While a lot of people were introduced to Locksmith last night at the BET Awards, I’ve been up on homie. He has dropped several really good projects since 2010 and one of the most honest tracks he’s put out comes from 2014’s A Thousand Cuts. “The Hardest Song” speaks for itself, just listen. A brutally honest and compelling song with an equally powerful video. Check it out and get familiar with Richmond, California’s resident emcee.
When creating a hip-hop song, a certain formula can often be followed in order to obtain a successful outcome. Head nodding beat, in this case provided by Joe On The Track…check. Recognizable sample, insert Cee-Lo Green from his Goodie Mob years…..check. Notable guest appearance, say hello again to Kamikaze from Mississippi’s pioneer hip-hop duo, Crooked Lettaz. Bars as it pertains to conditions that are identifiable with a wide audience, Baton Rouge’s Marcel P Black offers that in abundance, so……..check. What you get here is “My Mind”, the latest song to get the video treatment off Black’s Cry Freedom out now on Grand Union Media. The video was shot on location in Jackson, MS, which Marcel P Black considers one of his second homes. If you have not had a chance to check out Cry Freedom, click one of the links below and listen. I assure you that you will not be disappointed. Cop it and support someone who is out here speaking for his people. Also of note, the video was shot and edited by Theca Jones!
Click here: Marcel P Black – Cry Freedom
The Easy Truth is a collaborative album between Detroit producer Apollo Brown and Brooklynite rapper Skyzoo and is available now on Mello Music Group. “A Couple Dollars” is a laid back ode to getting paid and features fellow Brooklyn born emcee Joell Ortiz. There is no doubt that this album will be one of those timeless hip-hop releases, which seems to be what Mello Music Group is all about lately. Click one of the links below and cop the album.
iTunes http://tinyurl.com/hzxygm9
Bandcamp http://tinyurl.com/hmybojd
CD http://tinyurl.com/gm3hvwz
Vinyl http://tinyurl.com/hd7aanr
What’s going on today is nothing new, it’s just being better documented. Ant Banks took to talking about it on his debut album Sittin’ On Something Phat on Jive Records back in ’93. The track “Living The Life” tells the integrate details of day to day living in Bank’s East Oakland home. an accomplished producer, Anthony Banks would go on to rule the Bay Area with his unmistakable Oakland Funk sound for the 90s and into the 2000’s.
Enough said, talk among yourselves.
Detroit emcee Red Pill by way of Mello Music Group released a new LP on August 26th titled Instinctive Drowning. The title track is available in video form and depicts the rapper attending a party where nobody notices him. Meant to convey the feeling of depression you see Pill go from confusion, to anger, to rage, to loneliness, to helplessness within the time frame of the track. Turning to liquor to deal with the deafening silence. The song equally captures the frustration by trying to cope with being an alcoholic in order to deal with that deep depression. While acknowledging what may be the catalyst for the disease he recognizes he is stuck on what may be an inescapable road. Like all stories it could have had a happy ending but reality is rarely so kind. I don’t usually post lyrics to songs, but below is the second verse from the song. As someone who has struggled with both alcoholism and depression for a large portion of my life, the song hits close to home but offers a certain level of comfort. Click here to purchase the album
You think that I don’t see the warning signs?
Death by the bottle, I’m immortalized
On every corner there’s a trigger for me
A pink neon sign saying there’s liquor pouring
A pink neon sign just to remind me of it
A pink neon sign saying my time is coming
Just shy of the age when her liver failed
Most of my money is spent on liquor sales
And you can talk about the reasons
You can chalk it up to talkin’ to my demons
Maybe it’s something gone undiagnosed
Maybe I’m scared of suicide so I’m dying slow
Yeah, Mr Slow Suicide with this big f***ing heart and regret is in his eyes
It’s only medicine
It’s only something to make me feel better when my head is in a f***ing tail spin
And I hate myself
When I’m overwhelmed with life and I can’t save myself
Went from a little to a 5th a day
I just want to go back, how did it get this way?
I just want to go back, how did it get this way?
I’m not f***ing stupid I can’t live this way
And what would Cath do without me?
What would Dad do without me?
Look what I would leave behind
But I feel like I’m losing my mind
I’m a loser, I sing the blues I’m not doing too fine
The other night I had a dream, I’m in a car without a driver in the passenger seat
And right behind me was my mother and a child
And I smiled
She hadn’t come to see me in a while
The thing about dreams is nothing is odd
We were flying down the lodge, I was thinking about God
The mood started to change
Looked back and my mother slowly turned to remains
The baby was gone and I looked to my right
Out the window and they had taken the good in my life
And like a movie, a car pulled up next to me
Couldn’t tell who it was driving the hooptie
He pulled up ahead and pulled out a gun
I tried yelling but my words wouldn’t come
He points it at me, then I hear from the sky
I’m going to make you famous
I’m going to make you famous
I’m going to make you famous
I’m going to make you famous
I’m going to make you famous
I’m going to make you famous
And then came the “bang”
In celebration of Vince Staples releasing Prima Donna today, here is a look back one of of his most prolific videos from 2015’s Summertime ’06. Whoever is in charge of his videos should get a raise. Everything he has put out has been well thought out and put together visually. Run over to one of your streaming services and check out the new EP by clicking here
I would never just post a video because of a Sean Price verse……wait….yes I would. This isn’t one of those times though. Bruse Wane can hold his own and Chris Rivers reminds you what his lineage is like before the Bar-Barian drops by. DJ Eclipse cutting up sure does help too. All in all, a good joint from Wane’s recent release The Earl Manigault Of Rap.
The second of the previously mentioned McPick2 from Silas. FLAMES!! Yoga even!!
Hiero all day. New music from the veteran and capable emcee Pep Love is always welcome. “Prayful Hurt” is mellow track which matches up to his smooth delivery quite well. No word, but I hope this means we will get a new album from the Oakland based rapper.
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