Swine flu, Balloon Boy, Michael Jackson, Iran, and Cash for Clunkers.

At least there were some cool beats.

For our end of the year Beat Drop, we asked our friends to pick their favorite beats of 2009. Part 1 featured artists; today we have everyone else.

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So, what have we learned in 2009?

Raekwon is more trustworthy than Dr. Dre. No one believed either of ‘em when we were told that Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II and Detox would drop in our lifetimes (R.I.P. to those that didn’t make it long enough), but Rae played the role of the tortoise, creeping upon the finish line, while Dre continues to stroll, seemingly uncommitted as to whether his magnum opus will live up to the hype. In the meantime, we have a handful of average-quality sounding reference tracks (with a surprising amount of T.I.), a Dr. Pepper commercial featuring a beat that may make Detox (though, it has already been utilized by Wale and Rick Ross & Birdman), and some $300 headphones (to enhance the listening experience of music that actually sees the light of day).

Albums don’t matter anymore. At least, that’s one rationale as to why Eminem is not one of MTV’s 10 hottest MCs (despite selling 600K of Relapse, his first release in five years, in its first week), omitted in exchange for several MCs who either did not drop albums this year (Weezy, Jeezy and Yeezy) or dropped mediocre-at-best albums (Fab). (Sorry if I’m downplaying the “heat” of Katie Couric interviews and Taylor Swift speech interruptions. Also sorry if I’m implying that MTV’s list has that much credibility.)

Not even 50 Cent can sell records in today’s industry — and this is the same 50 Cent that once sold Curtis to the buying public! Maybe it’s time to redefine “flop” — not that we ever had a Webster’s definition for it — because if 50 flopped, then what do you call Wale’s first week numbers? That’s not a diss, either — I like Wale a lot, and ML’s been tracking his career since 100 Miles & Running back in ‘07. In fact, the only reason I don’t have a physical copy of Attention Deficit nearby as I type (I had to resort to iTunes) is because I couldn’t find one on any Best Buy store shelves — though, for whatever it’s worth, the Best Buy employee who told me that they didn’t have any copies also told me that it was dope (I should’ve asked him where he copped his copy).

Gucci Mane is a rap star. I never would have imagined this based on his first two videos — to me, he was just another terrible rapper from the South with no charisma. Now, he’s a pretty good rapper with, well, a little charisma. Good enough, I guess.

Rappers continue to diss Jay-Z and get no response. Game put out a diss record, which was kind of sad (in a lame, pathetic sort of way). Beanie Sigel put out a diss record, which was also kind of sad (in a “doesn’t feel right” sort of way). 50’s been trying to bait Jay for a while, but to no avail — The Blueprint 3 didn’t have a “Takeover”, let alone a half-a-bar for everyone to share. The only rapper to get a response record from Jay in the last few years? Jim Jones. That may be what’s the most sad about all of this.

And, last but not least, the following beats are dope…

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With the all-too-real “sophomore jinx” phenomenon that is as prevalent in music as it is in sports, dropping a second album that is a complete transformation in sound from one’s debut is a risky move. Yet, despite a platinum plaque, a Source Award for Best New Group, and loads of positive reviews (a 4.5-mic rating amongst them), Andre Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton decided to make such a transition. From smoothed-out to spacey. From Caddies to comic books. From portraying a pimp’s lifestyle to questioning the existence of life forms on other planets. From “If you smoke a dime, then I’ll smoke a dime” to “No drugs or alcohol so I can get the signal clear”. From “Talkin’ ’bout her period late, guess what I did” to “Oh yes I love her like Egyptian”.

Granted, there were some points of similarity between Outkast’s first two albums — pieces of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik still prevalent in ATLiens, and vice versa. The “GREETINGS EARTHLINGS” sound effect that kicks off ATLiens was first heard on “D.E.E.P.”, the closing track on Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. And, on ATLiens’ two biggest singles, Dre and Big were still talking about “slammin’ Cadillac doors” and “all that pimp shit”.

