A Music Minute

This past week and a half has been huge musically. First, Dr. Dre released two singles, Kush and I Need a Doctor, that are set to be on his much anticipated album, Detox. Dre's rapping isn't, and never has been, anything too spectacular, but, as on I Need a Doctor, look for artists like Eminem and Snoop Dogg to bring lyrical justice to his beats. Secondly, Kanye West came out with his (some would say) "masterpiece," My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. He delivers a gem that is as much notable for its purely musical content as 'Ye's rapping. That being said, he's a nut. The last thing he needs is a wildly successful album to boost his ego. Watch out country music starlets....

Now who likes free music? (I do! I do!) If you're like me, and your quality of life revolves around the availability of good, new music, then you are in for some good times. Three names for you to remember: Machine Gun Kelly, Oncue, KAM Royal. These are three up and comers who have the talent to make big things happen. I'll start with MGK. Ok, Cudi fans take a deep breath.....Machine Gun Kelly is the best rapper to come out of Cleveland......ever. If you take a listen to his fresh sophomore mixtape, Lace Up, you'll realize that that last statement was no stretch. This kid goes harder than anyone else coming up in the game right now. His passion reminds me of a lot of Eminem. This is the kid from Cleveland to keep an eye out for. Oncue came out with a mixtape called Cuey Sings the Blues over the summer (a must have) that seriously put him on the map. Last week he dropped Leftovers, a collection of tracks that didn't make it onto the 'tape. That being said, these songs are every bit as good as the earlier ones, if anything, the gap gave him time to go back and polish them into something better. He fluidly combines solid rapping with a nice singing voice. Stick that with great production and some quality covers and you've got a recipe for success. Last but not least, we have KAM Royal. The least polished production-wise, I think he has the most potential given what I have heard of his lyrics. My favorite song off his first mixtape, Business as Usual, is The Lesson, a song that provides a smooth day-in-the-life profile of the artist. The other songs are along the same lines. The production will only get better, meaning that the only direction for KAM to go is up. Download the three mixtapes below.

One last note. Check out OCD: Moosh and Twist on youtube. These guys have opened for Mac Miller (one of my favorite artists right now) and are primed to release a mixtape in January. My favorite tracks by them are Wake Up, Live it Up, and Since the Beginning. Live it Up

Lace Up- Machine Gun Kelly
Leftovers- Oncue
Business as Usual- KAM Royal