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Posted Thursday, April 22, 2010

XXL recently reviewed E-40's Revnue Retrievin Day Shift & Night Shift albums, scoring both albums with an XL rating.

Article link: REVIEWS: E-40, Revenue Retrievin’ Day/Night Shift

Releasing two separate albums on the same day is not something that has been done often in hip-hop (Nelly released his LPs Sweat and Suit on September 14, 2004). Then again, the Bay Area ambassador E-40 is not the typical rapper. Over the span of his nearly 20-year career, 40 has rarely been one to adhere to trends, yet he has maintained a faithful, hardcore fan base. For his 11th and 12th solo studio albums (Revenue Retrievin’: Day Shift and Revenue Retrievin’: Night Shift), 40 chose to take the independent route and stick to the script.

Whereas Day Shift embodies a melodic, accessible sound, a back-to-basics aesthetic is clear on Night Shift. As one of the first rappers—if not the first rapper—to ever rhyme in detail about the drug trade, 40 reminisces and flexes his coke-rap muscles on both LPs. The Rick Rock–produced “Over the Stove,” where he raps, “If this rap shit don’t work, mayne/I’m back over the stove,” is one of the highlights of Night Shift. You’ll find similar venom on Day Shift, even though it’s designed to be the least sonically aggressive of the two.

Despite an unorthodox style, 40 has been able to work well with a variety of different artists throughout the years. There is an abundance of guest appearances on both discs. His guest list on Night Shift includes Bay Area stars like Messy Marv and The Jacka (“He’s a Gangsta”) and Ya Boy, Turf Talk and Cousin Fik (“Knock ’Em Down Music”). It is more-mainstream acts, like Gucci Mane (“Whip It Up”) and Too $hort (“Bitch”), who lend their talents to Day Shift. At times, it works out perfectly, like on the aforementioned songs, but at other times, E-40 outshines his company. On Night Shift’s Jazze Pha–produced “Can’t Stop the Boss,” 40 is joined by Too $hort and Snoop Dogg on what sounds like an updated, late-’90s West Coast collaboration, but the song works despite a subpar verse from Snoop.

Unlike on 40’s last album, The Ball Street Journal, catering to women is not a prevailing theme here. Aside from Night Shift’s “Stilettos & Jeans,” featuring singer Bobby V, most of the female topics on both albums involve sex (“Fuck You Right”) and pimping (“Attention”). The subject matter does not completely revolve around busting guns, pimpin’ hoes and selling dope. As an elder statesman in the game, 40 laces both albums with his brand of ghetto gospel and precautionary tales. Night Shift’s “Let Go & Let God” features three generations of 40’s family—his father, Earl Stevens, and son, Droop-E, produced the record—and OG sensibilities. Day Shift’s “I’ma Teach Ya How to Sell Dope,” featuring Turf Talk, is sure to be an audience favorite. Though 40 talks slick (“Reached in my pocket and pulled out a thousand dollars and a zone/I got a digital-scale application on my iPhone”), he is equally effective at sharing the pitfalls of the dope game without overly glorifying it.

On both albums, 40 is in the zone when he’s in storytelling mode. Day Shift’s “The Art of Story Tellin’” is somewhat of an updated version of “Bring the Yellow Tape” (off 1995’s The Mail Man EP). Much like the original, the song finds 40 hunting down a rival, only this time he has more high-tech ways of finding the culprits (“Go to they MySpace page/I bet you one of them rap/Bet you he got a picture with all of them in the back”).

Both releases have their hits and misses, but overall the music remains balanced. Longtime E-40 fans will find more than a few songs to mob to, while the decidedly West Coast sound may alienate newer listeners. However, at the end of the day (or night), a hustler like 40 will retrieve his paper either way. —Branden J. Peters

Posted Thursday, April 22, 2010

Berner recently unveiled promo artwork for the followup to December's Blow project with Messy Marv. Blow 2: Blocks and Boat Docks is in progress and promises to top the first installment.

Check out the artwork, one of four images created by Photo Doctor Graphics:



Posted Monday, April 5, 2010

San Jose talent Stik Gilatine and Tha Critic are teaming up to release a duo album together, Streets To The Sky. The album will be pure freestyles off the dome, so as it's recorded is how it was spit.

