In addition to accepting new music in my e-mail inbox, I have found that “keeping my ear to the Tweets” is a pretty good way of finding about new artists, mixtapes & albums. Twitter was the way I found out about a new trio from Philadelphia, The New Age & their debut album Novus Ordo Seclorum – The New Age Order. The group consists of lead MC Traverse, DJ C-Sharp, and Grand Master Burner on drums. Blending genres, they describe themselves as “Hiptronic Electrohop”. It’s a mouthful, but the music backs up the complexity of the description… it’s a mixture of hip-hop, electronica, live drums, and even a guest appearance on bass by the legendary Chuck Treece.

The New Age is signed to IXiiV Records (that’s “9 2 5″ for those of you not steeped in your Roman numerals), a label looking to revolutionize music downloads with something they call a “Hoodie”. I received a CD booklet, but in order to obtain the music, I had to log into the label’s website and enter a 10-digit code. Once I downloaded & opened the zip file, I found a lot more than just music waiting for me… the download included the full album, a music video, several image files & even ringtone-ready .mp3 & .m4r files… kind of like getting a “Deluxe Edition” CD from the store. To learn more about Hoodies, check out this YouTube video. Now, on to the album…

Novus Ordo Seclorum – The New Age Order starts off with “Godspeed”, a track that begins with a slow, deliberate drum beat and what sounds to be a slowed-down sample of Zombie Nation’s “Kernkraft 400″ as a backdrop. Traverse’s flow is a little lazy at first, but as the chorus transitions to the second verse, the beat speeds up… similar to going from 33RPM to 45RPM on a record player… and Traverse sounds much more at home flowing over the faster beat. It kicks up in speed yet again (78RPM?) for verse three, and Traverse rides right along, not missing a beat. Definitely a solid way to start the album off.

The album’s title track comes next… “Novus Ordo Seclorum”. A rumbling timpani arrangement backs the primary live drum beat & creates something you might expect to hear during the latest Jason Statham action flick. Again, Traverse lays rapid-fire vocals over the beat. A good track, but not high point of the album… the vocals dominate and the bass is a bit hard to find. This could be the fault of my headphones, but most of the other tracks on the CD had a good balance of highs & lows.

Among other highlights are “Notice”, which does some new things with the oft-used Isley Brothers “Footsteps in the Dark” sample, “Take ‘Em Back”, which features South Jersey’s P-Rawb and perhaps the best production on the album. “Urban Cowboy” reminds me of something I might have heard on Crucial Conflict’s The Final Tic (in a good way), and Traverse’s faux-Western accent is pretty well-done. “Girls On Bikes”, the first single from the CD, is quite catchy, although the live drum track could use a little boost on the levels. “All That and More” is an enjoyable tune that could be more enjoyable with a stronger vocal performance from Miss Tara on the hook. I’ve never heard her sing before, but her vocals here are bit soft for the forceful beat.

Download audio file (notice.mp3)
The New Age – Notice

On the flip side, there are a few tracks that I consider a swing & a miss. The Southern-tinged “Puma Boys” doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the album with the synthesizer-heavy production. “Camera Phone” is… yep, a song about taking pictures of a woman on a camera phone, regardless of consent. Again, it sounds like this is geared toward fans of Southern rap, with a much slower beat and the screwed chorus. “Prepare For Glory” is probably the best example of the mixture of electronica & hip-hop, but it’s just not my thing.

Overall, this is a pretty solid debut album & I look forward to hearing more from The New Age in the future. If anything, I’d like to hear a little more live instrumentation on future efforts… they have a pretty talented drummer in Grand Master Burner and he could be complimented by other live musicians in addition to C-Sharp on the wheels.

Download audio file (takeemback.mp3)
The New Age – Take ‘Em Back (feat. P-Rawb)

For more information on The New Age, including how to purchase Novus Ordo Seclorum – The New Age Order, visit IXiiV Records website.

If you don't know who this man is, get the fuck off my blog.

I was born in 1979. The same year that Sugar Hill Gang recorded “Rapper’s Delight”. I turned 30 this year. In hip-hop terms, I’m an “old head”. According to Soulja Boy & his ilk, I should probably hang it up and listen to Mel Torme. Truth be told, I’d rather listen to The Velvet Fog than most of what permeates today’s “urban radio”.

