official news

figured i'd drop some knowledge.

Prophecy is now going to release an online mixtape and official EP on the same day. February 20th, 2008.

Xerost8 Clik is still releasing a compilation mixtape album on March 20th, 2008.

& last but not least, I will release my fifth album and final in the series, Trilogies Of Tragedies: Book Three on June 6th, 2009. Three years after my second album. I have plans set in stone to begin work after the new year. It will be my best work yet and I hope to work & experiment with genres I've never touched before.

radio versions.

Tre D Crazi
"Trilogies Of Tragedies: Book Two"

1. Hold One Up - sendspace
2. Spaceship - sendspace
3. Drippin' Wet - sendspace

Kyd N Tre
"Iowa Money"

1. Iowa Born - sendspace
2. Method to the Madness - sendspace
3. Lookin' At A Star featuring Thrilla - sendspace

beat that pussy til it bleed like apollo creed

I got a big bag of that fungus in my dungarees
My blunt humongous, if your among us, you'll get lung disease

Wayne is so fucking sick.

Holla lol

just a heads up...

we are beginning work on the xerost8 mixtape album. it is entitled "The Future Is Here: The Album Before The Album". It will be a compilation with all seven members represented through out the CD.

It's due out March 20th and the plan is to have the first single online after the new year.

hello world

so it's been awhile. i've been very busy. i'm actually producing some new joints so i'ma let you in on the future lol.

Prophecy's Second Mixtape - Prophecy has made it clear he wants to wait til late spring/early summer to release his debut album. So we're going to rock another mixtape. Doesn't mean I can't sneak a couple beats in there for you cheap tricks.

Kyd's Return to the Mixtape Scene - Eyerishkyd has not released a solo mixtape Summer 2005. So a 3 and 1/2 years is enough. The plan is to put it out in February or March hopefully. We'll see how everything works out since he doesn't have much access to studio equipment since he's moved back.

Tre's fucking third mixtape in six months - Yes, I'm releasing another mixtape. I'm sorry. I can't stop making GOOD music. The plan right now is to release it January 20th. It's fitting to pop off real quick lol. I plan on promoting the fourth & fifth singles of T.O.T.2 on that effort.

T.O.T.3 coming in 7 months - Yes, I have plans as of now to release the third effort in the trilogy on May 23rd, 2009. I'll know for sure around mid-February if I'm going to make release date. I'll probably put out the fourth and final mixtape for awhile in early April. The single will hit the net in March though.

Last but not least, the third single for T.O.T.2 is going online on Thanksgiving. "Drippin' Wet" is produced by J.Mack of The Machine and has been the most requested song off the album. Speaking of that, I'm running low on copies with covers. I'm going to make some more early next month so hopefully half of the copies (cds in cases) will be sold by then. That'd be a good thing to celebrate on New Years. I just sold a couple copies today. I haven't put them in stores yet. I'm probably going to after I order more covers. I just don't got enough time to get around.

venom

"In the streets of peepin' game, I can't trust you no, no
All up in my business mayne, I stay on the low low
Say they really, really fake, can't mess with you no more
Closest people to you hate so I be rollin' solo
Creepin' on the low low, I be ridin solo"

Chamillionaire is back and it's an amazing thing. I'm sorry to everyone but his mixtapes are trash. His albums are fucking past amazing. It's the truth. Can't wait to hear the album.

P.S. 808s & Heartbreak is a true fucking hit. I've heard 9 of 12 records off it and it's all pretty good.

T.O.T.3 -- May 1st.

Now It's On

I figured I'd go over a bunch of different topics in one blog so I don't write too long.

- I do know some of the songs end up only playing 30 seconds...I don't know how to fix that. I already looked into it.

- The album is finally out...So hit me up on MySpace if you want a copy. I'll upload the dot com probably Tuesday night with the PayPal info and the website listed in the booklet. I'm already out of 2/3rd's of the copies I put together. So that's an amazing sign. So looks like I need to go get more covers printed.

- The show was nuts. Best show yet. While the Iowa Money CD Release Party had more people...this show was a lot more fun. I really didn't expect the reaction I got for my set. I also didn't really expect to remember the lyrics for my songs. It was a perfect experience...Very much needed. But wait til I perform some more songs off the album. I'm a sick individual. Lol.

