Odessa Kane – Olmec Mask (the intro)

November 30, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment

Odessa Kane - Olmec Mask

This reminds me vaguely of that Jay ElecHannukah bit from “Exhibit C” in the sense that he’s reaching out to connect with many different peoples–Filipinos/Pilipinos, Mexicans, Black Americans, Muslims. The way he switches back and forth between English and Spanish rhymes is similar to Jay Elec throwing that string of Arabic (that was Arabic, right?) in his rhyme. Of course, “Olmec Mask” is much more militant in both content and sound, like a Malcolm X counterpart to the more MLK-ish “Exhibit C.”

The Cuetes & Balisongs EP supposedly came out on October 30 but there are so far only two songs. Guess we’ll have to keep waiting.

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SD CityBeat: Album Review: Black Mikey – The Cold Summer EP

November 30, 2011 by Quan Vu 1 Comment


Black Mikey “Screw Face”
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I wrote an album review of Black Mikey’s Cold Summer EP. In short, it’s half good, half meh. But “Screw Face” is amazing, one of the best songs in his catalog. Here’s a blurb about the good parts of the EP below. You can read the entire review here.

Mikey is much more successful when he’s focusing his energy elsewhere. “Rap Star” and “Motivated” reveal some of what’s driving his music, including escaping poverty, the traps of the ’hood and, deeper still, saving his own soul.

“Screw Face” is one of the best songs he’s ever made. In it, he takes on the title role, a manifestation of the devil on your shoulder steering you into evil and violence. At times, vocals that are slowed down and “screwed” (named after the technique’s originator, DJ Screw) pop in behind Mikey, creating a demonic effect that helps make this a horror-movie-esque cautionary tale.

You can get Cold Summer on iTunes here. Mikey has another album called Premeditated Music that I haven’t gotten to hear yet due to lack of access. Then there’s also the joint B.B. Kingz album with Bazerkowitz that sounds dope on first listen. I’m kinda annoyed actually that I chose to review this album for CityBeat when Premeditated Music might be much better (if only I had a copy) and B.B. Kingz is definitely that illness. I’m not sure how much space they’ll give me to ramble on about Black Mikey. I’d much rather use my limited space to ramble on about the best music, if possible.

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Dre Trav, Sauvi, Ez Pennybags – Pyramid Scheme

November 30, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment


PyramidScheme by PyramidScheme13

The production throughout this mixtape/compilation/album/whatever is solid, a collection of blissful, spacey beats that oscillate back and forth between sounding like Ski Beatz and 9th Wonder. These dudes have an excellent production team behind them, made of Sauvi himself, Monibeatz, and several other like-minded producers continuing to develop this starry night production aesthetic.

It’s a shame that the rapping is so bad though. I swear, a lot of the time, they’re not even rhyming at all. It’s not even like the rhyming words are hidden deep within the meter that you miss them–they just aren’t there much of the time. The worst part is that they sound like they actually have something interesting to say and when they learn how to say it, it’ll be deep. But right now, they’re lacking the technical chops, which is not just disappointing, it’s distracting. Thankfully, the production is good enough to still carry them but they shouldn’t rely on that.

It’s hard to pick highlights on an album that lulls you into electric relaxation like this, but on third listen, “Be Me,” “I Can Be,” and “The Dwell” are sounding nice like that.

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Day-Go Produce – Speaker Botony x Bottom Feeders

November 30, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment


Despite possibly spelling “botany” incorrectly, “Speaker Botony” is kinda that shit. That beat sounds like the most industrial, mechanical synth twisted further by the powers of Magneto (well, it’s a turntable, but it sounds like if Magneto learned how to juggle beats) to create this hard-ass brand of laser funk. “Bottom Feeders” rocks more traditional Latin funk with some very warm brass in the hook that does well to scratch a certain itch I have for brass-friendly hip-hop.

