The Smarks Hip Hop Album of the Week Club

[Loochblade]

Damn, that's neat.

 

[Professor Booty]

Who Sampled is amazing Ive had that app for years.

 

[Professor Booty]

Hey fuck it, while we're at it, another potentially useful tool for this is Whosampled.

So if you hear a sample in a rap song that sounds familiar but can't put your finger on it, or are just curious where some sounds come from, you can search the song on that site and it will show songs that it samples, and at what points in the songs the sample appears. It'll also show any songs that sample it.

For example, I mentioned the sample on How Low, which was easily recognizable.

How Low by R.A. The Rugged Man - Samples, Covers and Remixes | WhoSampled https://share.google/07DxhQ7oz1PALEtig

If you go to the page, it shows the two songs that How Low sampled. The one I recognized was Trans-Europe Express.

You can then click Trans-Europe Express to hear the part of it that was sampled and it shows where it appears in the Rugged Man song as well.

How Low is such a banger

 

[Professor Booty]

Also this is probably his most iconic verse it’s about his dad in Vietnam. All real shit too.

 

[Jimmy King]

I became familiar with Ra thanks to Booty talking about him years ago. I had listened to this one before but it has been a long time since my last listen.

How Low is a highlight but everything on here is a banger for sure. The beats and his flow are great. His Legends Never Die album is another one worth checking out if you like this one.

 

[Chris]

I keep getting interrupted while I'm listening to this shit so I'm only halfway done after like 3 attempts lmao not optimal but I'm liking it all so far. Never really heard of this guy that I can remember but the style and sound is almost exactly what I expected going in, just higher quality. It feels like a weird mix of very professionally produced stuff with the outsider kind of content that most of the time is with a more raw and jarring sound sometimes. Dude is talented af, I really felt his frustrations with the industry in the opening.

 

[Professor Booty]

I keep getting interrupted while I'm listening to this shit so I'm only halfway done after like 3 attempts lmao not optimal but I'm liking it all so far. Never really heard of this guy that I can remember but the style and sound is almost exactly what I expected going in, just higher quality. It feels like a weird mix of very professionally produced stuff with the outsider kind of content that most of the time is with a more raw and jarring sound sometimes. Dude is talented af, I really felt his frustrations with the industry in the opening.

Yeah dude went through it. He was gonna be the next big thing in the 90s and it all got fucked up. This is his first album since then so it’s really a mix like you said, glad people are digging it

 

[Chris]

Yeah dude went through it. He was gonna be the next big thing in the 90s and it all got fucked up. This is his first album since then so it’s really a mix like you said, glad people are digging it

Yeah I was reading that he already had like 2 full albums before this completed but unreleased

 

[Professor Booty]

His albums since are also very good but I’m biased

 

[Professor Booty]

 

[Professor Booty]

@Comrade Khan you had a chance to check this out yet cuz I know @Hoss is ready to share his selection

 

[Chris]

I still need to finish too fuck, I got about 9 songs in lol my week will be better so I should be good to listen to more anyway tho

 

[Hoss]

I been struggling with which album to pick all week . Kinda hard to decide where to start when we have a crop of people with varying levels of knowledge about hip hop, as well as the different tastes. Ultimately I landed on "Oxymoron" by ScHoolboy Q.



I know Jimmy and Chris will be at least somewhat familiar with this one due to it having two smash hits, but I feel like this is a good jump off because it walks a line between mainstream and underground.

Q is a fairly popular artist but not ubiquitous like Kendrick, Kanye or Drake, though he is connected with artists in that tier. Generally I assume everyone involved in this either has at least a baseline familiarity with rap or at least knows Kendrick, whom Q is a label-mate of, so I think this album will be a good basis to build off of, as I do hope to bring more current artists/albums to the table. In fact, it was between this and two other non-Kendrick TDE artists in terms of which album I wanted to pick, and if this one resonates then I'll probably circle back to those others in the near future.

Anyways, just a little background and context that I think will be useful for the listening experience:

- Q is a member of Top Dawg Entertainment, the same LA label as Kendrick, Jay Rock, SZA, Ab-Soul and others.
- He is from LA and a lot of the content is about his life as a gangster in LA as part of the Hoover Crips, which he'll often reference. So when you hear him reference Hoover, Figueroa and Figg Side, he's just referencing the streets his gang were associated with.
- The title of the album is a reference to the contrast between his raps which tell the story of life as a gang member, and his current life a successful artist and parent. It's also an allusion to Oxycotin which used and sold.
- This would be the height of his mainstream success and his most mainstream sounding album. At this time, the whole TDE label was taking off led of course by Kendrick, so I tend to find the albums they released at this time sounded the most mainstream. Nonetheless, Q is very crass, humorous and and to the point, so this album still represents his griminess and unique lyrical delivery well. I would say it's at least in my top 2 favorite Q projects but for others, his other more experimental sounds might be more favorable.

 

[Chris]

Collard Greens is on GTA V too i think if anyone can't think of where they've heard it from lol

 

[Hoss]

Collard Greens is on GTA V too i think if anyone can't think of where they've heard it from lol

Yeah. Studio was a big on real life radio as well, and Man of the Year had its moment too. Personally Collard Greens ans Studio are probably my least favorite songs on the album.