I like what Niko Villamor is up to. I really enjoyed 'Inertia.' Well, it's still in my car actually. I was listening to it last night on my way back from Brooklyn. Anyway, this is the first new track to drop since the album's release. In it, Villa cautions those who would otherwise confuse "Gratitude for Gratuity."
This is a very different look from what listeners experienced on 'Inertia.' Where 'Inertia' was, "Here's my story. It's kinda sad. I'm not sad though." this song is more, "F you! Pay me." Featured on the track is B. Rossi, from Atlanta, who produced the track and supplied the extra verse. I gotta say, I love the unexpected melodic progression on this. You got that one off, Homie! All in all a dope track. Check the audio and free download below.
"Everybahdy wuz Kun-Fooo Fye-teeeng!" Sorry. I couldn't resist.
You can't talk underground and West coast without talking about Planet Asia. For the last 15 years he's been a staple in underground Hip-Hop. Moving from indie labels to majors and back again, he's now set to release his biggest project to date. 'Black Belt Theatre' will hit stores on the last day of February. The album is absolutely loaded with old school players to new school fools. To go through the entire list of guest spots would overwhelm this post so I'm not doing it. To name a few: Talib Kweli, Raekwon and Camp Lo are some reps for the old and Paul Wall, Fashawn and Torae hold it down for the new.
This fresh leak from the project titled "Golden State" just went public and it's a great look into what to expect from the full project. Obviously, the theme is Kung-Fu and Blaxploitation films. Planet Asia says, "I wanted to make the album like a movie - something you would see in a theater. That's why it has so many features. All the guests feel like different characters in the movie."
Free from the constraints of stuffy suits and deadlines at major labels he was able to produce the project exactly as he envisioned it. "Golden State" is a blaring 70s soul sample fit for a thorough Afro-power-leather-jacket-epic-mustache-ass-kicking-fest. Dirtydiggs handles the production on the track and 9 others on the album for a total 50% of the production load. Sweet deal.
Check the audio and check for PA on the web at the links below.
Holy Boom Bap, Batman! This track is crazy. This is the reason that satellite and internet radio are so necessary in Hip-Hop right now. FM dials are bogged down with label funded pop tunes for drones. Songs like this need a place to breathe. While this music always has a home in backpacks and venues with a max capacity of 1,000 across the world, it could certainly use more air time.
Copywrite is a man on a mission. His goal: To be the best Copywrite he's ever been. After some tumultuous times in his personal life, beef with Asher Roth and shaking the battle rap curse, the MC is taking a new direction. It's now all about making the best music he's ever made. With "Swaggot Killaz" we can definitely get excited for February 28th! 'God Save the King' will hit shelves and digital outlets then.
Producer !llmind layed the SLAP on this track, un'erstand me! It's like he managed to grab a few sounds out of Dr. Dre's "The Cronic" sessions. Dude is a certified beast. I've never heard and !llmind track that I didn't like and this is no exception. It's pure unadulterated Hip-Hop.
Check the stream below and, of course, keep an eye out for more leaks from 'God Save the King' right here.
Creative extraordinaire Adrian Franks is at it again! He's taken his wildly popular FEARLESS series of works to a new ... dimension. I've always enjoyed the artist's work but these pieces have sparked a new level of interest. Like ... I want prints of some of these!
Adrian says:
"The Poly FEARLESS came about because of the need to evolve the current FEARLESS silhouette series. I wanted to show that people have multiple sides to them without revealing too much of what the person actually looks like.
Profiles capture a lot without saying too much. When you add a little dimension with basic geometric shapes, the idea evolved from something flat to something multi-dimensional. That is a basic characteristic of humans; Spiritual beings have a multi-faceted and multi-human experience.
I often said that I have many sides - like a pyramid. Just like a pyramid, in order to see all of the different sides at once you'd have to be above me. There's only one that is above me - The Most High. So one could say that the Poly FEARLESS series is a God's Eye view of man."
Well done, Sir! These works are TOO ill. When can we expect prints?
Whoa. L.O.C.K. teases us with yet another dope track titled "Dolo", which hit his facebook page earlier today. No word yet on whether he's dropping a full project or not. We've already got a great video and a super ill leak, so I'm betting that something is cooking up behind the scenes.
This self produced cut throws us back to the heyday of the Wu-Tang Clan. It's lo-fi, gritty, dissonant and crunched. It's a revival of the illest kind. If this is the direction that the South Jersey MC is going with it, then he may be on to something strong. Retro everything has been the wave the last 5+ years. Rightfully so, the Wu-Tang sound has been untouched. Even the members themselves largely abandoned their original unpolished sound. There aren't many people that could do the Wu sound justice but L.O.C.K. is on it.
I'm still surprised by his lyrical ability. As mentioned in previous posts, I've known him primarily as a videographer. To be able to hop back and forth between those two skill sets so easily is pretty special. Is he a rapper that happens to be a videographer or vice versa? My bet is on rapper. Lyrics like these don't come easily.
