The Game Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf Album Review

 

Im going to get right into it. I'm sure you dont need an intro for The Game. Before I do, Im just going to say every beat on this album was AWESOME. Let's go.

1. Bigger Than Me 

This is actually one of my favorite Game songs ever. It's easily the hardest I've heard all year, even though it came out last year. I'm one of those guys that has gotten annoyed by Game's name dropping in the past, but here it fits. The way he comes for people's heads in this is similar to Kendrick's verse in Control but harder.

2. F.U.N.

A lovely inspirational song about robbing and killing n*ggas; you gotta love it. No not really, you dont. Honestly, it's hard, but I'm tired hearing the N word on this shit already. I wont let that ruin the song though. That sound clip of the wolf howl at the end has been in pretty much every werewolf thing ever and is lazy/cheesy/cringeworthy though.

3. Really ft./ Yo Gotti, T.I., 2 Chainz and Soulja Boy

N*gga said he gon' kill him, boo boo. *snap snap*

Did I really just read that name? Haven't we gotten to the point we dont even have to acknowledge this fucking hefty bag exists? Damn you Jayceon. Like what the hell were you thinking? Did he beg you for a spot on your CD to be relevant again? I can't picture you having this song recorded minus the hook and as you're listening, you decide "man.....Deandre Way would be the gayest thing I could fill this emptiness with...Totes going to put Deandre Way on the hook here!"

In what way do you find it a wise idea to follow up Bigger Than Me with a Soulja Boy feature, bruh? Im just saying, if Game said "Yeah DeAndre go 'head and fuck these fuck n*ggas" instead of Frank Ocean, the line wouldve still made perfect sense, man. FOHWTBS Game. 

4. Fuck Yo Feelings ft./ Lil Wayne and Chris Brown

If you forget the name of the song by any chance they repeat that shit more times than the N word has been said in the past three songs put together. To make matters worse, not only do you hear Lil Wayne and Chris Brown's voices autotuned....but sure enough Game joins in on the fun too. I was cool until I heard this deep-voiced, smoke 30 packs of backward newports a minute sounding asshole trying to make himself Johnny 5 or something, I had to turn it off.

5. On One ft./ TyDollaSign & King Marie

I don't want to keep on complaining so much and bring back the same song over and over....but wasn't this one of the dudes on the rookie XXL cover Game ripped in Bigger Than Me's music video? Jayceon has to be the biggest pathological, hypocritical, contradicting rapper of all time, next to Drake. Like if Jayceon was Jane...she would be one of those girls that's always posting on facebook about how she can't find a good guy; even though all she dates are guys that treat her like shit because that's the only attention she gets. Honestly this has been the first song I've enjoyed since F.U.N. though so at least we're going somewhere.

6. Married to the Game ft./ French Montana, Sam Hook and Dub.B

This is about if Game was cloned and made into a female and he/she were to fall in love with herself and see French Montana was the priest and Dubb was the jealous best man because he wanted to marry him/her but they end up together anyway because they love each other because theyre the same person and at the end of the day you have to love yourself no matter what anyone else says. This shit is so beautiful bruh...

At least that's what I got out of it.

Nah....all jokes aside I really enjoyed this track...and i always enjoy when someone makes "the game" the love of their life. They officially replaced the n word with "mother fucker" as the overly used word in the album though.

7. The Purge ft./ Stacy Barth

So, I dont get what the love is with the most mediocre thriller movie of all time coming out and now everyone wants to use it in their stuff but regardless of that....this is probably the best way I've witnessed. The song had a great dedication to two people in his life. There are a lot  of deep situations being discussed in this song, past and present. Some of the things I dont quite agree with but I understand where his frustration is coming from. Stacy Barth did very well as a feature.

8. Trouble On My Mind ft./ Dub.B, Jake and Pappa

Now Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf was meant to show off the talents of Game's crew....and here it is the most evident. I have to say Dubb is probably my favorite so far; his voice and emotion kind of reminds me of Em in a way...dont get me wrong, he's nowhere near him but the way he expresses himself is surely close.

9. Cellphone ft./ Dub.B

This is a really good song and continuing with the praise of Dub.B, I enjoyed him once again, this time he sounded more like a ScHoolboy Q. But the skits have officially gotten on my nerves....I dont want to hear that dumb shit. They couldve connected it to the song in a much more tasteful way, no argument needed; the song DESERVED something better than that.

10. Best Head Over ft./ Tyga and Eric Bellinger

 Am I supposed to want some head from this chick after she was a big enough hoe to suck a canine off? Nah...FOH....take Tyga and Meek Mill on helium with you.

11. Or Nah ft./ Too Short, Problem, AV and Eric Bellinger 

I dont want to like this song...but I cant help it....something about it makes me enjoy it. I have nothing to say otherwise....but it kind of sounds like something you'd hear during the 80's.

12. Take That ft./ Tyga again? and Pharoah Prophet

Tyga isnt as irrelevant as Soulja Boy but why is this dude on two songs? I'd expect to hear this shit from a XXL Cover member but not The Game...shit was boring.

