TrackWide – A Day And Night

March 23, 2012 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment


DOWNLOAD: TrackWide – A Day And Night
TrackWide “Late Night Creep“
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TrackWide “California Dreamin“
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I know I’ve delayed this quite a bit. Hopefully, I haven’t built this post up like Detox or something.

Anyway, regarding my mixed feelings, it’s pretty simple. It comes down to expectations. If I hadn’t known they were associated with V-Rock prior to hearing them, I probably would’ve liked them more. Hell, they’re probably better than some of the other rappers on this site. It’s mostly their voices, especially the dude with the deeper, smoother voice. They’re both as laid-back and relaxed as the beats they spit on.

But knowing that they were down with V-Rock, one of the better producers around town, I expected more (though I guess I’m not positive he’s providing all the beats). The two rappers can ride the beats well and truthfully, you can probably just chill and enjoy this music while smoking something. But they never really say much that stands out.

Instead, it’s the beats doing the heavy-lifting. “Late Night Creep” is this skeleton of a beat with drums that echo inside an empty cellar and a ghostly vocal sample haunting your ears. “California Dreamin” sounds so grand like riding off into the sunset, the ending celebration of a long journey. TrackWide hasn’t quite gotten to the end yet. But they’re almost there.

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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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Mixtape: Opoetik – Lessons Learned

September 23, 2011 by Quan Vu Leave a Comment

I found this mixtape on Opoetik’s Bandcamp page. When he released the Two Sides To Every Story remix project with DJ Happee, I was curious to hear how they compared to the originals, many of which are on this mixtape. And truthfully …… the thing is, Two Sides isn’t by any means wack. The problem with Two Sides is that the production most of the time just sounds way too much like the originals. Mellow, jazzy, sample-based production is remixed into slightly more mellow, jazzy, sample-based production. It’s not bad but it’s just too comfortable.

From a consumer standpoint, you’re probably better off going with this Lessons Learned mixtape, which is currently still free, has more songs, is mixed well, and maintains the core of what Opoetik is about. Op is a spiritual dude who seems to use music as a way to make sense of the world. He’s a sort of wandering, weary traveler, dropping wisdom on us just as much as he’s kinda dropping wisdom on himself, like schooling us from the position of another classmate. It’s a journey and he’s right there with us, searching for something himself.

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Halon – White Noise

March 24, 2011 by Quan Vu 1 Comment


DOWNLOAD: Halon – White Noise
Halon “It Puts The Lotion On The Skin“
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Halon “Searchin For Answers“
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I hope I’ve stayed away from the whole “oh hey a white rapper, he obviously sounds like this other white rapper” thing that lazy critics tend to do. But for Halon, this is actually true. Double true, even. For much of his mixtape, White Noise, he goes back and forth, showing equal flashes of Slug from Atmosphere–in his self-deprecating humor and storytelling ability–and early Eminem–in his drug-happy, horrorcore-ish indulgence. You hear both sides of the coin on opener, “It Puts The Lotion On The Skin,” which even sounds like a Midwest twangin’ Atmosphere joint circa Lucy Ford EP’s. “Searchin For Answers” then shows where Slug’s and Eminem’s music would sometimes intersect–in raw vulnerability and almost invasive emotionality.

White Noise as a whole is more often than not a good listen, exploring Halon’s shifting and conflicting emotions towards women. It doesn’t all work, of course–the hook to “Jimmy Fuck Life” didn’t need to happen (actually, Halon singing at all probably shouldn’t happen that much) and “Bringin Cracka Back” isn’t quite funny enough to mask the generic techno-rap beat. But there is quality music here. Plus Halon’s website has recently ceased to exist so you really better nab this while you can. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean anything real drastic about his career.

Shouts to Jimmy Powers for putting me up on Halon. My bad it took two months to actually write something about it.

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Mixtape Review: Philly Phil – Wasn’t Born Wit It

February 22, 2011 by Quan Vu 2 Comments


DOWNLOAD: Philly Phil – Wasn’t Born Wit It Mixtape*
Philly Phil “Tear Mines Off“
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Phillly Phil “The Have-Nots“
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In a time when ex-corrections officer Rick Ross can find both commercial success and critical respect posing as a drug kingpin, being “real” has never seemed to matter less. But trust that it still does, or at least it can. While many of his peers are out trying (but failing) to out-do Officer Ross in grandiose displays of gross decadence, Philly Phil stands out by staying down to earth with nose-to-the-grind rapping. Read more of this post

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Parker & The Numberman – Early … EP

December 10, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment


DOWNLOAD: Parker & The Numberman – Early … EP

This EP is actually a short, 18-minute mix that serves as a solid introduction to Parker & The Numberman. It includes all four songs from their previous EP, The Talented Tenth, as well as an additional four songs that showcase the range of their talent. My first impression of the duo came from their police-wary “What About Your Block” video, which, though it was good, had me worried they might be some overly intellectual, pretentious rappers with no personality. Thankfully, they’re not pretentious, they do have personality, and they’re just the right amount of intellectual. The only overtly political track on Early is “What About Your Block.” The rest of the EP is much more subtly political with the duo referencing auction blocks, Malcolm X, and brushes with KKK in the service of MC braggadocio (the latter is the EP’s highlight moment–a racist dude tries to pick a fight and Numberman responds by stealing his “blonde, blue-eyed” chick. Brilliant!). It gets the same point across more cleverly and gives listeners credit to be able to catch that point without needing to get smashed on the head with it. These two are talented emcees and I eagerly await future music.

