Welcome to my Hip Hop Blog!

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

Hip Hop Blog: Analysis and Insight

Welcome to the Hip-Hop Octopus! Check periodically for new updates and analysis about hip hop / rap music. I will try to cover both underground and mainstream hip-hop news and music, and also seek to dispel some myths, reveals new truths, or help foster intelligent and open discussion about anything that pertains to hip hop as well. Hopefully, you’ll find something new here that you can’t find anywhere else, and I won’t follow the traditional hip-hop blog which just links to endless music videos and mixtapes (although those can be very awesome – no hate here :D) – please enjoy and feel free to comment! For those who like my amateur writings, you may connect to me or share my content with the buttons below. I also am very open to guest posts, guest reviews, or ideas for new blog posts.

Nujabes – Spiritual State [Download]

December 4th, 2011 | By Edwin

Are you looking for the real Nujabes – Spiritual State album download? Here is both a Mediafire link and a torrent link. The reason I’m providing this is because:

1) It will never be released in the US.

2) Nujabes is an awesome producer, and this is his first album since his untimely death.

3) It costs $40-$90 to import this from Japan, and the Internet is full of affiliate links providing low quality copies that force you to sign up for random shit.

Nujabes – Spiritual State download links:
Nujabes – Spiritual State Mediafire download
Nujabes – Spiritual State [FLAC] torrent

Nujabes – Spiritual State Track List:

01. Spiritual State
02. Sky is Tumbling
03. Gone Are the Day
04. Spirale
05. City Light
06. Color of Autumn
07. Down on the Side
08. Yes
09. Rainy Way Back Home
10. Far Fowls
11. Fellows
12. Waiting for the Clouds
13. Prayer
14. Island

Nipsey Hussle: Bullets Ain’t Got No Name Vol. 3

November 16th, 2011 | By Edwin

Say what you will about Gangsta Rap; sometimes it hits the spot, and nothing else kicks quite as hard as a menacing bass line over fast and furious bars recounting the countless drama filled nights of someone living on the streets of Compton as a soldier. Continuing from where former Compton street legends Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, and WC left off (and where The Game currently blazed a new trail for new school West Coast music) comes an artist that is generating quite a buzz on the West Coast: Nipsey Hussle.

Click for huge resolution picture of album art

His former two mixtapes, creatively named Bullets Ain’t Got No Name Vol. 1 and 2, features copious amounts of gang banging, West Coast street dropping, and references to the wildness of the RSC (Rollin’ 60 Crips) over meandering beats with just the right amount of synths. Delivery is on point, and one can imagine playing this album front to bank while riding in a drop top 67 Chevy Impala in the California sun. If you like his album, buy it! However, Nipsey Hussle did release it for free with the intent for his fans to listen to his new release:

Download Nipsey Hussle’s Bullets Ain’t Got No Name Vol. 3

RIP DJ Screw

November 16th, 2011 | By Edwin

Mike Jones Wishes You a Happy Halloween

October 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

Mike Jones, the ever festive rapper, wishes everyone a happy Halloween: http://zoomzip.clunkbin.com/MikeJonesHalloween/MikeJonesHalloween.htm.

Apparently, this is one of the eccentric rapper’s many traditions.

The Phenomenon of Featured Rappers, Part I

August 20th, 2011 | By Edwin

The world of music can be frightening for young rappers who are just starting out in the game today. It is a cutthroat environment and even rappers with a huge amount of talent can sometimes fall between the cracks. How can somebody stand out from the crowd? One technique that has existed since the early 90s was the “featured rapper.” Here are a few observation that I made about this phenomenon:

1) New rappers may establish themselves and gain fame, notoriety, and buzz by rapping a strong verse on an established album by a veteran. Some notable examples in recent memory include Lupe Fiasco, who got a significant amount of buzz by killing his guest verse on Kanye West’s “Touch the Sky.” J. Cole had his career boosted with a guest verse on The Blueprint 3 (a mediocre album, by the way) and on Wale‘s album Attention Deficit. Likely the most famous example of all was AZ’s historically fierce cameo on Nas’ Life’s a Bitch.

2) Conversely, established rappers can jump into new micro-niches of the hip hop culture with guest appearances on tracks that may diversify their portfolio. Lil’ Wayne fueled his rapid ascension to hip hop stardom not only with the incredible amount of mixtapes he put out, but also with cameo appearances ranging from Destiny’s Child to Wyclef Jean. He ensured that his music was constantly heard in both the streets and the radio.

3) Rappers can also form a cohesive group of sorts in which they can feed of each other’s styles and energies. One of the earliest examples of this was N.W.A, which consisted of  Arabian Prince, DJ Yella, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and MC Ren , all of which became solo legends in their own right. In the early 2000 era, conscious hip-hop merged with the native tongue movement and inspired rappers Common, Talib Kweli, and Mos Def. When you listen to an album like Black Star, you can hear the chemistry between them, the common sound they share and the lyrical ideas that they seem to effortlessly create today. This still continues on to this day (Young Money, for better or worse).