- I'm going back thru Iowa Money since I was to the point where I heard the songs so much I couldn't stand hearing em. So far, it's cool. The Truth is mad sick. Party 2Nite is cool. Not very great. Talkin Bout was so-so. Ballers was cool. Rockstar had so much potential if it would've came out in the first batch of Rockstar tracks lol. My verse is straight fire. Basically, hit me up if you want a copy. You can PayPal it or I can direct you where you can pick it up.

Trilogies Of Tragedies [BOOK 2]: Part Four

Now was the last month or so of recording. I came up with a couple songs just in a row like wildfire. "Dig", "Four Walls" and "Thank You" were I believe written in the same 3 or 4 days. I wrote a couple other songs that didn't make the album in that time range, namely, "Love-Hate" and "Last Words". But the one I wrote that stood out the most was a song called "Without You". I'm not saying it stood out because it was the best, because all of them can make arguments about being the better song. Good ones at that.

The reason why it stood out was because there was no rapping on the song what so ever. I think since I started "The City of Angels", I've tried to make a song where there was no rapping that was good enough for one of my albums. But at the same time, I didn't want to stray too far from my type of music. Cause then it wouldn't fit the scheme of the album. This song was actually influenced by another Xerost8 artist.

Thrilla had just put up a song on his MySpace. "Last Night" to be exact. And well, I sat here thinking why didn't I just make a song like that. Cause every time I tried, it ended up too rock-ish. I never tried to make a simple R&B track. And well, I think Thrilla's is hot as a forest fire. But I was proud of mine in the sense, I didn't just rip his off or anything. Eventhough, the argument can be made. So once I was threw with that, I had to just make finishing touches on the album.

I almost didn't have the features ready in time. Hitta recorded his on Oct. 11th since he was in town from our concert. I ended up scratching a couple ideas and going back to "Loveisdead" with Prophecy and then Kyd asked me if I had a record him and Thrilla could rock on. Well I had made a remix beat for "One Hit Wonder" and well it was flames. They wrote to the beat before I even touched it. Hitta recorded his verse on the 11th. Proph came over the next week and laid down his three verses on the album.

Thrilla almost didn't get his tracks on the album. Same with T.R.A. & JC Money. But they got their verses to me two days before the final deadline. I worked with Thrilla and pushed it back a couple hours cause I trusted him. And he came through with some hot verses. So the album was done on October 21st, 2008. So I sent the album in the following morning. I've noticed two things I missed in the album...So I guess it wasn't mastered to perfection.

But anyways, this album is still not all of me. If I would've took the rest of the year, who knows how much better the album would've been. I think I stopped at the right time though. It's a really good album. And you can say...well yeah you made it. of course you think that. I'ma let you in on something. I can't listen to our CDs after we make them. I'm so sick of them from mixing them that I can't stand em. I haven't listened to Iowa Money in a month or so besides the songs we've performed.

But this time around, I get goosebumps from like 9 songs. Usually, there's one song, maybe two on my CDs that give me goosebumps...But 9 songs....that's almost half the album. I just completely took the time to make some really amazing songs. But I guess it's not for me to judge. It's up to you. The fans. The specatators. The haters. You can let me know if I went above my normal expectations. I can honestly say I think this is easily the best Xerost8 album ever. No offense to Kyd. I came out of my head for this one. I might not be as lyrical as Hitta or Proph. I might not have the swagger Thrilla does. But I can make songs like a motherfucker. Try me.

helloooweeen

So I, being the type to not want to dress as someone people know, dressed up as Bert Wysocki from the CW TV Show, Reaper. Yep. Nobody knew who I was til I posted this image.

Anyways....Moving on. We wrapped on what will be known as my first movie appearance. Lol. It's a small budget flick called "Hotboxin'". Yours truly plays a dumb-to-the-truth kid named Chase. It should be a funny but short flick. From what I hear, it's going to be around 27 minutes. Maybe a couple more. It's just the start. I'm actually writing a short script for the second installment of this Beyond Broke/Xerost8 bond. It's titled, "The Thing Is..." and I wanna say it's The Odd Couple meets Judd Apatow. Plans are for the script to be set in stone by the end of the year. And hopefully we'll film it and put it out by Summer. I think Hotboxin should be out around Christmas. Don't quote me on that. Lol. I know we'll probably put out an EP for the soundtrack. I'll give you details when I get them.

