Shalamar the Situation: Coming To Save The Game 2.0 In Review

If you didn't understand the Shalamar reference...I hope you expand your musical tastes just a little bit.

Coming To Save The Game 2.0...Better? or not?

DEFINITELY better.

Track 1, "Superhero Music," sets the tone for this mixtape in its apparent production quality and lyrical content. The delivery flows well and meshes properly with all the instruments and sounds within the production.

One of the first things you should notice is the blatant LACK of DJ drops....great move. Now the music can be truly appreciated without "internal external" (in the track, but not a part of it) interruptions.

Track 2, "Can't Be Serious" was the pre-released track from this mixtape. In all honesty, I didn't really mess with this track initially. I love the production quality (consistent theme throughout this mixtape), but I felt like the lyrical quality didn't tap into The Heroes! greater capability. As I listened to it again, it started to grow on my however; I always liked the hook, but the verses are good verses, even though they don't tap into that greater potential.

Tracks 3-8 are the from the first mixtape and therefore need no further discussion.

Track 9, "Heroes of the Game Pt. 2," the beginning seemed a little shaky in relation to the sounds that were introduced and the way they meshed with the artist's beginning and the transition between the last two artists was a little rocky. Worthy of note is the first lyrical appearance of Norrin Radd on The Heroes! tracks.

Track 10, "Show Us Some Love"... High hopes were established for this track in particular. The last verse should have faded into nonexistence in my opinion. It didn't meet up the standards set by the verse before it and its lack of comparison wasn't compensated by a refreshingly different style...it just filled space. Insider's Scoop: There's a lost verse for this track that I wish would have made it to the final cut and I guarantee you guys would have loved it. Eh...but what do I know?...I'm just a Clerk.

Track 11, "Stay With Me Tonight (feat. Kim Kelsey)" has been a must release for quite some time. The R&B/Pop style of this production feels a little better than the version you'll find on the original "DJ Hollywood Presents: Coming to Save the Game."

Track 12, "Ain't No Way" is full of heart. I say that to say that you can feel the drive of each artist buried in their verses.

Track 13, "All I Know" comes in with a feel good almost "Step In The Name Of Love" feel to it. The official last track of "Coming to Save the Game 2.0" (sans *Bonus Tracks*), it leaves you feeling better about life in general.

All tracks after Track 13 are *Bonus Tracks* so I'll leave them unreviewed.

The Recap

All and all...2.0 displays the drastic growth of The Heroes! on the pursuit to "Save the Game." Continue with The Heroes! on this journey as they utilize their powers to save mankind.


-T. Drake

My Mic Sounds Nice: Hips, Lips, and Rhymes (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1 of this article.

The business profile of the female MC vanished with each passing year, apparently due to the budget constraints of the label. Seeing an image of a perfectly done-up female with a mic in her hand served to draw attention to them, and I understand that purpose in the fight against the double standard, even in hip-hop - not many people want to see a female wearing a doo-rag and dirt under her nails. The documentary says this "keeping up with the Joneses" approach prevented labels from signing any more female artists, probably letting their existing artists finish their contracts or buying them out of their deals. Is that a conspiracy, you ask? No, it's just the label's way of cutting their losses, especially if all that they were paying for didn't translate into sales. What isn't mentioned in the program is the rise of digital music, dropping the bottom out of the music business as a whole, as well as that already weakened niche as the public was getting used to not paying for music, further damaging their livelihoods.

My Mic Sounds Nice: Heart, Soul and Flow (Part 1)

Last night, I was winding down my Sunday when I'd affixed my channel to BET - which I rarely do nowadays - and caught the beginning of their new documentary My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women and Hip-Hop. Definitely not one of those "woe is me/respectful females wouldn't do this" documentaries about video vixens, this program focuses on the female wordsmiths in the game - their semi-concurrent rise with hip-hop, their staying power at the end of the century, and then the current decline of mainstream female rappers with the turn of the new millenium. I figured I'd bless BET with the ratings and take a peek. If you haven't seen it, it's definitely an eye-opener.

The Clerks Strike Again....

It's been a while, I know...すみません。

From the collective minds of Sage and T. Drake comes "hot fyah" so to speak...

If you've been to any Heroes! events then you've seen the shirts The Heroes! wear; well this isn't about them.
Many of you have heard of Good Wood and if not, they're renowned for their custom wooden necklaces, most notably their "Jesus Piece."

Well, posted below is the newest addition to the The Heroes! uniform: Good Wood Heroes "H!"

From The Desk Of B. Reilly: The Heroes' Latest Practice

Last time we left this program, the release party of The Heroes' latest project, Coming To Save The Game 2.0, was scheduled for August 27th. As you should have heard recently, that party is now finalized for September 18th in midtown Atlanta. This past Monday, The Heroes sans Mister Xavier gathered at a friend's home to practice their new set. Walking into the house, I could already tell that this space would allow everyone more breathing room than Avatar Studios, if you remember. We were introduced to the new guitarist, Nick, one of Dylan's contacts. As the artists got used to the space, a feeling of excitement filled the air because they had been building momentum with their practices, knowing that they are getting better with each moment, creating a chemistry with each other.