Kendrick Lamar - "HiiiPower" (Prod. J. Cole) [Music Video]
Thatsthatish, Back in Business like Erick Sermon:
It's been quite some time since I last posted and for that I sincerely apologize. It's been a tough couple months and I have to focus my efforts elsewhere academically and athletically and unfortunately that's led the site to fall back on my priorities. The fact that my MacBook, which holds all my music/photo library, has been on the fritz has done little to aid my ability to get back in touch with blogging. For this I apologize and promise to get back to posting more frequently this summer as my academic schedule allows. But enough excuses, lets get back to the music.
Shaun Boothe - "Concepts" (feat. Talib Kweli)
I love when two great emcees trade epic verses. I love when the Beastie Boys or Dyme Def members deliver call-and-response lyrics, trading individual bars and words. But there's something special about this song as Talib and Boothe go back-and-forth, each emcee spitting about four bars each before handing it off to the other. The result is a very meta rapping about rapping about rapping track that, while making the listener feel trapped in a dream within a dream within a dream, sounds like a genuine conversation between two extremely talented emcees.
I'm lucky that this song came on shuffle today. Off the Toronto-emcee's (upcoming?) Hip Hop in 3D mixtape, I've actually had this in my iTunes since it was released in December of 2009, but for some reason that I can't comprehend, let it slip through the cracks. Given the laid-back sample and the rapport between Kweli and Boothe, I can honestly say that this is one of the best songs in months and I highly recommend the download.
Peace, Love, & Rap About Rap,
VoodooChild
Previous: Shaun Boothe - "Poor Boy"
The Physics - "Fix You" x "Ready For We" (feat. Miss Malice)
Is there a better way to finish up a midterm than having a Physics song quietly slip into your mailbox? Don't answer that, it's rhetorical. Composed of Thig Natural, Justo, and Monk Wordsmith, The Physics are one of Seattle's best hip hop groups. While supremely talented, the trio of O'Dea grads have been notably prudent throughout there career when it comes to releasing their smooth, crisp songs. Since their 2007 debut, Future Talk helped usher in the age of party rap to the 206, the trio has only released one FreEP (the critically acclaimed High Society) and one three-track download (fittingly named Three Piece). While other party rap groups such as Fresh Espresso, Mad Rad, State of The Artist, have tried to follow in the groups' footsteps, only the duo of P Smoov and Rik Rude have come close to matching The P-H-Y-S-I-C-S in quality and creativity.
HAVi Blaze - "Start2Finish" (Prod. Focus)
The first I've heard from this Fort Lewis-native and recent UW grad, but I will certainly be paying attention in the near future. HAVi Blaze doesn't quite dominate the beat with his delivery quite yet, but the lyrics present him as a Seattle emcee with a great deal of potential. His Purple & Gold mixtape is set to drop on March 11th.
Brainstorm - "Shadowboxin'" (prod. SolEternity) [Video]
Dyme Def member Brainstorm's Celestine Prophecy is starting to look like Seattle's Detox. At the moment, Brain's that girl at the end of the bar playing hard to get. He's been teasing DD fans for the past six months, giving us enough to keep us coming back, knowing that his solo debut will be one of the best albums ever to come out of the Northwest, but keeps pushing back the anticipated release date (the latest February 15th date came and went).
This latest video is no exception and reminds me of his dope "Say You Will" cover video he put out a couple years back. I trust that Michael Celestine has reasons for the delays, not the least of which is his newborn daughter (congrats Brain!) and that he's been slowly, meticulously crafting CP to get rid of the minor imperfections. When this project comes out, it may well be an album that Townfolk talk about for years to come.
As a bonus, I've included a couple of DD tracks from their Pay Day Series that I've been meaning to post for a minute including BeanOne produced instrumental for what may well be my favorite song of all time.
Peace, Love, & YukTheWorld,
Voodoo Child
BeanOne - "LetitBe Instrumental"
Dyme Def - "Time Flies" (prod. BeanOne)
Previous: Dyme Def - "For The World" | "Rebel 2 The Grain" | 3BadBrothaaas Mixtape
U-N-I - "Land of the Kings" x "Donkey Kong"
I've admittedly taken too long to come around to this Inglewood (and partially Seattle) group. That's one of the blessings of running this site. Not only do I get to share music I love with my readers, but doing so also forces me to discover artists I may otherwise not have crossed paths with.
Composed of Y-O and Thurzday, U-N-I have been making music together since soon after first meeting back in 1999. After graduating high school in 2006, the Southern Cali duo split with their previous rap collective and released their debut, Fried Chicken & Watermelon the next year. Combining smooth delivery, slick rhyme schemes, and clever wordplay with some of the best beats around, the group really started to make their mark in 2009 with the release of their critically acclaimed mixtape, A Love Supreme (see "Land of the Kings") and the commercial re-release last year (expect a full review of A Love Supreme 2.0 very soon).
"Donkey Kong" is a 16-Bit cut that I haven't been able to stop bumping over the past couple weeks. It's off the group's forthcoming Kings Keep Marching mixtape, which was supposed to be released on Tuesday. The beat is bananas (their words, not mine) and the lyrics are a great example of Y-O and Thurz's wit. When it comes to up-and-coming duos in hip hop, U-N-I is absolutely as good as they come.
U-N-I - "Land of the Kings"
U-N-I - "Donkey Kong"
KnowMads - "How We Live" x "Imagine"
It's good to see this 206 trio bounce back after their lackluster Seattle album from a couple years back. Bus Station isn't as consistent as the KnowMads' near-classic debut and sophomore albums. A lot of the freestyles over classic beats tend to fall flat as they (and most emcees) simply don't match or exceed the original renditions (they kill "Monster" though), but there are more than a fair share of cuts on the tape. The one track that could become a classic ode to the group's musical roots if they refine it is "Headphonez," which starts strong, but loses steam as soon as the chorus comes in. Choice tracks include the soothing "DoitFortheLove" and certified bangers, "How We Live" and "Imagine." As a whole, Bus Station continues to grow on me. If you liked So It Goes. and Saturdayzed, the tape is definitely worth the free.99 you'll pay for it. Here's hoping the KnowMads continue this upward trend in 2011.
Peace, Love, & Hip Hop,
VoodooChild
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