So, maybe Outkast didn’t pull a complete 180 between their first two albums… but, it was at least a 160. Rappers aren’t supposed to make such dramatic changes in styles and still maintain such a high level of success? Maybe so, but noise isn’t supposed to be organized, either. (Also, noise isn’t supposed to be spelled with a “z”, but let’s ignore that for now.)

The only two things that one could really say was consistent between the two albums was the quality of the music (incredible) and the names in the production credits (Rico Wade, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown). And, as their work within and outside of the Dungeon Family collective throughout the years has shown, it’s no coincidence that the name “Organized Noize” and incredible music go together like fish and grits. Oh ye-yer.

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words — I can work with that. That should mean that instead of writing an extensive introduction about our latest Beat Drop honoree, one Timothy Mosley, I can simply show a picture and be good. And for that picture, I ask you to pause the below video at 1:52.

As you may have guessed, and likely seen before, that was Timbaland and Jay-Z, from the concert-mentary Fade To Black, taking the first step in the process of crafting “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”. After hearing a couple of beats that he appeared to be none too fond of (one of which ended up as “The Potion” on Ludacris’ The Red Light District), Jay hears the beat that would become “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” and makes the face that should be looking right back at you on your screen… that is, if you paused the YouTube video, like I asked you to do.

That screwface-invoking reaction is the trademark of a Timbaland production. Most great hip hop beats will have you nodding your head as soon as it drops, but, when Timbo provides his magic touch, the head-nodding comes after a brief delay of a few seconds — a moment in time where everything else stops, confusion ensues, and a grown man dancing around with a banana (no Peanut Butter Jelly Time) in his hand is commonplace.

Does that make Timbaland “the best there is”, as he so eloquently puts it toward the end of that clip? If you’ve been following these Beat Drop posts, you’d know how hesitant we are to crown someone at the expense of others. But when it comes to pushing the envelope with production (and not just hip-hop production), Timbo may have a case for the throne. And since he’s lost all that weight since Fade To Black, the crown wouldn’t have to be fitted over that pack of hot dogs on the back of his neck.

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I’ll be honest (probably more honest than most) — I didn’t know who UGK was before 1999. You could’ve handed me a copy of Vol. 3… Life And Times Of S. Carter, pointed to track 11 on the back cover, and said, “This kid right here is the next big thing out of Brooklyn. Jay just signed him. His name’s pronounced ug-kah.” Unless I just flat out didn’t trust you, I’d have no reason not to believe you (though that rap name sure would’ve sounded like a loser).

Radio in my hometown of Los Angeles, around that time, had plenty of local material flooding its airwaves — Dr. Dre (and his newly-discovered protégé Eminem), Snoop, and Kurupt all had hit records out, and a potential N.W.A. reunion was all the rave (yea, about that…). Sure, there were Southern rap records that would break through every now and again — some had undeniable cross-over appeal, some had outshining guest spots from West Coast legends, some were classic records that superseded regional boundaries. But, L.A. radio stations — and probably all major city radio stations outside of the South — weren’t putting aside time during long-drive-home-rush-hour for a duo out a Texas town not called Houston which couldn’t even get promotion from its bum-ass record label.

To be even more honest, it wasn’t until 2000 that I really got to know about UGK, when a visual was given to “Big Pimpin’”. There was Jay-Z, spitting rapid-fire on a cruise ship while Dame Dash poured liquor I couldn’t afford over women I couldn’t afford. Then there was Bun B, spitting even more rapid-fire than Jay, mispronouncing “scenario” just for the sake of not leaving out both sorry and scary hoes from consideration of whom he can’t fuck with. And lastly, there was Pimp C, delivering molasses-slow rhymes (at least in comparison to Jay and Bun) with an undoubtedly Southern accent that seemed to replace the last letter on every word with a “H” (as in “Smokin’ ouh, throwin’ uh…”). And that white fur coat… who would rock such clothing in the midst of a Florida summer? Probably the same type of dude who would brag about his hands-free phone while holding a phone to his ears.

