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If you aren't familiar with these websites, they are sites where you basically tell people, "Hey, I think this is a cool article". So obviously the more people who click those links, the more word spreads about the site. So I encourage you to, if you find the blog interesting, Digg any/all of our posts, and also save them to deli.ci.ous. (You have to register at these sites, but it's quick, free, and painless to do so).

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The First Ever Can I Kick It? Podcast

Our First Podcast!

Featuring me, (Kevin) and introducing our newest contributor, Candice! We discuss Nas, Michelle Williams, MTV and R. Kelly.

Check it out!

Note: For some reason we discuss 2007's MTV list of Greatest MC's rather than 2008's. Maybe we discuss the right list in the next one.

Try clicking on the links, or right-clicking and hitting "Save Target As" or "Save Link As" to download the podcast to your hard drive.

UPDATE: You can now subscribe to our podcast using Itunes. To do so, open your itunes application, and go to "Advanced/Subscribe to Podcast" and enter http://feeds.feedburners.com/canikickit and it should automatically begin downloading the podcast.

Coming Soon: CIKI Podcast

Yes, that's right, coming very soon will be the Can I Kick It Podcast where we will chat about hip-hop news and music. Look out for it in the next week or so!

Throwback Video Swag

This is one of my favorite songs of all time.A definite classic. I never get tired of it. It's 100% about sex but not at all in a vulgar or offensive way. Note to all rappers: you can definitely find a way to talk about the obligatory subjects in rap without every other word having to be bleeped out for radio play. Ask Tribe.

Lil' Mama doesn't rap about her head game OR her ass size

In 2007, "Lip Gloss" was released, and as fans of hip hop music, we were kind of thrown off-guard. There was this rapper on the radio with this rugged flow, and despite the fact that she grew up in Brooklyn she didn't make a record about hustling on the streets. Despite the fact that she was a young, female rapper, she didn't make a record about how good she was at oral sex or how fat her ass was. Instead, she made a fun record about lip gloss.

This deviation from what we're used to hearing raised some of our eyebrows in anticipation of her debut album to be released a year later, VYP: Voice of the Young People; and for the most part, it delivers on the promise of a positive, fun album executed with style.

The album opens with the aforementioned lead single, the percussion-only "Lip Gloss" which is successfully minimalist in a way reminiscent of of The Clipse's "Grindin'". When I first heard of this track, I immediately began imagining what kind of sexual double-entendre must be at work from this new female rapper. After hearing the song and watching the video, however I quickly dismissed that notion and began wondering if the titular "lip gloss" was a metaphor for having good character or maybe it represented the silly things that kids place value on. In the end, I think Lil' Mama literally just made a song about her lip gloss. And to be honest, I can dig it; it's fun, and Lil' Mama's flow is not too shabby.

T-Pain makes his obligatory appearance twice on the album; first on "Shawty Get Loose" which also features Chris Brown on the chorus, and then on the very next track, "What It Is (Strike a Pose)". Unlike the other albums T-Pain appears on, however, VYP doesn't particularly need T-Pain's undeniable charisma, and his presence doesn't place him at the role of "album-saver" as it often does. He's limited to being a "guest appearance", which is kind of the way it's supposed to be, even T-Pain drops a surprisingly hot rap verse on "Shawty Get Loose".

Seven tracks in, you begin to wonder. Every track has been a braggadocios party track so far, and that could work if you had the spectacular production of a Missy album or the butter flow and witty lyrics of a Luda album. Lil' Mama has proved that she can rap, and her production isn't half bad, but I don't think she's on the level where she can pull off an album about nothing without getting negative reviews.

Fortunately, as the "Gotta Go Deeper" skit on track 8 implies, Lil' Mama has saved her meaningful tracks for the last half of the album. Immediately next is "Stand Up", my favorite track on the album. It sports a neo-soul sound mixed with a classical twist of flute that is made harder by a combination of a thumping kick and an ominous tuba that commands the track. The track is a tribute to her birthplace of Harlem and hometown of Brooklyn, advising the youth there to "Stand Up" despite the hardships they face. The fourth single for the album, "L.I.F.E." is a track that promotes a similar message of hope in the midst of impossible situations, told from from the point of view of a foster child and a pregnant teenager.

There are a couple more serious songs, and you start to think, 'is this the same chick who made that fun "Lip Gloss" song?' I appreciate that she approaches the serious subject matter that she does, I think she lays it on too thick on an album that was precedented with "Lip Gloss" and two consecutive songs with T-Pain on it. Just like before, a skit marks the end of this section of the album, and we finally get another fun song, "Make It Hot". It's upbeat, fun tracks like this that I think Lil' Mama shines most on.

VYP: Voice of the Young People combines Lil' Mama's gritty New York flow with the commercial synth of popular hip hop, and it works pretty well. Lil' Mama isn't the most technically impressive rapper, although she occasionally employs interesting rhyme structure, such as poetically rhyming "shadow" and "shattered" in the heartbreak-oriented track "Broken Pieces", and her flow is as good as it needs to be. The album is refreshingly clean (no swearing; only the occasional N-word) and thankfully positive and fun. The track arrangement is very purposeful, almost sectioned off; the first part being upbeat club joints (not surprisingly three of the albums four singles are found in this section), and the second part being serious in nature. The originality in production is appreciated but this separation is very forced and draws away from the album.


