6 Star Albums

Part 4: The Recession – Young Jeezy

The Recession is an album many British people would never have heard of before. Young Jeezy is a rapper who rarely appears in the British charts; at best many people might know him from collaborations with artists such as Usher on 'Love in This Club', and 'Hard' with Rihanna. However, this just means that many people are missing out on one of the best rappers around, and this album is his masterpiece.

The first song, the title track 'The Recession', captures the essence of the album. An intro of voices speak about the financial crisis then drop into one of the huge beats that is Young Jeezy's trademark. Using this beat Jeezy paints a portrait of the difficulties of trying to make ends meet, and as in much of his best work, blends dopeboy swagger with discussion of the worries of trying to make it from day to day. 

The next two songs 'Welcome Back' and 'By the Way' are standard street bangers, with Jeezy in thug mode talking about money and guns. However, track four, 'Crazy World', is where the album truly starts to get going. Another song that fits with the theme of struggling, it has a sense of frustration seen in the refrain "God damn another trap, I think Bush is trying to punish us", and lines such as "I want a new Bentley, my auntie need a kidney, and if I let her pass her children never will forgive me" mix rap aspiration with worries recognisable to anyone who's ever felt the weight of responsibility on their shoulders, in a bouncy, fast-paced song. The next track 'What They Want' is another bouncy track that I dare you to be able to stop yourself from moving to, as Jeezy slickly uses sport metaphors to describe his hustle game. Track six, 'Amazin', is another street anthem, with Jeezy flowing over a beat with awesome, almost subsonic bass. Things then slow down slightly with Track seven, 'Hustlaz Ambition', a more introspective song that again ties into the theme of the struggle, and sees Jeezy express his determination to be able to provide for his family and be a success.

The best songs on The Recession can be divided into two categories. In the first category are the fast paced street anthems such as 'Crazy World', 'What They Want', and 'Amazin'. The second category includes slower songs such as 'Hustlaz Ambition', track nine 'Don't Know You', track 12 'Vacation', and track 15 'Don't Do It'. These are songs where Young Jeezy is more thoughtful, and talks more about the darker side of hustling.

Other notable tracks on The Recession are 'Circulate', a song suited to these times of austerity and government cuts, sampling a Billy Paul song of the same name that is also well worth a listen. Also great are 'My President' featuring Nas, an ode to Barack Obama, who was to be elected soon after the album was released, and 'Put On', an anthem that was adopted by several sports teams to warm up crowds before games because of its riotous and infectious nature.

The Recession is a relatively unknown gem; an album that passed many people by, but that has all the things I love about hip-hop. It manages to be both fun and thoughtful,  and as a package of songs, works as well as any album I've ever heard, with its consistent themes, and flow from one track to the next. That's why its a 6 star album and one of my favourite albums ever.

5 Entertainment Highlights in 2013

Its almost 2013! A new year, a new start, etcetera etcetera. Another year of stuff happening and things to experience. To help you start planning for a new year of activities, here are 5 entertainment highlights in 2013 that you should know about.

5. Detox

The long awaited third album from Dr Dre was originally scheduled to be released in 2005, but it has been put back continually since then. As Dr Dre is an artist who has only ever released two solo albums, 'The Chronic' and '2001'; two albums which are widely recognised as classics, Detox is highly anticipated and has taken on almost a mythical status. Tentative whispers have put a release date of April 2013 for it, but it remains to be seen whether that will be put back again.

4. Man of Steel
A dark-looking film reboot of the Superman franchise scheduled to be released in June 2013, 'Man of Steel' stars Henry Cavill, aka the Duke of Buckingham from the television drama series 'The Tudors'. The film will portray Superman's origin story, and try to recover the franchise after the disappointing 'Superman Returns' with a darker tone that would have been encouraged by Kevin Nolan's Dark Knight film trilogy. The film's producers will be hoping that Man of Steel can imitate the success and critical acclaim enjoyed by 'Batman Begins', 'The Dark Knight', and the 'Dark Knight Rises', and trailers released so far do look intriguing.  

3. Game of Thrones

The epic fantasy drama returns for its third series in March. This gives anyone who hasn't caught this show yet time to catch up on the first two seasons, which have some of the best plots and characters of any show on television ever. Many people may be put off by the swords and sandals fantasy genre, but give Game of Thrones a chance and you will not regret it.

2. Arrested Development

One of the funniest comedies on television and a cult classic, the show was cancelled after three series in 2006, but a fourth season will be released on Netflix early in 2013, to much rejoicing from fans. Arrested Development focuses on the formerly wealthy and hugely dysfunctional Bluth family, in a comedy that rewards viewers with long-running jokes, amazing characters, and surreal storylines. A film adaptation is also said to be in the works.

