By: James Harris

One of the most anticipated albums in years drops tomorrow June 15, 2010.  Drake releases his first studio album, Thank Me Later, and as I predicted the critics have gone on a rampage.  There are mixed reviews over the album some saying that it has “let them down” or that it “didn’t own up to the expectations”.  The question is did Drake even have a chance to meet expectations with this album?  He’s been the hottest rapper in the game for the last year and a half, everyone and their grandmother has been waiting for this album, he’s been deemed the golden child of hip hop, and even greats like Jay-Z have co-signed him.  That’s like Barry Sanders saying some high school kid is going to be the best running back ever to play the game of football.  How do you own up to that?  What did people expect from Drake?  A friend of mine told me he thought that Drake’s album should have been more raw and uncut for a rookie album but instead it came off confident and more laid back.  People are failing to realize that Drake isn’t some unpolished rookie rapper off the streets of Toronto he’s been making music, he’s been in the spotlight, and he’s made money in the past.  He put out a mixtape that sounded like an album, booked a nationwide tour off that mixtape, and got signed off that mixtape. So Far Gone was the 5^th highest selling rap album of 2009 and it was only a mixtape!  Drake’s singles “Best I Ever Had” and “Successful” as well as his feature on “Every Girl” were smash hits of last year.  Bottom-line Drake has already had his rookie year we just didn’t recognize it.  Don’t get it twisted though Thank Me Later is still extremely introspective and raw in its own way but Drake has matured with his success and you can hear it in the lyrics and song choices.

In waiting for the album the only thing I worried about was that Drake was going to stray away from the format of So Far Gone and try something off the wall that fans were not going to accept.  Luckily he didn’t he stuck with what works and put together a quality album with great production and features that added to (but didn’t overpower) the project.  The album spans the emotional spectrum from victory to heartbreak in the 14 track playlist.  Drake allows the listener into his world of fortune and fame and the issues that come with it in “Fireworks” where he worries that his success will change relationships with his closest friends. Tracks like “Karaoke” and “The Resistance” show his internal struggle with trying not to change as he continues to grow in the spotlight.  The cocky more confident Drake comes out in tracks like his single “Over” and “Up all Night (ft. Nicki MInaj)”.  Drake holds his own on tracks with features by heavy weights such as Jay-Z, T.I., Jeezy, and label mate Lil Wayne.  Even though it seems that people were expecting Drake to jump out of their iPods in a “f@ckin red jacket and some zippers” and perform the album as a hologram in order for him to meet their expectations I personally am happy with the album. So I’ll thank Drake now for good music.  Album drops tomorrow go get it.

Favorite Tracks:

Fireworks, Show Me A Good Time, Light Up (ft. Jay-Z), Miss Me (ft. Lil Wayne), Thank Me Now

Tracklist

1. Fireworks (featuring Alicia Keys)
2. Karaoke
3. The Resistance
4. Over
5. Show Me a Good Time
6. Up All Night (featuring Nicki Minaj)
7. Fancy (featuring T.I. and Swizz Beatz)
8. Shut It Down (featuring The Dream)
9. Unforgettable (featuring Young Jeezy)
10. Light Up (featuring Jay-Z)
11. Miss Me (featuring Lil Wayne)
12. Cece’s Interlude
13. Find Your Love
14. Thank Me Now

I know its been awhile since the last interview but I got another jewel of an interview for you guys. One of Underground Hip-Hop’s greatest producers, who’s worked with just about all of your favorite rap artists you got playing in your iPod right now. I’m talking about the one the only, Will Tell.  Have a look see what goes on with one of Hip-Hop’s elites;

BlackIntel: Where you from and what got you interested in the whole Hip-Hop sound and movement?

