With this video, Hov REALLY is on that new shit. Maybe even on some Lady GaGa shit. It’s still technically my favorite music video of 2010. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This week we’re going way back. No really. I mean way back to 1970. This week I wanted to do something different and feature a song that has been sampled numerous times in Hip-Hop. “Hard Times” by Baby Huey & the Babysitters. I re-discovered this song while watching the opening sequence of JCVD (Dope movie by the way). The song is just made to be sampled and is dope just by itself. Some of the rappers who have sampled this particular song: Ice Cube (“The Birth”off Death Certificate), A Tribe Called Quest (“Can I Kick It?”off People’s Instinctive Travels & The Paths of Rhythm), Ghostface Killah (“Buck 50″of Supreme Clientele), and most recently Swizz Beatz (“School Of Hard Knocks”).

Baby Huey & the Babysitters worked with such artists like Donny Hathaway & Curtis Mayfield. I wish I could say that Baby Huey (Real name James Ramey) lived to make more classic music like this but he and the Babysitter only released one album (Well, one that you can find). Huey had problems with drugs as well as a weight problem and died at the age of 26 by way of a heart attack.

Check out the song and tell us what you think.

Download: Baby Huey & The Babysitters – “Hard Times”

Reppin’ Brooklyn to the fullest and wearing his hate for rich rappers as a badge of honor, The Madd Rapper is quite frankly hilarious. As the creation and alter ego of producer Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie, The Madd Rapper first got major exposure on the intro of The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Kick In The Door” off Life After Death (The best Biggie song of all time in my opinion). He epitomized the hating, strictly east coast rappers that filled the scene at the time of his debut. After popularizing the verb use of “John Blaze”, The Madd Rapper then went on the pop up on most of the then preceding Bad Boy releases via skits and a few rare guest spots here and there with other artists (Who can forget him on the chorus of 50 Cent’s “How To Rob”). He most of the time was accompanied by his partner, The Madd Producer, who also had a lot of hate towards successful producers. This all culminated in the release of his very own album, Tell ‘Em Why You Madd. The album didn’t really live up to standards in way of comedy and beats (D-Dot was on Puffy’s Hitmen crew who had a big hand in the label’s early success). So then, we heard nothing. But then this year, The Madd Rapper started to turn out some new material. He first reappeared on DJ Drama’s official Gangsta Grillz album by way of an interlude. Then he appeared a song of his own called “Brooklyn Lets Go” featuring Brooklyn bred rappers like Red Cafe, Maino, Wais P, Papoose, & Joell Ortiz. The Madd Rapper also recently did a freestyle over Mikey Factz’s “Incredible”, but that really wasn’t notable. So you ask, why all this rambling about a fictional rapper that has received minimal recognition? Well, let me show you…

Download: The Madd Rapper – “Roll With The Cat”

Tell ‘Em Why You Madd (2000)
Yea this was by far the best track of Madd Rapper’s album. The beat, provided by Swizz Beatz (I think), was hot and the lyrics/delivery was surprisingly good. Even though the Madd Rapper creation was basically a big joke he sometimes surprised you with talent: “Crazy Cat, mic or gat/Hoes, I like ‘em phat/Shows I like ‘em pack screaming like Michael Jack/Whether is rolled or inna pipe I’m lighting that/Whether is guns or fistfights we fighting back”.

Download: Jermaine Dupri feat. DMX & The Madd Rapper – “Get Your Shit Right”

Life In 1472 (1998)
This is a really overlooked track. The funny thing here it that DMX was in his prime and surprisingly got outdid by The Madd Rapper. I guess with all of Jermaine Dupri’s flossing and X’s ruggedness, it all looks kinda ridiculous beside Madd Rapper’s funniness: “That’s why my women ain’t dimes/Not even close to 9’s/Sorta like 5 and 6’s with scares and stitches/Type of bitches/That spit in your face like Alomar/Broke hoes without a car/stashing fruit from a salad bar”.

Download: The Madd Rapper On Biggie, Puffy, & Mase

Life After Death (1997), Harlem World (1997), & No Way Out (1997)
At first I was gonna post The Madd Rapper’s verse on Black Rob’s mega remix of “Whoa”. Even though the verse was funny, I thought it would be also good to post some of the earlier Madd Rapper skits off Life After Death, Harlem World, & No Way Out (Especially you youngsters out there). Maybe this time D-Dot should bring The Madd Rapper back on some Gorillaz shit; who knows?