So, I should be recieving the T.O.T.2 CDs tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to print the covers Tuesday. It should be a busy week, learning the set and putting everything together. I am putting up another song off the album on Tuesday. For those that don't know, "Walkin' Wit Angels" is on my MySpace but will come down Tuesday. I believe I'm putting up a little ditty entitled, "MJ23 featuring Eyerishkyd" and then I'll probably put up one last one on the 11th. Scratch that, I'm gonna have four or five songs off the album on my page just to promote it. So I'll still replace "Walkin' Wit Angels" but Friday, I'll just put up another song.

THE CROW 2: TRACKLIST

SIDE ONE: THE CROW 2
1. Intro
2. Psychopath 2 featuring M.T.B.P.
3. Fresh Again
4. Love-Hate
5. Still In The Air
6. Jigsaw
7. The Road to Nowhere 2
8. My Life: Continued
9. Outro

SIDE TWO: T.O.T.2 Extras/The Prelude 2 Bonus Tracks
10. Hold One Up [OFF T.O.T.2]
11. Swagger Like Us featuring Xerost8 Clik
12. Never Over [T.O.T.2 Leftover]
13. Down With TDC-Model Swappin
14. Through The Storm [T.O.T.2 Leftover]
15. Asshole-In Her Car
16. Spaceship [OFF T.O.T.2]
17. So Lost
18. Last Words [T.O.T.2 Leftover]

check the two songs on the side player

just some quick remixes i did.

Trilogies Of Tragedies [BOOK 2]: Part Three

With the single out, it was time to make the bulk of the album. I had a couple records from "Iowa Money" that only had me on it that I planned on keeping for my album, including "Spaceship", "Breakdown" & "Punisher". I worked on finishing those up first before making new records. I knew I wanted a record on this album with the bulk of the Xerost8 roster on it. I wanted a hard song for it. It turned out to be called "'Til We Die".

With Hitta gone, I had to figure out what songs he needed to write for that he knew. "MJ23" was one I had two verses for and never got around to writing a third verse for it, so I threw him on it.
After those were done, I began work on new songs. The first one made was "After All This Time" which turned out to be about me if I got signed basically now. And how it could turn out. The ending was not anything I pre-planned. It's kind of a thing with me. The pen decides my lyrics for me. And this is something I've never shared.

But if I get a couple bars that are like out of this world, I get this weird feeling that I didn't write them. As in the sense of God helped me write the bars. Yes, Mr. Fuck God said it. I believe in God. No, I actually believe in Karma so I live my life by it. I've seen what karma does to people. Hence what the song is about. I followed that up with a similar subject for a song called "In This Life". The song is about me if I kept rapping and never made it and finally gave up. I wrote a couple other songs and got to around 14 songs done when I started compiling a track list. I really probably started 31 or 32 songs for this CD and had around 50 beats lined up.

Now was the last month or so of recording.

The album is sent out...

I had the album sent out this afternoon so everything's on track for the album to come out on time. I send the album to a printing company in Miami, Florida that has done at least a couple handful of our CDs.

But...I wanna make a point that this time around, the online feature of this album is going to be above and beyond the last few. I'm working on the legal matters of making it so you can log onto the site included on the inside of the CD case, so you can read lyrics, producer credits, recording information and other very useful information.

*sigh*

damn...i feel like a whole chapter of my life is through...no a whole book. :-)

I just officially finished the album. It's being sent out in the morning for duplication. Therefore, I feel obliged to give away the tracklist and a sampler. Aren't I just great?

TRACKLIST:
1. The Prelude (Intro)
2. Dig
3. Spaceship
4. One Hit Wonder II featuring Xerost8 Clik (Eyerishkyd, Thrilla & Prophecy)
5. In This Life featuring Tay Tay
6. Take You Home
7. MJ23 featuring Eyerishkyd
8. After All This Time
9. Drippin' Wet
10. Hold One Up
11. Breakdown
12. Four Walls
13. Loveisdead featuring Prophecy
14. Walkin Wit Angels
15. Punisher featuring Thrilla
16. I'm A Mess
17. Without You
18. 'Til We Die featuring Xerost8 Clik (Eyerishkyd, Thrilla & Prophecy) & M.T.B.P. (T.R.A & JC Money)
19. Thank You
20. Outro



p.s. sampler will be on the blogspot playlist in 15...myspace also.

The second single is...

"Spaceship" is now online. Just check the player next to these words. lol.

The song is produced by yours truly. It's more of a fun track.

We're going to try and shoot a video for it after the show on the 8th.

