Some of y’all might have wondered why I’ve been largely absentee from this website in the last year. There’s a couple reasons for that, but the main one is that I’m in graduate school now and my free time to do music and post it online has been basically non-existent for the last 9 months or so. But it’s (just about) summer vacation, and I’ve got some biz to take care of. So with that in mind, I’ve got four goals for this summer, and can’t nobody stop me:
1. Everything must go.
I’m sitting on a big back catalog of pretty damn good beats that people have expressed interest in but never used. Eff that. If you’ve got songs, I’ve got beats. It helps to have a previous relationship with me, but I’ll entertain offers from anybody. Twitter is a good way to reach out to me, but make it clear that you’re interested in doing business. If it looks like spam, I’m gonna treat it like spam. Nothing would make me happier than to clear this old crap out.
2. New Chop s**t.
In January, I started work on my debut solo album, which I’m currently calling Polite Society. I’m going to get that finished in the next few weeks and in your hands by fall. Yell at me if I don’t have a progress update by about mid-July. To whatever extent I have fans, I think they’re really going to be impressed by this one.
3. Conspicuous consumption.
Still working with @thehonestape on a promotions company that’s largely focused on dance music. We already pushed a soft launch with DJ Diamond Tip‘s Energy Crisis mixtape and you should expect more soon.
4. New collaborations.
I got heat in the chamber with Crew54, and everybody’s been real supportive of my work with the League of Extraordinary G’z in the last year, so expect more projects with them. Still in the process of laying some stuff down with Feddi Man, and I also plan to work with Tip some more.
There’s a lot on my plate, but I’m resolving that this summer will be full of new music. Let’s get it.
If you’ve been keeping up with them Crew54 boys (and shame on you if you haven’t), you know they dropped a new mixtape back in June of this year: The 54 Reality Show Tape.
I have been busy as a mug with my first semester of graduate school, so I haven’t been doing much of anything on the boards. But this week, I decided to dust off the keyboard and make it do what it do. So without further ado, here’s my remix of one of their tracks off the album, “So Beautiful.” Download, share, and let me know what you think via the comments.
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Listen and download my newest track, “Home.” Rhymes by Greezo, Tuk Da Gat and Esbe. Hook by Reggie Coby. Da C.O.D. and the other members of the LOEG’z release their newest mixtape, Concealed Weapons 2, this week. Let me know what you think.
To all the rappers and singers in the audience, I give you my brand new beat tape. This is an 18-track collection specially released for South By Southwest Music Festival 2010. We have specially prepared a limited release of CD’s to hand out at SXSW as well as put the album up for free download on Bandcamp. All these beats are for sale. Please contact the beat sales mailbox for more information. Thanks very much to Abe Garcia for design. Abe and I will be out in the streets for SXSW, so be sure to hit us up when you see us!
In years past, I have put together a list of free events/parties for SXSW, and you have loved me for it. This year, the Austinist’s SXSW 2010 guide includes a list of free events so complete that I really don’t feel compelled to do much more than link to it (Hover over the “SXSW Party Guide” link to see the free events broken out by day).
Am I being lazy? Indubitably. But you’ll thank me when we’re drinking free beer together somewhere on a Thursday afternoon. My advice is to RSVP for every single party. If you don’t do that, at least hit anything you have even a vague interest in. Remember, a lot of these events have free refreshments and other cool stuff. I may try to post a more focused list here later, but no promises.
Congrats to Killeen’s Crew54, whose “54 Reality Show” video blog got them a write up in the Austin Chronicle. Peep the article, and be sure to catch them in the streets. They have a show in town almost every week, and even if they’re not performing, chances are they’re roaming the streets with camera in hand, so be sure to holler at them.
Crew54 | Can’t Lose f. Random
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Southbound is something of an anomaly in rap music. The Caucasoid brother duo of Lowkey and Sandman (not to be confused with the former Re-Up Gang affiliate) straddle fine lines with their whole style. Hood but articulate. Over-the-top but nuanced. Straight-faced but funny. They do not fit easily into the boxes hip hop critics and fans like to paint within the genre. They don’t spit the hedonistic, materialistic raps that many of their peers do, but neither do they make an obvious effort to distance themselves from that in favor of “real hip hop” or whatever the rapping-about-rapping set likes to claim these days. They offer an authentic, objective look at street life that never strains for credibility or plays to obvious clichés. This album is a 10-track EP in advance of their second album, Vice Verses. This is no throw-away advance record, though, and both obviously have a lot to say.
On the mic, both members have a fairly flat delivery. They tend to pack bars full of syllables, often weaving double-time and triplet flows in with more straight-ahead delivery. They never over-do it though, avoiding awkward lines and rhymes that do not end on time. Like other brother groups (Clipse comes to mind), they can be hard to tell apart, but that just means a constant high level of quality, in this case. Subject matter ranges from personal turmoil to societal ills to clowning, but they never break their stoic character. This makes it necessary to listen closely, because there are a lot of intricate lines stuck in there, often vivid and moving, sometimes hilarious.
