...

...Once again, my previous post got taken down on account of the fact it had a download link. Ridiculous, but at least I'm scaring people. Hope you all managed to download the track I posted before it got removed.

Nothing of any great note in this post besides a reminder that Asher Roth's Asleep In The Bread Aisle is out next Monday. I've listened to about 75% of the album, and it is very, very good. Most of the tracks aren't going to blow you away at first, but much like Lark On My Go-Kart, they will grow on you. Apparently, the track La Di Da is the best from the album, but I haven't heard it yet.

Lupe Fiasco's next album has had ANOTHER change-it is now called Lasers, not We Are Lasers.

That's all for now.

This One Is For The Real Hip-Hop Heads

A short post.

My recent, delayed love for Joe Budden (Padded Room to be specific) has been fully compounded by the brilliance of the new Slaughterhouse track, 'Wack MCs'.

(For those of you not in the know, Slaughterhouse is a hip-hop supergroup comprised of Budden, Royce Da 5'9", Joell Ortiz and Crooked I-four of the best lyrical rappers around.) Royce's verse is priceless, and definitely the standout on the track, although Budden doesn't disappoint with the opener either.

Look for a Padded Room review coming soon, definitely a contender for album of the year.

Also, if you get 5 minutes, check out a very, very cool interview with Asher Roth below. Expect to come away from that video with serious respect for how down-to-earth and intelligent Asher is.

"If Hip-Hop Is All Smoke and Mirrors, Then I'm The Windex and the Napkins"-Joe Budden.

Some Videos and News To Enjoy

Kicking off with Wale: His first major single has been debuted on US radio, and as previously mentioned, will be 'Chillin' featuring Lady GaGa. (There's an unfinished version of 'Chillin' that's been around for a while, which doesn't have Lady GaGa and Wale's verses are slightly different.)

Anyway, keep an ear out for this, as hopefully it will be a big breakthrough for Wale.

A few videos below, including the video for Asher Roth's 'Lark On My Go-Kart', which is pretty funny, and a quality live performance of 'Sky Might Fall' by Kid Cudi, which proves that he can actually sing quite well. The last video is of 'Buggin' Out 2009' from a recent mixtape by J. Period, 'Tribute to Q-Tip'. (FYI, Buggin' Out is an old A Tribe Called Quest song, in case you didn't know)

The track features Consequence and Kid Cudi, and is a very good song that I've had on repeat for a while. Both Cons and Cudi drop nice verses, and the video is a fun one.

Enjoy!

A Lot of News

It's been a busy few hours.

Firstly, the artwork for Asher Roth's upcoming album, Asleep In The Bread Aisle, was released a few days back. Click the pic for a better view.

A funny picture, although according to Asher we should 'look into the picture and try and find the hidden meaning'. Maybe 'bread' is money, and he's just taking a nap in a money-filled genre/industry? Doing his own thing?

Decide for yourself. He has stated many times that the album won't just be light-hearted efforts in the vein of 'I Love College', which is given further emphasis by the above statement.

Still a great picture though.

The artwork for Asher's next single, Lark on my Go-Kart, is also light-hearted, and can be seen here: http://i.kanyelive.com/uploads/7f8739_asher-go-kart-cover.jpg. Seems as though this should be a fun track too.

Secondly, 50 Cent is following Eminem's suit and also apparently looking to release 2 albums this year. The first, Before I Self Destruct, is scheduled for June.

Thirdly, Wale's debut album has finally been given a confirmed title-Attention: Deficit.

Can't wait to hear this, as Wale has easily become one of my favourite rappers of recent times, on the strength of his mixtapes and features. The first single is also confirmed to be 'Chillin' featuring Lady GaGa. This can clearly be seen as a move to break the mainstream, and will hopefully work out for Wale.

Finally, and most importantly, Kid Cudi has 'announced' that he is 'retiring' from music after his debut album. In a long post on his blog yesterday, he announced that he was sick of the fame, and sick of people claiming he has 'changed' since becoming famous.

This may be simply an impulsive reaction, or a truthful statement. One factor was inevitably the recent altercation at a Reebok event that he was scheduled to perform at, during which he was rumoured to be arrested-all very unusual for someone who is known for being so 'normal'.

(One side of the story says it's because he was wearing Jordans when he turned up and wouldn't change, whereas Cudi claims it was because they were 'unprofessional' and the sound systems sounded like 1980's boomboxes)

Add into this recent comments by Wale on Joe Budden's YouTube channel about Cudi. Cudi and Wale's friendship is well-documented, and they are apparently quite close, however Wale feels 'it's now a different Cudi'. (The video can be seen here-watch it, just to see how funny Wale is!-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP9XORSXQNs).

It's unclear how this will all turn out, and could all be an empty, angry threat that will be (hopefully) taken back. I'll keep you posted.

Asher Roth-I Love College

Evening. The video for a song I was really loving during the summer has finally dropped, meaning the album can't be far away-Asher Roth has officially released a video for the soon-to-be smash 'I Love College'.

Absolutely love this track, really laid back and with some nice, fun lyrics and delivery. Nothing too challenging, and doesn't pretend to be.

Asher's got some decent mixtapes out, check out The Greenhouse Effect mixtape to see the range of his talent. The fact this mixtape is presented by Don Cannon and DJ Drama, two world famous DJs, speaks leaps and bounds for someone who is essentially an unknown quantity.

Oh, and he sounds EXACTLY like Eminem-but as you'll see, that isn't the only similarity!

(...just in case, the whole white rapper thing...)