Why J. Cole Is Not a Priority to Jay-Z

 As if the lengthy delays after being touted as the next coming by Mr. Carter himself were not proof enough of J. Cole dangerously languishing in Game-like purgatory, it is becoming more and more apparent that Jay-Z has better things to do than foster the growth of his label's new jack rapper.

New DJ Premier Track Featuring Evidence (Video)

Premier can't stop, won't stop.

More of that incredible, inimitable sound and style of Hiphop music that solely belongs to him and nobody, except for of course the artists -- like Evidence -- whom Preem generously allows to kick rhymes over what is more times than not the hottest beat said rapper has ever rhymed on.

He's going on damn near a quarter of a century of consistently laying down pure heat for past, current and future generations of Hiphop -- all with a bunch of records (that he can cut and scratch the holy hell out of), some drum and sampling machines, and one of the keenest ears in all of music. An ear that is cosigned by a diverse cast of characters, which makes it all the more impressive.

Oh, and did I mention he always makes whoever he works with reach their full potential? That's a talent that should never be taken for granted.

However, that's a post for another date. Until then, enjoy the visuals for the greatness that is and always will be a Premier beat. (Check for the Termanology -- a rapper who has also been blessed by Premier -- cameo, too!)

Some of my favorite Premier tracks after the jump:

If I Executive Produced The R.E.D. Album...

By now everybody who was going to check for it has already had a chance to listen to rapper Game's disappointing fourth studio album, The R.E.D. Album.

During the ridiculously long buildup to the album's release -- including a delay of nearly two years and countless songs that he declared would be its lead single -- Game apparently lived in the studio, churning out mixtape after mixtape filled with quality material, leading listeners to believe more of the same would be included on the actual studio album.

However, in this case, the levels of letdown that I am still experiencing with each consequent listen -- it is barely tolerable -- is something I haven't experienced in some time.

With this new album, he completely dropped the ball and released what almost amounts to a throwaway mixtape filled with fake gangsta fluff facilitated by too many attempts at pop singles aimed directly at the radio and video outlets, ignoring his core fanbase who helped him attain his quickly-fading superstar status.

There are too many negatives with this album -- including a misguided stretch of three songs that each feature an R&B singer -- for me to list them all.

Instead, I decided to take a different approach, sifting through his enormous catalog of material released over the past 18 months and culling together a more comprehensive presentation of his songs to form what I believe should have been the retail version of the R.E.D. Album.

In other words, I'm doing what the executive producers for this album (namely Dr. Dre and Pharrell) should have done, ultimately coming up with what I call The R.E.Done album.

NaS & AZ Reunited; Aiming for the 'Throne'?

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but when I saw the above image -- tweeted yesterday by the rapper AZ -- my mind was flooded with way more than that, busy contemplating all the implications behind this one photo.

Namely, what exactly are NaS and AZ doing in the studio together?

Are they just working on a song to be featured on one or both of their future albums?

Is this just a mixtape track they're working on?

Did they just happen to be in the same studio at the same time and came together for a chronic break?

Or, the most obviously glaring question -- have they come together to record a collaborative album as a response to Jay-Z and Kanye's most recent effort, which has some Hiphop traditionalists disappointed at its alternative approach?

Vado: Celebration (Video)

VADO : CELEBRATION from wolph creation on Vimeo.

Nearly a year after releasing the critically regarded Slime Flu mixtape, Cam'ron's latest protege, Vado, has released the corresponding video for his song Celebration.

It's a well done video, edited around footage of various Vado interviews in which the rapper looks to be humbled by the accolades thrown at him, a prominent theme within the song's lyrics that indicate a celebratory toast to his impending success is due.

And I couldn't agree more.

Dirty Martini -- Troy Ave Feat. Prodigy: The Guilty Pleasure Edition Vol. II (Video)

If anybody read Prodigy's recently released autobiography, they probably remember the multiple passages in which he remorsefully writes about his negative past and his pledges to change his life in order to set a better example for his family and live a righteous existence.

Well, if his lyrics from this [and many of his other post-prison releases) are to believed, you can throw all of that out of the window.

From the first moment we see Prodigy in the video, his face is flush with his signature fed-up-looking scowl, waving and pointing his right hand around in a gun-like motions toward the camera. Wasn't his three-year bid because of gun possession? But I digress...

An Analysis of Jay-Z & Kanye West's Otis Music Video

New videos are popping up left and right, with Kanye and Jay finally coming through with the visuals for Otis, their first single from Watch the Throne.

If anything, the video -- which shows the two Roc stars laughing and enjoying the spoils of success by driving around a vacant parking lot in a one-of-a-kind Maybach while trading verses -- makes me like the song even more.

With that said, I'm still not sure what exactly the song is about, nor do I understand why two veritable musical geniuses would work so hard on an album only to reward its lead single with a lazy, unimaginative title that, again, apparently has nothing to do with the song's enigmatic subject matter.