute, he was at the top of the music industry about a decade ago, producing tracks like Cry Me a River, Still D.R.E., Lean Back, Candy Shop, and Just a Lil Bit to name a few. Then came the superstardom, fast money, women, cars and drugs...you know how the story goes when $70 million turns into $100 and bankruptcy. It's always a sad tale, yet the empathy is never quite there for anyone who makes Erlich Backman type decisions that lead them down a desperate path.

But luckily for those who have made unfortunate decisions, there's always a path out of being broke if you're talented. There's never been a question about Scott's talents and while the beat on All Eyez isn't one of my favorites of his, I'm sincerely glad to hear his vibrant instrumentals again. If you're a fan of some edgy pillow talk, you'll enjoy all the ways Game and Jeremih lead your mind to the gutter in their new one. In case you missed it, Game just dropped his new Streets of Compton album last week, but you won't find this new one on it. My guess is this ends up on some deluxe version of the album, but until then Soundcloud and a single will have to do...#ScottStorch

The Game feat Jeremih - All Eyez (prod by Scott Storch)

Beware Anderson .Paak is in the Building

Those of you who did their do diligence by giving Dr. Dre's latest Compton soundtrack a full listen will be familiar with the name Anderson .Paak. Featured on a whopping six of tracks on the compilation, you could almost it a debut album for him. It's a tough call because Animals was really dope, but I'd go as far as saying his new single below might be his best to date. Featuring a top notch verse from The Game, the jazzy, laid back flow of the track will quickly earn and keep your attention. It's some smooth R&B, which is hard to come by these day.

The best part about it? Anderson's debut album, Malibu, is due out on January 15th. Buckle yourselves up for some easy listening, enlightened Hip Hop y'all Anderson's on the way...#RoomInHere

Anderson .Paak feat The Game & Sonyae Elise - Room In Here

"Granada I'm Falling Under Your Spell"

Maaaaan does this track have whip appeal! Are you kidding me? Game with Skrillex and Bangladesh on the same track?!?!? I feel like we all hit the lottery tonight as a result of this deck rattling banger of a collaboration.

After a few listens, I'm still trying to understand how Skrillex fits into this equation, but I'm far from complaining. Between the white hot fire verses from The Game, the horn sample and reverberating bass, this track has a lot of what I love about Hip Hop. With Game's new Documentary 2 a few weeks away from release, this was the perfect catalyst to generate hype for the upcoming album. Lord have mercy, it'll be at least a few weeks before I get sick of this one...#ElChapo

The Game feat Skrillex - El Chapo (prod By Bangladesh)

Videos of the Week August 7th

Slightly Hip Hop heavy week with a sizable dose of silly. Leading the silly wagon is without a doubt the trailer for Zoolander 2. In case you haven't already seen the trailer as a preview for another movie in theaters, it's about as goofy as you'd expect. From the eerie galactic lead in to the absolute lack of intelligence from Ben Stiller's character, it all works quite well. Following up on a similarly goofy note was the creatively spliced Doug Funnie Trap Queen video. If you're familiar enough with the lyrics, you'll be more than a little entertained by how much the animated visuals match up with the audio.

On the music video tip, Drake/The Game came through with their Compton inspired video for 100. Speaking of Compton inspired, Kendrick Lamar had the audacity to make a music video for an interlude on his latest album. Can't say I've seen that happen since the 1990s, so kudos to him for having the huevos and knack for entertainment with the visuals on For Free? Rounding out the week comes from UK's own Calvin Harris who felt the need to show us exactly how deep love can go. And no, it's not a big surprise that his gf's friend was cast for the video...of course she was...#HowDeepIsYourLove
Zoolander 2 (Trailer)

Calvin Harris - How Deep is Your Love (Video)

Doug Funnie Sings Trap Queen to Patty Mayonnaise

The Game feat Drake - 100 (Video)

Kendrick Lamar - For Free? Interlude (Video)

Photo Credit - YouTube

"All I Ask is Keep it 8 More Than 92 With Me, 100"

It's been more than a minute since I've posted a slow, lyrical Hip Hop track. Truth be told I largely don't have the patience anymore for half the nonsense that 99% of Hip Hop artists have to say these days, BUT I will make an exception for two of my favorites, The Game and Drake. For a bit of background on the track, check out the behind the scenes in Compton for the upcoming video for 100...