When I think of how to describe Pimp C, his opening bars from “Murder”, off ’96’s Ridin’ Dirty, always come to mind: “It’s Pimp C, bitch, so what the fuck is up?/ Puttin’ powder on the street ’cause I got big fuckin’ nuts!” In the span of two bars, Pimp provided examples of five of the reasons why our elders (more than likely) collectively hate rap music. First, he introduced himself — on how many Beatles’ songs did John Lennon say his own name? Second, he insults his listener — likely a listener who just spent money to support Pimp’s cause (more so the case in ‘96 than now). Third, he drops the F-bomb, with another one coming mere seconds later. Fourth, he glorifies drug dealing, by attributing the cause of his trade to the size of testicles… which leads perfectly into number five — he speaks candidly about his genitals. Most rappers not named Todd Shaw would need at least a full song to evoke all of these reactions out of their listeners.

But, if you could look past his outlandish boasts on the mic about partaking in illegal activities of all sorts, you’d find lush musical backdrops, driven by the funkiest of bass lines and the bluesiest of guitar licks, sometimes with vocals sung by the man himself. People that hate the type of music that Pimp C made would probably dismiss him as not being “musically talented” — little would they know just how wrong they were. Being on the late train in becoming familiar with Pimp’s discography made me that much bigger a fan of his — very few hip hop artists in ‘96 were making music like him, and even fewer are nowadays.

Chad Butler took his craft way more seriously than he ever took himself. Bun B noted on “The Story” (off his solo debut Trill) how hesitant Pimp was to jump on “Big Pimpin’”, fearful of how UGK’s core audience would’ve taken to it. There’s no greater shame than the fact that Pimp’s death came just as UGK was starting to get recognized for their own achievements, with “International Players Anthem” (off their #1-charting self-titled double album) receiving a Grammy nomination. If there’s any positive spin that we can put on his untimely passing, it’s that, after a career spanning nearly two decades, Pimp C went out on top. To that I say, “Smoke something, bitch!”

Contributing to this Beat Drop (in addition to myself and AaronM) are Noz from Cocaine Blunts, Quan from Hater Player, Ivan from Hip Hop Is Read, Brandon Soderberg from No Trivia, and Jonathan from Screw Rock ‘n’ Roll. And, on the (very, very, VERY) special guest tip, ML is esteemed to have none other than Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, the yin to Pimp’s yang as one half of UGK, joining us. Bun chopped with up with Knobbz (credit due for providing transcribing, homie) to discuss his five favorite Pimp C productions, and provided some great insight and historical anecdotes about Pimp.

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You know how most hip hop magazines will have that issue where they go back and gave perfect ratings (5 Mics, XXLs and what have you) to certain albums that they had given lesser ratings to before? You know, basically rewriting history to cover up their prior mistakes? Well, we here at ML have no respect for such tactics…

Just kidding! In fact, we’re kind of doing the same thing now.

Back in June 2007, when DJ01 and I came up with the Beat Drop idea, our guest lists were practically non-existent — in fact, our very first Beat Drop post, covering Alchemist, was just he and I. And I laugh at myself for suggesting in that first post that we’d try to put these out on a weekly basis. I was so ambitious in my early blogging days!

In our past few Beat Drops, though, we’ve established connections with some great hip hop bloggers (and even a couple of artists) — so, we reached out to as many as we could and asked them what ALC productions we missed the first time around (including his work since June 2007, of which we can’t fault ourselves for not picking). In the process, though, we encountered a couple of big-name first-time contributors who weren’t able to read our first Alchemist Beat Drop in advance, so some picks may overlap. Oh well, charge it to the game.

