Cajun Tomato’s Favorite Albums of 2011 (Pt. 1)

December 21, 2011 By 2 Comments

Danny Brown

I am sitting in a coffeeshop where a trio of aspiring filmmakers seated at a table behind me are discussing how they will depict a rape scene for their short film. This is the backdrop I have for writing the first part of my favorite albums list. It is time to put earbuds in and drown out the rape talk. Sickos!

Per the year in music: I think the 2011 was great for individual songs; for albums it left me wanting a little bit. However, there were some great new artists who made major statements — some of whom will appear on this list. How’s that for cryptic?

Below is Part One of my favorite albums of 2011 list. Part Two should be up Thursday at some point. PS: If you are interested what my favorite albums were at the year’s midpoint click here.

I also encourage you to read up on my favorite albums of 2009 and 2010.

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Filed Under: Dig This Tomato, Yo!, Kanye West, Music Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

PHOTOS: Watch The Throne at Tacoma Dome

December 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Wake up, Mr. West!

I sat in the nosebleed section for the Watch The Throne show Friday at the Tacoma Dome. My Nikon Cool Pix is pretty slick, but it’s not made to shoot pictures from a football field away. Regardless, I snapped photos, and these are my favorites.

Also: I encourage you to read my review of the show here.

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Kanye, Jay-Z Risk Lives Atop Throne in Tacoma

December 19, 2011 By 2 Comments

Kanye, Jay-Z risking their lives!

It would have been the oddest celebrity death in history. The international headlines would have read, “Business card causes pop icon’s fatal fall.”

Instead, it was another epic Kanye West rant, much ado about nothing. A fan, presumably going H.A.M., threw a business card onto a part of the Tacoma Dome stage that had moments earlier been raised two stories high.

Kanye flipped his lid. He threatened to remove a row of people who paid around $200 per ticket. I love when Mr. West goes off script.

“These cubes going 20 feet in the air,” Kanye told the crowd, genuinely pissed. “We’re risking our lives, fam.”

Kanye and Jay-Z’s Watch The Throne tour stop Friday night in Tacoma, Wash., featured three hours of show-stopping moments – from scores of platinum hits to an awe-inspiring light display to Kanye being Kanye to the encore of “Gingers In Paris,” as I call it. They might not have literally risked their lives, but Kanye and Jay-Z were nothing short of life-affirming.

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Track Review: “H.A.M.” by Kanye West/Jay-Z

January 11, 2011 By 2 Comments

Kanye West released “H.A.M”, the first single off his collaboration with Jay-Z titled Watch The Throne, today on his Twitter to celebrate 1/11/11.

My initial reaction to “H.A.M.” is it does not come close to matching the best songs on Kanye’s My Beautiful, Dark Twisted Fantasy. This might be a harsh comparison. But it’s hard for me to divorce Watch the Throne from Kanye’s latest since he and Jay-Z teamed up on a handful of Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Friday tracks.

So “H.A.M.” isn’t quite up to “Runaway” or “Monster” level. Is that really that big of a surprise? Of course not. My Beautiful, Dark Twisted Fantasy is a pantheon album.

I have high expectations for Watch The Throne, given Kanye and Jay-Z’s Hall of Fame track records. They are living legends. Anything less than greatness on Watch the Throne will be viewed as a disappointment.

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