Well here we are folks two tracks into the LAoyver EP and I already feel like it’s going to consume my entire life come the 25th. I really don’t need to say much about EV I think I’ve already done all the talking I need to. This guy is incredible. Listen to this track because the beat knocks like Halloween and the rhymes are air tight.
Very few artists have had an impact on me like this man has. Jay Electronica is from the Magnolia Projects in New Orleans, and he’s one hell of a smart man. This guy came on the scene with Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge) and took the internet by storm like a hurricane. This guy has some of the best rhymes I have heard in a long time. The thing that I really admire about this guy is that he makes rhyming over a Dilla beat sound like it was his birthright. I honestly think that Jay Elec may have the best flow over a Dilla beat that I’ve ever heard (yeah Common is good, but I think Jay is better). Another thing that gained my attention about this guy is when I heard that Erykah Badu decided to start Control Freaq Records after hearing him. Jay Electronica is the type of artist that you want to build a label around. He is going to be something very special when he drops his first full length.
Jay already has cats like Just Blaze and Erykah taking his back and getting the word out, and with names like that it’s only a matter of time until he blows up. You can probably search the internet and find some of the mix tapes that have been floating around for the last year or so. If you can find them I highly suggest copping them.
IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHO JAY ELECTRONICA IS MARK MY WORDS, YOU WILL VERY SOON!
Jay Electronica: “Exhibit A (Transformation)” (Produced by Just Blaze)
It just seems like there is more and more music coming out at the end of this year that I didn’t expect to hear. Little Brother will be re-releasing their 2006 mix tape Separate But Equal without DJ Drama in the background, and will also be adding to the mix three unreleased tracks. “Passion Flower” is one of them (which I had posted earlier), a track called “Deeper” is another and “Playin’ To Lose” make up the three unreleased tracks. I wasn’t a huge fan of Big Pooh and Phonte until I listened to the Minstrel Show, after I heard that I fell in love with Little Brother and I would say without hesitation that they are easily one of my favorite groups at this time.
Check out “Playin’ to Lose” and go out and cop Separate But Equal (Drama Free Edition) now.
Well the CMJ festival just ended recently and Detroit phenom Black Milk gave a performance of his single “The Matrix” with Pharoahe Monch (Sean Price isn’t in the performance). Pharoahe also does a performance of the track “Let’s Go” that was produced by Black on Pharoahe’s album Desire that came out in 2007. Black Milk just released Tronic on October 28th and is getting the attention of critics all over the place. Based on this video it looks as if Black can put on one hell of a show, and as usual Pharoahe looks like he’s lights out when he’s live as well.
All of you that are reading this I strongly urge you to go out and get Tronic on Fat Beats records. The album is super hot and you will not be disappointed. Also make sure you jump over and grab the free mix tape that Black put out before Tronic called Elec here.
Special Disco Version, otherwise known as James Murphy and Pat Mahoney, have been quite busy as of late. Delivering all night parties in their hometowns of New York and oversees in Europe; What can only be described as a DFA showcase in London a week ago, featuring the likes of James, Pat, The Juan Maclean, Gavin Rossum, Yacht, Morgan Geist, Still Going, and Mock & Toof delivering an all night attack that could cure even the most deadly cases of disco fever. Earlier this year though, May 20th, James and Pat took to the decks once again for Beats in Space radio, hosted by co-DFA founder Tim Sweeney, delivering an amazing and expansive set that travels over two hours time. A must have for any connoisseur of music, Special Disco Version delivers exactly what is claims: PURE DISCO. What could be better you might ask? Well not much, aside from Daft Punk actually playing at your house. This great session can be had for free HERE, along with the entire Beats in Space catalogue (guests include James Murphy, Hercules and Love Affair, Shit Robot, The Juan, Joakim, Altz).
In other DFA related news, James Murphy is apparently spear-heading a classic rock band called Hockey Night that is slatted to release an album within in the coming year. More news to follow on that front as it filters out.
Like many basketball players before me, I also enjoy THIS
Sacramento’s Far has reunited! No one saw this coming, but we can expect some new music from them, so I’m excited. Right now they’ve even got a UK tour booked and have added a new song to their myspace. Maybe they can hook up a U.S. tour with the Deftones or something so that I can actually make it out to see them.
Evidence (of Dilated Peoples) released his world premier video for his first single off of the LAyover EP “The LAyover”. The video was produced by Jason Goldwatch,who has done work for acts such as Ludacris, Dilated Peoples & Young Jeezy,and is definitely a great representation of LAX. This video does this song great justice and it’s a great way to start the hype for the LAyover EP which is due out on Decon Media on Novemeber 25th. You are going to hear me talk about that date a lot because I am waiting for it with great anticipation.
EV is one of those guys that has been working his ass off and deserves all of the credit that he gets, I honestly think there are only a few people in the game that have been putting in as much work as him. The one thing that I really like about EV is that when he initially came out with the Weatherman LP, he wasn’t trying to use the Dilated fame, he was trying to do everything by himself. Look out for that LAoyver Mixtape to due out real soon, and you know I will have a link up for that when the time comes.
You all should go out and grab Duck Season 3 by DJ Babu while you’re at it, shit is fire (review coming soon)!