Alright, like you all know, T.I. has claimed several times to be the “King of the South”, which has caused a lot of beefs in his career, including with Lil’ Flip (Pardon me: I had to laugh at that…), and more prominently, Ludacris: I’m still waiting on a full-out lyrical war between those two; it could be a southern throwback to the Nas vs. Jay-Z thing. Anyway, beyond King of the South, T.I. has been known to be the only famous rapper from Bankhead, while the rest of his group, the P$C (Pimp Squad Clique) were playing second fiddle. Then when T.I. got caught with firearms in October, many people thought that was it: he faced up to 10 years in jail! I guess everyone else thought that was it too, because Luda announced another album, and Shawty LO (also from Bankhead) began taking shots at T.I. from his debut album (which got less than 3 stars here at nappyafro).

A LOT of bullshit tracks from Paper Trail have been leaked, like “Whatever You Like” and “Like I Do”, so I’m intentionally leaving those off because they, well, suck. The tracks I’m giving you guys from Paper Trail are the tracks that SHOULD have been the singles, and I know I’m not alone in thinking that. Before you say, “But he put the songs on his MySpace!” No! I want to see full-fledged video and downloadable singles, not this street shit: how can you make “Whatever You Like” you’re lead single when you have joints like this?!?

But I digress: The three songs I have for you on this installment of Boomin’ From The Stoop are “What’s Up, What’s Happening”, “Swing Ya Rag”, and “A Better Day”. “What’s Up, What’s Happening” was supposed to be the first single originally, but then it was leaked: it’s about people who doubted him when he was down. “Swing Ya Rag” feels like “Bring ‘Em Out” 2008, and it’s really hot! Finally, “A Better Day” is one of those really emotional T.I. tracks; I think he’s at his best when does tracks like this. Anyway, enjoy these non-commercialized tracks off Paper Trail, which is coming out September 30th. Remember, you got these tracks straight from The Stoop!

Download: T.I. – “What’s Up, What’s Happening”

Download: T.I. feat. Swizz Beatz – “Swing Ya Rag”

Download: T.I. – “A Better Day”

Download: Maino feat. Plies, T.I., Swizz Beatz, Fabolous, & Jadakiss – “Hi Hater” Remix

Second verse, same as the first. This is where I pick some songs off my ever present iPod and explain to you what I’m currently listening to. Sometimes it’s new stuff; sometimes it’s old stuff, but all the time its good stuff. Get it? Good. This week we gonna do it a little different; I’m doing all new music. We got Bun B teaming up with Weezy, Young Jeezy teaming up with Kanye, and Swizz Beatz breaks the silence. Let’s go…

Download: Bun B feat. Lil’ Wayne – “Damn I’m Cold”

Bun B – II Trill [2008]
In February, Bun B released his first single off his new album II Trill, “That’s Gangsta” featuring Sean Kingston. It’s wasn’t a bad song, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Well, this is another one off his album (not a single though), featuring none other than Lil’ Wayne. The song is produced by CHOPS and uh, it’s okay. I don’t know if it’s the beat or if it’s the rhymes but it still doesn’t grab me (is it me or are Wayne’s features steadily dropping in quality). Maybe I need some more time with it. Be sure to check back with us next week for the full review of Bun B’s II Trill.

Download: Young Jeezy feat. Kanye West – “Put On”

After being on almost everybody’s song this year, Young Jeezy emerges with his on. “Put On” is supposed to be his first single off his new album I Am Trap (Scheduled to drop August/September). It features Kanye West rocking auto-synthesizer on the last verse (When is T-Pain gonna put out a diss song going at all these people using it?). The production come from Drumma Boy and sounds like something off Rocko’s album since Drumma Boy produced a bulk of Self-Made. I’m sure the dope boys will go crazy for this one. Me, I don’t think this is the right reintroduction and it’s probably just a street single. I guess we’ll see.

Download: Swizz Beatz – “Where The Cash At”

Even though Swizz Beatz is touted as a top producer, I still think he’s underrated. But now with all the rumors of him hooking up with Alicia Keys, I guess he is getting some attention for a different reason. Well, Swizzy comes back with “Where The Cash At” to answer some question; “And plus them haters wanna be me/The close they’ll ever get to Lamborghini is linguine/Get the fuck out my face/Shouldn’t y’all worry about that Sean Bell case./Damn”. It’s uses the same break beat from “I’m A Hustler”, but it’s still hot. Of course the lyrics are a second thought but if you looking for that with Swizz, that’s you fault (That was the same with One Man Band Man). This is supposedly off his new album but there is no set date as of yet or name.

People ask me all the time; “B-Easy, what you rocking to right now?” or “B, what’s on your iPod?” Okay, maybe they e-mail me the questions too. But, I really never answer the questions because the music I listen to is constantly changing. Well, thanks to modern technology, I can now see what songs I listen to the most thanks to my ever present iPod. So here is just a sample of the songs that are burning up my iPod recently. Welcome to 4 Songs From My iPod, iPod Shuffle, iPod Hustle.