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Signator ft. Johaz – Last of a Dying Breed

November 27, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment

Dag Savage (Johaz and Exile)
Last of a dying breed ft johaz dag savage by SIGNATOR CHAMPION

Found this randomly on Soundcloud, a track featuring Johaz of Deep Rooted fame, though it looks more like this track came together because of his Dag Savage fame. Johaz’s verse is nice, straightforward battle raps with a possible jab at the president (“How you gon’ lead a nation when your eyes are closed?/ You got a heart of plexiglass, n*gga mine’s is gold”). This beat is not by Exile, however, it’s by Elusive. The beat’s alright but a little too schitzo and not really touching Exile production. Dag Savage, please drop soon.

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Video: Gonjasufi – Demonchild

November 27, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment

The director of the video plays on the title with sort of The Exorcist meets Microsoft Paint visuals. But I don’t buy the song title. I don’t think the child in the song is evil. It’s the world around the child that has gone to ruin. Or maybe our ruin is what ultimately corrupts this child into a demon? Nitpicking aside though, this is the sound of the world falling apart and a man singing in tears over it. The filter on his voice adds another shade of sorrow or gives it more texture or something.

“Demonchild” comes off The Ninth Inning EP. Review pending. But get it here now.

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Guillotine (Black Resume) – Guilla Duz It

November 27, 2011 by Quan Vu 2 Comments


Guilla Duz It by Black Resume

I wouldn’t have expected Black Rez on a beat like this but it’s pretty dope. Most of the time when it’s just the drums, the bass, and the static-y synth noise, it’s got this really raw sound, something between tribal circles and like ’80s punk futurism or something. Also, I’m just gonna assume that you know Guilla can rap so I can get away with not saying anything more.

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Gonjasufi – Nikels and Dimes

November 22, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment


Gonjasufi “Nikels and Dimes”
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Haven’t covered Gonjasufi enough here which is a shame seeing as how he’s one of the most visible hip-hop artists out of San Diego currently. I’ll probably review The Ninth Inning EP during the extended weekend (because the holidays means more family blogging for me) though it won’t post till next week on SoundDiego.

Anyway, “Nikels and Dimes” is about having enough freaking decency to spare some change for a homeless dude, which means an automatic re-blog here. But morality aside, the song works because Gonjasufi’s voice as well as the instrumental, they both sound broken, battered, and bruised in a sense. Bruised by and heavy with the weight of life. It’s the voice and the sound of the homeless dude on the corner imparting to you sage words on life and compassion.

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ScatterBrain The Acid Atheist x V-Rock… The Beatsmith – Black Paint (freestyle)

November 22, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment

I read this interview with El-P once where he talked about his thought process behind Company Flow and Def Jux. He was talking about how rap lyricism at the time–and now still–was typically based on a linear narrative structure. What he was trying to do with Co Flow was break from that tradition. Instead of having any sort of narrative, he would try to put together a bunch of disparate imagery to create a sort of impression or mood. I think that’s the best way to understand Scatterbrain’s lyricism and that’s probably true with other members (I think they’re members any way?) of MotU (I’d say “Seppuku” falls under this too; even Orko to an extent). Maybe rhyming for the sake of riddling was actually rhyming for the sake of impressionism.

From Madness & Murder vol. 1. Raps by Scatterbrain. Beats by V-Rock. Coming soon to a cassette deck near you.

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Blame One – Angels

November 21, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment

Blame One - Leaks and Gemz 2
Blame One_Angels_Prod by Coper by BlameOne

What’s funny is that literally talking about angels (or, um, as literal as you can get when talking about spiritual things) of the holy and wholly good variety is actually the less obvious route to go with this as far as rap goes. Something more typical would’ve been a dedication to like a deceased loved one or to his significant other or something. Or the other pretty predictable route would’ve been a Jedi Mind Tricks-esque battle rap with sword-swinging angels or angels singing at your funeral or something. But a song about unnamed, non-distinct guardian angels like on some Della Reese steez–I can’t say that I’ve heard that before. Any help here? Is there a rap song about a guardian angel that’s not someone’s late grandma or something?

Produced by Coper. This comes from Blame’s Leaks and Gemz 2 mixtape.

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