New Tracks: May 12th

New tracks from the past couple of days. Both Stat Quo and Em tracks are pretty old, but unreleased up until today so I figured I'd throw em up anyways.
Download: Stat Quo feat. Eminem-Classic Shit
Download: Stat Quo feat. Eminem-Atlanta on Fire
Download: Vinnie Paz feat. Beanie Sigel-Kill 'em All
Download: Jhene Aiko feat. Drake-July
Download: Grafh feat. Royce Da 5'9"-My Life
Download: Big Sean-What U Doin'

Offthechart's Random Tracks of the Day

Sampling Heart's 'Crazy On You', this first track might be Eminem's greatest love song. Like the rest of his romance-filled tracks, this one is dedicated to ex-wife Kim. Dropping lines like:
You're like the pillar that props me up
The beam that supports me
The bitch who never took half,
The wife who never divorced me.
You're like the root to my evil
You let my devil come out me
You let me beat the shit out you
Before you beat the shit out me.
Em really proves himself to be a true romantic on this one.

Download: Crazy in Love

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why Ludacris is not monumentally more famous. He has dropped so many ill songs over the past decade and, for some reason, just doesn't get the recognition he deserves. This track is off Theater of the Mind, and has got a crazy sample as well as a feature from Floyd Mayweather Jr., the undefeated boxing champ.

Download: Undisputed

Here's an old school track from hip-hop duo Handsome Boy Modelling School. This song has got some crazy scratching skills goin on. Check it out.

Download: Holy Calamity

Offthechart's Random Tracks of the Day

This is an old school track from Jeru the Damaja. He tells a story about going toe to toe with Ignorance, whom he personifies as a demonic, misogynistic polygamist. Helped along by his smooth flow, Jeru definitely lays out a great story worth having a listen to.

Download:Jeru the Damaja-You Can't Stop the Prophet

Here's a song from Brother Ali off his 2007 effort, The Undisputed Truth. For those unfamiliar with Brother Ali, he's albino and (as far as I know) the only rapper with this condition. It's interesting to hear his take on growing up discriminated against, particularly because it isn't the same sort of racial discrimination that is so often described in rap music. Early on in his career, Ali often mislead listeners to believe he was black, though he has more recently come to terms with his albinism and even embraced it.

Download: Brother Ali-Truth Is

Off Eminem's Relapse: Refill, there isn't much else to say about this one. As per usual, Em kills it and even has a catchy chorus in that sing-song voice he's become so fond of.

Download: Eminem-Elevator

Who is Weezy's Replacement?

Yesterday, a fan on the Champagne n' Reefer facebook wall raised the question: “Who will replace Weezy?” For those who don’t know, Lil Wayne has been in jail since March 9th for a one-year sentence (though will probably serve only 8 months for good behavior) on gun charges.
Wayne is easily one of the most high profile rappers of the past five years, and, in the eyes of many, the best. Although he gained some serious mainstream recognition with Tha Carter II, it wasn’t until a year later that Weezy’s produced his masterpiece: Da Drought III. Though he has undoubtedly had some good work since then, it’s widely held that Lil Wayne has been slowly falling off, a fall which has culminated in his recent incarceration.
Taking a look at history, Wayne’s stint in prison has the makings to be a career-ender. Few rappers have gone to prison for an extended amount of time (after their rise to fame) and managed to come out with the same amount of clout and relevance in the game. Just look at Shyne. When first signed to Bad Boy Records, Shyne was hyped up to be the next big thing, even drawing comparisons to The Notorious B.I.G. Until his ten-year prison sentence, that is. Shyne was released from jail a couple of months ago and has released a handful of tracks, every single one of which has been proclaimed total shit by the greater rap community.
One of the first rappers who looks like he has the potential to break the trend of jail ending a rappers career is T.I. Just out of the pen, T.I. has already jumped right back into the game with a few new (solid) tracks and an upcoming album, King Uncaged.
Back to the original question though: Who will take Lil Wayne’s throne? There are definitely a few criteria for taking the crown.

