Mac Miller detailed his journey from Pittsburgh prospect to Internet phenom much better on the On and On and Beyond EP. With the goal line for stardom in sight, Blue Slide Park sounds triumphantly carefree. What it lacks in depth, thanks to Miller's tedious variations on "I'm so rich and famous" and "b*tches want to sleep with me," it makes up with ambient vibes from ID Labs ("Of the Soul"), Clams Casino ("My Team") and others. Miller tosses a few clunkers, like "I always do it big like a Jewish nose" on "Under the Weather." But he's smart enough to not mess up a winning hand.
Pacific Division emerged during the "new West Coast" movement of the late 2000s, and then disappeared amid a failed Warner Bros. deal. Released independently, The Div could be a coda, but the trio doesn't have regrets. On the contrary, Pac Div aims to be the missing link between L.A. swag rap and the traditional indie "backpacker" scene, making carefree songs like "Useless" and "Life Is Good." "Don't spend my career trying to keep up with the Joneses/ Maybe in 10 years we're gonna feel like the Ramones," they opine on "High Five."
On this Tech N9ne Collabos showcase, the Strange Music crew spends the album discussing the after-effects of Tech's mainstream breakthrough All 6s and 7s, from party favors ("My Favorite") and pornographic sex ("Won't You Come Dirty," "Retrogression") to fame itself ("Overwhelming") over ambient goth-metal beats. Though nominally a compilation, with appearances from Mayday, Brotha Lynch Hung, Kutt Calhoun and others, Welcome to Strangeland sounds like a concept album as these self-described "swinging c*cks of hip-hop, R&B and rock" adjust to their newfound success.
For Take Care, Drake re-ups the lush R&B romanticism of 2010's Thank Me Later, albeit with a twist. "I know I exaggerated things/ But now I got it like that," he says on "Headlines," where he threatens to use his bodyguards on haters. (What happened to Gang Starr's "Suckas Need Bodyguards"?) Big cars, pliant women and deliciously ambient beats from Boi-1da and Noah "40" Shebib inspire this tastefully appointed exercise in debauchery. But Drake's not too famous to beg to girls on "Marvin's Room" and the title track, even if it sounds more like a booty call than true love.
Lincoln Way Nights is Stalley's shining moment after years in the underground trenches. Originally released as a free mixtape, this retail version arrives after the Cleveland emcee signed with Maybach Music/Warner Bros., and it includes a disposable remix of the title track with benefactor Rick Ross. The real highlight is Stalley's humble yet determined grind toward rap stardom, a journey that mirrors the working-class stiffs he celebrates in "330," "Slapp" and "Sound of Silence," the latter of which turns Brazilian bossa nova into slow and slumping bliss.
Contrary to its title, Wale's Ambition is less ambitious than his uneven 2009 debut, Attention Deficit. That may be a good thing. He still uses florid melodies and occasionally dips into go-go rhythms, particularly on the standout "Double M Genius" and the hit single "That Way," the latter sampling from Curtis Mayfield's "Give Me Your Love." His rhymes are less introspective, though, as he turns his stories as a semi-famous rapper into urban pop confections. ("DC or Nothing" is an exception.) Wale's Ambition is platinum success; musical aesthetics will have to wait.
On their first album since Travie McCoy's solo turn, Gym Class Heroes plays things a bit safe. The Papercut Chronicles II doesn't get as playful as previous efforts have. Mischievous titles take off in serious directions: "Martyrial Girl$" is pretty cynical, while "Ass Back Home" turns out to be a kinda heartwarming love song. Much of the quirk is reserved for collaborators: British dance-pop weirdo Neon Hitch, indie ingénue Oh Land. But who needs quirk when you've got slick beats, smooth flows and, of course, lots of girl talk, like on "Lazarus, Ze Gitan," a revamped "California Girls."