Saigon feat. Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz – “C’mon Baby (remix)” [LISTEN]
from the upcoming album The Greatest Story Never Told

Man you KNOW I was pissed off that Saigon’s album got pushed back…again! Even though December was already packed with Hip-Hop/Rap releases, the one I anticipated most was Saigon. Well, at least I got this song; I’ve been waiting on this one for a second too. The song is you basic Just Blaze shit, nothing really different from the original beside Hov’s verse and new ones from Saigon. It’s funny, even when Jay-Z is going at half speed, he’s still better than most rappers out. Sai did his thing on the song too. I hope one day he finally gets to shine, but I seriously doubt it that day will ever come.

Thugnificent feat. Flownominal, Macktastic, & Nate Dogg – “Eff Granddad” [LISTEN]
from the album From Rag To Bitches [from The Boondocks episode “The Story of Thugnificent”]

If you know me, you know that The Boondocks is one of my favorites shows on TV (King Jerm, you still need to join the movement homie)! The 5th episode of the second season proved to be one of the best of the whole series. After moving in to the suburbs across the street from the Freeman’s, rapper Thugnificent (straight outta Terra-Belle, Georgia) has a neighborhood dispute with Granddad Freeman and hilarity ensues. What I like so much about this episode is the Rap clichés that are being made fun off; trust me, there are too many to name. Check out the cameos: Snoop Dogg as Macktastic, Busta Rhymes as Flownominal, Sway from MTV, Xzibit, and Fatman Scoop. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you need to check out the video here first. If you have already seen it, click on the song and laugh again.

Alicia Keys feat. John Mayer – “Lesson Learned” [LISTEN]
from the album As I Am

Yea, this song is NOT Hip-Hop/Rap. But, damn, sometimes you gotta applaud dope shit no matter where it comes from. What? Sometimes a brother doesn’t necessarily have to listen to Rap all the time! Anyway, the new Alicia Keys album is straight fire and to be honest, I could have put any song on here from the new album and been happy. So, guys into Hip-Hop and loyal nappyafro male readers, turn off the Jeezy for a second and put on some Keys. Your girl will thank me later.

50 Cent feat. Tony Yayo & Lloyd Banks – “I’m On Some Shit” [LISTEN]
from the mixtape Sabrina’s Baby Boy (G-Unit Radio Part 25)

This song has been out for few months, but I still jamming to it. Even though I haven’t really listened to G-Unit since the No Mercy, No Fear days, this song reminds me off back then when the G-Unit shit wasn’t so watered down. Rocking over a Killarmy beat (I think?), the chemistry here between the 50, Yayo, and Banks is unquestionable. The surprise here is the unlikely awesome verse from Tony Yayo; “When I catch you niggas, I put the tec to niggas. Virginia Tech you niggas, but I ain’t Chinese, I got two glocs, I call ‘em Siamese.” Hey, I gotta admit, Tony been stepping up lately. Will I buy an album by him? Hell no, but I’m just saying. Maybe all this will translate into G-Unit dropping a halfway decent product when their new album Shoot To Kill drops this December.

Move over John Mayer, there’s another alternative rocker getting the attention from Hip-Hoppers recently: Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Why? Who the hell knows? Don’t get me wrong, I understand blending genres of music; it’s good seeing rappers expanding musical boundires. And even though I’m not really a fan of Coldplay, the “Clocks”/Kurt Angle promo was hot. So why him? He’s married to Gwyneth Paltrow, has a kid named Apple, doesn’t do soul music, and just really doesn’t scream Hip-Hop. But damn, he’s getting named dropped on Jay-Z tracks and doing songs with Kanye (Or even being sampled by Timbaland Brandy’s album Afrodisiac, shit, that’s probably where all this shit started). Are rappers still trying to cross over to other audiences when Hip-Hop is already everywhere? Do they really think putting Martin on an album will bring in more dollars? Today, we’ll look at the tracks he’s already done with rappers and see what all the fuss is about.

Download/Song: Jay-Z – “Beach Chair”
Album: Kingdom Come (2006)

Story: Chris Martin does the hook and production on this track for Hov (with some help from Dr. Dre). The song is important to the album being that is the closer on Kingdom Come. Martin doesn’t seem out of place since Jay-Z ditches the tough talk and reflects on his life after rap. This was also Martin’s first foray into his guest stints for rappers and really big one since it was on Jay’s comeback album.
Results: I can’t hate on this one; this is probably my favorite songs off Kingdom Come.

