Khingz dropped this free nine track EP yesterday. Happy Black Friday to everyone who doesn’t think lining up outside Best Buy at four in the morning is the way to holiday happiness. Freedom through free music!
Click image for D/L link
VIDEO: “Imaginary Stereo” – Candidt
Photo from The Stranger
Candidt’s Sweatsuit & Churchshoes, one of the Northwest region’s most expansive-sounding hip-hop albums of recent memory (read the SSG Music album review, here), achieved something the majority of contemporary rap albums fail to do: successfully construct a bridge from hip-hop’s past to its present day. Candidt rooted his 21-track salute deep in his old school sensibilities, but also managed to freshen up the West Coast sound with his left-of-center flow and versatile production choices.
VIDEO: “Sky Music” – Parker
Production collective, Tha Bizness recently unveiled their newest artist: an emcee by the name of Parker. His debut video for the single “Sky Music” is a nice soliloquy on making it in the industry. Born in the East and raised in the West, Parker has deep ties to the SEA but currently makes moves in the ATL — sound familiar, don’t it?
Dude has a nice rugged flow that’s reminiscent of other East Coast hardrocks, but on “Sky Music” he’s on a chilled-out vibe that registers classic West Coast nonchalance. Parker reminds me a bit of Fatal Lucciauno but without the prophetic thug doctrine. Definitely a promising artist to watch.
VIDEO: “Take Drugs” – Gangrene
Gangrene is The Alchemist and Oh No, a collaborative endeavor worthy of all the hype and excitement it has received thus far. Their debut album, Gutter Water, drops on 11/23 and the first video for “Take Drugs” is one hell of a way to announce its arrival.
Take from the clip what you will. I say it’s a provocative new spin on the famous “This is your brain on drugs” PSA.
DOWNLOAD: “Feed My Ego” – Sol
Question: how easy is it for you rappers to feel like a big fish in a small pond in the SEA? Answer: Fairly easy, according to the homie Solzilla. “Feed My Ego” is a little like therapy on wax for Sol, one of The Six’s current favorites. Balancing on the precipice of Mount Humble can be a fairly precarious act when folks are so quick to praise your sh-t, he says. Sol even calls out blogs like this one for inflating his dome with every little bit of exaltation proffered forth.
Rest assured, my dude, 206UP.COM doesn’t say it unless we really mean it. Do with the praise what you will, we can’t control that. But this blog (generally) thinks you’re pretty dope.
DOWNLOAD: “The Youth Die Young (VCC Remix)” – Mad Rad
The original version of “The Youth Die Young” (the title track from Mad Rad’s forthcoming album of the same name, streaming, here) is a whimsical but not totally innocent paean to the joys of youth. It’s a celebratory but dubious anthem for the internet generation. There’s a cautionary tale lurking somewhere in the track that belies its upbeat vibe, as if describing a slightly aged Ferris Bueller who’s come to the sudden and harsh realization that the world doesn’t revolve around him. “The Youth Die Young” is actually quite a mature song for Mad Rad, perhaps a sign that the crew is evolving beyond its sophomoric antics of past days. Whatever. The most important aspect of the song is that it gets your ass to moving.
VIDEO: “Decoded: Jay-Z in Conversation with Cornel West” (NYC Public Library)
Reason #1,265 why living in New York City is so f-cking dope: nights like the one last at The New York City Public Library when the incomparable Shawn Carter shared a stage for nearly two hours with the inimitable Dr. Cornel West. They discussed artistic process, the cultural significance of hip-hop, and just humanity in general. Jay’s long-awaited memoir/lyrical compendium, Decoded, provided the catalyst for their meditations which went far beyond a cheap marketing opportunity which it was never in danger of becoming with the Good Doctor West in the house.
These gentlemen are probably my two favorite living celebrities today and I was dying to attend this event. Alas, it was sold out, but the whole thing was streamed live and still available to watch in its entirety. Click the photo below for the link.
Photo courtesy MTV
VIDEO: “Windows” – U-N-I
Cali sh-t.
The fresh visuals for my favorite joint, “Windows,” off U-N-I’s excellent A Love Supreme. The chorus (“Catch me with my windows halfway down and we cruisin’ by/Music on the highest high/A goddess on my passenger side…”) and that killer synth makes me miss the Pacific Coast somethin’ terrible.
DOWNLOAD: Red October EP – DJ Nphared
DJ Nphared quietly produced the best SEA hip-hop song of 2010. The Physics’ “Coronas On Madrona” was a breezy soulful anthem that expertly captured the laid-back vibe of a typical Seattle summer.
The Red October EP is a four-track freebie from Grynch’s favorite DJ and features a few Town heavyweights like Sol, Thig Nat, Fatal Lucciauno, and The King of Ballard himself. Click below for the download link.
Click image for D/L link
VIDEO: “My Open Wounds” – Graves
With three full-length albums and a free EP deep, Graves is the most prolific local hip-hop artist you’ve never heard of. His music is dark, gloomy, angst-ridden hip-hop tinged with rock. Perfect for whiling away the cloudy days that are about to set in over the Pacific Northwest. Unless you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, in which case you probably shouldn’t be listening. Go read the latest issue of People under one of your fluorescent lamps instead.
For those of you who like your hip-hop laced with minor bouts of depression and doomsday chatter (and who in their right mind doesn’t?), check for Graves’ discography here. Below is a dope preview of his forthcoming Systems Revolution 2.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 