Production: B+
The beats are good throughout. They combine east-coast sounds with the more pop-influence mainstream sound, and others even draw from genres such as soul and rock & roll. The arrangement of the tracks is really forced, but it doesn't make the album too much less enjoyable.

Flow/Lyrics: B-
Lil' Mama's flow is solid. She doesn't have anything interesting going on with her rhymes and flow on a technical front, which is kind of necessary to make great braggadocios tracks, which she seems to like to do. However, her subject matter is fresh and positive, and I can dig that. Not to mention she sings a lot on this album, and while not the greatest singer, she does it well enough for her tracks to work.

Originality: A-
She's a mainstream rapper who doesn't rap about money, violence, drugs, or sex. AT ALL. That's not necessarily new, but it's fresh in a time like this. I never would have thought someone like her could be successful in todays world.

Overall: B
Lil' Mama scores on her debut effort, and I honestly can't wait to see if she can put her foot in her future work and blow us away.

A few reasons R&B doesn't suck as bad as you thought it did

The world of R&B, Urban Soul or whatever the young kids are calling it these days has been suffering for a few years now. And with good reason too. One of its best talents (who shall remain nameless) is too busy pretending to be one part rapper/two parts T-Pain and "allegedly" peeing on children to make good music while the rest are either battling some sort of addiction and/or criminal case or, sadly, just not relevant.And don't get me started on all of the Michael/Janet clones running around. If like me you grew up in the golden age of R&B then this probably pains you beyond belief. There's still hope though. Here are a couple of people (in no particular order) I've discovered recently that still bring the originality:

Eric Roberson- He's been in the game for a minute even though I just found out about him two years ago.
Discovered while he was a student at Howard, Roberson first burst on the scene with the single "The Moon" in 1994. After no album materialized from his Warner Bros. deal, he went on to collaborate with the likes of Musiq Soulchild, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Jill Scott. He's also found time to release several albums of his own on his Blue Erro Soul label. His songs are definitely about everyday experiences. No flossing or slick talk about bedding different women. Just what us regular folks go through. It's not only lyrics with him though, his voice is down right melodic. It just flows over the music. He's kind of reminiscent of Stevie Wonder to me. Before anybody jumps down my throat about the Great Wonder I just want it known I love Stevie's music as much as everybody else. The reason I compare the two is because there's a certain happiness in Stevie Wonder's voice I always hear it always sounds like he's smiling when he sings. Roberson gives me that same happy feeling. Roberson also does this thing in his concerts where he asks members of the audience to give him random words and he makes a song with them. Anybody who can make a string of unrelated words into a song is alright with me.

Check him out at myspace.com/ericroberson

Estelle-She's not really a new artist, she's been hot for a minute in her homeland England. But now she's showing America what she's about on her stateside debut Shine. She's garnered comparisons to Lauryn Hill because she's also a rapper. I get why people say that but Estelle is bringing something different to the table. Her music is fresh and she has swagger to spare. I guess it's the whole British thing, but she's coming way different from most women in the game right now. European popular music is a little bit different than what we have going on over here. She's bringing a little bit of that to America. Her music not only gives props to her hip-hop and soul roots it also had a lot of reggae influence. Not only that, she also has John Legend riding with her. She has an absolutely addictive single with Kanye West called "American Boy". I love that song.

Check her out at myspace.com/estelleonline

Steph Jones- I'm a Vibe fanatic. I've been reading that magazine for about 10 years now and I always read it cover to cover. What does this have to do with Steph Jones you ask? I'm getting to that I promise. I even look at the 50 million pages of ads in Vibe before you get to the actual articles. Well I remember always seeing this model dude in the Enyce ads and being the giggly teenager I was I thought he was, in a word, dreamy. Let's flash forward to the end of last year. I was wasting time on the net as usual and came across this song "Mr. Ordinary" and after some investigating I found out that the artist behind the song was model dude! Imagine my surprise. Well just in case you haven't figured it out, model dude is Steph Jones. He's now a major label artist signed to Ludacris' DTP Records. What's different about him besides that his side hustle is modeling is that his music is all over the place, but in a good way. He's not a strictly a R&B dude. He dabbles and that's always hot. Another thing that strikes me about him as an artist is the way he connects with his fans. His journey in the music biz was a grassroots thing. He set up a myspace page and a youtube account and word traveled. He sends his myspace friends, or frands as he calls them, regular updates and makes videos not only about his music but also his life. He's definitely embraced all that the web has to offer an artist.

Listen to his music and see what he's about here and here.