13. Food For My Stomache ft./ Dub.B and Skeme 

If this album achieved anything, it actually did make me want to check out Dub.B and Skeme. I wish more of the songs sounded like this...probably my favorite song on the album thus far. This time Dub kind of uses a Kendrick Lamar flow...but he goes in. I mean the first bar of the song was a little suspect "i sink my teeth because these niggas is sweet"

Other than that it was hard to complain. 

14. Hit Em Hard ft./ Bobby Shmurda, Skeme and Freddy Gibbs

Just put this on and...

let me...

Once again I fuck with this as a song to go to the gym and get pumped to....or just get hype to in general for anything.

15. Black On Black ft./ Jeezy and Kevin Gates

Yo....Jayceon got Jeezy???? Oh shit....an actual tight rapper that I believe when they speak? Bruh....two of them? Oh shit!!!! This is tight! Thank you Game for finishing this album better than it was in the middle.

16. Bloody Moon

Like I said, a great way to end the album. This was about how he's alone and as the outro it didnt stay past its welcome. You know??? He didnt over-saturate you with man tears like Jermaine Eeyore Cole or Drippy Drake would. 

I didnt have the bonus tracks for my copy...so I obviously cant throw my opinion out there. Anyway, this is just the first to three reviews I have coming in the next few days. As far as this goes, my final thoughts are that it isn't that bad but no more than average. I really hope that Documentary 2 is amazing. It needs to be if it's going to be the successor to one of the best debut rap albums of all time.

I give it a 5 out of 10

Top 10 Mixtapes of the Past 5 Years

A couple weeks ago, Childish Gambino put out a GREAT mixtape called STN/MTN. It was a great mixtape that showed how much growth the actor/rapper has gone through since his debut mixtape Culdesac. Afterwards, I started to think about how hip-hop has been doing some growing of its own. Sure it isnt on the level of the late 80's to early 90's...but that doesnt mean we haven't had some great music recently. 

Around 2006, hip-hop started to go down hill. Ringtone downloads and yuuuuuuing became more important than actually making something with a story, something with substance, something that actually made sense. However, since 2010, some great new rappers have come out and hip-hop has gotten back on track because of it. Sure the worm escaping from the Men In Black headquarters has been pretty bad for our ears.

Im a stoner.

Yet can we really say the Chief Keefs, Trinidad James and Young Thugs ruin it for the K Dots, J. Coles and even Drakes? No. I dont think so. So here is why I decided to write this list; the top 10 mixtapes to come out in the past five years!

I want to start by saying this was a VERY hard list to write. There are so many mixtapes that aren't on this list that I wish could've been. This goes to show you(and prove my point) how far hip-hop music really has come in the past half a decade. 

Before we begin I wanted to give some honorable mentions. As I said before, there were a lot of mixtapes I couldn't put on here that I wanted to. So, just to let you know that I was still thinking about them, they will be mentioned as followed.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: 

1. Joey BadA$$ - 1999 

This and Summer Knights were absolutely amazing. Pro Era Aprocalypse also gets a mention here. However, out of all of them, 1999 was my favorite. Joey makes many references of the golden age of hip-hop. It's to the point you're thinking about where you were at the time you first heard the same ones he's referencing. A great trip down memory lane from a guy who technically wasnt even alive during the times the memories were occurring.

Favorite song: Waves

2. Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra

Before he was screeching on awards shows and Saturday Night Live. Frank Ocean came out with this work of art. Nostalgia, Ultra is actually Frank Ocean's first album but it is what a mixtape should be. Frank Ocean actually released this on his own due to Def Jam acting like he doesn't exist. He showed that was a horrible decision with N,U. As a gamer, Frank Ocean using video games to name his skits after was the easiest way to win me over. Lonny Breaux Collection also gets a big salute from me!

Favorite Song: Novacane

3. XV - Popular Culture

Another nostalgia trip on my list.. Popular Culture reminded me of everything I enjoyed growing up. It's also a story about him growing up and how pop culture had an effect on him as he grew up and became who he is today. I connect with it so much because it reminds me of myself and it is the mixtape I wanted to include the most.

Favorite Song: Ahhh! Real Monsters 

Time to move on to the top 10. I hope you enjoy!

10. Nipsey Hussle - Crenshaw 

This isn't the best mixtape of the past 5 years but it was probably the most anticipated, next to another entry on the list. When people will line up at multiple locations to spend $100 on your mixtape, you have to be doing something right. The best part of Nipsey Hussle and Crenshaw to me is he really makes music that can be anthems for any part of life you're in at the moment. No matter what you like to do, there is a song on Crenshaw for you. I'm also a sucker for music that is perfect for just turning the headphones up and chilling, bobbing your head back and forth to; that's what Crenshaw does for me. 

Favorite Songs: To be honest, I like them all at the same level. You can really just play this mixtape through without skipping once. To stay consistent with the article though I'll say

U See Us, Check Me Out, 4 In The Morning and Crenshaw and Slauson

9. Problem and Iamsu - Million Dollar Afro

To be honest, this really isnt my style but it has SO MUCH quality inside. MDA is just put together so well and has a good mixture of styles. Every song bumps and will have you bumping your head. It reminds me of music from the early 2000's right before it took the horrible turn it did. The best part of MDA is that it is a very fun mixtape that doesn't make you shake your head at the lyrics. 

