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Best Of 2008: Jim Jones

 

We asked some of our favorite musicians to tell us about some of their favorite artists, songs and moments from 2008. Here's what New York champagne-popper Jim Jones had to say about the year in music.

Big Events of 2008 That You Address On Your New Album
I’ve been finished with my album so I didn’t get a chance to mention anything about a black president and all that type of sh*t there. But my albums always talk about the recession. We been in a recession. It’s called poverty. That’s what my album reflects. All my n*gg*s in the hood that’s coming up hopeless and trying to struggle to make a dollar. It ain’t easy because they ain’t giving no jobs so we hustle to get ours.

Best Of 2008: Common

We asked some of our favorite musicians to tell us about some of their favorite artists, songs and moments from 2008. Here's what Chicago MC/actor Common had to say about the year in music.

Big Events of 2008 That You Address On Your New Album
I wrote about Obama. It was more in a way of talking about the change that I see happening in the world when people were started to get inspired by what Obama was doing. The hope that everybody had in their eyes and all the unity and energy that we got out there going right now. I have a song called “Changes” that’s really is symbolic to that and it really could be Barack Obama’s inaugural song because it is something that really deals the positive changes and seeing a better day for the youth and the future. So that’s one song that I could say that revolves around a big event that happened.  You know, to be honest, a lot of the rest of the songs on the album is more just about having fun and enjoying life. There was so much trouble and people were going through so much that I wanted this music to be a release. To be something for them to let go, take their minds off of it, feel some type of inspiration, and just think about fun, smiling, and kicking it. I wanted that to create that energy because I knew people were going through so much.

Best of 2008: DJ Khaled

We asked some of our favorite musicians to tell us about some of their favorite artists, songs and moments from 2008. Here's what Miami DJ/hitmaker DJ Khaled had to say about the year in music.

Big events of 2008 that you address on your new album
I try to just express the grind, the hustle, and showing people you got to go hard

Video: Mark Romanek Keeps Lebron's Powder Dry

Man alive, these dudes know how to sell some sneakers. I don't care if you're wearing last summer's gladiator sandals with some Thinsulate socks or some Chuck Taylors you bought off some crustifarian hanging out outside of Gilman Street, whatever, whatever: you must respect the architects. Nobody merges sound, vision and commerce like Nike. The above commercial was directed by Mark Romanek, famed music vid auteur, responsible for clips such as Jay-Z's "99 Problems." The Lebron ad features appearances by Lil' Wayne and basketball G.O.A.T. Oscar Robertson. The song you hear in the clip is "Candyman," by Cornershop.

Video: Q-Tip Goes Record Shopping

I know how it is, my fellow patients. Teeth hurt, sciatica acting up, whooping cough, etc. It's hard to keep a handle on the various maladies of modern life. But when's the last time you had your Taste Barometer tuned? What's that? You haven't looked under that hood in ages? Well, let Dr. Q-Tip, M.D. help you with that.

Q&A: Ludacris

Six albums in, Ludacris wants to be considered one of hip-hop's best lyricists. Which seems a little odd since the Atlanta native has already racked up five platinum albums, sold almost 13 million records, and won the Best Rap Album Grammy for 2007’s Release Therapy. Then again, maybe some people think Luda’s gone Hollywood, having landed roles in Crash, Hustle & Flow and Max Payne. Ready to prove that he still lives and breathes rap, Cris is back with Theater of the Mind, which aims to be a sonic blockbuster, and features Jay-Z, Nas, Chris Brown, T-Pain, T.I., Rick Ross, Chris Rock and Spike Lee. Rhapsody recently got Ludacris on the phone to discuss recording with DJ Premier, dropping Theater ...  on the same day as Kanye West and the Killers released their new albums, and collaborating with his one-time adversary T.I.

Dig This! Curumin

FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD: Curumin, "Compacto"

Curumin is the Quannum artist who shouldn't be. On a Bay Area label of underground rappers, the young man born Luciano Nakata Albuquerque is a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist who doesn't rap and is, in many ways, an old-fashioned songwriter. But when Quannum co-founders Blackalicious toured Brazil in 2004, Curumin's manager slipped his first album, Achados e Perdidos, into their hands, and the group listened. What they heard seriously impressed them: a young man who had Stevie Wonder on the brain, James Brown in the beats and Jorge Ben in the melodies. Shortly after, they signed him.

Two things drive Curumin: a powerful nostalgia for the simplicity of childhood and a voracious appetite for new sounds. JapanPopShow, his second album, is a vintage-era masterpiece. But, for all its diverse influences -- Brazilian pop, soul, funk and reggae  -- it's also a complete musical universe. There are no loose threads. And given how beautifully textured the album is, perhaps it's not surprising he's a Quannum artist -- any hip-hop producer would want to sample these songs. (In fact, several rappers guest on the album.) We caught up with Rhapsody's Dig This! artist in early November, and asked him about all the usual stuff -- the album's name, his inspirations -- but we got a lot more: meditations on youth, our modern world, and what tradition means in the age of globalization.

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]

Dig This! School of Seven Bells, Curumin, San Quinn

Welcome to the November 2008 version of Dig This! Every month, Rhapsody’s editorial staff will introduce you to a few artists you may not know, give you a chance to check out their music, and present them in their own words -- watch this space for upcoming features on the individual artists. Oh, and we’ll throw you some free downloads from them, too.

This month in Dig This!:
Curumin, a Brazilian of Spanish-Japanese descent who fell in love with American hip-hop and Jorge Ben at the same time.

San Quinn, an underground rap legend in the Bay Area, prolific and celebrated locally, but only now starting to break out on the national stage.

School of Seven Bells, a Brooklyn trio that combines gorgeous harmonies, a world of rhythms and some ecstatic studio sense to create beautiful psychedelic pop jams.

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]