Lemme know what you feel bout it.

fuck baron davis

yes. he's injured for 4-6 weeks. boo hoo. shouldn't of left for the clippers...d-bag status.

Warriors in '09 :-)

vote obama

sex drive...

sickest comedy this year. yes, i know what your saying. really?!? it beats pineapple express, tropic thunder and step-brothers.

cult classic probably.

now....the thing is...the whole reason the movie was so amazing could be cause I could relate to it beyond belief...since the whole movie (very semi-spolier) is being about the girl you want wants your best friend. I dealt with that shit for 6 years now....but thats in the past yo

Trilogies Of Tragedies [BOOK 1]: The Stories

I made "Trilogies Of Tragedies: Book One" from October 2006 to March 2007. It was a decent album. Not very many people heard it due to me packing stuff away and misplacing my copies. I think maybe 20-30 people have heard the album. Sad...I know. I'm thinking bout giving T.O.T. 1 away with Book Two but I gotta find the copies I got left. Lol.

01. Book One (Produced by Tre D Crazi): I really wanted a special beginning. This was beyond perfect. It sampled some song by Supertramp. The beginning was just fuckin sick. I loved the way it went into that beat. My verses were on some Weezy shit. I just went off. Chorus could've been better. I'm not sure when this was made in the process. One standout line: "Pop hears me and gangsta rap ignores me til I put on this hockey mask and swing a machete like Voorhees". I made two really sick verses for this joint. P.S. that intro comes back into play for the new album.

02. Ladies & Gentlemen (Produced by Tre D Crazi): The beat for this joint was originally made for a remix of a Chamillionaire song but I completely changed it. I wanted to have a good club song to follow up the intro. I sound pretty awful on the chorus. Lol. The first verse wasn't very good. The beat is so sick. I like the last four bars of the first verse. I was smoking phillies with Hitta when we made this joint. The beginning of the second verse is sick. It's a cool song though. Nice addition of This is Why I'm Hot at the end.

03. Afraid Of You featuring Eyerishkyd (Produced by Tre D Crazi): The first single. When it was time to release a single for the album. I really didn't have shit. So I took a song I had with Hitta on it and said fuck it. Very catchy chorus. My first verse is sick as fuck. "White bandana, black tee, Tre Fantana, that's me, If you wonder, end up like Stevie Wonder, can't see". This is definitely a thumbs up still. Verse 3 wasn't very hot. Hitta went hard.

04. The Frontline (Produced by KaneBeatz): I was starting to see Kane get more and more popular in the producer's game so I wanted to capitalize on having a beat on my record. This chorus is trash. The first verse is cool. I predicted I was going to buy a Sidekick that summer. Ha. Second verse was 10 times sicker. The second verse was written for "Chevy Ridin' High" for my mixtape but it fit fine on the beat. The third verse was sick. "I leave my mark on every rap dude like a tattoo. I ain't comin' at you. I'm just comin' for you." and "I ain't never heard a single of you murder me." Ah. I had a couple gems.

05. Warrior (Produced by Tre D Crazi): I released this around Xmas 2006. I actually went at Chingy on this song cause he had a line about being the King Of The Midwest. This song was probably in the top 3 on the album. I went fucking off. "I'm the only rapper y'all should ever anticipate". Chorus was cool. I'm thinking about performing this at the Album Release Show. "Put chu in my army, sendin' bodies into Baghdad". I really have fuckin went from Chingy to Lil' Wayne in a year and a half. I am such a better rapper now. Third verse was the best. My "Chingy" disses were sub-par. Ehh. The song's hot though.

06. Dominate (Produced by Tre D Crazi): This song sampled the beginning of the movie, "Red Eye". Sick sample. I stopped the movie just to sample it. Originally, the song was me, Boy Butta & Taz. And it was made in Early '06. But I ended up re-doing the whole song for this album. I kept some of the same lyrics from my original verse for the first verse. It's a hot verse though. "I'm so fly. I should've been the one to write "Infinite". Haha. I was going off on this CD. Third verse was off the fucking wall. Like MJ off the wall. Second verse was crazy too but the 3rd verse featured some of my hottest bars.
"Hip Hop Honor Roll, only honor roll I'll ever make,
Got a hundred tracks stashed away if I die today,
Got a couple gats stashed away if you try today,
Got a couple raps stashed away for your entire gang,
If I retire mayne, they'd be missing the future,
It's like an assanation missin the shooter,
It's like the shooter missin' the ruger,
Sick of you losers snitchin' like intruders"

07. Forget About Tre (Produced by Tre D Crazi): Well, the title influence should be obvious. I always wanted to rap to Forgot Bout Dre. But I ended up doing this first. I sampled a band called Red. It's a cool concept. The first verse is trash until the last couple bars. The chorus is sick. Verse 2 actually is partly freestyled. I came up with it one day while I was working. I think like the first 10 bars. This song is poorly recorded. Third verse starts with a beautiful sung part. I like it as an ending. Otherwise, song's a skipper.