It seems like this year the show formerly know as Hip-Hop is being stolen away by the state of Michigan (Detroit area specifically). So far this year we have seen new albums from Guilty Simpson, 14KT, Buff1, two incredible albums from Elzhi and now we are privileged enough to receive Tronic with open arms. Last year Black Milk released Popular Demand to critical acclaim as a self producing emcee. I have to admit that it was one of my favorite albums of last year, and Tronic is definitely one of my favorites this year. Black Milk is one of those guys that just drops my jaw every time that I hear something new of his because it’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before, I hate to compare him to Dilla (because there is no comparison) but Milk is taking it to that level very rapidly.
I have to say that this album had me from the beginning track “Long Story Short”. I was completely blown away by the elements of this track. It starts out with an almost “futuristic” synthesizer sound and fades to a beautiful piano melody. What comes next is a beat the hit me like a ton of bricks, it was so hard it almost made me cry. The incredible thing about the track is it literally is a long story short, it’s Black’s entire life up to this point in time and he tells his fable like Aesop. “Losing Out”, which is a track that features crafty veteran fire spitting Royce Da 5’9″, is another great track because the beat is lights out (particularly the sample) and Black and Royce exchange some straight butter verses. Black is very good on his verses but Royce holds his own as well and outshines Black a little. The only real conclusion comes out of Royce’s mouth in his last 8 bars: “I’m talking bout how we got it mastered, the fact is whenever me and Black do a track it’s a classic!” Detroit native Fat Ray (who earlier this year released an album with Black Milk titled The Set Up) joins Black on the hook for the track “Hell Yeah” which has a ridiculously hard beat, and some vicious flows from Black: “The whole world’s been patiently waitin’ for my comin’ to strike, patiently waitin’ like the second comin’ of Christ”. The track that most people would call the highlight of Tronic, “The Matrix“, which features the legendary DJ Premier, Pharoahe Monch, and Sean Price is a straight classic and Pharoahe Monch absolutely kills this track: “Four finger ring rap sling slang Pharoahe the flows good/You couldn’t hang if you was Ving Rhames in Rosewood” “…Like the pant legs around the ankles of hipsters, I’m tight/Paint a more visual picture than Pixar…”. Black spits a great tongue twisting verse, and Sean Price never made gangs seem so interesting with his word usage: “I’m a kryptonite, but a blood today, Latin King tomorrow…”. The cuts on the album are done by Premier, and he never made it seem so effortless: “You love my style cuz’ I’m not what you used to, caught in the matrix… you’re in my danger field like Rodney”. I think that the track “Reppin’ For You” might be the highlight of the album for me. It has a great head noddin’ beat and Black’s flow to this track is lights out: “Every single line was written explodin’ like bombs droppin’/It’s like I’m Bin Laden when my pen’s jottin/The best to most with extra votes/A flow that’ll shock most like electric volts”.
All in all this is a great album and should be a indication of how great the Hip-Hop scene in Detroit really is. There are a few tracks that drag a little bit, but not enough to give this album anywhere near an average or below average review. Black Milk could hold up the city of Detroit on his shoulders, and chances are he probably will sooner than later with efforts like his last two. Tronic shows you what the definition of a producing/emcee should be.
9/10
Who would’ve guessed that one of alt-country’s most beloved singer-songwriters held underground black metal in such high esteem? While Ryan Adams isn’t an artist that many metal fans would break out on regular occassion (unless you’re trying too hard to impress a girl), a recent New York Times interview has shown that he has much higher kvlt cred than your average country boy. A favorite excerpt of mine…
..on one-man California black metal band Xasthur
“My listening tastes are absolutely not in tune with the kind of music I make. The music that interests me is a bit weirder. “Defective Epitaph” has really far-out guitars; it’s not really lyrical. When I close my eyes and listen, I think of a heartbroken demon sitting beside these ashes in hell and really missing his girlfriend. It’s like romantic death metal. The aggressiveness of [Malefic’s] guitar riffs can be quite brutal. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s really clever.”
I’m willing to bet that that quote would surprise the fuck out of the majority of Adams fanbase; but personally, it’s just great to see that an artist appreciates strong influences from something so different from their own art. In my opinion, being open to this kind of extreme variety can only be healthy for artistic progression, so I say kudos and horns up to Adams. You can continue this interesting read at New York Times website, where Adams justifies his love for everything from stoner, black, and thrash metal to pop and hip hop.
For now, everyone should check out the contrast between Adams performing live and the dark chaos and aura of Xasthur (and for the record, I personally love them both – so Adams must be doing something right)… Continue reading
I am so glad to hear that Kray and Tone Tank (otherwise known as Iller Than Theirs) are back together making music. Iller Than Theirs was their self-titled debut that came out last year on Embedded Music, and ranked among my top 10 favorite albums of last year. Kray and Tone Tank totally compliment each others style and their flow is as smooth as tap water. Their self-titled release was only eleven tracks long but boy was that way more than enough for me to know that these guys were something special. My favorite track off the album was either a collaboration with one of my favorite emcees of all time Masta Ace called “The Same”, or a the lead track on the album “Razorbumps”. The beats that these guys have behind them totally fit the mood to. The thing I love about these guys rhyming is that we get a good sense of where they grew up as well as their views on life and the way things really are.
Go over to www.radiobelly.com and cop the Wash Rinse EP NOW! It’s FREE!
And check out the Video for Razorbumps while you’re at it!
MIND INVERSION 