DaVinci "The Day The Turf Stood Still"

At the end of the day heads want to hear banging beats and dope flows. Some care about content more than others. When you get all three you can’t help but smile. DaVinci is the latest emcee from the bay to attempt to break out the confines of his city and he carries himself with confidence and spits with ease, skills that won’t be taken lightly as his name begins to ring out in other parts of the country.



His project The Day The Turf Stood Still is a pretty dope collection of cuts that have very little in common with much of the output his peers deliver on a regular basis. The first thing to stand out are the thumping beats, far more boom bap than west coast cruising style. This is ok though as DaVinci has a message heavy enough for the deepest of drums. Hit him with your best.

He doesn’t rap fast, he stays in the cut and let’s his thoughts develop. His bars are deeper than they might at first sound, but listen close and his clear pronunciation will have you rewinding for days. He discusses the street life, nothing new to hiphop. Sometimes he does it with a hint of regret other times it’s more a sense of lessons learned from experience.

2010 saw a rise in what I viewed as intelligent gangsters. A number of emcees made a name for themselves walking the line between telling ignorant street tales about exploits and crimes commited in exchange for the demonstration of compelling feeling about the negatives to these actions.

DaVinci addresses gentrification in a manner I’m sure my college professors wouldn’t approve but will probably teach more than a few people how the concept affected them directly. “What You Finna Do” has DaVinci rapping in almost a whisper about D-Boys loosing work as a different class moves into the neighborhoods accustomed to serving. His observations are with merit and have to prompt questions.

He injects slivers of his life in all his tracks, “All I Have” shows him spend three minutes discussing the struggle of acquiring any kind of wealth. Expressing the pain of empty pockets is an expertly chopped sample shouting “All I have in my pocket.” Money is a reoccurring theme, lending credence to the notion it does make the world go round. “Ben” is an awesome song about the journey a dollar can take and what people will do to get it, how fast they can blow it.

At some point in time “gangsta” rap lost any significance and became a blanket term for rap tunes that had no conscious, no accountability, no knowledge. While you can still find more than enough of that, the introduction of artists who want to be gangsters to the system once again is a great addition to the landscape of hiphop in 2011. DaVinci is helping pave that path.

Bodega Man "The Jazz Album: Recession Thinking"

Everyone is talking about the economy these days. I hear about it at work where senior servers lament what sounds like it’s been a steady decline in business for the last few years. I hear about if from my mom who is a CPA. I hear it from cats we try to sell a CD too. Money is tight.

Bodega Man is a twenties something emcee from the same hood that raised Snoop Dogg three decades ago. Another find from the constant bandcamp digging The Jazz Album: Recession Thinking actually dropped in February but time has treated this album well.

The beats are handled by an unknown cat named A.T. who concocts his own brand of funky grooves. With Jazz in the title you have to be wondering if that is of any significance - it is! The beats carry with them a distinct feel, something that had to have come from hours listening to and chopping up old vinyls. Sometimes it’s loud horns, sometimes it’s a sprinkling of piano keys. Whatever it is, it’s always layered over some dusty drums.

While so many beatmakers are concerned with getting drum kits “used by Dre” or another famous producer A.T. shows off his originality not being stuck any one sound. He doesn’t bother himself with the heaviest of drums or the deepest of basslines, he works with what he has and breathes life into his tracks with a good ear for what sounds should be placed together more so than what sounds your average rap fan thinks must be in a beat.

This is Bodega Man’s album though and he doesn’t let you ignore the fact. He is a good emcee with a precise flow that can ride these beats swimmingly. His youth in the LBC, his central American heritage, his college education and his struggle to make a buck in this recession are all topics he speaks on intelligently and honestly.

A graduate of a California State college he addresses the intricacies of dealing with finical aid at an institution of higher learning as well his frustrations with the student loan systems in place - like so many people who crave an education and get knocked down by the bureaucracies in place Bodega Man captures an all to common struggle familiar to anyone who’s stepped foot on a college campus.

Work is also addressed here. Specifically the lack of power a dollar has any longer verses how hard one works to earn that buck. He isn’t breaking new ground, we all struggle with money and surviving off what we earn. Hip Hop has more often than not for the last many years been caught up in lavish extravagance which holds no weight here. Bodega Man isn’t balling out of control and throughout the album you get the sense he wouldn’t if he could.

The Jazz Album: Recession Thinking is a product of a time that America won’t be forgetting anytime soon. Bodega Man delivered a timely album fueled by problems not uncommon to many in these days and times. Over A.T.’s smooth and funky backdrops he tells stories and conveys a message of strength in the face of whatever is trying to keep you from shinning. Bodega Man didn’t allow it to restrict him from doing what he loves, what are you waiting to achieve?

