Click album cover to purchase at iTunes.
KnowMads dropped their latest album today, The KnewBook. Go here to cop. The LP is heavy on features like out-of-towners Ras Kass and Smoke DZA, and in-towners Sol, Chev and La. Your dude hasn’t listened yet, but it’s up next on the playlist.
La
Ocean Howell
Self-Released; 2012
Score: RECOMMENDED
The rapper La was party to 2010’s Gravity, the best Seattle-area hip-hop album of the last five years. (It’s imperative to mention Def Dee’s outstanding production work on the project, too.) Since that release, La’s output has been consistently excellent. Roll With The Winners was the gritty, aggressive portrait of an artist rhyming to eat, and SEALAB 2012 saw the MC take a slightly more eased back approach to his mic tactics.
Enter Ocean Howell, a free (for now) nine-track album featuring production entirely by Olee. La has employed the compositional talents of a single producer on all four of his projects, a strategy that creates much needed album identity and continuity, and one I wish more rappers would practice. The title of the album (and every track on it) references skateboarders which is an ode to the MC’s beloved childhood pastime. The subject matter in La’s lyrics, however, doesn’t directly correlate.
Ocean finds the rapper again talking his glorious trademark shit, executing deft turns of phrase and increasingly clever ways of putting lesser rappers in their places. There are also familiar references to the man’s difficult past and hopefulness for a better future. And of course the requisite weed raps. La sounds focused and motivated, executing his natural abilities over Olee’s Golden Era beats which are tastefully adorned with soul- and disco-inflected samples. Highlights include the saxophone-laced “Kareem Campbell” and “Pepe Martinez” (featuring State Of The Artist’s Thaddeus David), which matches a harried fire alarm sound effect with La’s fierce (albeit offensive) disses.
(An aside: the MC has started to regularly use the N-word on this album which, to my knowledge, is the first time he’s used the racial signifier on wax — though I have heard him drop it in battles. I took to email to ask La why he chose to use the word and his answer revealed a difficult and complicated relationship to the term, but no less academic reasoning than what we might expect from so-called “higher” authorities. I think all non-white folks are entitled to their respective opinions on the use of the N-word and mine certainly differs from La’s, but I can assure you his judgment is neither flippant nor casual.)
In this blogger’s estimation, the quality of Ocean Howell slides in somewhere between Roll With The Winners and SEALAB, the focus of La’s rhymes settling into a nimble balance of traditional battle rap and real-talk societal observations. Past releases may have found him more amiable (see: Gravity) and rawer (Winners) in nature, but never before has the MC sounded more comfortable or on point. Hearing La pick a beat apart with the cold precision of a brain surgeon has become one of Seattle rap’s greatest pleasures.
Some content on this page was disabled on November 28, 2017 as a result of a DMCA takedown notice from Rebecca Wang. You can learn more about the DMCA here:
Click image to D/L.
“Kareem Campbell” is the first drop from La’s new EP, Ocean Howell, which you can find floating around the internets tomorrow (2.21.12). It’s produced entirely by Olee and is based loosely around skateboarding as the MC reveals in this Seattle Weekly article. “KC” finds La talking his glorious trademark shit over an easy saxophone-laced groove.
Click album cover for Bandcamp link.
Check the preview video for SEALAB 2012 (officially dropping tomorrow). This album marks La’s third time out with his third different producer. Jester gets behind the boards for a full 12 tracks this time, lacing the MC with sample-heavy joints that are less aggressive than Roll With the Winners but more contemporary than Gravity. The title of the album references the eponymous cartoon series from the early 1970’s and the Adult Swim redux from 2000.
La is still a problem on the mic, his metaphors and boasts sticking to the beats like darts on corkboard, but LAB is definitely the weakest of his three LP’s. It’s become clear that La can outpace the majority of Town rappers and it’s this blogger’s belief that dude can rhyme about anything and make it sound interesting. For the duration of LAB, however, La concerns himself mostly with two things: weed and sex. And, while this may have been the point, it doesn’t mean it’s as engaging as his previous albums.
The other issue is with Jester’s production. What made Winners such a dynamic listen was the jab-hook-uppercut combination of La’s all-out rhyming-like-his-life-depended-on-it steez and Blu-Ray’s throwback sample slap. Jester’s beats often lack the same authority. Not to say there aren’t highlights: “Dutches” and “Magnums” feature heady, hazy synth and both tracks refreshingly stand apart from anything found in La’s back catalog. And “Goods” is the most radio-ready the MC has ever sounded with a track that pops along in the same mode as Biggie’s “Juicy.”
