EVERLIVEN SOUND-Freedom II

Posted on August 26th, 2010 by ekko

Cymarshall Law and Skip Slam are a true rap duo: Everliven perform together, in collaboration, building off of each other and both speaking to the same message.  This isn’t a corporate marriage–these are two artists who feel the same ways and play music that is true to their hearts.  And the production–by Sweden’s Beatnikz–are perfect: A mix of drum-machine beats, scratches and samples that feels old school and new jack at the same time.  I heard BDP quite a few times, which is a pretty traditional choice for a sample, but there were plenty other drops and cuts that sound familiar but I can’t name them.  That’s part of the fun of hip hop.

“Get Up Stand Up (Survivalist)” is the lead track, and while it doesn’t sample from the Bob Marley song, it definitely has the same revolutionary rage.  It’s a great bouncing club track, and as such, it’s the perfect way to introduce an album that is a lot more thoughtful than most rap albums these days.  It eases you in.  The album builds from there on a theme of a lost America–one that needs to change to meet the needs of today’s underclass.  “Life is like a prepaid phone/I need minutes,” they say on “Can You Relate,” a great example of an intelligent and politically aware rap song.  It’s not unusual to hear shout outs for Obama in hip hop, but, frankly (and at the risk of offending) that’s more about the symbolic victory and hope than substance.  But Everliven Sound wants to see what Obama can fix–almost daring him to fix the future for America (“Can you relate?  I need a new job.  Can you relate?  These bills keep coming.”)  Conscious rappers are always being compared to Talib and Mos Def, but I have to say: I liked this album a lot more than anything either of them ever produced.

There are some guest shots here, but so many that it gets distracting. C Rayz Walz takes a few verses, along with appearances by El Da Sensei and Hakim Greene.  Yet all the featured performers fit their verses in with the political awareness and overall feel and content of Freedom 2.  This too is refreshing and collaborative.  True hip hop is about movement not pulling in a guest spot just for the sake of it.

All in all, this is a very different, innovative album.  Yeah, they’ve got a lot of gripes about America, but the album still manages to feel optimistic and hopeful, and the artists’ love of hip hop music is infectious.

Can You Relate (Feat. John Robinson)

Tags: Hip Hop

K-OS-The Anchorman Mixtape

Posted on August 23rd, 2010 by ekko

I like me some K-Os.  Not a huge fan, mind you, but I likes him enuf 2 pass this along . . .

1. Start Me UP
2. SheClipse
3. Faith (feat. Drake)
4. Joni Mitchellin’ Peelin’ Out (feat. Saukrates)
5. Dance in YO Car
6. BlackWater (feat. Sebastien Grainger)
7. Holy Cow
8. I Wish I Could Belive
9. Beauty is a Loaded Gun
10. The Lonely Ones
11. Zambony (Remix)
12. Faith (Clean) (feat. Drake)

k-os 2010 Tour Dates:
10/08 – Seattle, WA @ Nectar Lounge
10/09 – Boise, ID @ Promenade Music Festival
10/11 – Portland, OR @ Berbati’s Pan
10/13 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
10/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
10/15 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
10/16 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Chasers
10/18 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
10/19 – Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
10/21 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
10/22 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Ballroom
10/23 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
10/24 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
10/25 – Columbus, OH @ Skully’s Music Diner
10/26 – Baltimore, MD @ Sonar Club Stage
10/28 – New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
10/29 – Philadelphia, PA @ North Star Bar
10/31 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs

Mediafire link.

Tags: Hip Hop, Mixtape

2 HUNGRY BROS. and 8thW1-No Room for Dessert

Posted on August 13th, 2010 by ekko

Deep and Ben Boogie are New York’s 2 Hungry Brothers, a production duo who have worked with Lodeck, Mr. Sinister, Das EFX, Jeru the Damaja, Rakim, the Roots, Boot Camp Click . . . The list goes on forever.  Their newest project teams them up with 8thW1, also from the AOK Collective, who is one of the fastest, wittiest rappers I’ve heard in years. I know I’m prone to hyperbole, but holy crap.  Every song is full of one-liners worth repeated.  They come so fast, it’s hard to keep up.  “Being broke makes me feel sad!”  “I make your iPod swell!/I’m killin’ it just willin’ it!”  And 8thW1 is capable of long-form raps, too.  “Short and Sweet” compares the effects on society of sugar and crack (“They claim we’re selling crack/but you be doing that!/Sugar is the illest drug/You be the supplier”) in the best conscious-nutrition rap since KRS-One dropped “Beef.”  Hilarious and intelligent at the same time–not a common thing to find!

The album also features AOK Collective Crew members Fresh Daily, Homeboy Sandman and P.So; Von Pea of Tanya Morgan; Reef da Lost Cauze, and more.  It’s ridiculously good.

There’s a sampler free on bandcamp, but I’m not sure how long that will last….

Stupidface video:

Tags: Free Album!, Hip Hop

JR & PH7-The EP

Posted on August 12th, 2010 by ekko

There have never been enough quality lady rappers. I mean, sure, they’ve always been around: Jean Grae, MC Lyte, Lauryn Hill, Queen Latifah, Lil’ Kim . . . But the reason you can name most of them is because there are so few that break through. So for me, the best part of JR & PH7′s new EP is the cut by Eternia. She’s got a great voice, solid flow, and better-than-average lyrics. But if you’re interested in this EP, it’s probably not for her. Or for the other featured rappers here, which include Ohmega Watts, Termanology, Trek Life, Oddissee, The Residents, and Waxolutionists. You’re here because Germany’s production team JR & PH7′s “The Standard” was one of the better slept-on LPs of the 2009s. The beats they make are crisp and vibrant, and make anyone sound good, really. Not to denigrate the rappers here–they’re all solid underground wordsmiths.
Check it out on iTunes or wherever you’re getting your tunes these days.

