| Ryan Proctor writer for Blues & Soul Magazine |
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best albums |
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Kanye West "The College Dropout" |
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Ghostface "The Pretty Toney Album" |
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Murs "3:16 - The 9th Edition" |
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Skinnyman "Council Estate Of Mind" |
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The UN "UN Or U Out" |
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Rodney P "The Future" |
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Mos Def "The New Danger" |
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Snoop Dogg "R&G: The Masterpiece" |
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De La Soul "The Grind Date" |
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Shock G "Fear Of A Mixed Planet" |
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Kaze "Spirit Of '94 - The 9.0 Version" |
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The Roots "The Tipping Point" |
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albums I listened to |
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Devin The Dude "To The X-treme" |
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Xzibit "Weapons Of Mass Destruction" |
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J-Zone "A Job Ain't Nuthin' But Work" |
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The Alchemist "1st infantry" |
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213 "The Hard Way" |
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Royce Da 5'9" "Death Is Certain" |
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Halftooth Records "You Don't Know The Half" |
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Pete Rock "Soul Survivor II" |
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dead prez "RBG" |
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Dilated Peoples "Neighbourhood Watch" |
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Yungun "The Essance" |
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Donny Hathaway "These Songs For You, Live!" |
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Masta Killa "No Said Date" |
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Cee-Lo Green "Is The Soul Machine" |
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Beastie Boys "To The 5 Boroughs" |
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Jadakiss "Kiss Of Death" |
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Klashnekoff "The Sagas Of..." |
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Cormega "Legal Hustle" |
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KRS-One "Keep Right" |
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The Foreign Exchange "Connected" |
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Brand Nubian "Fire In The Hole" |
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Wordsworth "Mirror Music" |
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Terror Squad "True Story" |
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capital D "Insomnia" |
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Teena Marie "La Dona" |
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Yogi "Bear Necessities" |
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Masta Ace "A Long Hot Summer" |
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Jedi Mind Tricks "Legacy Of Blood" |
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Chief Kamachi "Cult Status" |
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Chan "Part Of A Nation" |
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R.A. The Rugged Man "Die, Rugged Man, Die" |
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MF Doom "MM..Food" |
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Nas "Street's Disciple" |
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best songs |
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Masta Ace "Good Ol' Love" |
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Terror Squad "Lean Back" |
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Sa-Ra "Glorious" |
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Mos Def "Sex, Love & Money" |
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Dynas "Game Huntin'" |
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Wee Bee Foolish "Putting In Work" |
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J-Zone "A Friendly Game Of Basketball" |
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Beyond There feat. Yungun & Jehst "Slumber" |
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Kyza "Real Rap" |
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Nas "Thief's Theme" |
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Talib Kweli "Peace Of Mind" |
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Edo.G "Boston" |
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Showbiz feat. Fat Joe "On My Way" |
| and a bunch of other stuff..... |
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best producers |
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Kanye West |
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The Alchemist |
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Baby J |
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Pete Rock |
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The Neptunes |
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Showbiz |
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Oddisee |
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9th Wonder |
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best emcee / lyrics |
| when R.A. The Rugged Man said on his track "Lessons":"I don't want fans that don't know who (Kool) G.Rap is.." that shit damn near brought a tear to my eye...beautiful! |
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biggest surprise |
| the fact that, after a string of mediocre releases and guest appearances, Snoop Dogg came back so strong with both 213's "The Hard Way" album and his own "R&G: The Masterpiece" set. Obviously you can teach an old dog new tricks after all. G-funk has been reborn. Bow-wow-wow-yippee-yo-yippee-yay! |
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biggest disappointment |
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Method Man's "Tical 0: The Prequel" album. Meth can still rhymes his ass off but he needs someone to help him choose better beats |
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George Bush being re-elected wasn't a good look either |
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books I read |
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Nelson George "Post Soul Nation" |
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Cheo H. Coker "Unbelievable - The Life, Death And Afterlife Of The Notorious B.I.G." |
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Tracy Funches & Rob Marriott "Pimpnosis" |
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Kool Mo Dee "There's A God On The Mic" |
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Todd Boyd "The New H.N.I.C." |
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movies I saw |
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Spiderman 2 |
| it takes a lot for me to go to the cinema...and when did popcorn become so damn expensive??!! |
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websites I visited |
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Sohh.com |
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Allhiphop.com |
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Shockg.com (possibly the illest artist site you'll ever see) |
| a few others that my mother wouldn't want me looking at....holla! |
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foods I ate |
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things that made me smile |
| seeing a drunk RZA bring his son onstage to promote the latest line of Wu-Wear at a Ghostface gig before proclaiming that you can now buy Wu button-ups for all the "corporate niggas" wanting to "keep it real at the office". Now THAT'S gangsta! |
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things that made me go hmm |
| meeting Alicia Keys backstage after a Talib Kweli / Mos Def gig in London and wondering if I had a chance. Even though my pimp game is strong having grown up listening to Rick James, Too $hort, Keith Sweat and Big Daddy Kane I decided to let the moment pass....her loss! |
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things that made me cringe |
| any music awards show. When are the hosts of these events going to realise that unless they're named Richard, Eddie or Chris they have no business trying to tell pre-written jokes onstage while pretending to be spontaneous. Let me spell it out for you - you're not funny mo' fos. |
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best moment(s) of 2004 |
| having the opportunity to interview and hang out with my all-time favourite emcee Big Daddy Kane while he was in the UK. We sat up in a hotel after his show until 5am debating such important issues as Kool G. Rap's best album, his supposed back-in-the-day beef with Rakim and whether MC Lyte would beat Queen Latifah in a battle. |
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worst moment(s) of 2004 |
spending the best part of the year working on a 14,000 word feature for Blues & Soul magazine entitled "25 Years Of Hip-Hop On Wax" only to realise after the magazine had gone to print that I'd managed to spell Rick Rubin's name incorrectly. How I managed to miss that after proof reading everything about a thousand times is beyond me.
I know there's war, hunger and poverty occurring across the globe but sometimes it's the small things that piss me off. |
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what I'd like to see in 2005 |
| more balance in the hip-hop media. I'm tired of magazines, radio shows and music channels proclaiming to offer cutting edge hip-hop when in actuality they're not promoting any artists who aren't on a major label with a huge promotional budget behind them. Hip-hop used to be about going out and finding that hot new record or artist - not waiting to be told what you should
or shouldn't listen to by huge corporations who only care about the music because they're making money from it. Yes this is a business, but creativity and originality shouldn't have to be completely sacrificed in order for artists to become successful. It's not that I want to see hip-hop remain underground, I just don't want to see it become as meaningless and disposable as most of today's 'pop' music.
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what I don't want to see in 2005 |
| your mother knocking at my front door again |
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hip hop in 2005 will be... |
| even more confusing than it is now |
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my new years resolutions |
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not so much a resolution as a promise to myself to continue to not let the industry bullshit and empty hype influence the artists and releases I decide to cover as a writer. |
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Oh, I almost forgot...I HAVE to get my own pimp cup made this year. What do you think the P in Ryan Proctor stands for bitch?! |
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