Donte Peace takes a sinister victory lap after scooping some other dude’s lady on “Our Girlfriend”. It’s more of that possession-is-nine-tenths-of-the-law bullshit men indiscriminately apply to relationships with members of the opposite sex. When done with an even-handed dramatic flourish it can be interesting — subversive even. This doesn’t get there, though.
Northwest producer Marcus D has assembled some of the finest underground hip hop talent for his new full-length, Simply Complex. Funded via a Kickstarter campaign, expect more of the same refined, well-composed boom-bap you’ve already heard from the young beatmaker.
Vitamin D’s presence is our present… For this birthday. Or something. Bornday 2 is the latest LP from the venerable Town producer, DJ and MC. Essential soulful slaps, and other alliterative phrases apply to this standout collection. (See, also: the first volume of Born Day.)
Araless grabbed our attention last summer when he won our not-quite-monthly song competition, The TrackMeet. He followed that up in December with the boom-bap revivalist gem “Attention”. And now that we’ve given you the brief history of this still under-the-radar MC, he’s back yet again with “Cloudcatchers”, a plodding, sorta gloomy, sorta captivating knowledge drop. This one features New York rapper Mike Larry Draw and was produced by Tacoma’s Smear One (because “Jake” and “Bean” were already taken). Watch for Symbiosis coming soon from Araless.
Yukmob member and thrower of lyrical darts Romaro Franceswa gives the beat all it can handle on his latest single, “The Devil Is A Lie (Talk My Shit)”. Not much to do other than geek out to this one.
Donte Peace’s self-produced “Juice” is all tense piano keys and dimly-lit tenement building nostalgia. Who out there knew Steel survived that bullet all along?
For our money, Seattle’s most exciting lyricist of the moment might be Moor Gang’s Gifted Gab. From out the blue, she dropped a new mixtape yesterday: Girl Rap. It features a grip of the usual Moor suspects but Gabby outshines — and outpaces — them all.
Grieves has carried a fervent fan base now over the course of four strong albums. Tepid tastemaker reviews aside, I don’t think there’s any doubt that his new LP, Winter & The Wolves, will be received with anything but rabid support by those who consistently ride for him. 206UP has always appreciated Grieves’ skill and purported love for the art of hip hop music, but often times his self-confessional style makes for laborious listening. Unfortunately, W&TW is probably the heaviest of all his albums, likely by design. Thank goodness Spring feels just around the corner, I suppose.
For his latest LP release, Kubi Zoo, Kublakai reached into his back catalog — remixing, remastering and producing new music videos for previously released songs. The MC describes the fruits of this labor as therapeutic and liberating. In the process, he also created five new tracks that fit in well with the old; one of those is “Daybreak” for which an accompanying video is featured below.
World weary travelers Gabriel Teodros and AirMe wrote and recorded this track during a 24-hour layover in Washington DC en route from Addis Ababa to the Six. It’s a great window into the creative minds of two observant artists caught between shifting time zones. Watch for their Children Of The Dragon coming soon.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 