Interview on SDMA’s @ SD Gossip Scene

August 15, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment


SD Gossip Scene just upped an interview they conducted by email with me. They asked me to flesh out my thoughts on the whole SDMA matter. I think I made some good points but I’ve also changed my views after having spoken with a number of artists as well as Kevin Hellman, who runs the San Diego Music Foundation that puts on the awards show. I’ll reserve final judgment until I speak to more people and gather more info.

Check out the interview. It also features a pic of me so if I’m not posting your music, you can find me on the streets and kick my ass (and by “the streets,” I mean you can find me at my local Vons).

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The Green Brothers – I Get Lifted

August 15, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment


The Green Brothers “I Get Lifted“
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Dope beat with a really sweet sample, you’ll feel like you’re floating on the clouds. The Green Brothers are a duo consisting of rapper Eyamme and DJ Bern One on the beats (not to be confused with DJ Burn One). They hail from Ohio but recently touched down in San Diego. Eyamme gets real poetic about getting high and seems pretty serious about the legalization of marijuana. I don’t really be smoking too much myself but whatever, good song.

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Ecay Uno & Cee Wee 3 – Ego

August 11, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment

Ecay Uno & Cee Wee 3 “Ego“
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Run-DMC back-and-forth rapping with a gangsta twist on top of this Terminator-ass beat (Terminator 1–there’s a slight ’80s cheese feel to it). Assuming Ecay Uno produced the beat, it’s remarkable how wide his musical range is. I’ve heard classic, sunny, West Coast cruising beats from him. Some pretty sweet R&B-/soul-tinged stuff. There’s this lurker of a beat that creeps up on you like it’s about to mug you. And then there’s much more, if only I could dig out my Ecay Uno CD from my closet.

Someone on Siccness mentioned that Ecay will be honored as the Best San Diego Artist at the West Coast Hip Hop Awards, which go down next weekend. If that’s true, congrats.

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Joey Dixon ft. DNA Forensics, King Majesty – Celebration

August 11, 2010 by Quan Vu 3 Comments


Joey Dixon ft. DNA Forensics, King Majesty “Celebration“
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I wish more producers used horns but I guess horns have gotten outdated (actually, this beat is starting to remind me of Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love,” suddenly). Rapping-wise, I give a slight edge to King Majesty (2nd verse) who is more technically sound as a rapper in his cadence and delivery.

This comes from Joey Dixon’s Dr. Dixon mixtape which features some good production from both Joey Dixon (I think?) and Ecay Uno. After the first five songs, the mixtape really drops off and there’s a lot of beat-jacking in the second half, which is a bad look for Joey since he’s a better producer (I think that’s him on the beats for the first few songs anyway) than he is a rapper. Check out the first five songs though. They’re pretty solid.

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LG Mike ft. Gangsta Gold Macnificent – Grown Man On

August 11, 2010 by Quan Vu 3 Comments

LG Mike ft. Gangsta Gold Macnificent “Grown Man On“
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Gangsta Gold Macnificent spits a dope verse over haunting keys and strings. He breaks down the choice of whether or not to live a life of crime into a decision between: 1. living like a man who can provide for himself; or 2. living like a 40-year-old deadbeat whino drinking tall cans and 40′s whose baby mama doesn’t even respect him enough to let him see his son. He’s got a pretty vivid imagination.

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Knoc City ft. Mitchy Slick, Treali Duce, Black Mikey, Ecay Uno – Just Like Me

August 10, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment


Knoc City ft. Mitchy Slick, Treali Duce, Black Mikey, Ecay Uno “Just Like Me” [prod. Ecay Uno, Treali Duce]
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A few months old but … goddamn. Ecay Uno and Treali Duce really kill this beat, sounding like a post-apocalyptic opera that’s just so epicly dirty. Basically, it slaps. Mitchy provides another great hook with a curveball. You would’ve thought from the title that the song would address biters. But it’s actually another show of solidarity between the rappers and everyone else struggling to survive in the Southeast Zoo. Rapping-wise, I give it to either Mitchy at the beginning or Ecay at the end (I think that’s Ecay, anyway).

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Video: XL Middleton & Young Sau – Only In Cali

August 8, 2010 by Quan Vu 2 Comments

And speaking of critics who need to be more in-touch with hip-hop, XL Middleton & Young Sau’s There Goes The Neighborhood album has been out for weeks and I still haven’t copped one yet (I know, monstrous FAIL). Now that the sun has finally been out on a somewhat consistent basis, this summery single from XL & Sau hits the spot. More on the artists and the album to follow soon (hopefully).

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Digging Into The SDMAs: Bully Blinders – City of Dirt

August 6, 2010 by Quan Vu 2 Comments

Bully Blinders “Aim Low Kid“
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Mitchy Slick “Gangland Didn’t Work“
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One thing I’ve noticed about rock critics in relation to rap music is how much they love rappers as teachers. Just watch any VH1 special about the best rap albums/songs/artists/groups/whatever ever in the history of the universe and the top of that list will always be reserved for Public Enemy. Don’t get me wrong: Public Enemy was completely epic. But if you ask a group of hip-hop heads what the best album of all-time is, you’ll get answers that are much more diverse. And really, there might not be too many who would name It Takes A Nation …

My point is that rock critics love this idea of rappers as teachers, as instructors, as modern-day Malcolms and Martins. So it comes as no surprise to me that Bully Blinders would be nominated. Read more of this post

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Throwback Raps: Video: Jayo Felony – Sherm Stick

August 5, 2010 by Quan Vu 2 Comments

I’d say this is a better representation of Jayo Felony than the previously mentioned “Watcha Gonna Do.” “Sherm Stick” comes from Jayo’s 1994 label debut album, Take A Ride, though a re-make appears on his 2001 album, Crip Hop.

This is such a psychological song, especially in the second verse. After he’s taken a hit of the sherm, Jayo goes from thinking he’s got superpowers to sitting on the curb for 4 hours, reminiscing about his homie in jail to seeing a milk carton and hoping he doesn’t end up dead/missing with his face on a milk carton. It’s almost visceral this immediate juxtaposition between his superhero high and this utterly sad, grounded low and then further down still as he contemplates his own mortality because of a milk carton of all things. This is a heavy and deceptively complex song. It sounds like it promotes using sherm but then when you get down to it, when you see the sadness in his verse, maybe the song’s not really doing that.

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Mixtape: Easy Money Gang fly high in the clouds on Twitter Tape, Vol. 1

August 3, 2010 by Quan Vu 14 Comments

DOWNLOAD: Easy Money Gang – Twitter Tape, Vol. 1
Easy Money Gang “Intro“
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Easy Money Gang “Fly High“
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Easy Money Gang “Party In My Pocket“
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Easy Money Gang has dropped a new mixtape, Twitter Tape Vol. 1. On the first few listens, I don’t like it as much as their previous mixtape, Money Is The Motive, but it still has its moments. I still really enjoy the production, which retains its sense of experimentation. Personally, I prefer the cloud rap stuff. Songs like “Intro” and “Fly High” have such a serene sound as spacious synths, gentle guitar plucks, and lush strings come together to give this feeling of carefree weightlessness. Grown Tone and 2T’s sound most at home on these tracks too, their laid-back flows meshing well with the up-in-the-sky atmospherics.

But this mixtape is more than just cloud raps. Read more of this post

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