1. Recognition
2. Varied Flow
3. Clever Lyrics
4. Controversy

We’ll start off with recognition. A rapper’s gotta have a big name in order to fill
Weezy’s shoes. Though I’m a huge fan of up-and-comers J. Cole and KiD CuDi, neither of these rappers have proven themselves to have the staying power to sit at the top. Many would like to hail Drake as the immediate successor to the Young Money throne, but he hasn’t earned his place as king of the hill yet, either.
Wayne’s replacement must also have been in the spotlight recently enough for a power grab to be plausible, making a relatively short list: T.I., Young Jeezy, Lupe Fiasco, Eminem, Jay-Z, Kanye West and The Game.
Next up is a varied flow. About the only person I can knock off here is Young Jeezy; the rest have proven to be fairly capable of mixing things up.
Third: clever lyrics, a critical ingredient to Weezy’s replacement that many of the remaining contenders lack. T.I. and The Game are knocked out right off the bat. Their lyrics are all about name/brand dropping, which just can’t stack up against the lyrics of the greats. I’ve also gotta take Jay-Z out of the running here too. Though he definitely was a great lyricist in his heyday, Jay is past his prime and too old to vie for the top spot. Jigga's had his last big encore.
So that brings us to the final piece of criteria; controversy, and Lupe, Kanye and Eminem are the final three standing. Controversy is necessary to being great in the rap world. What great rapper has ever been unanimously liked?
As great a rapper as he may be, Lupe Fiasco is not a polarizing figure in the way Weezy is. He's got a pretty loyal fan following, but the vast majority of his songs aren't radio friendly, which definitely hurts his cause. He just doesn’t draw the same type of attention that’s necessary to hold it down at the top. Looks like the L.U.P-End for Lupe in this contest.
Kanye West is undoubtedly controversial. From his “George Bush hates black people” outburst, to shutting down Taylor Swift at the VMA’s, it seems as if Kanye is constantly in the middle of a media firestorm. Unfortunately, the Taylor Swift incident may have garnered too much negative publicity, knocking him out of the public eye as of late. There are reports of a new CD being released over the summer entitled Good Ass Job, but he hasn’t dropped a new solo track in months, so the quality of his next CD is anyone’s guess making him a risky bet. And, sorry, Mr. West is gone.
That leaves only one man standing. Eminem is the most controversial character in rap history. He raps about rape. And murder. And drugs. Plus, he’s sold nearly 13 million worldwide. Oh yeah, and he's white. His next CD, Recovery, is only two months away, and he’s been dropping random tracks over the past few weeks to start building up hype. The two most recent, ‘Not Afraid’ and ‘Despicable Freestyle’, were both ill and showcased two completely differently styles of rapping. So is Marshall Mathers the next Weezy? Recognizable? Check. Mixes up his flow? Check. Clever lyrics? Check? Controversial? Check. Ladies and gentleman, looks like we have a new king of the rap game.

Weekly Mixtape: Volume 1 (April 26th)

So I'm getting the jump on this a night early, but usually these will go up Sunday nights. Basically, every week I'm going to throw together a mixtape of 10-20 songs that particularly stood out to me this week. Most of these won't be taken from old posts from the week so this is definitely something worth picking up. Since this is the first edition, I stretched a little bit further back than a week and pulled some choice tracks off of Wiz Khalifa's Kush and OJ mixtape, as well as The Game's Red Room. If anyone has any tracks they think should have made the cut this week, leave a comment. Tracklist and download link down low.




1. I'll Find You-The Game
2. The Professionals-The Game feat. Kanary Diamonds, Menace and Mad Maxx
3. Beaming Freestyle-Nero
4. Love Letter to the Beat-Lupe Fiasco feat. Alicia Keys
5. Still Blazin-Wiz Khalifa
6. Not Lost-B.o.B. feat. T.I.
7. Good Dank-Wiz Khalifa
8. Dopeman Music-Scarface feat. B.James and Monk Kaza
9. Over Freestyle-Bad Meets Evil (Eminem and Royce da 5'9")
10. White Tees-Slim Thug feat. Boss Hogg Outlawz
11. Who Dat-J.Cole
12. Who to Trust-Jay Rock feat. Sean McGee

Download-Weekly Mixtape Volume 1 (April 26th)

Eminem-Not Afraid (produced Boi 1da)

First single off of Em's upcoming CD, Recovery. Aside from the awkward singing bridge about halfway through, this song goes in. As a bonus, I've tossed in Em's freestyle over Drake's 'Over' and Lloyd Bank's 'Beamer, Benz or Bentley.' Enjoy
Download: Not Afraid
Bonus-Despicable Freestyle feat. Royce Da 5'9"

Offthechart's Random Tracks of the Day: Detroit Edition

This song is off Obie Trice's final album, Second Round's on Me, while with Eminem's label, Shady Records. Dropped in 2006 after over a year of delays, Obie's album was easily one of the most under appreciated of the year. With some ill songs like 'Wanna Know', 'Ghetto', and 'All of my Life' (below), Second Round's on Me is definitely worth checking out. Fun fact to know and tell: Obie Trice still has a bullet lodged in his head from a shooting on New Years Eve in 2005.


This track is off of Eminem's second release, 1997's The Slim Shady EP. This CD served as a precursor to his following effort, the enormously popular Slim Shady LP. In fact, the majority of the songs on the EP were given higher production values and used again on the LP. The below song, 'No One's Iller' featured the introduction of Eminem's alter ego, Slim Shady, which has gradually become the dominant figure in his lyrics, vividly describing rape, murder, excessive drug use, and random acts of violence. Fun fact to know and tell: 'No One's Iller' samples Hank Crawford's 'Wildflower', using the same looping beat as Kanye West's 'Drive Slow'.


The 1st song below, entitled 'The Way I Be Pimpin' is the original version of Dr. Dre's Xxplosive, ghost written by and featuring a verse from Detroit rapper Royce Da 5'9". This was one of many songs that Royce collaborated on with the Aftermath team (Eminem and Dr. Dre) before beef with Eminem and his group, D-12. More recently, Royce has become a member of the hip-hop super-group alongside Crooked I, Joe Budden and Joell Ortiz. The 2nd song below, 'Gun Harmonizing' is, in my opinion, Royce's best song, featuring fellow Slaughterhouse member, Crooked I, as well as a hip-hop version of scatting to mimic a firing machine gun. Fun fact to know and tell: Jay-Z's verse from his song 'Renegades' with Eminem, was originally performed by Royce until their fued.