Christmelicious

Best. Christmas. Song. Ever.

Best Hip Hop albums of 2006

Whaddyaknow...Hip Hop managed to come through in what should have been a crappy year for the genre. I mean, who woulda thought that the same year that brought us "Chain Hang Low" and "Chicken Noodle Soup" would have given us a few ceritified classic albums. We got a death declaration for Hip Hop, a return of our Michael Jordan (unfortunately wearing the 45 jersey this time) and the debut of a new rap great (Lupe of course). So here we go...on with the list!

10) Mood Muzik 2- Joe Buddens. Yea, it’s a mixtape, but I’m sure that if those crack- umm…folks at Def Jam would play him fair, his album would have been higher on the list. And, I mean, give Jump Off a break. The mixtape was the illest thing on the shelf for the whole first quarter. Depression, side disses at Jay and Three Sides to a Story all make for a compelling album to Jump of the Year.
9) School Was My Hustle- Kidz in the Hall. Naledge is nice, ya’ll. He ain’t Lupe, but he’s nice. In a year that brought us a lot of kiddie rap, SWMH was for the college kid. Naledge hit us with school angst and issues of being an educated black man. This album fell under the radar in 06’, but it’s worth a few listens.
8) True Magic- Mos Def. When did Mos drop a new album? Have no fear, it hasn’t dropped yet. It’s coming on Dec. 29th, but with my ear being to the street, and the good folks over at Smokingsection.net, I was able to hear it a few weeks ago. Mos got rid of that inexplicably bad Blackjack Johnson thing from the last album and opts to just spit for most of the album. When he does this, not many can do it better.
7) The Healing- Strange Fruite Project. Who? Strange Fruit Project is a group of rappers from Waco, TX who hit us with a soulful surprise this year. Their debut is very reminiscent of Phonte’s Foreign Exchange project from a couple of years ago. Darren Brockington comes through on a lot of hooks, making this a peaceful album that you and your mom can listen to together. Who can be mad at that?
6) Dedication 2 Mixtape- DJ Drama and Lil’ Wayne. Hahaha! That’s all that we from the south have to say. 06’ saw more complete domination in album sales from southern rappers and more bitchin and moanin’ from their northern counterparts claiming that the south can’t rhyme. Well, Lil’ Wayne’s mixtape of the year shows why people are considering Weezy one of the best out right now. And who says he’s not political? Just listen to “Georgia…Bush”
5) Idlewild- Outkast. No, Big Boi and Dre didn’t seem to make the album together. No, Dre doesn’t hardly rhyme. What was up with that Killer Mike verse? Yes, those are valid concerns, but c’mon y’all. This is freakin Outkast. No matter how hard they try, their album is still going to be amazing. And listen to “Hollywood Divorce” (my choice for song of the year) and you can understand what makes this duo and their album, great.
4) Hell Hath No Fury- The Clipse. Disclaimer: albums 2-4 on this list are pretty interchangeable as they were all great. I had a 3 step reaction to this album: a) wow, it’s amazing. B) Damn, I wanna go murder someone at Jive for making me wait 4 years. c) Sh**, I’m prolly gonna have to wait another 4 years for the next one. No fear, though, the crazy beats and vivid lyricism make this album repeatable until the next one comes out. Many people like to sleep on the Clipse lyricism instead opting to fawn over the Neptunes beats, but listen closely and the words will grab you (“open the Frigidaire/ 25 to life in there/ so much white/ you think that Holy Christ is near”). Eghk!
3) Food & Liquor- Lupe Fiasco. Lupe is a great rapper. By the time his career is over, he may be one of the greats of all time. However, his debut could have gone two ways: it could have gone the Reasonable Doubt route, or it could have gone the Can-i-bus (Who? Exactly) route. Fortunately for him and us, Lupe comes somewhere in the middle, much closer to RD. Unfortunately, like many albums on this list, Lupe didn’t move as many units as he should’ve, but his message is positive and his delivery is next generation.
2) Hip Hop is Dead- Nas. Nas has had a pretty tough career. He drops the greatest album ever put on wax and then spends the rest of his career in its shadow. News Flash (and pay attention here, people): There will NEVER be another Illmatic. Ever. So stop it. With that being said, HHOD comes pretty damn close. Nas definitely has something to say and each song adds to that message. Plus, the CD has the rap fan’s wet-dreamed-about Hov and Nas collabo and Dre’s best beat ever (Hustlas) all on one album. And f*** what Pitchfork says, “Who Killed it?” is a brilliant idea and a great song.
1) Fishscale- Ghostface Killah. The internet music Bible, Pitchfork, has this album as their fourth best overall for the year. Rolling Stone has it at number 5. I have it at number one. Ghostface has been my favorite rapper for almost a decade now, but how bout we start entering him for mention as a great of all time. Why? Look no further than Fishscale. While Jeezy and Rick Ross (neither of which you’ll see on this list) talk about how cool it is to be involved with dope, Pretty Toney will rather give you horrific, troubling, and sometimes funny (“I put one in my balls!”) narratives about hard times. Skip the skits and you have a classic from beginning to end.

