Got some more free promo ish for y`all, this time around it comes from HiP HoP legend Kool G. Rap. I`m guessin` that he decided to drop this lil` 8-track EP titled "Offer You Can`t Refuse" to spark a buzz for the new album that he`s gon` be droppin` later on this year titled "Riches, Royalty, Respect". Haven`t checked out the EP yet myself, but I`m more than sure that G. Rap doesn`t disappoint! All ya need to do to download it once you`re on the page is enter your email address then click on the download button, then you`re all set...
3. America`s Nightmare{ft. Havoc of Mobb Deep}[Prod. by Alchemist]
4. Take `Em Back (Supafly)[Prod. by Blastah Beats]
5. Baggin` In Da Spot[Prod. by Leaf Dog]
6. Scarface Snow
7. Offer You Can`t Refuse[Prod. by Domingo]
8. Money Talks
As for the new album that I mentioned above, here`s the cover art & tracklist...
1. Pimptro 2. Ya` Chic Chose Me 3. In Too Deep 4. 70′s Gangsta 5. Pillow Talk 6. The Meaning To Your Love 7. Sad 8. Maggie 9. $ Ova Bitches 10. G On 11. Pages Of My Life 12. Going In 13. American Nightmare{ft. Havoc} 14. Da Real Thing{ft. Heather Walker} 15. Harmony Homicide
What`s happening y`all? I hope all is well! Today I decided to dust off Queen Pen`s second album & re~up it for those that missed out on it when I first posted up links to it back in 2011. It`s been about 3 years, so I figured it`s the least that I could do for those of y`all that have been asking me for a new link. Don`t worry eventually I`ll get around to posting her debut album, but for now y`all will have to just relax & chill with this joint instead.....LoL
"Conversations With Queen" was released back in 2001 thru Motown Records & was the follow up to her 1997 debut titled "My Melody". Now it may not have been as successful sales~wise, but it`s a decent album overall. Sure it doesn`t have hit singles like her debut album had, but that probably has a lot to do with the lack of promo that the album received which in turn ensured that plenty of folks over~looked "Conversations With Queen". She did manage to put out a music video for "I Got Cha" which features her homie Teddy Riley of Blackstreet fame. The track is said to take subliminal shots at Foxy Brown since Fox Boogie had been taking some subliminal shots of her own at QP on joints like "10% Dis" & "Talk To Me"...
The album had 2 singles which were "I Got Cha" & "Ghetto Divorce". "True" was also released as a single, but it was released 3 years before Queen Pen`s "Conversations With Queen" album in 1998. "True" is actually the remix of "It`s True", a track from her debut album "My Melody". On the production side of things you have DR Period supplying 4 tracks, Teddy Riley, Tyrone Fyffe & The Marley Boyz all supply 2 tracks each, while Daddy-O supplies 1 joint as does Chop D.I.E.S.E.L. & Cochise. They all bring a pretty well rounded sonic soundscape for the listener`s enjoyment...
I`ve always been a fan of Queen Pen`s, ever since I heard her spittin` on that Blackstreet & Dr. Dre collabo` "No Diggity". She`s got skills on the mic & her vocal tone has some sexiness to it as well as the right amount of roughness. Overall I`d say that I`m actually DiGG`n this album more than her debut "My Melody". The reason for me saying this is because this album isn`t over~populated with party~vibed tracks like her first one was. Don`t get me wrong she can definitely rock them party joints, but it`s just more refreshing to hear QP spit the deep emotional ish that can tug at your heart & touch ya` soul because that`s when she truly shines. Just check out "Revolution", "For You" (which features an uncredited Mr. Cheeks appearance) &"Baby Daddy" for examples of that. Don`t get it twisted now, she`s far from Lauryn Hill on the mic but she can drop some jewels from time to time...