Keri Hilson- She's behind some of the biggest songs in the last couple of years and has some of the biggest producers on her team and a lot folks still don't know who she is yet. They will though. As part of the writing team The Clutch Hilson has worked with Usher, Britney Spears, Mario, Omarion, Chris Brown, Toni Braxton....I could go on and on. Not only is she good with the pen, she's impressive on the mic as well. It also is a plus that she's signed to production god Timbaland's label and has ties to Polow Da Don. From songs like "Happy Juice" and "Get It Girl" her music seems really fun, up tempo and energetic. And she's also part-timin it as a video girl (but not the whorish kind), check out Usher's latest to see her in all her glory. With her talent matched up with what Timbo and Polow bring to the table this girl is gonna be as big as the hits she helps make.

Check her out at myspace.com/kerihilson

Vikter Duplaix- Okay so technically this dude isn't a R&B artist in the traditional sense. But he makes some damn good music. His 2006 release Bold and Beautiful is the best not really but kind of R&B album I've ever heard. His music kind of gives off a dance vibe but I think that folks who like urban music can still get into it seeing as how that's where the genre seems to be going these days. But his version is way smoother. As soon as I got the album off iTunes I couldn't stop listening to it for about two weeks. All the tracks flow together so smoothly and the music is so polished and modern. I swear it's like ear candy. Turns out he's also a DJ which makes him about ten times cooler.

Check him out at myspace.com/duplaix

Gangsterism ruined Latarian Milton

Last year, I proclaimed that "Gangsterism" was ruining hiphop, but I think I may have been mistaken. In actuality, excessive commercialism and an abundance of uninspired mediocre rappers is ruining hiphop. The aura of gangsterism that results from this is, however, bringing about gradual decay in another area--the community.

The latest example of this, which I know everyone has seen by now; is 7-year old Latarian Milton who went joyriding in his grandmother's Dodge Durango with his friend "who smokes cigarettes". His main motivations for this cruise (which included hitting several moving and non-moving vehicles and other structures), were because, as young Latarian put it, "it's fun to do bad stuff", and because he "wanted to do hood rat stuff" with his friends.


Despite the glaring fact that in his childhood ignorance, Latarian has misused the term "hood rat", there's no denying that the term originates specifically from within the vulgar lyrics of the rap music that many would agree are inappropriate for young children. And it's not just Latarian; I witnessed with my very own eyes scores of people who find law-breaking "fun", for no other reason besides the fact that it is, in fact, lawbreaking. I've seen teenagers get into drug-dealing, ostensibly partly because it something they grew up around, and partly because their favorite rapper convinced them it was cool.

Kids like Latarian grow up with the ideas of bad-equals-fun being consistently reinforced by their peers and the music they listen to, and they grow up into the drug-dealers and criminals that keep the impoverished sections of our cities occupied by the endless cycle of bullshit that is usually found there.

The local police in Latarian's town said they plan to bring charges against the child, and "get him into the system" so that they can teach him a lesson and possibly get him to change his mindset about the "hood rat" stuff he values so much. The sad thing is, Latarian will probably relish the possibility of being "locked up", as among his friends, it will probably give him a little more gangsta credibility.

Rap music is out to kill me (or a case for why wack ass samples should be outlawed)

I usually don't like to complain about the state of hip-hop just because I don't feel that it's necessary. Most people running around shouting from the hilltops that "Hip hop is dead" aren't really genuinely concerned with the state of the genre or the culture that's attached to it. So I don't normally like to put myself in that category. But something has to be said at this point. It's fine if mediocre at best rappers want to make crap music on their own but when they start messing with classics or my favorite songs that's where I draw the line. Case in point, Plies' song "Bust it Baby."

Now the first issue I take with this song is that it's pretty much craptastic. Plies sucks as a rapper and pretty much every song I've ever heard by him is lewd and disgusting for no damn reason. His subject matter is not the problem because let's face it, most of today's music is about sex. I'd even go out on a limb and say about 95% of popular music is about sex. That's not the issue at hand. It's the way he talks about it that pisses me off. His graphic images give me entirely too much information and it's offensive to me as a woman. That's saying a lot because I listen to some pretty raunchy stuff. It's also offensive to my brain to have to listen to such unintellectual gibberish. The sad part about it is that I've heard Plies talk and he's actually very articulate which is a whole other issue.

But all that's besides the point. The straw that broke the camel's back in this case was that some wack ass producer decided it was a good idea to add a Janet Jackson sample into all of this foolishness. And not just any Janet song but one of my all time favorites. When I heard it for the first time I almost cried. Literally. "Come Back To Me" is a beautiful song about lost love. I don't think she had "wet wet" an 'em in mind when her and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis got together to create it. I can put up with a lot of wack shit but this I cannot accept.

I also take issue with Ne-Yo for even signing up for this mess. As far as I'm concerned, he makes some pretty good music. He seems to model his music and image after the Jackson image. So why would he attach his name to this? Most of the time he tries to give off this lover man vibe, so does he think that a woman with at least a shred of common sense and inkling of dignity would want to be called a "bust it baby?" I VOTE NO!

This whole project gets a fail. Boo to you Plies and Ne-Yo. Go directly to jail, do not pass go or collect $200.