Not long ago, I was asked by the homie Mikey McFly why I had so much love for hip-hop music. The reason for the love is that hip-hop & I grew up together, and it taught me a lot about myself . Growing up,  my Dad listened to a lot of 70s dirt rock (the term with which I affectionately refer to acts such as Meatloaf & Lynyrd Skynyrd), while my Mom was pumping a steady diet of 1960s soul & folk music into my head, including just about anything that Motown & Stax put out, combined with a little Janis Joplin & the Soundtrack to “Hair”. I have an appreciation for almost all types of music, but hip-hop is my true love.

It had to have been around 1985 that my Brother introduced me to hip-hop music with a compilation album (a for-real ALBUM, made of wax & everything) that included songs like Doug E. Fresh’s “The Show”, “A Fly Girl” by Boogie Boys, and Roxanne Shante’s “Bite This”. It didn’t take very long for me to fall in love with hip-hop, and while the relationship has been rocky from time to time, it only takes a step back to the golden era to renew my adoration.

I let this tape rock til the tape popped...

In 1988, at the ripe old age of 9, I went to Warehouse Music and bought the first cassette tape with money I had earned from doing chores… NWA’s classic Straight Outta Compton. The cashier was kind enough to overlook the parental advisory warning and sell it to the tow-headed kid with the bowl haircut, and for that I am eternally grateful. NWA was my first foray into so-called “gangsta rap”, which in ‘88 still had a “the ghetto’s fucked up, you don’t want to be here” feel to it… far from the ‘hood glamorization that it morphed into. Maybe I was just more open-minded back then, but I seem to remember it being perfectly OK to simultaneously appreciate both gangsta rap and the more conscious, Afrocentric hip-hop that was coming out around the same time. Acts like Public Enemy, Brand Nubian, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Paris & X-Clan were all extremely influential to me in my formative years, guiding me to research African & African-American history.

That was one of the things about hip-hop music that I loved during my childhood that has almost completely been eradicated… a sense of pride in the music. Not even necessarily pride in one’s race or nationality, but in the worth of the personal being. In 2009, the “pride” that we see in hip-hop music is centered around cars, medallions, women… all the things KRS-One warned us about in “Love’s Gonna Get’cha”. There’s no longer a sense of self-worth unless that worth is derived from material possessions. Allow this mentality to thrive and soon you’re left with…

This kid standing so close to anything with the words "hip-hop" on it is a travesty.

Although I’m a proud Cali native, I place the blame for hip-hop’s demise squarely on the West Coast. The beginning of the end of the golden era even has a date: December 15th, 1992, the day Dr. Dre’s The Chronic dropped. The incredible amount of attention that the album received, combined with the commercial success, all but did away with the positive & progressive-thinking hip-hop that had been so prevalent. Gone were the African medallions and thought-provoking lyrics, and in were the stories of drive-by shootings, promiscuous sex, misogyny & illicit drug use and/or selling. In the interest of full disclosure, I seriously LOVE this album… but I saw it as the Yang to A Tribe Called Quest’s Yin, not a dominant force that would take over the game, nor was I rooting for it to do so. The East Coast’s response was not only to match the violence and misogyny of the West, but to do it in a flashier, even more marketable manner. After the East Coast dominated the scene for nearly decade with sample-heavy & complex production schemes, the South surged into the scene in the late 90s with simple lyrics & even simpler beats. The only things that remained the same were the materialism, violence, and negativity towards women.

If this is the definition of "real", point me to where "fake" is. Thanks!

The “golden era” of hip-hop is called that for a reason… the music was raw, the lyrics were honest, the performers were hungry… some metaphorically, some literally, some both. Despite some of the subject matter, there was a sort of innocence to hip-hop in the 1980s that was a direct result of its infancy. We talk about mainstream vs. underground hip-hop these days… In the 80s, nearly ALL hip-hop was underground because it had nowhere else to be. Now that hip-hop IS the mainstream, the “old head” is quickly becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. The hip-hop fan of days past looks at the successful hip-hop of 2009 with both appreciation & disdain. We don’t dislike the new music simply because it’s new, we dislike it because it has strayed so far from what hip-hop was & in my opinion, is meant to be. Yes, I’m thrilled that hip-hop, as a genre has succeeded beyond anything I thought was possible when I was younger. But as a fan of not just the music, but the culture behind it, I lament that the success comes at the price of hip-hop’s soul.

