Visuals for Nacho Picasso’s love ballad to comic books, “Marvel.” Read about his debut album, For The Glory, on this blog somewhere below.
VIDEO: “Understand” – Know Choice
That One Show’s Know Choice goes for dolo on “Understand.” More about KC (and other Seattle-area API MC’s) here. And grab the track at this location.
DOWNLOAD: For The Glory – Nacho Picasso
Click album cover to D/L.
Nacho Picasso’s proper debut LP, For The Glory, was one of 206UP.COM’s most anticipated SEA releases of 2011. Talk around the office water cooler mostly centered around the crew handling production on the album: Blue Sky Black Death. Seattle’s most well-known unknown production outfit is the party responsible for the greater majority of sound on FTG, one that pairs the duo’s well-developed ominous electro with Southern trap’s familiar slap and bounce.
The idea of coupling of Nacho’s Wayne-ish rasp and punchline flow with BSBD’s dark atmospherics sounded odd at first, but FTG shows the Cloud Nice-affiliated MC is the perfect man to handle the job. His toned-down flow suggests rap vocals set on a low boil. Dude is subtle enough to hypnotize at times but maintains a heinous wit that borders on the sociopathic (or at least darkly comedic). It’s true the act wears thin after a while — the album could have benefited from a bit more diversity in sonics — but with tracks like “Bad Breaks” (which sounds like the score to your most frightening Halloween night, ever) and the get-lifted-with-me slow crawl of “NumbNuts,” most repetition can be forgiven.
206, meet your newest and most charismatic rap star, Nacho Picasso.
VIDEO: “Dizzy Izzy” – Dyme Def (prod. by BeanOne)
Dyme Def executes more swag rap about being really good at sex, rapping and drinking a lot at parties. BeanOne shows us what it would sound like if Austin Powers had a hip-hop soundtrack. Fearce Villain used his iPhone 4 for this and it shows. In a good way.
VIDEO: “Rise Up” – LaRue
The latest video from LaRue, off his recent Hurricane LaRue LP. Dude may be relocated to Florida but he’s right at home on the streets of SEA in this clip. From the overpasses of I-5 to a cypher at Westlake, “Rise Up” spreads love and words of encouragement for society’s downtrodden. Real talk.
Track produced by Rising Son; video produced in collaboration with the good folks at All You Can Eat Hip-Hop.
DOWNLOAD: “Dreams” – Sean Symphony (prod. by 10.4 Rog)
Click track artwork to D/L.
Producer 10.4 Rog sets his blissful pop and slap against Sean Symphony’s soulful baritone to terrific results. “Dreams” is the first single from Symphony’s eponymous debut EP, coming soon.
DOWNLOAD: “Raw” – SK (prod. by BeanOne)
Click image to D/L.
The latest from Sportn’ Life: budding rapper SK goes in over a grimy BeanOne build.
DOWNLOAD: “Zeused Up” – Notion (prod. by DJ Jacks Green)
Click image for D/L link.
One last summer salvo, this time from the helium-pitched Notion and producer DJ Jacks Green.
VIDEO: “Delusions of Grandeur” – The Physics
The Physics’ recent sophomore LP, Love is a Business, is the best Seattle hip-hop album of 2011 not called Black Up. Believe that. (And read the full SSG Music review here while you’re at it.) “Delusions of Grandeur” is the second video from LIAB and features direction by Michael Gaston and animation by Xavier Palin…
VIDEO: “I Must Cross” – Myka 9
I feel like this video is relevant, if obliquely so, on the eve of !!!THE TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! (exclamation points added for emphasis, irony, hubris, or what-have-you).
We claim to be a Melting Pot, claim to have politics that encourage and value a diverse citizenship, but when our backs are up against the wall as a result of our own damning actions — as has been the case nearly ten years to the day — our true colors are revealed. We treat our immigrants like second/third/fourth-class citizens when, in fact, they are the true Americans. Living in New York City, amidst such a rich tableau of peoples who are here by choice and often by fire, I am reminded constantly of this. I’m thankful for the amazing luck that is my happenstance citizenry, the type that Chris Rock jokes about in the clip below (about 5 minutes in). And I’m disgusted at many of our State’s so-called leaders that have degraded, dehumanized and cheapened the lives of those aspiring to be Americans in the name of “Freedom.”
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