Favorite songs: That N*gga, Gas, Hunnits

8. Meek Mill - DreamChasers 2

It was May 7th 2012 and I couldnt wait to get home from work. Swiftly I loaded up my computer and couldnt wait to download DreamChasers 2 and I couldn't. That's right. DC2 was so highly anticipated it shut down a couple of websites. Then a few hours later I could...and the wait was absolutely worth it! I've begun to stop enjoying Meek Mill, I couldn't even get into DreamChasers 3 because all he does is yell now . Yet this and its predecessor were really awesome. It includes one of my favorite Meek Mill songs ever, which samples one of my favorite rap songs ever. Easily his best work since he's been in the game. Best part of the mixtape is the feature list: Rick Ross, Big Sean, Fabolous, Kendrick Lamar, etc. 

Favorite Songs: Once again this is a song you can play through with no skips. However, I'd have to say Ready or Not and Flexing.

7. Logic - Young Sinatra: Undeniable/Welcome To Forever

Okay, I cheated. These two are so equally great that I had to include them as one. These two belong on the top 10 list because they solidified Logic as one of the best rappers to come out this decade. He probably is the best rapper to come out this decade lyrically and the Young Sinatra mixtapes will attest to that. I cannot wait to get Under Pressure and I will probably own it by the time you read this. The best part of the Young Sinatra mixtapes are the lyrics and probably the inspiration it gives you. Not anyone can put such a timeless individual as Frank Sinatra on something and get away with it. Luckily, Logic did.

Favorite songs: Choosing that is a sin and I refuse to do so and since I already cheated once I thought I would do it again. Dont give me that look. No it's not because he's white. Alright! Inception and Roll Call.....there happy?

6. Fabolous - The S.O.U.L. Tape 2

If Nipsey Hussle is one of the most underrated rappers of the west side, Fabolous is the most underrated rapper, period. No one has stood the tests of time like he has. Name someone. Jay Z, Eminem, Nas? Okay. You're right. But notice that everyone you mention is already acknowledged as one of the best rappers of all time. Fabolous belongs there too. The Soul Tape 2 is what Fabolous has put out consistently for years; witty punch lines flowing perfectly off of some of the hottest beats you will ever hear.

Favorite songs: B.I.T.E and Want You Back

5. A$AP Rocky - Live.Love.A$AP 

I'm used to being the only person(or one of the only people) to know about something or someone, especially when it comes to music. However, I remember walking into a class one day early 2012 and hearing a classmate blasting Brand New Guy through their headphones and then another student turning around in their seat asking(already knowing the answer)"AWW SHIT IS THAT ASAP ROCKY!?!??!" And I realized how popular this dude already was. ASAP Rocky introduced himself as a man of many different skills and styles. He's a jack of all trades, a master of none, but with all of those things he mixes together helped form the best mixtape of 2011. He raps effortlessly and that's actually what makes him so good, he has a great melody to his flow as well....almost like 50 Cent but not as great. 

Favorite songs: Bass, Peso, Demons and Wassup

4. J. Cole - Friday Night Lights

 It took me a little time to get into J. Cole. Maybe it's because I judge some rappers before I give them a chance. Yet, after coming to my senses and listening to this in 2012(two years after it came out), I realized the error of my ways and instantly realized how great Jermaine is. Sure...he does have some sad Eeyore moments in his music and I love making fun of him almost as much as I love making fun of Aubrey Graham... but the way he raps is absolutely amazing. The best part to Friday Night Lights is its stories and J. Cole's lyrical prowess. Something I love is when a rapper samples another rapper's beat(or any musician) and then makes that beat their OWN song, nothing like the original version. Friday Night Lights has a great example of this in Villematic.

Favorite songs: Before Im Gone and In the Morning

3.  Wiz Khalifa - Kush & OJ 

Before Wiz turned into the Carella Deville or whatever the hell he is now....he came out with one of the best mixtapes of all time in Kush & OJ. You dont have to smoke to be into this, just be anything other than a miserable bum. The best part of Kush & Orange Juice is that it is just a great feeling mixtape that will put you in a great upbeat mood. It's also EXTREMELY smooth throughout, which is what Wiz Khalifa is still a pro at creating, smooth music. When you also take the time to find a song in a game like Chrono Trigger makes me take more notice. I've loved Wiz Khalifa since the Say Yeah days, back in like 2007 or so, this mixtape made him one of my favorite rappers. 

Favorite Songs: Never Been, Still Blazin' and Good Dank

2. Wale - More About Nothing

Man....this mixtape right here is just...I dont know...perfection? Close to it. Wale gets a lot of hate...Im pretty sure a lot of people hate on this too. I guess that's because it's different from its predecessor and maybe people wanted a second part to a different mixtape he made? Who knows. Maybe I dont know because Wale is another rapper that took me a bit to get into and Im not a "veteran fan" who knows like the day one people...you know how those people are right? Anyway, once again Wale used probably the best sitcom of all time as a theme to make a great mixtape. Wale showed off his ability to speak on any topic throughout using his amazing vocabulary and his confidence shows throughout the whole piece.