08. Natural Born Hustler (Produced by Tre D Crazi): This was actually supposed to be the first single. But when it came time to release one, it just didn't seem good enough. I was going a little too hard on the "hustler" subject. Lol. I just can't believe how much better I've gotten in a year and a half. I didn't think it was this big of a different. The beat is really hot. Chorus is sick. I might have to re-work that chorus melody into a new beat. Lol. Hitta's gonna get it. Verse 2 is a little better. I like how I talk alot bout how I was gonna move to Des Moines. And I actually did. I think I had a lot of my mind this CD so a lot of it was addressing the move. Verse 3 isn't anything special. I have like the same flow on every song for this CD. I guess I get better with each book. I love the instrumentals at the end of some of these songs but that's what happens when you bang a lot of JT & Timbo.

09. Waiting On The Day (Produced by Tre D Crazi): This is the sickest song on the CD. I still get goosebumps from this track. I made this probably early March. Chorus is amazing. Verse 1 is nuts. I am amazed by it. And that's saying a lot for this CD. I'm not saying it's not hot enough for anyone to hear. But compared to the album I'm about to release, this is so immature. Verse 2 isn't very great. But there's a couple great lines. "I came with a pen, no need to erase history". The verse 3 is sick as fuck. It addresses my past. Halfway through the album, I think there's a couple gems on here. But it's just a bookmark compared to Book Two.

10. Ain't Got Deez (Produced by Tre D Crazi): This beat was a lot simpler originally. I wrote the first verse and chorus originally to a simple beat. Then when I started making the album, I figured I'd make it a full song. I originally did the full hook but Hitta pulled it off nicely. I don't really care for the song anymore. I've heard a bunch of songs with similar choruses since I made the song. Lol. Third verse was cool. Otherwise, this song's another skipper.

11. Quit Whisperin' featuring Eyerishkyd (Produced by J. Mack): Well. The most popular song off the CD. The one we made a video for and everybody thought we was dissing them. I made my two verses and the hook probably January 2007. And then Hitta added a verse at the last minute. It's beyond hilarious that he dissed his-now girlfriend on this song. Sick ass song. Remix is better lyrically. But this one has more history. Both my verses were sweet. www.youtube.com/user/tredcrazi if you wanna see the video shot by D-Roc. I believe it's on there. If not, check Eyerishkyd's MySpace.

12. King Me (Produced by Tre D Crazi): This song did not turn out. The idea was tight but it just didn't work. The first verse was tight. The beat's nice as fuck though. "I didn't know you was an officer, dude. I didn't give a fuck though, off with the shoes, what you want? an urn or a coffin, choose? Those the only options I ever offered to dude." The chorus sounds cool but it could've been done so much better. "We splittin' wigs, causing rappers to get permanaent death certificates. Bodies burn, ashes in the urn". I know I had a line on this song about CM Punk. Lol. The third verse is hot.

13. Live My Life featuring Ashley (Produced by Mardah Beats): Wow. This beat is fucking nuts. No wonder I bought it the night I heard it. Ashley was a girl I worked with who I already knew could sing. It came out nice. I was going thru alot of shit when I wrote the verses...Almost dissing my family. It's one of those therapy songs. Very awesome. I recommend this one. I know I wrote this in March 2007.

14. The Audience (Produced by Tre D Crazi): This intro is fucking hilarious. We came up with it after the whole song was recorded. We should do this live. Lol. Too bad the song wasn't nearly as good. The chorus is tight. I remember not even liking the verses once the album came out. Ehh. Wow. "Flow charasmatic, voice sexy"...This is trash. Moving on, already. "I mean she a hoe, but it ain't like she a hoe, hoe." Ah. This is the one where I said "Show some motherfuckin noise". HAHA

15. One Wish (Produced by Tre D Crazi): This was the original "Road to Nowhere" beat made in 2004. I lost the save for FLStudio so I sampled my beginning and re-made the beat. One of my best songs. Chorus is so smooth. I did four eight-bar verses. I remember I wanted one of my songs to end opposite of what people would expect. I have a song on the album similar to this. So that's kinda cool.

