From Compton to Consciousness: Kendrick Lamar Enters the Game

(Photo via zatoonblog.com)

When you think of West Coast hip hop, NWA and Snoop come to mind. How can we forget "Straight Outta Compton"? This song was the West's coming out party: times are tough out here and we are sick of it. Gangsta rap made it's presence felt with it's aggressive social "tell all" and the Game changed (Note: I'm not talking about the Game the rapper, but the hip hop Game to make this clear. Game the rapper thinks he's a player in the Game but he's not. He's more like a name dropping, whining water/towel boy). Dre, Snoop and Ice Cube (Sans the "Are We Wherever Yet Againing?") are synonymous with the West Coast sound, with Jay Rock coming up the ranks. But a cat from the aforementioned Compton is breaking the mold by delivering West Coast consciousness instead of aggressiveness: a potential rookie of the year in the Game, Kendrick Lamar.

Friday Flashback - Nas-El-Matic Edition

Nas - "The World is Yours"

From one of the most important hip hip albums of the 90s, here is "The World is Yours" from the essential Illmatic by Nas.

The main reason why we decided to offer you this track as this week's Friday Flashback is because WE CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO THE ELZHI MIXTAPE/TRIBUTE TO NAS' IILMATIC!!!! If you don't know what we're talking about, check out Turnbull's post about Elzhi's Elmatic mixtape. This is arguably the best mixtape of 2011...even though we are only half way through the year. Get it. Now.

-Paqman 

Elzhi Spits Fire on Nas Tribute Mixtape. And it's Free.

If you're a fan of Nas' critically-acclaimed debut album Illmatic, you gotta cop this new mixtape by former Slum Village member Elzhi.

(photo via thatsdatkush.com)

It's available for a free download HERE.

Elzhi takes an already classic album, and adds his own Motor City-inspired perspective to it.  To take things up an level, he adds live instrumentation via live band Will Sessions, who have been quietly tearing up the Detroit music scene.

The story:



-Turnbull