Chesstown King's Reviews and Thoughts

Chance the Rapper’s latest is a really good gospel-rap feeling album. There’s a good guest list including Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Future, Young Thug, and 2 Chainz. I really like the song Blessings and All Night. Very different songs sure, but very effective. The song with Justin Bieber is ok, but nothing special. Lyrically Chance is on fire. The beats aren’t bad either. This is one album that lived up to my expectations. The Verdict is a whopping 9.2/10

A$AP Ferg returns with a damn good album. It has more or a pop sound than Trap Lord had. Most of the songs are really good, and there’s some stand out guest spots like Missy Elliot and Schoolboy Q. As good as the album is I guess I expected a little more which keep it from being a 9/10, despite having solid lyricsm and production. So yeah check this album out. You won’t be disappointed, its just as good as his first album if not better. The Verdict: 8.8/10

The 2016 NBA season was magical. The playoffs didnt get off to a great start, but it got intersting quickly....lets break it down round by round. 1st Round I'll start with the west....The Golden State Warriors were 73 and 9 in the regular season, the best mark in league history. They easily dispatched the Houston Rockets in 5 games....what was so remarckable is Steph curry didnt play for most of the games. Portland upset the L.A. Clippers in 6. I undertand tho, the clips had too many key injuries to win. OKC Thunder easily beat the Mavericks.....but at this point i wasn't too sold on OKC...The Spurs swept the Grizzlies. No surprise there. In the East, the Cavaliers barely beat the Pistons in 4. I really knew the Pistons had no chance. Atlanta dispatched Boston in 6 rather moderately. I think injuries played a factor. Miami barely beat Charlotte, i think home advantage played a factor. Raptors barely beat the Pacers....it was very very close. Both of those serieses went

2)T.I. vs. 3) Drake 2 nd Seed T.I.: Beat Killer Mike4-2, Lil Wayne 4-3 3 rd Seed Drake: Beat Rick Ross 4-2, Ludacris 4-2, Big Boi 4-2… Flow-Hmm I really like Drake and TI flows so it’s a tie. 1-1 Delivery-Another tough category. Tie again 2-2 Albums-Okay this is supposed to be a tie, but I’m going to break it down. Drake has nothing but good albums, but he only has 1 classic, TI has 2 (King and Paper Trail) so TI gets the nod here. 3-2 Storytelling-Drake gets the nod here, sure he’s singing uh rapping about the girls, but hey its effective. 3-3. Legacy-We’re looking at a tie again, but TI wins and here’s why. He’s just been so dominant for so long, while Drake has been dominant just a few years. NO THIS IS NOT an easy decision, but what u gonna do partna? T.I. wins 4-3 Final Thought: T.I. faced tough completion and dominated. He faced off with Killer Mike and Lil Wayne, the latter almost beat him. Fellow YMCMB rapper Drake also almost won. So he is the King

Midwest Bracket 1)Kanye West vs. 2)Eminem 1 st Seed Kanye: Defeated Nelly 5-1, Defeated Lupe 3-2 2 nd Seed Eminem: Defeated Twista 5-0, Defeated Common 5-2 Flow-Eminem gets the nod here, but not as easily as you think. Kanye has really improved from College Dropout days. Listen to his incredible flows on MBDTF. Eminem has been A1 since day 1(except for Encore).  0-1 Delivery-Tie. Both rappers are really varied really gifted in their rhyming eloquence lol. 1-1 Albums-Kanye gets the nod here. His discography is arguably the best in any region…(besides the Game). Eminem has 2 or 3 classics depending on how you look at it, the other albums are good. Kanye has 2 classics no 3 if you include MBDTF. Everything else is pretty high too. 2-1 Story-Eminem wins here as well. I mean both can tell a story, but Eminem does it really effortlessly and more consistently. 2-2 Legacy- Actually we have a dilemma here. I want to say tie…but I don’t want to go to that. Lets brea

4)Ice Cube vs. 5)2pac 4 th seed Ice Cube: In Round 1 Defeated Eazy E 5-1, In R2 he beat Schoolboy Q 5-2, He beat Dr. Dre 4-2. 5 th seed 2pac: In Round 1 defeated Jay Rock 4-2, he beat Kendrick Lamar 4-3, and The Game 4-3. Flow: It’s a tie. Both rappers are legendary….1-1 Delivery: Hmm Cube and Pac attack each beat when they want to, but Pac seems just a little more versatile in that regard. 1-2 Albums: Ice Cube wins by  hair. He’s got 2 classics and some other great albums, while some of Pac’s posthumous works counts against him(while it didn’t count againt Biggie). 2-2 Story: Another tie folks. Ice Cube could really story tell, especially early Ice Cube. Pac is known for that as well…..so yeah 3-3. Legacy: Another tie breaker based on Legacy. While I love Cube’s legacy, he’s known more for being an actor than a rapper. So yeah Pac wins this category. 2pac wins 4-3                                                                      Final Thought:

1)Nas vs. 2)The Notorious B.I.G. 1 st Seed Nas: In Round 1 Nas defeated Ja Rule 5-1. In Round 3 he beat Jay-z 3-2. 2 nd Seed Biggie: In R1 he beat Fabolous 5-0. In R3 he beat Ghostface Killah 4-2. Flow: TIE. Both rappers have impeccable flow. You’re talking about 2 of the greatest MCs obviously I mean this is the final round. 1-1 Delivery: Biggie wins in this category. Nas is great but he really only raps one way. 1-2 Albums: Another tie. You knew this if you saw the Guidelines post. Sure Nas has way more albums, but Biggie’s 2 albums are just as great…. 2-3 Story: I love Biggie’s storytelling, he really was a complete rapper. Nas on the other hand had great songs like Rewind. It seems he might be the best storyteller in any region. Nas 3-3. Legacy: Ah the tie breaker. Of course in this round this isn’t easy to call…Okay so Jay beat Nas in this category, and Jay copied Biggie, but regardless…I give this one to Nas. Sure he has way more material…but the dude h