Currensy "Fin..."

After the disaster of the last tape I was feeling a little nervous going into Currensy's final installment of his monthly mixtape series. Fin... doesn't follow in the footsteps of Fast Times, or any other for that matter. He once again pulls on many different style of beats, loosing the continuity of Super Tecmo Bowl, but still finding more focus on his best traits than the lack of focus he has proven can over take his mind.

Throughout the release of these tapes he always featured what he called "In & Out's" which are one verse songs he drops over industry beats. They are hard to judge because of their quickness and nine times out of ten they are over a dope beat no one is gonna be mad at someone going in on. For his final hooray he does more of these than ever before over some more aggressive tracks than he is familiar with. He rocks the Diplomats banger "I Really Mean It" to pay homage to his homie he has been doing these tapes for. He goes in on a classic LOX jam, and many others you should download it to hear.

On the intro he speaks about going through this process and how much music he has given out, he then says he went back and gave us some of his favorites. These selections are worked into the back end of the tape and while at first going into this I was a little annoyed by the choice, today waking up and hearing them I can't be mad at it. The older cuts he picks are pretty on point and I’m certain he was getting paid more attention around the release of Fin... than he was when Independence Day kicked it off.

Currensy says it and I think he knew it going in, this is the introduction for some, perhaps many, new fans of Spitta’s and he gives them a tape that is easily digestible. The majority of the new tracks don’t play for more than two minutes and the “best of” area is stacked with prime selections. If you have been digging any of these projects you won’t dislike this one but you may get bored with it quick. If you haven’t copped any and don’t think you need all of em this is your best introduction. Still can’t recommend Super Tecmo Bowl enough though.

Download Fin... here.

Currensy "Fast Times at Ridgemont Fly"

I suppose a good thing can’t last forever. I would of liked it to last a bit more than one tape though. After the rousing Super Tecmo Bowl that showed me a Currensy I’m familiar with he comes back a month later with Fast Times at Ridgemont Fly - the title and the fact that it’s the second to last had me holding high hopes even before I started this little mission of mine. Unfortunately I was wrong.

Gone almost completely are the smoothed out beats he appropriated on Tecmo Bowl, in their place are an assortment of more intense and at times grating beats. I remember being into “All About the Benjamin's” in middle school, but today the beat sounds terrible. I don’t even know what Spitta was talking about there.

I’m going to take a leap and say that the amount of ladies Currensy was getting with over the course of 2008 went up as his productivity did. Fast Times at Ridgemont Fly is full of songs about random ladies. Meeting them in the club, kicking it at the crib playing video games, girls rolling up planes, and more adventures with the opposite sex dominate the air time here. On a song like “Navigation Pimpin” you can’t be too mad at it but they don’t maintain this level.

As the tape progresses I loose interest. I’m baffled by how this project is letting me down like none of the previous one’s (except for maybe the early two) have. Currensy seems to be a bit distracted, seeing his clever self gone with a stiff unlikeable emcee in his place just reciting run of the mill bars about non sense. If you are gonna rap about this subject matter you gotta make it exciting and not come off as a lame. Here he fails on both counts.

Completest eat your heart out, download here.

Currensy "Super Tecmo Bowl"

Currensy has finally got a tape in his canon I won’t look down on. Fear and Loathing in New Orleans got pretty close, but Super Tecmo Bowl sees the Hot Spitta finding both his voice and the right style of beat for him.

Throughout the bars he spits here there is a confidence I’ve not heard on any of the previous projects. He touched it on Life at 30,000 Feet but his youth and the Cash Money influence are heavy burdens on his earlier tape. Here he is on top of the world. He attacks tracks with a passion. He is five tapes into the monthly mixtape series and it’s starting to pay off, he has captured the attention of the bloggeratti and was probably seeing some doors open via his own work. That has to be an invigorating feeling, this feeling is expressed through his flow.

His rhymes cover a lot. He’s got a lot on his mind. Weed is starting to be talked about more, girls are front and center often, he boasts on one song that he has no game chicks just know his story. His fashion sense is on display as well. While anyone can talk about these things, Currensy delivers his talk in quite clever rhymes that humanize what it is he is talking about.

