rapper – The Double Scoop

DRAKE HITS DOUBLE PLATiNUM WITH “VIEWS”

Author: Amy Nicole

Drake’s latest album Views has officially been certified double-platinum by the RIAA, racking up over two million in sales. I wouldn’t say I’m a diehard Drake fan but I do enjoy most of the music that he releases. Views has several hit singles including the popular radio hits: Controlla, One Dance, and the ultimate club banger Hotline Bling.

Drake gets a lot of slack from male listeners who criticize him singing on albums but I personally think he is the only rapper who has successfully mastered being able to do both on an album cohesively. He has the style of rap that a guy can listen to but that a woman can appreciate too.

At 29 years old Drake is old enough to appreciate and reference old school samples from previous hip hop artists but he is also young enough to appeal to the younger culture. On the song “U With Me” he samples DMX’s song “How’s it Goin’ Down” while still making the song authentic.

Overall Views is a good album. Drake is successful because his music is able to appeal to listeners outside of the hip hop community and because he has commercial appeal. The RIAA has revised the certification qualifications of albums to include streaming as part of its album award determinations. Since the revised certification qualifications went into effect only 28 rap albums have earned a gold, platinum, or multi-platinum award; 5 of them being Drake albums. This fact alone speaks volumes about his talent as an artist.

Photo Credit: Rap-Up

Nick Grant 88

Authors: The Double Scoop

If you’re a fan of rap especially old school hip hop, than you’ve probably noticed the sound and feel of that genre of music has changed over the years. With the exception of a few rappers like J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Big Krit just to name a few, most rappers today don’t have much lyrical substance. Most of us like to listen to ratchet music every once in a while but it’s also nice to hear songs that can stimulate the mind.

At the end of last year we got a chance to catch Big Krit’s final show off of his Kritically Acclaimed tour in Atlanta. Neither of us are big fans of local opening acts but one young mc stood out at the show. He was a South Carolina artist by the name of Nick Grant and as soon as he got on stage he looked into the crowd and told us that his job was to make us remember his name, and that he did.

After the show we had to know more about Nick so we researched him and discovered he had been making music for a minute. We were just blown away by his lyricism. He released his mixtape 88 at the beginning of last month and the buzz since its release still hasn’t let up. He named the album after the year he was born (1988) and because that year was considered the “golden era” of hip hop.

His sound is reminiscent of the late 90s and early 2000s but at the same time still current. Although he is from the south his sound is very northern. He reminds you of rappers like Nas, Common and Jadakiss. There were a lot of dope songs on the mixtape; some of our faves were Black Sinatra, Gold Chains, Contradiction, Royalty, and The Jungle.

Black Sinatra has a Jay Z/The Blue Print feel to it and is loaded with metaphoric lyricism over a smooth beat.

Gold Chains speaks on how people have become mentally enslaved to material things.

“Niggas dying for Gold Chains
Niggas dying for Gold Chains
Nigga we mentally enslaved
Buy Gold Chains do anything to drive a Range nigga

Contradiction was another one of our favorites. It’s the love song that talks about what many women are afraid to hear; the guy who loves you but just can’t commit.

She said love don’t cost a thing
Won’t expose her heart to pain
I said love done came and went
It packed up and caught the train

And of course as avid Big Krit fans we were definitely loving the Royalty remix which also featured Killer Mike. Grant is definitely not afraid to speak out on relevant issues that are taking place in society but like he said in Window Seat, another song off of the mixtape, “don’t call him gangster or conscious, he’s just being real and honest.”

88 will definitely appease the appetites of hungry hip hop fans.

Untitled Unmastered

Author: Amy Nicole

Last week Kendrick Lamar dropped an unannounced album called “Untitled Unmastered”. The album features 8 untitled tracks showing the dates the songs were recorded. The tracks on the 35 minute album are all live recordings.

I recently had a chance to listen to the album and it sounds like an extension of Lamar’s last project “To Pimp A Butterfly”. Like most of Kendrick’s music you have to listen to the songs more than once to grasp the underlining message behind the lyrics. The album features Lamar rapping over up-tempo instrumentals with subtle elements of jazz. He covers topics like political corruption, religion, self-awareness, and spirituality, and he briefly touches on the black lives matter movement.

Overall Untitled Unmastered is consistent with Lamar’s metaphoric artistic sound and is definitely worth the listen.

Photo Credit: Rolling Stone

The Revolution Will Be Televised

Author: Amy Nicole

It has been a little over a week since Beyonce’ shut the Super Bowl down with her pro-black halftime performance. Many people (mostly white) thought her performance was offensive and some even called it racist which led to an attempted boycott of the singer’s newly announced Formation tour.

Before the hype of Beyonce’s performance could die down Kendrick Lamar set the media on fire once again with his performance at the 2016 Grammys. His performance was an artistic and powerful tribute to black men.

In the beginning of his performance he marched out on stage shackled in chains with other black men wearing prison uniforms. He approached the microphone and performed his single “Blacker The Berry”.

“You hate me don’t you?”

“You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture”.

It was obvious who Lamar was speaking to in his lyrics hence the awkward and uncomfortable expressions by the mostly white audience.

Lamar ended his performance with his single “We Gone Be Alright” accompanied by dancers dressed in traditional African attire sending the message that despite the hardships that black people have been through we will still persevere.

As a black woman I see nothing wrong with black people embracing our culture. For so many years we have been oppressed, de-humanized and belittled as a race. Black people are once getting starting to embrace who they are and I’m so glad to be alive during this revolutionary period in black culture.

Photo Credit: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for NARAS