The only song that I really couldn`t get into was "Cold Cold World". The reason being, I found that QP was trying just a lil` too hard to sound, well.....hard....LoL, or mad gangsta`D up! Either way I just couldn`t buy into it. Another thing that I felt took away from the album was the 3 skits that were just sexual in context & could`ve just been left off the album altogether. Standout joints for me are; "I Reps", "QP Walks", "I Got Cha", "Revolution", "For You", "What Y`all Wanna Hear?" & even the bonus track "Who`s The...?" I think that the bonus track features an uncredited appearance from everybody`s favorite emcee Benzino....LoL, surprisingly the collabo` comes off pretty nice. This album isn`t groundbreaking by any means, but it still makes for a decent listen. I`m sure that it`s been passed over by many folks so go `head & check it out...
3. I Reps{ft. DJ Clue, Cam`Ron & Prodigy}[Prod. by DR Period]
4. QP/ Cam`ron Question [Skit]
5. QP Walks[Prod. by Daddy-O]
6. Ghetto Divorce{ft. Miss Jones}[Prod. by Cochise]
7. QP/ Miss Jones Question [Skit]
8. I Got Cha{ft. Teddy Riley}[Prod. by Teddy Riley & Tyrone Fyffe]
9. Revolution{ft. Stephen Marley}[Prod. by The Marley Boyz]
10. For You {ft. Mr. Cheeks}[Prod. by The Marley Boyz]
11. Baby Daddy[Prod. by DR Period]
12. QP/ 563 Question [Skit]
13. Cold Cold World[Prod. by DR Period]
14. True{ft. Chico DeBarge}[Prod. by Teddy Riley]
15. What Y`all Wanna Hear?{ft. Amil}[Prod. by Chop D.I.E.S.E.L.]
16. Who`s The?...[Bonus Track]
If you`re curious as to what Queen Pen has been up to lately, she has been writing novels. In 2002 she released "Situations: A Book Of Short Stories" & then she put out another novel in 2007 titled "Blossom: A Novel". She also wrote a follow up to "Blossom" titled "Crossroads". She also helps manage & mentor her son`s (Nefu Da Don) rap career as well...
Here`s a lil` freestyle cypha QP was a part of along with Lady Luck & Rah Digga to name a few, you can tell she`s not really one to freestyle...
I kind of slept on this joint when it first dropped back in 1998, heard a few tracks & seen some music videos, but didn`t hear their entire 4th album. So when my homie RuSTy KNuCKLeS offered to lend it to me I decided to give it a spin. Overall it`s a decent listen, Cheech & Chong even make a lil` cameo appearance in the skits.....LoL, the beats are handled by DJ Muggs & he does a great job supplying the backdrops for B-Real & Sen Dog`s hazy smoke~laced lyrics...
After giving the album a good listen it`s safe to say that the first half of it will really satisfy ya especially if you dug Cypress Hill`s first few albums. They spark things off with "Looking Through The Eye Of A Pig", B-Real does a great job with the lyrics. He really takes the listener on a journey, you feel the self loathing, fear & paranoia of a crooked~ass cop workin` the beat. It kind of reminded me of "Bad Lieutenant", you know the 1992 movie with Harvey Keitel...
There`s a good number of fast~paced, aggressive songs on the album like "Checkmate", "Riotstarter" & "Nothin` To Lose". The beats remind me of Bomb Squad production from the early 1990`s, Muggs did a great job on `em! Of course there`s some good ol` Weed anthems for the smokers out there, "Dr. Greenthumb" (peep the video here)& "High Times"...
Out of the 2 tracks I DiG "Dr. Greenthumb" more, but "High Times" is still a decent track. I just like the beat on "Dr. Greenthumb" more, it`s nice & hazy. It`s also got a comical lil` info~mercial that happens just before the track begins.Cypress Hill affiliates Chace Infinite & Barron Ricks make a few appearance on the album, as well as West Coast veteran MC Eiht...
Barron Ricks has a good cameo on the album though, he`s featured on 5 tracks in total. Aside from his affiliation with Cypress Hill I don`t really know anything about him. He has sort of a Prodigy from Mobb Deep vibe, but less gun~talk & he`s more on the battle rappin` tip. The only downside is that he doesn`t really switch things up too much so it`s kind of boring after a while. Chace Infinite however rips the hell outta "Feature Presentation", in my opinion he outshines everyone else that`s on the track with him...
