Tag: Rhymesayers Entertainment

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Evidence Releases a Haunting Visual for Brooding “Taylor Made Suit”

Los Angeles-based emcee, producer and JOVM mainstay Evidence — born Micheal Taylor Perretta — has established himself as one of hip-hop’s most accomplished emcees and producers: as a solo artist and as a producer, Perretta has worked with Beastie Boys, Linkin Park, Defari, Planet Asia, DJ Premier, WestsideGunn, Prodigy, Rapsody, Aloe Blacc, Action Bronson, Atmosphere’s Slug, Cypress Hill and a lengthy list of others. He won a Grammy for his co-production on Kanye West’s critically applauded, breakthrough debut album The College Dropout. He also has won two Juno Awards for his production work for Canadian hip-hop act Swollen Members. But he’s arguably best known for being a member of beloved hip-hop act Dilated Peoples with Rakaa Iriscience and DJ Babu. 

Evidence has recorded and released five albums with his Dilated Peoples bandmates. And as a solo artist, the Los Angeles-based emcee and producer has released three full-length albums, including 2018’s critically and commercially successful effort Weather Or Not and an EP. He has also released an album with The Alchemist as Step Brothers. Managing to remain extraordinarily busy, Evidence released this fourth solo album Unlearning Vol. 1 the other day through his longtime label home Rhymesayers Entertainment. 

The 14 track album pairs Evidence’s own production work with the likes of The Alchemist, Nottz, Sebb Bash, Animoss, Mr. Green, V Don, Daringer, Khrysis, and QThree [EARDRUM] showcasing the Los Angeles-based JOVM mainstay’s ability to collaborate with a wide and eclectic array of producers while still crafting a cohesive album. Additionally, the album features a small cast of guests that includes Boldy James, Conway The Machine, Fly Anakin, Navy Blue, and Murkage Dave. Recently Evidence offered insight into the transition from Weather Or Not into the writing and recording of the material that would become Unlearning Vol 1: “I don’t feel like I’m Evidence, the character. I feel like I’m me,” he told DJ Booth, adding “I don’t mind evolving publicly.” 

During the build up to the album’s release, I wrote about three of the album’s single: 

“Pardon Me” an example of grown shit hip-hop, centered around a soulful Pete Rock-like production that serves as a warm and comfortable bed for Perretta’s contemplative verses reflecting on mortality, hard-won lessons, adulthood and being a parent and artist — and how those particular roles can be contradictory and difficult to manage. 
“All Of That Said” found Evidence collaborating with Boldy James. Prominently featuring a soulful and cinematic sample featuring soaring strings, buzzing guitars and chopped up vocals, the song sees the JOVM mainstay and Boldy James reminiscing on the long and hard journey to achieve what they’ve achieved both personally and professionally. And while seemingly a bit world-weary, there’s a profound wisdom within both emcees bars — the wisdom that comes from struggle, setbacks and victories small and large. Like I said before, this is adult shit coming from adult places. 
“Where We Going From Here,” which was centered around a dusty and woozy production featuring boom-bap beats and lurching synths. Over that uneasy production, the Los Angeles-based JOVM mainstay effortlessly rhymes about where he’s been while wondering what exactly is next for him.

Unlearning Vol. 1’s latest single “Taylor Made Suit” is a brooding song centered around a sparse and haunting production featuring a repeated guitar figure, skittering beats and reverb-drenched vocal samples throughout. Over that spectral production Evidence spits rhymes with an unusually deep emotional heft, with a verse directly addressing the death of his son’s mother, detailing two painful scenes — that his wedding suit was the same suit that he wore to his son’s mother’s funeral and later, a scene in which he has to hold back tears before telling his boy with somewhat false assurance “Your momma is in heaven.” There’s heartbreak, despair and love and devotion in very adult, and very real terms.

