Grafh – Welcome To My City:
The main aritst on Chaz Williams‘ Black Hand Entertainment label, takes us to South Jamaica, Queens with his latest single, “Welcome to my City.”
The song’s video and lyrics do a great job portraying poverty in the hood. This is one of the best hood videos since Pill’s “Trap Goin Ham.”
Grafh starts the song with:
“I’m from where the shots bang,
I’m from where cops came to lock us,
But the hood already got us locked in chains,
I’m from where 9 to 5 is only pocket change,
The hood is almost too fucked up for Barack to change.”
He really went in on this one, hopefully we hear more from the Queens emcee soon!
Jay-z – Empire State of Mind (Featuring Alicia Keys):
Here is one of the best songs off of The Blueprint 3, Alicia Keys’ hook coupled up with Jay-z’s lyricism makes “Empire State of Mind” a hit record.
On this track, Jay talks about everything from his past hustles to coming out of Brooklyn and now living in Tribeca, across the street from HipHopAtLunch.com headquarters.
The best line is in the third verse where Jay says:
“Good girls gone bad, the cities filled with them,
Mommy took a bus trip and now she got her bust out,
Everybody ride her, just like a bus route.”
The whole third verse is about New York’s intense appeal, and how half of the people who come to this city end up falling short of their dreams.
Drake – Forever (Featuring Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Eminem):
“Forever” is one of the most exciting songs of the year, with Drake, Kanye, Weezy, and Eminem all spitting witty verses that comment on their current places in the hip hop world.
Surprisingly, the star of this impressive lineup is newcomer Drake, who speaks about his success with:
“If I was at the club you know I ball’d (bald), Chemo,
Dropped the mixtape that shit sounded like a album,
Who’da thought a country wide tour would be the outcome,
Labels want my name besides a X like Malcolm,
Everybody got a deal, I did it without one…
Everyone who doubted me is asking for forgiveness,
If you ain’t been a part of it, at least you got to witness.”
Those lines are ridiculous!
Drake was truly instrumental in changing the independent artist’s role in hip hop, by being the first artist to reach his level of buzz and world wide appeal with no label push.
Drake’s upcoming album will be FIRE.
Nicki Minaj – Itty Bitty Piggy:
“Itty Bitty Piggy” is a great song for everyone who is not familiar with Nicki Minaj’s lyrical skills to hear… coincidence that the video dropped almost immediatly after she signed to Young Money?
The video, a mix of a live performance and a photo shoot, ends up being more entertaining than most of the high budget videos being made these days.
Here is an excerpt of her lyrics, to give you a feel for her rap style:
“I’m a big bill,
That’s why I get more head than a pigtail,
Put some ranch, I’m getting the munchies,
I think I’ll have a rap bitch for my entree,
And they be thinkingg they can spit, spit shine my shoes,
You know I keep a bad bitch let me sign ya boobs.”
Nicki Minaj’s upcoming album, slated to drop in 2010 will help put female rap artists back on the map.
