When I saw that Kenny Parker had produced the latest KRS-One project, called The BDP Album, I figured I’d give it a shot. Turns out it’s actually pretty good! ‘Tote Gunz’ is a great example of Get Off My Lawn Rap, aka Gran Tarino Rap. It’s always a good sign when The Blastmasta sounds pissed off.
KRS-One - ‘Tote Gunz’
As an added bonus, Unkut Dot Com even gets a mention on the ‘Outro’ just after the two minute mark…
When I heard that there was a press day being held for the Marxmen to promote the new Sparta LP, I thought it might be a good oppertunity to have a slightly more rational conversation with Rap’s Greatest Duo than the last time we crossed paths. Good thing I didn’t bring up this story, huh? Turns out a bad phone line didn’t get things off to a great start….
Robbie: I feel like a lot of the aggression has been lost in rap in the last 10 years. There’s not enough music that make you want to break car windows. How do you keep that energy in the music?
Bill: Slap, can you hear him?
Fame: I can’t really hear him, mayne. What did he say?
Bill: He’s trying to say how do we keep the aggression in our music.
You might have caught Bronx native $amhill on the P BrothersThe Gas LP, the Counterstrike mixtape, or a few oldUnkutposts. If not, check out this new offering from his forthcoming EP, produced entirely by Preservation. Guess it’s time I transcribed the interview I did with $amhill in 2010…
This was a limited-edition vinyl release a month or so back, and now it’s appeared as a bonus cut on the new K-DefNight Shift LP in glorious CD quality. I’m guessing the parting shot at “all the sell-outs, all the people that wanna talk about flowers and meadows” is a PM Dawn diss. “Everybody that wanna front with their shirt off” is a bit more general though… Unless this was the same time that Young MC tried to comeback on some brolic shit?
This is almost enough to let me forget about 14 Shots To The Dome…
Back in 1994 K-Def was working on some beats out of the B Room in Marly Marl‘s House Of Hits when LL Cool J walked in on his session and said “let’s make some tracks together”. Uncle L had always wanted to rhyme on a track using the famous ESG breakbeat ‘UFO’, so he had Def lay it down with some scratches and then went to town with the mic. Both thought they had a sure fire hit on their hands but unfortunately it was never used. The DAT tape of the studio session was feared lost for several years before it eventually turned up stuck behind a radiator!
Torae drops his For The Record LP tomorrow, but here’s a pro tip – Marco Polo brought the best track to this project, which includes contributions from DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock and Diamond D to name a few. Looks like Canada finally won something.
You know how sometimes you wait for something for such a long time that you begin to doubt that it will ever happen? This record was almost like that, except for the fact it actually came out last Friday! Rather than unleash 14 tracks of Bitter Old Man Rap, which would be somewhat understandable coming from a 20-year veteran not named Nasty Nas, Trem has delivered a remarkably well-rounded testament to perfectionism and the humble art of mastering your craft. Equal parts fiercely traditional yet unmistakably modern, For The Term Of His Natural Life sticks to the classic rap album blueprint while never neglecting to refine and improves the timeless recipe. Nothing on here sounds eager to please or compromised – Trem simply climbs out of the dungeons of rap, plants the flag and dares the competition to try and step up to the challenge accomplishment. Witty wordplay scales the often treacherous peaks of the Brag Rap mountain, but don’t get it twisted and confuse this anything retro or throwback. (more…)
Four of the best and four of the worst New York rap albums ever. Let the complaining begin!
BEST:
Roc Marciano -Marcberg
The reason that Roc Marciano‘s solo debut was the best hip-hop release of 2010 is the simple fact that he ignored the plague of excessive guest appearances and all-star producers in order to deliver a focused, singular vision. Taking it back to the basics isn’t for the faint of heart, however. You can’t get over with brag raps and soul loops anymore. Where Marcberg wins is the raw cinematics it delivers, leaking paranoia and backroom deals through a haze of blunt smoke. Stream-of-consciousness verbal sprays so nonchalant you might not notice you just got murked until you hear the rattle of the shell casings spilling onto the concrete. Unorthodox beat construction that creeps up on you and puts you in a choke hold when you’re least expecting it – ‘Snow’ never loses it’s impact, no matter how many times you spin it back. Save your swag, this is Grown Man Rap at it’s most evolved. (more…)
Amongst the seemingly never-ending open bar events which consumed much of my time and liver capacity while in New York City last month, the highlight from a musical standpoint was spending the better part of an afternoon as a guest at the legendary Lord Finesse‘s home studio in the Bronx, thanks to the homey Chaze from the GRIM Team. ‘Ness blessed us with some of the music from his forthcoming project with O.C. called The Alumni, which you might recall was the title of the group that Finesse, O.C. and Large Pro were forming, but it turns out that the Live Guy With Glasses wasn’t a big fan of the name so it’s being used on this album instead. I was a little concerned when he mentioned that it was a combination of samples and live instruments, but as soon as the eerie beats leaked through the studio monitors it was clear that this was some serious next level D.I.T.C. material. He has a guy add bass, drums and keys to his samples and chops but it’s so tightly put together that it sounds like all samples…shit was crazy. (more…)
It was a big night for non-progressive rap fans in New York, with the first Mobb Deep show in over three years popping-off live and direct next to Times Square. Would Capone sneak in and attempt to hit Prodigy with a bar stool, Keith Murray style? Or would a live rendition of ‘Shook Ones’ lead to a number of drunken brawls in the crowd? The third, and most likely scenario of course, was that none of the above would happen and it would be a uneventful rap concert in the ‘New’ New York, where even the corniest white rap fan could dance around like a moron with no fear of getting smacked upside the head by a less happy-go-lucky audience member. (more…)