Continuing an ongoing collaboration with director and photographer Stephen Vanasco, we see the Los Angeles-based JOVM mainstay in a suit and trench coat arriving at a bungalow — as though coming from something. He rhymes to his own reflection in the window, as though gearing himself up to tell someone something hurtful yet important. We also follow him through the desert and under palm trees. The video ends with a devastating close up that focuses on Evidence wearing the titular suit.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Evidence Looks Towards an Uncertain Future in “Where We Going From Here”

Los Angeles-based emcee, producer and JOVM mainstay Evidence — born Micheal Taylor Perretta — has established himself as one of hip-hop’s most accomplished emcees and producers: as a solo artist and as a producer, Perretta has worked with Beastie Boys, Linkin Park, Defari, Planet Asia, DJ Premier, WestsideGunn, Prodigy, Rapsody, Aloe Blacc, Action Bronson, Atmosphere’s Slug, Cypress Hill and a lengthy list of others. He won a Grammy for his co-production on Kanye West’s critically applauded, breakthrough debut album The College Dropout. He also has won two Juno Awards for his production work for Canadian hip-hop act Swollen Members. But he’s arguably best known for being a member of beloved hip-hop act Dilated Peoples with Rakaa Iriscience and DJ Babu. 

Evidence has recorded and released five albums with his Dilated Peoples bandmates. And as a solo artist, the Los Angeles-based emcee and producer has released three full-length albums, including 2018’s critically and commercially successful effort Weather Or Not and an EP. He has also released an album with The Alchemistas Step Brothers. Managing to remain extraordinarily busy, Evidence released this fourth solo album Unlearning Vol. 1 the other day through his longtime label home Rhymesayers Entertainment. 

The 14 track album pairs Evidence’s own production work with the likes of The Alchemist, Nottz, Sebb Bash, Animoss, Mr. Green, V Don, Daringer, Khrysis, and QThree [EARDRUM] showcasing the Los Angeles-based JOVM mainstay’s ability to collaborate with a wide and eclectic array of producers while still crafting a cohesive album. Additionally, the album features a small cast of guests that includes Boldy James, Conway The Machine, Fly Anakin, Navy Blue, and Murkage Dave. Recently Evidence offered insight into the transition from Weather Or Not into the writing and recording of the material that would become Unlearning Vol 1: “I don’t feel like I’m Evidence, the character. I feel like I’m me,” he told DJ Booth, adding “I don’t mind evolving publicly.” 

During the build up to the album’s release, I wrote about two of the album’s single:

“Pardon Me” an example of grown shit hip-hop, centered around a soulful Pete Rock-like production that serves as a warm and comfortable bed for Perretta’s contemplative verses reflecting on mortality, hard-won lessons, adulthood and being a parent and artist — and how those particular roles can be contradictory and difficult to manage.
“All Of That Said” found Evidence collaboration with Boldy James. Prominently featuring a soulful and cinematic sample featuring soaring strings, buzzing guitars and chopped up vocals, the song sees the JOVM mainstay and Boldy James reminiscing on the long and hard journey to achieve what they’ve achieved both personally and professionally. And while seemingly a bit world-weary, there’s a profound wisdom within both emcees bars — the wisdom that comes from struggle, setbacks and victories small and large. Like I said before, this is adult shit coming from adult places. 

Unlearning Vol. 1’s fourth and latest single “Where We Going From Here” is centered around a dusty and woozy production featuring boom-bap beats, lurching synths. Over that uneasy sounding production, the Los Angeles-based JOVM mainstay effortless rhymes about where he’s been while wondering what exactly is next for him. For all of us, who have suffered and lost so much, the clouds have seemed to clear a bit and we’re all wondering what’s next — both positively and negatively. May it be more positive than negative for us all.

Directed by frequent collaborator Stephen Vanasco through a hazy filer, the video follows the JOVM mainstay walking through his hometown of Venice, evoking the uneasy feel of our our moment.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Aesop Rock Releases a Cinematic Track off “Freedom Finger” Soundtrack

Ian Matthais Bavitz is a Syosset, NY-born, Portland, OR-based emcee and producer, best known as Aesop Rock. Releasing the bulk of his critically applauded, boundary pushing work through El-P’s Definitive Jux Records, the Syosset-born, Portland-based emcee and producer wound up being at the forefront of the underground and alternative hip-hop scenes of the late 90s and early 2000s. Bavitz has also developed a reputation as a highly sought-after collaborator, who has worked in a number of eclectic creative projects including The Weathermen, Hail Mary Mallon with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz, The Uncluded with Kimya Dawson and Two of Every Animal with Cage. Whether as a solo artist or collaborating with others, Aesop Rock is considered one of hip-hop’s most verbose emcees, developing a flow that features dense and abstract wordplay and incredibly complex inner and outer rhyme schemes. 