He isn’t totally caught up in the material world however and on a song like “I Did It Myself” he bounces back and forth between his fly talk and some serious introspection about his career path and the work he has done. This is a reoccurring theme throughout Super Tecmo Bowl, addressed in different scenarios He talks about the blogs, the series, his homies he intends to put on - perhaps this doesn’t sound interesting when read about but the way he rolls all of these things together he shows his fans his life through his rhymes. His life just happens to revolve around his music and clothes.

He talks to the haters on “Top Shelf” and gets as close to his old gangster threats since before the series began with the line about his homies not responding kindly to disparaging remarks and points out while that’s not really his steez, it’s how it’ll go down so just keep them thoughts to your self. He gives us a weed song in “Blaze Something” certain to piss off any club promoter, owner or security staff as the hook incites anyone with chronic in the club to light it up.

A big part of this tapes playing as a whole are the beats he selected. Most I recognize, few I’m able to place which is driving me crazy but you can’t know all. The common theme with most is their more musical than much of what we’ve seen in the past. Many of these feature horns, what sound like live drums or at least live played via the producers machine of choice. While not exactly what Ski is on with his current Karate School sensei’s they mesh well with Currensy’s voice.

Maybe it’s the weed, maybe it’s the success, maybe it’s the good times he is having living life with his crew recording raps, playing video games and going shopping - whatever it is that makes Currensy happy was going on in his life while making this record and he gave that back to his fans.

Download it here.

Currensy "Fear & Loathing in New Orleans"

With tape number four in “Spitta’s Monthly Mixtape Takeover” (his name, not mine) he shouts out his home and a classic book about a wild drug fueled journey. I’m sure Fear & Loathing in New Orleans was fueled by as much chronic smoke as any other tape Currensy has released, but he isn’t one to rep for much else - he even goes so far as to say on the intro he doesn’t “pour anything up.” Regardless of what ingests, he has delivered a pretty good project this time around, maybe the first of his tapes I could see myself going back to as a whole project.

He introduces the tape over Kool & The Gang’s “Summer Madness” before jumping into the title track sounding great over a smooth jazzy beat that I swear I’ve heard before but can’t place. He is talking about his home here, he talks about the hood, friends passed, and his first rap that was “full of bullshit and lies” about doing dirt. I can dig this.

The tape kinda falters for a sec after with a couple ho hum joints. “Murda” comes and goes with Spitta talking about how he can take out anyone with his bars while “Movie Writers, Bussiness Men & Gangstas” features a terrible beat with no life for Currensy and Mr. Marcelo to talk about nonsense, and some contrived connection between the three. Well I guess their could be, but they don’t capture it in the slightest.

He and Roddy take “We Major” into “Sky Barz” talking about their typcial Fly Society type shit about just how fly they get and over a Neptunes industry beat he talks about “World Class Bitches” who love him. He sounds good over the Neptunes baby making tune, and he keeps it light and funny throughout, he just wants to get highed up with the fly ass chick who snuck the planes into the club.

Many of the tracks on this tape only feature a verse and a hook. This isn’t a knock against the tape, one of the flaws in the previous ones relates to how they could drag on. That being said, it’s an easier task to write a hot 16 over a hot beat, coming with a complete idea is a whole different task. Of course he has proven today he has no problem being creative, if anything these days the guy is being too inspired... nah, no such thing.

“Lost In Transit” is one of the best Currensy song I’ve heard in my going through the discography. Over an awesomely spacey beat that features very mellow drums just playing in the background, whoever played the synths on this tack wins big in my book, I want more! Currensy gives us some high talk about rappers being parents to kids who’s biological don’t bother, education getting you killed, and of course he has a couple lines about how dope he is.

He raps about being new age technology, tell dudes how to get on in this new Internet driven rap biz. He rocks over Ski’s Camp Lo classic, continually demonstrating the chemistry they have goes deeper than just knowing Dame. He pulls on Ced Hughes for an awesome track in “Calm Down” and reminds me why I interviewed dude, why I hate that I don’t have the audio any longer, and just how dope he is. He has a much more precise flow next to Spitta, but they compliment each other here awesomely well.

Fear & Loathing in New Orleans has some gems. Like most mixtapes it’s not flawless, that’s ok. Like all of these proects it’s free and it’s another notch in Currensy’s belt. He wasn’t dropping these tapes to make people believe he was the dopest on the mic but to prove that he could rap and you should listen to him. What he lacks in lyrical dexterity he makes up for with charisma and a knowledge of rap that only the biggest of heads would put on display. He rocks “Intergalactic” like it was his own. Enough said.

Download the tape here.

