Epinions Recent Reviews for balogun

Wake Up, Mr. Roth!

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:21:19 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - Quite frankly, I didn’t get the hullabaloo about Asher Roth. I didn’t get it when DJ Drama and Don Cannon endorsed him with production in his Greenhouse Effect Mixtape. I didn’t get it when XXL magazine endorsed him with...

The “Forgotten” Hip-Hop Comeback: Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff Score After a Slump

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:42:54 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - It was tantamount to reaching the peak of a mountain, only to throw oneself off it in a suicide plunge. For Will “The Fresh Prince” Smith, the “mountain” was 1988’s “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” a...

Accept the Mild Explosion

Mon, 25 May 2009 19:24:21 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - Somewhere in the early 2000s, after a profitable career of scene-stealing guest verses, earth-shattering hits, and a string of platinum albums, Busta Rhymes lost his mojo. Blame it chiefly on a hardened image: 2002’s It Ain’t Safe No...

Hard Core: The Powerless Empowerment of an Audio Porn Movie

Sun, 24 May 2009 21:14:25 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - Until the mid-'90s, there seemed to be an unspoken, unofficial rule: As a female rapper, unless you are a member of a group and “commercialize” your sound, good luck enjoying the same platinum-album proceeds as your male counterparts -- and...

Relapse: How Titularly Appropriate!

Thu, 21 May 2009 10:32:47 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - Relapse, Eminem’s latest album, opens with the protagonist, after an extended period of inactivity and drug dependence, embarking upon a path of rejuvenation and sobriety, which is a fitting metaphor for what Eminem’s life had...

A Bridge Between Two Eras: Kool Moe Dee as the Sole Survivor

Fri, 8 May 2009 01:48:06 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - Note: Virtually all internet retail stores and information databases -- including this one -- inexplicably list the CD with its artwork as some sort of Kool Moe Dee compilation called Best -- a record that does not exist, and even with the...

Little Fire, and Even Less Heat

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:54:52 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - So let’s see what transpired between the time Latifah had her breakthrough hit with 1994’s “U.N.I.T.Y.” and her return with her fourth album, 1998’s Order in the Court: a baggy-clothed teen named Da Brat became...

Superb in Swirls of Haze: Method Man Successfully Kicks Off the Wu Solo Assaults

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:08:00 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - In a crew bubbling with so much individuality (yet even as strong, if not stronger, as a unit), it was quite easy for every single member of the Wu-Tang Clan to stand out when they shook the rap world with their 1993 debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36...

The Silent Goodbye: Boogie Down Productions’ Gallant Last Stand

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:20:23 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - Oh boy, KRS-One did not start the ‘90s particularly well. Discounting that high-profile guest appearance in an R.E.M. song, KRS-One had major problems to contend with. 1990’s Edutainment drew ire from critics who felt he had become too...

The Edutainer Who Offers a Lot More Education than Entertainment

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:51:34 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - The gold plaques that Boogie Down Productions garnered for their second and third albums, By All Means Necessary and Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop proved that there was an audience for Afrocentric-spiked social consciousness in...

KRS-One Continues His Ascent as Teacher -- and the Human Embodiment of Hip-Hop

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:39:20 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - In 2001’s smoldering diss, “Ether,” when Nas accused Jay-Z of “stealing” the title of his recent full-length effort (The Blueprint) from a KRS-One album, I’m sure more than a few fans were left scratching their...

"The Blastmaster" Also Becomes "The Philosopher" and "The Teacha"

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:29:09 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - If KRS-One was still too young, at the age of 21, to have fully blossomed into a socially conscious poet by the release of Boogie Down Productions’ debut, Criminal Minded, a most unfortunate incident that occurred only five months...

The Gangsta, the Killa, and the Dope Dealer are Back—but Why?

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:11:16 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - For a while, it appeared that the rap’s first supergroup would be—or was supposed to be—a one-album affair. Save for a song here and there—most notably "It’s the Holidaze" from the Friday After Next...

Getting Rich—at a Price

Tue, 7 Apr 2009 09:25:17 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - Nowadays, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson can barely even score a hit, let alone sell millions of copies of an album with ease. But more than half a decade ago, as a new addition under the wings of a legendary hip-hop producer (Dr. Dre) and the world’s...

The "Powaful Impak" of One of the East Coast Renaissance's Most Overlooked Pillars

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:06:30 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - It’s weird how two halves of an album sound so different yet similar. But that is precisely what happened when pint-sized 18-year old Kenyatta Blake–better known by the rap moniker Buckshot–teamed up with fellow Brooklynite...

Freshman Floundering

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:19:36 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - Sometimes, the very thought of Fabolous befuddles me. I mean, the guy obviously has some talent. On one hand, he has always been one of the strictest adherents to the multi-syllable school of hip-hop, flowing effortlessly with compounded rhymes...

Deeper in the Sewer–In More Ways Than One

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:16:22 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - It seemed Das EFX were done. The acrimony that had developed between Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, thus leading to the break-up of EPMD in early 1993, spread to their collective of proteges–the Hit Squad–which Das EFX belonged to. Soon...

This Is Anything But Good "Business"

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:54:26 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith are climbing more than a steep hill; they are climbing a cliff. Nine years have passed since Out of Business, an album which was undisputedly the worst of their career; and, judging from the title, alluded to the end...

The “Sewage” Kings Deliver a Courageous Sophomore Album

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:13:18 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - The task that Dre and Skoob, together known as Das EFX, faced when they returned for a second album was a daunting one, to say the least. Who wouldn’t describe it as so, being that in 1992, they saw their debut album (Dead Serious) go...

Bustin’ Out of the Funk: Rick James Delivers His Definitive Statement

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 23:09:04 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - Rick James could easily been a mere footnote in music history, or so I believe. Yeah, there were sparks here and there—the blazing (pun intended) masterpiece “Mary Jane” is the ancestor of weed rap songs everywhere—but for the...

Welcome to Lord Finesse’s World a.k.a. Punchline Central

Sat, 3 Jan 2009 12:31:48 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - The bombastic funky intro, courtesy of DJ Premier, lasts for a little more than a minute, with some whiny-voiced old man announcing the arrival of an awesome wordsmith. Soon enough, the intro fades, Premo cues in the dark bass-filled instrumental...

Watch How It Go(es) Down!

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:14:50 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - It’s no small feat being able to procure some of hip-hop’s most venerated beatsmiths, especially for a debut album. But that is exactly what a lanky half-white, half-Puerto Rican kid from the working-class city of Lawrence, Massachusetts did...

The "King of the South" Finally Begins to Prove His Worth

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:45:04 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - There is a rather succinct yet compelling reasoning behind T.I. naming his sixth studio album Paper Trail< i>< b>: It is the first time since his debut that he has committed rhymes to paper. < p> No kidding. < p> In my review of his...

Before He Was Truly "The Teacha," KRS-One Was "The Blastmaster"

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:30:11 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - There they are: Two young black men brandishing firearms in the album’s front cover, one with a pistol and the other with an Uzi. And there it is: the title of the project—the first word in an imposing red while the other is in a spaced-out...

Oh, You Mean You Guys Weren’t “In” to Begin With?

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:14:10 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author balogun - You know what sucks as a rapper Living in the shadows of a mentor. You know what sucks even more Living in the shadows of a mentor who so happens to be acclaimed as a hip-hop legend and one of the greatest rappers ever. But do you know what sucks the...