Now, if you were frequenting this site last year, you may recall that I wrote quite a bit about Aesop Rock’s collaboration with JOVM mainstay TOBACCO, Malibu Ken, a project that released one of the most interesting and forward-thinking hip-hop albums of the year. Since the release of Malibu Ken’s self-titled debut, the acclaimed Syosset-born, Portland-based emcee has been pretty busy: “I was approached by my old friend Travis Millard to make some original music for Freedom Finger — a crazy space-shooter video game he had been developing with Jim Dirschberger and Wide Right Interactive game studio,” Aesop Rock says in press notes. ““I provided some instrumentals that pop up at various points throughout the gameplay. As the game was being rolled out, the idea arose to have me do three more tracks — this time fully fleshed out songs with lyrics inspired by Freedom Finger’s gameplay. These tracks were intended to accompany some brand new levels that would be made available as downloadable content for the game.

We’ve decided to release all of the music I made for Freedom Finger as a 10” vinyl EP available through Rhymesayers Entertainment. This includes the three full-length vocal tracks as well as their instrumentals, and four more bonus beats that loop throughout the game. Some of these tracks also feature additional instrumentation from my friends and frequent collaborators, Grimace Federation. The game is an absolute blast, and I hope you enjoy the music.  <3" "Drums on the Wheel" Music From The Game Freedom Finger's latest single is centered around a brooding and cinematic, RZA-like production featuring a looping and droning guitar sample and tweeter and woofer rocking boom bap beats -- and it's roomy enough for Aesop Rock's dense bars and mischievous wordplay influenced by the Freedom Finger's gameplay, making the track an unofficial theme song for the game.  Directed by Jim Dirschberger and featuring illustrations by Travis Millard, which were animated by Steven Gong, the recently released video for "Drums on the Wheel" draws from Freedom Finger's gameplay in a way that makes it feel like one of the coolest trailers in the entire world. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Malibu Ken (Aesop Rock and TOBACCO) Releases a Nightmarish and Holiday-Themed Visual for “Tuesday”

Born Ian Matthais Bavitz in Syosset, NY, the Portland, OR-based emcee and producer Aesop Rock is best known for being at the forefront of a collection of underground and alternative hip-hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The bulk of his most boundary pushing work was released through El-P’s Definitive Jux Records. Additionally, the Syosset-born, Portland-based emcee has developed a reputation for being a highly-sought after collaborator, working in a number of projects including The Weathermen, Hail Mary Mallon with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz, The Uncluded with Kimya Dawson and Two of Every Animal with Cage. Importantly, whether as as solo artist or part of a collaborative group, Aesop Rock is considered one of the genre’s more verbose emcees, known for a flow that feature dense and abstract wordplay and complex inner and out rhyme schemes. 

Over the past decade, the Pittsburgh-born and based producer, multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Thomas Fec, best known as TOBACCO has employed the use of analog synthesizers and tape machines to create material — as a solo artist and as the frontman and creative mastermind of Black Moth Super Rainbow — that rapidly alternates between absurdly bright beauty and the murderously sinister, while evoking a woozy and uneasy intertwining of tension, anxiety, bemusement and pleasure. 

Malibu Ken, the duo’s collaboration together can trace its origins back to when TOBACCO and Aesop Rock toured together over a decade ago. “I find his production to be something special, and always wanted to see what I could bring to it,” Aesop Rock says in press notes. ” We recently found time to record some songs, and Malibu Ken was born. I brought a few stories to the table, but also did my best to let the production dictate the subject matter throughout. We hope you like the soup.” Now, as you may recall, Rhymesayers Entertainment released the duo’s self-titled full-length debut earlier this year, and with album single “Acid King,” the duo quickly established themselves for crafting some of the most forward-thinking, strangest and boundary pushing hip hop I’ve heard in some time.  

