The 37th Chamber 10.01.08: Hip-Hop And R&B, Hand-In-Hand

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 10.01.2008

Don't judge a CD by it's cover, but by the guest artists instead! Unless they're R&B singers though, is there any more depth when including them on an album than an attempt for more radio play? Also, the Top 10 Most Annoying Career Moves!

I should probably find out the date I'm meant to be registering for my Real Estate diploma course next year. That or…I spend the next year doing much the same as I have the last few months. Hip-hop, Wii, eat, work and sleep. Sounds like an awesome way to pass the time, but I'm not really working enough, and I'm doing too much of the other stuff. Not exactly a healthy lifestyle, though if I save up for Wii Fit, I might be able to change that. HA!

I was thinking the other day, whoever said "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get" was an idiot. There's a reason that those assorted boxes of chocolates are wrapped in different color foil, or created in different shapes. So, you know what you're getting! Also, you don't want to be stuck with a half mouthful of some kind of disgusting coconut-cherry combination chocolate. True story.

I also bought The Godfather trilogy, the ‘Restored' version which features an extra four hours of bonus stuff on ANOTHER DVD included in the set. That was last Thursday and I haven't gotten to watch anything yet! Why? Because mom insists I don't spend enough time with dad, and since dad is getting sicker and sicker (his refusal to see a doctor is amusing…if he wasn't spreading so many germs everywhere), we keep pushing the viewing date back further.

Ah well, at least I didn't wash my car last week, I did wash mom and dad's cars. This is why it rained yesterday. Murphy's Law doncha know.

Oh, and why am I getting Russian spam mail?

Reader Feedback
(May be edited for spelling, grammar etc.)

"Not for nothing but the Firm album debuted at Number 1 on the charts and it sold over a million records...the group fell off...but the album did not fail!" - yeahyeah

Yeah, the album definitely sold well, I think mainly because of the names attached to the project. Even Dre attests that the claims are false, but you can't really deny the fact that the album was a critical failure.

You want to know something HORRIBLE? THIS went Platinum back in July. No justice in the world you know.

"DJ Muggs side projects are some quality pieces of hip-hop. DJ Muggs vs. GZA "Grandmasters" is the best I feel. DJ Muggs vs. Planet Asia "Pain Language" is a close second. Not sure about a new Cypress Hill album, I did hear though that B-Real signed to Duck Down records and is releasing a solo CD early next year." - J

I liked the Grandmasters album so much, I actually bought the Remix album they released two years after the original. I think GZA is one of those rare rappers that would have to try REALLY HARD to make a bad album. Even his worst album, Legend Of The Liquid Sword (I don't really count Words From The Genius, but even though that's not a great album, it's not terrible) received a 4/5 from Rolling Stone magazine. If Rolling Stone is giving you a 4/5, you're doing something right as the majority of the time, they're extremely harsh on hip-hop releases.

I'll have to check out Pain Language, I honestly didn't know it was even coming out. September has been a pretty hectic month for hip-hop. I've written four reviews, three in the last two days. I have a hip-hop headache at present. Actually, once this album finishes that I'm listening to, I'm throwing on GetBack. I keep meaning to re-listen to that but end up forgetting about it. On the other hand, I listen to something that makes me ask myself, "Why the hell am I listening to this such as V.I.C. or Encore. That came on out of nowhere and scared me.

The Rant

"I'm wise enough to know hip-hop ain't R&B"

That quote comes from Asamov's "Hookslide" track off the And Now… album. It's interesting because the two genres are really blurring the line more and more these days. I don't mean old-school R&B either, I mean the more contemporary stuff. It's no surprise that when I go to a record store or I find people telling me they like "Hip-hop / R&B" when I ask them their favorite genre. How did it happen exactly?

I suppose we could blame LL Cool J for bringing the ballad to hip-hop's consciousness with tracks from both Radio and B.A.D. falling under that classification. It's hard to tell really because if you look at the evolution of rap, it's just become more and more acceptable to include an R&B influenced track on your album, no matter how hard you claim to be. From the grittiest street albums, to gangsta rap, R&B is becoming the cousin that's at your house more than you are.

