Interview: Kendrick Lamar

I never thought we'd get into video interviews on Rap Atticts, but sometimes you've gotta seize the oportunities that are given. Me and the big homie Mayday went to see Kendrick Lamar a few weeks ago, and met him after the show (pretty cool guy I must say). A few weeks later, Kendrick came to Morhouse and performed. Being that he remembered us and we knew where we were going, Me, Mayday, & and our homie Scotty Bugatti set up and interview with Kendrick (We snuck backstage). This was some unplanned, spur of the moment shit, and for us to actually pull it off shows how dedicated we are to this profession. The Fort got to learn who Kendrick wants to work with, what he'd be if he didn't rap, and how the idea of Section 80. (Which in my eyes is still the best album of 2011 so far)came about. Shout out to Kendrick for being nice enough to rock with us, and giving us a new tagline. Tune in or get lost.......

-Plewto S.

Mixtape Madness: Mac Miller- I Love Life, Thank You

Say what you want about Mac Miller,you can't deny that he makes good music. To celebrate gaining 1 million followers on Twitter, Mac decided to throw together a new tape. "I Love Life, Thank You" is full of killer songs and is great for the fans that are waiting for "Blue Slide Park" in November. The production is on another level of dope, and it sounds like Mac has found his niche for what he wants musically. "I Love Life, Thank You" has the previously leaked "Willie Dynamite" as well as features from Talib Kweli, Sir Michael Rocks, & Bun B.


Mac Miller- I Love Life, Thank You Free Download

2011 The BET Hip-Hop Awards Cyphers

On the real, the only part of the BET Hip-Hop awards that I look forward to each year is the cypher segments. You take that away, and I'd have no reason to even watch the show (Yeah it's usually bad). This year, the cyphers were pretty dope. You had your mix of mainstream and indie rappers, and most of them came pretty hard. Some rappers that were previously in the cypher came back (Ace Hood, Wale, Reek Da Villain, Royce Da 5'9, Joe Budden), which is a little disappointing. It would've been nice to see some other new artists come and kill shit (Danny Brown, Mac Miller, Shawn Chrystopher), but those in the cypher did damage nonetheless. DJ Premier is back this year with a brand new beat (A sample of "The Big Payback" by James Brown). Here's what you might have missed.


Indie Meets Mainstream Cypher: B.o.B, Big K.R.I.T, Tech N9NE, Machine Gun Kelly, Kendrick Lamar



The opening cypher was pretty good, but not severely memorable in my opinion. K.R.I.T came through with his usual rhymes about life in the south, and Tech showed why he's so underrated. He was one of the better ones in this segment. Machine Gun Kelly was just decent. He had a few nice lines here and there, but nothing was really impressive. Kendrick bodied his portion, especially with the Oprah line. B.o.B showed that he still can rhyme his ass of even with going mainstream.

Best To Worst: Kendrick Lamar, Tech N9Ne, B.o.B, Big K.R.I.T, Machine Gun Kelly.


Uncut Cypher: Reek Da Villain, Busta Rhymes, 2Chainz, Ludacris


This cypher was actually really good. Reek Da Villain did a dope job of opening up and had alot of hot metaphors. It went the same way with 2Chainz. Busta Rhymes shined the most on this one and BODIED this segment. He also had the longest verse too. Luda closed it out and had some fire shit to end it all. Busta took this one hands down. For the other three, it's a bit of a toss up cause the verses were equally good.

Best To Worst: Busta Rhymes, The rest I honestly can't call.


Survival of The Illest Cypher: Skillz, Lady of Rage, Blind Fury, Dom Kennedy



The way I feel about the 1st cypher is how I feel about this one. It was good, but it wasn't really anything I can see myself remembering in a good week. Lady of Rage had some nice lines in there ("Inhale the ether, they can't breathe easy when I'm around, they get weezy like the son of Ceetha). Blind Fury's portion sounded like he was freestlying. That line about Notorious always coming on BET was hot. Hands down, Dom had the worst verse of every cypher. I'm not surprised though, cause he's not that lyrical. Last up was Skillz, and his bars went in, he did the best in this one. Maybe he does deserve the award for destroying the cypher "laughs"
Best To Worst: Skillz, Lady of Rage, Blind Fury, Dom Kennedy

Maybach Music Cypher: Rick Ross, Wale, Pill, Stalley, Meek Mill


Maybach Music was the first group cypher of the night, and overall they did a pretty fire job. Wale and Pill were pretty neck & neck on there verses, but Stalley didn't really impress too much. Meek stole this segement with his verse and he probably gained some fans with his freestyle. Then there was Rick Ross. Rick Ross was Rick Ross. He gave you the general kind of verse that he usually gives you. Nothing to write home about

Best To Worst: Meek Mill, Tie between Wale & Pill, Stalley, Rick Ross



International Flow Cypher: Estelle, Nitty Scott, MC, Lecrae, Soprano


I'll be honest and say that the international cyphers are usually my least favorite. This year it was the total opposite. Nitty Scott, MC & Lecrae WRECKED their verses. Lecrae especially took home the title of the best with his lines about Jesus. Crazy thing is, through all the religious portions, it's still super lyrical! Soprano's flow felt so distinct despite the fact it was in French. Estelle's actual flow was up there in the fly department, but her lyrics were so-so.