Aptly released today, “Tuesday,” Malibu Ken’s latest single continues on a similar vein as its immediate predecessor as it’s centered around Aesop Rock’s dense and mind-bending bars full of absurdist imagery, pop culture references and ridiculous word play and TOBACCO’s woozy retro-futuristic production consisting of tweeter and woofer rocking beats, chopped up and vocodered vocals and distorted whirring synth arpeggios.  

Directed by longtime Aesop Rock collaborator Rob Shaw, the recently released video for “Tuesday” is centered around familiar holiday-related themes — food, family, obligation and duty but with a nightmarish, fever dream-like logic. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Aesop Rock and Tobacco Collaboration Release a Thumping Anti-Social Anthem

Born Ian Matthais Bavitz in Syosset, NY, the Portland, OR-based emcee and producer Aesop Rock was at the forefront of a collection of underground and alt hip-hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s with his most boundary pushing work being released through El-P‘s Definitive Jux Records. Aesop Rock has also developed a reputation for being a go-to collaborator, as he is the member of a number of different musical projects including The Weathermen, Hail Mary Mallon with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz, The Uncluded with Kimya Dawson and Two of Every Animal with Cage. Throughout his career, the Syosset-born, Portland-based emcee and producer has been largely considered one of the more verbose emcees, known for a flow that’s centered by dense and abstract wordplay and incredibly complex rhyme schemes.

Over the past decade, the Pittsburgh-born and based producer, multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter TOBACCO (born Thomas Fec) as a solo artist and as the frontman and primary songwriter of Black Moth Super Rainbow has used analog synths and tape machines to record material that rapidly alternates between absurdly bright beauty and the murderously sinister in a way that evokes a woozy and uneasy intertwining of tension, anxiety, bemusement and pleasure. Interestingly, the duo’s collaboration Malibu Ken can trace its origins back to when TOBACCO and Aesop Rock toured together over a decade ago. “I find his production to be something special, and always wanted to see what I could bring to it,” Aesop Rock says in press notes. ” We recently found time to record some songs, and Malibu Ken was born. I brought a few stories to the table, but also did my best to let the production dictate the subject matter throughout. We hope you like the soup.” Rhymesayers Entertainment will be releasing the duo’s self-titled, full-length debut on January 18, 2019, and as you may recall, the self-titled album’s first single “Acid King” was arguably one of the most forward-thinking, strangest, boundary pushing hip-hop tracks I’ve heard in some time. Sonically, Aesop Rock spit a series of dense, mind-spinning bars full of absurd and gory imagery, betrayals and heartbreaks over a woozy and menacing retro-futuristic production centered around layers of shimmering and arpeggiated synths.  

“Corn Maze,” the album’s second and latest single is centered around a dense and junky, retro-futuristic production featuring layers of fluttering, shimmering and woozily whirring synths, thumping beats and anthemic hooks — while Aesop Rock spits dense bars with odd, novelistic detail, describing a narrator who’s an anti-social and paranoid fuck-up. And as a result, the song evokes a sweaty, half-remembered insomniac dream that’s managed to linger. 

The recently released video, directed by frequent Aesop Rock collaborator Rob Shaw, depicts Aesop Rock in an insomniac daze in which the late night Japanimation-inspired cartoons he starts watching seem to suddenly become self-aware, commenting on the ridiculousness of their situation. It’s a trippy mix of live action, cheap animation and 80s animation that further emphasizes the song’s junky, retro-futurism. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Aesop Rock and TOBACCO Collaboration Malibu Ken Releases Trippy and Menacing “Acid King”

Born Ian Matthais Bavitz in Syosset, NY, the Portland, OR-based emcee and producer Aesop Rock was at the forefront of a collection of underground and alt hip-hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s with his most boundary pushing work being released through El-P’s Definitive Jux Records. Aesop Rock has also developed a reputation for being a go-to collaborator, as he is the member of a number of different musical projects including The Weathermen, Hail Mary Mallon with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz, The Uncluded with Kimya Dawson and Two of Every Animal with Cage. Throughout his career, the Syosset-born, Portland-based emcee and producer has been largely considered one of the more verbose emcees, known for flow that’s centered by dense and abstract wordplay and rhyme schemes. 