On “All Alone,” there is an intense discussion of the miscarriage of an unborn child. “Money Don’t Come” uses Barack Obama speeches and examines their own personal struggles and those of society. For all the heavy material, though, there are moments of straight comedy. Italia Blue goes off on a siddity fine girl turned pornstar (did they really know Italia Blue?). On “No Swagger”: Say look I’m sorry for yellin’/I’m just mad that Vice Verses ain’t out yet/But Lil’ Wayne just dropped Tha Carter 47/What the hell is the difference besides…you know/Talent faith and persistence, but those don’t matter, right? In today’s hip hop landscape, everyone from people who were industry heavyweights in the 1980’s to 19 year olds recording tracks in their bedrooms angrily declares that the game is rigged. It is refreshing to hear even a joking assertion that maybe the big bad industry isn’t the only barrier to success. “Sex In Da Morning” is exactly what it sounds like, a light homage to the best way to start a day, vivid and slick. Raps this varied require an equally diverse suite of beats.
The entire album was produced by Matt Schadd. It has a relatively restrained set of beats, sometimes jazzy, sometimes soulful, sometimes heavy and ominous. There is nothing very big and theatrical…and none of these beats are likely to find their way into the club. They match the raps perfectly, though. “Italia Blue” recycles the Galt McDermott sample from Busta Rhymes’ “Woo Ha,” but this flip uses a much lighter hand, more fitting the comedic story raps than Busta’s hollering. “Gowin’ Hard (Southside Chant)” is a mid-tempo track with energy coming from a slinky bassline and choppy bell sounds. On the more ponderous side is “All Alone,” with plodding organs and atonal bells. There is nothing to blow the listener away in the set, but it is all solid, and very appropriate for the raps.
In short, with an EP like this, I can’t wait for the full-length album to come out. Still not a marquee name in Austin, Southbound is nevertheless one of the best acts this town has. This EP provides an excellent opportunity for the uninitiated to get on board, because I foresee big things ahead for these guys, if they continue to put in work. I definitely recommend picking up this album.
Seasons Change f. Reggie Coby
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Sex In Da Morning
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After a few month wait from his last installment of the Hip Hop, Soccer, & Comix mixtape series, Austin rapper Global74 returns with his second full-length album, The New Eugenix. Those familiar with Global’s past work will be used to the mystical symbols on the cover and the sometimes ironic, sometimes almost paranoid rapping style he brings on the mic. From government conspiracies to the destruction of the planet, his raps give a unique view of the world. He has a wide range and a skill for rhyming that keep it from being just tinfoil hat rap, however. Production is handled by a few local producers, the most notable contributions by Alpha 2020 (a.k.a. Ike of Mike &…). I also contributed a track years ago that ended up on this project. More on that next week. For now, enjoy the 2020 production, Raining, and holla at Global on myspace or in the streets to cop the album.
Global74 – Raining (prod. by Alpha 2020)
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Today thru Sunday, the Austin Record Convention returns to the Crockett Center. Over 300 dealers pushing over a million records. $5 admission good for tomorrow and Sunday. $25 if you want to show up today too. This is one of my favorite places to find new material to sample. Let’s get it!
In 2009, what differentiates a “self-released album” from a “mixtape”? Aside from being a good discussion question, it is also making me wonder what to call this project from Austin, TX rapper, Phranchyze. Classification aside, though, this is the first release from Phranchyze in a minute, and he does not disappoint.
Phran is a tall, lanky cat with a mic persona to match. He has an oversized, cocky style, that is still goofy, and just a bit nerdy. It is hard to balance those attributes without coming off as trying too hard, but with a rock solid flow, Phranchyze does it. A lot of the material on this album is straight up bragging, but he keeps it varied enough that it doesn’t sound like a solid hour of “rapping about rapping.” On The One:
I always rush, I never wait
Life’s been good, but never great
I’m a heavyweight, you a featherweight
Nevermind, you a neverweight
A neverweight is the opposite
Of a nigga that’s real and never hates
Never racin’ and never placin’
So their time, they forever waste
Phran takes on a few more topical songs though too. Pimp Tite is a reflection on the management side of the world’s oldest profession, and Love Me Back is an ode to ATX.
Production on the album is uncredited, but it is varied. A lot of it is synth-based, but there are a few samples in there. He and partner in crime, Zeale32, jack a Lil’ Wayne vocal sample for Three Hundred and Sixty Freestyle. Overall, production is decent. The most notable beat is the big, nasty, dissonant production on Customs, which sounds like something out of the Chicago hipster hop scene.
Phranchyze did a good job keeping this album (mixtape?) fresh, and I definitely definitely recommend giving a listen to this album errybody loves to hate. He is selling it directly via paypal on Myspace.
Phranchyze – Pimp Tite
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say what?