Hip Hop Explosion

The hip hop offerings are plentiful...and I am lovin it!

First of all, yes, Three 6 Mafia will be performing on stage at this Sunday's Oscar awards. Their song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" was nominated for an award. It is the first time that a hip hop group will perform at the Academy Awards. Let's hope they bring home the award.

Sergio Mendes’ latest cd is titled “Timeless”. It takes the hip hop genre in a totally different direction. Good stuff. Mendes secured the assistance of the Black Eyed Peas’ primary front man Will.i.am, who appears on several of the cd's tracks. Cool website too - lots of interesting information.

Stand outs on the disk included “That Heat” and "Mas Que Nada".

The project includes collaborations with Jill Scott, Q-Tip, Erykah Badu, Justin Timberlake, The Roots' Black Thought and many others.

It is a wonderful blend of latin flavor and hip hop.

Since producer J Dilla passed away last month, his most recent project “Donuts” is getting lots of love…and how nice is that? The disk includes mostly snippets – tracks that are about 30 seconds in length - non-traditional stuff, but cool nonetheless. Dilla is already missed immensely.

Dilated Peoples are back on the scene (not that they ever left). Their latest is called “20/20”. According to the Okayplayer website, Dilated Peoples are currently on tour with Little Brother. That’s hot, eh? The first single is “Back Again”, so maybe they have been somewhere…but their last project was, what, not “Expansion Team”, but …I’m trying to think off the top of my head knowing that I have nearly as bad a memory as former General Oliver North. But their last project was just last summer, right? Whatever, I'd down with this trio. Love what they stand for - sometimes gritty, oftentimes thoughful in their messages. "Kindness for Weakness" enlists the talent of Talib Kweli and it is a smokin track! Also, check them out on MySpace.com.

I finally got my hands on the Lady Sovereign cd. What a ball of fire she is. For those who don’t know, there has been a wealth of hype surrounding this teenage female rapper from the U.K. The disk is titled “Vertically Challenged” and is packed with eight tracks several of them with some pretty catchy hooks. However, I must admit that the cd is just alright, in my most humble opinion. She spits at a rapid pace and along with the British accent, it’s often difficult to understand what she is saying.

Finally, I did not get the memo that the infamous Public Enemy was in the studio, let alone releasing a new cd. Yes, people, one of hip hops most socially conscious groups is back on the scene - and just when I thought Flava Flav's five minutes of fame in multiple reality TV shows was up...I have not had an opportunity to fully review "Rebirth of a Nation" featuring Paris, but it includes calbos with MC Ren, Dead Prez, Conscious Daughters and more. Can't wait to get some real food for the brain, hip hop style.

That's plenty...until next time, stay true...kfox