On the track you can expect a very laid back duo casually trading bar after bar with one another for a full five minutes. They sport that smooth West Coast gangsta delivery that feels tougher than it sounds. For the Game fans out there, you can continue to look forward to The Documentary 2 in less than a week on June 30th while you F5 the internet and impatiently wait for the video to drop...#TheDocumentary2

The Game feat Drake - 100 (prod by Cardo & Johnny Juliano)

"Ridin Thru My City Wearin More Red Than Santa Claus"

Just when I had written off Hip Hop as as headed toward extinction, here comes a heat rock delivered by two of my favorites. While Rich Boy and The Game's verses will be the reason you listen to the track, you're going to remember the track because of Hit-Boy's absolutely bangin' beat. To say it goes hard doesn't do it justice, it THUMPS! (Hence the 808 check post label below). It's not enlightening Hip Hop by any stretch of the imagination, just a lot of tough talk and witty bars, but that works for me when it's done this well. If you're like me, you had thought Rich Boy was fading into ether as one of the best 'bama rappers of all time. It sounds like that legacy has yet to be fully imagined, which gives hope for the near future of Southern Hip Hop...#RidinThruMyCity

Rich Boy feat The Game - Ridin' Thru My City (prod by Hit-Boy)

Bone Thugs Join the Celebration

In an attempt to take a page out of @timbaland (Timbaland Thursdays) and @kanyewest's (GOOD Fridays) books, @thegame is taking back Sundays with his #SundayService campaign. Simply put, he's going to release a new track every Sunday until his new album Jesus Piece drops on December 11th. For all of you keeping score at home, that's six Sundays, which means we'll be getting six tracks that probably just missed the cut for the album.

When I first posted the original version of Celebration back in August, I mentioned how odd it was hearing Game cover Bone Thugs and Harmony. All that oddity just completely evaporated with the remix below, which actually features the members of @RealBoneThugs. They may be past their prime, but they haven't lost their quiet intensity on the mic. It comes off sounding like a First of tha Monthremix above all, which took me back to the mid-1990s. Not sure about y'all, but Bone Thugs will always be classic to me...#E99Eternal

Game feat Bone Thugs & Harmony - Celebration (Remix)

Game Wayne CB Wiz and Tyga Doin' Bone Thugs

Other than being a little annoying that the clean tagged version of this track leaked, I'm even more taken aback by the general concept of the track below. It's like @thegame, @liltunchi, @chrisbrown, @tyga and @realwizkhalifa went to Bone Thugs camp this summer and this was the final project. Not only is the hook hella Bone Thugs, every artist on the track somehow does their own Bone Thugs impersonation at some point of the track.

It's somewhere between really awesome and completely random. It's easy to miss Wiz at the end too until you hear his goofy assed stoner laugh. Couldn't mistake that laugh for anything else in this world, so I guess you could say it works like a charm.

No clue where this will ultimately end up, but I'll probably feel more positive about the track when it isn't tagged and edited. For now I'll take it for what it's worth and go listen to some 1st of Tha Month because that's where the mind eminently drifts to when you listen to the track below...#Celebration.

Game feat Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Tyga & Wiz Khalifa - Celebration

Videos of the Week March 23

Some high profile videos flew across the radar this week with @lanadelrey's Blue Jeans video leading the way. By far, the most entertaining watch for me this week was hearing @royceda59 recount @SLAUGHTERHOUSE's past week on tour. Just the SXSW story alone was worth the watch because you rarely hear an artist openly admit that they were worried another legendary artist was going to upstage them. That's gotta be a baaad feeling when you're headlining, about to go on stage, and @kanyewest plays two or three tracks that ignite the crows and make you go SON OF A BITCH, HOW ARE WE GONNA TOP THIS?? It's that type of down to earth real talk that makes me respect the hell out of them individual artists and as a group. Now if they could only hit Philly on a night besides this Tuesday, I'd really be pumped...#WishfulThinking

Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans (Video)

Slaughterhouse Vlog Episode 2

Game feat Kendrick Lamar - The City (Video)

OnCue - Kinda Late (Video)(prod by Just Blaze)

Trey Songz - Sex Ain't Better Than Love (Video)

Videos of the Week

I can't remember a week that had this many high profile videos. From @drake to @thegame to @Rihanna, there were a lot of attention grabbing videos that found their way onto YouTube. Love the Bay Area setting for The Motto and Game's Martians vs Goblins was just as creepy and weird as you'd expect from the title. Nothing creepier that @fucktyler having a striped cat on his shoulder throughout his verse? Anybody else, that probably would be out of the ordinary. Like the @liltunchi image below...

Good luck reeling in those last minute gifts today and tomorrow y'all. Lord knows I'm gonna be busy like a bee no honeycomb...#DrakeQuote minus #TheMoneyTrees

Drake feat Lil Wayne & Tyga - The Motto (Video)

The Game feat Tyler, The Creator & Lil Wayne - Martians vs Goblins (Video)

Rihanna - You Da One (Video)

Asher Roth Performing G.R.I.N.D. in Chicago

David Guetta feat Sia - Titanium (Video)

Lloyd feat Trey Songz & Young Jeezy - Be The One (Video)

"The Best the West Has Ever Seen, No Disrespect to Calvin"

Ever since I first got wind of this new up and coming rapper outta Compton named @kendrick_lamar, I've been patiently waiting for his raw talent to shine through. Just like anything with the mythical D word attached to it, the Look Out For Detox freestyle got everyone's attention, but I wasn't sold yet. Fast forward to his first album, Section 80, which was an indication of great things to come with Hi Power being the clear stand out track and highlight of the album. Still, it was like seeing a seismograph rapidly jump up and down before the earthquake, but when was the ground finally going to open up?

Well, it finally happened when he got together with fellow Compton rapper @thegame on This City, which will appear on Game's upcoming R.E.D. Album. The whole track is just awesome, starting with the hymn laden, angelic beat by @COOLANDDRE that lays the groundwork for Game to stake claim as one of the top 5 rappers of all time ("Game, Biggie, Hov, prolly Pac, Nas, No particular order"). Debatable lyrical hubris aside, the hook is interesting in that it's damn near a whole verse and the only reason you can tell it isn't a verse is because it's repeated word for word more than once. Keeping it 100, the whole track is just one big intro leading up to Kendrick's acapella take off at the 4:27 mark. Ferocious, tenacious, raw, vicious...all applicable adjectives for the fury unleashed by Compton's prince. Press play and follow along kids...

"And I wear pendant on my shoulder
Soldier, like a lieutenant, and the coupe tinted
Got pulled over, Johnny always lock a ni**a down
Knowing damn well we don't wanna see the box like Manny Pacquiao
Little ni**a Mayweather size, ride like Pac
In his prime, thug life is now on radar
Til the federal come through and raid ours
Reminiscing when the LA Raiders
Was in my home, snapback fitted on my uncle's dome
And I don't condone d*ckriding, I'm addicted to
Westsiding, living in a city where the skinny ni**as die
And the semi bullets fly, but it turn me to a lion
Trying, and I mean that sh*t
Game came through, put the city on his back
I was in the city with a nigga, had seen that sh*t
"Compton!", a ni**a gotta scream that shit
Never went commercial, Never T.V. screened that sh*t
Can't block or screen that sh*t, now everybody sing that sh*t"
- Kendrick Lamar

Add this one to the growing list of collabs from the consistently dynamic duos of The Game + Cool & Dre. Oh and if you don't have enough incentive to go out and cop The R.E.D. Album, you're haven't been listening. I'm sticking to my album of the year prediction until something better comes out...#TakeItToTheBank

The Game feat Kendrick Lamar - This City (prod by Cool & Dre)
|iTunes

Videos of the Week

Interesting week with respect to videos with a lot of randomness (Donald Trump co-signing Mac Miller, Anne Hathaway Rapping?) mixed in with some interesting live performances and music videos. Thanks again @s_c_, every time you decide to bottle pop and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting your champagne, people find their way to my site because of this pic...

@JColeNC - Workout (Video)

DJ Drama's Oh My (Remix) Behind the Scenes

Anne Hathaway Raps on Conan

Game Apologizes to Sherriff's Department for Tweet

The Donald Co-signs @MacMiller as the "New Eminem"

Nicole Scherzinger - Wet (Video)

Jay-Z Poppin' Ace of Spades Bottles While Dropping' 250k in Miami

Kanye's Autotune Freestyle in Tivoli, Denmark

@kreayshawn Performs Gucci, Gucci at the Highline Ballroom in NYC

"Where's All the Girls Too Busy Studyin' to Make the Guest List?"

I'm finding it really hard to disagree with the growing consensus that @thegame sounds best over @COOLANDDRE beats. Sure he had a moment there with the good doctor, but when it comes to longevity and consistency of sound, he just keeps churning out dope music with the help of Marcello and Andre.

And who would have thought he and @drakkardnoir could rip it up with the chemistry they did on Good Girls Go Bad? Not that a feature with either of them would be a challenge to anyone involved, but with two differing styles, they meshed well over the slow, steady, bangin' instrumental. With all thes R&B tracks and cameo hooks Drake has put out of late, it was refreshing to hear him go in and spit a nice verse. Between this leak and Game's other tough new one Martians vs Aliens, The R.E.D. Album is starting to enter the discussion for album of the year. When 5 single worthy tracks have leaked prior to the album's release, it's almost to a point where anything beyond this is icing on the cake. And we still haven't heard a CDQ version of Game's new tracks with @realdjpremier or the other @IMADEITINC track or even the few Dr. Dre produced tracks.

I mean I'm enjoying Watch the Throne and I've got high expectations for Carter IV and Take Care, but 8 months into the year, find me another album that's this stacked front to back...#Crickets

The Game feat Drake - Good Girls Go Bad (prod by Cool & Dre)

|iTunes

"Tip Scales With Her Waistline, Sex With the Bassline"

You'd think the most exciting element of the new track from @thegame below would be the @drdre feature and assumed footnote on the production credits. NOT SO FAST! (#CorsoVoice) Turns out the track is produced by the always on point @IMadeItInc, who has never been given the dap he deserves for the masterpieces of beats he has created.

I'm telling you all this because captain obvious says it's not hard at all to sell a new track with Game, Snoop and Dre. Now I'm not about to say this is anywhere as dope as Higher, but if it makes the final tracklisting of The Red Album, we'd all be better off. The only thing missing on this track is a Nate Doog feature, but all dogs go to heaven, so they had to try and artificially create his sound? Anybody else think they tried to summon the essence of Nate D Oh Double on the hook? Sounded like it to me...

This is a great example of grown up gangster rap, where it's still over the top and in your face lyrically with all the elicit references, but in a real subdued way compared to say...ten or fifteen years ago. Artists evolve and with it, trends and movements evolve too...in other words, these are three of the best and they rarely get together on a track, so don't let it escape your library. 

Red Album due out in three weeks on Aug 24th...

The Game feat Snoop Dogg & Dr Dre - Drug Test (prod by DJ Khalil)

Videos of the Week

Whole lotta content this week with plenty of Chris Brown cameos and a few high profile videos for lead singles to albums. Anybody lucky enough to be at that Rihanna show in NYC when Kanye dropped in? smh, best I've gotten was Baby at a Drake show...have a good weekend y'all!