Favorite songs: The Soup(i mean...duh) and The Flight

1. Kendrick Lamar - O(verly) D(edicated)

Im calling it now(be sure to answer the phone). Someone is going to say this is all due to bias. Here's the thing...if it is bias, it's because this mixtape is what made K. Dot my favorite rapper. It was the best thing I've heard in a long time and he hasn't slowed down since. Every song on O.D. is magical and an example of Kendrick Lamar's unique style and skill. Every lyric has a message, a meaning. Every song is connected to something else in some way. I havent heard someone connect multiple meanings in single bars since Jay Z and his fellow Black Hippy member Ab-Soul. OD starts great but somehow finishes even better. 

Favorite songs: Opposites Attract, Ignorance is Bliss, H.O.C., Cut You Off

I wanted to reestablish that this was an EXTREMELY hard list to write. The problem with it was there was SO MANY great mixtapes to come out recently; to pick ten took weeks. To top that off in those weeks, more great mixtapes came out. I also wanted to stick to JUST mixtapes and away from EPs and free albums(which is why you dont see a lot of things on here that should be). Not everyone is going to agree with this list and I invite that. My goal with this article was to get people to talk about their favorites and spread knowledge of their favorites. I wanted for people to hear some of these if they haven't yet. I did it because music is important in our daily lives and there are too many people saying it's getting worse. The best thing this article could do is create debate. If it does, it proves my thoughts correct. So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this! Keep listening! 

The Guardians of the Galaxy Review

Its been since May that I stepped into a theater. The Spring and Summer movies thus far haven't quite reached the hype that was once said to rival the record-breaking one last year. Days of Future Past didnt deliver quite like it could have, Godzilla was better than the 1998 version, but you didnt get to see much of the lizard itself. Amazing Spider-Man 2, got many mixed reviews and so on and so forth. You have to go all the way back to Captain America 2 to see a really good quality movie that reached if not surpassed the anticipation surrounding it. So, it was kind of up to GotG to save the summer. So let's see how it made out.

Guadians of the Galaxy, directed by James Gunn, is the next big thing from Marvel Studios. Its about a man named Peter Quill(Chris Pratt) who gets abducted by aliens, at a young age, and grows up to become a thief in space. Due to his actions, he gets the attention of bounty hunters Rocket(Bradley Cooper) and Groot(Vin Diesel), along with an assassin named Gamora(Zoe Saldana)looking for the orb he's stolen. After the four meet and clash, they get arrested and thrown in jail. This is where they meet Drax(Dave Batista) due to a personal vendetta against Gamora. They decide to team up because of the orb and take out the main antagonist, Ronan(Lee Pace)who is also after the orb, but wants to do very bad, villainy things with it(your typical bad guy stuff). And.....that is pretty much all I can say without spoiling anything. You get the basic gist, right? Good. Let's move on!

The performances were some of the best this year. As mentioned before, the conversations between Drax and Peter Quill were full of laughs. In fact, Batista was a pleasant surprise. I expected him to be the weakest of the group, but he ended up holding his own very well. The delivery of his lines was perfect, especially a certain quote about him catching things trying to get over his head. In my mind, Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana can do no wrong. So asking me how they did is like me trying to describe the taste of pizza or tacos or taco pizzas or pizza tacos or something like that so we'll just move on. Vin Diesel was good because he didnt have many lines. His performance reminded me of that in Iron Giant. As for Chris Pratt, he was damn near perfection to play Peter Quill. Wait....you mean the fat guy from Parks and Recreation?

Yup.

As a guy who reads the comics, it was easy for me to understand the characters and to also follow along with the story and direction. Knowing the back story behind all the characters due to my experience, does make me wonder if the movie did enough for the average movie goer who doesnt know anything about where there guys come from. However, they do give you a quick introduction during conversations. You really get to learn what makes each character tick in subtle ways throughout the movie; why Gamora turns on Thanos, why Drax wants to kill Ronan so bad, why Rocket is an ass, etc. 

Which brings me to the writing. Which was absolutely fabulous throughout the movie. Im a guy who likes subtitles. I like when movies that take place in other countries(or in this case, planets), speak their languages. It gives the movie a certain feeling of realism, even if its science fiction like Gaurdians of the Galaxy. A small gripe but easily can be forgotten since this IS a comic book movie. Moving on, I want to say this is probably the best written Marvel movie. Despite the movie being all in one language, there was an obvious separation between characters from different planets and galaxies. Drax is a perfect example. Many times throughout the movie Peter does a figure of speech, from Earth, that Drax does not understand. This brings on most of the hilarious dialogue throughout. 

When Peter Quill was first abducted, he had his walkman with him. So, as he is playing his tunes in his ear, we're hearing it as the main soundtrack. Most, if not all of the music is from the 70s. It contrasts with the futuristic sci fi feel. But...there is a reason behind it and the music plays a huge role, more so than many movies' soundtracks have before.

The movie did seem like it had something missing. Ronan the Accuser wasnt that great as a main villain. He did the job that he was supposed to do, but he felt really cliche. The patience might be getting the best of some fans, since once again, Thanos(Josh Brolin) was pretty much just teased to everyone, again. The only negative about the movie was the fact that it felt a bit like it was just a stepping stone to the next movies in Marvel's arsenal. 