1. The final series of Breaking Bad

After five fantastic seasons, Breaking Bad comes to a conclusion in 2013. The evolution of Walter White from meek high school chemistry teacher to crystal meth kingpin will come to an end with what will hopefully be a suitably dramatic climax. The best show most people have probably never seen, due to it criminally not being shown on English TV, Breaking Bad is a show that deserves to be seen by more people because of its unflinching realism, great characters, and excellent acting performances from former bumbling dad on 'Malcolm in the Middle', Bryan Cranston as Walter, and Aaron Paul as his assistant Jesse Pinkman. Following the cliffhanger ending of part one of series five earlier this year, it seems as if there are only a few ways it can end for Walter, and none of them look good. Do not miss it.

An open letter to my game collection

Dear pile of games on my living room table,

As I look at you, stacked up all pretty with your beautiful box art, its saddens me to think how little time I get to spend with you now. Since I was a little boy you have been one of my biggest passions; from the moment mum first brought home that NES and I fired up Super Mario Bros, I fell hopelessly for you.

Since then we've had a beautiful relationship, I've watched you grow through generations, from NES to SNES, to Playstation 2 to N64 to Gamecube and beyond. Even when I couldn't afford you, I'd throw longing glances at you through game shop windows, game magazines and the internet. Early this year I rejoiced when I became a gamer again with the purchase of a PS3. My list of games to play is long, and I set to it with gusto.

Whole days were spent with you, playing FIFA, and God of War III, and Burnout Paradise. I picked up gems like Red Dead Redemption and Arkham Asylum second hand for bargain prices, and built up a wonderfully genre-spanning collection.

Then one day LIFE happened. Work got real, social life intervened, and things changed. Now I barely have time for you, I come in at the end of the day, tired and unable to dedicate myself to you like I used to. If I'm lucky I can snatch half an hour with you if I get home early enough. I ask myself, when did I grow up? 

I made a promise to myself not to buy any more games until I complete the ones I have, and so I've been watching triple A releases pass me by. SSX, FIFA 13, Need For Speed, and more have gone by while I try to complete the God of War Trilogy, Red Dead Redemption, Arkham City and Borderlands 2 half an hour at a time. 

That's the irony of it all; now I can afford you, I have no time for you. If I want to eat, if I want to do things like buy more of you, this is the way it has to be and I guess I'll just have to keep sneaking time with you when I can. Whatever happens though, know that I love you.

Jude

P.S. Don't even get me started on trying to find time to play Football Manager

The Derby of Italy

Tonight possibly the biggest game in the entire Serie A calendar takes place as Juventus and Inter go head to head in the Derby d'Italia.  Although both teams have a strong rivalry with their city cousins, Torino and AC Milan, there is no doubt that Juve and Inter are each other's bitterest rivals. 

The match gained its grand name in 1967, when Inter were the Italian team with the most international titles, and Juve had the most league wins. These two teams are also the first and second most supported in Italy. In addition, before the Calciopoli scandal in 2006 when Juventus were demoted, both teams were the only ones in Italy never to have been relegated from Serie A. This has added to the rivalry even more, with Juventus outraged at the awarding of the 2005/06 Scudetto to Inter after it was stripped from them.

Even without the historical rivalry, tonight's match is highly important, as it is a top of the table clash between a seemingly unstoppable Juventus team, and an Inter team that has hit an excellent run of form and emerged as Juve's most likely title contenders. While Juve are on an unbeaten run which now stands at 49 matches, Inter have also begun rolling and have won eight straight matches in all competitions. Inter are four points behind Juve in second place, and are now looking like the only realistic challengers with a chance of stopping the Juventus juggernaut claiming another league title.

After a summer of big changes and player departures, Inter were not expected to be in this position, and did have a slow start to the season. Since a 2-0 loss to Siena in September however, they have been surprising everyone, with a new-found strength showing in their eight match winning streak. Credit for Inter's play goes to Andrea Stramaccioni, the young former youth team coach who took over as manager towards the end of last season. Stramaccioni has been managing to get the best out of his players, and switching to a three man defence after the Siena match has seemed to suit the team. Players like Esteban Cambiasso, defender Juan Jesus, Diego Milito, and Antonio Cassano are also in great form. Cassano, a boyhood Inter fan, has flourished since moving from AC Milan in the summer, and has five goals and several assists already.

Juventus are a formidable side, the only criticism that possibly be leveled at them is a lack of a 20 goal a season striker. This hasn't seemed to affect them too much though; along with Roma they are the joint top scorers in the league with 22 in 10 games, with goals coming from all over the team. Players like Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal, and even Paul Pogba have been chipping in with goals, relieving the pressure from their strikers. Definitely the strongest side in Italy at the moment, and with home advantage, Juve will be Inter's biggest challenge so far.