Are we re-writing history? Well, if we are, that would mean that we had made history before, which is something we wouldn’t want to say about ourselves. But, thank you for suggesting it.

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As a Wu-Tang stan — and a stubborn one, at that — I always hated reading and hearing people say shit along the lines of the Wu being “over”, or “dead”, or trying to start rumors that they were “breaking up”. Yes, the quality of music coming from the Wu camp is not the same as it was some 10 years ago, but that could be said for roughly 95% of rappers, and that’s an underestimation if anything. And recent history has only further proven the fact that rap crews can’t be on top forever (i.e. G-Unit now, DipSet circa the last time Cam’ron and Jim Jones spoke to each other). It’s as if the fact that the Wu was the greatest shit in the game back in the mid-to-late ’90s means that they shouldn’t be allowed to still put out records today.

As for the “breaking up” rumors, I would always tell my non-Wu-listening friends that the relationships within the Wu dated back to before music — at least, that’s the impression I’d received over time listening to their music, reading interviews and what not. I’d always believed that the Wu would never “break up”, even if they decided to stop recording music together… and, unfortunately, things may have come to this point with the disaster that was 8 Diagrams. (And, when I say “disaster”, I’m referring to the well-publicized complaints over the sound of the album from Wu members, not the actual album itself, which I honestly enjoyed. But, again, stubborn Wu-Tang stan talking over here.)

I say all of that to say this… I was initially skeptical about doing a Beat Drop for The RZA. I mean, I figured it would have to come — if the aim of these posts is to compile different opinions on the greatest beats from the greatest producers, then leaving the Wu-Tang Clan’s maestro out of the equation would be criminal. But, unlike many of the producers that we’ve covered in the past, The RZA’s best almost entirely comes out of one collective group of albums, those being the Wu-Tang Clan and its many members. Likewise, Organized Noize’s best would almost entirely come out of Dungeon Family releases, and DJ Paul and Juicy J’s best would almost entirely come out of Hypnotize Camp Posse releases.

I guess that my skepticism was based around the likelihood that a RZA Beat Drop would come off like a whiny bitch-fit about how hip hop was great before, and sucks now, and so on and so forth. So, I had a by-myself meeting, as I do every evening, and I asked myself, “Self… so what?” That is but a small price to pay to properly honor someone like The RZA.

Robert Diggs has one of hip hop’s greatest ears for music, using innovative samples that helped pave the way for the future of hip hop production, always willing to take risks to advance his sound (though those risks and advancements may not have always pleased everyone). He had the foresight necessary to build the first true hip hop empire, strategically planning out the first wave of Wu-Tang solo projects. And, above all, he’s a really intelligent dude.

I had the honor of hearing him speak back in my undergrad days, during his promotional tour for The Wu-Tang Manual (which I’d still like to read one day). It was an experience that I’ll never forget — hearing him talk about going to his first block party at 8 years old with The GZA, selling newspapers with Ol’ Dirty to save up money to buy equipment, how one could make a breakbeat out of everything from rock-and-roll to samba, how he loved Kung Fu because it reminded him of struggles he encountered as opposed to the black history at the time that seemed to focused on either slavery or pimps. Though I certainly wouldn’t want to take on the task of transcribing his at-times-mumbled words (word to AaronM), hearing him speak makes it clear how hard he has worked to get to where he is, and how humble he has remained. Simply put, success didn’t stumble upon The RZA — he sought it out, made it his, and it can never be taken from him.

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Before there was…

… there was…

Like previous Beat Drop subject Isaac Hayes (and unlike all other Beat Drop subjects), Curtis Mayfield has not produced any hip hop records — at least not directly. However, he has produced, written, and performed (either with his heavenly voice or ability to play multiple instruments) many great songs that have been sampled by some of the best hip hop producers, some of whom we’ve highlighted in the past.

