December 23, 2007

The Year-Ending Blog Post That You Probably Saw Coming


I started Hip Hop Isn't Dead back in 2007, partly as a means to discuss hip hop and expose people that may only be accustomed to the shit that is played on the radio, but mainly to satisfy my need to write while slowly working on by screenplays and short stories. I never anticipated the level of commentary I would receive on by posts, whether they be positive or negative, so I just want to thank every one of my two readers for looking out for the blog, and hanging in there during the unexplained hiatuses, which I cannot promise won't happen again (I'm just sayin').

I also want to give a shout to the pages listed on the side; either they are blogs with some written content that is consistently fascinating to read (like Poisonous Paragraphs, Treebeats, Wake Your Daughter Up, From Da Bricks, Hip Hop Is Read, or When They Reminisce), newer blogs that I just discovered but should make waves in the new year (Metal Lungies, Lyrics To Go, and Revamped, Refreshed, Let's Start Over, for starters), or people that just throw up random albums but were nice enough to include me on their blogrolls, so I returned the favor. Hopefully people that were bored while bootlegging their shit clicked on my link and were amused for at least a minute or two.

Special shout out to the folks at Ultimate Wu, a blog that is so packed with posts that it's almost fucking impossible to actually write a new blog telling the visitors about the Wu posts that appear here infrequently (seriously, it is a bitch to post anything over there now, but maybe that's a testament to the sheer number of Wu-Tang stuff that they have and you didn't know existed). Extra special thanks to anyone who actually clicked over to read the reviews and leave comments, either on my blog or the Wu blog, whether they were positive or of the "fuck you, your opinion means shit" variety.

I mentioned this before, but it warrants repeating: I added on the artist search engine on the side, so hopefully it'll be easier for everyone to discover that write-up on MC Paul Barman's EP that I wrote about waaaay back in the day. And while on the subject, while labeling everything I noticed that there were a LOT of write-ups that may not have ever been read from the early days (some may chalk this up to nobody really caring about the albums I critiqued, but I don't think it's possible that absolutely nobody had anything to say about the Black Star album, or the first Common CD, or even the earlier Shawn Carter discs), so be sure to click on those and enjoy if you haven't seen them before. Hopefully in the new year I'll be able to keep all of my two readers happy with the level of output. As I mentioned above, there will probably be more times when I'm not able to post anything for days at a time, so hopefully I don't lose any more readers than I already have. I would expect more of the same in 2008, meaning more reviews of CDs you either should or shouldn't listen to, accompanied by the usual smart-ass commentary. Some may question the Timbaland review that was posted before this one (as in, "What the fuck are you writing about that CD for?"), but you can't ignore the mainstream just because you feel like it; I mean, we're all exposed to this crap on a daily basis, so I believe people need help distinguishing between the good stuff and the utter shit. Hopefully, though, I'll be getting further down into the nitty gritty and pull some albums out that deserve both accolades and better record sales.

I plan on starting up some new discographies, including one for a group that, if everything goes well, should begin on January 1, 2008. I'm going to let that one be a surprise to you, but longtime readers of my blog should be able to figure it out. There are also a ton of discs that I promised I would write-up at various times throughout the year, but always conveniently found myself busy when the time came (Stillmatic comes to mind, as does the second Cormega album), so I'll be playing some catch-up as well.

Also in 2008: more italics!

Well, I'm off. Feel free to use the comments section to leave suggestions, requests, death threats, and what have you, and hopefully I'll see you two in the new year. Happy Holidays!

-Max

16 comments:

  1. Max,

    Thanks for the shout and festive wishes: same to you fella.

    See you in the 0-8!

    Peace,

    Dan

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  2. Happy holidays too mate ! thanks for the great work you've put in this past year, i like both your musical taste and your humor !!!

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  3. Max, hope you have a good New Year, man. You've come a long way.
    Looking forward to seeing more stuff from HHID in '08.
    Thanks for the shoutout too.

