Fast Lane- Cam Meekins ft. Chris Webby

For the song this week I have decided on a track by Cam Meekins featuring Chris Webby called Fast Lane. This song is reasonably old, but pretty unheard of. It’s an upbeat, mellow, but inspirational song. I really like Cam and Chris’s versus in it and they go along well with the hook. The hook itself, however, I am not the biggest fan of, it’s a little bit too “sing-songy” for me, but I think it’s a great fit for the song, and doesn't bring the track down by any means. The best lyrics in the song are pretty hard because there are no great punch lines, or any too clever rhymes, but all of the versus have great flow and meaning. If it came down to it though, I would definitely go with Chris’s couple of opening lines, I just really like the flow of them, and how the rhyme scheme is:  “Living in the fast lane, eyes on the road. Hands on the wheel, empty bottles on the flow. I don’t even know, where I’m about to go, my futures undetermined so I’m taking life slow”. I also really like this song because I think it’s cool how these two rappers came together to collaborate on this song with their different backgrounds and styles. 

I got this picture from a website called Fresh Grinds. 

They do have a couple things in common though… like being young white rappers from the east coast, and being relatively new in the rap industry. Both of these rappers have huge potential and I am a huge fan of their music... Christian Webster is a twenty six year old from Norwalk, Connecticut. He is pretty new (and arguably still working his way up) to the big time rapping industry. However, he has had some outstanding opportunities to work with some of the best artists around. Artists like: Freeway, Mac Miller, Joell Ortiz, Big K.R.I.T., Method Man, Prodigy, Bun B, and Kid Ink. All these are all pretty good and are definitely worth checking out if you get a chance. He also has three albums out, called Homegrown, The Underclassmen and Chemically Unbalanced, along with an EP called There Goes the Neighborhood, and many mix tapes and singles. Chris’s music definitely has a unique style about it that is somewhat mystical, but very captivating… It gives off almost a “trippy” vibe. In a lot of his songs, he talks about partying and drugs, but many others are about his life, and are pretty inspirational (like Fast Lane). He has also done some pretty sweet freestyles, which you can check out on Youtube, and I would highly recommend. Cam Meekins, on the other hand, is one of my favorite rappers, his mellow music is perfect to listen to anytime. You can read more about Cam Meekins in my first blog post: Cut Me Off. 

I took this image off of a page called DjBooth. 

G-Eazy - Lady Killers II

This week I have chosen a song from the very well known G-eazy called Lady Killers II. However, this song is much less known than the artist himself. This song is a remix of a previous song he wrote called Lady Killers. It has a very similar hook, a little more up-tempo beat, but a completely different rap. I personally like this song much more and find it to be a perfect cross of mellow music and pump up music. It is a little bit dub-stepy, but still has some great rhymes in it. The best lyrics of this song are hard to distinguish because G-eazy really only raps about girls and drugs, however, I am still a huge fan. If I had to choose though, at the beginning of the song there is a pretty good part where he rhymes a solid five bars all ending with words sounding like killer, and he says “cold like burr, make you shiver”. I think this is pretty clever, and should probably be recognized at the “best lyrics” of this song. Another very clever part of this song is the album cover: the original “Lady Killers” is on an album called “Must Be Nice”, and the album cover for this single is “Must Be Twice”. 

I got this image from Sound Cloud's website. 

Gerald Earl Gillum is a twenty-five year old rapper from Oakland, California. Better known by his stage name: G-eazy, and also referred to as the “James Dean of Rap”, due to his good looks and all of the ladies he gets. Being a white rapper, G-eazy definitely has a disadvantage in the rapping industry, but he doesn’t really follow a traditional rapping style. Unlike many rappers in today’s industry, G-eazy isn’t really a “gansta (or) ghetto rapper’’, he is more of a gentle rapper that doesn’t use harsh language most of the time. Also, he usually loses respect from the big time rappers because he includes girls singing in almost all of his songs. However, I like his style, and he has definitely made a name for himself in the present rap industry. 

I got this picture from a website called "Oh So Fresh".

G-eazy has released much music throughout his career, however, in the early stages, he was unable to produce and release it because of his low budget. Aside from that, he has six mix tapes, 3 Eps (Extended Plays), and one debut album called “These Things Happen”. His album has many hits, and people all around the world know most, if not every song on it, and can usually sing along to the songs. G-eazy is an amazing artist, with his own style, that has worked his way to the top of the rap industry that deserves a lot of respect and gratitude for his hard work. 

I got this picture of G-eazy's album cover from a website called "Indieu".

World Wide & Back and Forth by Logic and Castro

Since I didn’t do a post last week, this week I’ve chosen two sweet collaborations with Logic and another prodigy: Castro, who is also part of Rattpack. Logic and Castro have made many songs together, usually made by Logic featuring Castro, and they are all usually some of my favorite songs. Also, from this week on I am going to start incorporating some new things into my posts, such as “best lyrics” and when is the best time to listen to the song…

The first song I will talk about is called World Wide, and is actually made by Castro, featuring Logic. The hook in this song is not my favorite, but I really enjoy both Logic’s and Castro’s parts in this song, especially Castro’s introductory verse. This song is perfect to play while getting pumped up before a big game, at a party, or even while hanging with friends. I would say that the ‘best lyric’ in it is during Logic’s part when he says “I’m Batman in a room full of Robins”. This quote itself is not the most creative, but it is a big part throughout the song because there are other Batman references, and I find it interesting how Logic is identifying himself. This song includes moderate explicitness: there are a couple words and some sexual reference. 

I got this image from a website called Fresh New Tracks. This image is also the background of the music video. 

The other song (Back and Forth), is more like a freestyle (it’s pretty short, and has no hook or chorus), but it’s very catchy, and both Logic’s and Castro’s parts are well done and prove that they should be considered among the best rappers in today’s industry.  The ‘best lyric’ from this song is, without a doubt, when Castro says “I stay on dimes, so you can call me Roosevelt”. This has multiple meaning (which is really why it is so creative), because dimes can either mean really pretty girls, or a literal dime that is American currency, which has President Roosevelt on it. This song also has moderate explicitness, with many swearwords, and some sexual reference. Never less, these are both great songs with some of the best artists around. 

I got this picture by taking a screenshot from  Castro's Music video Boomerang. 

Sir Robert Bryson Hall II is a twenty four year old rapper from Gaithersburg, Maryland, who goes by his stage name: Logic. Castro is a very underground rapper, so there is not much about him online, but I know that he is also from Maryland. Logic and Castro started this group called Rattpack, this is a play off of Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack, however, Logic’s group stands for Real All The Time (RATT). I really like this group’s music, and find it very creative how they play off of Sinatra. 

I got this image of Logic from a website called Ticket Fly.

The use of the Sinatra idea goes far beyond Rattpack, all of Logic’s albums are titled with something along the lines of “Sinatra”, and he even identifies himself as “Young Sinatra”. His albums (as of now) are Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever, Young Sinatra (Undeniable), and Young Sinatra. However, his music goes far beyond his albums. He has released many mix tapes and singles that he is primarily known for, and that I am a huge fan of. Castro on the other hand hasn’t released an album yet, but his singles and mix tapes, in my opinion, are some of the best around. One of my favorite songs by him, called Boomerang, I think, is among some of the best hip/hop/rap music out today. 

I got this picture form a website called Medievalbeatz.

Once again, thanks for checking out my blog, and leave any comment for requests, questions, or anything else.

-Eli Levine