16. Last Train Home (Produced by Tre D Crazi): Wow. This one takes me back. I made this I think right after we finished Kings Of The Midwest. If that hook would've been Auto-tuned, it would've sounded so much better. I like this song still though. I originally wrote the first verse about something entirely different. But then it became a story. This is probably behind Quit Whisperin' and Warrior in the top 3 songs on the album. I loved the ending how it went into the next song so perfect. It was almost like a guitar solo.

17. Emergency featuring Eyerishkyd & Thrilla (Produced by Tre D Crazi): We actually were going to perform this at a show. Song is cool but not as great as it could've been. The subject now is so dead. But this beat is fucking fire. The chorus was sick as fuck too. I think this was in the last couple weeks of recording. We actually had to take a random verse from Thrilla to even have him on KOTM so I made sure we had him on my album. My verse is cool. Hitta killed it. AJ killed it too. He had the first "Guitar Hero" reference. Lol. Sick song. Top 5 on the album.

18. No Sleep (Produced by Tre D Crazi): This is one of my favorite beats. This song was so true. I was suffering from insomnia bad. So I was taking like 5 tylenol PM a night just to fall asleep an hour or two after I laid down. I also had a really bad twitch from all the stress building up. The chorus is amazing. I ended this album on such a good note. The first verse and chorus was written somewhat early in the process but I didn't finish it until the last week. I liked the outro to the album. Segway into the upcoming album.

Overall thoughts: I really have come a long way from this album. I think Kings Of The Midwest to now is such a different time. 5 albums have been released in 20 months. This album is better than The Crow but I don't know if it beats The City of Angels. Maybe it doesn't even beat The Crow. Either way, I give it (3.25/5). The new album, I'm giving a (4.75/5) ahead of time lol. We'll see how I feel in a year and a half.

Hope you enjoy listening.


The rest is to come...

I have decided...

To upload the entire "Trilogies Of Tragedies: Book One" and put it on this blog and as the songs goes up...I'ma write something up about the songs. I'm only going to get the first four songs up tonight. But I'll do a write-up that I'll update as more songs go up.

BLOGSPOT EXCLUSIVE

"S.L.X." by Prophecy, Eyerishkyd, Thrilla & Tre D Crazi

This song will be on "The Crow 2" on Side B. Kyd & Thrilla threw their verses down in Mason and Proph & I just got our verses done in the past day.

Holla.

10/31/08.

new eminem freestyle

damn....i guess i can finally stop saying em sucks. he murdered it.

fuck.

I applaud you.

Trilogies Of Tragedies [BOOK 2]: Part Two

So it was time to start work on the album. I had a couple ideas already down and recorded but needed to put more focus on them. I made some beats in early August aiming to start making the songs mid-August. Well mid-August came too quick. Eyerishkyd was moving back to Mason so I guess I almost gained and lost focus. The day after he left I made the first song. "I'm A Mess". I had the hook and the beat for "Iowa Money" but no verses were written for it. So I made all 3 verses around 2 AM on say August 15th.

The next night, I made another track. "Through The Storm". The track addressed Hitta dippin' and everything going on in my life. Those two tracks had a raw attitude I usually didn't possess. I was feeling like I was off to a good start. I followed those two by focusing on "The Prelude 2" and just working on beats for a bit. Well I finished two or three more songs before I decided I needed to almost rush a single out.

I made a song called "She Got It" and was prepping it to be the single. Well, the day after it was finished, I was on a random local MySpace and some random song started and it sounded ten times better than "She Got It" and that bugged me. Cause if I can't beat some random nobody I've never heard of...then it's not the right song. Enter, "Hold One Up". I came up with the hook randomly just hanging out. The song came out wonderfully and I released it on September 1st. So I had around 7 songs done at this point.

With the single out, it was time to make the bulk of the album.

Yo

It's been a week. My bad. Lol.

Ugh, not much new music really.

I was busy all last week working on the new album, working on Hitta's new mixtape, finishing Proph's artwork and the concert.