Merry Christmas from Run DMC!

Saw this on VH1 classic the other day. It's definitely worth a watch or two. It's Run DMC's Christmas song. Check it out:

Spanish 80s

I found this cool spanish music video from the 80s. It is Alaska y Dinarama. I am going to have a show next semester with jazz and this kind of 80s pop.

TWO Shows On Campus This Weekend!

We are an extremely lucky campus. Today, Friday, The Lost Trailers will be playing the Patterson Court Mega-Party. And then, Saturday, the ACAA and the Union Board Concerts Committee (both of which I happen to be a part of, hah) will be sponsoring Vienna Teng in the 900 Room. Come check them both out! For more information:

Vienna Teng Official Site and Official Myspace
The Lost Trailers Official Site and Official Myspace

Definitely check both out! I know I'll be there.

Click for Literacy

This takes about 10 seconds, is completely free, can be repeated daily, and helps provide books and school supplies for kids in our community. Just click the tile below, click the red box that says "Fund Books for Kids" and, finally, click the Davidson tile (looks just like this one):

Preview of Freestyle Battle Part 1

In case you all didn't know, we're having our 2ND ANNUAL FREESTYLE BATTLE on November 3rd. And to get you guys amped for it, I'm going to show you guys some high profile battles from the past few years. Enjoy and see ya'll on the 3rd.

My favorite rap albums...

Hey, it's David, aka Jackson. I'm with WALT. Instead of introducing myself I'll just tell you:

My 10 fave rap albums are as follows...my fave album overall is

Cee Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections. But as far as hip-hop...here we go:

Honorable Mentions:

10) Little Brother- The Minstrel Show Ya'll know why I love this. Jammin from top to bottom. I already talked about this a million times. So, on to #9!

9) Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Forever. This is where I first heard Ghostface Killah. But besides that, this is the only great rap Double Album out there. Every Wu rapper was on point. This was Method Man's last great outing, and you had 10 guys coming together to make one damn great album. Great lyrics, great beats and the album was deep.

8) Hov Reasonable Doubt It's crazy to listen to this album and think about how far Jay-Z has come. It's really inspirational. You look at how successful he became and you listen to this album and realize why. Dude was hungry! He attacked every track and killed them all. His song with Biggie is one of the greatest songs ever made. I don't think that Jay-z ever reached this level again lyrically. His flow and ability to ride the beat is what really made him better as time went by.

7) DMX It's Dark and Hell is Hot So let me paint a picture for ya'll. My parents divorce, I move from a nice house to a small apartment and we're strugglin for money...and on the radio is Diddy tellin me how much richer he is than I am. Till I hear this DMX dude rappin with the same anger and resentment I was feelin at the time...I think I listened to this album for like 6 months straight. I have never connected with an album like I did with this one. Unfortunately, over time, I realized that the lyrics weren't as good as I though they were. But the raw emotion is something that really helped me out in life. I just hope that DMX gets over his personal demons to make another classic like this one.

6) Raekwon and Ghost- Only Built for Cuban Linx. Look ya'll, every rapper cliche you see now, started with this album. When Raekwon and Ghostface did it, though, that s*** was cutting edge. They were the first rappers to talk about Cristal and they began the whole Mafia/Scarface/rap shit, and it started with this album. The only difference is these bruhs knew they were playing roles, making songs that were like crazy action movies. Unlike these dudes that act like they live it. It was technically a Raekwon solo joint, but Ghostface was on every track and really made it a classic. Plus Nas had one of the best verses ever on one of the tracks. Add in some cuts with Meth in his prime. And they're thinly veiled disses towards Biggie and you got one of the best hip-hop albums of all time.