I have nothing against dance-rap but this album is nothing special, and it loses it’s flair quick. There are some quality songs here…but they sound pretty similar to each other. Overall I wouldn’t recommend spending money on this. The lyrics are atrocious. LOL! The Verdict is a solid 5/10.....foh lol

Kanye West vs. Lupe Fiasco: Can you say Chi city F-Lupe gets the nod here. Kanye does have a great flow, but Lupe is arguably the best here in any region… D-Kanye gets the nod this time. Great delivery. Unique also. A-Kanye again. Not an easy choice. MBDTF and TS&Y cancel out. After that tho, Kanye has a clear advantage. S-Lupe wins here. Really tough tho, but yeah…. L-Kanye and Lupe were once just known as backpack rappers….Kanye is more influential and gets the nod here, but not by much. Kanye wins 3-2 Eminem vs. Common: Hmm F-Tie. Here me out…yes Em is a lyrical juggernaut but Common is just as good in this cat. D-Eminem, he is just too varied, too good in this cat. A-Em gets the nod here, but not as easily as you’d think. MMLP 1 & 2 put him over the top. S-Tie. Common is a proficient story teller as well. Em cant edge him out there. L-Chai Town’s Nas, comes up short here, Eminem again. The white boi has changed rap. Eminem

Some hail this as Ja Rule’s best album. It’s certainly in the conversation. Ja is having fun here. The singles are really good….and the production is solid. It’s also the album that Ashanti made her debut. Lyrically the album isn’t that bad either. The songs seem to have some great depth too. I’m Real with Jennifer Lopez is dope to this day. She says the n word(I’m pretty sure.) Lol. Never Again is another favorite track of mine. Peep this album mane. Verdict: 8.8/10

This is without a doubt, Usher’s best album. Here’s why… The lyrics are great, the singing is on point, and the hooks are catchy as hell. The album starts out with Yeah, the certified classic banger. Then it gets more even paced and sentimental with songs like Throwback, Burn, and Confessions 1 & 2. The special edition has My Boo with Alicia Keys and a remix to Confessions 2. There’s also a great song Red Light which I love. The production on the album is almost flawless as well. I know you’ve already heard this album, but if you haven’t go listen! Verdict: 9.9/10

Big Boi vs. Drake: Old School vs. New School Flow-Well it’s a tie. Both rappers are close to impeccable. Delivery-I’m actually going to give this to Drake. Not an easy call tho. Albums-Big boi edges out Drizzy here, but not easily. Story-Drake wins this category too. Good lawd…lol Legacy-Drake wins here as well. He’s just been too dominant. Drake wins 4-2 T.I. vs. Lil Wayne: Heavyweight matchup F-I’m going to say ….T.I. wins this one. Lil wayne is inconsistent. D-Tie. Both rappers have some dope and varied delivery. A-T.I. by a landslide. He’s got multiple albums better than Tha Carter III. S-Tie. Both rappers are really good in this respect. L-Lil Wayne. He’s got more acclaim, more copycats, more popularity. T.I. wins 4-3

The Game vs. 2pac: A living legend vs. the GOAT? Flow-Tie. Both rappers have great flows… Delivery-Tie. Game and Pac have some of the best deliveries rap has ever seen. Albums-Game wins this category. He’s just had no really weak albums, while some posthumous Pac albums weigh Pac down a little bit… Storytelling-While Game is a good storyteller, Pac is one of the best. Pac. Legacy- While I really like the Game, Pac’s legacy is undeniable…Pac. 2pac wins 4-3 Dr. Dre vs. Ice Cube: Is this fair? LOL F-Cube wins, but not by a whole lot, Dre has a decent flow. D-Cube wins again, he attacks verses with ferocity that you rarely here from Dre. A-Dre wins this category. His 3 albums are really great. Arguably 3 classics versus just 2 from Cube. S-Cube wins this one. He’s too good of a storyteller for his former producer. L-Not so easy. As a producer Dre has spearheaded the careers of not just 50, but also Eminem….Hmm Tie. Ice Cube wins 4-2

This is it the semi final! Nas vs. Jay-z: East Coast Juggernauts go at it. Flow: I’m going to give this one to Nas, but not by much. I feel he’s a little more consistent. Delivery: I’m going to give this one to Jay-z. Jigga has more styles it seems, but in the case of Nas, if it aint broke, don’t fix it lol. Albums: Nas wins this one, but barely. Illmatic, Stillmatic, Hip Hop is Dead, etc…even though Jay has what I think is the game’s best album in Blueprint 1. Story: Nas might be the best storytelling rapper ever, so yeah…..Jay’s not a bad storyteller but you get the idea. Legacy: I’m going to say Jay-z wins here. He’s got more copycats, even though Nas has a terrific legacy as well. This is not easy to call in this round. Nas wins 3-2 The Notorious B.I.G. vs. Ghostface Killah F-As great as Biggie’s flow is, I think Ghost is just as good…TIE. D-While both rappers have good deliveries, Biggie wins. A-Biggie again, those 2 albums are just too good. S-Gh