JID’s hit, Never, reminded me of Anderson .Paak, but the Atlanta-based rapper gets compared to Kendrick more often. His rap style may not be as pioneering as the two yet, but he has a finesse with words just as good.
With rap and other forms of rhetoric, I’ve always been less about what you say and more about how you say it. I have to know a rapper’s style intimately before I try to understand what they’re saying. I still may not be getting the knowledge in rap that I do in longer forms of written word – mostly audiobooks & podcasts – but wordplay like JID’s is just as inspiring.
There are two types of music people. Ones who care about the lyrics and ones who care about the sound. Ya, you can be for both, but you’re also for one. I’m about the sound. Even with rap, it’s not so much about what they say, but how they say it.
I was listening to a Del a few years back and in one of his tracks I always thought he was saying “phonetical finesse.” Turns out he wasn’t, but those two words since have summed up what I love so much about hip-hop: wordplay.
Rap Finesse is a special playlist because a lot of the artists on here (towards the bottom) are the reason I started caring about underground, independent, and locally-known music. There wouldn’t be a Silence Nogood without ’em.
I gotta give this to my girl. Not only did she push DUCKWRTH’s music on me, but also made sure I saw him at SXSW. I liked his song ‘I’m Dead’ at first, but after seeing him live I’m been obsessing over everything else.
I usually pride myself on pulling the best songs from an artist’s catalogue, but I pretty much like every damn song of his, especially off his latest album, I’M UUGLY. Back in 2014, DUCKWRTH’s music felt like a futuristic ominous acid trip – like Zion I, Illogic, or Deltron 3030 – but he’s expanded his sound since. DUCKWRTH’s even got a half funk, half punk song, and it works. Especially live with that style he’s rockin.
His live show and music is what’s going best for him right now, but all with the help of DUCKWRTH’s fashion style and graphic design work, which he does all of it. Makes for a much nicer package to promote.
Last year three MCs got me loving rap again. A-1 (Adam Raps) was first, and shortly after Anderson .Paak and Goldlink. I’ve highlighted the first two before, but Goldlink is doing as well now as he did back then, so I thought I’d highlight him now.
Fall in Love is my favorite of his and it’s only been out for a month. Rarely does a song live up to its hype when three great musicians get together on it, but Kaytranada & BadBadNotGood work well together with Goldlink’s style.
Hieroglyphics is a hip hop group out of Northern California. Each year they celebrate new hip hop talent with their own festival in Oakland on Labor Day. I got the chance to cover their show this year and even though there were over a dozen quality performers to see on each stage, I was there for one.
It took me over three hours to get to Hiero Day, public transit wasn’t doing so well. When I got there the temp had to be hitting on 90 and everyone was looking for shade to sit in. But I had to find Anderson .Paak. The main reason I was there.
I caught him right before his performance on the Third Eye stage. I ran up to him like a giddy fool and blathered about my love for his music. When I realized how foolish I was sounding, his manager assured me that they all felt the same way too. We talked a bit longer about other LA emcees, I actually told him the only other one that could compete with him was Doja Cat. He got a kick out of it.
His performance on stage had just as much character as his music, along with the short time I talked to him. The day was a highlight I’ll be holding on to at least until next Labor Day.
First it was Doja Cat from LA. Then A-1 from The Bay. Now we’re back down in Los Angeles for Anderson .Paak.
The LA based rapper has a slyer sound than Kendrick and gets together with producers that are just as good. They’re both very good. But I just can’t put to words how much feeling his music gives me when listening to it.
I was actually just listening to a Renman Live episode, I forget who the guest was, but he talks about how being able to describe why you love an artist & song is essential to A&R. Well, I suck at that, but my voice, not my words, express it better. Unfortunately this is a blog, so you wouldn’t know that.
There’s not a lot of rappers, let alone singers, that I connect with lyrically. Words are a whole other game in music and the sound is hard enough to connect universally, words are much harder.
A-1 is not only the person that’ll bring Bay Area hip hop into relevance yet again, but with lyrics and a character the bay should be proud of. He’s got plenty good producers, reminding me of Doja Cat and her Purrr EP lineup.
Like I’ve said with Doja and before, the biggest thing any talented vocalist has to worry about is the producers they line up with, and A-1 has stacked his bill so far.
Doja Cat wasn’t on our best of last year for the very same reason she will be this year. She’s always had a flow and a way with words, but now she’s teamed up with some legitimate producers to have it all.
[Musically]
I feel like Peter Rosenberg talking about Nicki Minaj, before their whole shit show, but Doja’s got the personality & style I haven’t seen in hip hop since I started this thing. I loved her original Nunchucks this time last year, but this new album has one that might top even that.
[Beautiful]
I don’t know why, but everything went electro over the years on here. I remember when Silence was nothing but hip-hop. Then I had that nagging bitch in the back of my head telling me to switch it up. Almost 5 years later and the emcee has faded away for a hot mess of other vocalists. But despite our lack of featuring it, we do find good hip-hop in the most random places.
Freddie Gibbs is someone maybe I should know, but I’ve had an odd path when it comes to hip-hop, and all music. The Cookin Soul pair, however, has been a favorite for some time. The two gentlemen made the top slot in our favorite Jay-Z mashups & remixes (or at least the top two).
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I miss hip hop. I can’t believe how little I’ve posted of it this year, but it’s not for a lack of listening. And actually more of a surplus in other soulful styles.
Electro music has stirred up disco, funk and R&B’s past. And as many of you may well be aware, I’m obsessed with the trio. Unfortunately, hip hop & electro haven’t blossomed together to what they will one day. In the meantime, leave it to the mashup & remix artists to bring back our attention to hip hop for a bit.
The Hood Internet has been mashing up my favorite hip hop artists for a while now, many good ones, and now they’ve introduced me to two more. Hood took Gunplay and Isaiah Toothtaker in Blue Sky Black Death’s ‘Frown’ and plopped ’em into Sasac’s funky ‘All Pleasure’ original. And as much as I love that funkyass beat on top, Blue Sky Black Death’s dark remix sets a mood just as well, albeit the opposite.
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