Over the past decade, the Pittsburgh-born and based producer, multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter TOBACCO (born Thomas Fec) as a solo artist and as the frontman and primary songwriter of Black Moth Super Rainbow has used analog synths and tape machines to record material that rapidly alternates between absurdly bright beauty and the murderous sinister in a way that evokes a woozy and uneasy intertwining of tension, anxiety, bemusement and pleasure. 

The duo’s collaboration Malibu Ken can trace its origins back to when TOBACCO and Aesop Rock toured together over a decade ago. “I find his production to be something special, and always wanted to see what I could bring to it,” Aesop Rock says in press notes. ” We recently found time to record some songs, and Malibu Ken was born. I brought a few stories to the table, but also did my best to let the production dictate the subject matter throughout. We hope you like the soup.” Rhymesayers Entertainment will be releasing the duo’s self-titled, full-length debut on January 18, 2019, and the album’s first single “Acid King” may arguably be one of the most forward-thinking, strangest and boundary pushing hip-hop tracks I’ve heard in some time. Sonically, Aesop Rock spits a series of dense, heady bars full of absurd and gory imagery over an woozy, eerie and menacing retro-futuristic production centered around shimmering and arpeggiated synths. 

Directed by long-time Aesop Rock collaborator Rob Shaw, the recently released animated music video is a fittingly fucked up, psychedelic nightmare centered around the decay and melting of its protagonist’s face — in real time. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Evidence and Strong Arm Steady’s Krondon Team Up to Wander Around a Desolate Los Angeles in Visuals for Nottz-Produced “Bad Publicity”

I’ve written quite a bit about the Los Angeles, CA-based emcee and producer Evidence, and as you may recall, he’s best known as a member of the renowned hip-hop act Dilated Peoples with whom he has released four full-length albums — and as a producer, the emcee and producer born Michael Taylor Perretta has worked with Beastie Boys, Linkin Park, Swollen Members, Defari, Planet Asia and has a co-production credit on Kanye West’s Grammy-winning, full-length debut The College Dropout.

Perretta’s 2007 full-length full-length debut The Weatherman was released by ABB Records, the long-time label home of Dilated Peoples and featured tracks produced by Perretta,  The Alchemist, Sid Roams (the production team of Joey Chavez and Tavish “Bravo” Graham), Jake One, DJ Babu, and DJ Khalil, as well as collaborations with the Dilated Peoples crew. By 2009 Evidence signed with Minneapolis, MN-based hip-hip label Rhymesayers Entertainment, who released his 2011 sophomore effort Cats & Dogs, an album that wound up being among his most commercially successful as it landed at #64 on the Billboard 200. Perretta’s fourth album Weather or Not was released earlier this year, and the album is the first catch of new material from the Los Angeles-based emcee and producer since the 2014’s The Alchemist-produced Lord Steppington.

Weather or Not’s third single, the  DJ Premier-produced “10,000 Hours” was centered around a  swaggering and strutting West Coast hip-hop meets menacing, old school, boom bap, old school East Coast hip-hop production paired with one of contemporary hip-hop’s criminally unheralded emcees, rhyming about the time he has spent practicing, developing and honing his skills to become one of the very best — or in other words talent ain’t shit, if you don’t work very hard at it. The album’s fourth single “Powder Cocaine” continued Evidence’s ongoing collaboration with The Alchemist, who contributed an atmospheric yet soulful production consisting of boom bap beats, warm blasts of bluesy guitar, a chopped up choral vocal sample and a soaring hook and the production managed to be roomy enough to allow Evidence and Slug to trade bars full of diverse metaphors and descriptive symbolism.