5) Nas Illmatic I'm almost obligated to put this on the list. It's the best rap album of all time. Just not my favorite. I can't explain it. I listen to it, and can't help but being like "this shit is the best thing I've ever heard in my life", but it just doesn't resonate with me like some other ones. But, I mean, this album is like 12 years old, and you can put the lyricism up against anything today. I play this every time I'm doing work. Dude was only 18...that's crazy.

4) Outkast- Speakerboxx/ The Love Below. Outkast is my favorite music entity ever. I've been an Outkast fan since ATLiens when I was 10. I remember waiting for "Elevators" to come on the radio so I can pop a blank tape in and record it and learn Andre 3000's last verse (which I can still recite flawlessly, don't even need the damn instrumental). But Outkast never had that perfect album. Even though this one was my shit, they never had one that I could listen to all the way through. This is the closest they had. I was lookin forward to this album for months and it came through. It never gets old.

3) The Greatest Rapper of All Time- Supreme Clientele. C'mon man. It's Ghostface Killah...the G.O.A.T. I've listened to this album almost once every couple of weeks for the past 5 years. I bought a pair of Wally's just off the strength of this album. This was the first Ghost album I bought, and he became my favorite MC immediately. I mean, he makes you think, and he always drops knowledge and uplifting music.

2) Madvillain- Madvillainy This is just real hip-hop. I mean, like 22 songs, no hooks, just a producer (Madlib) using jazz samples and random ass TV show snippets and MF DOOM wreckin every track. I mean, it's like 20-something songs and it's only like 55 minutes long. DOOM is one of my fave MC's and he just killed everything. He is the Concept King (sorry Papoose), I mean, what other album had an anti war song, a song about bad breath and a damn good break up song (prolly my fave break-up rap song ever besides "Big Ol' Butt"). By far the best album of 04.

1) Hov- The Blueprint Here it is man. This is my all-time fave, fuckers. yea yea yea, it's not the deepest of albums. But, this one, like the DMX album, has emotional resonance. I bought this album on 9/11/2001 and listened to "Renegade" all nite and watched the news just reflecting. But on it's own, this album is still greatness. I mean, 15 songs with only one guest and it's jammin the whole way through. Hov was beefing with Nas and you can tell it really motivated him. Also, an unknown cat named Kanye West produced six cuts. This album is flawless. It's a documentary of a man who is coming at every doubter with his head high, and he proved himself agains the odds. Who can't feel that?

Thanks for reading. Feedback is welcome.

Ben Folds Covers the Postal Service

Hat tip on this one goes to the crowd at All Things Go.

Watch out for the macarena cameo. Unsuitable for small children who weren't alive or awkward middle-schoolers when the macarena was popular.

State of the WALT

WALT has gotten off to a tremendous and record-breaking start this season. As of the end of last week, we have 74 student DJs hosting 46 shows. Simply put, this is the greatest student participation we've seen in the life of WALT since its humble start almost a decade ago. There is a great mix of content: music, talk, and everything in between. I am also pleased to announce that almost every single show from this semester will be available on the web as podcasts. That's right! Head over to WALT's home on the web and subscribe to your favorite shows!

Taylor, Owen, and I were recently interviewed by The Davidsonian about the history of the station, its recent successes, and its future plans. Be on the lookout for the article in a future edition of the campus paper!

More will be coming on this soon, but be on the lookout for details about...
- the second annual WALT benefit CD
- the second annual Freestyle Battle
- more eboard-in-action pictures
- and more!

Another video for your viewing pleasure...

Here's a fun little ditty. Dubya performs "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2 for his State of the Union address.

Meet the Eboard!

Although these will go up on the WALT site soon in some wicked-sweet flash player contraption, I thought I'd give you blog readers a special sneak peak at...

...the new...

...the improved...

...the WALTacular...

