« What's Slappin' In My Trunk by HookedOnHipHop »

From Fillmore to Queens Bridge back to Kingston Jamaica, this week's What's Slappin' In My Trunk has it all...

Fillmore's Andre Nickatina returns to the Bay Area rap scene with his latest release Khan!-The Me Generation. Nickatina has consistently put out albums, compilations, and collaborations over the years but this is the first album in a long time that feels like a complete studio album. The first single and one of the hardest songs on Khan! has to be Pimp-Hop featuring the People's Champ, Paul Wall. I was surprised at first to hear Paul Wall on the track, considering Andre Nickatina's little known status outside of the West Coast, but The Bay and The South have always had a connection to each through hip hop. Pimp-Hop is a bass heavy slumper that will be heard out of all the drops this summer. Khan! is only 12 tracks deep; Tony Montana, Nicky's (Strip Club), and Popeye's Certified could have all been the lead single. The production value on Khan! shine through on these songs giving us clean drums and the over the top synths that make Nickatina. I was excited to listen to 9 To 5 featuring Too $hort but, to my dismay Too $hort's only work on the track is a couple of lines during the opener. I was really hoping that Too $hort would rap on 9 To 5 which in my opinion is one of the best songs on Khan!; it would have been nice to see two of the Bay's best bless the mic together. The number 1 highlight on Khan! has to be Cocaine which is actually a bonus track. Rapping about his favorite subject, the White Horse, Cocaine is the track on Khan! that will get you hoppin' in the drivers seat. Khan!-The Me Generation will definitely hold me over for the summer or until the next Nickatina record comes out, whichever comes first.

I've also been slappin' Distant Relatives by Nas and Damian Marley this week. Released May 18th, 2010 Distant Relatives is the first full length collaboration between two of the music industries top titans. Reggae and Hip Hop have never gone together so well, others have tried but Distant Relatives is the Reggae-Hop masterpiece. Marley and Nas first appeared together on Marley's Welcome to Jamrock's Road To Zion which was one the dopest songs on that album. A friendship was born and we were given Distant Relatives which might go down as one of 2010 best overall albums. Featuring Lil Wayne, Stephen Marley, Joss Stone, and K''naan Distant Relatives has a wealth of varying artist that contribute to a new sound. Distant Relatives starts off with the official banger As We Enter, a high tempo intro that kicks the album off the right way. We don't hear another track that has this much hype to on the rest of the album, which makes As We Enter that much more original. Not surprisingly Distant Relatives is littered with political tracks and lyrics, Africa Must Wake Up, Leaders, and Tribal War are just some of the political infused tracks on Distant Relatives. These tracks are a breath of fresh air into a rap game that is to concerned with Double R's and Bitches. The Marley spirit is definitely alive! Nas contributes his legendary rhyme skills and can effortlessly weave stories of political action and thugs on the block into the same verse.  My Generation featuring Lil Wayne and Joss Stone is definitely the must listen to track on Distant Relatives. Wayne totally kills his verse and left me speechless. Now, there have been Reggae artists that have infused Hip Hop into their music and there has been Hip Hop artists who have had Reggae beats or artists featured on their work but Nas and Damian Marley give us something completely new and refreshing. Don't sleep on this album!