That's not to say it was filler or bad at all. It was a great movie and really does rival Captain America 2 for best movie of the year, so far. Its actually commendable that Marvel is deciding to put some of their less popular comic books to the big screen. It shows they're not afraid to take risks despite being way ahead in the comic book movie rivalry, between DC and themselves. While Marvel is taking care of ALL their fans, DC is too busy not showing trailers to everyone, who pays their bills and having their characters go against the well known rules they have always followed *COUGH* Superman.

From: DC To: You and vice versa.

Guardians of the Galaxy was a great addition to the Marvel movie family. It held its own against Avengers and raises the bar for the following films. Great performances, soundtrack and story with very little negatives make this movie one of the best of the year. 

9.25 out of 10 

Ab-Soul These Days... Album Review

THESE DAYS... ALBUM REVIEW

See the thing about this dude is... I actually wasnt a huge fan at first... It actually took me until I listened to Control System and was enlightened to the amount of lyrical prowess this dude possessed... To be honest this dude probably is actually deeper lyrically than K. Dot... and that's saying something... anyone who knows me knows that's saying a lot...

So here we are in 2014 and pretty much any TDE fan has been waiting on this with great anticipation... And it is finally here... 

Before I get started... I want to do something I havent done in any of my reviews before and mention the album cover... Now, I just want to talk about something I had the dissatisfaction of experiencing... This shit had and still has people uptight and offended and feeling disrespected all types of emotional over their religious views... Wars of words clashing and keyboards being brought to their utter limits just because of a picture... People were making sure strangers around the world knew what they felt about this album cover and then arguments about God and the big bang broke out and evolved into something to the point where it wasnt even about the album cover anymore...  it was just a big mess... (if I ever find it again I'll post some screenshots)... The amount of bigotry and ignorant fury, in that forum, was something Im shamed to know exists but at the same time, I'm not surprised... But whatever... Moving on...

1. God's Reign ft. SZA - Vintage Soulo here... A great way to start off the album with the melodic voice of SZA... Just listening to his first five or six bars you can hear some examples of his lyrical prowess I was mentioning earlier... The song is about his low points and his high points in life and where God sits in his life... He also talks about the constant cycle in his life with money amongst other things... As I said before its a great way to start the album because of the meaning behind it and the consistency with his previous work...

2. Tree of Life - This was leaked long long ago, so if you havent heard it yet, I dont know where youve been... Honestly, its not hard to get what this song is about... Getting high but not just through smoking weed... Im pretty sure every song on this CD will have lyrical greatness and the wordplay will be superior so I'm done saying it after this point but it was...

3. Hunnid Stax ft. Mac Miller and ScHoolboy Q -  THe party antHem for tHis album... If you know anytHing about Mac Miller and Quincy, tHat's wHat tHey like to do... This song is all about tHe good life and getting money... THis is wHere you start to realize tHat Soulo really is tHe least popular of tHe Black Hippy crew and needed to bring some serious features to get some attention to His album... Out of all of tHem He's the only one to ensure His teammates were all on His album... THats because of How "out tHere" his subject matter is... Needless to say His music isnt really for tHe average music listener... Its for tHe super open-minded critical tHinkers... THis is Him trying to attract a wider audience, wHicH is understandable. I mean wHo doesnt mind Hearing a Mac Miller mumble(otHer tHan me?) and a ScHoolboy Q adlib altHrougH tHe song? Also tHe Lana Del Rey(aka my goodness tHem lips) sample fits pretty well for tHe meaning of tHe song too... Let me know if I missed any "H's" Q...

4. Dub Sac - Before ya'll get any ideas... Ab-Soul tweeted this song isnt all about smoking weed... So its like symbolism instead or something like that... Nah... Its just a message to his competition of why theyre not on his level... Theres more to that, of course... but I gotta say its not my type of song... Although, I really liked the take your quarterback like McNabb line. Take your quater(of weed) back like McNabb which nab means taking...because he can afford all the weed he wants now. Not that crazy but I like lines like that...

5. World Runners ft. Lupe Fiasco and Nikki "Thank God not Minaj" Dean - Bruh...

Forreal though... Go run for president or emperor to this shit... Go buy a skyscraper and look down at the city...Go in a bar and fight everyone to this shit... This is some shit you hear while Rocky is chasing around chickens and running up some steps in Philly... This is the new eye of the tiger... this is the summer anthem for everyone and when I say everyone I mean me... GOOD LORD SOULO HOE YOU KILLED THEM WITH THIS... Ill be back in a few hours... Until then... Enjoy this... 

Now that I'm done having a eargasm because of this shit... allow me to cover the amount of topics and references this dude and Lupe uses in this song to talk about running the world and shit; John Lennon, nursery rhymes, relationships, POSSIBLY the illuminati, Prince, egyptians and rich people schemes and Freddy Kreuger all in one line which also refers to the Prince reference in the last line... Im done... lol...thats just the first verse and a half... This song goes in... Then Lupe comes in and you can really hear where Ab-Soul gets a lot of his inspiration from... Im gonna move on before this looks like an obsession...

6. Nevermind That ft. Rick Ross - Cold... Ignorant... Rick Ross is always that... This is definitely for the people into that sort of shit... Like I said earlier though... Ab-Soul definitely went out of his way to make sure he had some quality features on this album... He wanted as many people to hear his message as possible...