Leonard Dstroy "Higher Vibrations"

While FlyLo and his Brainfeeder collective have firmly established LA as the hub of life around the ever growing “beat” scene their influence has escaped and begun to seep into the ears of creators all over the world. This weeks bandcamp excursion brought me to Leonard Dstroy from Kansas City.

I don’t know much about KC, but I wouldn’t of expected something like this cooked up in the town’s city limits. Dstroy uses a wide array of synths, bleeps, bloops, and crazy mechanical like roars. Often times he is incredibly melodic with his construction of rhythms merged with the synthesizer noises.

Leonard has a knack for delivering really hard drums on his tracks. He doesn’t go for an up tempo mood too often, he likes to keep things more cerebral. On a track like “Mojave” he let’s the beat build, then where a hook would go if it were a typical song sees several elements of sound added, I can’t even begin to explain the levels to which he is layering things, you will hear new aspects to things upon every listen.

The album is full of this. He is not at all shy when it comes to chopping up and tweaking things. He’ll have a vocal sample play, slow it down all the way into a grinding clicking noise, but at the same time be having the volume of it reduced all the while he’s brought in some keys, some atmospheric effects, and flipped the drums up. He doesn’t fail at keeping the listener intrigued.

His track evolution is awesome. Instrumentalists can far to often fall into the trap of just making beats that have no depth to them. Dstroy isn’t making beats in the traditional sense. Many of these tracks wouldn’t suite an emcee, and the emcee that does decide to rock some of these deserves all the attention he can get.

A few vocalists do join the party. Reggie B belts out some excellent lines on “Trying to Find My Way” over an off kilter drum beat. He harmonizes with himself and has a beautiful voice. It sounds like Dstroy added some effects to B’s voice as well, which helps it in the mix feel like part of the beat rather than just someone doing their own thing over it.

“Higher Frequency” sees Brother of Moses make an appearance. The track is toned down on bleeps and blips for Moses to spit bars. He doesn’t stand out how I’d prefer to hear a rapper on a beat but if you take the time to listen to him, you won’t be disappointed. The beat is bubbly, with a happy vibe behind it, you’ll be smiling while you listen no doubt.

Higher Vibrations put me in a mood every time I listened to it. It’s not dark or grimy, it’s something else. While Leonard Dstroy may have been inspired by some peers with longer track records he owns his music here demonstrating that his style is all his own. The record is something to be heard as an album. Individual songs here are cool, but I’m not inclined to go to anyone individually. I just want to put this on at the front and let it ride.

Currensy "Higher Than 30,000 Feet"

Tape two in Currensy’s 2008 monthly mixtape series was done in two days in the LBC section of Los Angeles. Some of the project holds a laid back west coast vibe, but thanks in large part to Spitta’s choice of beats Higher Than 30,000 Feet plays like a vintage east coast project. He even comes off on a couple of these tracks like he was raised around the block from where the track might have been made.

Currensy’s fluidity on the mic is something I’ve heard discussed about the kid before. While he hails from New Orleans, and certainly possess a southern drawl, when he raps he can fit any style. If you’ve been following the tapes so far you’ve already heard “Hear It & Fear It” over the Roots jam “The Next Movement.” I can’t dig on his reusing of a song, but he dispatches the beat with ease telling us a story about a dog Katrina claimed.

Elsewhere he hops on “Hate Me Now” and “Shook Ones.” He sounds good on the later, flows like Hav and P were right there with him. His remake of the former is lackluster to say the least. He spends too much of this tape caught up in the material ideas that flooded rap in the late 90s, I don’t care if your crew is called Fly Society.

His new team’s ideals permeate the entire tape. Lots of talk about cars, girls, fly gear and the planes. He raps on “Grindin” and it’s one of the few times when you actually miss the original emcees. While he can’t work with the Neptunes minimal sounds, he handles “Feelin It” like a pro and should Jay hear it, if he hates that’s all it is.

Throughout all these projects Mr. Marcello has remained a presence. Today he is no where to be found, but at one point this was Spitta’s go to guy I think. He raps decent enough, on “Do What It Do” his deep voice sounds perfectly grimey for the bouncy beat. He also gets his own bonus track at the end of the project, dropping a 16 that’s forgettable.

Being out West for the recording of the project, how could he not link with his West coast counterpart to the Jets, aptly named F.S. West. Ha. Sometimes rappers lack any originality what so ever. These guys sound like hangers on and whats worse when Currensy joins the posse cuts he only stands out for his voice.

The Hot Spitta has gone up and down throughout the five tapes I’ve reviewed so far. At his best he can convey a genuine, stoned out, skater kid that spits raps about his life and how fly he is. At his worst he sounds like an arrogant fool who happens to have some flow and nothing to say. Higher than 30,000 Feet is more of the later unfortunately.

