7 Great Songs You May Have Missed This Year

lupe-fiasco.jpg

In this era of new age information it’s not unusual to find freshly-squeezed mp3s turning up at the speed of light. In case you missed anything, I’ve unearthed a bunch of songs that flew under the radar in the first half of ‘07 for your listening pleasure.

Enjoy.

1. NY Oil - Shout it in the Streets

After “Y’all Should All Get Lynched” and “What Up My Wigger” fizzled out, NY Oil fueled the heat with “Shout It in the Streets.” This time, he touches on the Sean Bell issue.

2. Rhymefest ft. Lil Jon - Angry Black Man on an Elevator

I remember when this musical marriage started off as a Myspace joke. Little did I know then that a collab between Lil Jon and one of Chicago’s brightest new jacks would end up becoming one of the best songs of the year.

3. Ghostface Killah - My Guitar

In my iTunes folder I categorized “My Guitar” as “Street Opera.” This is classic Tony Starks drama-on-wax, replete with off-kilter crooning and voice impressions. Ghost once said that he hopes to write and produce his own movies in the future. If this is a sign of what’s to come then I want all of Ghost-dini’s albums translated to movies. [Edit: Eh, I've been rightly informed that this track is from as far back as '04. Excuse the lateness.]

4. Lupe Fiasco - Could’ve Been

This is why Lupe is going to be around for a long long time. Concept records are his bread and butter.

5. The LOX - We’re Back

“We’re Back” didn’t exactly deliver the type of buzz the LOX were hoping for, but it’s refreshing to hear Sheek, Kiss, and P going harder than ever. Suffice to say that I’ve never heard a Jadakiss verse that didn’t include at least one quotable that sticks to your head like mad cow. Case in point: “If you dropped an album in the last 10 years, then my DNA is in you.”

6. Kurupt - Mystic River

I wrote Kurupt off for a good minute. Then “Mystic River’ crawled out of nowhere and put all my doubts to rest.

7. Redman - Green Lantern Freestyle (3/6/07)

Even though Red was spitting pre-written verses, I forgot what punchlines sounded like until I heard this.

25 Responses

1. Daniel Says:

I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding o.us poetry, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong :)

2. Roc_Representa Says:

Based on the tracklist that Wikipedia has for Rhymefest’s El Che album…it could very well be the album of the year. Though, I’m pretty sure that half of it is bullshit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Che_%28album%29

3. Austin Walker Says:

Can’t believe Ghost sampled My Guitar Gently Weeps. I’d pay for an album of this in a second.

4. Ninoy Brown Says:

Do ya’ll really like that Rhymefest track? Or are you forcing yourself to like a track that sounded good in print (Lil’ Jon doing a political track with Rhymefest)?

And I think I heard that Ghost joint a year ago on a mixtape. Good look on him ever releasing that on an official lp.

5. Ivan Says:

*8 Great Songs…

Saigon - What A Life (feat. Tre Williams)

^ ;-D

6. Ivan Says:

Nice post though. I hadn’t heard that Ghost track. As a Beatles fan, I gotta say…wow!

I love Ghost’s version “I don’t know why…”

7. Ninoy Brown Says:

edit: change “good look” to “good luck”

8. HHFanatic Says:

I was just listening to the “Coulda Been” Lupe track on loop in the whip yesterday afternoon. Thats a top contender for song of the year. Do people REALLY understand how deep that song is??

The Rhymefest track was fire too, brought the best out of Lil Jon

9. Rizoh Says:

^^I listen to that Lupe track in the whip all the time.

10. khal Says:

some good picks. I just rediscovered the Rhymefest/Lil Jon collabo. That first verse is a beast!

And the Redman freestyle never gets old, even if he respit that shit on BET the following week!

“threw the wave cap, threw the wave cap on the HEAD!”

11. Big Homie Says:

The Lupe track is fire and I fuck with the Lox track. Dunno why any of these songs were overlooked. smh

12. Nahshon Says:

Those LOX, Lupe, & Ghostface were hot.
I wasn’t really into that Redman freestyle when it came. It got overshadowed by that Joe Budden freestyle from around the same time…you remember that shit???

13. Rizoh Says:

I remember the Budden freestyle where he was rhyming over Rich Boy’s “Boy Looka Here.” That was fire too.

14. Belize Says:

Please add The Message by Styles P.

Thank You

15. Rizoh Says:

@Belize:
That’s a good one. Got a link?

I also considered “All I Know” by CL Smooth and Jazzy Jeff.

16. JK Says:

I really did like that Rhymefest, Jon collabo. He talked about real shit: fighting over blocks you don’t own. And I wondered who he was talking about, if anyone, when he said that “living in boneville” line.

17. Rizoh Says:

Re: “boneville” line…I think he was just speaking in general.

18. Belize Says:

@ Rizoh

http://www.zshare.net/audio/314113578970cd/

Never heard that Jazzy Jeff..if you could post it, that would be thoro

19. Swag Diesel Says:

Probably the wrong sub-genre but how ’bout B.G.’s “I’m out Here”

20. K1NG Says:

I loved that B.G. song too…any one got those three Lupe songs that leaked at once? I lost those :(

21. Rizoh Says:

If you’re talking about Bottom Up, Cold Blooded, and Proper, I got you.

22. Profile Says:

ghosts track is from 2004. at least wutang corp says so:

http://www.wutang-corp.com/media/downloads.php

you can DL the track there.
look under ghostface.

greatings Profile.

23. obi Says:

yeah the lupe track “Could’ve been” had me on rewind mode 4 a min. really heavy tune.

underrated and a half

24. roman Says:

that ghostface track is going to end up on 8 Diagrams. they’re getting George Harrison’s son Dhani to play guitar on it since he’s a huge fan of the Wu. Also the guitarist from Red Hot Chili Peppers. While I like Ghost’s take on the song, this over-blown desperate stunt just might be too much. But who knows?

Here’s the link:

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/08/14/wu-tang-clan-cover-the-beatles-with-help-from-george-harrisons-son-john-frusciante/

25. The Rap Up » Blog Archive » Wu-Tang Clan - The Heart Gently Weeps Says:

[...] It spots an interpolation of the Beatles’ “My Guitar Gently Weeps.” As I mentioned earlier, Ghost had already administered some lyrical justice to this instrumental. Surprisingly, Method Man [...]



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