How rap builds itself on itself: Brooklyn MC Red Cafe has a new song out called "I'm Ill." I like it. But not everyone does. (The Pigeons and Planes website says "This track might be Mr. Marty Mediocre's favorite new song." Ha! Marty Mediocre must hang out with Plain Jane McLame and Norman McNormalson.) The song is interesting, though, at the very least, as a study of how production trends work. The beat is built around a vocal sample of Jay-Z saying "I'm Ill" on a record he released last year called "A Billie." "A Billie" featured Jay rhyming over the beat from Lil Wayne's hit "A [...]

With its tough, minimalist beat, and a chopped-up of vocal snippet from Biggie Smalls' "Dead Wrong," Papoose's "I Just Want The Paper" is a street hit. Now comes his recession-beating video. Papoose is from Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and there is no Autotune in this song.