I'll add the part two to the making of T.O.T.2 in a bit.

someday

maybe she sexy, maybe she's cool
maybe she's choosin' cause they all do
they say she likes me, maybe it's true
but baby i ain't fuckin' nobody but you

- j.r. get money

song is smooth as hell.

the week of music

Stack$ (Crazee & Confused) - downloaded this the other night. Well, he's got the "album" sound. But he shouldn't be rapping. He is basically mediocrity mixed with Eminem and Plies. He has a song called "This, That" that reminds me of Eminem but the lyrics are horrid. The song with Twista should've just been a Twista song but then again Twista raps first and has the hook so it probably was. Watcha Lookin At was first a B.G. song and then I swear someone else rapped on the beat. Money Ova Here goes down as the 10th song sampling that hook. Wayne kills it at least. Stacks isn't ready. Or he might want to just wait for daddy to pass on the family business. (1/5)

Lil' Wayne (Young Money Mix) - This mixtape proves that Drake easily kills every member of Young Money besides Wayne but he even comes close. It's great to hear Wayne in a more group effort so that he can just spit punchlines. "I Want Dis Forever" is sick. "Bullshit" is hot but Kid Kid ain't anybody I plan on paying attention to. Gorilla isn't great but Wayne's 1st verse is sick. (You are not a man, You are just Amanda) But the two standout songs are "Ransom" where Weezy and Drake both easily steal the show. Drake's introduction to the U.S. came hard. (You should go and get a blue's clue, oops I mean a red clue, Wayne's here, Soo woo) The second song is "Brand New" which is also Weezy & Drake. If this doesn't hit the radio, someone isn't on their fucking job. Mix is what it is. A mix. But download it just to hear Drake. (3/5)

There's a new Proof mixtape...double disc. I don't rate something from a legend. Rest In Peace, Proof. We Love You.

Devin The Dude (Landing Gear) - I don't know. I love Devin as much as the next rapper. But he doesn't need to keep making such mediocre albums. "I Can't Make It Home" is a really hot song. But Devin doesn't even shine the most. Whoever did the hook is the genius. "Me, You" is a really boring and dumb song. Snoop makes the standard one big guest for the album. Song sucks. "I Need A Song" is another hot Devin song. "Stray" has the hottest beat. Other than that, don't waste your money. (1/5)

Charles Hamilton (Staff Development) - Okay, so Charles is a hot emcee. But this whole release a mixtape every two weeks til the end of the year is a bad idea. Why? It shows that he's going to be another rapper with two hot songs a CD. But this one's at least a fresh idea. Charles shows off his crew before anyone gets a real introduction. One problem. Every member sounds like Charles almost. "Rock The Joint" is a hot track. I really got into J-Means but his flow is identical to Charles. "High" has a beat meant for a classic project. Maybe it's been on one. I don't know. But the lyrics aren't classic. "Air Conditioner" is a hot track but Charles is starting to sound like he's freestyling every song. LEARN FROM T.I.P. You need to write. If Wayne wrote his lyrics, he would be sicker than anybody on this earth. Charles, stay on your game. The CD picks back up with "The Butterfly Effect". The hottest beat on the entire CD. Speaking of that, Charles hook me up. I wanna rip it. Charles does kill the song eventhough it has his freestyle I'm gonna talk the song flow. Charles is the future...cause I know he's putting his best shit on the album. This is just a road bump that we can move past cause nothing's that worth it. (2/5)

No songs really stand out this week besides an oldie..."Brand New" by Lil' Wayne & Drake is beyond amazing...

I'ma try and do this weekly.

hmm...

i have too many good songs. never thought i'd be able to say that.

but i've had to take off 3 tracks cause I've ran out of time. If the times on these songs stay exact, my album runs about 79 minutes. Not even enough room for an interlude...20 tracks. No interludes.

And I have 4 songs going on "The Crow 2" that were recorded for this album.

Plus, 2 more are being put in the vault. So I've got around 26 records done for the album. I started around 40.

This shit gets sicker and sicker everyday.

Second single will be announced right when I finish mixing so probably the 21st or so.

I'm down to three choices....so that's a good thing.

Look for a new track from "The Crow 2" after the 10th.

scott storch everywhere

Yayo in my kitchen, Scott Storch everywhere
White vette, black top, Kung Fu Panda Bear
Call me sensei, I got the tai-kwon dough
My Angelina shit, I want that Brad Pitt's dough

So I bought the new Jeezy record. I remember I hated Jeezy when I heard "And Then What..." But after Put On, he's become a favorite of mine. Granted, I liked a few songs when I went and saw him perform with Weezy in Murderapolis.