“But Sam,” you say, “you run a hip-hop related blog… and it covers current artists!”… And you’re right. There is plenty of good hip-hop music in 2009, if you do your research and dig for it. Just to name a few, Tanya Morgan, Blu, TiRon, Brother Ali, Writtenhouse, Hustle Simmons are all among my favorites. But the culture of hip-hop, the culture that at one point was focused on uplifting entire communities of people, won’t improve until one of two things happens: either these kinds of artists achieve some sort of commercial success that doesn’t involve them blending entirely into the mainstream, or hip-hop dies out of the mainstream altogether and goes back to being a purely underground form of entertainment. Would the death of hip-hop as a commodity save its soul as a culture? Once you take the prospect of wealth out of the game, you’ll get rid of the players for whom wealth is the only goal.

…so what say you, o readers of bluntedonreality.com? What’s your personal experience with hip-hop? What do you think of the current state & the potential outcomes of the music & culture? Let’s build!

That having been said, it’s been a rocky love/hate relationship between Hov’s music & my ears. Reasonable Doubt continues to be my favorite Jay-Z album, and apart from a few tracks here & there, I pretty much ignored him during the jiggy era. He got my attention back around the first The Blueprint, and I’ve checked out every album since, with mixed results… but overall I’ve been pleased with his product.

The Blueprint 3 has already received a lot of press… there have been three tracks out from the album for at least the past two weeks, and reception has been lukewarm. Since it’s leaked, and it’s all over the internet, I figured I’d give it a listen… here’s a track-by-track breakdown:

The album begins with “What We Talkin’ About”, which features Luke Steele, half of the Australian electronica duo Empire of the Sun. Can’t lie, I really like this song…  Jay’s lyrics aren’t anything ground-breaking, but the 80’s-throwback Euro-glam style track is laid-back and a head-nodder at the same time.

Next up is “Thank You”, the requisite “for the fans” track that most artists do when their careers are in the stage that Jay’s is in… on top of the world but slowly becoming less & less relevant due to Auto-Tune & skinny jeans. An enjoyable, bouncy track. And speaking of Auto-Tune…

“D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)“ is the 3rd track, and was the 1st single to be released. When I first heard this song, I was incredibly excited about BP3. Jay stood to gain nothing by taking on the hip-hop status quo with a song dissing the vocoder, but he did it anyway. Between No I.D. on the boards (whose production credits on Common Sense’s Resurrection album will always make him one of my favorite producers) & aggressively anti-Auto-Tune lyrics, I thought Jay was ushering in an album that would be full of hip-hop for grown folks. Through 3 tracks, it’s looking pretty good.

…that’s kind of where it stops, though. The rest of the album is inconsistent as hell, and way too packed with guest appearances. “Run This Town” is up 4th, guest starring Rihanna & Kanye West, who also takes on the production. Rihanna’s guest appearance is so-so, and while Kanye’s verse dominates the song, it’s just more disjointed bragging from ‘ye, which by now we’re more than used to.

Alicia Keys bests Rihanna (duh!) on the hook for “Empire State of Mind”, which is just what it sounds like… an homage to NYC. This is far better than “Run This Town”. Nothing notable, but an alright track. Then it takes a severe turn for the worse.

So I’ll admit it… I’m biased. I don’t like Young Jeezy’s flow or subject matter, pretty much ever. He starts “Real As It Gets” off with a few shout-outs to gangs. Yep, that’s right. Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords… is this 1994? Did I buy a copy of Bangin’ On Wax? After bar after bar of gang & drug references, Jeezy’s got the nerve to say “and if you listen hard enough, I say some things”. Well, I listened. You didn’t say anything, Jeezy. Jay follows suit with lines like “Set sail, I used to duck shots/ but now I eat quail/ I’ll probably never see jail”. Profound.

Even if the track notes didn’t tell me that Swizz Beatz was behind the beat to “On To The Next One”, you could figure it out between the simplicity of the pattern & his scratchy calls at the tracks opening. In all honesty, I don’t dislike the track, but the “on to the next one” sample that plays repeatedly is a little overbearing, even annoying after a minute or two. Simple beat & a repetitive chant? This will be a hit in the South, for sure.

