Mat Wisner, of local electro-pop crew Viper Creek Club, has something tricky up his sleeve. Make that a few tricky somethings. If you’ve been following VCC’s blog (get hip, here), you’ll already be familiar with the series of hip-hop remixes Mat has been putting down for local 206 crews. What started with a gritty re-imagining of Fresh Espresso’s “The Lazerbeams” has morphed into a miniature monster: a half dozen or so exclusive remixes in which Town rap gets VCC’s special electro-pop treatment.
Category: Downloads
DOWNLOAD: “Given” (The Good Sin f/Hyphen8d & Sean Symphony)
The Good Sin is often a forgotten emcee in the 2-0-6. He’s an everyman rapper; a totally relatable dude who spits on regular life sh-t (as he does on “Given,” the track featured here). And, while it doesn’t get any realer than that, it’s not exactly a recipe for fast success. No matter, slow and steady (usually) wins the race, and rappers like Sin are poised to do just that.
DOWNLOAD: “Death Of The Party” (Hi Life Soundsystem)
Hi Life Soundsystem is emcees Khingz and B-Flat, and producer Crispy (of Godspeed), brought to you by the good folks at Members Only. Sample and download the group’s first single, “Death Of The Party” off their forthcoming album.
What at first listen sounds like a straight-forward party anthem is actually a cautionary tale in disguise. There are dangers in wildin’ the f-ck out, says Hi Life. You’d expect nothing less from the introspective Khingz, a rapper just as comfortable rocking a party as he is telling you about society’s ills. Still, this track’s primary purpose is to get your ass moving, which it does in spades.
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DOWNLOAD: 4 New Tracks From J. Pinder
206UP.COM wishes the best of luck to Rainier Beach homie J. Pinder as he pursues even brighter lights and bigger stages in the ATL. Pinder leaving town was a damn shame, not only because his was a unique and talented voice in the Seattle rap community, but because he seems to be just hitting his stride as an artist. The Code Red EP had a professional sheen that made it stand out from most other albums in the local crowd.
Even these four unreleased joints sound like an artist destined for fans far beyond the Puget Sound waters. Listen (that’s right — 206UP.COM is finally streaming tracks for your immediate listening pleasure!) and download for free over at freshndef.com.
DOWNLOAD: “Russian Revolution Mixtape” (Avatar Young Blaze)
Avatar Young Blaze recently dropped his third full-length mixtape, Russian Revolution. The term “mixtape” is a little misleading because all three LP’s (get ’em here, here and here) feature all-original production and fairly well-conceived (if also repetitive) collections of gangsta rap menace.
A controversial figure in Seattle hip-hop, the now Southern California-relocated Avatar constantly has to shake haters, doubters, jealous-ones, and what-have-you, off of his jock. The reasons for having to do so are fairly obvious. Just look at his picture.
He’s as white as the freshly driven snow and, minus the perpetual sneer, would be a dead-ringer for a former child movie star. Instead, Av claims to have come up hard in the Central District, a child of Russian immigrants. His lyrics (and raw music videos) suggest gang-affiliated street life are a daily operation. A typical Avatar ‘tape is a lyrical wrecking ball that bludgeons the skeptical listener into a state of numbed submission.
It took three albums of Av’s relentless barrage to make a believer out of 206UP.COM. (Unfortunately, much of the doubt stemmed from judging a book — one that hadn’t been thoroughly read — by its cover. Av has a song for online journalists of this condition.). Russian Revolution finds Avatar sounding his most agile, versatile and focused. At 14 tracks, it’s also the shortest of his ‘tapes which helps to lesson the ambivalence one feels by the end of his other albums.
Avatar’s brand of gangsta rap is not for everyone. Some might think he’s a one-trick pony, others might still think he’s a tourist. At this point, three LP’s deep and with experts in the field of hip-hop confirming his origins, it’s not worth questioning his legitimacy. All that’s left to do is put the gloves up and try to stay out of his way.
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DOWNLOAD: “Sleeping With A Ghost (10.4 Rog Remix)” (Mash Hall)
There are remixes, and then there are remixes. Renton’s 10.4 Rog makes the latter: reinterpretations of songs that don’t necessarily improve on the original source material, but build upon it.
Mash Hall’s Janae Jones and BlesOne already sounded like they were close to bedtime on “Sleeping With a Ghost.” 10.4 Rog’s invention puts them in full rapid eye movement, however, drenching their vocals in echo-y synth and hand claps. Click here for the download link.
Rog already has an album’s worth of compositions. Check for those, here. Like a utility player on a baseball field, however, he doesn’t seem to have a true position in any particular genre. It will be exciting to see what an Official 10.4 Rog Album sounds like.
DOWNLOAD: “Fade Out” (SuperFire)
It’s generally a surprise when something in the 206UP.COM inbox turns out to be half decent. Nine times out of ten, the random emails I open are like the seven o’clock time slot on KUBE 93: a complete waste of my time.
This group, SuperFire, hit me up a few days ago. As you can tell from the picture they sent, both dudes resemble freshmen at Western Washington University — I would know, I went there. So needless to say, when I saw their picture I was like, “Shahh…right!”
The two cuts they sent aren’t bad, however. The rhyming is on point and the beats are pleasing, if not a little derivative. As it is with most Town hip-hop acts, the jury’s still out on SuperFire, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a little blog shine.
Click here to download “Fade Out,” from the crew’s upcoming album, Off The Clock.
(Word to the wise, fellas: think about taking a new press photo.)
DOWNLOAD: “The Eighty4Fly Project” (Eighty4Fly)
The eight tracks on The Eighty4Fly Project are big, anthemic paeans to club life. In Eighty4Fly’s world, emcees get dissed and their girls get scooped on the regular. Sometimes he sounds like Drake, and sometimes he sounds like an emcee worth his weight in jewels. Either way, the sh-t’s undeniably catchy. Download for FREE below.
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And the video for the single “So Cool” (directed by Jon Augustavo):
DOWNLOAD: “Overdose” (Drake f/Choklate)
This is how I prefer my Drake: in small doses over mid-tempo, R&B-inflected grooves. The much-traveled “Love & Gunz” (produced by Tha Bizness) now sees the light of day with a new title (“Overdose”) and the lovely Choklate providing the majority of the emotional heft. Drake-onian style emo-rap is better with real singing talent to back it up. Click here for the download link.
DOWNLOAD: “Wishing on a Dream” (Avatar Young Blaze f/Isabella Du Graf)
This might be the most agreeable I’ve ever heard Avatar Young Blaze, whose relentless gangsta-isms become tedious over the course of his lengthy mixtapes (cop for free, here and here). On “Wishing on a Dream,” Av is downright amiable, however. You’d be on your best behavior too if jazz beauty Isabella Du Graf blessed your track with her honey-dipped vocals.
The bottom line, though, is everything works on this song. The production (courtesy New York-based Blastoff Productions) is tight and radio-friendly. Avatar sounds optimistic and agile, and Isabella adjusts her jazz inflections expertly. Click here for the download link. Russian Revolution Mixtape coming, soon.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 