Song Of The Day: "Ante Up (Remix)"

To put it simply, M.O.P.'s "Ante Up (Remix)" is pure "FIRE"!!! The beat sounds like something Just Blaze could've produced coz it's an absolute banger! On top of that, each emcee gives it their all, and the energy levels on the track are through the roof! In my mind, the only other track that comes close in terms of raw intensity would be Ghostface Killah's "The Champ", and that's saying something. Just make sure to crank the volume up to 11 if you truly want to experience this masterpiece in all its glory. Enjoy!

Song Of The Day: "Dear Mama"

I can't BELIEVE that I haven't posted a 2Pac song on my blog yet! I'm gonna have to correct that mistake immediately. "Dear Mama" is probably my favourite 2Pac song of all time, but it's really a toss-up between this track and "Hit 'Em Up". However, I've gone with "Dear Mama" as my Song Of The Day because it's just packed full of raw emotion, and that's exactly what 2Pac's music is all about. As a bonus though, I'll throw in "Hit 'Em Up" anyway. Enjoy!

2Pac - Dear Mama


2Pac - Hit 'Em Up

Song Of The Day: "2nd Time Around"

Simply put, Brother Ali absolutely KILLS this track with a single verse of flawless rhymes and raw passion for Hip Hop. Just about every second line that comes out of his mouth is a quotable as he unleashes a lyrical assault for over 2 whole minutes. This is unfortunate for Wale, the other emcee to appear on the track, who spits 2 strong verses of his own, but is completely overshadowed by Brother Ali's powerful rhymes. Not bad for the only white, albino emcee in the game. Enjoy!

Favourite lines:
"You really got the guns you claim in the track? Then my question to you is who you aiming 'em at!?"

"Y'all are all safe n' shit! Y'all are not sayin' shit! You just snap your fingers and dance n' make your label rich!"

"This is your chance to say somethin' and your wasting it! People are starving, you talking 'bout balling."

"80% of kids are listening to your shit. I heard that statistic, I almost cried. Never wanted so bad for 2Pac to be alive!"

Song Of The Day: "Hard Knock Life"

Yesterday, I watched the Jay-Z documentary, Fade To Black, which revolved around his "retirement" concert and the making of The Black Album. I really enjoyed the movie, and as a result, I've been listening to Jay-Z tracks all day, so the next few posts may revolve around the Jigga Man.

Therefore, today's Song Of The Day is the title track from Hova's 3rd album, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. This track became Jay-Z's most commercially successful single at the time of release, and was nominated for a Grammy in 1999. "Hard Knock Life" shows Jigga rapping about his life in the ghetto, but the greatest element of the song is the brilliant hook, which is actually a sample taken from the Broadway musical, Annie. The sample fits perfectly with Jay's lyrics and the simplistic beat, which is all credit to the producer of the track, The 45 King. This song is just classic HOV, and essential listening for any Hip Hop fan. Enjoy!

Song Of The Day: "Renegade"

This entry into Song Of The Day requires a bit of storytelling first. Once upon a time, Eminem and Royce da 5'9" (my two favourite rappers) formed a rap group called Bad Meets Evil. They made a few great songs together, one of which was titled "Renegade". Unfortunately, the partnership didn't last very long as Eminem and Royce had a falling-out, which led to a long rap feud between Royce da 5'9" and Eminem's "band", D12. I'm happy to report that this feud officially ended last year, so hopefully we'll be seeing Em and Royce back together and making some great music in the near future.

Anyways, back to the story. Fast-forward to the year 2001 now, and Jay-Z is in the process of making his 6th studio album, The Blueprint. He decides that he wants to make a song with Eminem, so he arranges a meeting. Eminem comes in and presents a little track he produced himself called "Renegade". He tells Jay-Z that the track is relatively unknown, so the verses from Royce can be removed and Jay can record his own verses instead. Jay-Z does exactly that and the song becomes one of the best tracks to come off the entire album. The end. So now that you know the story, here's the song:

Jay-Z feat. Eminem - "Renegade"


I've also added the original "Renegade" from Eminem and Royce for you to hear. I prefer Jay-Z's version better, but I still like the original version as well.

Bad Meets Evil - "Renegade"


And here's an interesting fact: Jay-Z released The Blueprint on September 11, 2001.

Song Of The Day: "Shook Ones Pt. II"

There's not much I can say about this track, other than it's one of the greatest Hip Hop songs of all time. Mobb Deep hit the height of their career with this track, mixing the perfect beat with their classic rhymes to create a song that no "Top 10" Hip Hop list could be without. It's definitely on mine, so give this song a listen, or I'll "rock you in your face, stab your brain with your nose bone!"

Song Of The Day: "Notorious Thugs"

It's time to introduce The Notorious B.I.G. to my blog, a Hip Hop legend taken from the world long before his time. In fact, if he were still alive today, Biggie would only be 38 this year. To put that into perspective, Jay-Z has already hit 40 while Eminem is turning 38, the same age as Big would have been. Imagine all the great music he would have made in the 13 years since his death. But this post is about the great music that he DID make, and today I've chosen one of my favourite songs called "Notorious Thugs" featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

This is one of the first Hip Hop songs I ever loved, and it also introduced me to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, who I became very obsessed with because of this track. Bone Thugs are all about their rapid-fire, machine-gun flow, and they demonstrate that very well in this song. The great thing is that Biggie changed up his own flow to suit the Bone Thug style and the result was one of the greatest sounding verses of his career. This song is in my top 10 most played tracks on iTunes because I used to listen to it on repeat for hours at a time. Do yourselves a favour and give it at least one listen, in honour of The Notorious B.I.G., one of the greatest emcees to ever pick up the mic. Enjoy!

Favourite line: "Squeeze your clip, hit the right one. Pass that weed, I got to light one. All them n*ggas, I got to fight one. All them hoes, I got to like one."

Song Of The Day: "What You Know"

Today's Song Of The Day goes to Southern rapper T.I. for his Grammy Award-winning track, "What You Know". That's right, T.I. won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance with this smash hit, which is often ranked as the top song to come out of 2006. This song is a straight up banger, and that's mostly due to the amazing production by DJ Toomp. This is not T.I.'s most lyrical song, so his long-time producer DJ Toomp stepped in to provide a beat that turned what could have been an average track, into T.I.'s most successful song to date. Must be one hell of a beat right? Check it out for yourself. Enjoy!

Song Of The Day: "Hellbound"

The next instalment in my Song Of The Day feature had to come from Eminem, because he is definitely my favourite emcee of all time. Now most people are familiar with Eminem and know quite a few of his songs, so I dug deep for this one and pulled out what is probably the best Eminem song that no one has ever heard. I'm sure that die hard fans will already know and love this song, but the rest of you are in for a real treat.

The song is called "Hellbound," and appearing alongside Eminem are J. Black and Masta Ace. OK, so I'll admit, I have no idea who J. Black is (and I can't be bothered doing the research), but I am familiar with Masta Ace. In fact, Masta Ace is one of the main influences on Eminem's rapping style, and that's according to Eminem himself, but on this track, it is clear that the student has far surpassed the "Masta". Eminem turns in one of the best verses of his entire career, and his two guests follow up with solid verses of their own. The beat sounds like something out of a video game like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, which suits the lyrics perfectly. OK, now that I've got you all excited, time to listen to the song. Enjoy!

Favourite line: I can't pick one because everything Eminem spits on this track is FIRE!!!

Song Of The Day: "Hate It Or Love It"

OK, so I'm gonna start a feature on my blog and it's called Song Of The Day. Here's how it works: I post a song I like. That's it. Exciting, huh?

Now seeing as this is the first entry for my Song Of The Day feature, I wanted to start it off with a bang, so I'm posting one of my favourite songs of all time; "Hate It Or Love It" by The Game, featuring 50 Cent. This is my top played song on iTunes and for good reason. I LOVE this song, so much so that I know all the words off by heart. I'm a big fan of The Game, and this song is one of the main reasons why. On the other hand, there's 50 Cent, who pretty much sucks balls as an emcee, but as much as I hate to admit it, he actually steals the show on this song. 50 Cent has never sounded better on a track, and he never will. Now let's not forget the producers of the song, Cool & Dre, who do an amazing job with the beat, and the result is one of the greatest Hip Hop songs to come out of the last 20 years. That's enough from me though, time to enjoy the song ................

Favourite line: "'Pac is gone and Brenda's still throwing babies in the garbage"