Download/Song: Swizz Beatz – “Part Of The Plan”
Album: One Man Band Man (2007)

Story: Well, even though it says Martin is features on the CD back cover, I can’t really call it a guest spot I guess; Swizz just sampled Coldplay’s “X&Y” for the hook. Good beat and not a bad sample though, but I bet Swizz probably never met Chris Martin. The song is your basic generic ghetto story with Swizz rapping about riding on unicorns and shit and leaving the hood.
Results: I can’t really judge Martin too harsh for being sampled, you really can’t control that, but this song would have been better if it was by a more able rapper/lyricist.

Download/Song: Kanye – “Homecoming”
Album: Graduation (2007)

Story: This is probably Martin’s best rap cameo to date and most involvement hook wise on any song his been a part…uh rap wise. Kanye has even said on his song “Big Brother” that Jay-Z stole his idea of even working with Coldplay (Well, Kanye was using old rhymes on this track).
Results: Take out the yodeling at the end and it’s a winner.

Swizz Beatz drops his first official solo effort, titled One Man Band Man. Swizz often lets his production speak for him, on this one he takes more time in the booth and voila, there you have it, the One Man Band Man. After putting other projects before his, he finally decided to put out a full solo. How will Swizz fair in today’s rough climate? Let us see!

The album starts off with “Product Man”, the beat is hot and Swizzy’s rhymes are pretty decent. The album starts off pretty good! Next up is “It’s Me Bitches”, you know this is Swizz at his best. Energetic beat to have the clubs jumping, and some nice delivery to have the crowd chanting along. “Big Munny” follows and this is the first slip up on the album. The hook isn’t that good; the beat is suspect, so I can’t vouch for this one…SKIP! Drag-On makes an appearance on “Bust Ya Gunz”. I don’t know if this is the remix, but the beat is banging! Swizz was in the kitchen on this one (Actually, Needlz produced this track). The time off must have done some good for Drag, because he put out a flaming sixteen. Bang this one! “You Know Your Boy Did That” follows, and once again Swizzy puts out a hot beat. On this one the lyrics are okay, but the beat overshadows him. “The Funeral” is next, and Swizz changed gears and slowed the tempo down, and got retrospective on this track. It’s good to see a different side of Swizz. “Take a Picture” is a rip of “Lovely Day”, and I don’t like this one! It sounds so Puffy-ish! Nah, Swizz you could have kept this one. “Top Down” is the next song and from the initial listen you can hear the vintage sound beat. The beat is hot; Swizz just didn’t give the production its due on this one. “Money in the Bank” is surely to be a club banger, the production has nightclub written all over it. The heavy bass line and sing a long chorus will make this one perfect for the clubs. “Part of the Plan” is next and the production is not good on this one. Swizz tried to go the slow tempo on this one, and it didn’t go as planned. SKIP! Next up is a “Snoop Skit”, and it’s just an intro for the next song “It’s Me Bitches (remix)”. You know you can’t have an album these days without Lil’ Wayne! He and R. Kelly make an appearance on the remix. Weezy pulls out the reggae flow out, and R. Kelly does his rap/sing thing, and Jada drops a mini sixteen to the “C.R.E.A.M.”. beat. But if you listen to it, Wayne raps just like Swizz on this one. But the song is still hot!

Bottom Line:
Overall the album was better than expected. I still don’t think Swizz is the best rapper alive, he might be the best producer/MC. I didn’t say MC/producer! (Kanye West) All in all, Swizzy put together a solid effort and gave the listeners some energetic music to dance to. This album isn’t going to make major noise on the charts, but it will get heavy airplay in the clubs.

nappy Picks: “Product Man”, “It’s Me Bitches”, “It’s Me Bitches (remix)”, “Bust Ya Gunz”, “Money In The Bank” & “The Funeral”

Download: Swizz Beatz feat. Drag-On – “Bust Ya Gunz”

This installment of Song of the Week is brought to you by King Jerm of nappyafro.com! This week I wanted to bring out “Brown Paper Bag” by Lil’ Wayne and Baby. This should have been on Like Father, Like Son instead of just a bonus track because the song is hot. Swizz laid down another heater for Birdman and Weezy (Swizz Beatz is on the last verse; Angel “The Trush” Aponte produced the track). I heard this one before I heard the one on DJ Khaled’s We The Best, and this one is better, just without all the heavyweights. Wayne and Birdman come to play on this one. Check it out, certified banger.

Download: Birdman & Lil’ Wayne feat. Swizz Beatz – “Brown Paper Bag”

Album: Like Father, Like Son
Released: October 31, 2006
Label: Cash Money Records/Universial Motown Records Group