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  • » Name: William E. Ketchum III
  • » Location: East Lansing, MI
  • » Member Since: 04/12/07
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Speech Is My Hammer...

The Roc is in the Building?


October 30, 2007 | Tags: none

 



 

 

Is it just me, or does it seem like it was only a year or so ago when Roc-A-Fella was having its real-life version of Death of a Dynasty? Jay took the label and clothing line names for himself, interviews and bars were exchanged, and artists were shuffling like casino cards. Granted, Kanye was still delivering, but that was the only really reassuring thing about the label.


But these days, it’s almost like they never left.


Star player Kanye started off strong with Graduation, a junior LP which simultaneously abandoned some of the Chicagoan’s established LP qualities—hilarious skits, high profile guests—while beefing up the more important ones, like convicted rhymes, quirky humor and genre-bending beats. Not to be outdone, Big Brother Hov has gotten back on his grizzly with the five-star classic American Gangster, which recaptures the plight (and flow) of Reasonable Doubt and pairs it with the maturity of Kingdom Come. While I’m sure that Hov’s usage of beats from Hitmen, Toomp and others have left Kanye salty (Lawry’s!), that’s still two wins for the team.

 

 



And it looks like they aren’t slowing down. Shakepedia has told me that Freeway's Free At Last is top notch (despite a reported lack of beats from Just Blaze and Kanye, which should be interesting), and considering how Beans was in rare form on American Gangster’s “Ignorant Shit,” I’m guessing that his upcoming The Solution is going to be just as dope. Granted, Tru Life and Memphis Bleek still aren’t doing shit (sorry, but random mixtape appearances and a three-year-old 9th Wonder cameo don’t count), but they weren’t going to anyway. And the roster isn’t as bloated as it used to be, but with random clowns like Teiarra Mari taking up space, a more calculated, streamlined approach may be just what the Roc needs.

 



All that’s missing is one more big name artist (Jadakiss, anyone?), and the Dynasty can be as strong as it’s ever been. Part of me is hurting that Dame and Biggs aren’t there to be part of this revamping of the label, though.

 




 

EDIT/P.S.: It's been brought to my attention that a blogger on another site just did a similar post a day or so ago. Being the anti-biting advocate that I am, let me give him his just due to avoid any controversy. Still, just to be clear, I thought of this entry offtop.


The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

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