Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

Jay-Z's The Black Album has some good stuff, some so-so stuff, and is more uneven than it deserves to be. But the Rick Rubin-produced "99 Problems" is motherfucking HOT, ya hear me?! It's the sound of Hova gettin' raw and Rubin getting back to his roots, all hard rock riffin' and bangin' beats a la Radio, the opposite of, say, the Neptunes joint (and single) "Change Clothes," an obvious - though that doesn't mean bad, though unfortunately it's a little uninspiring - commercial sop. "December 4th," featuring Jay's Mom, is quite nice, too - another solid Just Blaze joint - and Mr. Carter and I share not just a birthday, but a birthdate, it turns out. In fact, Paul (coming back soon) and I were discussing birthdays recently, and discovered that while I share one with Jigga, Paul shares his with Eddie Van Halen - and that nicely sums up our (musical) differences in one convenient factoid.

Speaking of music bloggers, one of the kings, Michaelangelo Matos, is back, thank goodness. He and Nate Patrin (2 to choose from!) are the reasons I started this shit, almost 16 months strong and counting. 'Nuff respek.