The Ghetto Blaster EP

Artist: Street Sweeper Social Club

Release Date: August 10th, 2010

Genre: Rap / Rock

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Music / Beats:                      

Beautiful and cool guitar riffs without being too overpowering and in your face to hear and appreciate the lyrics.

Lyrics / Message:           

The name of the band is Street Sweeper Social Club so capitalists may not appreciate hearing things like:

"Every broke motherf****er fittin to form a gang / And when we come we takin everythang!"

If you can stomach a revolutionary message then not only are you the kind of progressive thinker the world needs, you will be sure to enjoy the inspirational and refreshing words relayed by Boots Riley on this album.  My personal favorite:

"F****in is the new hey how do you do / And revolution is the new F*** you!"

Originality:                       

You've probably never heard anything like it and you've definitely never heard it on the radio.

Overall:                            

Only seven tracks long, this album pushes quality over quantity and delivers.  There are nifty covers of MIA's "Paper Planes" and LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out".  The only negative is after you've listened to it several times, you'll be hungry for more.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Artist: Kanye West

Release Date: November 22nd, 2010

Genre: Hip Hop / Rap

Singles: "Monster", "Power", "Runaway"

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Music / Beats:               

There are some gems in the track list that will make your head nod but there isn't enough consistency to keep you in that zone throughout the entire album. 

Lyics / Message:           

Sometimes it is hard to figure out what a Kanye West song is about but damned if there aren't some clever rhymes.  Here's one of my favorites since I grew up watching "Family Matters"

"Fresh air, rolling down the window / Too many Urkels on your team, thats why you're win's low" (Winslow)

Kanye seems conflicted between a socially conscious citizen concerned for his fellow man and an elitist superstar concerned only for himself.

Originality:                    

Definitely takes some chances and does some new things, most of which work well.

Overall:                         

I guess the conflicted artist produces a fairly decent product.  "Runaway" is to me by and large the best track on the album because of it's crystal clear message and brutal honesty.  More of that formula in the other tracks would have made this a homerun

Nelly 5.0

Release Date: November 16th, 2010Genre: Hip Hop

Singles: Just a Dream, Move That Body, Long Gone

AltAss Ratings (On a scale of 1 to 5 asses)

Music/Beats:                  

Mostly smooth grooves, this album felt more like an R&B record than rap.  Super professional tracks, nothing stuck out as being super special or heinous.

Lyrics:                           

From what I ascertained from listening to this record a couple of times, Nelly thought it was most important to relay to his audience how much money and how many women he has at his disposal.  He would also would like you to know that if you aren't careful he will take your woman too which makes him seem like an asshole.  You can listen for yourself but that really is just about the entirety of this album's message.

Originality:                   

I remember when I bought I the very first Nelly CD around ten years ago now and it was a very new sound unlike anything in hip hop at the time.  Unfortunately since that album he has failed to recapture the same magic and this most recent effort is not any better.

Overall:                            

This record gets boring fast after the first few tracks.  The best song is "Just a Dream", and you can currently probably hear that every half hour on your local pop radio station.  "Move That Body" is probably a pretty hot dance club number but not ideal for your car or at home.  Nelly needs to reconnect to his old sound and expand his range of ideas for lyric content