Will Tell: I’m Puerto Rican but I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. What initially got me started was that my mother used to teach at a school called High School Redirection in Brownsville Brooklyn. One day she took me to a talent show that they had. This was back in the early 80’s and the majority of the show was breaking, popping and rhyming. I instantly fell in love with the culture! Time progressed and when i was in high school that’s what got the ball rolling for me. I went to an alternative high school called City-as-School in Manhattan. It was a school that you would go out into the work place, where you get school credits from whatever job you chose. Almost every job i picked was at major record label. Then my first job out of High School was working for Rap-A-Lot Records, which is based in Texas.
I was the East Coast Publicist, but I didn’t know if the publicity gig was right for me. Around this time I was still dwelling on whether or not I wanted to go to college or pursue a future in Hip-Hop production. My father hit me with a proposition that would decide the rest of my life. He said he would either pay for my college or buy my first studio…I chose the studio and the rest is history.

BI: So what are some of your biggest musical influences?

WT: My musical influences derive from all different genres of music. I truly love every type of music and am a student of it all! I keep an open mind and try to learn more about music every day.

BI: With having this great appreciation for music, what essentially crafts your production style what makes you different then most producers out there?

WT: I think what separates my sound from other producers is that I have never been one dimensional. I try not to have one specific sound. What I do for Hip-Hop artists from New York may be different from what I would do for an artist from Down South or from Cali. I also do music for video games, movies, and commercials so all of that would be something different as well. I have been told everything I do has a signature sound but I don’t know how to categorize it.

BI: Speaking of your signature sound as a producer you have been putting out these Will Tell Compilations for some time, when did that all start and how many do you have out currently?

WT: Well I started doing the Will Tell compilations in 1995, which spawned a new revolution at the time of producer compilations. Basically, I had done a lot of work with the best underground artists at the time and the songs weren’t being put out on any labels. So I accumulated my favorites, went to a wholesale CD spot and produced CDs, CD stickers and jewel cases. I had a CD burner that burned 1 CD at a time. I sat there and burned thousands of CDs, did the artwork myself pressed them onto the stickers, cut the covers for the jewel cases….Everything myself! After some time with pretty decent success, artists started asking for upfront payments. Since a lot of the work to put these projects together was all out of pocket, with no major label financial backing I stopped doing the compilations. All together I put out 5 Will Tell compilations. I also put out a few albums with other artist all in the same fashion. So grand total as of today I have put out 13 independent albums.

BI: So you mentioned you worked with some of Hip-Hop’s greatest…So who might that be and who would you like to work with that you haven’t yet.

WT: I have produced tracks for Sadat X, DMC, Talib kweli, Sean Price, Tony Touch, Dave Chapelle, Funk Master Flex, Thirstin Howl III, Jean Grae, Kool G. Rap, Killa Priest, Hurricane G,  Diobolic, The Bad Seed, Planet Asia, Brooklyn Academy, Block McCloud, Pumpkin Head, Mr. Met, Crayz Walls, Rack Lo, Word-a-Mouth, Shabaam Sadeeq, Twanie Ranks, Punchline & Wordsworth, LiL Sci, M.V.L.L , ICON, clothing line Echo Unlimited, SEGA games, the WNBA, The motion picture company BORICUA’S BOND, The motion picture company SHADOW DEAD RIOT, Lyricist Lounge Show (pilot tv show on MTV) & Lyricist Lounge Vol.1(Famous last words & Outside the lounge), and many more! In terms of who I would like to work with in the future, no one particular artist, the sky’s the limit!

BI: You mentioned you produced music for Sadat X, don’t you currently have a project with him and how’d you work that out?

WT: Why yes I do. Sadat X and I met a few years ago, when i had hired him to appear on one of my later production compilations, called Academics. We instantly had great work relationship, the chemistry was dope. After that X had to do a little bid(small jail time) in Rikers Island.  I would send him Packages and commissary and basically stayed in touch. When he got home we started recording. We recorded more than 100 songs once he came back and we took some of those tracks we did and put them out on Sadat’s solo LP called Generation X…

Funny story we kept on recording after the release and during these studio sessions we started filming funny commercials for different wines we liked and disliked called it True Wine Connoisseur’s.
I am the producer and director and Sadat is the face man. I eventually started posting some of the episodes on my youtube channel,  www.youtube.com/thetelathon ,and the reaction was amazing! People loved seeing this other side of Sadat. We’ve filmed quite a few episodes. We are now on episode 14 of season 2 with offers of Syndication. So this little joke has become something much more and we are responsible for bringing a new craze of Wine in the Hip-Hop community. But to stay on topic I also produced four tracks on Sadat X’s latest solo LP entitled Wild Cowboys 2, which I also co-executive produced.

