Who's Next? Pt. 3: Bishop Lamont

Although Bishop, has been doing his thing for a minute now, I still gotta put him on the "Who's Next?" list. This dude has released mixtape after mixtape and all of them have been hot. And we're not talking about mixtapes with re-used beats, we're talking brand new material with production from the likes of DJ Khalil, Black Milk, Scott Storch, 9th Wonder, Dr. Dre, and more.

Bishop, who hails from Carson, CA, is one of the premier artists working on Detox. One of the reasons you may not have heard more from him is because he's signed to the 'black hole' known as Aftermath, which is Dr. Dre's label. Aftermath has gained the reputation (and rightfully so) of being the 'best practice squad in Hip Hop' thanks to a roster that includes Eminem, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Bishop Lamont, Slim Da Mobster, Marsha Ambrosius, and once had Joell Ortiz, Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, and Rakim. Dre, being the perfectionist that he is, rarely puts out music until he deems it 'ready' (case in point with his mythical album, Detox). The last few years, Bishop has been hard at work on his debut LP, The Reformation. Thus far, he's released two Dr. Dre produced songs, 'Grow Up,' and 'Hallelujah.' Both are dope, especially the sinister-sounding 'Hallelujah,' which features Xzibit on the hook. In true Aftermath fashion, information regarding The Reformation has been kept seriously low-key. But we do know that a virtual 'murderers row' of producers have worked on it including RZA, Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, DJ Khalil, Scott Storch, Focus..., and Battlecat. Like Dr. Dre's Detox, I hope The Reformation gets released sooner rather than later, but for now we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

'Hallelujah' was leaked online about four months ago, and received a large amount of acclaim from bloggers and Hip Hop fans alike. The song was one of the hardest/hottest songs out, and still is four months later. Dr. Dre finally decided to step up his game from behind the boards. Hopefully the rest of the album can live up to the hype.

'Hallelujah'

'Grow Up' is the kind of song that Hip Hop needs. Basically, the moral of the song is... grow up. Whether it's Hip Hop, or everyday life, you gotta grow up. Armed with a real smooth Dr. Dre beat, it was definitely a breath of fresh air when it came out.

'Grow Up'

One of my favorite Bishop Lamont mixtapes is the Black Milk produced Caltroit. Released back in '07, it has features from Stat Quo, Dr. Dre, Guilty Simpson, Busta Rhymes, Royce Da 5'9", Glasses Malone, and other MC's as well. Definitely one of the top mixtapes released in '07.

Caltroit

Back when Don Imus said the infamous "Nappy Headed Hoes" quote, it created quite a firestorm. Bishop, like many other artists, decided to address this issue with his own controversial mixtape known as N*gger Noize. With production from Focus..., 9th Wonder, and Scott Storch, this mixtape was better than most albums...

N*gger Noize

Another heater, The Confessional was a gem that could have been an album if it were a bit more polished. Lamont recruited heavyweight producers like Denaun Porter, DJ Khalil, Mark Batson, Nottz, Danja, Scott Storch, Bink!, Focus..., and Tha Bizness.

The Confessional

Pope Mobile is another banger. The similar cast of contributors shows up like DJ Khalil, Focus..., 9th Wonder, Scott Storch, and Nottz, but this time legendary R&B producer Teddy Riley, Danja, and Dready Beatz put in work as well.

Pope Mobile

*FYI, MOST OF THESE FILES ARE .RAR, YOU NEED A .RAR EXPANDER TO OPEN THEM. DON'T BE INTIMIDATED IF YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF IT, JUST GOOGLE .RAR EXPANDER AND IT SHOULD BE THE FIRST LINK. CLICK ON IT AND YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE.