The most recent drop in Dyme Def’s Pay Day series. Brainstorm, SEV and Fearce Villain show their versatility, steeping an understated melody and beat in a concoction of deft lyricism. It’s become clear this crew can basically do anything they want, from straight-up party music to hood-conscious philosophy. Dyme Def is making it impossible for bloggers to put them in a box. And that’s a damn good thing.
Taking a cue from Yeezy’s G.O.O.D. Friday series, Dyme Def brings you its Pay Day drops. Look for a new single and/or video from Dyme Def every two weeks. Now if the three bad brothas would just add 206UP.COM to their press list so I can stop mooching 2DopeBoyz…
(Oh yeah, there’s a bonus track from Brainstorm below, “On My Job,” an outtake from the forthcoming producer/emcee’s Celestine Prophecy.)
Hit Play to hear “Hardcore” by Dyme Def (prod. Kuddie Fresh). Get it at 2DopeBoyz, here.
Click Play to listen to “2Step” by Dyme Def. Click this thing right here for the download.
Press Play to hear “On My Job” by Brainstorm (prod. Marcus D). Get it here.
The Blue EP is a promising 5-track freebie from 4-2-5 rapper Akrish (“Real name, no gimmicks,” as Obie Trice says). All songs are produced by Brainstorm with guest bars courtesy Spaceman, Grynch, Chev, and Tunji, among others.
The highlight here is “Let’s Talk” a certified Grade-A Banger of a posse cut that Ak, Space and Brain rip into like starved lions. (Is that a Queen sample I hear?) Click below and get hip before everyone else does.
Click image for D/L link
Brainstorm, Dyme Def’s sensitive sh-t talker, goes out of his way to say “Thank you,” to the fans and “F-ck you,” to the haters. With so many free drops, the Renton homie seems to be on his restless grind these days.
Well, we all know Dyme Def’s upcoming Sex Tape is geared toward the ladies. “Do Something” is proof positive of that. The beat is hella thick and Brain has really never sounded better, going double-time all over Bean One’s chunky grind.
Click below to download:
…The Six puts in its two cents over the Drake beat (click on the photo to download at 2dopeboyz):
Best versus are by Spaceman and Grynch. The more I hear Space the more I like him — dude just has so much personality on the mic. The King of Ballard goes double-time here, ala Eminem — don’t think I’ve ever heard him do that, but it’s pretty f*cking filthy.
Have you seen Brainstorm’s Twitter feeds lately? Sounds like dude is working hard and wants to commit mic murder on wack-ass rappers. Typical. Dyme Def have never been ones to shy away from confrontations on wax, even if their primary targets are usually said ambiguous wack-asses. To their beef credit, though, Brain might be the only emcee from the young 206 crop to officially tell Mix to stop reppin’ Seattle (see: “I’m That Guy” off Space Music; also see Wikipedia entry: “Irrelevant Rap Beefs”). Anywaaaay…
…Brain leaked this yesterday to the Twittersphere. It’s him rapping over Rick Ross’ “Mafia Music”. No beat is safe, indeed. Looking forward to the next Dyme Def EP, Sex Tape, to keep us warm this winter.
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Uhh, yeah, this one threw me off just a tad. Take a listen and tell me what’chu think. It’s a song called “One Time” by a lil’ Canadian pop singer named Justin Bieber (top) and featuring Renton’s finest, Brainstorm.
Here’s the download and here’s the (ridiculous) video — sans Brain, thank heavens.
Is it a mixtape remix? A child star’s pre-meditated attempt at capturing street-cred? A possible career-turn for Brainstorm? I remain skeptical, but I’m giving B the benefit of the doubt here. (The kid is down with Usher after all, so you can’t really hate…Can you?)
(WARNING: Under no circumstance should you listen to this song more than twice in a row, as it’s grade-A certifiable kiddie-pop crack and the hook will get stuck in your brain [ha!]. You’ve been warned.)
Here’s a post from today by Andrew Matson (music columnist for the Seattle Times), our faithful voice of realness in the too-often watered-down mainstream media (props to Andrew!). I would second everything he said in his blog entry — the Seattle hip-hop scene is blowing up like Saint Helens in 1980!
(Someone needs to sample the corny intro song to this video. We need an official Seattle anthem. You can’t tell me Marcus D couldn’t flip that folk song into a slapper worthy of a beat battle showdown!)
This blog is still in its infancy (I just started it the first week in July). Its creation was borne from a desire to write critically and thoughtfully about hip-hop and I purposely limited its scope strictly to Seattle because the task of keeping a blog that addressed hip-hop across the nation was absolutely daunting to me. (Not to mention virtually impossible for one person working a normal nine-to-five and attempting to maintain any semblance of a life outside the Interwebs — I don’t know how Shake and Meka over at 2DOPEBOYZ do it, but they hold it down admirably!) The point is, I’m quickly realizing that with the local scene blowing up, it’s hard even keeping pace on a website that’s limited to just our town!
Like A-Mats said, it’s not just an overwhelming quantity of music, but quality, too. Not even five years ago was there a movement this firmly-rooted in The Town. In the last two and-a-half years Seattle hip-hop has blown-up like Bret Boone’s biceps in 2001. It’s like an evergreen tree on PEDs, with a strong root system, a sturdy trunk, and new branches sprouting out every which-way.
There’s even an established hierarchy — though always unspoken. The most revered and respected artists know who they are and the fans who pay close attention can identify who’s got the National Juice by the rumored record deals, the national connects, the outsourced distribution, etc., etc.
Right now, though, it’s such a love-fest that no one’s beefin’ (all you gotta do is follow the rappers’ gabbing on Twitter to see that — it’s like a virtual fraternity house on there, for real).
Likewise, nearly everyone’s write-ups in The Stranger and Seattle Weekly are favorable. Critics don’t want to offend anyone. You’ve got local venues taking cues from their investment bankers: “Diversify your hip-hop, yo!” Fresh Espresso is sharing the stage with Dyme Def on one night, while Thee Satisfaction and Fatal Lucciauno share it on another. Like I said in a previous post, everyone is eating at the same table. And (thankfully) we’ve certainly not reached a Tipping Point, where the community starts to fragment itself into cliques. This happens in other cities — granted, in ones that are usually larger than our modest hamlet. Here’s hoping it doesn’t occur in Seattle.
For now, I say we continue to enjoy ourselves. I’m still gonna bump my favorite artists faithfully. And probably offer some unfair (?) criticism of others that I don’t favor. I suppose we should all take a cue from Brainstorm and “rock out with (our) cock(s) out!” as he recommends in “I’m Gone.” (But only figuratively, please. We don’t want this to turn into a Mad Rad concert…)
The annual Red Bull Big Tune beat battle is happening at the War Room this Friday (8/31).
For those not in the know, this competition is an opportunity for local hip-hop producers to show off their banging-est sh*t in head-to-head competitions, a format somewhat resembling Jamaican dubplate battles. The producers are pitted against each other March Madness bracket-style and the winner is determined by audience reaction.
Last year, Brainstorm won the local competition and went on to compete nationally in New York City. In ’07, Sabzi took the local crown. It’s fun to watch not just because the producers, in an effort to win over the crowd, totally act the fool onstage, but also because it’s a little mini-preview of beats that you might hear on record later. Go check it out and root for this guy (I’m biased, and I don’t care).
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 