Kinda like I hated Kanye when he dropped "College Dropout", then warmed up for "Late Registration" and then he became a favorite from "Graduation"

same thing happened with Jeezy. 1st didnt hit me. 2nd made me pay attention. 3rd impressed me.

Well I'm on my fourth album. So what will that mean. Kanye's not impressing me with his single. Hopefully "Hold One Up" is making y'all want more from me. I thought I killed it. I also rapped my verses though. Lol.

Anyways, I'm gonna rock this Jeezy out til I crash. I gotta work all weekend.

Trilogies Of Tragedies [BOOK 2]: Part One

Let's take this back to Xmas 2007. Me and Kyd had just released "Kings Of The Midwest 2" and decided to work on "King Shit 2" and make our solo albums. I had started around seven songs when we did our first concert on February 20th, 2008. We had already booked our second show on April 3rd. We decided in early March that maybe we should work on another duo album since we were doing shows as a duo. So the seven or so songs I had, including, "Never Over", "Jigsaw", "The Road to Nowhere 2", "Get Through This", I put on the back burner in order to work on our album.

I had already put out "Never Over" as the first single and since it was produced by Beatcatererz, I had already purchased the beat. So I decided I'd keep that one no matter what. A few months passed as we worked on "Iowa Money", performed more shows, got some press and other stuff. Around early July, I decided I'd follow the album with my solo album on Halloween.

As "Iowa Money" came out, I decided it wasn't going to be possible. So the plan was for The Prelude 2 to come out in late August. Then I was gonna put out a remixtape called "The Crow 2" on the 3-year anniversary of the original (Halloween). Then I'd follow with the album on November 4th. Well, when we got a show for November 8th. It made sense just to release it then. I'd just put it in stores the following week.

So it was time to start work on the album...

Whew...

Just bought the new T.I. tonight on break during work.

Eventhough I copped the leak, this CD is truly amazing.

I really lost hope in T.I. after hearing Whatever You Like, the record with The Dream and that Let My Beat Pound record.

But he saved the best records for the album.

That "Ready For Whatever" song is the truth. Easily the best song on the album.

And the joint with JT is fucking amazing. I really loved the fact that Justin produced the joint.

The CD is a true contender for Rap Album of The Year. Only true competition so far is Jeezy.

Really, what do we have left to look forward to?

Jay-Z, Kanye & 50? By looking at what's out now...none of those three mean shit.

"Jockin' Jay-Z" was a hot concept and the diss at Noel was sweet but the lyrics were passable. "Swagger Like Us" features Jay-Z getting murdered by T.I.

This "50 for President" joint that everybody keeps bumpin features 50 proving that he sucks at rapping and singing.

"Love Lockdown" sounded okay live. But the three or four recorded versions are trash. I've already heard three covers that sound outstanding compared to Kanye. You cannot go from "Can't Tell Me Nothin" to "Love Lockdown". I guess I can tell you something now, Kanye.

Alright, that's enough. I'm going to finally buy the Jeezy record on Thursday and help push him towards gold. Lol.

I guess my 5 cds a year ratio is getting full fast. The Carter 3 I think is the only album I've bought this year besides Paper Trail.

Music sucks. Bad.

The Tragedy

I feel good. My album is getting somewhat close to finished. I have to record an eight-bar verse for the final track. Do a song with Prophecy and just wait on the guest verses. I plan on spending the last 20 days of the recording process, re-recording, re-writing, mixing and mastering.

It's amazing how quick this album has come together. Could it be that I had a release date ten months ago and had a good 7 or 8 tracks done already. (Speaking of which, I think the only one of those that made it is Never Over). Could it be the fact that I had a Pac-like or almost Wayne-like work ethic and finished 9 tracks in 3 days. Lol.

I think it's the fact I have a lot to say and no offense to Hitta, but "Iowa Money" wasn't me. I love that album but it wasn't what I needed to put out. This album is my best work and hopefully the best or second best Xerost8 album (behind Kings Of The Midwest 2). I'll get more in-depth about the recording process and the songs as October goes on. This is the Intro statement.

if anyone thinks...

that new metallica single isn't classic metallica...they should be shot in the knee.

I heard it on the radio at work yesterday and just got like a throwback feel.

Reminded me of when I'd be in the backseat of my father's car in the 90s and he'd be playing "the black album" or "load".

Ehh...at least someone can get back on the right page.

welcome to my blog

ill being posting various thoughts shortly.