CunninLynguists - My Habit (I Haven’t Changed)

Every CunninLynguists album is superb.  They’re definitely the most consistent hip-hop group I’ve ever known.  Their latest album Oneirology (a term meaning the study of dreams) was released last year, and it was one of the better albums of 2011.  It’s very different from every other CunninLynguists album, and a very unique hip-hop album in general.  Oneirology’s whole musical aura is definitely more emotional and abstract in nature, but it still manages to maintain a very structured feel.

I believe Kno was mostly responsible for this dramatic shift in the group’s sound. He produces all of their beats and raps a decent amount on the album as well, so his emotional standpoint obviously has a huge impact on the group’s overall music.  During the time he was making Oneirology and his first solo album Death Is Silent, he was going through an extremely dark time in his life.  He said making the albums kept him going…and kept him “from loosing his mind”.  Both of these albums shifted from the groups generally upbeat and varied style of raps to primarily soft ambient instrumentals laced with very personal and emotional lyrics.  This is an exceptionally artistic album, but it’s actually my least favorite CunninLynguists album.  I’m used to a lot of variation from them, which makes each song sound special in it’s own way.  Unfortunately Oneirology suffers from a lot of the songs seemingly blending together by having similar tempos, beats, and overall feel.  Don’t get me wrong though, this is an outstanding album, but you really need to be in the right mind state to fully enjoy it.

This is my favorite song off of the album.

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My Song Rating: 9.4 out of 10

Dyme Def - Let It Be

Dyme Def is an exceptionally solid group hailing from Seattle, Washington.  From what my Seattle friends tell me, Dyme Def still hand sells their albums at the end of other hip-hop artists’ Seattle concerts.  Honestly, with skill like this these guys definitely deserve a larger following. This is my favorite song off of their way above average album Space Music.  Let It Be is a true hip-hop classic in my book.  It has an amazing beat, outstanding production, and profound lyrics that are heavily laced with emotion.

“See, I got two jobs and I’m still broke
See, I got bad asthma and I still smoke
The doctor tellin’ me that my breathing’s getting worse
And soon I won’t be able to spit a verse, now I’m feeling cursed
No turning to my dad ‘cause he’s too far to look for
So instead I look forward, but I don’t look forward to seeing him
At nights I still have bad dreams of being him
People say, ‘You look just like your dad
You got his laugh, you got his walk, you got his talk.’
But, I don’t got his heart”

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My Song Rating: 10 out of 10

Dyme Def - For The World

This is my all time favorite song that illustrates “motherly love”, and my third favorite song by Dyme Def…which is definitely saying something since Dyme Def has a lot of really outstanding songs.  This is off their solid album Space Music. Happy mothers day and what not.

“Still another day but not any other day

See its mothers day, gone tell my mother hey

You hear me momma, you was my girl

And the memories we shared, I wouldn’t change that for the world”

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My Song Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Asher Roth - Hard Times (ft. Kids These Days & Casie Veggies)

This is my second favorite song off of Asher Roth’s 2011 mixtape Pabst & Jazz, which is definitely saying something since I deemed it the best mixtape of 2011. It’s definitely the kind of song that gets better the more you listen to it, and I’ve listened to Hard Times waaay too many times.

I honestly can’t believe how consistent Asher Roth has become. He has definitely sharpened his hip-hop skills, and has been making amazing song after amazing song.  He’s obviously taking a more organic rout and completely against the idea of taking the common/easier path of selling out.  Asher was raised to never sell himself short, as emphasized in the chorus “My mother told me never to sell, and just to get by”.  He could have a bigger fan base if he had more of a hip-pop sound and made more dumbed down songs like I Love College, but he has made his point to never go down that path again.  Pabst & Jazz is really damn intelligent, and has many great features, solid beats, and an overall amazing vibe.  So if you haven’t checked out Pabst & Jazz yet, I highly recommend you do.

“My mama told me grind..”

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My Song Rating: 9.8 out of 10

Atmosphere - Painting

This is from Atmosphere’s outstanding album When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold. Painting’s instrumental is one of my all time favorite beats from Ant, which is definitely saying something.  I heard this on NPR a while ago.  It was one of the instrumentals they used for a transition.  They’ve actually used a few of Ant’s instrumentals for transitions…just one of the many reasons why I love NPR.  As always, Slug’s lyrics are profound and sync up to the beat exceptionally well.

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My Song Rating: 9.0 out of 10