Next-big-thing-of-the-week & Canadian import Drake lends a chorus to the Timbaland-produced “Off That”. That’s it, though… just the chorus. No verse. I have to wonder if Drake recorded a 16 better than Jay’s and was relegated to chorus-only duty. Regardless, the Timbaland track makes this one a potential club banger, but not much else.

Remember that whole “Death of Auto-Tune” thing? Well, someone had a defibrillator & brought it back to life on “A Star Is Born”… it’s in the first :02 of this hand clap-heavy song. The production on this track seriously sounds like something I would expect on a T-Pain album, but definitely not as the backdrop for the guy who likens himself to Frank Sinatra.

“Venus vs. Mars” is next… I half-way expected him to go toe-to-toe with a female MC on some battle-of-the-sexes shit, but none of that is to be found here. The beat is nice, Jay has some quotable lyrics, and the subject matter is kind of fun: “I thought shorty liked Mike/ turned out she liked Prince/ thought she was Adrienne/ it’s been Rocky ever since”. Not a bad track.

Mr. Solo Dolo himself, Kid Cudi, appears on “Already Home”, which is, dare I say, potentially the best track on the album since Death of Auto-Tune. It’s all about the industry and critics trying to bring him down, which after listening to the majority of this album seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy in the making. Once again, the guest star, fresh off a number of hit singles of his own, is relegated to the chorus and never gets a chance to really spit.

Next up is “Hate”. Seriously, Kanye? You thought this beat was a good idea? C’mon, son! Downright awful. That’s all I’m gonna say.

“Reminder” suffers from the same horrible hook issues that plagued “Run This Town”. The droning “Reminderrrrrrrrrr” is grating, to say the least. The premise of the song? A reminder that Jay-Z is perhaps the greatest entertainer of all time in any field of entertainment. Ever. At least in his eyes.

Pharrell Williams lends what sounds like a track that was salvaged off the Neptunes’ cutting room floor for “So Ambitious”. He also provides a convoluted chorus that somehow combines professional ambitions & pursuing a menage-a-trois within a couple of bars of each other. Again, Jay is bragging about his abilities and money. We get it Jay.

Finally, a big “what the fuck?” moment. Alphaville’s “Forever Young” is sampled for “Young Forever” with Britain’s own Mr. Hudson singing the hook. I don’t know what Kanye sees in Mr. Hudson, but this cat cannot sing. Since this is the last track on the album, I’m half expecting Jay to follow up with an Outro where he tells the listener that he just played the biggest joke on them and he knew that they’d listen to whatever bullshit he puts out, simply because he’s Jay-Z. Mr. Carter, you shouldn’t have even ironically put this song on the album. It’s that bad.

Final Verdict – A very generous D+. Jay-Z is hip-hop’s answer to Brett Favre, unable to just flat-out retire and putting out half-hearted efforts as a result. Unless he comes out with another album that returns him to the glory of some of his previous efforts, this is a terrible end to such a successful & storied career.

As can be expected with any sort of venture outside of typical genre structures, the album is hit-or-miss. The hits are really spot-on, though… the lead-in track, “Army of Misfits”, is a trip back in time and borrows from Naked Eyes’ “Always Something There To Remind Me”:

Download audio file (ArmyOfMisfits.mp3)

The follow-up “Wanted!” leads in with a Jack-Davey-goes-to-Strawberry-Fields synthesizer. “Wanted!”, however, also fits into the miss category… while the music is toe-tap & head-nod inducing, the lyrics are nothing new. I don’t know if they were going for an ironic slant, but after the lead-not-follow tune of  “Army of Misfits”, lines like “girl you got me vexed/I’m savin’ up all my checks/to take you out in the Lex/and next we makin’ moves/to the back of the club/yea, the bass is pumpin’/but dancin’ just ain’t enough/we both thinkin’ ’bout sex” don’t really fit.

Download audio file (Wanted!.mp3)

“Life…” takes the album in a blues/rock direction, and SupaStar’s vocals work really well with that backdrop. Other highlights of the album are the Prince-inspired “The Revolution”, and funky synth-heavy tracks like  “Spend The Night” & “Get Off”. (hmm… I sense a pattern here).

Overall, if you’re tired of cookie cutter r&b and hip-hop, or if you’re an eclectic music fan with a taste for something new, “Love & War” is a good album & a solid first effort from this Philly artist collective.