Can we blame artists today for wanting to collaborate with R&B artists? It shows a sense of camaraderie between genres and it also shows your influence in the game i.e. "Look, I got [XYZ] on my album!" Ne-Yo is easily the Flavor Of The Year (2006, 2007, 2008…) as he's done tracks with Plies, Game, New Kids On The Block, Ghostface Killah, Fabolous, Jay-Z and more over the last three years. He's the hottest (no homo…HA! Always wanted to say that…and now I feel like an idiot) R&B artist out at the moment, dare I say, even more so than Rihanna and Chris Brown. Why wouldn't you want someone with that much mainstream exposure on your album?

I think I answered my own question then. In order for those street and gangsta rap albums to gain more than a marginal time on the radio/TV, they need the obligatory radio-friendly single. And how do you make a single radio-friendly? Call up an R&B artist. The image most of them present is a more clean-cut, fresh image, a sharp contrast to the gritty image often portrayed by rappers.

Is that what it is then, an attempt for more exposure? Short answer, I think so. The casual buyer often buys something based on who may be featured on an album, simply because you feel there could be a mutual respect between the artists, or the anticipation for how good a track made by Rapper X and Rapper Y, produced by Producer Z could be. That's one of the reasons I was excited to check out "Swagga Like Us" off Paper Trail. T.I., Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, production, and verse from Kanye West? I'm sold. The "Paper Planes" sample also helped.

Think about it though, if you're checking the track list for a new artist and you're unsure if you want to download buy the CD, you might notice "Ft. GZA, AZ, Canibus, Rass Kass & Rakim" and think…'Crap, how lyrical is that going to be?' (Note: Such a track does not exist…sadly). The ‘Featuring' artists may also give you an idea of what kind of rapper that artist is. If you've got people like the above four, Ice Cube, Chuck D, Common, Little Brother, Lupe Fiasco etc., you can assume that the rapper is probably going to be politically or socially inclined with a knack for lyricism. If the list includes Big Kuntry King, Yung Joc, Young Jeezy, Bow Wow, Soulja Boy, 50 Cent etc., you should throw that CD on the floor and SMITE IT. Just kidding, you might damage the floor that way. But seriously, if you've got a lineup like that, you can expect thug-rap, crack rap…nothing terrible lyrical, but lots of flair (WOO!).

Back on the R&B point though. When I looked at Paper Trail's guest list, I knew instantly that Rihanna, Usher, Swizz Beatz (doesn't fit the R&B mold, but he's a hook man), John Legend and Justin Timberlake, would be doing hook duty. That's not to say that they did a bad job, but those artists are mainly considered R&B artists. Even on DJ Khaled's We Global album, Lloyd, Trey Songz, T-Pain and Akon – all R&B and/or hook artists.

That's probably why then, that when an old-school orientated R&B album comes out, or one that people sometimes call ‘Neo-soul', the listening public flip, because we're so unused to anything like that coming out anymore. John Legend, Robin Thicke's second album and even Amy Winehouse's Back To Black to a certain extent have all broken the modern day conceptions and mold we have of R&B. As a result, we pay more attention to the album and hail it as a pleasant throwback, much like Asamov's album is to Golden Era rap.

So, what happened to the purity of rap music? The necessity for including an R&B orientated track on your album has become as much as it was to include a Nate Dogg hook during the 90s. Poor Nate Dogg… I like to think that the term ‘hip-hop' shouldn't be regulated to just one genre of rap, rather it's an umbrella term that constitutes the entire culture and that culture should include contemporary and old-school R&B music, soul and funk. I think many of you would agree with me in that sense, particularly those that grew up with the Golden Era of rap, where soul/funk/old-school R&B sampling was more than commonplace.

10 Things…

This week: Top 10 Most Annoying Career Moves

10. Cam'Ron Wears Pink

Do you know how hard it is to tell people you enjoy a rapper that wears BRIGHT NEON-PINK CLOTHING and drives a BRIGHT PINK RANGE ROVER? Nobody takes you seriously, and it became extremely hard to take Cam seriously after he announced that pink was ‘his thing'. Ok, pink is fine to wear, so long as it isn't so incredibly bright it makes you look like this:


A pink phone. Seriously?

9. Ice Cube – Are We There Yet?

When you try to introduce people to new hip-hop music, it's hard to get a proper discussion going when the first thing out of their mouth is "isn't that the guy that did Are We There Yet?" and all you can do is sigh and agree with them. I have nothing against Ice Cube's career choices in movies, I personally love the Friday series, and even Are We There Yet and it's sequel get a pass because he wants to make a family friendly movie. That's fine, but did he have to do it RIGHT BEFORE his comeback album where he was trying to go down the angry-political route of his albums of old?