The album’s fifth and latest single, the Nottz-produced “Bad Publicity” much in the vein of its predecessors as it’s golden era hip-hop inspired, tweeter and woofer rocking boom bap hip-hop, complete with some dexterous scratching — and the production manages to be roomy enough for Evidence and Strong Arm Steady’s gravelly-voiced Krondon to spit fiery, braggadocio-filled bars. Directed by Todd Angkauswan, the recently released video for “Bad Publicity” is shot in an deserted, almost post apocalyptic Los Angeles, featuring the city’s most prominent locations.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Evidence Teams Up with Atmosphere’s Slug and Catero on a Soulful and Earnest Single Paired with Gorgeous and Surreal Visuals

Born Michael Taylor Perretta, Evidence is a Los Angeles, CA-based emcee and producer, best known as a member of the renowned hip-hop act Dilated Peoples with whom he has released four full-length albums. As a producer, Perretta has collaborated with the likes of Beastie Boys, Linkin Park, Swollen Members, Defari, Planet Asia and a co-production credit on Kanye West’s Grammy-winning, full-length debut The College Dropout.

The Los Angeles, CA-based emcee and producer’s 2007 full-length debut, The Weatherman, which was released by ABB Records, the long-time label home of Dilated Peoples featured tracks produced by Perretta, The Alchemist, Sid Roams (the production team of Joey Chavez and Tavish “Bravo” Graham), Jake One, DJ Babu, and DJ Khalil, as well as collaborations with the Dilated Peoples crew. By 2009 Evidence signed with Minneapolis, MN-based hip-hip label Rhymesayers Entertainment, who released his 2011 sophomore effort Cats & Dogs, an album that wound up being among his most commercially successful as it landed at #64 on the Billboard 200.

Evidence’s four full-length album Weather or Not was released earlier this year through Rhymesayers, and the the album is the  first batch of new material since 2014’s The Alchemist-produced Lord Steppington, and as you may remember, the album’s third single “10,000 Hours” found the Los Angeles, CA-based producer and emcee further cementing his reputation as an incredibly dexterous and criminally unheralded emcee, who has ridiculous rhyme schemes — all while discussing ho much time he spent practicing, refining and developing his skills over a swaggering DJ Premier production featuring squiggly synths, boom bap beats, a forceful bass line, samples from Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and GURU that managed to be anamalgamation of strutting West Coast hip-hop and stomping, menacing, old school East Coast hip-hop.

Weather or Not’s latest single “Powder Cocaine” is a collaboration between Evidence and Atmosphere’s Slug that features an atmospheric The Alchemist production that consists of tweeter and woofer rocking boom bap beats, a subtly chopped up choral vocal sample and warm blasts of bluesy guitar paired with a soaring hook sung by Catero that’s the emotional and metaphorical underpinning of the song. In fact, as the story goes, after enlisting Catero to write the song’s hook. the vocalist came back with a verse that ended with “but everything’s fine if I try to remain like powder cocaine . . .”  Understandably, the line stuck with both Rhymesayer labelmates, and it opened the doors for the duo to write rhymes full of diverse metaphors and descriptive symbolism. Yet, despite the song’s title, Evidence has never used the drug. “I’m like the only person in Los Angeles, who didn’t do cocaine, and Alchemist, too,” Evidence says in press notes. “We made a pact, you know, when friends are young and we actually stuck to it. The song is not a pro-cocaine song, but rather just using the saying as an expression of being all good.” 

Directed by Jason Goldwatch, the recently released video for “Powder Cocaine,” is actually influenced by Evidence, a passionate shutterbug — and as a result, the video is full of gorgeous and surreal visuals that employ a photographer’s sense of composition and framing to emphasize very specific things. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Evidence Takes You on a Gritty Tour of Los Angeles in Visuals for “10,000 Hours”

Born Michael Taylor Perretta, Evidence is a Los Angeles, CA-based emcee and producer, best known as a member of the renowned hip-hop act Dilated Peoples with whom he has released four full-length albums. As a producer, Perretta has collaborated with the likes of Beastie Boys, Linkin Park, Swollen Members, Defari, Planet Asia and a co-production credit on Kanye West’s Grammy-winning, full-length debut The College Dropout.