BI: So do you tour often or at all and when you on the road what you got slappin’ in your iPod?

WT: In terms of touring I really don’t like that lifestyle. The whole living out of the suitcase thing really didn’t cut it for me. I mean I have toured the whole world and the money is good but it takes a toll on you. And as for who I listen too? To be totally honest I don’t really listen to any post 90’s Hip-Hop.  It just depresses me! Once and awhile I will hear a record from like a Jay-Z or someone else that’s from the 90’s that I liked but usually I listen to Soul classics and grown folk music..lol

BI: So any new projects out right now and how can people get a hold of your work?

WT: Right now like I said earlier, we have the Sadat X’s new solo LP, Wild Cowboys 2,  and I just released 3 solo LPs which I am excited about. The first solo LP is a mixtape concept called Crazy World, I call it that because in a sense that the sound and the style was very mixtap-ish, but I still did all the production on the album. The second solo album I dropped was the real solo LP entitled Chemicals and again I did all the production. Then on Valentine’s Day earlier this year I dropped my 3rd solo LP, K.I.S.S. Theory, which is an acronym for Keep It Simple, Stupid which was also the basic concept of my production on that LP. All 3 LPs I put out independently through my label and were distributed through Dashgo.com. Oh yeah and all 3 are available as well as Sadat X’s album are on itunes…cop them!

BI: Since you’re the man with the beats and you never know who’s reading these articles how could one of these readers/I’m an MC and need beats type people get a hold of you?

WT: Anyone interested in purchasing Will Tell production or interested in doing a work with me feel free to email me at willydoe@gmail.com But serious inquiries only please!

BOOM, and there you have it folks. The man is so down to earth and so gifted. We here at, The Black Intel, have included a song off the Sadat X Wild Cowboys 2 LP you can give a listen to and again look him up on iTunes, Amazon and anywhere else you get your music from. Be on the look-out for what we got lined up next it’s sure to be a dope interview as usual.

Sadat X-This is Your Life (track from the Generation X-LP)

Written by J. Ado

Gone are the days of ballads. We’re in a time where our few real singers are either in the neo-soul genre (the only way to hear most of them is on the internet). The others are divas, who have been around for a while and have left the belting out of hard to achieve vocal ranges in the closet with the easy to slide on jeans. Now they mostly singing out metaphors similar to those of rappers over beats usually reserved for rappers or some kind of alternative/ electro band. Did I cover everybody?

Enter Shanell aka SnL aka another member of the Young Money crew that is not so slowly taking over the ears of young people everywhere.  In August, 2009 I curiously downloaded a song titled “Play in my Band” and I liked it. I wasn’t exactly sure where this song was going to lead me in my discovering of Shanell, but the song was a catchy, “on the way to the club” song. After hearing the song a few times I wondered if this girl could really sing, so when her “Shut Up and Listen” mixtape hit the net a couple weeks ago I didn’t hesitate to download it.

Sadly it wasn’t memorable. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve downloaded a couple more really good mixtapes right after it or because I was actually hoping for a little bit more to sing and ride along to.

Either way without actually opening my iTunes I can say that I remember her take on the classic Groove Theory song “Tell Me” being more of a question mark. Was there really a need for her to remake this song? It doesn’t go with the rest of the tracks and she didn’t do it nearly as good as the original.

This freebee wasn’t bad but it wasn’t spectacular either. With her better songs being the high energy tunes like “La La La La,” “Hit the Stage” and the Salaam Remi produced “Me n My” featuring an unexpected but pleasant surprise from rapper Eve. Shanell fits right into a genre I made up called Rock&B, a sub-division of pop where entertainers who aren’t strong singers or performers, but are entertaining none-the-less, can be found. As long as Shanell stay’s in that lane and her Young Money crew stays behind her, she might go the distance.