Both these teams will come into this Derby d'Italia relishing the chance to break each other's streaks, and inflict a potentially morale-destroying loss. With two teams with such a fiery history now fighting for the championship, although this match will probably not be decisive this early in the season, it should be a hugely interesting spectacle.

Best Moments in Football Manager

Football Manager is one of the biggest selling games around. Since it began life as Championship Manager back in 1992 the series has sold over 7 million copies, won several awards and been named in at least 35 divorce cases. A game that started out as a glorified spreadsheet with flashing commentary, and that even today still sees the player spending much of their time looking at screens filled with numbers; many people wonder what the attraction is and how it can steal so many hours of time from seemingly normal people. With this in mind, and with the release of Football Manager 2013 in a couple of weeks, here are some of the best moments that keep me coming back every year.

1. Managing the club you support
One obvious reason to buy the game every year is the updated squad lists for each team. The game usually doesn't comes out before at least October, giving the developers time to see what moves are made in the summer transfer window and update the squads. It also means they can see how players and teams perform at the start of the season and adjust their stats accordingly. Knowing this, as soon as I've installed and loaded the game for the first time, I can't do anything other than start a save with my team, to see how good (or otherwise) the squad is, and how far I can take them.

Top tip. For added realism, turn off transfer budgets in the first window so that no team can buy players before January and squads stay similar to real life.

2. Watching your star striker score 20+ goals a season
I'll take goals wherever I can get them; if all members of my squad can chip in with a few then I'm happy. However, there are few better feelings than watching your strikers scoring prolifically. At the moment I'm playing a save as Napoli, and Edinson Cavani is riding high at the top of the league scoring charts. It is truly a joy watching him put away chances, grabbing hat-tricks, and scoring important goals that pull out results for the team.

3. Finding out about the stars of the future before anyone else
I've been playing Football Manager since about 1999 and the amount of players I heard about before they make it in real life is ridiculous. Having scouts find players like Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Arturo Vidal, Hatem Ben Arfa, Gonzalo Higuain, Eden Hazard, the list goes on. Signing them as youngsters, watching them develop into stars in the game, and then seeing the same thing happen in real life is a nice feeling, and you feel like you know a player a little bit when you see them in real life for the first time.

4. Watching a youth player you've trained become world-class
Its great signing big stars, bringing in a marquee players that excite the fans and boost shirt sales. Even better though, is bringing youth players through. Watching a player you've developed carefully from the age of 17 or 18, over several seasons turn into one of the best and most valuable players in the game is time well spent.

5. It never has to end
Won everything there is with your team? Made it into the manager's hall of fame? Do it again with a different team. Manage a big team and make them the best in the world, or bring a small team up from the lower leagues, or manage an international team to the World Cup. One of the absolute best moments in the game is winning everything with a team, doing a Jose Mourinho and resigning, ready to move onto a new team, where it all begins again...

So those are my best moments in Football Manager. Agree? Disagree? Maybe I've missed something out? FM fans let me know.

A hard season ahead for Internazionale?

I viewed the result of Inter's match with Siena yesterday with a feeling of resignation. A 2-0 loss at home at San Siro to a team Inter would normally expect to beat, with all due respect to Siena, doesn't signal a great season ahead. After an extremely poor last season, where we scraped into 6^th place, there were high hopes for a return to winning ways. However, results so far haven't been great.

Way back at the start of August, things looked rosy with a 3-0 win away to Hajduk Split in the Europa League 3^rd Qualifying Round first leg, but that was followed up with a 2-0 loss at home in the second leg. Two more promising wins followed away to FC Vaslui and Pescara, but things have seemingly gone downhill since then. This month has seen a 3-1 loss at home to Roma, and although we won 2-0 at Torino in the next match, this was followed with a scraped 2-2 draw with Rubin Kazan and Sunday's 2-0 loss to Siena, both at San Siro.


During the summer the notoriously poor pitch was relaid at San Siro, in an effort to improve the playing surface. Some in Italy have said that this has caused a curse on the stadium, as both Inter and AC are yet to win a single game there in all competitions. I'm not so superstitious though, as I can understand that a period of rebuilding is happening with several former leaders of our team such as Maicon, Lucio, and Julio Cesar having left, and several young players now stepping up to try and fill their shoes; a few bumps in the road are to be expected.