@thegame feat @chrisbrown - Pot of Gold (Video)

@kanyewest & @Rihanna perform All of the Lights in NYC (Live)

@MacMiller - Best Day Ever (Video)

@acehood feat @chrisbrown - Body 2 Body (Video)

@Tyga feat @imchrisrich - Far Away (Video)

Videos of the Week

Bunch of great new concert videos have been surfacing from summer tours of late like Kanye/Cudi and Linkin Park covering @officialadele's Rolling in the Deep. Kinda creeped out by the Skylar Grey video, but still love the track and her new one Invisible. @araabmuzik is an absolute beast on the MPC. If I were to learn a skill it would be the ability to manipulate samples like he does. Plenty more to follow, indulge below folks, lots of good stuff...
@kanyewest & @wizardcud Perform All of the Lights (Live in Milwaukee)

@skylargrey - Dance Without You (Video)

@CeeLoGreen feat @RealWizKhalifa - Bright Lights Bigger City (Remix) (Video)

@araabmuzik destroys the MPC (Live)

@thegame feat @JTIMBERLAKE & Pharrell - Ain't No Doubt About It (Video)

@linkinpark Performing Rolling in the Deep(Live)

Best of Planking in Hip Hop

It's not everyday that a worldwide fad is started by Australians, but the whole Planking craze can be traced back to the land down under. Back in May, it took the country by storm as Brisbane, Australia police warned of the dangers of planking following the first of what will probably be more than a few tragedies, as plankers continue to push the completely flat, downward facing envelope. (Note: At time of publish 436,000 likes on FB)

It took a few months, but the ripples of the odd craze were eventually felt in the US when all the sudden everyone was posting plank photos on Twitter. It's all cause and effect and the cause of it becoming a craze in the US was hugely in part to Twitter and the opinion leaders on Twitter (celebrities), taking part in the trend. Like anything else odd and potentially dangerous, when planking or the laying down game is done in safe surroundings, it can be entertaining to see people rigidly balancing between or on top of two objects in creative ways. This week Hip Hop had their run with planking as it adopted it's own index-able way to segment the fad with the hash-tag #PlankLife. Below are a couple of my favorites, along with a photo album of the highlights...

@BigSean Planking

@joebudden Planking

@thegame Planking in Studio

@bigboi Planking

@DIPLO Planking on Elephant

@djafrojack Planking

Check the photo album below for more planking highlights...

"Red Ralph Laurens, the Double R Sittin’ on a Hill Like Lauren"

This past week has all but quieted any sort of notion I had that Charles Louboutin needs the good Doctor to release a platinum worthy album. The ironic thing is, @drdre is mentioned in the production credits of 6 outta 19 songs *tentatively* on his upcoming album, but that's neither here nor there. Yea, you could say I've fully bought into the hype of his upcoming R.E.D. Album, first with his Jim Jonsin produced track with Yelawolf - Rough (which hasn't yet been confirmed on the final tracklist) and now below is the lead single on the album featuring everyone's favorite feature @liltunechi.

Definitely one of the more dope intros to a song in recent memory by @COOLANDDRE who take the Kernkraft 400 Zombie Nation sample and flip it into a slowed down, rolling, percussion-fest that sets the table for @thegame to go IN on a 4 minute pro-Blood, 2011-style-as-close-as-we're-gonna-get-to-gangsta-rap track. From procliaming he "Made the letter B more famous than a Red Sox fitted", to holding down the Cincinnati Reds, to shouting out Su-Wu on the track, it's pretty clear he's still got a whole lotta pride in what color he reps. But I guess that's why it's called The R.E.D. Album and whatever expectations you have for the final album, you should probably reconsider them after seeing production from @jonathanrotem, @PolowDaDon, @timbaland007, @kanyewest, @imadeitinc, @realdjpremier, @MAESTRO, @eminem to name a few...and that's on top of 6 @drdre tracks with 3 @COOLANDDRE tracks. Did I mention Drake, Gaga and Big Boi are *tentatively* on the album too? JFC, is this the album to end all Hip Hop albums?

Whether it be mid or late 2011, I've got this circle in RED marker as my pick for the Hip Hop album I'm most excited about this year...