From L.A. to the World feat. Trek Life

Tags: Hip Hop

NEW YELAWOLF! (And a few words about mainstream rap.)

Posted on August 5th, 2010 by ekko

He’s gonna be releasing a major label record later this year, which I have to admit chafes a little–wish he could be indie!  But at the same time, the major labels have really done their job this year.  Usually there’s maybe two or three major rap releases that I find anywhere near as good as what I hear from the underground, but this year’s releases by Em, Big Boi, The Roots, and B.O.B. have been pretty great.  (Wish B.O.B. hadn’t relied so heavy on guest shots, but it’s still a solid record.)  And there is even a major label rap/rock album that’s pretty damn good: the new Black Keys.  Maybe there’s still hope!

Looking for Alien Love-Yelawolf (mediafire)

Tags: Hip Hop

CHIDDY BANG-Air Swell

Posted on July 27th, 2010 by ekko

Okay, so there’s rap/rock, funk/rap, indie rockers who ironically cover rap tunes, electrorap, pop-rap (which universally sucks), and now there’s Chiddy Bang. This rap crew has been getting growing exposure (even on MTV) because their beats are as intelligent as their lyrics.  It’s party rap that’s not stupid, demeaning, or demoralizing, withe beats relying on hooks (and extended samples) from songs by Ellie Goulding, Kate Nash, Gorillaz, La Roux and more.

And if you haven’t heard this Philly duo’s earlier project, Swelly Express, you should cop that too. It’s got Passion Pit and Black Thought from The Roots on it.

Have a taste of Breakfast with Kate Nash

Then order the whole plate, here.

And here‘s The Swelly Express.

Tags: Hip Hop

5 O’CLOCK SHADOWBOXERS–Broken Clocks EP

Posted on July 21st, 2010 by ekko

Here at Berkeley Place, we’ve been supporting Zilla Rocca for years.  Beatgarden records’ crew of underground, unusual rappers may not always be perfect, but they’re always surprising.  And fresh voices are what we need the most in these days of carbon copy hip-hop and corporate lyrical placement.  And I’m happy to say that “Broken Clocks,” might just be the best thing Zilla has ever been responsible for.

Last year’s Slow Twilight was a solid release by the 5 O’Clock Shadowboxers, and fortunately, Broken Clocks isn’t just a bunch of B-sides that weren’t quite good enough for that release.  Yes, there’s some remixes, but these aren’t your (Puff) Daddy’s remixes.  The music beds, the guest spots, it’s all vastly different.  For example, “Bottom Feeders,” one of my favorite tracks off of Slow Twilight, may be instantly recognizable by it’s name and the phenomenal lyrics by the rap Jack Bauer, but Small Professor’s remix makes it pop with an intense urgency that isn’t on the original track.  He actually made it better.  And the blue collar anthem, “It’s Always 5 O’Clock Somewhere,” chops up Fela Kuti to great effect.  This is the song you want to hear in the club, no doubt.  You’ll find verses by all of Beatgarden’s best: Elucid, Nico the Beast, and my current fave, Curly Castro (on “Weak Stomach”).

Best EP of the year so far.

$5 at Bandcamp

5 O’Clock Somewhere

Tags: Hip Hop

EL DA SENSEI & RETURNERS-Nu World

Posted on July 16th, 2010 by ekko

If the lastest release by El Da Sensei and The Returners sounds a little old school, there’s a reason for that.  El Da Sensei formed The Artifacts with Tame One back in 1994 and got a major label deal out of it.  And he deserved it.  The ‘Facts were part of the original backpacker movement, mixing raw reality with intelligent, uplifting philosophy.  El kept this going in his solo career, working with old school rap elites like Sadat X (Brand Nubians) and Paroah Monch, as well as new(er) jack backpacker types like J-Live.  We haven’t heard from him in a while, but he’s risen again with another release that a has a “classic” sound mixed with modern production by Polish hip-hop producers The Returners, and guest spots by Treach of Naughty By Nature, Sean Price of Boot Camp Klick, Akrobatik, and Tiye Phoenix, among others.

If you call yourself a rap fan, you owe it to the game, to the groundbreakers, and to yourself to buy this album.

Toxic Words feat. Reks & John Robinson

Tags: Hip Hop

GO AWAY FOR MUSIC!

Posted on July 15th, 2010 by ekko

1.  Ryan O’Neal, who participated in FreeIceCream.Net’s terrific “Bohemian Rap CD” is releasing a free song every week here.  Check it out.  I think you’ll dig the beats N rhymes.

3.  Alex Winston has a free covers EP here.

4.  The always fun BuffetLibre DJs have a free summer mix for download here.

5.  And Cover Me’s latest “full album” covered is Led Zep 4.

Tags: Free Album!, Go away, Hip Hop, Indie rock

NEW HOLLYWOOD FLOSS!

Posted on July 6th, 2010 by ekko

A new single from one of the best up-and-coming rappers around today . . . From his new album, House of Dreams, which is available on iTunes.  I bought it.  Did you?

Extra Sleep 1-Hollywood Floss

Tags: Hip Hop