7. Twact ft. Jinx and Short Dawg - I dont like this shit... Too I dont know what it is... I guess radio you can say? Shits straight wack and gay and all sorts of repugnant insults to the listener and this album...

8. Just Have Fun - At least this shit is just that...fun... Way better than that last song and better lyrics too. I mean it doesnt have completely the best message but its also saying make the best of your life... I cant be mad at that... Do your thing and enjoy it while youre at it... Its the lighthearted version of World Runners...

9. Kendrick Lamar Interlude - 

10. Closure ft. Jhene Aiko - Favorite song on the album. The heart and soul and feeling he put into this is evident. This is about the past and present loves of his life. Ab-Soul's girlfriend died and this song is the continuance from Book of Soul. You can hear the suffering he went through with that and as a guy in a relationship and the extent of importance she is just speaks to me on so many levels. Damn Soul. 

R.I.P. Alori Joh

11. Sapiosexual - J. Cole produced this shit and its pretty tight... Cant be mad it... If you dont know... Ab Soul's nickname is YMF short for Young Mind Fuck... This is about him using his mind to seduce women and why he acquired that name in the first place... 

12. Stigmata ft. Action Bronson and Asaad - Man... this shits hot... I mean I really feel that Em should be on this it wouldve gotten Ab some attention and its just perfect for Slim Shady to go in on... However...I will say Action Bronson is one hell of a consolation prize and doesnt deserve to be slept on... Asaad did his thing too... This is probably the first song since the first or second that goes back to his normal type of music as you heard before on Control System... Lots of religious references...

13. Feelin Us ft. Jay Rock and Ravaughn - This has a nice easy bob your head to it and shines because of Jay Rock's verse... This is pretty much the 4th song hes on that he has taken over... This doesnt hit like the other ones UOENO, Money Trees, etc... However you can definitely tell that Jay Rock refuses to be the Tony Yayo of the crew if you know what I mean...

14. Ride Slow ft. Danny Brown - Its about time they get him in a song man... This shit is the darkest feeling track on the CD... Its not Terrorist Threats but its nice regardless... 

15. WROH - We really out here my n*gga... You can hear him say it all the time... This is the song dedicated to that at first... Afterwards you get to hear a 17 minute battle with Daylyte which has some great gems here and there... Spoilers Daylyte won...

16. These Days - STRAIGHT SOUL Nothing ELSE!!!

17. Leak - I feel he was going for a sort of what anyone's shit sounds like when they first start rapping and music altogether... like trash... no point in reviewing this otherwise...

So that is it. I dont know if this really lived up to expectations but it was certainly a dope album... There were some low points in These Days but the pros outweigh the cons... Id listen to it again and I cant wait for his next piece of art along with any member of TDE... I'd rank it behind GKMC but ahead of Oxymoron... 

-0.1 out of 10 Fuck black hippy...ya bish...

The Destiny First Look Alpha

Last year Destiny was announced by Bungie and I cant say I was the most excited guy for it. I saw it at E3 and I saw gameplay of it throughout the year. It still didnt win me over. I wasnt very impressed with what I saw. Fast forward to June 9, the first day of E3, I was discussing most anticipated games with a friend. Not much to my surprise, he mentioned Destiny was in his top ten. As a Halo fan he was looking forward to another game from them since he wasnt happy with Halo 4 nor excited for Halo 5. Bungie was who made the series fun. Bungie knew how to make a great game. Hmm...maybe there was a good reason for it being in his top ten. 

Sony's E3 press conference began with a pretty cool trailer and then announced PS4 would get an exclusive alpha for the game. So I thought to myself, why not? And swiftly signed up for Alpha after it was announced. After turning on my PS4, I went to Live on Playstation and saw people were already broadcasting it. The players looked like they were having a good time but I was still a little skeptical. 

The next night around 7 PM I got an e-mail from Bungie, with my code included. I have to admit I was pretty excited. All 40 minutes of the download and install were torturous. Despite Destiny not being on my top 5 list, I hadn't had a game to play since InFAMOUS: Second Son, and how could I complain about free stuff? 

DESTINY's First Challenge

After it finished installing, I was welcomed to a beautiful welcome screen and a special thank you message from Bungie. This was followed by me choosing a class for my character. In Destiny you get to choose between three classes: 

The Titan is the strong, armored-soldier type of the game. He/she also has a special move that will make him smash the ground and disintegrate the enemies around you. He/She will be the character that you use in the front lines. This is my personal favorite of the three. 

Pros: As I said before, the titan has the best armor/shield and can take the most damage before going down for the count(respawn count that is). When going one on one against someone, with a worthy gun, chances are you're going to win the match up. Heck you might even last against two.

Cons: Out of all the classes the glide that Titan does is the worst. Once you press X a second time, you're pretty much stuck for the ride and that can be frustrating when trying to get to a certain situation. Which leaves you in danger of being killed. 

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The Warlock is more like a mage type of soldier. Not armored well but quick recovery helps get back into the fight quick. For the Warlock's special, he jumps high into the air and shoots a ball of energy taking out his/her foes in the blast's radius. 

Pros: The grenade is the best of the three...especially when you get a chance to upgrade it. Its good for keeping enemies out of a certain area due to staying alive for quite a few moments and damaging anyone who goes near the explosion. 

