Photo by Adam Way.
The scope of Gabriel Teodros’ music continues to widen with this drop from the forthcoming Colored People’s Time Machine (release date: 1.19.12). Featuring a vocal appearance by Palestinian-American artist Abeer Alzinaty (otherwise known as Sabreena Da Witch), GT’s kaleidoscopic and worldly point-of-view isn’t held by The Town’s concise geographic margins, and that’s something to be applauded.
Dyme Def’s new full-length, Yuk the World, drops tomorrow (Tue, 12.6.11). Here then is the refreshingly low-budget video for “Blue Moons and Green Lights,” directed by do-it-all entertainment conglomerate and de facto crew member, BeanOne. The latest chain of clips from Dyme Def has been high on that got-it-for-cheap kitsch which harkens back to the rawness of their debut LP, Space Music. And that’s A-Okay with me.
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More remix treatment by Def Dee (for his new label home, Mello Music Group). This time SEA meets ATL in the form of MC Boog Brown. Check the dusty stutter of Def’s beat matched by the get-even yarns spun by Boog.
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Sobering tales from Tac-town MC Fice and producer Rising Son.
Patience, coming December 6, from MC Wizdom and producer Epidemmik.
Local rapper Peta Tosh’s new video, “Daze,” directed by the ubiquitous Detooz Films.
The neighborhood of Forest Hill is a quiet, idyllic enclave in the central section of Toronto, Canada’s largest city. The district’s broad streets and leafy sidewalks are bordered by expansive single-family homes and an impressive collection of stately mansions that trend more toward Sotheby’s auctions than the pedestrian listings of Century 21. It was on these well-maintained municipal arteries that a young Aubrey Drake Graham presumably rehearsed a very early form of his now widely recognized helium-pitched MC flow, a style that has earned him various musical accolades and an equal number of less shiny endorsements from skeptics earnestly questioning the validity of dude’s lofty position in the rap game…
Another “Oh…Damn,” moment from SP. I wonder if Black Up will make 206UP.COM’s Best-Of 2011 list? (Gee, ya think?) Read more of my thoughts on this video, here.
And also this:
Feeling the cautionary tale narrative in Juga Hill’s new clip for “Now I Lay Me,” which you can find on the MC’s album, One Way. Listen/buy below.
Click album cover to D/L.
Somewhere inside Chev’s 17-track debut album is an outstanding eight to ten song EP, dying to get out. That’s not to say the long-time coming Charles is a disappointment. Rather it’s a greater reflection of an MC who’s had much on his mind for a minute now, too much to adequately express on a few standout guest shots on tracks by more established Town artists (summarized well by the rapper himself, here).
The first time Chev really caught my ear was on “Certitude” (a joint from Common Market’s 2008 Tobacco Road). His deep, commanding delivery added weight to Sabzi’s synth-heavy composition and his reality rap point-of-view counterbalanced RA Scion’s philosophical wanderings. There’s much more of that grounded perspective on Charles. Chev’s preferred lyrical topic is observations on the hustle, and the fact that he’s in the midst of his own makes him an expert. “Simple Math” is an engaging opening track with commanding head-nod courtesy of Jester. “Beau” pays tribute to lost lives and features a dusty jazz-inflected beat by Def Dee. My favorite song here, though, is the Sabzi-produced “Yesterday” which takes Chev’s nostalgic reflections and Hollis Wong-Wear’s swirling guest vocals, and plants them firmly in early 90s R&B territory.
Charles does go on too long, and Chev over-extends himself with the number of verses on a few tracks, but it’s hard to fault him for putting in work. If you’re first hearing him on this album, it’s his vocal aesthetic that will immediately grab you: a low-pitched, technically proficient flow. Chev’s is a fairly new voice in the local scene that resonates much louder than those of many more well-established ones.
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