Click photo for D/L link.
The trusty Google Reader feed comes through again. Khingz drops another one from his upcoming full-length collab with Vancouver, BC producer Rel!g!on, Liberation of the Monster. Go forth and Bandcamp…
DOWNLOAD: “The Life of Crown” – John Crown
Click track artwork to D/L.
206UP.COM favorite John Crown goes in over 9th Wonder’s “The Life of Kings,” from Phonte’s Charity Starts at Home. Thanks to ThaDeacon for the press.
VIDEO: “Back to the Paper” – Clemm Rishad
At the most fundamental level of The Hustle, there is so very little separating the haste of the investment banker from the dude on the corner selling [enter product name here]. Jon Jon captures Tacoma MC Clemm Rishad’s backpack grind with simple but romantic flourish in this clip. “Back to the Paper” is from CR’s latest, Close Your Eyes and See, available at fine online music establishments everywhere.
VIDEO: “You” – Evidence (prod. by DJ Premier)
#OutOfTownMovement. Just got around to listening to Evidence’s new one, Cats & Dogs. The whole sh-t bangs, not least of all this track, “You,” which features the beautiful and impeccable chop of DJ Premier.
DOWNLOAD: Parthenia – Sabzi
Click album cover to D/L.
New beat tape from the Blue Scholars maestro. Let him tell it:
download link available at the new TOWNFOLK Bandcamp page. the record is priced as “whatever you wanna pay.” feel free to pay $0 and use the money you save to purchase some powdered laundry detergent, or you are also welcome to pay $1000 while the rest of your billions grow in hedge funds and properly diversified investment portfolios.
feel free to distribute these tracks to your friends, rap & sing on them and upload to YouTube, do your graphic design homework while they play in the background, or sit sideways in the whip while they play out the trunk.
your pal, Saba
VIDEO: “Let’s Ride” – Choclair
A one dollar bill to the first person to tell me where the rapper Choclair is from. And no using the internet to find the answer.
This blogger is kickin’ it in Choc’s hometown for a long weekend. Back later, fam…
DOWNLOAD & REVIEW: The Broken Time Machine – Carl Roe
Click album cover to D/L.
MC Carl Roe is an interesting entrant to the Seattle rap scene. A native of Elgin, Illinois, a conflicted youth in the Midwest followed by an enlistment and tour of duty in Iraq as a U.S. Army Infantryman is the path Roe followed before his arrival in Seattle, where he is now a hopeful and hustling artist in the local hip-hop scene.
206UP.COM became familiar with Roe back in January in the second edition of The TrackMeet (click here for that post). His winning entry, “Lock it Down, Sew it Up,” was a frantic double-time composition paired with boasts by the MC of his superior rap skills. After getting past the beat, which had a fairly dated feel, a hungry rapper with a very natural flow and knack for maneuvering complicated rhyme patterns was revealed.
The Broken Time Machine is Carl Roe’s official entry into the Seattle hip-hop landscape. It’s eight tracks long and has an old-school feel, with big beats and breaks, a few overwrought rock flourishes and Roe’s signature double-time. “Stuntman” (the previously-released single featuring J. Bre, another up-and-coming Town MC) is the best track, a commanding declaration of the two rapper’s dominance over their lesser competition, or “stuntmen” as they call them.
“The voice of the Army Infantry in hip-hop,” as Roe claims in his bio, his stint in the Army informs the lyrical foundation of TBTM. Deeply affected by his Iraq war experience, the MC is unashamed of allowing his music to act as an outlet for his anguish, especially on the emotive “We Own the Night” which has an Evanescence-like quality (for better or worse).
It’s a safe bet Carl Roe’s style will not resonate with everyone. His flow and beat choice operate at-odds with contemporary hip-hop, and of course there will be the requisite criticisms centered around his skin color. No matter. What Seattle has in this artist is an MC focused intently on the craft and how his particular life experience fits in to it. In hip-hop, that’s all you can really ask for.
VIDEO: “Reinventing Choklate Episode 1” – Choklate (dir. by KD Cutz)
Wondering what Seattle R&B songbird Choklate’s been up to? Peep game. Spotted over at Kyle Daniels’ (aka KD Cutz) blog.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 