88 Keys - Death Of Adam

I must say... for a long time rap music was very formulaic and innovation was a lost art form. Rap was very commercial and not interested in integrity, but rather the quick buck. Times are changing. If you look at the rap scene, there are a lot of great new hip hop artists. Amazing musicians who claim their influences are Biggie Smalls and Pink Floyd. Is this broad herizon of influences that is leading to some amazing albums. Up above we have the newest album from 88 Keys called the Death of Adam. This is a concept album about a man named Adam, who is looking for some sex and winds up dying. It is a pretty funny and interesting story. Now for 88 Keys.... he is a producer first and rapper second. His rapping is frankly not that good... as he uses a weird megaphone effect and has the same flow patterns as Kanye West. The thing is, I think he realizes he isn't that great, because he doesn't rap on the album a whole lot. He has people like Kanye, Phonte, Kid Cudi, and an amazing performance by Redman. The production on this album is some of the best I have ever heard. The beats are simply amazing, and the tracks are so god damn catchy. This is a guy who set out to make a good album, not just a hit single. I think he definitely succeeded and I recommend this album to everyone. Just keep an open mind.

Another album coming out real soon is Kanye West's new album.. "808's and Heartbreak". I' have heard the majority of it and I am very impressed. I really didn't think I would like it, as I wasn't impressed with "Love Lockdown" or "Robocop". I'm also extremely sick of that fucking auto-tune shit that T-Pain made popular. While Kanye does use vocal effects on nearly every song, its not so overdone as Love Lockdown. This man is truly a musical genius and I think this will push him even further. This is not a rap CD... Kanye said his biggest influence for this album was Phil Collins.....you can tell by the song structures and the drums. This album has a really sad feel to it and Kanye's outlook on life has changed. He talks about looking for the "Good Life" his whole life but actually losing himself in the process. The production is amazing as you would expect, and has a very electronic sound with tribal sounding drums. This album is going to be huge and critically praised or flop and be viewed as a side project for Kanye. Give it a listen, but I don't think its for everyone. The  songs that have really stuck out to me so far are, "Streetlight" "Coldest Winter" "Welcome To Heartbreak"