At some point we’ll have to stop calling him “Nissm, the artist formerly known as D. Black” and just straight-up, Nissim. The Sportn’ Life teammate released “World Heroes”, a self-produced track from the rapper’s upcoming self-titled album. The song marks yet another attempt by Nissim to have an earnest conversation about negative content in rap music. Here we have an artist that went from negative to positive and it’s all… You know the rest.
Hip hop/blues outfit The Bad Tenants get a Grynch feature and a boom-bap facelift for “On The Rocks”, the trio’s latest single from their upcoming Eloquent Scoundrels Vol. 2 EP (due late September).
Click album cover to pre-order on iTunes.
Sol let fly the second single from his upcoming don’t-call-it-a-comeback album, Eyes Open, set for release September 10 (click here or on the photo above to pre-order the EP on iTunes). “Tomorrow” features Shayhan and was produced by Zilla teammate Elan Wright. Sol spent a few minutes answering206UP’s THE SIX last week, click here to read the interview.
The final leak from Thaddeus David’s NoneTheLess (due September 2). Mackned on the beat.
Sportn’ Life head DeVon Manier teased this release in the most recent edition of THE SIX which is just below — scroll down for that. Larry Hawkins and Davey Jones have teamed up for Butterfly Sauce, a fusion of rap and R&B. Grab it for free here:
Dave B and Jarv Dee wax poetic on industry rules. Kuddie Fresh pastes a lush sample over a classic break-beat. This from Dave’s upcoming The Doughnuts EP.
Scribes will undoubtedly obtain the Kinda Like Drake label as more ears track his music. It’s important to remember that dude was doing his thing before So Far Gone dropped, so yeah…smoke that in your pipe. Here he updates the whole “back seat of my Jeep, let’s swing an episode” thing fairly well. Captain Midnite on the beat.
Oldominion crew pioneers Grayskul (Onry Ozzborn + JFK) have jumped the good ship Rhymesayers for the just-as-reputable indie darling Fake Four Inc. That doesn’t mean the group’s upcoming Zenith (due September 17) is any less anticipated, though. Here we have the title track which premiered today on Complex. The album version will feature Wu legend Raekwon (with whom I recently had a memorable encounter in Toronto — see below).
And now, 206UP.COM story time…
Traveling back to NYC from Toronto this past Sunday, my fiancée and I had an entertaining run-in with Raekwon the Chef. Dude was waiting patiently in the Porter Airlines lounge at TO’s downtown Billy Bishop airport. No crew. Just him, this Herschel camo duffle, and some girl who couldn’t have been a day older than 21. Whatever.
So, as I’m geeking out, we’re walking down the concourse to board the plane and my girl spies a Borden (that’s Canadian for a Benjamin) just lying there on the floor. She picks it up. We deliberate on who might’ve dropped it. The only person between us and Rae is a middle-aged white lady wearing a fanny pack — the type of lady still spending travelers checks from 1993 — the hunny clearly does not belong to her. So Claire (that’s my future wife) asks the Chef (that’s the rapper from Wu-Tang): “Excuse me, Mr. Raekwon, but is it possible you might’ve dropped some cash?” (That’s not how she asked — she used way more tact — but you get the picture.) Rae said something about, “If it was a hundred, then it was probably me,” and then proceeds to pull a wad of Canadian guap the size of Shaq’s fist from his over-sized sweatpants pocket.
Dude shakes his head. And then, “These sweatpants, man, I keep dropping everything. Receipts, cash… Thank you, thank you.” (Flashes his fronts at Claire.)
I thought about making a Plaxico Burress joke, thought better of it (thank God), and just nodded my head and grinned like the Wu fanboy I am. Fun times in the T-dot.
Also, we saw Parker Posey on the flight over, and bumped into Michael Cera in a bar last Saturday. You know we major.
The KnowMads team is a vital crew for underground heads in Seattle, but for those just surfing mainstream waters they may appear as birds under the radar. Two thirds of the group, Jesse Judd and Tom Pepe, released an LP in early July called Live Good. See about their business below and remember to always save room for the artisanal shit.
Key Nyata is one of Seattle rap’s new young guard. He’s a contributing member of the ubiquitous Raider Klan and a burgeoning blog darling. The Shadowed Diamond is his latest release and features production from P Smoov and guest appearances by Nacho Picasso, Avatar Darko and Dave B, among others.
As an aside…
There’s much hand-wringing around Town about the “Seattle sound” with the general consensus being that there isn’t one. Key is a prime example of that: he strays far from virtually all of his peers with deeply experimental beats that are more mood and feeling than typical rap set pieces. There’s never been a better time for Seattle rap to come into its own; hip hop is democratized to its greatest degree in history which rewards a fiercely independent spirit like the one we have here.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 