There`s a few tracks on here that are so~so to me, "Steel Magnolias" & "Dead Men Tell No Tales", but the last track "Lightning Strikes" is the only track that I didn`t like. It`s probably the Limp Bizkit~vibe, I just couldn`t really get into it. However "Tequila Sunrise"(Peep the video here) the album`s first single, is some smooth Latin DoPeNeSS! Overall "IV" is a solid listen, not quite as CLaSSiC as their first 2 albums, but definitely worth a listen so go on & check it out...
Back again y`all with some ish that I missed out on when it first dropped back in 2000. My homie DiRTy KooL AiD had this kickin` around his crib, he actually found it while doing some good ol` Spring cleaning....LoL, who says it doesn`t pay off? Since I hadn`t heard it before I decided to borrow it so I could share it with the rest of y`all. Figured that there`s probably a few folks out there that haven`t heard this BooTLeG version of Lil` Kim`s "Notorious K.I.M"...
From my understanding the songs on here are mainly left~over tracks from the recording sessions for "Notorious K.I.M"; the retail version of the album that was sold in stores, online, etc. It makes for a decent listen, especially if you`re a fan of the Queen Bee. The only down~side about it is that it`s not of the greatest quality, sound~wise. A lot of the tracks sound like they were ripped from a cassette & a few were on the low~side volume~wise, so I made some adjustments to the tracks in an attempt to make `em sound a little bit better than they did -- ensuring not to do anything that would take away the original sound too much...
A few of the tracks on this BooTLeG were previously released; either on a mixtape, an album or as a B-Side on a single. "Chinatown" is actually from DJ Clue`s "The Professional Part 2" album & "Rockin` It" was featured on Funkmaster Flex`s "The Mix Tape Volume IV: 60 Minutes Of Funk". "Queen Bitch Part II [Rmx]" featuring Jay-Z with Biggie on the hook is from Lil` Kim`s "How Many Licks" 12 Inch promo single...
"No Body Do It Better Than Us" featuring T-Boz & Diddy is from the 12 inch single of the same name. "Revolution [Original Version]" is off some mixtape, so unfortunately there`s a lil` yellin` thru the track from the DJ. Aside from the 5 tracks mentioned I believe the remaining 7 joints were meant to be a part of the retail "Notorious K.I.M." album. For whatever reason they were omitted, maybe it was due to sample clearance issues or maybe they just decided to take the album in another direction. So there ya have it, a few unreleased Lil` Kim tracks for y`all Queen Bee fans, enjoy the tunes...
Some good ol` Too $hort for y`all today, taking it back to 1992 with this post. There`s 2 reasons why I`m sharing this one with y`all. The first one is simple really; I`m a BiG fan of $hort Dog, but I haven`t heard too many of his 12 inch singles. As a young buck all I heard was Too $hort`s albums, you know the cassettes & then later on the CD`s. So when I do come up on a 12 inch of his it`s kind of iLL for me because I get to hear a few of the more obscure joints. I`m sure that I`m not the only one....LoL, the second reason for sharing this one is because DJ Premier did some production on this single, a fact that may be surprising to some of y`all HiP HoP heads...
On the production side of things Ant Banks, DJ Premier, Pee Wee & even Too $hort deliver some decent bump`N beats. The only track on this 12 inch that I had heard previously was the Too $hort produced "In The Trunk" since it`s from his 1992 album "Shorty The Pimp". I actually enjoy the LP Version more than Ant Banks` "Trunk O` Funk Mix", but Bank`s version is still on the funky tip. One thing that I noticed, on the label of the 12 inch it lists Ant Banks as the producer of the "In The Trunk [Glove Compartment Street Mix]", while DJ Premier is the producer of the Radio Mix & Instrumental. My guess is that it`s a simple mistake & DJ Premier should`ve been given credit for the Street Mix. Another great thing about this single is that you also get "I Ain`t Nothin` But A Dog [Live Rmx]", it`s a bit on the obscure side -- at least to me it is....LoL, anyways that`s enough ramblin` go on & check the music out...
