Review: Big Boi & Killer Mike at the House of Blues

The last 2 weeks have been a blur for me. Got to witness my sister receive her law degree in Atlanta and my mother get her doctorate in Educational Leadership in the same week. To end it all, I returned to Atlanta somewhat when I went to go see Killer Mike and Big Boi at the House of Blues.
I hadn't been to the HOB on Sunset since 2007 when I interviewed Chuck D and sadly had to leave before Public Enemy took the stage. Yes, I chose a date over seeing PE up close and personal but if it makes you feel better, I had seen them a week prior at Rock the Bells.

Anyways, I got there right before an opening act started. Fishhawk was a pretty cool band but the sound made it hard to appreciate them until their last two songs. Their lead singer definitely was a character on stage with his curly hair and stage antics but I dug their sound. I may give them a listen on Spotify to see more.

Then it was time for Killer Mike. Soon as I heard the opening seconds of "God is In the Building" Mike came out spitting his opening verse from "Big Beast", the lead single from last year's "R.A.P. Music."

2012 - Year in Review (Albums and Music Thoughts)

So after reviewing my favorite songs of 2012, here's my favorite albums. I felt last year was a much better year for music. For one, I actually had top albums in my favorites instead of mixtapes. Some folks made challenging music and even though popular radio decided to keep going one way, folks didn't mind going against the grain.

My Top 5 albums
Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (A hip hop masterpiece)
Nas - Life Is Good
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
THEESatisfaction – awE naturalE (Funky Divas making soul out of Seattle)
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (best male R&B album since BLACKsummersnight)

The Rest of the Best
Big Boi - Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors
Ab-Soul – Control System
Jack White – Blunderbuss
Gary Clark Jr – Blak and Blu (please don't sleep on this goodness)
Big K.R.I.T. - Live From the Underground
Actual Proof – Black Boy Radio
Santigold – Master of my Make-Believe
El-P – Cancer 4 Cure
Dr. John – Locked Down (Fun and funk from a New Orleans legend)

2012 in Review: Favorite Songs

Every year I do a Year in Review series so here's my pick for my favorite songs of the year that I listened to.

Hands on the Wheel – Schoolboy Q and ASAP Rocky had one of the year's first hits. I'm in no way advocating the message of it but it went hard. Hypnotic beat, dark hook and my first sign that TDE was more than just Kendrick Lamar.

Schoolboy Q reminds me of a harder Game and this might have been the hardest song I heard get radio play (which I still don't understand considering it was pretty profane). But either way, it definitely stayed in my head and as I've learned, big hooks hit you harder than almost anything.

Electric Relaxation: Virgo's Jukebox (April-June Pt. 1)

It's been a long time but I figure I'd give you a glimpse of what I've been listening to the last 3 months. So like Mos Def said, enough talk, let's move.

I had high hopes for this album because over the past six years, few MC's have grown as much. He's become the modern Ice Cube for his booming voice, political content and flag bearer for real hip hop. I'm a fan of his Grind Time mixtapes but after hearing he'd be having El-P produce this album, I got even more excited to hear how they'd inspire each other.

I didn't like "Big Beast" at first when I heard it in February but when I heard the whole album, it was powerful. It was like Killer Mike channeled his anger and passionate delivery and made an album to stand for mature hip hop that was still enjoyable. None stood out more than "Reagan", a song targeting hip hop's favorite Presidential punching bag with the same anger that Chuck D brought out 25 years ago.