Check out the cover below:



Posted Saturday, April 3, 2010

Thizz City is releasing one of, if not their first, compilation album presented by The Boy Boy Young Mess. Thizz City is a division of Thizz Entertainment, meant to represent San Francisco with it's many talents. This is similar to Town Thizzness, which is the Oakland wing of Thizz.

The album is set to feature San Quinn, Berner, Killa Keise, Roach Gigs, DaVinci, Cellski, and many more. Dropping June of this year.

Photo Doctors has once again delivered amazing artwork. Click on the flyer below to check it out in larger size.



Posted Monday, March 29, 2010

A host of people gathered on March 25th, at Club Wet in San Jose, CA to celebrate the release of E-40's Revenue Retrievin' Day & Night Shift albums.

R54 Photography was on hand to take photos of the night. Check out the gallery below:

E-40 Record Release Photo Gallery

Posted Saturday, March 20, 2010

Young up and coming producer Equivalent Exchange has lots in store for 2010 with his production catalog.

Some of the beats he laced are for artists such as San Quinn, Dem Hoodstarz, The Jacka, Messy Marv, Errelevent, J.Stalin, Termanology and more.

Check out this beat mix below:



Posted Wednesday, March 10, 2010

SF Weekly recently highlighted the bay are acts that will be featured in this years South By Southwest event in Austin, Texas from March 17th to 21st. Participants performing include The Jacka, Mistah FAB, and Lyrics Born. Here are the excerpts:

Jacka
If the Jacka's lyrics are to be believed, he likes girls, going out to clubs, showing off his clothes and his car, and earning money in various extralegal ways. It's been a long time since hip-hop was about what you had to say in this way. Here, it's also all about how you say it, and the MC's voice adds a slight edge of gruffness to a 50 Cent–ish delivery, to impressive effect.

Mistah F.A.B.
Hyphy rapper Mistah F.A.B.'s minimalist electro beats and subdued delivery (not to mention his ultragarish MySpace page) can serve to mask real lyrical talent. He's known to fans as a Lil Wayne–level freestyler — and he serves his fans well. Though he's signed to Atlantic, he offers free downloads of almost his entire discography, from official albums to mix tapes, at his own site.

Lyrics Born
Japanese-American rapper and producer Lyrics Born has made quite a name for himself as a solo artist, a member of Latyrx, and one of the founders of the Quannum label alongside DJ Shadow and Blackalicious. In addition to his continuing solo work, he most recently served as executive producer on Love and Understanding, the debut solo album by his wife, powerhouse R&B vocalist Joyo Velarde.

Posted Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The new upstart bay area magazine, All Bay Music Magazine, is listing yours truly, Baycentrik.com in their Top 10 Bay Owned Websites chart. The magazine hits stores on March 15th, but you can preview the digital version now, which looks exactly like the physical print. It features The Jacka and Lee Majors, spotlighting their upcoming GoBots 2 project.

Check the chart below, which is obviously in no particular order ;)



Posted Monday, March 8, 2010

The town veteran Richie Rich recently linked up with up and coming director Tha Razor, to shoot a new video for his song, "Doe". The street banger features B-Legit and was released on his Town Bidness mixtape.

Check out the exclusive behind the scenes photo preview of "Doe" courtesy of R54 Photography:



Posted Friday, March 5, 2010



We at Baycentrik would like to congratulate Oakland's own Keyshia Cole for giving birth to a healthy baby boy. Daniel Hiram Gibson Jr. was born at 11:54pm on March 2nd at 7lbs 3 oz.!

Congrats Keyshia and we look forward to hearing more of that beautiful music you make with your new boy by your side.

Posted Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Mighty San Quinn took a chance to speak with Warrior's World host Lucena to discuss the Golden State Warriors as a team, what shape they are in, and also his personal projects he has planned and who he is presenting this year.



Posted Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The cover has undergone a complete facelift. Check out the new one below, click the thumbnail to see it in bigger size. The Fix 2 is scheduled to drop on March 1st! This followup project will feature E-40, Yukmouth, Beeda Weeda, the Black Card Boys, YG, and production from Droop-E and Oddz N Endz. Look for it in 7 days for exclusive download, right here on Baycentrik.com.



Posted Tuesday, February 23, 2010

E-40 Exclusively premiered his new albums, Revenue Retrievin Day Shift and Night Shift to 106 KMEL's own Big Von, DJ Amen and a select few others. Check out the video:



NewsPro.