You know, I thought Rhymefest was average at best. Don’t get me wrong; dude got talent. He basically wrote most of “Jesus Walks” which went on to win Kanye West a Grammy for Best Rap Song. Shit, in 1997, he even famously beat rapper Eminem in a freestyle battle at Scribble Jam in Cincinnati (the largest American hip-hop festival). Rhymefest can rap and it was a time where I thought he might make a mark in the rap game as an artist with his rhymes that the regular guys could relate to. It wasn’t until he dropped his debut album Blue Collar that I started to think otherwise. The album wasn’t what I expected and it didn’t do well on the Billboards 200 either (It debuted at #61). Even though I liked Rhymefest’s first single “Brand New” and some other track s, I thought his album would cut all that radio bullshit out. His other single “Fever” and accompanying video was what I thought he was against.
But then I heard “Angry Black Man On An Elevator” featuring Lil’ Jon and saw this:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/lMDCdlVe5jI" width="425" height="355" wmode="transparent" /]
This is the Rhymefest I wanted on Blue Collar. I personally think that this is Rhymefest’s best song to date. The video and the song are witty, clever, and uh…good. This is supposed to be on his album new album El Che (expected to be released Winter 2007/Spring 2008). The production on the album is suppose to have Lil’ Jon, DJ Paul, Kanye West, Just Blaze, DJ Premier, & Mark Ronson with featured artists Kanye West, Nas, The Game, John Legend, Raekwon, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Eminem, & Little Brother. Yea, I know probably have these people won’t make the album, but if half of these people show up, it’s still a good line-up. I’m actually looking forward to El Che and pulling for Rhymefest again.