3D Na'Tee - The Coronation Mixtape

A couple of years ago I told you about an artist out of New Orleans named, Na'Tee.  Well, although she's made a slight change of her name to 3D Na'Tee to pay tribute Third Ward, she's back with another mixtape.  The name may have changed, but she still may be the best rapper you've never heard of.

Music You May Have Missed (Mini Rant + Music)

It always irks me when so-called hip-hop fans say that there's nothing to listen to.  The percentages of good to bad music may be down, but the overall amount of good music might be up.  The curse of the internet age is that everyone and their mother can put out music whether they have an ounce of talent or not.  The gift is that it's easier for artists to get music into the hands of their fans.  Here are some of my favorite free releases since the start of 2010.  There's definitely something for everyone:

Na'Tee - Guess Who's Coming 2 Dinner Mixtape

Normally I just post a mixtape without any commentary whatsoever, but I must say something in this case because I don't see her on many blogs.  First of all, from the cover alone I can safely say that she isn't for everyone. But throughout her mixtape she claims, like many female emcees, to be the best female emcee in the game. I don't know if that's true. I hear a fair amount of them and a lot of them are good. But I will say this, she's the best emcee male or female from New Orleans. I'm going by strictly technically speaking in regards to flow, metaphors etc. Yeah, I know who else is from New Orleans and no, I'm not hating. Just stating the facts as I see them.

Click Here To Download

If you like what you hear enough you can cop a physical CD from 3DNaTee.com.

Thanks for stopping by,

8

The Digital Lynching Of Nicki Minaj

If you follow this blog at all, you'll notice that I don't editorialize a whole bunch.  For the most part I just give you music, videos and other random things I happen to find online.  But lately, I have come across a trend that I really don't quite understand.

Why is there such hate for Nicki Minaj?

It's not just hate.  It seems that all of this hate comes exclusively from women.  This blog entry was partially inspired by this Clutch Mag article as well as random tweets and blog posting that I come across in my web travels.

I ask this and I'm not even a Nicki Minaj fan, although I do see the talent.  I tried listening to one of her mixtapes once and it was deleted from my hard drive after one listen.  The funny part was that it wasn't deleted as a result of her performance, but moreso because she had way too many male guests that stunk.

I have read a few different criticisms.  Some say her body is fake.  What does that have to do with her music?  At least it's not bad plastic surgery like Lil Kim, Janet Jackson or her brothers.

Some say they hate the silly faces she makes.  It's funny, but I find them refreshing and comedic.  The majority of women in music videos are trying way too hard to look sexy.  At least Nicki switches it up a bit.

Others have said that she lacks talent.  Which makes absolutely no sense to me.  She's stolen the show on any track that I have heard her on (editor's note: she's typically on tracks with cats that suck).  The whole lacking lyricism argument just isn't true.  I love a lot of her punchlines and she seems to have a nice flow and presence as well.  Hell, as far as we know she writes all of her own material.  We can't say the same thing for Foxy Brown or Lil Kim's biggest hits.

The vacancy of female rap artists have made such an astounding impact on the hip-hop generation that the emergence of someone like Minaj presents a peculiar mix of unpreparedness and prediction. Minaj isn’t merely a Lil’ Kim clone, she is the 21st century inheritance of post-modern branding, technological advancement and hip-hop male desire. In a music genre where authenticity is everything, Minaj’s (and camp) diligent attempts at packaging a distinct female hip-hop presentation with borrowed Barbie nuances and a rehearsed dialect in tow raises questions around the Minaj underneath it all.

Women complain about lack of female emcees, but do they support the women that are out there?

Hip-Hop might be dominated by men, but it seems that women control the purse strings.  Over the years the music has become so cotton soft that it's ridiculous at times.  It's to the point now that even r&b artists are being considered Hip-Hop and skinny jean wearers are running the game.

There are plenty of women out there that are making music for you, no matter what kind of emcee you're looking for.  Besides the obvious women to mention there are newer emcees like RaTheMC (pictured to the right), Nina B. or Na'Tee. Those three are just the ones that have been featured on this blog.  If you're looking for a better class of female emcee, they maybe out there but are you buying their music, going to their shows, telling your friends about them or blogging them?

* RaTheMC image courtesy of Sneakshot aka Gravity508.
**No, Nicki has not been digitally lynched, but the title caught your attention, right?

Na'Tee - Heavy Is The Head That Wears The Crown

Click Here To Download