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The “Neptunes sound” is candy sweet. Allow me to explain (so that I don’t have to say “no homo”)…

Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, despite their initial successes as hitmakers for the likes of Noreaga and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, are responsible for some of the most “bubble gum” music of the past few years. Britney Spears, Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, Kelis, Usher, Gwen Stefani — the ‘Tunes’ signature spaced-out drums, synths and keys, coupled with Pharrell’s crackly crooning, are all too familiar to 13-year-old white girls and “To Catch A Predator” detainees alike.

Yet, the “Neptunes sound” is also all too synonymous with another type of candy — the one that makes you dandy. Nose candy. Booger sugar. That white that, when cooked over a flame with water and baking soda, creates a rock-like substance that has contributed to such racial disparity in America’s prison system that Lil’ Wayne felt it necessary to dedicate about 5 minutes of Tha Carter III to discussing it. But I digest digress…

For all of their pop music and Kids’ Choice Award successes, they have continued to work with and develop artists like The Clipse, FamLay, and Rosco P. Coldchain, despite the label politic drama that seems to consistently rear its ugly head and shelve their albums. In fact, I’ve read at a couple of sites — and if random Internet blogs are no longer credible sources of information, I don’t want to live in this crazy world — that the Neptunes refused to sign off on their contributions to Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds album if Jive Records did not release Hell Hath No Fury (which would have been the second shelved Clipse LP). The end result was an insanely-successful Timberlake album with no input from the ‘Tunes, and a horribly-promoted album release from The Clipse’s former label.

Most would probably kick themselves when considering the amount of money lost by refusing to work with Timberlake, one of the biggest record sellers of our generation, at the expense of convincing a major record label that hasn’t cared about rap music for years to toss a “hit single”-less LP to the public, essentially as a tax write-off. But, I don’t think that the Neptunes regret this costly decision. Why?

Because Pharrell and Chad could have gone the easy route, ditched the flailing genre that is hip hop music, and stuck to making pop records, but they haven’t… at least, not yet. (Pharrell, Chad — if y’all are reading this, don’t let me give y’all any ideas). That’s why I respect ‘em, and why I was willing to break away from paying homage to the oft-praised “boom bap” producer — your Primo’s, Pete Rock’s, Large Pro’s and what have you — and tip my trucker cap* to the guys that “lace the beat like one of the best”. The Neptunes spent years crafting their unique sound, dating back to the days when they were carrying Teddy Riley’s bags and ghost-producing “Rump Shaker”, and deserve the right to share it with fans of all musical artists — even shitty ones.

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The College Dropout. Late Registration. Graduation. You don’t have to be too edumacated to notice the trend in Kanye West’s album titles.

It’s only fitting, though, as one could call Kanye a “student of the game”, so to speak. He encompasses so many aspects of so many great producers. He’s openly discussed the influence that RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan has had on his production style, going as far as to admit to making his Blueprint-era beats with Ghostface in mind. He worked closely with J Dilla, honoring the late legend by chopping samples the way Dilla would have on his beat contributions to Common’s Finding Forever (and doing a fine job, I might add). And his sound has always held a sense of purity rivaling that of DJ Premier, so much so that on the few occasions where Primo has added scratches to Kanye-produced records (on “Everything I Am” off Graduation and “The Game” on Finding Forever), they could have easily passed as Primo-produced records themselves.

But, Kanye isn’t your typical “student of the game”-type rap star — Kanye isn’t your typical anything, matter of fact. ‘Ye is the student of the game who’ll stand on his desk to show off when he’d get an A+, and who’ll throw a fit and squeeze out a few tears when he’d get anything less than that. He’d be nominated for “Most Likely to Succeed” and “Class Clown”. Sure, he was a mama’s boy (R.I.P.), and he idolized his big brother, but he was honest enough about it that he never set himself up to get teased. Although he had his close circle of friends who may not have been the most popular kids in school, all the cool kids knew who he was. And his personality was so likable that only the biggest bully on campus would try to pick a fight with him… AND, the bully wouldn’t even win.

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