If you’ve been frequenting this site over its almost 6 year history, you’ve likely come across a post or two about Brooklyn-based emcee Shabaam Sahdeeq. Sahdeeq recently celebrated his 20th year in hip-hop — and considering that hip-hop has long been extremely fickle, such longevity, especially as an underground artist, is a rather impressive feat. Sahdeeq has marked his 20th year in hip-hop by being more prolific and hunger than ever as last year he released the Modern Artillery EP, a collaboration with Swedish-born, The Netherlands-based producer Big Ape, and then Sahdeeq followed it up with the forthcoming release of Timeless: The Collection.
As far as Modern Artillery you may remember that I wrote about EP single “Get It,” which paired Big Ape’s production consisting of bright, brassy bells paired with a chopped up guitar sample backed by tweeter and wooter rattling, boom-bap beats and scratching throughout with Sahdeeq spitting fiery and passionate verses and offering pertinent advice for artists everywhere. Sonically, the song possessed the raw, grittiness reminiscent of hip-hop’s golden age. “D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.,” the latest single off Modern Artillery pairs a similarly funky production consisting of twinkling keys, brassy bells, chopped up guitar and boom bap beats with Sahdeeq’s dexterous rhyming mainly about being so focused on the work at hand, that you don’t give two shits about haters, clowns or anyone else — and as the song suggests that focusing on haters is a distraction if you’re out there making serious moves.
Directed by Ed Jansen, the recently released video follows Shabaam Sahdeeq as he collaborates with Big Ape in Amsterdam, smokes what looks like the best weed in the entire world, rocks a live show and chills with his crew in the studio, following his sets or just at the club and it looks like a helluva lot of fun; in fact, I have to admit that I kind of wish I was there, too.