The Los Angeles, CA-based emcee and producer’s 2007 full-length debut, The Weatherman, which was released by ABB Records, the long-time label home of Dilated Peoples featured tracks produced by Perretta, The Alchemist, Sid Roams (the production team of Joey Chavez and Tavish “Bravo” Graham), Jake One, DJ Babu, and DJ Khalil, as well as collaborations with the Dilated Peoples crew. However, by 2009 Evidence signed with Minneapolis, MN-based hip-hip label Rhymesayers Entertainment, who released his 2011 sophomore effort Cats & Dogs, an album that wound up being among his most commercially successful as it landed at #64 on the Billboard 200.

Evidence’s soon-to-be released fourth, full-length album Weather or Not is slated for a January 26, 2018 release through Rhymesayers is the first batch of new material since 2014’s The Alchemist-produced Lord Steppington, and with the release of the album’s third single “10,000 Hours” Evidence further cements his reputation as an incredibly dexterous and criminally unheralded emcee with the rhyme scheme in this particular track being ridiculous — all while discussing about how he spent time developing his own unique flow. With Evidence spitting over a swaggering DJ Premier production featuring squiggly synths, boom bap beats, a forceful bass line, samples from Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and GURU, the track manages to be a amalgamation of strutting West Coast hip-hop and stomping, menacing, old school East Coast hip-hop. But just as important, as I’ve relentlessly reminded readers of this site, real hip-hop, and not that prepackaged bullshit on your multinational conglomerate propaganda and advertising radio, is still out there if you’re willing to look for it.

Filmed and directed by Stephen Vanasco, the recently released video for “10,000 Hours” is a lush and cinematically shot black and white video in a number of gritty and underground Los Angeles sights before meeting with the legendary DJ Preemo.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Grieves’ Call to Celebrate and Live Life Urgently in Visuals for “A-Okay”

Benjamin Laub, best known in hip-hop circles as Grieves is a  Chicago, IL-born, Seattle, WA-based emcee, by way of New York, Colorado and San Diego, CA, who with the release of his first four full-length albums — 2007’s independently released album Irreversible, 2010’s Budo-produced 88 Keys & Counting, 2011’s Budo-produced Together/Apart, and 2014’s Winter & the Wolves — has managed to achieve critical and commercial success; in fact, 2011’s Together/Apart debuted at #112 on the Billboard Top 200, and 2014’s Winter & the Wolves debuted at #57 on the Billboard Top 200.

His Chords-produced fifth, full-length album Running Wild was released earlier this year through renowned indie hip-hop label Rhymesayers Entertainment, the label home of JOVM mainstay Atmosphere and others, and if you had been frequenting this site around then, you’d recall that album single “What It Dew” found the Seattle-based emcee focusing on succeeding against all odds, despite haters and naysayers over a swaggering and soulful production consisting of electric guitar, boom bap beats, brief bursts of organ and swirling electronics. But underneath the swaggering and slick production and witty punchlines is a honest devotion to pure hip hop — i.e., dope production and dope emcee paired together. 

Running Wild’s latest single “A-Okay” features yet another soulful production consisting of stuttering drum programming, twinkling organ, a sinuous bass line and warm blasts of guitar paired with an infectious hook but at its core is a call to celebrate and live life with  urgency and passion as the song finds the renowned Seattle-based emcee essentially saying “life is short, and sometimes we gotta turn this motherfucker out and cherish the small things”  because ultimately, life is about the small things: the smile of a potential lover at the club or at the bar, the drinks and bullshitting about music, life and art with friends, listening to your favorite song on your headphones or at your favorite bar, etc. And as a result, the song manages to feel appreciative, as its narrator recognizes how truly blessed they are to be alive and in the moment. 

Directed by Ryan “Pants” Gross,” the recently released video for “A-Okay explores a series of carefree and fun situations through the eyes of a stereotypically miserable Debbie Downer type. As the renowned emcee comments, “Life is way too short to be mad at other people’s enjoyment. Go out and live a little, rent a hot tub boat, get your butt touched, whatever…Just smile!”