Cons: Not many it doesnt have the armor or speed that the others do though.

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The Hunter is the long range, rogue type of player. Best for snipers and can be hard to detect by its enemies. Its special is the Golden Gun. For a certain time, the Hunter has a golden aura and a hand cannon that is a one shot kill at any distance.

Pros: The Golden Gun, its the best of the special powers. Also, the double jump is much easier for getting places in the game.

Cons: The Golden Gun...its easy to waste because if youre not near anyone and activate it, you could go the whole time not finding anyone. However, if you are too close to someone you could get killed easily while activating it, wasting it that way as well. Sort of have to pick the perfect time to do so. You are the weakest in a one on one battle as well.

You can also choose between three races; human, awaken and exo. So there's a certain RPG aspect to the game. So far so good. 

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I made my character and was ready to go. Thrown into the world with my main companion 'Ghost', a monotone mini A.I. kind of like Cortana but nowhere near as emotional. My first thoughts were that the game felt very smooth. It wasnt heavy at all like Killzone 2. Much more like a Call of Duty feels.
While firing at the darkness(one of the main enemies of the game)I noticed that the amount of damage I dealt was popping out in numbers, in a very action-RPG or Borderlands-esque style of game. Making my way to the main objective, with Ghost giving you brief information I moved along. I got more and more comfortable with the game. I actually began to like it a lot. I came to what seemed like a big abandoned building. After taking out a big group of the hive(the other baddies in the game), I continued through. Then Ghost yelled, "THERES A WIZARD HERE! If you see something floating you have to kill it!" 

And around the corner, with a group of more hive, there it was. The Rite Wizard and man was he tough, at level 4. It seemed like it took my whole arsenal to beat him and then some. While playing, I noticed another game that it compared to. The whole atmosphere screamed Mass Effect. I felt like I was playing a first person version of it. Plus one, Destiny.

KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

After running around the building, dipping in and out of cover, the Rite Wizard was finally vaporized and I was sent into orbit. This is where you get to choose where you wanted to go in the game. In the alpha, we had a choice between Earth(where you go for missions like the introduction I just beat), the Crucible(which is the PVP/multiplayer component of the game) and the Tower(a hub for buying armor, weapons, etc. with all the money and points I got during gameplay), which is where I chose to go first. While there I got an introduction to everywhere I had to go to get what I needed. Looking at some of the items available, it almost felt like Bungie was teasing me with them being a level 20 requirement and the Alpha cap only being 8. After pimping out my character, I was ready to get back in action. By pressing the touch pad i held the triangle button and went back into orbit. I wanted to give the multiplayer. 

At the time, only a game mode called 'Control' was available, equal to Domination in Call of Duty. Annnnnnd....I got my ass kicked. As I said before, I haven't played a game since InFAMOUS and an FPS, in even longer. So I got crapped on. That's okay...I got better. After adjusting my sensitivity and powering up my player as he leveled up, I evened the field a bit and began to keep up with everyone else, to say the least. It's only 6v6 but it stays intense almost all the times. The two maps were of a great variety due to the size and usable objects. On Old Russia you pretty much got the bare minimum experience. There was almost always someone around the corner and it was meant for the fast-paced guns a blazing players. The other one was very different. 

Appearing to be a large base on the moon, you needed to utilize vehicles like the bike and interceptor to get everywhere quickly. Nothing is worse than running all the way to the capture point and getting killed by a camper guarding it. If you're worried about the vehicles, dont. There are a few turret guns, placed strategically near capture points, to help combat against them. Of course, if your super is charged, you can use your special to blow it away as well. This is where the Hunter can truly shine as well, in its long range skills. Might I add, the sniper in the game is absolutely straight out of Halo, literally NO recoil and absolute domination. 

Absolutely beautiful.

This brings me to the point of the minimap. This will notify you which direction enemies are coming, without totally giving away their exact location. In the circle, depending on how far away the enemy is, there will be a red outline for far away, a red cone if moderate distance, or the inner circle will be fully red where your arrow is, if they are too close(the circle will be transparent if they are higher/lower than your level.

The next day, I decided to enjoy some of the new Earth missions. Still in the same place from the beginning of the Alpha, this time I could go anywhere. In this open world there were other players enjoying themselves, taking on missions, giving the game an MMO feel as well. So that's an MMOFPSRPG, has that ever been done before? I dont think so.

Anyway pressing the touch pad showed me where I could accept a mission. The first one was simple, kill a certain amount of enemies, voiced in by a female commander, so that we can begin taking back earth(a typical MMO mission, I'm sure just to give us an idea). Another had me go into another building to take out a specific enemy from the darkness or hive. The feelings of being teasing continued. I wanted more, needed more...I was becoming addicted.

After some of the missions, I decided to look around a bit, and really got to see how big this open world truly was. And it was truly filled with various levels of enemies as well(some that not even my level 8 titan could take on). So my exploring also showed that I didnt just need to kill enemies to get loot. Some of the caves had treasure chests. One of them had a piece of armor that I couldn't wear yet. 

