Tacoma’s FanoBee talks some shit and generally behaves badly over this collection of self-produced tracks. We dig the processed, wind tunnel minimalism of the beats on Before the Haze but can do without the date rape reference on “Sun Valley.” Rappers should know that lowest common denominator-type shit is no way to earn fans. C’mon now.
Shelton Harris and Tyler Dopps are going for a big sound to match their similarly sized aspirations. The title, “Glory,” basically says it all here.
Dave B‘s Doughnuts, the promised follow-up to the rapper’s full-bodied Coffee EP, has since gone the way of the dodo. No matter. Last year saw the MC collaborate most effectively with The Physics’ main man Justo on School Daze, a pristine set of in-the-wind boom bap overlaid by Dave’s insightful, whirling nostalgia.
Loosies is merely two joints long but bills itself as a tasting menu for a promised full-length due sometime in the new calendar year. Here’s hoping that happens.
The Bad Tenants continue their live, blues-infused hip-hop with this recent offering from their upcoming project Mostly People. Producer IG88 goes sample free and mood heavy.
Moor Gang’s Cam The Mac previews another joint from his new album Wise & Weeded (which has the most ambiguous of due dates: “early 2015”). Whatever aspect of Cam’s life philosophy, that good takes sole residence. Portland’s Stewart Villain on the beat.
Thaddeus David is really good at rapping (we’ve known this since his SOTA days). Recently his music has taken a turn(t) for the, well, trap(t). Which is all good of course — do you, homie. However, 206UP prefers TH like this: Slightly evened out over an instantly recognizable sample. PDX producer Stewart Villain makes a cameo on the beat (and in the video — did you catch it?). Portland’s rapidly ascending Tope lends bars as well. The clip was directed by frequent 206UP photographer Rafy Ochoa, so you know it’s the freshest high-def. From TH and Stewart’s Untitled EP.
The Shabazz Palaces one-off “Ham Sandwich” speaks on police brutality. Really though, doesn’t all of SP’s music directly or indirectly reference the shit that goes down?
Anyway, this quickie is a handy delivery vehicle for shouting out their artistic partners (Porter Ray, OC Notes, Malitia Mali Mob, et al) in addition to establishing their own (musical) version of a police state — check the foreboding march of the rhythm section. Blast on ’em.
The very first truck I bought after I got a “real job” out of college was a 1994 forest green Toyota 4Runner. That vehicle’s tenure in my life was fairly uneventful; it couriered me to various milquetoast locations around the greater Puget Sound region. Locations totally unlike the ones in this video here.
“Oh shit, it’s BB Sun. He kinda looks like God.” The Thraxxhouse teammate stews the clique’s stoner pot with a singular type of understated humor and swag. Gimmie is full of shrouded threats that lull you to within an inch of sleep, but then, with just the slightest pinprick, keep you hovering above slumber so there’s just enough time to see BB Sun slip out the window with all your stuff, laughing the entire time.
The Pacific Northwest region is blessed with landscapes that run the gamut in natural diversity. Curiously enough, however, local rappers don’t mine the majestic scenery for everything they could when it comes to their music videos.
Young Ju-Ju Twist and his director Jacob Hill saw the similarities in Seattle’s urban landscape and its neighboring mountainous terrain to the east (or west). The dual cinematography in “Diary of Twizzy” is both synchronous and at odds with each other. If the endgame for Ju-Ju is stardom in the music world, how different is that feral deer wandering through the frame from the anonymous coattail rider bouncing up and down on stage?
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 