Download the tape here.

What's all the hype about, who is J. Cole?

That's who J. Cole is. If you didn't watch it, you should. I haven't been sold on dude, still not but he is slightly captivating and I'm intrigued. He's coming to town on the 23rd to rock Neumos. While it's his first headlining appearance in town, he was here last October with his boss - Jay-Z.

I didn't catch that set, my roommate at the time did and wasn't impressed. He was the one who told me to listen to The Warm Up but I never did. Until this past week. Today I went back to it again while writing something about him for a friend. He has an interesting story that is unlike many of his peers.

He graduated college in 2007 and quickly put together his first tape. This cat isn't only a college grad, he finished magna cum laude. Since then he has become the first artist signed with Jigga's new Roc Nation label and released one more mixtape, with another scheduled to drop in a couple days although the hype has been minimal and his album has already seen delays.



Regardless of what's happening with his projects, what is out shows an emcee that's talented and smart. He obviously isn't just a book smart kid, and his rhymes reflect both sides of his education. He makes beats and pulls on heavy drums and dusty samples like so many NYC legends, his samples and overall vibe of his music can't escape his heritage in the south however and you hear southern soul seeping out of many of his cuts. He owns the industry beats he takes as well. I guess I do like J. Cole.

Download the Warm Up here.

Listening this morning and learning a bit more about him has made me a bit more a fan, I'm still curious as to where exactly he is going and I'm not convinced he is always really talking about anything. Critiques with answers in time. Right now I'm gonna let "Last Call" replay once again. Check out his tapes and catch him at Neumos on the 23rd.

One Time @ Bandcamp With... Crispus McFly

Alright, by now y'all should know the deal. On Monday I wrote about Crispus McFly's EP The Wake Up! and now it's time for the conversation with the man. If you still haven't given him a listen, check out this new track he gave us for the interview, it's called "Flavius Valerius."



First up who are you? Where do you live? How old are you? How long have you been making tunes? What are you working with?
I go by Crispus McFly. I'm a 26 y.o. beatmaker in Boston, and I've been makin beats for about 3 years.

Samples sound present in your music, are you a digger/vinyl collector?
Yeah, I dig records.

What music did you grow up on? Who are you listening to today?
I grew up listening to a lot of Moments, Little Sister, Breakwater, mainly Funk, R&B and Jazz with some Gang Starr. I still listen to it and Dilla, Jeru the Damaja, etc.

Do you have a musical background? Play instruments?
I used to play the drums, but stopped after my first year.

What's your day job?
I work in a record shop, buying and selling records.

What kind of downloads are you seeing off the bandcamp? Are you doing this for fun or is it something you are trying to make a career out of?
I make beats for fun, but if it leads to profit, I'm down for that too.

Are you interested in getting vocalists on your tracks? If so, singers rappers? both?
I'd be nice to work with some artists, but I'm good right now on my own.

Do you DJ or perform you tunes out in some capacity?
Naw, I haven't really done any of that yet.

How did you find Choclate Chuck's Goodnight EP? What made you want to reinterpret it? Has he heard your take?
I found Chuck on myspace. We talked through some emails and he liked my beats. So, we did remixes of eachother's EPs. It was good times.

What are you working on today?
Just beats and my job.

Favorite pizza?
Pepperoni

Favorite drink?
Beer.

Favorite book?
Reason: The Manual

Wizdom "The Washington Wizard"

I've never been too hip to Wizdom, what I'd heard was never anything that captured me. Swerve has always repped for dude and with the release of their tape The Washington Wizard I decided to sit down and really pay attention. It's good. He can be funny, he's always honest and he flows next to some of the towns best throughout the project. Download it here!

Starlito Loves You

In March I got hip to a guy named Starlito aka All Star, I wrote about his then new tape at the time - read it here. Renaissance Gangster will not be forgotten anytime soon, it's certain to be on my top 10 list for the year. But right now I'm here to drop another tape on you from the man. If you have been able to lay off the Peanut Butter crack or it wasn't your cup of tea here's a nice alternative. It too can prove to be good atmospherics for your weekend, if your days off consist of smoking the finest of ganja's and rolling it in tobacco leaves. Haha. I'm just playing, Startlito is much more accessible than that!

