Lately more than ever I’ve had to convince friends that rap like Mac Miller is not so good — it’s easier said than explained though. It’s not that all of this white boy rap isn’t fame worthy, it’s just some of it plain sucks while others simply lack the soul most a good amount of hip-hop has had in its past. However, even a smaller crowd has managed to pull it all off, which brings us to illphonics.
When I first heard illphonics’ emcee, Fallout, on ‘Your Body,’ I thought it was going to be just that white boy, college rap I try to stay away from. But soon enough I figured out that this has much more all mixed up. illphonics’ jam may have that pop style of hip-hop set in, but it’s mixed with some southern soul. From the chorus to the brass behind it, this is a good mix of pop fun and soul feelings.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/88616994" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]
I wasn’t quite up for another Tribe remix, I’ve just heard too many mediocre mixes, but Bit Funk provides one full flushed take. This ‘1nce Again’ remix turns up the tempo with a harsher kick that’s surely 2013 full & fresh.
edit: I dunno if I’m feelin’ that piano tempo. Little too harsh too.
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I’ve been sittin’ on Restoring Poetry in Music’s Kingdom of Fireflies for too long, so I thought I’d at least share a piece for now. The thing is, it’s not that easy for me to do a write up on a full album, it’s hard enough to do just a song. More importantly though, this is a band that’s so special to us. RPM’s second album, Pyramids in Moscow, was one of the main reasons this blog ever came about — it’s still one of our best finds!
So instead of halfassing a write up on Kingdom of Fireflies, I thought I’d just throw y’all a taste. ‘Catfish Blues’ is definitely the track that takes me back to what I originally loved most in RPM. Raw Poetic’s heavy flow always seems to flow smoothly on top these trip-tronic tracks.
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Been a long time fan of Raw Poetic – he’s one of the main reasons for this blog – but when I first heard ‘Stealin Bread,’ it sounded like a whole ‘nother man. Raw P’s been changing up his style lately and it may not compete with the nostalgia of his earlier tracks, but I can more than respect a musician trying to change things up, not enough do!
Way back in the days of RPM, I knew Raw P as one smooth ass rapper who glided over his band better than most singers.
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More recently though, he’s been experimenting with his sound in a more blues rock styled pace (still gliding well, though).
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His latest release, ‘Stealin Bread,’ however, shocked/confused the hell out of me because I could barely tell it was him at all. Maybe with time, age and everything that goes with it, his voice changed to a more raspy, aged rhyme… or maybe he’s just doing some more experimenting. Whatever it is, I don’t see enough change in most musicians that I see in Raw P and that right there is something to take notice to.
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And we’re back! Moved to San Fran, so I had to take a few days off (didn’t prepare ahead). We’ve got some interesting projects on the way, but until then we’ll be throwing out some soulful singles for ya – first up, an ode to graffiti.
We featured Piece of Mind about a month back with their ‘Rap Phenomenon‘ single and now we’ve got another of their latest. ‘Graffiti’ starts off with a sample of some old dude who doesn’t seem to understand graffiti… typical. Then we transition into G Roc Gayle’s raps about why graffiti is so important to our culture with a few short samples of The Pharcyde’s ‘Passing Me By.’
I like what G Roc does with his vocal cuts on the track, which ride along well with Dj Gedsi’s beat. Get a few more MC’s on here and this could shape up to be Toronto’s next big underground hip-hop collective.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/41960174" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18"]
Hip-Hop isn’t dead, it’s just not the most progressive genre anymore. It may not have slowed down, there are many instances of hip-hop’s progression nowadays, but electronic music is far surpassing it in experimentation and pushing the boundaries of music is (whether ya like it or not).
That said, hip-hop still has their classic sound to fall back on to and Piece of Mind does it just right. “Rap Phenomenon” sounds more like a 90’s style of rap, not relying on hard bass or House music to keep it fresh. And until hip-hop starts busting into the online scene, hopefully with the help of SoundCloud where music is progressing faster than ever, keeping with that old school viibe is fine with me.
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On Thursday, Del threw this up on Facebook, “Here’s the deal yall, help me hit 20K fans on here and I’ll release a new Deltron track. Tell a friend to tell a friend.” So he hit 20k Friday and released “Bioscientists” … though it may not technically be a Deltron track. Today, Del stated, “Just so everybody knows, Dan and Koala were not a part of that track. It was a Deltron solo joint I was fucking around with content wise and wanted to share with yall.”
Some are bitching, as always, about it not being produced by the two and, although, I can see where they’re coming from, Del was the original creator and “Bioscientists” still plays into the Deltron story. I will say that it was a bad move to promote it as Deltron without making it clear from the start that Kid Koala & Dan had nothing to with it.
[audio:Bioscientists.mp3|titles=Bioscientists]
I don’t think I’ve ever disliked a Raw Poetic track. This may not be surprising if you’re listening to “Streamline,” but I rarely ever like every song of someone’s. (knock on wood)
For “Streamline,” Damu & Raw P team up to dish out some fine jazz rap. Weren’t these two suppose to be working on something else… ah yea, that new Panacea album. Well, I don’t know if Damu’s in on that, but I can already tell this is going to be a very Raw Poetic year.
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PRJCTS’ “Eastside Wasteland” combines that jazzy soul with well dictated raps. This isn’t just some poet tryin to get his words across, but real verbal artistry in the works. Love the style these two are pushin, although the quality in production, whether intended or not, needs some polishing. Still, much better than the original.
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It’s good to hear from some of the hip-hop that got this blog goin. I got to know of Gabriel Teodros through his group, Abyssinian Creole, which created one of the most soulful hip-hop albums I’ve stuck with, Sexy Beast.
In his most recent solo work, Teodros teams up with Bean One for “Blossoms of Fire,” which is in reference to the 2000 documentary with the same name. The documentary covers a society in Mexico where women are empowered to create their own businesses. Check out the video which clearly gives homage to the movement and its greater potential impact on the world.
The full album, Colored People’s Time Machine, was released a few days ago, which I’ll be checking out.. soon as I find it.
[audio:Blossoms-Of-Fire.mp3|titles=Blossoms of Fire]