In this entry, i'm just going to briefly talk about my 10 favourite West Coast songs. This covers The Bay, LA and the rest. They are all relatively recent, within the last 6 years, which is what I was trying to do as if it was a bigger time period there would be too many songs to list. I will do the same kind of entry for New York, ATL, the rest of The South, Florida and the UK. But, for now, I hope you enjoy this one.

Bishop Lamont – I Am A Soldier
I feel that Dr. Dre based the production of Eminem’s “Underground” on this track, very similar beats (minus the high strings) and almost as hard. To be honest, the beat is the main reason why I like this song, I mean, sure his lyrics aren’t bad or anything but it is a stereotypical gangsta rap song, but he does deliver some good punch lines:”With me here it’s hard for wack rappers to function/cause I state the facts and they make assumptions”. As much as I do like this song and Bishop Lamont (in my opinion there are few rappers around who deliver punch lines quite like Lamont) I don’t quite agree with his statement:”I’m a microphone fiend – the brand new Rakim”.

Bishop Lamont Feat. Xzibit – Hallelujah
My favourite Bishop song, a hot Dr. Dre beat accompanied by a powerful hook aggressively delivered by Xzibit, effective soulful/operatic singing throughout which gives a biblical feel to it plus powerful punch lines by Lamont: “Real riders, real rhymes give their lives to it/and if you with me say amen, it’s time for real music”. It’s about time he released a REAL album!

Clyde Carson – 2 Step
What a song! The beat is one of the best you will ever hear! Produced by Neff-U (despite sounding like Dr. Dre) the loud hits and use of piano create a vintage west coast beat. The lyrics themselves aren’t bad either, I mean a lot of the song may be about expensive girls and drinks et cetera, but a cool hook mixed with a fantastic beat make for a great song in my opinion.

The Game Feat. Andre Merritt – Better Days
This slow and soulful song is an early leak off Game’s 2010 album ‘R.E.D. Album’. I think this is probably Jim Jonsin’s best song to date. Again, it’s a pretty simple beat with a piano and bass, but it’s not simple AND lame like many of his productions in the last few years (‘Kiss Me Thru The Phone’ is exhibit A) but Game’s lyrics talk about what he has now, but then reflects his fame with the safety of his family and his fallen brother and friends. He then touches on poverty in Africa followed by Mike Tyson losing his young daughter. The hook by Andre Merritt is so inviting, you always want to sing along to it as it has that powerful and awe-inspiring sound to it, it makes the hairs on the back of your neck want to stand up. Look out for more from Andre, he did a lot of work with Chris Brown in 2008. Search for his song 'Hologram' featuring Chris Brown and produced by the masters Cool & Dre.

The Game Feat. Marsha Ambrosius – Start From Scratch
What I really like about this song is the gloominess. This is made through the mixture of a dark and hard hitting beat courtesy of Dr. Dre, a captivating hook from Marsha, Game’s delivery and Game’s lyrics. Game sounds as if he has been smoking a whole bush – his voice sounding more rugged than usual. This song is basically Game reminiscing the past, including his life in the hood and his near fatal shooting: “Homey if I could rewind the hands of time/I’d of cut the PS2 off at 12:49/Ni*** i’m a gangsta I stay on my grind/who knew 11 minutes later i’d get shot with my own nine/I was two beeps away from a flat line”. A brilliant song of a classic album in my opinion, this song has it all.

Ice Cube – Why We Thugs
Probably my favourite Cube song. A huge beat thanks to Scott Storch and some lethal lyrics: “cause when ni***’s get tribal it’s all about survival, no body liable/I got caught by 5-0/grandmomma came to court with her bible” and: “Ay y’all, I’m about to be stuck/until the year 2000-what-the-fuck/in the hood, don’t test your luck/cause these muthafuc***’s will fuck you up/word up”. Each bar flows so smoothly but Cube’s aggressive delivery matches the hard beat. Just an all round awesome song.

E-40 Feat. Cousin Fik – I Can Sell It
Just like 40 Water himself, you either love or hate this song. I’m the former. I just love the way 40 and Fik both rap how they sell whatever to the exact opposite. For example, 40 starts as he means to continue with this – the first few bars in the first verse: “I can sell a flat tyre to a bike/a left to a right/a root beer to a sprite/a dick to a dyke/a mute to a mic”. The beat I will admit does get a bit annoying as does the 2 minute auction at the end, but the flow between bars in this song I think is fantastic as well as some of the claims: “I can sell love to hate/the truth to lies/sell real to fake/sell shit to flies”.

Ya Boy – Recession
A really clever song in my opinion. Whilst most rappers rhyme about all the money they have and what they can buy with it, YB has done the exact opposite. YB raps about his ‘lack’ of money and distinct lack of success in wowing the ladies with his low bank balance. “Now tell me, remember them diamonds on my wrist? – no more/yesterday I had to pawn that shit/i’m stressin, I got salad with no dressin’/was livin’ the life, now i’m stuck in a recession.” When the song was leaked it was a breath of fresh air in a way due to its social relevance and the fact that someone WASN’T using auto-tune.

Ya Boy – They Know Me
The Bay Area Bully is one of my favourite rappers fullstop. This is an absolute banger, no question asked. Huge beat the D.R.E and slick lyrics from the Swagger of The Bay. Quick witted lyrics like “If I had beef with a nigger from back then/We do ‘im like a maths problem and subtract him”, “it’s no more real rappers so they gotta play me/I’m a... business maaaan, a young Jay-Z” and “I got the whole world askin when the album drop/you know what i said? The year 2000-not/cause if it’s not the Doc, I ain’t signing on the dot”. How Ya Boy isn’t bigger than he is, is a mystery! He has a huge underground following and releases brilliant mixtapes continuously.

Ya Boy – Precise Gang
YB brings the G out in this one. Admittedly braggadocios about being ‘hood’ and violent, but the lyrics just seem to pour out seamlessly and as if he hasn’t even had to think about them. My favourite part of the song is where YB attacks XXL Magazine:” seen double-X-L with ten ni***’s on the cover/now double-X-L how y’all forget a motherfuck**?/leaders of the new school without ya boy/what you saying? That rap fine without ya boy? What you ain’t hear my buzz? You tryna out ya boy? Man you ni***’s better find out about Ya Boy.” In my opinion, I also think he should have been on that cover too, rappers like Mickey Factz, Blu and Charles Hamilton may be good rappers in their own right, but none of them have accomplished anything this year and none of them have the underground buzz YB has.