Tracklist

* 1. Leave a Message/Calling Out
* 2. Choose You (Remix) (Feat. Ryan Leslie)
* 3. Save Me
* 4. Tell Me (Remix) (Feat. Jae Millz)
* 5. La La La La (Feat. Jovi Rockwell And Mika Means)
* 6. Hair Down My Back (Feat. Siran)
* 7. Hit The Stage
* 8. It’s The Beat (Remix)
* 9. Work That (Remix) (Feat. Mika Means)
* 10. Me N My (Feat. Eve)
* 11. Otherside (Feat. Lil’ Wayne And Ne-Yo)

Click here to download the mixtape

Written By: James Harris

For the past week I’ve been listening to the same album on repeat, hearing the same two voices and dealing with the same feelings of sadness and disbelief. Little Brother released their final album 4.20.2010 entitled Leftback. The duo (originally trio before producer 9th wonder left the group) released their first album The Listening in 2003 and have been making waves in hip hop ever since. From their first release Little Brother has been known to bring it to the heart of their listeners by dealing with issues that many recording artists are scared to deal with such as the “shucking and jiving” that record labels make some artists do to be heard. Their single “Lovin It” was banned from BET because it was “too intelligent for the listening audience”. So as I listened to their final album on the day that one of hip-hops pioneers took his final breath (RIP Guru) I couldn’t help but be sad for hip hop.

I heard the rumors that L.B. would be breaking up and focusing on their solo careers for a while but I didn’t want to believe it; but when Phonte is doing interviews and describing the album as the group’s denouement (its ok google it I had to too) and with tracks such as “Curtain Call” where he basically passes the torch to hip hop youngster such as Drake, Pac Div and Wale and “Tigallo for Dolo” where he literally says “all by myself” the reality is inevitable. This is the final Little Brother album. We will have to wait for Phonte or Rapper Big Pooh to be featured on the others solo album to hear them together again. It is definitely a tough pill to swallow.

The album Leftback is a classic Little Brother album even though they are now working without producer 9th Wonder. I was worried that without him behind the production the group would lose its sound but they were able to maintain the same smooth sound accompanied by great wordplay. I’ve had the album playing for a week and I’m sure it will be in rotation for months to come. Though I hate to see them go I’m glad L.B. left out on a good note with a solid album.

So hip hop heads turn your faders down half way, B-Boys put your hats down low and lyricist cut your mics off for a moment of silence for the end of Little Brother. Thanks for making real music you will be missed.

Favorite Tracks:

Curtain Call, Tigallo for Dolo and Get Enough Pt. 2

Tracklist:

1. Curtain Call (Produced By Khrysis)
2. Table For Two (feat. Jozeemo & Yahzarah) (Produced By Khrysis)
3. Tigallo For Dolo (Produced By Khrysis)
4. Revenge (feat. Truck North & Median) (Produced By: Khrysis)
5. So Cold (feat. Chaundon) (Produced By King Karnov)
6. Second Chances (feat. Bilal & Darien Brockington) (Produced By Denaun Porter)
7. Go Off Go On (Produced By Khrysis)
8. What We Are (feat. Quiana) (Produced By Young R.J.)
9. After The Party (feat. Carlitta Durand) (S1 & Caleb’s Who Shot JR Ewing Remix) (Produced By S1 and Caleb)
10. Two Step Blues (feat. Darien Brockington) (Zo’s Purple Suit With The Matching Gators Remix) (Produced By Zo!)
11. Get Enough Pt. 2 (feat. Khrysis) (Produced By Khrysis)
12. Before The Night Is Over (Produced By J.Bizness)
13. 24 (feat. Torae) (Produced By Khrysis)

Written By: James Harris

A fellow music lover asked me a question the other day that I can’t let go, “Is music today, better than music 10-15 years ago?”  First off I couldn’t believe I was old enough to remember music 10-15 years ago (you’re only as old as you feel right?)! Secondly, I had to really analyze the question to determine what position I would take on the matter.

