Click photo for Bandcamp D/L.
Fatal Lucciauno is one of Seattle hip-hop’s greatest communicators. Aside from being a great rapper, his flow is transport for a hulking emotional depth that escapes the grasp of most MCs. When he raps, you believe him. It’s been too long since his last project, 2007’s The Only Forgotten Son. “Warm Ups” is in advance of three projects in 2011, including his next full-length album, Respect.
Click album cover for Bandcamp link.
Geo told me the title of his and Bambu’s new project, Walk Into A Bar, is not some sort of clever rap allegory, but rather what literally was happening at the precise moment dudes decided to do an album together. I think it’s weird that it took ’em this long considering how long they’ve been down — it’s not like either of them have better things to do. Kidding.
I haven’t even listened to this yet, so excuse me for writing without point-of-reference, but it just dropped today so I had to post. More thoughts later…
Click photo to D/L.
Here’s an outtake from Nacho’s Blunt Raps mixtape from a couple years back featuring Young TH of State Of The Artist. It’s about girls. Production by Blue Sky Black Death affiliate Raised By Wolves.
“Heaven” – Nacho Picasso & Young TH
Click album cover to cop.
I was mistaken, I thought Capitalize was going to be a full-length project from do-it-all Eastside crew Kung Foo Grip. That’s what I get for not asking someone. Still, my moderate disappointment at the project’s length was quickly counterbalanced by the range of MC motion that these dudes display. Greg Cypher plays the straight man, deadly technical with his but also able to break out when the track calls for it. Eff is H is like a human tuning fork, consistently close to letting himself become unhinged from the beat, but always vibrating just in time with it. Mess with them.
Nacho Picasso, aka. Jesse James, aka. The Tat in the Hat, has a new video: “Numbnuts.” Nacho is part of Bad Ass Yellow Boys which is part of Cloud Nice, which is part of a greater rap movement in Seattle that is getting progressively harder to cover as just one blogger with a nine-to-five. I need to get paid for this sh-t. Sorry, tangential.
(UPDATE 7.7.11: Oh, now you can download this track for free at Nacho’s Bandcamp.)
Click album cover for D/L link.
206UP.COM has been looking forward to a full-length project from Dice (one of the most talented SEA-affiliated singer/MCs in town) for a while now. Peep the straining emotional depths she reaches on “Things I Couldn’t Say,” the first single from her forthcoming debut album, and then check how she sounds right at home spitting over Jay’s “Can’t Knock The Hustle” instrumental on “Jack.” Much of the production on Only One Dice is directed firmly at popular radio’s airwaves, but if everything on Clear Channel sounded as good as this all would be forgiven.
“Things I Couldn’t Say” – Dice
“Jack” – Dice
Click image for D/L link.
I have mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, producer Mat Wisner (of Viper Creek Club fame) makes undeniably danceable electro-pop/funk/rap sh-t. On the other, this track (and a whole sh-t ton of other rap music — much of which admittedly gets coverage on this blog) marginalizes pretty much every woman in Seattle. Some ladies might think this track is just swell, and others might feel justifiably pigeonholed.
There’s nothing wrong with appreciating beauty (feminine, masculine, mammalian, reptilian, whatever), but when the identity of a specific group of people is distilled to nothing more than the sexual, there’s no good in that. Ever. A fair amount of rap music made by men does an admirable job of representing a dualistic point of view with regards to male/female sexuality. This does not.
Click image for D/L link.
The first drop from Prometheus Brown and Bambu’s Beatrock collab, Walk Into A Bar. This partnership feels as natural as that organic sh-t growing in your backyard. Project hits pavement, beach sand and forest floor on July 6.
“At It Again” – Prometheus Brown & Bambu (prod. by MTK)
Click image to D/L.
The South Sound has been buzzing about this mixtape since May so #LatePass on this one. Second Family is the Tac-Town duo of Element and NoQuezt. Their deliveries exist at opposite ends of the spectrum. Element brings a gruff hardrock flow (something like a Pacific Northwest version of Bun B) and NoQuezt has a raspy, high-pitched smoker’s intonation. Streets are the subject matter, typical to a lot of 253 sh-t these days, but what sets the men of Second Family apart are their MC skills, which are far and away better than most of their peers.
Click photo for D/L link.
It’s become increasingly clear that a Tay Sean beat will make the most of any MC’s talent whether black, white, man, woman, dog, cat, alien, or paramecium. Here he makes it nice for Kung Foo Grip, not that these cats really need it. This crew has come far in a relatively short amount of time and with a limited catalog. Initially known for chopping heads in cyphers, their seven-track Make Moves EP revealed them to be nostalgic Golden Era geeks at heart with remarkably diverse skill sets on the mic. “Weakdays” is in advance of the crew’s already overdue CAPITALIZE which might just turn the local rap game on its head.
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