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You may have noticed The TrackMeet feature is back on a not-so-regular basis. There are many reasons for this. A recent drought of submissions for one; laziness for another. In any case, people seem to really like the feature so here’s to consistency! Three new tracks from three relatively new artists are below for you to judge. Knock yourselves out!
LANE 1: “All Systems Are A Go” – OL’ Small
LANE 2: “Focus On It” – JC Flow
LANE 3: “Pink Skies” – Randy Robbins
Click album cover for D/L link.
SEA battle rap stalwart Mic Phenom steps off the curb and into the studio to drop this mixtape, What I’ve Been Doing. MP is an OG to the battle game, but a relative newbie to the greater local scene that includes internet hucksters and seasoned performance vets alike — should be interesting to see where he falls. One thing is certain: the skills are absolutely legit.
Click image for D/L link.
Electro schlock rules the day (er, night, I mean) on “Perfect Nightmare,” the latest from Gran Rapids. Leach and Jay Battle enlist the help of rockers Striking Back and R&B princess Shaprece. I could do without this one, honestly, but here’s hoping GR’s next album, Midnight Society, offers more of the easy party vibe of its former, Saturday Mourning.
Seattle and New York affiliate Sam Lachow’s recent video and single, “Gary Payton,” isn’t exactly an adequate representation of the rest of the music on the do-everything MC/producer/director’s debut album, Brand New Bike (available now on iTunes). That’s a shame, because the somewhat amusing but mostly inane frat boy rap of “Gary Payton” might turn some heads off before giving the rest of the LP a fair shake. Don’t let the Asher Roth-lite stylings of the video turn you away.
Brand New Bike is a lighthearted, breezy ode to weed, summertime leisure, and the DIY rap lifestyle. It’s impressively capable, especially the production which features live instrumentation and a refreshing simplicity that never over-complicates matters. As for the artist, Sam Lachow will never be a threat to immobilize a competing MC (his delivery is like a more robust version of State Of The Artist’s Hyphen8d), but what he lacks in God-given aesthetic, he counters with a quick wit and above-average technical skill. BNB might just suit your needs for that Saturday night deck party, an event Lachow would be happy to crash.
Here’s one for the Oddities File. King Smooth Ace left this in the 206UP.COM Inbox a couple weeks ago. Perplexing but vaguely familiar, I put ‘er into the Google Machine and was quickly reminded of this Raindrophustla post from April 2010. We live in a complex world, but King Smooth Ace’s unwavering focus on his diamond jewelry spinning rims is a refreshing reminder of what we can accomplish when staying fixated on our goals.
Similar to the tracks themselves, I have no idea what that last sentence meant. No matter. Even with a mouth on heavy anesthetic from the dentist, which is what King Smooth Ace sounds like he’s suffering from on these two “songs,” the celebration of spinning rims wins out. This post is making less and less sense the longer it goes on, so with that, I’ll sign off. (I can’t believe I spent two paragraphs on this.)
Click image to D/L.
Central District-bred turned Cali resident Avatar Young Blaze is an imposing figure in rap, not just because he threatens to cause bodily harm if crossed, but because he seems to improve as an MC with each subsequent release. “UK Grime” sounds like East London trap music and is in advance of Av’s next project, The Iron Curtain.
“UK Grime” – Avatar Young Blaze “UK Grime” – Avatar Young Blaze
Click track artwork to D/L.
“Magnums” is the second leak from La’s next project, SEALAB 2012. Jester on the beat. This song is about getting laid, not the infamous cop show from the 80’s that starred the Patron Saint of Mustaches, Tom Selleck. (Though if it were, La would undoubtedly make it an entertaining song.)
Judging by this and the last drop from SEALAB (“Dutches”), this album promises yet another sound from La. Dude has already shown he can go Golden Era with Gravity (206UP.COM’s top Seattle hip-hop album from 2010) and gully with Roll With The Winners (another standout from last year). The artist formerly known as Language Arts is quickly on his way to shedding his rep as just another battle rapper.
Click photo to D/L.
Correction: there is a “z” at the end of Th3rdz. And it is pronounced “The Thirds.”
Now that that’s established, check the latest drop from the Oldominion-affiliated three-man wrecking crew of Candidt, JFK and Xperience. “Wylout” is produced by BeanOne and sounds like one of them early hype Wu-Tang joints. The kind built exclusively for jumping up and down repeatedly in the club. If this track were a candy bar, it would consist of chocolate, caramel nougat and crunched up bits of microphone. It’d be called a “Chunky, Son!”
Click image to D/L at Subpop Records.
Freshly-signed Subpop artists THEESatisfaction dropped this track last weekend (#LatePass). I consider myself lucky to have been able to meet Cat and Stasia back in ’09 during their foray to CMJ out here in New York City (where I live). Read the 206UP.COM Interview from that meeting, here.
Someday soon I’ll be able to say, “I met those girls back when they were recording mixtapes in closets and booking all their own shows!” THEESatisfaction deserves all the future success that is soon to come.
Click photo to D/L at Rog's Soundcloud.
Everything about this track pops. From 10.4 Rog’s piercing snaps and hand claps, to the spirited verses from Th3rd’s all-star roster (if you don’t know by now you better do your homework, dunny). This joint is about H.E.R. love and it sounds like Summertime.
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