8. Wu-Tang Clan Flood The Market

I love the Wu-Tang Clan, if you haven't picked that up yet, you're either new to the column, or you need to study some of the old ones more carefully. I won't say that they've never done anything wrong, because that would make me a Stan and I like to believe I have more intelligence than that, despite what some of my friends might say. In terms of my intelligence that is, not the Wu-Tang love. ANYWAY, from around 1998 to 2001 we got NINE Wu-Tang releases as well as the multitude of affiliates that were popping up on a weekly basis. There was also the videogame and the clothing line. Basically, had the Wu cut back during this time, I think they'd still be around in a greater capacity than they are today.

7. Andre 3000 ‘Experiments'

Experimentation is interesting. It can lead to some truly memorable work (Danger Mouse's The Gray Album and some truly forgettable CDs such as The Love Below. The problem I have with Andre 3000's first foray into the solo world, is that it was TOO unlike his previous work with Outkast. Singing, as well as self-produced tracks made for a really bizarre listen. It then of course, leaked over into the Idlewild album, although some of the tracks were forgivable because it was inspired by the movie of the same name. Since then though, Andre has dropped some incredible RAPPED verses which has supposedly inspired a hip-hop focused album to come sometime in the near future.

6. The Game Talks Retirement

I know rappers don't exactly have a long shelf live these days, but when an artist comes along who is more than a one-hit wonder and decides to hang up the mic after only THREE albums, I get annoyed. What makes things more annoying, is that Game had finally come into his own on his last album. The name-dropping had decreased significantly, the double rhyming was virtually gone and he (largely) wasn't relying on the Dr. Dre affiliation to get by anymore. Whilst there are many rappers that don't know when to stop (LL Cool J for one), there are just as many that should keep rapping for at least another album or two before thinking retirement.

5. Eminem, Meet 50 Cent

Remember the wacky, off-the wall lyrics, ENTERTAINING Eminem? You can measure the time of that plunge into the world of thug-rap and trying to be less wacky and more aggressive around the same time 50 Cent came into the scene. Hopefully the time away from the mic has given Em the time to try to recapture that more carefree style he had when he first debuted.


From this…

To this…


4. Interscope / Aftermath, The Rapper Eaters

Busta Rhymes, Eve, The Game, Obie Trice, Rakim and Joell Ortiz. What do these artists have in common? They were all at one point signed to Interscope / Aftermath and have since been dropped or left the label due to ‘creative differences'. It seems that these days, the Interscope / Aftermath giant is killing careers rather than making them. Just look at the list of artists YET to release an album on the label; Bishop Lamont, Stat Quo, Ca$his, Bobby Creekwater and Raekwon. Stat Quo's been signed since 2003, it doesn't take five years to make an album. He can't be THAT lazy or much of a perfectionist, I smell label shenanigans.

3. Common, Meet Erykah Badu

The result?



2. Lupe Fiasco Talks Retirement

Now, this is even more annoying as Lupe has even more potential as an MC than Game does. I think he's insane given he was the first breath of fresh air the hip-hop game had had in a long, long time when he came out. There is no set date as of yet for his supposed third and final album, but I sincerely hope that something sparks a fire under him and convinces him to stay around for another album or two. The Cool had probably the best combination of lyrics and production, as if the two had been created at the same time in the same studio, of 2007, even more so dare I say it, than The Big Doe Rehab. For a rapper as young as him to consider retirement is crazy.

1. Kanye West Loves The Auto-Tune

WHY KANYE WHY! The verse on "Swagga Like Us" is about all I could probably take on his new album before I'd throw the CD out the window. There's a point where you just get so annoyed by the auto-tune that you start wishing hateful things upon T-Pain for re-introducing the world to it back in 2005, or, by the transit of property, we can blame Akon for discovering him, Algebra's Awesome!

YouTube For The Week

T.I. – What Up, What's Haapnin



I couldn't stand this song two weeks ago…now I can't stop listening to it. HELP MEEEEEE


Before We Go…

I'm meant to be somewhere and I can't find my paper where I usually write my important dates/times etc. That piece of paper is actually an old pay slip and has most likely been thrown out by accident. I need to upgrade to an actual notepad I think.