About 10-15 years ago albums like All Eyez on Me (Tupac), Illmatic (Nas), Reasonable Doubt (Jay-Z), The Big Picture (Big L), Capital Punishment (Big Pun) and Ready to Die (B.I.G) were in steady rotation.  There’s no doubt there were some real classic hip hop records made then.  These days mainstream hip hop pushes artists such as Jay-Z and Lil Wayne to artists such as Soulja Boy and The Party Boyz.  Obviously things have changed.  I can see how it would be easy to say that the state of music as a whole, at this point, is paling in comparison to the classics of the mid to late 1990’s.  However, I think that’s just surface talk.

Back in the day artists didn’t have the avenues to get their music to the masses like today’s generation (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube) so to be heard you had to be, without a shadow of a doubt, incredible.  Record Labels were not taking chances on someone that may be here today and gone tomorrow; they had to be relatively sure that if they released your album your skills would be respected and your records would sell.  In other words, you had to be damn good to be heard nationwide because the internet wasn’t as heavily used to self-promote artists.  Today, on the other hand, anybody with access to the internet can promote themselves as an artist.  Talented or not, with or without a fan base, anybody can set up a MySpace music page and call themselves the “Best Rapper Alive.” Companies are handing out record deals to people that get a million listens on YouTube or MySpace.  Due to this, we as listeners, are bombarded by a ton of music, some fantastic and some downright horrible.  And at times the horrible music is the music that makes it to the radio.  Again I can see how it’s easy to say music today…sucks. But I think that’s just background noise.

The fact of the matter is this, the different avenues of distributing music have served as both a gift and a curse to the consumer and at times the curse seems horrible.  But (I know this whole time you’ve been waiting for the “but”) these same avenues have brought us some real diamonds in the rough.  If you dig deep enough through all the music being thrown out there, you will find some great tracks, albums and artists.  The first time I heard a Drake track I was searching on YouTube and saw a clip that read “Congratulations Drake.” Initially I thought it was some type of graduation comedy clip.  I was obviously happily mistaken! Based on that clip I downloaded every Drake mixtape I could find from Room for Improvement to (at the time the most recent) So Far Gone.  I found the super group Slaughterhouse by running across Joe Budden’s twitter account and reading him talk about JoeBuddenTV where I heard my first snippets from the group (if you haven’t heard Slaughterhouse you are missing out- get the album).  In addition, it was because of the YouTube-based JoeBuddenTV that I found a new found respect for Budden (Escape Route was one of the best rap albums of 2009 in my not so humble opinion). J. Cole promoted himself, made a mixtape. It got into the right hands and somehow found itself on Jay-Z’s desk. I could literally go on for hours about the various artists that have benefited from the ability to get their music to the masses without a deal, promotion or a budget.

So what is my answer to the question?  I think music today is as good and in some instances better than music before.  I say that because we still have seasoned veterans making good music such as Jay-Z, Nas and Eminem and in addition to that we have a roster of new up and coming artists that have great potential such as Drake, Wale, Joe Budden, J. Cole, Joell Ortiz, and Crooked I to name a few. Look I know it’s easy to say that music is horrible right now if all you listen to is the radio- you have to dig deeper.  I know its easy to say that every time you get an email blast from MySpace artists you wished you hadn’t pressed play- keep giving it a chance.  I know it’s easy to say that back in the day wack rappers didn’t get to shine- don’t be discouraged.  You have to realize that there is more opportunity now for more people to try to be heard but if you look hard enough and listen close enough you’ll hear the type of hip hop that you’ve been longing for.  Its out there, trust me…

Guru, pictured here on on the left was born July 17, 1966 – April 19, 2010 DJ Premier on the right

The Black Intel is said to report that Hip-hop star and rapper Guru passed away Monday from complications of cancer. Born Keith Elam, Guru was best known as one of the two member group Gang Starr. According to reports, Guru had been in and out of the hospital since July and wanted to keep his illness private. Guru was 43 years old.

