Sweatshop Union - "Water Street"

Grade: A-/A

Lupe Fiasco meets Common.
What a match. For being primarily considered underground rap, Sweatshop Union, definitely proves it worth on this album. Best of the best to come out of British Columbia and Vancouver. From "Water Street", Sweatshop Union's "Oh My" won in the 8th Annual Independent Hip-Hop award. Mos Eisley, the group's lead rapper, as Sweatshop is a group of four independents + Kyprios, carries the same beat in the voice, and swagger in the step as many of the great underground's, Lupe, Mos Def, Talib, Nas, and Obie Trice. Five albums in, and many more to come for the relatively new group.

My Favorite Song: "Cities of God's"

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Next: Mos Def - "The Ecstatic"
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Track listing

1. "Now"
2. "Goldrush"
3. "Oh My"
4. "Time Machine"
5. "So Tired"
6. "Blah Blah Blah"
7. "Comes & Goes"
8. "Jeers"
9. "Pot of Stew"
10. "Mashed Potatoes"
11. "High Grade"
12. "Cities of Gods"
13. "Shoot Low"
14. "Itchy Back"
15. "Gutter Ball"
16. "It's Alright"
17. "Never Go Home"
18. "Sunnyside Motel"
19. "Timelines"
20. "Moose"
21. "Said and Done"
22. "So Many People"
23. "Dig a Grave"

The Flaming Lips - "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots"

Grade: A/A+

Math majors solve for "x".
Gorillaz "Plastic Beach" + Heart + Techno/Electro Vibes = X
This is "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" by The Flaming Lips.
Easily one of the best album on the blog site yet. Wayne Coyne in 1983, began dropping record albums as every artists begins with, but was yet to find the hit song with his group. After deals with Warner Brothers, finally the Oklahoman band hit it off well in 1993 with their biggest track yet "She Don't Use Jelly." That song set the tone for the rock band and the primarily rock-styled songs in their later albums...That is, until 2002, when The Flaming Lips dropped their 10th (out of 12) studio albums with "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots." It's in that album and the following album "Embryonic," (2009) that we can see the shift to a more Techno/Electro vibe come into play. Generally speaking, most of the rock fans still appreciate the quality of the music that The Flaming Lips have produced, regardless of the mild shift in genre. Favorite song for me on "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots"  is the following: 1) "Approaching Pavonis Mons."

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"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" (REGULAR EDITION)

1. "Fight Test" – 4:14
2. "One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21" – 4:59
3. "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1" – 4:45
4. "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 2" – 2:57
5. "In the Morning of the Magicians" – 6:18
6. "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell" – 4:34
7. "Are You a Hypnotist??" – 4:44
8. "It's Summertime" – 4:20
9. "Do You Realize??" – 3:32
10. "All We Have Is Now" – 3:53
11. "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)" – 3:09

Lil' Wayne - "Rebirth"

Grade: B-/C+


This was suppose to be Lil' Wayne's attempt to reach out to the world of rock. To mix genres in the heart and soul of each song. To bring the beat of the rock, with the vocals of the hip hop. Lil' Wayne is indubitably a worldwide record seller. No doubt about it. Any album he drops, will make it to some sort of leaderboard. Personally, I think this album could have been a lot better. Lil' Wayne's songs ALWAYS are "dense". A lot of vocals, a lot of noise, and a ton of "rapper shout-outs". This album was no different if not worse. If you a reader of my past blogs, you know that I am all about the beat. "If it gets your head rocking, then the beats will start popping." I didn't so much find it in this album, as I moderately did in his past albums. Any songs I would approve of...? Well, only one, just barely. "Drop the World" (Featuring Eminem).


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Next Post: Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots"

1.	"American Star" (featuring Shanell)	DJ Nasty & LVM	3:37
2.	"Prom Queen" (featuring Shanell)	DJ Infamous, Drew Correa	3:37
3.	"Ground Zero"	Streetrunner, DJ Infamous	3:57
4.	"Da Da Da"	Cool & Dre	3:40
5.	"Paradice"	Kevin Rudolf, Cool & Dre	3:57
6.	"Get a Life"	Cool & Dre	3:12
7.	"On Fire"	Cool & Dre	4:08
8.	"Drop the World" (featuring Eminem)	Hit-Boy, Chase N. Cashe	3:49
9.	"Runnin'" (featuring Shanell)	J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League	4:31
10.	"One Way Trip" (featuring Kevin Rudolf)	Travis Barker, Kevin Rudolf, DJ Infamous	4:38
11.	"Knockout" (featuring Nicki Minaj)	J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League	4:09
12.	"The Price is Wrong"	DJ Infamous	3:28

[hide]Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"I'll Die for You"	Cool & Dre	5:07
14.	"I'm So Over You" (featuring Shanell)	DJ Infamous	2:58