The Current Online

by Morgan Ryman

Selling crack and shooting people has worked so well for the multi-platinum rapper 50 Cent that he decided to try it with his third studio album, Curtis. The end product is about as generic as a modern gangsta rap album gets, which seems to be what the masses crave.

The prevailing themes of this album include getting paid, as evidenced in “I Get Money” and “Movin’ on Up” which refers to his financial gains in the streets and in the boardroom. On the track “Straight to the Bank”, 50 says, “I ain’t even got to rap now.”

On the killing anyone who gets in your way end of things, “I’ll Still Kill” features Akon, rap’s go-to man for guest vocals. The guitar-driven “My Gun Go Off” opens the record in a typical, driving fashion. “Curtis 187″ and “Fully Loaded Clip”, two tracks produced by Havoc of Mobb Deep, have the hardest feel to them.
Timbaland and Justin Timberlake drop the most memorable track on Curtis with “AYO Technology,” a hypnotic stripper anthem that is undeniably catchy.

With the rest of the record, we are reminded of why Eminem is retired, but he still shows that he can be gloriously bland with “Peep Show.” Dr. Dre’s aged talent goes to waste on “Come & Go” a rehash of the phenomenally popular “In Da Club” and “Follow My Lead,” with the warbling singer Robin Thicke, shows that 50 has a softer, apologize-for-calling-you-a-bitch side. Young Buck and Nicole of Pussycat Dolls fame appear on the Dre-produced “Fire,” Mary J. Blige delivers the unfortunately memorable chorus on “All Of Me,” “Your body is calling me/got me feeling like a fiend on crack.”

The record ends with “Touch The Sky,” featuring Tony Yayo, a song that would have sounded more in place around the middle of the album.

If generic, non-challenging, hard gangsta rap is what you crave, Curtis may very well be the record for you.

by Morgan Ryman

Kanye West, in his first album since 2005′s Late Registration, advances to the next class of hip hop with Graduation.

This class seems to focus on trimming his product, which does not suffer from the absence of skits. West has received his bachelors in orchestration, and is currently working on an associates in electronics, as evidenced in the Daft Punk heavy single “Stronger.”

The album draws from polar opposites of the music world. “Barry Bonds” features Lil Wayne delivering his typical braggadocious flow. Coldplay’s Chris Martin sings the chorus of Kanye’s ode to Chicago “Homecoming.” T-Pain’s synthesized voice croons over “The Good Life.” John Mayer provides vocal support on an iTunes bonus track, the too harsh-to-be-pop, too-sugary-to-be-the-blues “Bittersweet Poetry,” the reflective and bright “Flashing Lights,” featuring neo soul artist Dwele, and the low down highlight of the album, “Drunk and Hot Girls,” featuring street poet Mos Def in an unexpected singing role.

Despite all the guest appearances, Kanye still stands out the most on tracks he solos. The whimsical “I Wonder,” the optimistic, Steely-Dan-laden “Champion,” his powerhouse single “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” and his tribute to his friend and mentor Jay-Z in “Big Brother,” where Kanye finally proclaims he has achieved “stadium status.”

West has always had an ego that could fill a stadium, but with this album, it is officially proclaimed that he has made it. The fusion of orchestration, electronics, and good, old-fashioned record mixing feels like it is at his peak, just like his other releases. Also like his previous efforts, if West could perfect his vocabulary and delivery, he would be able to crush big brother.

Graduation is not necessarily the state of hip hop on the streets, but Graduation is definitely the state of hip hop in the universe.

by Greg Farley

An epic confrontation of musical proportions occurred on September 11, 2007. The much-anticipated Curtis album, brought to you by rap star 50 Cent, has arrived along with the release of Kanye West’s Graduation. Over the past month and a half, it has been among the hottest topics among music fans and forums that these highly acclaimed albums would arrive on the same day. That day came this past Tuesday.

There is not much separating the two except for their styles. 50 Cent is the stereotypical gangster rapper hailing from New York City, with hit songs like “I Get Money” and “Ayo Technology.” Kanye is the more conscious rapper of the two, because he is not afraid to take on bigger issues with songs like “Can’t Tell Me Nothin’.”

This is the third album for both 50 Cent and Kanye, having both begun their trek in 2002. So it is easy to see that 50 Cent has something to prove now that show time has arrived. The media has attached to this competition of musical prowess, with numerous advertisements and updates. Even Las Vegas is in on the action, taking bets on who will sell more during the first week of sales.

So will 50 Cent’s Curtis or Kanye’s Graduation win the war? Only time can tell. My prediction was that 50 Cent would emerge with the victory, simply because he is more mainstream and knows what it takes to outsell big name competitors as opposed to Kanye, who is the far better lyricist. As of right now, though, it seems as if my prediction has not come to fruition.

The first day sales show that Kanye has sold 437,000 copies to 50 Cent’s 310,000 copies. More recent figures show that Kanye has won the race to platinum, moving 1,153,000 units, to Curtis’ 921,000.

In her third studio release, Erykah Badu continues on her path to evolve. So it’s no surprise that Worldwide Underground, her latest CD, has many unexpected changes.

Unlike her last two albums, which focused heavily on the neo-soul sound, Worldwide Underground shows a more creative Badu that allows her to show off more of her funky hip-hop side. Her latest single to hit the airwaves, “Danger,” an ode to her significant other letting him know that she’ll always be there for him, is somewhat of a continuation of her song “Other Side of the Game” off Baduizm. ” We like to keep the cop running/ we try to keep the cop running/ we like to keep the b* tch humming,” she says. This new rawness from Badu continues throughout the whole CD, unveiling a new side of her.

Unlike most CDs these days, the album has only 10 tracks on it, with two of them being the Intro and Outro. The rest of it is an interesting mix of vocal chanting, funky board mixing and long-ending songs. While some of the tracks take a few rotations to get used to, most of the songs are quite catchy, including “Back in the Day,” a song that kind of takes you back to the ’80s, when radio was not afraid to play different songs instead of the same ones over and over all day long. The song has that playback feel that you can listen to whether you’re laying back at home or riding around. It also features sexy Lenny Kravitz on electric guitar, which adds a little edge, making you wish the song were longer than four minutes.

This time Badu decided to showcase her more creative side by writing all but one of the tracks and even doing all of the ink drawings in the liner notes. Involving more of herself may explain why it sometimes sounds jumpy but somehow successfully fits together.

While a few of the songs end abruptly, some drag on through 11 minutes. A good example would be “Bump It,” an eight minute song that has a good flow all throughout, but wastes the last three minutes on vocal chanting (think Jill Scott’s “He Loves Me”). That is cool at first but gets more annoying by the minute. On the other hand, “Think Twice,” a live-sounding jazzy track featuring trumpet player Roy Hargrove gets you into the groove all too easily, only to disappoint when barely clocks in at three minutes. Both songs are definite playbacks, which though, cannot be said for “Love Of My Life Worldwide.” This useless song could not save itself even with Angie Stone and Queen Latifah featured. The track sounds more like a botched attempt for Badu to be more mainstream, while it’s painfully obvious that she’s better creating her own sense of style.

Despite these minor flaws, Badu proves that she can make a quality album without recycling the same producers, such as The Neptunes or Jazzy Pha. While Worldwide Underground may not be saturated with platinum-laden rappers or semi-naked dancers, it does provide you with a broader view of music and style, something that no recording studio can teach you.