Hailing from Nashville, this one time Cash Money signee raps with a distinct southern drawl spitting slow and precise. He is very clever, often making me laugh. Just as often he provokes some deep thought. He disguises intelligence under a veil of gangster swagger. This isn't to say he hasn't been influenced by his surroundings. On the contrary it seems that he is taking the Nas route a step further having participated in some things and now advising those like him how to avoid the trap.

I was gonna write some more, but it's Star's music I'm trying to convince you on. I let him tell you how it is:

I'm a bad muthafucka by design
And by the dollar sign I will go Columbine
I apologize no cause I'm not a mime
A lot of times my rhymes make me seem out my mind
I gotta get out and get it that's right I gotta grind
Gotta problem with you must don't got a problem damn
I'm such a gangsta that I don't do dirt in front of people
So like my bitch when your alone I might just come to see you
I fill my tank with unleaded and my lungs with diesel
Eleven times out of ten I'm doin something illegal
Wake up to breakfast and a blunt and for lunch that's equal
I follow Kingdom Come I used to bump the prelude
Niggas beats is bangin but their lyrics still don't do it
Stuck on stupid we're stuck on singing
Is that artistic or audio autism what world do yall live in
The music I vibe to isn't all rhythm
Isn't it all sing and dance
I'm sorry children
Yall keep buying into it yall trippin
I got so cold from being left in the cold i'm frostbitten
Luckily I ball space jam Jordans like I'm takin some time off pippen
Pissing you off faster than a over active bladder
I'm just a hustler turned over active rapper
We decided to say fuck you when you thought you mattered
So I went back to pitchin 8 balls like I walked two batters
I caught you thought this all for rappers
Recycling my shit in such awkward patterns
please stop it... I beg of you...
you know you get kicked out of school for plagarism

Yeah. He makes it sound effortless. Download the damn tape, Live From the Back of the Class!

GOOD Fridays?

Kanye West stays on peoples minds. He has certainly made himself the biggest pop star our era has seen. Hated and loved. Recently he started dropping free songs every Friday. All but one have been collaborations, most posse cuts with a wide assortment of talent. He said (via twitter) he was punishing us for leaks from his album and not delivering a new song today, then early today he got back on the social networking site saying he was trying to get one together.

While the songs vary in quality, and repeat listening isn’t really a must for any of them they show a person of Kanye’s stature doing something you expect to see from a young up and comer. Not a multi platinum world superstar. To me the good Friday leaks show us a side to Kanye that the haters should eat up. He is putting himself out there, this music is vulnerable. It’s raw, straight out the lab. Not the glossy, hand wrapped productions we receive when he delivers an album. He has four engineers working on the new record, I don’t think any but maybe “Power” here has seen that kind of attention.

Whether we get another good Friday today, or next week, or we just don’t we have 7 songs that there is no reason we should have. Hard drive obscurity is almost certainly where most of these were destined to end up, so take the free music, and let the man do his thing so he can be sensitive about a completed project.

Download the good Friday jams here.

Luck One & Dekk "Beautiful Music"

Early last year a little known emcee from Portland Oregon emerged onto the blog circuit with an EP titled Beautiful Music. Produced entirely by Dekk the seven tracks found within show you who this young man is over stellar instrumentals that evolve as they play out - a trademark of any beat Luck selects.

While he is a self admitted beat freak he is also a very serious lyricist who refuses to waste even one breath. Having seen more than many of us will in a lifetime Luck One left prison after 5 years with a passion to move forward in a positive direction with his life and music. Don’t come into this project expecting tales from hood corners and Oz like memoirs, Beautiful Music is more reminiscent of that philosophy course students across the nation are sitting down in this month.

Opening with the awesomely bombastic “80s Back” celebrating the maturation of those of us who were born in the decade. Luck makes sure to shout out all the trends people have to look back on in confusion, and at the same time gets you hyped up and ready for more. The first time I saw dude live his set was opened with this cut and it provided him the opportunity to capture the crowds energy - we were locked on him for the duration of his set.

Illmaculate has made a name for himself nationally as an incredibly talented battle rapper. In Portland everyone knows his success, but it’s tempered by the fact that he is out their trying to prove himself as a well rounded emcee. Even though Luck was defeated by a 15 year old Illmaculate years ago, today they are peers and two of the more lyrically talented individuals from the 503. “Back At Long Last” and “Road To Destiny” are both more serious tracks towards the end of the EP, the former giving both emcees room to blow of frustrations and the later being the flip side of that coin as they show optimism and hope for their dreams to be reached.

Undoubtedly some have and always will hate. If you are gonna make a complaint about Luck One I would guess it relates to his vocabulary and the use of words some may not know. If that is the case for you good for Luck teaching you something and good for you for allowing what is viewed as entertainment to be more. Big words may be present in his bars but you can’t elevate anything listening to Wiz Khalifa all the time.