Meet the Eboard album:

WALT Eboard '06

For The Widows In Paradise, For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti

Sufjan time. This one goes out to all of those (like me) who couldn't get tickets to the Chapel Hill show. dammit.

What We're Listening To: The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers

I lack both the street cred and the wit to write lengthy reviews on this blog or elsewhere. What I hope this will become will be a forum to share what new (or rediscovered) stuff Eboarders and DJs have been listening to incessantly. I'm hoping if I kick things off, others will follow (fingers crossed).

The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers


Look past the verbosity (hint: the song titles aren't any better) of the "begging to be taken seriously" band name. These guys, like me, are from Chapel Hill...and we're suckers for mellodrama.

I first ran into this band on a podcast from KEXP (out of Seattle, WA) about a month ago. The music is at once orchestral and raw, deliberate and driven, and I think it suits this, the first cold night of the fall. So there you go. The good news is that the band is offering a ton of free MP3 downloads here. Any of the songs that have links can be downloaded by right-clicking and hitting 'save as'. They'll have a *new* full-length out soon. Enjoy.

In case you're dense (we love you anyway):
Band.
Free Songs.
Buy It.

The Week That Was...(Charts 9/12--9/19)

For those who don't know, every week WALT (along with hundreds of college stations around the country) reports its top 30 played albums from our "rotation tracks" selection to the College Music Journal. We'll post those charts here weekly:

Radio 200
1 SOUNDTRACK The Science Of Sleep
2 CHRIS THILE How To Grow A Woman From The Ground
3 JAY BENNETT The Magnificent Defeat
4 ANI DIFRANCO Reprieve
5 KILLERS "When You Were Young" [Single]
6 SILVER LINING Well Dressed Blues
7 SUFJAN STEVENS The Avalanche
8 HELLOGOODBYE Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!
9 40 WATT HYPE Strong Feet On The Concrete
10 PEACHES Impeach My Bush
11 UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF GIANTS Under The Influence Of Giants
12 ALRIGHTS High School
13 TOWERS OF LONDON Blood, Sweat And Towers
14 JAMES KOCHALKA SUPERSTAR Spread Your Evil Wings And Fly
15 CALEXICO Garden Ruin
16 KUNEK Flight Of The Flynns
17 DRAGONFLY Blind
18 D-LEE Da Connect
19 WE LANDED ON THE MOON We Landed On The Moon
20 LOVE ARCADE Love Arcade
21 LOS ABANDONED Mixtape
22 NEIL YOUNG Living With War
23 GYM CLASS HEROES As Cruel As School Children
24 SCATTERED TREES Song For My Grandfather
25 SWAMP CABBAGE Honk Walter Parks
26 HOT CHIP The Warning
27 HEAVENS Patent Pending
28 KEVIN BILCHIK Paper Money
29 IN REVERENT FEAR Stomacher
30 RICH SCHRODER Your Kind Words

Also, 5 albums we expect to chart next time around (making their debut this week):

Radio 200 Adds
Rank Artist Recording
1 KOOKS Inside In/Inside Out
2 DARKEL Darkel
3 CARDIGANS Super Extra Gravity
4 STRAYS Le Futur Noir
5 TA-SHMA Come Listen

Upcoming Shows in the Davidson Area

Hey there radio land. Station manager Taylor here. Courtesy of dilligent and deliberate WALT Secretary Julia, after the jump is a list of upcoming shows that might peak your interest...

For more concert and ticket info, check out pollstar.

We'll update this list every week or so....and on a final note, Julia adds: "If anybody is going to the Motley Crue concert...my goodness please be my friend"

