Robert Sylvester Kelly is a Grammy Award-winning R&B artist/producer from Chicago, Illinois. He originally broke into the music scene nationally with his former group The Public Announcement. After leaving his group a year after their album release, R Kelly would go on to achieve immense career success including 3 Grammy’s for his single from the Space Jam soundtrack, “I Believe I Can Fly”. That same song would also be voted #406 in the Top 500 Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. He has also produced tracks for several platinum recording artists such as Janet and Michael Jackson, The Isley Brothers, Nas, Celine Dion, and Jay-Z along with helping to spawn several artists’ careers such as Aaliyah, Changing Faces, and Sparkle. It’s estimated he’s sold over 50 million albums worldwide. His latest LP is titled Double Up and it is his 12th LP to date.
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Brother Ali is a hip hop artist hailing from the mecca of rhymes, Madison, WI. Having been birthed as an albino named Jason Newman, his striking appearance only accentuates his exceptional lyrical abilities. Though a rising artist, some of the notables under his belt include his well-received demo album, Rites of Passage, and a good run in the 2000 Scribble Jam Festival rap battle. Having gone from releasing a celebrated debut album to being homeless, Ali bounces back with his second LP titled The Undisputed Truth.

As an artist noted for his unapologetic and unabashed style, Ali starts off his album with no “intro” as a chaser. His first track “Whatcha’ Got” starts with only solemn organ music before Ali kicks the door in. This opening track is very aggressive with looping, background guitar riffs and BA’s 80’s-style delivery and flow. He even pays homage to that style with a mid-track bridge that is reminiscent of the BDP days of old. With his opening track, he sets the table for what type of meal is ahead and gives an idea of where he’s coming from even if you haven’t heard any of his previous music.
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OK…maybe Hip hop’s decline is THAT marked, but it is significant. According to www.futuremusic.com, rap sales declined from 2005 to 2006 at a clip of 21 percent. For the first time in 12 years, no hip hop album cracked the Top 10 for year. There are more theories on this decline than there are Too Short album releases. Thoughts range from the genre being in a rut to the idea that many of Hip Hop’s founding fathers are growing older and more mature and therefore more conscious of what type of music they produce. All those are great theories but my contention is for D) none of the above.

Fact is, I doubt many hip hoppers have suddenly had “come to Christ” experiences en masse. Also, though rap is suffering artistically from the record label machine pumping out “dough boy” hits, all music genres follow their marketing playbooks in hopes of putting out a winner. You don’t think Justin Timberlake sells so many albums because his falsetto, pale skin, and smooth dance moves are a first for the music industry do you?(See Michael Jackson)

When it all boils down to it, Caucasian youths have financially supported the Hip Hop Movement. (more…)

Here’s another CD review from Darrell. This is one of his most recent posts on theojohnson.net, so I thought I’d share here. Hope you enjoy.

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As a hip-hop fan, you have to sometime wish that there was some type of Rapper 401(k) or pension plan. There are some of our greatest pioneers out there who did it for the love before there was even money in it. Some even fell by the wayside b/c of convictions, drugs, poor money management, or even just being a one-hit wonder. Thankfully, Jeffrey Townes didn’t fall into that category…even if you didn’t know it. Despite being the lesser known half of the 90’s supergroup “DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince”, Jazzy Jeff has been doing quite well for himself. While Willie has been off becoming a movie icon, Jazz has been the musical force behind icons like Jill Scott and Musiq. He’s also produced for Little Brother, De La Soul, and he even dropped some birds for his boy Will. “The Return of the Magnificent” is Jazzy’s fif album, yo.
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I hate to see hip-hop get a bad name because of the media, so I thought I’d repost this music review from Darrell. This CD is part of my collection and it’s one I’d recommend to anyone interested in music with a message. If you want to keep it real, this CD is about as real as it gets. Check it out and let me know what you think.

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Lecrae is a Christian rapper based in Memphis, Tennessee. Signed to Reach Records, Lecrae has dedicated himself to flowing Christian-based lyrics and witnessing Christ to the world with his words. Lecrae notes that he gave his life to Christ at the age of 19 after living a life of “excessive sin”. He says that his aim is “to digest theology and spit it back out so the streets can digest it.”

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Well, it was good while it lasted.

We came, we saw, we partied, we laughed, we called a lotta women out their names… I’ll always cherish how amazingly fluid and smooth “beeoch!” rolls off the tongue at the end of most any of your favorite rapper’s title LP. Well, time to pack up your belongings and take the fast train to reality because for us(hip hop heads, young Black folks, African Americans, etc.) to think it’s ok to refer to women in such demeaning ways is gone. How can anyone in this day and age hope for TRUE racial equality while tolerating the disgusting amount of misogyny in mainstream hip hop? In your mind, attempt to conceive Malcolm X rolling down the streat with his wife Betty Shabazz at his side bumping “Nasty Bitch” full bore through his Alpines. As ridiculous as that may seem, many of us twenty-somethings-plus have lived in that oxymoron for well over 20 years now. Think about how that illegitimizes the valiance and honor of every single slave that ever dared to stand against the injustice they faced EVERY SINGLE DAY.

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Music is an important part of any culture. It can stir the soul and make us loosen up a little. That was quite evident at a press dinner where America witnessed the infamous Karl “MC” Rove dancing to a rap song. Now while this video may be ridiculous and potentially offensive, it just goes to show the influence music can have over us. This leads me to the main reason behind this post.

Top Notch Music Reviews will be moving to this part of my site. Darrell’s had some good reviews in the past and I admire the time he spends to put out quality work. I haven’t been able to blog much on entertainment when it comes out, so I’m hoping this will give some of you music buffs something to read. I’m always open to having guest writers on the blog, so if anyone else is interested in covering a specific topic, let me know. I’ll be posting some of his previous reviews, over the next couple of weeks.