Content can be lost in exchange for any number of things in this biz, Luck One doesn’t compromise anything for his art. He makes music with a message that shouldn’t be forgotten. Thanks to the production by Dekk cats won’t be able to stop nodding their head to it and in the process Lucks words will flow into your mind. Whatever that opens you up to, it’s bound to be positive. How many rap albums today convey pure hope?

Download Beautiful Music here! And be watching here or any of your other favorite Hip Hop blogs for Luck's new EP True Theory Outtakes coming next week!

Avatar Young Blaze "Russian Revolution"

Seattle artists don’t hustle. We got some cats that work hard, rock shows, kill it and stay promoting themselves but you don’t see dudes in the lab dropping multiple projects a year. Not even tracks daily. Not to say the scene isn’t fruitful. Avatar Young Blaze has taken a page out of the book of trappers turned rappers and stayed making music at a higher volume than anyone else in his town.

With his latest project Russian Revolution hitting twitter earlier this week I’ve been sitting with it pretty much on repeat trying to get a feel for where the young man is taking us. Having listened to a couple other projects, watched the videos and talked with him in the last month I feel like I’ve started to see behind the mask.

To be honest this tape shows more depth than anything else he has done to date. Sure he still has the street shit. He rocks “BMF” and does a pretty good job with it, I’d love to hear what some national critics think of his rendition. He seems to take the same route talking in code about a bunch of shit most of us probably aren’t privy too. But his flow is rocks and you can’t deny his presence.

Elsewhere we see him do the weed song over some beautiful piano and guitar chords that certainly have you forgetting about that “Zone Out” video. “Wishing On A Dream” features Isabella Du Graf doing her thing over a beautiful beat with knocking drums, some ill strings and horns - a composition perfect for Av to talk about life of today and tomorrow.

At times in the past I have thought Avatar’s voice and flow were a bit awkward, gone is any of the clunkyness to his spit here. He is 100 percent on point throughout the tape, carrying it pretty much all by himself with only his homie Ackrite the Butcher and Eighty4 Fly making guest verse appearances. Ackrite and Avatar work really well together, we’ve already heard their chemistry and I’m anxious to hear a full project from the Butcher.

“Extraterrestrial” is another turn for Young Blaze, featuring a spacey beat with sparkling synths it sounds much more up the alley of it’s guest Eighty4 Fly. They do their thing, and I guess I’m gonna have to stop doubting Fly, he always holds his own.

The production throughout this tape is great. I don’t have an actual list of creidts but he shouts out Jake One on “The Quattroporte” and it sounds pretty trademark White Van Music with awesome drums, a hard bassline, and that crispness Seattle needs to be known for. Elsewhere Avatar selects records to suit his needs. He gets the synthed out club records, the hard gangsta shit and he even takes it back flipping the 808 for “Posse on Jackson.” It’s a bold move that no one should be mad at.

Listening to Russian Revolution you shouldn’t find much to be mad at. While Avatar projects of the past have shown us a young kid from the streets ready to spit venom at those just like he was still out on the block scoping a chain to snatch, this one shows a more mature Avatar. He is rounding himself out. And it makes for a listening experience that does not tire.

Download Russian Revolution here!

The Paxtons "The Manhattan Project"

If you are unfamiliar with Bandcamp I suggest you investigate. Having spent the better part of this year finding album after album for free on the site, it’s been a beneficial find to say the least. Most of the artists you discover there are unsigned, young and experimenting with new marketing ideas for an industry in disarray. Today a new feature is being launched here at the MO HQ - One Time At Bandcamp... will see an album found on the site reviewed on Monday and an interview with the artist will run on Friday.

Allow me to introduce the Paxtons, the duo of Chris & Dave. They rap and produce, hail from the city of wind and call NY home today. After delivering an entirely self produced album inspired by the film Clerks titled Work they took some time off, moved and are now back with The Manhattan Project - I never heard the first tape but from the description on their site I think it might be more up my alley.

TMP is lively. Almost all the beats will get you moving. Half of it’s self produced and the other half comes from an array of sources. They select the stellar Dam Funk beat “Hood Pass” to rock over trading bars for the duration of the song demonstrating their excellent chemistry, both possessing glorious flows that they utilize to talk about traveling the country, smoking good trees, and having a good time with life.