Best To Worst: Lecrae, Nitty Scott, MC, Soprano, Estelle

Chris Brown & Friends Cypher: Chris Brown, Ace Hood, Kevin McCall, Tyga



It kind of felt like this was the 106 & Park cypher, but it was still okay. If I had to rank all of them, it was probably my least favorite. Ace Hood was good as the opener, but Kevin McCall did damage as MC number two. Tyga felt very boring to me. The things he said didn't really stick to my ribs. I won't even front on Chris Brown's verse. He had some really nice bars in there. That line about getting head went in.

Best To Worst: Kevin McCall, Chris Brown, Ace Hood, Tyga


Shady 2.0 Cypher: Eminem, Yelawolf, Joe Budden, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, Royce Da 5'9



This was the absolute best cypher of the night. None of them had wack shit to say in their bars. Yelawolf came back harder this year with an even hotter freestyle, but I can't say the same about Joe Budden. His verse was definitely hot shit, but it didn't top his 09 appearance. It felt like Crooked I and Joell Ortiz were freestyling, and either way they demolished shit. Royce had the funniest line of the night (Hi Rihanna). His verse was a great set up for the last freestyle of the night, Eminem. No debating, Eminem had the hottest verse of the night and shut everyone down.

Best To Worst: Eminem, ALL THE REST WERE EQUALLY DOPE

Uncut Dope: Kendrick Lamar- Cloud 10

Kendrick Lamar has done so much heavy shit in a year. Heavy touring, The Freshmen 10, a critically-acclaimed album. That doesn't stop him from making even more tracks. On "Cloud 10", he basically tells the story of a relationship. It's good shit and could've been on "Section 80." if he wanted. I don't know the full truth to it, but there are rumors that this songs going to be used for a Windows commercial. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

-Raul A.

Kendrick Lamar- Cloud 10 Free Download

Uncut Dope: Common- Blue Sky

I love me some Common (musically that is). He's one of the few rappers from the 90's that's still pushing on and making music in double zero era. Now Common's working on his ninth project "The Dreamer, The Believer", and he dropped this yesterday. "Blue Sky" is a pretty solid song, but for some reason it doesn't hit me hard or heavy. It sounds like Common's trying to expand his sound even more than he did on his last album (Universal Mind Control). That may work for him or against him.

-Raul A.

Common- Blue Sky Free Download

Uncut Dope: Big Sean Feat. Nick Minaj- Dance (Ass) (Remix)

I can honestly say when "Finally Famous" by Big Sean originally dropped in June, "Dance (Ass)" was my second least favorite song (I only hated that track with The-Dream more). Four months later, and I love this song! It's just so catchy and danceable that it grows on you out of nowhere, and it's definitely killing the clubs in Atlanta right now.

Nicki Minaj's been thrown on the remix, and I can't front, I busted out in laughter when I heard her verse. It's just so out there. It goes from freaky to goofy and in alot of ways I can't really take it too seriously. I prefer the original more, but I know the remix will do way more numbers if it's released. Nicki is killing way too much shit for it not to.

-Raul A.

Big Feat. Nicki Minaj- Dance (Ass) (Remix) Free Download

Mixtape Madness: Travis Porter- I'm A Differenter 3

TRAVEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! It's just something about Travis Porter that I love musically! Maybe it's the fact that it's just fun music and not meant to be taken seriously. It's somewhat harmless. Anywho, Travis Porter's back with their third installment of their "I'm A Differenter" series. When you go back and listen to the first two tapes, and then listen to the third, you realize the growth and backtracking in it. The good thing is they have better rhymes and some more hard hitting beats. They also have more high-profile features (Wale, Big Sean, Lloyd, Meek Mill, YG, Kelly Rowland). The bad thing is their music is starting to sound the same as far as content. The message of getting hoes and money may be starting to run thin for me, and now it's starting to come off a little boring. I like the tape, but I don't see me playing this on a regular basis in two months. On another note, the artwork is killer! They still are strong in that department too.

-Raul A.

Travis Porter I'm A Differenter 3 Free Download