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  4. Good work Max. Trust me the write ups did lead me to buying a couple discs. I dunno how I got to this blog but im thankful for whatever that took me here. Especially since Im the kind of guy that heavily depends on a second opinion b4 I actually buy something. Happy holidays and all.

    PS: Im looking out for a Chino XL write up.

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  5. Looking forward to more album reviews and *gasp!* more italics!

    Keep on keepin' on, Max.

    One.

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  6. oi oi, merry xmas and a happy new year etc.

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  7. I'm looking forward to read your posts in January, this being the best blog I've ever read and all.

    Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

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  8. Good luck next year.

    props to people who put time in and write in-depth reviews (aka not me).

    Peace,
    I.R.A. Soldier

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  9. review for the cool? 8) and a tribe called quest?

    happy new years btw, love your blog

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  10. Thanks for the great work Max. I appreciate the recent flurry of activity even if it did include more praise for a second rate Timbaland album than for Rakim. I never knew Dice Raw dropped a solo album. He's been an accessory to murder many times on his guest spots, I'm surprised that you hate his record. The Keith Murray album is horrendous. I liked his first two efforts but I stopped checking for him after that abomination. The W is a solid album but I was very annoyed with the hints of songs that were sprinkled throughout. I remember being ecstatic for the Gza song that ends before he could truly murder that beat. It was like going to see a Tyson fight in '88 except Mike comes out, slapboxes for a minute and goes home. The 18th Letter is not nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. I don't have it with me right now but the first 6 or 7 songs were pretty much what I wanted and expected. There were two songs about Ra sexing the ladies that were embarrassing for everyone involved but I also liked a few songs after the opening sequence. The album was kind of monotonous and all the good songs were pretty interchangeable but that's Rakim. Even the songs from the glory days are all about the reasons why Rakim is a better rapper than you. I don't think this album is a classic but I would definitely recommend a burn or at least downloading 5 tracks or so. I agree with you on one thing though: the alternate versions were definitely unnecessary on this album. I'm off to check out Lobster & Scrimp.

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  11. appreciate the shout out, keep it up in '08!

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  12. Merry christmas and all that Max! I'm still consistently checking for your posts so i hope you find the time to blog in 08.
    All i've heard of Dice Raw is from the roots albums, most notably his do you want more?!?!??!!!?!?! (or is it !!!!?!?!!!???) appearance, so i was somewhat disappointed to hear his solo album was crap. I suppose that's hip hop for ya...

    Lobster and Scrimp best jay/timbo collabo? I reckon it would be between that one, nigga what, it's hot or dirt off your shoulder. Earlier this year a jay/timbo collabo was released - "laff at em" or something. Jay craps on about how popular versace was in 1997.

    The artist thing on the side was a great idea. I was also going to suggest a 'best of 2007' type thing, but then i figured you may have been too busy this year to hear enough albums to make a list. Some time ago you had a vote blog where commenters could vote between 5 different albums, could that be a better idea now that you have more readers?

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  13. You want to give some shine to some good music? Review some Beatnuts albums.

    Or you could do an analysis of how the hell could the first Smiff-n-Wessun album be so good, and the second one be so bad.

    Either way they both have horrible rap intros for you to make fun of.

    What's up with the folks at the Ultimate Wu making it so that you need a password to get in . . . fuckers.

    Anyway, thanks for the entertainment and the work you put into the blog.

    Listening to that much Jay-Z must have killed some brain cells, and we appreciate the sacrifice.

    Happy Holidays.

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  14. Blessings and best wishes and keep it coming in the 08.

    Your 3rd Reader

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  15. What's Good Fam. Thanks for the Out the Shout, I Means The Shout Out (could've sworn my glass of eggnog was done). Anyway, Hope all is good for you through this holiday season and hope that you only encounter peace, prosperity and paper in the 2-double OO- 8. Look out for new post on me blog.

    So, peace to the nation, the people that represent, and those cats that never bug out to the extreme

    Yo, If word is bond
    then Q is gone

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  16. stumbled upon your site and spent a couple of hours reading your reviews... some interesting reads, i do think that you come off as a hater in some of the reviews though.

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