Unlike Abel Testafaye’s lugubrious relationship with his music, Schoolboy Q handles a more fun element. Throughout Habits & Contradictions, Q displays this nicely. He and Ab-Soul add a lot of energy and bounce to their sequel, “Druggys With Hoes Again.” While we know those two can create good music, another duo has been brewing in the form of Q and ASAP Rocky. They go two for two on collaborations with “Hands On The Wheel”. It makes everything feel like one big party. The one true comparison between The Weeknd and Schoolboy Q’s styles lies in “How We Feeling”. A slowed down record of “ohs” and high thoughts but no actual memorable parts giving it the feel of a long interlude.

Let’s not put Q in this lone category as a “drug rapper” but more of a rapper who just happens to rap about drugs at times. There’s a lot more to who the man born Quincy Hanley really is. Who knew that sending sexual text messages (“Sexting”) could trigger the same energy in Q as the actual sport. On the flip side, alongside Dom Kennedy, who steals the show, and Curren$y, Q’s toned down side works on “Groovline Pt. 1,” surprisingly produced by Lex Luger. It gives off that same surprise when you realized he produced Wale’s “That Way”.

While Habits & Contradictions deserves your undivided attention on the first listen, after a while there will be some songs that are likely to get the skip button. “Niggahs Already Know,” while creative from one point of view, will make you sick of that three word combination by the time you reach the end. It’s hard to hate any of the records but songs like “Raymond 1969” and “My Hatin’ Joint” just act like fillers. Several listens to both songs doesn’t give off the same kind of vibes as the rest of the album.

It’s hard to deny TDE’s ear for talent. There’s a reason for everyone slowly succeeding at their own paces. With his second independent album a great success (4,000 first week as opposed to 1,000 with Setbacks, his first album) in more than one way, Schoolboy Q has made it clear that he’s going to be one of those future forces in the game, like Kendrick Lamar. It seems one more big project could launch him in that direction. For now, Habits & Contradictions should remain in rotation for quite some time and become a habit of getting a daily spin.

Purchase: Schoolboy Q – Habits & Contradictions

A good show is often similar to cooking a meal. Too many elements go into making sure that you eat and enjoy it. Things like being organized, having all the ingredients, cooking it at the right temperature, and time, and serving it. It’s difficult to serve up a good Hip-Hop show when you’re missing something. This was the night at Neumos when Ace Hood came to town.

Organization skills really lacked in the night. On one hand, the sound system seemed to fail at several times. However, this was due to poor quality CDs and, according to Neumos, even off artist’s cell phones. The first opening act was standing around on stage waiting for it to be fixed, and Ace Hood’s performance appeared to be cut short as he didn’t want to stand on stage to wait. During the night, it seemed like way more artists came up on stage than advertised. Opening act after opening act.

Putting in the time factor into the opening acts, it was roughly an hour and a half of local artists. I watched and felt like a lot of them needed some performance tips. A lot didn’t project their voices as I can’t remember any words from any of the songs. Some just stood around, walked back and forth or had a whole gang of people with them.

The half full venue was eager to see Ace Hood on stage, though. He came out to his strongest record, “Hustle Hard” and proceeded to perform several records from the last year. I was hoping he’d revisit some of his Ruthless or even Gutta material. There were a lot of bangers on those two albums. His set ended with “Free My Niggas” before the sound system cut out.

Going back to that comparison from earlier, his meal needed a lot more to make it five star quality. Organization and professionalism would have greatly improved the first half of the night. If Ace Hood had did a more diverse selection of his music, especially since he has so much more better music, the performance could’ve ended up more memorable.

Fans complaining about the artist’s style not sounding the same in most cases would be out of luck in getting that old music that made you a fan. The ATL native doesn’t leave you in the dust with some new sound. He’s kept it constant and 103 is no different. What made TM101 a classic is how it appears that he went into this album thinking. The fact that there’s something for all sorts of moods makes this album winning. From the smoking and fucking anthem of “All We Do” to dealing with the haters (“F.A.M.E.”), it’s well rounded.

Besides his signature sound, Jeezy’s ear for production is still pretty on point. Matching the Warren G-produced “Leave You Alone” with Ne-Yo’s abilities to craft hooks made for radio proved to be a strong point. Why he didn’t use this as a first single still is baffling. After a pretty slow year and similar production to previous hits, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League made sure to come right with “Trapped” and “F.A.M.E.”. Both records put the subject matter of the streets that shows where Jeezy is most comfortable; rapping about the trap and cleverly combing fame with how obtaining it makes haters envy.

This album is executed well but not flawlessly. One of the main problems lies within nine out of the 14 songs having guest features, some small roles and some big. This would be alright if there wasn’t filler verses from the likes of Future (“Way Too Gone”) and Trick Daddy (“This One’s For You”). On the latter, Trick really shows his age, and lack of skill, with a verse pertaining to his presumed hate of the new generation as well as possible shots at Rick Ross. Speaking of showing their age, Snoop Dogg and Devin The Dude don’t really show out on the weed-inspired “Higher Learning”. At this point in their careers, why try?

Always keeping persistent when the odds were stacked against him is why Young Jeezy remains successful. That and the simple fact that the fans kept bugging for a great album and they got it. It’s not the best out of the four albums we’ve had the pleasure of enjoying over the year but it’s certainly not the weakest link. For this being the last of the Thug Motivation series, Jizzle went out with a nice little bang.