Their ability to rock beats is the most captivating aspect to their music. Coming in on the opening cut “Ceasar” rocking loud and raw, you feel an energy and passion behind what they are doing. “Ballin” is a bouncing beat with off kilter drums and siren like sounds keeping your mind moving. But instead of wasting their breath talking like every other emcee on a track with the name such as this they kick some thought provoking content that might make you question where and why you are spending your cash.

The Paxtons try alot here. Their aim was large and in some ways they really did create an album that suits the name. The one sheet for this record claims they were aiming for the duel meaning connecting to both their move and the WWII experiments of the same name attempting to build the first atomic bomb, implying they are here to blow up the game I suppose. This record is certainly bombastic.

Content and their interplay puts them above a lot of those competing for the same things in this new music biz. When I started listening to this record I kept feeling as though it lacked something, as I played it through time and time again I picked up new tidbits on every track. A bar here, an sample flip there, the dynamic of them coming in off each other and carrying the baton like champions do. The music here isn’t your cookie cutter, mass manufactured tunes - this is music made with a mission to elevate.

Mash Hall "Sleeping With A Ghost" (10.4 Rog Remix)

mash hall - sleeping with a ghost (10.4 rog dodge phantom) by 104rog

Rog has been making his name known off some stellar remixes. Be on the watch for a collaborative project with him and The Good Sin. This right here is something I woke up to from the guy. Flipping the album closer "Sleeping with a Ghost" into an awesome, spaced out synth trip.

My version of the haunting coda to local group Mash Hall's They La Soul album. Many thanks to DJ Bles One for throwing me the vocals to allow me the opportunity.

This song features Janae Jones prominently, and we're all better for it!!

Andre Benjamin Is...

What more can really be said about Andre Benjamin? Everyone has sung his praise the man he is one of the best and still relevant emcees and he hasn't dropped an album in four years. But every track that has come has been ridiculous.

So while his slick talking, pimp walking partner gets his much deserved shine I'm just gonna slide this little gem into the mix.

Produced by DJ Ideal (the website included in the comments is no longer active and I can't find any info on DJideal.com to make me think it's the same person? Someone solve this mystery!) this 42 track mixtape features a laundry list of classic Outkast jawns from their entire discography along with mixed in snippets of interviews Andre has conducted, giving you a peak into the man just a little more.

On top of the awesome mix here you also get these dope pictures produced I'm assuming for the album. By whom I once again can't confirm.

Download the mixtape and images here!

Lace Cadence "Launchpad"

In the past Seattle has been notorious for motherfuckers who don't posse up. You look at Atlanta or all these other places where if you are from here I'm fucking with you period. That's not the case here but it's becoming the case here. You are seeing hella other artists at other artists shows, that didn’t used to happen."
-Lace Cadence. March 2, 2010

Cats are gonna hate and say people are riding for this cause it’s from the town. They are right. And it doesn’t matter. I’m not listening to anything that sounds like Launchpad right now and probably won’t be picking up anything in it’s vein after rocking the tape, but hey someone from my town makes something like this and it sounds dope? Why the hell wouldn’t I bump it.

Musically it’s pop R&B to me. I’m not hip to the genre today but it reminds me of Marques Houston, Omarion, The Dream, etc. The beats are all synths and lush keys, thumping drums and heavy bass lines. Vocally Lace occupies a space in between what’s been his method of delivery, rapping, and displaying a voice that has always been hinted at on his records but never fully flushed out.

On a track like “Moonlight” he really shows us his range and makes me believe that he can really sing. Content wise he is talking about love and relationships. A lot of different thoughts are expressed. Sex is often times the goal and I can just see the girls eating up a song like “Wet,” each and every one of them thinking they are being privately serenaded as they listen.

Lace is a hip hop head at the end of the day and he makes sure to give us them head nodding jams and I challenge even the hardest of your crew to not smile and nod his head to something here. It’s relate-able, it’s fun, it’s pop! And it was made in the Central District - watch for part two of my conversation.

The only guest on the project is Eighty4Fly and he might be the perfect rapper to be paired with Lace here. Fly is a rapper that is aiming to please a market larger than Seattle and that’s what Launchpad will hopefully do for Lace. KUBE DJ’s Hyphen and Mayor John Moore hosting and B-Mello mixing it are big endorsements that few in the town get.

Lace Cadence has recorded underground rap in Macklemore’s parents house and sat in the lab with DJ Quik. He’s made albums filled with talent that has never been heard. He’s made music his life and never looked back. Now he is on his “grown man shit” both musically and on the business front. Download the Launchpad and have some fun before summer is completely gone and everyone is dancing to these tunes inside the warm club.