Game feat Lil Wayne - Red Nation (prod by Cool N Dre)

|Download

"So Tonight Let All of Your Pain be Champagne"

I'll admit, I was curious as hell when I saw the picture above of @thegame, @yelawolf and @iamjimjonsin kickin' it in the studio about a month ago. Mostly excited at the the prospect of two really talented Hip Hop artists coming together on a Jim Jonsin beat, but honestly hoping the collabo would be lyrically meaningful since the aforementioned artists can drop some really thought provoking stuff when they decide to.

What the track ended up being didn't disappoint, with Jayceon concocting one of the more forceful and creative verses in recent memory. To be fair, I'm a big Game fan because his voice is one of the most powerful in Hip Hop when he chooses to write and deliver verses like the one below. To me, there is no middle ground with his work, it's either quickly passed over or excellent in ever way. This represents the latter, feel free to follow the word-play by-play on the 2nd verse...

"The living, the dead
These Dre beats, my head
My life, featuring Wayne
That was Jayceon, this is Game
Adjacent to the fame aint chasing a damn thing
So tonight let all of your pain be champagne
I cant tame my killers but I can tell them chill
I might give you a pass depending how I feel
The bi polar bear
They said the end of the World is comin I know it’s here
Cuz California cold this year
Detox, R.E.D
MC’s dead
Kill them softly like Lauren Hill
Skin heads goin K-K-Krazy cuz a n-gga in a foreign wheel
We all born to die, some of us born to kill
If that don’t wake you up I hope tomorrow morning will"

While the track is dominated by Game's aggressive delivery and creative wordplay, I was initially hooked by the sample on the beat. It sounded so familiar, like one of those classic piano samples everyone has heard and hums every time it comes on, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Turns out Jim sampled Pearl Jam's timeless track Black (below)...

Cool how it all came together, but even more that Game touched on Drake and Bieber getting shafted at the Grammys (like he did when Missy beat him out years ago). Also found it interesting to hear Yelawolf speak on his newfound fame and how it feels to go from being relatively unknown to everyone wanting your autograph. Sounds like to me, he's one guy you know won't be changed one bit by fame because of what he's come from. Kinda cool and easy to relate to, which is why it's hard not to root for someone like that to succeed. Only a matter of time, maybe an album or a @Eminem collab or two and he'll be a household name. You can take that to the bank, as well as this one being in heavy circulation on any and all playlists I make...

Game feat Yelawolf - Rough (prod by Jim Jonsin)

|Download

A Mixtape Worth the Price of Admission

The cat is definitely out of the bag on @thegame's latest mixtape release Purp & Patron hosted by @djskee & @funkmasterflex. With now three high profile mixtapes released this year The Red Room in April and Brake Lights in August prior to last week's Purp and Patron, we're still waiting on The R.E.D. album, which has been pushed back more than a few time and is still slated for a 2011 release.

My favorite track on the mixtape was his lengthened out version of @MYFABOLOUSLIFE's Ferrari Lifestyle, where The Game builds off the original freestyle with two verses of his own. Trey Songz is supposed to be on the final final version of the track or part 3 in the track's shelf life if you're keeping score at home. Real laid back joint with the verses providing most of the likability legwork with lines from Fab like..

"I go from 0-60, a couple seconds
she go from sober to tipsy and gettin’ naked"

Or The Game...

"Me, Mr. O 11 New Edition,
I Call it Mike Bibby,
GPS get lost tryna follow me to my crib"

While Fab's verses will always have a higher degree of witty pop culture wordplay, it's hard to compete with The Game's thuggish non-chalance when he spits...

The Game feat Fabolous - Ferrari Lifestyle

|Download

Ad this to the growing list of artists sampling @LAROUXOFFICIAL's For the Kill as @COOLANDDRE gangsta up the sample with some weight on the bass to compliment the piano and harsh percussion. It's a good look and listening to it right now is making me reconsider my opinion of best track on the mixtape...

The Game - The Kill (prod by Cool n Dre)

|Download

My favorites probably won't be the same as yours especially when you check Game's tracks with @liltunechi and @realwizkhalifa. Feel free to check out the full 2 disk mixtape below via datpiff...

Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Provided by DatPiff.com