I played this, the Tower and Crucible for many hours. So, once I was confident enough, I decided to give the Devil's Lair a try, the hardest part of the alpha. This was a co-op mission, meant for three players. The enemies were level 8 or higher and you had to make sure my team made a strategy on how to handle every move. Making progress, I came to notice something else in the game. It is one huge 3-way battle between the guardians(the human players), hive and darkness. 

Walking in on a battle between the darkness and hive.

This made me want to get the game even more so I could see more of the story and discover what happened to Earth, but I still needed to finish the current objective. We made it to to the first boss. A giant, bug like, walking tank known as a Devil Walker. It took my whole arsenal, along with my teammates, to beat this thing and towards the end of it I was running around searching for ammo while taking tons of damage from its blasts. 

Due to the high amount of health and difficulty of beating the bosses, you have to really place your shots in the right spot to maximize damage. When hitting a vulnerable spot on enemies, in the bug tank's case, its legs, instead of the gray numbers that usually popped up, higher yellow ones popped out instead. Once we got it s health down to about 50%, the yellow numbers didnt show anymore. In fact, no damage was being given. We started shooting it near its gun up top and finally found a spot to do the higher damage again. After running empty on ammunition and using my special power, the bug-tank went down. A good amount of loot was given including some armor I could wear and a new gun. It wasnt over though. After traveling further, we were introduced to the main boss of the level.

A big ball of pain in the ass.

Sepiks Prime, not to be confused with its cousin Optimus, had lots of health and its blasts were deadly. To add the icing on the cake, the big metal eyeball wasn't alone. Darkness and Hive were coming for us from every direction. Luckily the middle, where its blasts were coming from, was its weak point and we finished it quickly once we made the discovery and defeated its help. Another good amount of XP(that I couldnt gain because my character hit his cap already), loot, etc. was awarded and I went to the tower to cash in.

I ran around for a while to take a break from the difficult Devil's Lair mission. Suddenly, I found myself all alone, sitting on my ass. 

See, I told you.

Could this alpha get any better? I pretty much experienced everything. What now?

Destiny is even better with friends!

Have someone else join you, of course! Once we discussed the game a bit, we decided to explore a bit. So, I brought him to Earth and we did some easy stuff while he leveled up. The darkness were being good target practice for us. Everything was going swell....UNTIL A DAMN DEVIL WALKER SHOWED UP OUT OF NOWHERE! It was hard enough to beat it with 3 capped players. Now we had to do it in 10 minutes with 2? We weren't able to defeat the walker and his army of darkness(GROOVY), but we did last without both of us dying. That's something to be proud of right?

Yeah that's right. At random times some mini bosses will come out and attack you with a huge army. The few times it happened to my friends and I, there was always a time limit. A great way to keep you on your heels and make sure you have a strategy wherever you go. The next one that popped up was no match for all the people playing. 

Following a great session with friends who were lucky to the alpha code as well, I realized that I wasn't the only skeptic around. It turns out many people weren't expecting this to be too good. Yet, we all agreed it was now a first day buy. At first, the alpha felt like nothing more than just a way to give them an idea of what worked and what didnt. It turned out to become something that will rise the sales substantially. Then after a few more hours, we were disconnected on Monday. When trying to get back on we were greeted with this.

 :(

It was all over. All the fun and excitement...the great multiplayer, the challenging bosses. Gone. Nothing left but a thank you note. A craving for more of it began to grow! It is even stronger now as I'm writing this. This alpha really made for a great weekend. November 9th cant come fast enough!

At first I was like...

But now I'm like....

If you have any questions be sure to ask and I'll be happy to answer! Thank you!

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Witnessing Jimmy Rollins' 2235th hit

The first player I liked on the Phillies was Jimmy Rollins. The year was 2000 and he got his first hit in the majors. He was fast, he played my favorite position and he had a certain attitude or swagger about him I just couldn't help but respect. Needless to mention(but I'll do it anyway)when he did something, he did it big. I was nine years old at the time, which was around when I got into sports in the first place. Jimmy Rollins sped around the bases and got a triple. I had no idea what J Roll would become after that date, but I knew there was something special about him.

On June 14th 2014, at the age of 35, he officially unseated the hits leader incumbent, Mike Schmidt. It happened at the right time, as this season has been pretty rough for the Phillies, as a whole. As of the same date, they're only 28-37 and last place in their division.

But enough of the bad stuff...we witnessed history today. The Cubs didn't make it easy for him. It took until the 5th inning. At 0 for 2, Jimmy stepped up to bat, remaining patient for 4 pitches. The count was 3-1, Jackson, the Cubs pitcher, threw the ball and Rollins sent it quickly to right field, placing himself in the record books forever. Afterwards, Schmidt marched to first base with the same bat Jimmy used to achieve the moment we will hold dear in our memories. The dugout was emptied, the fans were on their feet and everyone was there to congratulate him. It was one special moment. Even as the game continued, you could see the players, of the other team, giving their congrats. To top it all off, after Marlon Byrd got on base as well, Domonic Brown pulverized the ball for a home run into right field as well. Sending him back to the dugout where the celebrations continued.

Its now in the 8th inning, the Phillies are up 7 to 3 and they're still replaying one of the greatest player moments that I can remember watching the Phillies. Here's hoping for this to be the start of something great for the rest of the season and more memories to get out of our chairs for. Thank you Jimmy!

Here's a look at some of his greatest moments.