Rapper "Crews" Can Be a Very Good Thing

Just like how transcendent talents in the tech industry often make sweet music together by combining their energy, efforts and ideas together in the start up world, rappers can help each other reach levels that they can otherwise not achieve by themselves as long as the sound is cohesive, the chemistry is sound and (perhaps most importantly) they all actually like each other.

More Inspiration

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

I found this website called http://www.hiphopinspires.us which specializes in dishing out bite-sized inspirational lyrics from songs ranging from 2Pac, to T.I., to The Roots. One of the reasons why I love hip-hop so much is that the lyrics can really tell a story or convey emotion in ways that other genres of music cannot, because of its lyrical density. Here are some of my favorites:

Sometimes before you smile you got to cry
You need a heart that’s filled with music
If you use it you can fly

The Roots – Sacrifice

I refuse to be concerned with condescending advice
‘Cause I’m the only motherfucker that can change my life

Immortal Technique – Leaving the Past

To everyone out there, who’s a little different
I say damn a magazine, these are God’s fingerprints
You can call me ugly but cant take nothing from me
I am what I am doctor you ain’t gotta love me

Brother Ali – Forest Whitiker

Any inspirational lyrics that hit you in the right spot?

It has already been a year?

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

To celebrate a (surprising) year of running this blog and to hopefully kick start new posts, here is a word cloud that graphically displays some of my most commonly used phrases.

Also, Cee-Lo has a hot viral song out – it has gathered over 3 million views on YouTube: Cee-Lo Green – Fuck You Music Video. I highly recommend as it is a beautiful juxtaposition between gospel music and southern hip hop themes.

Buy Cee-Lo’s The Lady Killer on Amazon now – on sale

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-09

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

• Highly anticipating the new Slaughterhouse album, buy it on 8/11!! http://tr.im/vjl1 #
• song of the moment: The Game – Big Dreams – feeling west coast G this morning #musicmonday #
• RT @NipseyHussle Bullets Vol. 3 http://short.to/lmms #hiphopnews #
• @ohnothedisrupt excited for ETHIOPIUM keep up the great work #
• @newmusictalk thanks for the link ! really appreciate it #
• RT @ESKAOBAR I DRINK CHAMOMIL TEA #chamillionaire #
• Download Nipsey Hussle's Bullets Ain't Got No Name Vol. 3 here! New West Coast music from an artist who is going to blowup http://tr.im/vY5F #
• If you want to buy a physical copy of Bullets Ain't Got No Name Vol. 3, check it out here and support the artist: http://tr.im/vY61 #

Powered by Twitter Tools

Twitter Adds New List Function

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

Twitter has added a new list functionality to their tweeting service. What this does is that you can now group Twitter accounts by categories that you define. For example, if you have a bunch of your own friends’ tweets that you want to filter out, you can do it by viewing the custom list you created. What does this mean for the average reader of this blog?

Hip Hop Octopus’ List of Rapper Twitter Accounts

Rappers (and other similarly inaccessible public figures) are on Twitter to, hopefully, connect with their fans. The list I made gives you a chance to peer into the minds of some of your favorite rappers, 140 characters at a time. Feel free to utilize this resource. Also, if you are a rapper starting off and want some exposure, let me know and I’ll add you to this list. I’m aiming to build the most comprehensive collection of rapper thoughts possible.

Top 10 Things to Be Thankful in Hip-Hop

July 26th, 2011 | By Edwin

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and I hope that everyone has a safe holiday with their families (as safe as you can get with the amount of food that some people are eating!) I thought that it would be fitting to list ten things that I am thankful for about hip-hop.

1) I am thankful for music that anyone can relate to, and has such a huge range of passion and creativity. The same can be said for any genre of music, but hip-hop is one that I connected with.

2) I am thankful for artists that make music for the love of making music. I’m sure Brother Ali did not release his new album for fame or glory.

3) In an industry where a complete lack of skill and originality can result in big profits, I’m thankful that many artists are taking huge risks with their art.

4) I am thankful that producers are now getting a lot of attention – you have to thank Timbaland and Kanye West for that. They are influencing a new generation of RZAs, Pete Rocks, and DJ Premiers.

5) I am thankful for the Internet – it fuels the vibrant underground scene and allows for massive distribution of mixtapes.

6) Speaking of mixtapes, I’m thankful for mixtapes helping artists increase visibility and getting their product directly to the streets.

7) I am thankful for the iPod and the Digital Revolution – instead of everyone consuming the same mass produced megahits, we can enjoy increasingly niche bites of what we really want.

8) I am thankful for the increasing mainstream coverage that hip-hop is getting – I was surprised at seeing the universal accolades for Only Built for Cuban Linx…II

9) I am thankful for the Internet blogging community and their intelligent, hard-hitting coverage of the hip-hop world.

10) I am thankful for all my readers!