Just Wright - Common, Paula Patton, Queen Latifah, Pam Grier

So a couple of days ago I was diggin’ in the webs(lmao) and I stumbled upon this title COMMON Presents JUST WRIGHT Mixtape Vol. 1 title. Now I usually don’t jump at every mixtape but this one I gave the benefit of the doubt off the strength it had Common’s name in the title (who will be in the Bay Area at Yuri’s Night) . I was hella juiced to stumble upon another album to listen to since I just downloaded THE ROOTS X DILLA my favorite LIVE BAND performing DILLA joints which was a no brainer download, so imagine how I was feeling when I saw Common’s name in the title of the “Just Wright” mixtape. I was thinking he was going to have more slaps for me. I patiently awaited the download to complete and did my tech stuff on the folder and added the whole file to my media player. The first song sounded like an original  Don Blackman -” Holding You Loving You” so I was thinking to myself let me wait for this cat to flip it and get into this song. The beat never changed up and the original kept playing into the next song which was called “Morning Glory” by Jamiroquai, a UK jazz funk and acid jazz band. I had to do a timeout and take a look at what was going on in the track listing. Come to find out Common was no where on here but the first two songs were slappin in a two step fashion so I said whatever I will keep going. Man I am glad I downloaded this Tue because its 2am on Thurs and I am still slappin this album. I have been slappin it all day: at work, in the shower, in the doctors office getting my cast, back at work, getting groceries matter of fact I am still slappin it. I was slappin it so much I decided it was necessary for me to share it again because I want to know if anyone will be feeling the way I do right now HAPPY then a …

Please also check out the trailer I can do a summary about that but why, just look at the line up of female characters. Paula Patton, Queen Latifah, and Pam Grier come on son! I watched the trailer and it confirmed my impulse to see this film!

By Jakina Hill

For starters “Jump up in the air” the song featuring Lil’ Wayne that leaked late January didn’t make the final cut of Erykah Badu’s 6th album New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh this is a good thing.

New Amerykah Part Two is archetypical Erykah Badu but in standard song length, with the exception of the over ten minute long song “Out My Mind, Just In Time.” The easily recognizable old school funky soul beats on song like “Umm Hmm” and “Turn Me Away (Get MuNNy)” as well as a few bluesy interjections with “20 Feet Tall” and “Incense” keep Badu in her neo-soul lane.

While this album sounds like what would be expected from Badu the feel of it is not in the same lane as its predecessor New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War. Part One featured quite a bit more personal and political lyrics with songs like “Me” and “Master Teacher,” while part two doesn’t follow sequence. With not much more than the similar graphics on both album covers and the small cameo from the robotic voice and galactic sound effects, Return Of The Ankh leaves you wanting more.

On her Live album Badu describes the Ankh as a symbol of life. If this album is relating to what’s going on in her life then it sounds like phases of relationships and feelings of both love as well as just wanting to be left alone are heavy on her mind.

The standout tracks are “Window Seat” and “Out My My Mind, Just in Time,” which with its length and the way the beat changes is more like three good songs in one.

Disappointingly this is only a decent album and not the Erykah Badu album I’ll be reaching for when I feel like listening to some Badu.

TRACK LISTING
1. “20 Feet Tall”
2. “Window Seat”
3. “Agitation”
4. “Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)”
5. “Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long”
6. “Umm Hmm”
7. “Love”
8. “You Loving Me (Session)”
9. “Fall in Love (Your Funeral)”
10. “Incense” (featuring Kirsten Agnesta)
11. “Out My Mind, Just in Time”

To keep up with this month Lady MC…here is the classic freestyle battle between Roxanne Shante vs. Sparky D…. I don’t know why this reminds me of Nicki Minaj and Lil Momma

To continue with reppin the ladies during Women’s International Month…we’re going to take it back to the one and only group Salt and Pepper…. you can’t get more classic than with push it