On paper the team put out against Siena looked relatively strong: Samir Handanovic, a good goalkeeper who replaced Julio Cesar. Nagatomo, Rannochia, Juan, and Alvaro Pereira in defence, Cambiasso, Gargano, Guarin and Wesley Sneijder in midfield behind Diego Milito and Antonio Cassano. Nagatomo is a hard-working fullback who likes to get forward, and who scored the last minute equaliser against Rubin. Rannochia and Juan are young centrebacks with a lot of promise, who until yesterday's game were receiving praise as a centreback pairing. The midfield seems solid, with the ever-reliable Esteban Cambiasso, Walter Gargano, a tough midfielder, and Guarin supporting Wesley Sneijder and allowing him to go create for two top strikers, Diego Milito and Antonio Cassano. The match was also notable for being the first time 39 year old Javier Zanetti, or Captain Fantastic as I like to call him, was rested since December 2008.

Despite the strong team, we were caught on the break twice, with Siena scoring two counter attacks in what was an exciting and pretty open match. I was most disappointed about how disorganised the defence was for the goals, with our defenders seemingly panicking as the Siena players ran at them. Again, these players haven't played together many times, and they are young, so hopefully this will improve as the season goes on.

Inter have the chance to bounce back away at Chievo on Wednesday and despite how much they frustrate me sometimes, I'll be supporting them as usual. I remember the 90s and early 2000s, with the long period of failing to win the league, and especially the gut-wrenching Sunday afternoon in 2002 where we lost the Scudetto to Juventus on the last day of the season with a 4-2 loss to Lazio. Since 2004 it's been better days, with league wins, and the treble-winning season of 2010 where we won the Champions League again after 45 years, on my birthday. After all that success I can handle a couple of less than perfect seasons. Forza Inter.

Does football need a salary cap?

The Guardian's website reported last Thursday that the Premier League is thinking about trying to put a salary cap into place before the money from the next televison deals for 2013-2016 comes in. Footballer wages have been climbing for years, and led to a lot of discussion about whether players deserve so much money for kicking a ball on a field. As football, and the Premier League continue to expand and with TV deals getting bigger, it seems the trend will be for wages to get even higher in the future if left unchecked. With this in mind, I think a salary cap has got to be seen as a good idea.

Salary caps are used pretty successfully in North American sports, including Major League Soccer, and in rugby in England, France and Australia, with teams having a maximum amount they are allowed to pay out for player contracts each season. In 2011, the NFL salary cap was $120 million, while the NBA's 2010-11 cap was $58 million. Caps are agreed before each season, and take into account team revenues, so the cap is at a reasonable level for every team and it's level of income for that year.

Benefits of a salary cap are that, in theory, it prevents rich teams from signing a large number of highly-paid stars and dominating because they perhaps have a wealthy owner. It should also level the playing field so that leagues stay competitive, and you don't have the same teams winning everything every year. European football could probably benefit from being more competitive, with most of the top leagues now being won by the same teams that spend the most each season. The second main benefit of a salary cap is to guard against teams signing high contracts to try to gain success, then ending up with financial problems down the line; aka Leeds United syndrome. Because a cap has already been worked out based on the team's income, it can't live beyond its means and so should be relatively protected financially.

The drawbacks to bringing in a salary cap seem to mostly centre around how to go about implementing it. For the Premier League to be able to bring one in, 14 out of the 20 teams would have to agree, and as the Guardian article mentions, the teams have not seemed too interested so far. Another drawback is whether there would be any player related problems. In 2011 the NBA experienced a lockout where the start of the season was delayed from November 1 to December 25 because of a disagreement between owners and players about the salary cap. Could we see a similar thing in football?

The next drawback is deciding how salaries should be capped. Should teams have a total amount they have to be under with their entire squad like the NFL and NBA, should they have a maximum amount they can give a player, £180,000 a week for example, or should they be restricted to spending a percentage of their turnover from the previous few seasons?

The final potential drawback I can see is whether a salary cap would need to be applied by every league in Europe at once to be effective. Like governments always warn when asked to tax high earners more, there could be an exodus from England and the Premier League to other leagues without salary caps. However, even if European leagues managed to get together and agree a cap we could see players following Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o to places like China and Russia on huge contracts, or anywhere teams didn't have to worry about a cap. I could argue though that this could be a good thing, with talented footballers bringing up the levels of developing leagues, and adding another factor that could increase competition.

All in all, a salary cap could bring seismic changes to football, changing the game for the better in my opinion. In the NFL, the New Orleans Saints went from finishing their 2008 season with a record of 8 wins and 8 losses, not even making the playoffs, to winning the Superbowl in 2009. That sort of unpredictability would make football even more exciting, and I think a salary cap could help do it. It seems as if a cap would be extremely hard to bring in, with a lot of parties in football possibly not seeing it in their interest, but I think it would do the game a world of good.