I'll never forget watching Menace II Society over and over as a kid. My parents would be asleep or working and I would just be crushing Menace and learning my lines, cadences, walks, talks, all of it. There was Harold from Menace who had the craziest swag when he was on camera... he taught me how to mean mug and how to just be a total g and not care about shit... Harold aka Saafir... you hip?
Read morePale Jay "Shameful Game"
pale jay is your new favorite artist.
Read moreFashawn x ProducerTrentTaylor "Tick Tock" (Featuring ICECOLDBISHOP)
this is a story about west coast underground hip hop. it entails an amazing journey and a happy ending (pause) for all involved... the rose that grew from concrete here is the new track called "tick tock"... it features producertrenttaylor on the beat and fashawn and icecoldbishop on the rhymes... crispy akiyama on the engineering... this song is crazy... tap in and then press rewind...
Read moreChris Crack "Tiny Jean Pocket Is For Your Spotify Money"
rappers today have a major challenge ahead of them... the attention span of listeners is shorter than ever so you need to go above and beyond to get seen... to get heard... to get remembered... chris crack out of chicago checks all of these boxes and i think he is one of the dopest out right now... if not up on mr. crack, here you go fam....
Read moreeligh + es.ce "modulation"
eligh been putting in work since the mid nineties with maybe the best flow you’ve never heard of. peep the story for some dope raps out of california and more background on eligh’s journey in rap… he has a new album dropping at the end of the month and if it’s anything like this track, we got a potential underground gem on our hands…
Read morefashawn "empty roads" featuring odessa kane and scarub
this is a top five song out right now. the beat is insane… like… trunk rattling and door rattling insane… and the emceeing is next level… this producertrenttaylor beat gives the emcees the eerie soundscape needed to commit murder without a trace on the track… yup… this is that crime scene type shit… rappers out here rapping over crazy production… fashawn… odessa kane…. scarub…. EMPTY ROADS…. hip hop.
Read moreScarub "Savvy Traveler"
savvy traveler might be the best song you never heard of. scarub’s flow over the od beat is wild. omid’s beat in itself is wild but scarub gets lost in the beat and comes out the other side dusting himself off. this is real hip hop.
Read moreBart Oatmeal x ICECOLDBISHOP "Politickin'"
I was lucky enough Baron Davis play in person when he played at UCLA in the late 90’s. Baron Davis and Nate Robinson represented greatness to me as they commanded respect on the court. Being a PG is not an easy task but Baron and Nate were court generals. Now Baron Davis is kicking down some doors and entering the rap game as Bart Oatmeal. In this article, I explore some of the best cover artwork in rap history which I feel is the easiest way to capture an audience.
Read moreohkaywhy "cave of wonders"
Yall falling asleep over there? Change up the beats in your headphones and let’s get some audio coffee for your ear drums… Stop trying to predict what drums are supposed to sound like on a track and let’s get a little experimental with the drum machines… machine have emotions too ya know?
Read moreLARRY JUNE "TANGIBLE ASSETS"
There’s never been another rapper cooler than Larry June. He’s out here sipping smoothies while hitting some numbers in the morning… Maybe he’ll take one of his BMX bikes out today after playing tennis with some techies in Mission Bay… It’s all organic work with Larry so grab your freshly squeezed orange juice and a matcha and let’s go get it players… Larry June szn.
Read moreGHOSTFACE KILLAH & KANYE WEST "NO FACE"
Ghost dropped a hell of a song with Kanye recently. Did you hear it? Have you listened to Ghostface Killah in the last 20 years? If you haven’t, well… you have a lot of music to listen to this weekend. Tony Starks is one of the best to ever grace the mic in any genre. With that plush robe like he’s Ric Flair’s younger brother? Fireeeeeeeeeeeeee
Read moreNugLife "FIND MY WAY" (FEAT. VIVA MESCAL and TRIZZ)
NugLife and DJ Quik have a lot of similarities to me. I know that’s a bold statement so just hear me out…
Read moreA$AP ROCKY "1 TRAIN"
We don’t need any more rap beef. We need rappers and producers to channel their creative energy to make beautiful music that captivates people. Hip hop is a form of therapy so bringing in this negative energy to the community is horrible. Bury the beef…. Start collaborating… Chase the lives you save with your rhymes instead of some bullshit likes.
Read moreSEAFOOD SAM "COWBOY LEATHER" (FEAT. PINK SIIFU)
Y’all still sleeping on Seafood Sam? The Long Beach, CA emcee just dropped his new project and it’s super dope. If you’re not hip to the west coast underground rapper, I got you covered. Peep the article and catch a little west coast wave this morning.
Read moreMAC MILLER "HERE WE GO"
I did it all without a Drake feature! Mac Miller is top 5 all time. I’m ready to argue with anybody about that too. He was taken from us too early but luckily we have easter eggs all over YouTube to track down. Good shit too… Here’s an ode to one of my favorite tracks from Mac along with some of the biggest collabs he had over the years.
Read moreSCHOOLBOY Q "COOTIES"
The new ScHoolboy Q track “Cooties” is a special one. Q is elevating his rap game to match his golf game and parenting game. It’s been cool watching Groovy Q grow up right before his eyes. His new album drops on Friday and the content he’s been dropping has been craaaaaaazy! Peep “Cooties” and catch the vibe.
Read moreJERU THE DAMAJA "YA PLAYIN' YASELF"
Something about that 90’s grimey NYC hip hop era has never left me. Groups like Wu-Tang Clan, Boot Camp Clik, Gang Starr, and Mobb Deep ruled my walkman back then. And emcees like Nas and Jeru kept me pressing that rewind button over and over again. Out of that grimey era, it was one emcee that I listened to more than the others. It was Jeru the Damaja and his work with DJ Premier on the beats… Classic era that I wanted to go back to for y’all….
Read moreE-40 "MR. FLAMBOYANT"
E-40 is one of the best rappers to ever bless the mic. He came up rapping in the late 80’s and developed his vocal inflections and off-the-beat sped up delivery on tracks like 1991’s, Mr. Flamboyant. E-40 is a legend out of the 90’s bay area rap scene and is still fresh on the mic today. If you happen to have $400 to spare, kick it over my way so I can finally pick up the cassette for “Mr. Flamboyant” on eBay. Here’s some more on a young Earl getting his start in the rap game.
Read moreJ DILLA "TIME: THE DONUT OF THE HEART"
Today would have been J Dilla’s 50th birthday. It also marks the 18th anniversary of his album, Donuts. Jay Dee is a legend whose legacy lives on even after he passed back in 2006. This article is a dedication to one of my favorite songs of his and one of my favorite albums of all time. RIP Dilla.
Read moreSAUCE WALKA "I'M HIM"
I just feel like 2024 is going to be Sauce Walka’s year. He’s been on quite the run here for a minute on tracks like “Dangerous Daringer”, “Sanchie’s P Maybach”, and now “I’m Him” which dropped recently. I don’t believe Sauce is signed to Griselda but his work with Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine have been nice. And his rapping over beats by Daringer? Sign me up for a full project with those two. I know I’m not the only one who would be feigning for that one.
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