Yelawolf has long aspired to "arena rap" that mixes hard rock with Dirty South rap, and he finally gets his chance with Radioactive. Indeed, this is the only time you'll hear Three 6 Mafia affiliate Gangsta Boo and Kid Rock on the same record. Eminem ("Throw It Up"), a post-incarceration Mystikal ("Get Away") and Fefe Dobson ("Animal") appear, too, but no matter how many features, it still comes down to the songs. For that matter, most of Radioactive is crack-rock solid, but a few, like "Everything I Love the Most," overreach for mainstream acceptance.
Childish Gambino thinks he's the weird black kid who's different from everyone else. But he wants to indulge in rap clichés, too, from running through "b*tches" and driving Maybachs to clowning "backpackers." As he raps and occasionally sings in an impassioned voice reminiscent of Patrick Stump, and underscores his rhymes with string arrangements akin to Kanye West's albums, Childish Gambino doesn't bother to unravel Camp's contradictions. However, his best songs -- the intra-racial discord of "Hold You Down," the working-class kid in "Outside" -- help us understand what he's going through.
With his mushy voice and stumbling delivery, Webbie isn't even the best rapper in his Trill Fam crew --that honor belongs to Lil Boosie, with Lil Phat a close second. But the Baton Rouge thug has a knucklehead's grace on Savage Life 3 as he rambles over strip-club homages like "Bounce That," "I Do Em All" and "Mo Ass," and rag-swinging headbangers like "What's Happenin'." Webbie's zone is getting the club crunk; when he swerves into a different lane, like a tribute to his "Momma," it's not as fun.
In 2007, the French beatsmith Onra (Arnaud Bernard) turned a visit to Vietnam into Chinoiseries, an instrumental hip-hop suite that extensively sampled the vintage records he brought back from his grandparents' homeland. Five years later, he replenished his stash of Asian wax and returned with a second volume. The result, again, is a set of classic boom-bap grooves that nods to Shadow and RZA, balancing scraps of funk, soul and psychedelic rock with gongs, bells, strings and exotic scales.
Action Bronson is a Queens emcee who sounds like Ghostface Killah; Statik Selektah is a Boston producer known for his work with street rapper Termanology. Together, the two create an album that could have been made during the mid-'90s N.Y. rap renaissance. What Well Done lacks in originality, it makes up for with consistency. Action Bronson packs his lyrics with clever punchlines -- on "White Silk" he claims he's "baking bread just like the French" -- and Statik loops only the choicest cuts, from the ominous guitar downbeat of "Central Bookings" to the DJ Premier-like chops of "Cliff Notes."
Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray is a revised version of a mixtape Pusha T posted on the Internet. The original Fear Of God paired original tracks with freestyles, including "My God" and "Raid" with Pharrell Williams and 50 Cent; this updated version adds more star power, including Young Jeezy and Kanye West ("Amen") and Odd Future's Tyler, the Creator ("Trouble on My Mind"). For his part, Pusha T flips drug-dealing metaphors despite the implausibility that someone with 10 years in the rap game still gets "paper bag money." But Pusha T's gangsta rap fantasia is part of his charm.
Jedi Mind Tricks promoted bloody street jihad long before the 9-11 attacks, though one wonders if God condones guns, hos and other thug fantasies. Seven albums deep, it's a formula that works for them. The difference with Violence Begets Violence is the absence of founding producer Stoupe, who fell out with Vinnie Paz and Jus Allah. Instead, the Philly group recruits journeymen beatmakers who excel at replicating Stoupe's righteous anger on "When Crows Descend Upon You" and "Weapon of Unholy Wrath." The results are an improvement over 2008's disappointing A History of Violence.
Young Jeezy's voice is mostly absent from this showcase for his USDA crew; and when he takes the mic it's on "Bandana," one of the album's weaker tracks. That leaves Slick Pulla, 2Eleven and Boo Rossini to turn The After Party's screwface taunts and trap talk into a surprisingly entertaining hour. Freddie Gibbs, who's signed to Young Jeezy's Corporate Thugz, has a nice verse on "On My Sh*t,"; "Dolla Billz" has a hammerhead beat that will make the brostep kids go nuts; and "Maybe" and "Epic Night" matches an '80s R&B vibe with thug love raps.