Coming to Charlotte:
Thu 09/21/06 Aimee Mann Neighborhood Theatre
Thu 09/21/06 Frankie J The Palomino
Thu 09/21/06 Jeannie Ortega The Palomino
Thu 09/21/06 Luis Fonsi The Palomino
Thu 09/21/06 Nina Sky The Palomino
Thu 09/21/06 Orishas The Palomino
Thu 09/21/06 Catfish Haven Tremont Music Hall
Thu 09/21/06 Aerosmith / Motley Crue Verizon Wireless Amp. Charlotte
Thu 09/21/06 Lennon Verizon Wireless Amp. Charlotte
Fri 09/22/06 Gin Blossoms Amos' Southend
Fri 09/22/06 Shawn Mullins Amos' Southend
Fri 09/22/06 Duwayne Burnside Double Door
Fri 09/22/06 Rose Hill Drive Milestone Club
Fri 09/22/06 Backyard Tire Fire Visulite Theatre
Sat 09/23/06 The Codetalkers Blues Brews & BBQ
Sat 09/23/06 Ralna English Blumenthal Center
Sat 09/23/06 Chris Duarte Group Charlotte Blues Festival
Sat 09/23/06 Eric Lindell Double Door
Mon 09/25/06 Nels Andrews Evening Muse
Tue 09/26/06 Dan Bern Evening Muse
Tue 09/26/06 Catch 22 Tremont Music Hall
Tue 09/26/06 Less Than Jake Tremont Music Hall
Wed 09/27/06 Datri Bean Evening Muse
Wed 09/27/06 Beenie Man Tremont Music Hall
Thu 09/28/06 Railroad Earth Neighborhood Theatre
Fri 09/29/06 Brother Ali Amos' Southend
Fri 09/29/06 Rakim Amos' Southend
Fri 09/29/06 Mary Gauthier Evening Muse
Fri 09/29/06 Widespread Panic Verizon Wireless Amp. Charlotte
Sat 09/30/06 The Muckrakers Evening Muse
Sat 09/30/06 Widespread Panic Verizon Wireless Amp. Charlotte
Sat 09/30/06 Hobex Visulite Theatre

To Asheville:
Wed 09/20/06 Bruce Molsky Grey Eagle
Wed 09/20/06 Dirk Powell Grey Eagle
Wed 09/20/06 Liz Carroll / John Doyle Grey Eagle
Wed 09/20/06 Dubconscious Orange Peel
Wed 09/20/06 The Easy Star All-Stars Orange Peel
Thu 09/21/06 Porter, Batiste & Stoltz (PBS) Orange Peel
Fri 09/22/06 Alison Brown Diana Wortham Theatre
Fri 09/22/06 Alex Skolnick Trio Grey Eagle
Fri 09/22/06 Death Vessel Orange Peel
Fri 09/22/06 Jose Gonzalez Orange Peel
Fri 09/22/06 The Codetalkers Stella Blue
Sat 09/23/06 John Cowan Band Brew Grass Festival
Sat 09/23/06 Robinella Brew Grass Festival
Sat 09/23/06 CSS Orange Peel
Sat 09/23/06 Ladytron Orange Peel
Sun 09/24/06 Hellsayers Grey Eagle
Sun 09/24/06 The Long Winters Grey Eagle
Tue 09/26/06 Citizen Cope Orange Peel
Wed 09/27/06 Dan Bern Grey Eagle
Thu 09/28/06 Garrison Starr Grey Eagle
Fri 09/29/06 Carolina Chocolate Drops Grey Eagle
Fri 09/29/06 Mad Tea Party Grey Eagle
Fri 09/29/06 Tim Krekel Grey Eagle
Fri 09/29/06 Valorie Miller Grey Eagle
Fri 09/29/06 Rusted Root Orange Peel
Sat 09/30/06 Indigo Girls McCormick Field
Sat 09/30/06 The Weepies McCormick Field
Sat 09/30/06 Railroad Earth Orange Peel
Sat 09/30/06 Bobby Bare Jr. Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
Sat 09/30/06 Drive-By Truckers Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
Sun 10/01/06 Michael English Grace Community Church
Sun 10/01/06 Beau Bledsoe Grey Eagle
Sun 10/01/06 Nathan Granner Grey Eagle

Welcome to WALT

Welcome to the official blog for WALT 1610AM, Davidson College Student Radio. This space is going to serve multiple purposes. First, it will give us a way to let you know what's going on with the station, its executive board, its DJs, etc. We'll promote our show of the week, tell you of upcoming events such as our Freestyle Competition and Battle of the Bands, and let you know when we'll be mobile DJing around campus. Second, our music directors will talk about music that we've received from various labels, which we'll be playing throughout the week on all of our shows. Finally, we'll report on music happenings at and around Davidson.

We hope you'll find this blog useful, and that you'll return to get the latest on WALT. Thanks for stopping by!