Purchase: iTunes | Amazon | Best Buy (With DVD)

“Aye aye, I got some cornflakes at the house,” an older man proclaimed to a couple young girls walking by. The little group just burst out in laughter. The dude turns around, sees me laughing and strikes up a conversation that I half paid attention to. More of his macking techniques, I remember vaguely. Not even 10 feet away is a guy selling tickets for tonight’s event and arguing with a potential customer who feels 50 dollars for two tickets is too steep. Tough break. As this goes on, a drunk girl is denied entry. Clearly underage and she could barely stand. Yeah, these are all typical characters found at shows all the time. This time is different; they’re here for Dom Kennedy.

When it comes to real DJing, DJ G.I. Joe (Immortal Tech’s DJ) should be one of the poster boys. His skills on the turntables were incredible. Real scratching, some hyped up talking and an attitude to play whatever he felt like playing while showcasing his work. At one point, someone in the crowd gave him a thumbs down and told him to pick something else, to which he picked up the microphone and said, “I play what the fuck I want. Fuck you.” The crowd cheered. There was a lot of that during the night.

After the realness kicked off with G.I. Joe, Da Circle, a duo signed under Immortal’s Viper Records, hit the stage. Hearing them for the first time, their music sounds like it fits well into the whole circle (no pun intended) of Tech. However, the actual performance wasn’t as engaging as the later acts. For opening acts, they did exactly what they were expected to do: warm the crowd up.

Chino XL’s show is one of the best. A definite must see for a couple reasons. First off, there are bars and bars and more bars. Throughout his set, it seemed like the man easily gave us 1,000 or more. He likes to mash up industry beats to some of his finest lyrics from over the years. This was done in such an ill way that you might have parts of “Nahh” mixed in with “Nunca.” When he did acapellas, the crowd ate up every line. “If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then my rhymes should be as flat as Paris Hilton’s ass” got the most response. Chino showed that you don’t have to jump around or have a great deal of energy to command the crowd. Lyrics still matter.

Donning an all camouflage outfit, Immortal Technique made his way to the stage. Passion is the only word to describe his performance. Tech made sure to make that part clear. Whether he was explaining to everyone to not feed into everything they’re told or cussing out two people in the crowd for complaining about space, he spoke with meaning. That and he loves to joke too. “Is this all your stuff?” he said to a supporter pointing to several coats on the stage before making a homeless joke. Out of the hour and a half, supporters got everything including classics off his three albums. “Viva la Revolucion!” The last words chanted by Immortal Technique as the crowd recited them right back. The revolution will not be televised.

The production is a very strong point of this tape. With the likes of DJ Burn One, The Olympicks and Clams Casino amongst littler known producers like Lyle, Beautiful Lou and more, LiveLoveA$AP isn’t suffering from a lack of diverse and southern sounding production. On his biggest collaboration, Schoolboy Q joins him on the choppy Lyle-produced “Brand New Guy.” Besides being a stand out beat, the two sparring in the last verse is the best part.

We can’t forget how ill the hooks are. Whether they are chopped and screwed like on “Bass“ or regular like “Old Houston Head,” they have a certain addictiveness to them. In the swing of the entire tape, it’s easy to see why “Peso” caught on so strongly: head-nodding and an infectious sampled hook. The same could be said about the majority of LiveLoveA$ap ranging from the smooth weed influenced “Get Lit” to Chace Infinite and Spaceghost Purrp-assisted O.G. nod “Keep It G.”

Despite good music, it feels like ASAP doesn’t have his own identity. He’s a product of the lean and southern sounding raps. To say this is a bad thing would be a matter of opinion. At the end of the day, his music is above par of a lot of other artists. If that works for him and the people embrace him, nobody will care about where his style comes from.

Download: ASAP Rocky – Live.Love.A$ap

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Download: Terius Nash (The-Dream) – 1977

Granted, not everybody can experience this. Some people don’t react to what a rapper is spitting about, even though it seems like a hard task not to. On the intro to this DJ Drama-hosted tape, Meek chronicles his rise to fame from getting arrested and doing time to his new adventure under Maybach Music. DJ Drama ends on a strong note with, “this is where dreams…..become reality.” Several other cuts including, “Get Dis Money,” “Work” and the title track featuring Beanie Sigel.

It’s not all about trying to give his story and possibly motivate the listener. Meek and Rick Ross announce that their in the double digits on one of the hardest records, the Lex Luger-produced “Body Count.” You have a record similiar to Will Smith’s “Summertime” classic with “Middle Of The Summer.” Aligned with Mel Love, you get a nice head nodding beat with an account of what growing up in Philly was like.

Despite his Maybach Music signing, Meek still makes music like he did when he was fresh out of prison hungry and works with the same people he would. Outside of utilizing Rick Ross’ hooks and verses and Lex Luger’s production, the bulk of production and features come from Tone Beats, All Star, Young Chris , NH and a couple others mentioned earlier.

The one thing that has changed is he’s gotten sharper with the pen. “Tony’s Story” is a beautifully crafted street tale about a killer, Tony, who lives reckless and cheats death a few times. Anytime an artist can do a story and keep it interesting for four minutes, it shows strength in their abilities.

Dream Chasers does suffer from one big thing and that’s repetitive sounding production. When you have two Lex Luger-produced songs (“Work” and “Body Count”) and both feature Rick Ross, you are going to get too much diverse outside of a concept. “Derrick Rose,” despite it’s beat provided by All Star, takes a page out of the aforementioned Luger’s style. Surprise surprise (sarcastically) with “Panic,” assisted by Rick Ross and Yo Gotti.

With 19 songs, there’s enough variety to go around. Some will like the MMG formula and some will prefer everything else. Regardless, Meek’s hunger hasn’t ceased and he’s still improving with more competition in his view now. Dream Chasers satisfies his audience and invites in more to catch the show.

Download: Meek Mill – Dream Chasers (Untagged)