Rap & Hip-Hop from the 619 to 760
This takes clear inspiration from Chappelle Show and actually works really well as a standalone sketch. There’s the universal message of confidence and individual identity. But then there’s also a comment on racial disparity in social situations. And it’s funny in an outrageous way but also in a self-deprecating way. That’s pretty much everything Chappelle Show was.
Shouts to Speakeasy Radio for the link.
I vaguely remember this beat being apart of Black Mikey’s Killafornia Infection collab album with Ridley. It’s a stupidly sick beat but it makes me worry even more that that album will never see completion/release (damn, how dumb do I feel for writing a whole story about it? My editors will never trust me again).
This is now slated for Ridley’s F**k Pop project, according to Ridley’s new blog. Check out his blog for remixes on classic Easy-E, Biggie, Big L …… and Justin Timberlake.
After the jump, Youtube’s recommendations remind me of Ridley’s greatest contribution to the hip-hop world yet. Read more of this post
V-Rock comes through with this beast of an instrumental. All the elements–the cries of the vocal sample, the echoing guitar plucks, the keys (organ?), the no-nonsense drums–crash in from different directions, smashing together with such soul and urgency and gravitas. The beat raises up Scribe Sayar like a prophet on a mountain.
Because sometimes it’s bigger than hip-hop. I like that the last couple songs that I’ve heard from Odessa have been less about rhyming for the sake of riddlin’ and more about hardcore political change. “Thrive” is basically the flipside of “Lab Rat Race.” While “Lab Rat Race” furiously strikes down the evils of modern society, “Thrive” seems much more about raising up the downtrodden against such evils. It’s less angry, more sad, but also more empathetic and down-to-earth. Odessa may have walked with us in “Lab Rat Race” as a lyrical conceit. But here, he sounds like he’s really with us, in the trenches, helping us up onto our feet.
V-Rock on the beat. If you haven’t been paying attention to Third Degree Burns playlists, you maybe should start.
Dropping Bombs by ChemArtistry
I wrote about Blame’s new song and shirt at SoundDiego. One thing I forgot to mention that makes the shirt so cool is that, in some interview months ago, Sean Price admits that he’s only ever been out-rapped on a song twice in his life. One of those times is on Blame’s “Disturbed,” from which the shirt takes its lyrics (my bad if I’ve recounted this already; I have no life so I tend to repeat the same five jokes/stories ad infinitum).
Blame One recently released a new song, "Dropping Bombs," in conjunction with the release of a very new, very cool T-shirt. Coincidentally, it also comes on the heels of Blame’s first win at the San Diego Music Awards (which he didn’t attend due to an apparent miscommunication though that didn’t stop a fellow, North County-based rapper from bum-rushing the stage in glorious fashion).
The song is a collaboration with visual artist and producer Coper. Coper maintains a solid, break-beat foundation. But then he throws all sorts of layers on top of it. From old school police horns to guitar-driven hippie music to whistles, squeaks, and … god-knows-what, it’s all chopped and twisted into a healthy slab of funk. It’s frantic enough to be borderline moshpit-inducing. Blame keeps his contribution straightforward and to-the-point. For three verses, he spits tongue-twisting rhymes aimed at wack rappers. He calls himself a pharoah and Jack Sparrow, though he also takes a shot at Backstreet Boys slow jams, which is clearly misguided and crazy.
You can check out the song at the Chemistry Surfboards blog here. Chemistry helped release both the song and shirt. If you’re interested in the new shirt, it’s called the Broken Beaker Tee. It’s both a pun on Chemistry Surfboards in Oceanside, which put out the shirt, and also a reference to lyrics from Blame’s 2009 single, "Disturbed," in which he took on the role of mad scientist. You can buy the shirt here. On the horizon, you can look forward to a collaboration project with Blame One and Coper as part of Chemistry Surfboards’ ChemArtistry initiative.
I also found this random track featuring El-Gun Legro when I was checking out the “Superstar” video. Pretty cool song, kinda sounds like an old school Timbaland beat (actually, I’m pretty sure there’s a really well-known Aaliyah song that uses this exact same drum pattern, though the name escapes me right now). El-Gun’s got a couple good, on-topic verses too. I like it.
I’ve always liked this hook a lot and it fits really well into the Comicon setting. His distinction between “superstars” and “superheroes” just feels so down-to-earth. Superstars by definition are not regular people and the whole Entertainment Tonight, celebrity “journalism” industry is based around awkward reinforcing this idea like “Hey, behind the make-up and daily workouts and millions of dollars and chandeliers and wine-spouting fountains, celebs still take craps like the rest of us …… except in bidets.” Superheroes are completely fictional but the fans at Comicon dressing up like superheroes are very much real and often are people who might have faced the scrutiny of a snob at some point in their lives. There’s this sense of community and empowerment among nerds that I think the song’s hook touches on.
Anyway, you gotta love the line, “Me? I’m in it for the honeys, Playboy bunnies and even ones that look hungry.” Hilarious.
“TDB” Best Of San Diego’s Guests DJThirdRailLooks1 8 25 11 by DJThirdRaiLLooksFresh
Please don’t bother me for the next three hours. I am listening to nothing but San Diego hip-hop for that timespan. Check the playlist after the jump, it will kinda blow your mind. Read more of this post
Brother Nature raps over KMD and gives life advice from Nike (seriously, don’t support Nike–also because they caused this crap to exist [haterade on a hundred thousand trillion]).
Anyway, weak Nike tirade aside, this is pretty cool. Also, they get points for rapping over KMD and then also for forcing me to listen to KMD for the first time. I think it’s time to move onto their own original production though. I get that they’re new artists and rocking over other people’s beats is necessary when you’re coming up because maybe you don’t have access to beats or you have to prove yourself to a producer before you get access to beats. But it can’t be a good move for most artists, new or old. I appreciate that Brother Nature doesn’t just spit over the hottest beats of the moment like “Otis” or something. Choosing KMD is unique and reflects their personality more for sure. But then it naturally begs comparison to KMD or whatever other classic that whatever other artist is rocking over, which is a hard battle to win (though there are exceptions to the rule). Plus, I mean, they know this girl now who knows half of the rap world. There’s gotta be a producer that she can hook them up with that will be the missing piece to the Brother Nature puzzle.
To sum up: 1. Don’t support Nikes; 2. Do support Brother Nature, who is playing in Carlsbad on Thursday; 3. Don’t rock over other people’s instrumentals unless you’re new or you’re gonna be amazing. Brother Nature, find your DJ Subroc (except, y’know, someone not dead).
You know what’s kinda messed up? I posted that Vokab song because of Ridley. And I totally didn’t post this video by Young Foe, which also gets the Ridley co-sign (Ridley’s on the beat). Quan = racist writer.
Anyway, this song’s cool for the summer. But Young Foe sounds way better when he’s threatening skinny jeans rappers. What can I say? I like aggressive rappers.
