More than enough ink has been spilled on Run DMC and their legendary and influential careers and time together, as well as what they meant to expanding hip-hop from a mostly local and regional thing […]
Category: hip-hop
New Video: The Hip-Hop and Classical Music Sounds of The Bay Area’s Ensemble Mik Nawooj
Formed and fronted by classical trained Korean composer and pianist JooWan Kim, the Bay Area-based hip-hop collective Ensemble Mik Nawooj have received attention and praise from several media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, SF Weekly and East Bay […]
New Video: Chris Rivers and Termanology’s Fiery “Ain’t No Half Steppin'”-Inspired Freestyle
Over the course of the five years that I’ve run this site, I’ve actually written about Chris Rivers a handful of times. Originally performing under the moniker Baby Pun, Rivers began tiring of the […]
New Video: Introducing the Melbourne, Australia-based Conscious Hip-Hop Duo Man Made Mountain
Comprised of ARIA Award-wining producer Billy Hoyle and emcee Cazeaux O.S.L.O., the Melbourne, Australia-based hip-hop duo Man Made Mountain have begun to receive national attention for a sound that subtly and gently pushes the boundaries […]
Comprised of Oso Dope, Shine Sinatra, Shadow the Great and Kidaf, the New York-based hip-hop collective Loaf Muzik formed back in 2011 and have built up a growing national profile as they’ve been praised by the likes of The Source, Complex, Green Label, Hip-Hop DX and others for a sound that pairs soul and jazz samples, modern, tweeter and woofer rocking beats with an attention to dope rhymes and lyricism. And as a result they’ve shared stages with the likes of renowned acts including Vince Staples, Danny Brown, Theophilus London, D’Angelo, and Mos Def and others.
Produced by Brooklyn-based producer Harry Fraud, best known for his work with Wiz Khalifa, The Weeknd and French Montana, the collective’s latest single “Pastor Spliff” pairs a slick production consisting of twinkling keys, skittering and stuttering drum programming and brief bursts of shimmering guitar with emcees with tongue-twisting flows full of complex inner and outer rhyme schemes and word play, as the song subtly channels golden age-era hip-hop.
New Audio: Alex Goose’s Jazzy and Soulful Remix of Freddie Gibbs’ and Madlib’s “Shame”
Over the past 24-26 months or so, the Gary, IN-based emcee Freddie Gibbs has joined a lengthy list of JOVM mainstays as I’ve written quite a bit about him. With the release of his 2009 compilation of […]
New Video: Miami-based Production duo GTA Teams Up With Paul Wall and Clyde Carson
Comprised of Julio Mejia and Matt Toth, the Miami, FL-based production duo GTA have developed a reputation for a genre defying sound that caught the attention of renowned producers Laidback Luke, Diplo, and A-Trak. And […]
New Video: The Glitchy, VHS Styled Video for The Age of L.U.N.A.’s 90s Influenced “Boom”
The up-and-coming and extremely young London-based hip-hop collective The Age of L.U.N.A. have quickly developed an international profile with the release of an critically acclaimed mixtape earlier this year. And although they clearly possess an […]
New Video: Introducing The Old School Hip Hop-Inspired Sounds of Virginia’s Aspiring Acolytes of Rap Production
As I’ve mentioned countless times throughout the history of this site, I frequently receive quite a number of emails from artists, producers, publicists, labels, and band managers from all over the world. And of course, […]
F.Y.I,’s musical career began in the middle part of this past decade as the co-founder of Los Angeles-based rap act Those Chosen, with whom he recorded over 100 songs, a number of mixtapes and a critically praised EP, 5IVE, which was produced by Grammy winner IZ Avila best known for his work with Usher, Janet Jackson, and Gwen Stefani. And with the release of his debut solo effort, Yo! The Places You’ll Go, which featured a collaboration with Rass Kass and Ab-Soul, the Los Angeles-based emcee’s album landed at #1 on WPTS, which won an MTVu Woodie Award for Best College Radio Station. And as a result of sharing stages with renowned artists including The Game, B.O.B., Big Sean, Curren$y, Slick Rick, De La Soul, Pac Div, Dead Prez, Little Brother, Black Milk, Pete Rock and CL Smooth and Boot Camp Clik and playing at music festivals such as CMJ, A3C and the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival, F.Y.I. has quietly developed a national reputation as an emcee to pay attention to.
The Los Angeles-based emcee’s debut sophomore effort, Age/Sex/Location was released earlier today and the EP’s latest single, EP opening track “One Thang” pairs F.Y.I.’s confident and dexterous flow, rhyming lyrics about looking bravely forward and striving and accomplishing your goals without fear and without doubt. And he does so over
over a glitchy and soulful production consisting of boom bap beats, distorted vocal samples, whirring electronics. It’s swaggering yet upbeat hip-hop which shows how influential Kanye West, Outkast and Common have been to contemporary hip-hop.
New Video: The Affecting and Empathetic, New Video for Koncept and J57’s “The Fuel” feat. Akie Bermiss
J57, Koncept and their sadly unheralded (and extremely prolific) crew of collaborators, Brown Bag All-Stars have mainstays on this site as I’ve written about J57, Koncept and several other members of crew throughout the years. And if you’ve been […]
New Video: Chris Rivers and Sheek Louch Team Up On “I Got It Made (Freestyle)”
Originally performing and recording under the moniker of Baby Pun, Chris Rivers decided that he desperately needed to avoid the constant comparisons to his legendary father, Big Pun — while following in his father’s footsteps […]
New Video: Shabaam Sahdeeq Considerers The Consequences of a Life of Crime in the New Video for “Get It”
Over the course of the five year history of this site, Brooklyn-based emcee Shabaam Sahdeeq has been a mainstay artist, as I’ve written about him a number of times over the years. What you may not know […]
New Audio: Rhythm Scholar’s 70s Jazz and Funk Reworking of Audio Two’s Classic “Top Billin'”
Although “Top Billin’” relegated Brooklyn-based duo Audio Two to one-hit wonder status, the song has managed to be one of hip-hop’s most beloved. most important, most sampled songs as a number of artists across both […]
Innocent? is a New York-based emcee, who first received attention across the blogosphere with the release of the Love It or Hate It double album. The New York-based emcee teamed up with Brooklyn-based Stan Da Man on Love It’s follow-up, Whip Appeal, which T.H.E.M. Recordings released last month.
The EP’s latest single “Old Souls” is a bonus track off Love It and it features Innocent? and the legendary Sadat X rhyming about how things were done back in the day and how today, it’s a much more phony, superficial and distrustful hip-hop industry and scene for artists — and even fans. And they manage to do so over a sample consisting of boom-bap beats and a looped, bluesy guitar that gives the song an old school, stomping, shuffling swagger. It’s yet another example of real hip-hop — of talented emcees spitting fire over dope beats.