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Mixtape: Bad Karma – The Grey Tape

October 31, 2010 by Quan Vu 4 Comments


DOWNLOAD: Bad Karma – The Grey Tape
Bad Karma “Holy Smoke“
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Bad Karma “No Tomorrow“
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Bad Karma’s Grey Tape continues to expand on the Dilla-esque neo-soulish sound that producers like Kriis Money, Mike George, and others have been building on. Fitting with the mixtape’s title–a nod to DJ Screw’s infamous grey tapes–Karma includes a couple of beats that employ the slowed down “screw” effect. And it works surprisingly well, not just with Karma, but with the rest of the mixtape. It’s kind of amazing to think how well something from the world of Dilla would blend with something from the world of DJ Screw.

The Grey Tape is half originals, half jacking for beats. But the other instrumentals mesh really well with the general aesthetic, which is great for Karma who sounds most natural on top of this type of sound. Karma has an extremely laid-back, casual voice but he displays a surprising amount of maturity for his age. He mostly sticks to rapping about weed and women but he does so with humor, clarity, and self-reflection. You hear him growing up and it’s exciting.

This mixtape is to be a precursor to an album, Black Market, produced by Kriis Money. Looking forward to it.

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Mixtape: The Seed – Breakinground

September 20, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment


DOWNLOAD: The Seed – Breakinground

This mixtape dropped way back in June. But I hesitated to post this simply because I’m not completely sure if this qualifies as San Diego music. The Seed consists of three Polynesian (I think, if I remember correctly?) artists who come from all over California. Uptown Swuite comes from the Bay. Kahlee and producer Adikt 1 currently live in San Diego but I believe they both hail from Los Angeles. Kahlee even reps Tre Dime Music, or 310, which is an LA area code.

But there is a lot of SD participation, including mixing from DJ Demon, cuts from Kutfather, and a guest verse from Blame One. And if you think about it in a roundabout way, not being from San Diego is kinda this very San Diego thing. San Diego is a city of transplants, whether military or otherwise. Blame it on the nine months of sunshine but SD is where people go to escape. SD attracts lots of drifters. Kahlee and Adikt drifted down from LA and now they’re putting solid roots down in San Diego. And y’know, they happen to be really good. If that works for Kutfather, that works for me. Enjoy.

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Mixtape: Marty MacPhly – Cheers

September 20, 2010 by Quan Vu 3 Comments

DOWNLOAD: Marty MacPhly – Cheers
Marty MacPhly “Enter The Drag” [prod. Kriis Mon3y]
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Marty MacPhly “Cold Sweat” [prod. Kriis Mon3y]
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I’m a big fan of producer Kriis Mon3y, whose work appears throughout Marty MacPhly’s mixtape, Cheers. Kriis is developing a very warm sound by layering synths on top of each other, injecting just the right amount of flourishes to create these lush soundscapes. There seems to be a larger musical movement brewing nationwide to take things higher in a more positive direction. You can hear it in The Pack’s Lil B and his cloud rap freestyle explorations. You can hear it in Huntsville, Alabama’s Block Beattaz production duo and their sheets of sound. And you can hear it in Kriis’s production, which sounds like it reaches for outer space, not so much to chill with Martians but more to take in the sights and the grandeur of it all.

MacPhly, for his part, is a solid rapper and a good writer. He bears a striking resemblance to Jay-Z in the sound of his voice and his flow. But he’s got unique, oddball punchlines that stand out (e.g. “My shottie turn n*ggaz into Rogaine clients”). And he’s got good concepts including the above “Cold Sweat,” a cautionary tale about the psychological consequences of living life too hard and violently. It’s overall a very solid mixtape that you should check out.

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Mixtape: Joey Dixon – Geesh

September 15, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment


DOWNLOAD: Joey Dixon – Geesh
Joey Dixon “Thank Me“
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Joey Dixon’s got talent as a beatmaker. I wish someone would coach him on mixing (vocals down, please!). And he really needs to learn how to rap better or just get better rappers on his tracks. But yeah, he’s got beats.

Truthfully, I might not have thrown this mixtape up. But I saw Dixon perform a few weeks ago at the North Park Music Thing. He was playing hype-man for female MC, Vision. At the end, she gave him space to perform a solo song, “Thank Me,” above. And he killed it just from sheer energy. You should’ve seen this guy jumping up and down, definitely the most excited body in the room. When the song came to a break full of nothing but crashing cymbals, he was hitting every single imaginary cymbal in the air in front of him. Some heads probably laughed but he didn’t seem to care. He was basking in the glory of hearing his beat on-stage. That’s a good performance. It’s actually a little embarrassing how rare, ummmm, enthusiasm seems to be in live hip-hop performances. Rappers might could learn something about that from Dixon.

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