The other notable aspect of LAB is the presence of some fairly heavy-hitting cameos. I won’t ruin the surprise in advance of the album’s release, but I will say “Diamonds” is a triumphant posse cut that features two of La’s prominent brothers in both rhyme and ethnicity. It’s dope to see accomplished MC’s co-sign for La on his own album, but the greater testament is the fact that their presence isn’t (and never was) necessary to affirm his skills. On his way to local rap stardom, La has held his own consistently. With a few adjustments on the next go-round, his star will grow even brighter.
Click image to D/L.
“Exhibit L” is the final leak off La’s upcoming SEALAB 2012, his full-length collab with producer Jester. La spits autobiographical with razor sharp wit on this track. Based on the two previous drops from LAB, it sounds like the MC has eased his foot up off competing rappers’ necks a bit since last year’s rancorous Roll With The Winners. Dude has a wide array of moods but his flow never seems to suffer when switching between ’em.
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 image to D/L the track.
“This a fly love song…” to weed. The first advanced drop from La’s third album, SEALAB 2012. The technically proficient Filipino MC gets better on every track he drops. Zelot on the guest vocals, Jester on the beat.
Click image to D/L.
Producer Def Dee is one half of the hive mind responsible for 2010’s Gravity (the other half is the emcee La), a 2-0-6 handbook for Golden Era revivalists if there ever was one. 206UP.COM has sung the praises of the album enough already so I’ll say no more here.
Def’s new beat tape, Cheap Heat (available for the price of three clicks, here), is inspired by beat-centric instrumental collections of the same ilk. Beat tapes by bedroom producers with grand aspirations flow in and out of the 206UP.COM Inbox like tributaries into Lake Washington, which is to say there are many in existence, but few worthy of spending much time navigating. Cheap Heat is most definitely one of the latter.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
Def is clearly inspired by complex layers of rhythm and sound. His beats on this compilation ride the same rail as the other great metronomic minds — J Dilla, Madlib, Premier, and Seattle’s own Jake One and Sabzi, to name a few — which places him in very lofty company.
When separating the real hip-hop producers from the fake, the devil is often in the details, which Def’s beats have in spades. Subtle inflections in tone, well-placed breaks in the rhythm, and the effective interspersion of sound effects so as to add and not distract from the track’s overall vibe, are key. We’re talking about “smart” beat-making here which, judging by Cheap Heat‘s 29 tracks, is what Def Dee does.
Unfortunately, Seattle doesn’t know a whole lot about the producer — though his beats are grade A quality, his name is generally absent from the production credits of The Town’s “major” releases. So after Def hit up 206UP.COM with a download link to Cheap Heat, I hit him back with a few journalistic shots of my own and he was generous enough to agree to a brief interview.
First off, tell the readers a little bit about yourself. How old are you? Where did you grow up? What part of the city do you now call home?
My name is Dom but most people call me Def or Dee…surprisingly. I’m 21 years of age and was born in Seattle. When I was two my fam and I moved to the eastside where I lived for about 12 years or so. My Mom and I then moved to Oahu and I got to live in paradise for about a year and a half. Then In my junior year I moved back to Seattle to live with my Padre and been here since.
As a toddler I was up around the Madison Park/Central area so that definitely feels like home even though I was just a little guy. I been up by UW for the past few years so I suppose I’d call that home. But I think Seattle in general is home for me, I feel like anywhere I go in the town is home for the most part.
How did it come about that you started making beats?
Well, I first started DJ’ing before I thought about making beats. I got my first set of tables in the summer of sixth grade and just got obsessed over the fact that I could control and play/alter the music I listened to on a daily basis. So at that point I knew this was something I was gonna be doing for a long time. I had been put on to a lot of classic hip-hop records when I got the tables as well as soul/jazz/funk records from my mom and dad. My boy Pat Obrien-Smith started me off with Heltah Skeltah and Lord Finesse. I mixed and beat-juggled those two joints for like the first year I had the tables, haha. But I think the tables with the combination of records ranging from hip-hop to jazz to soul helped shape the way I think about hip-hop music. I got to study for a long period of time to know what I liked and disliked in songs and how I might be able to contribute to the culture. That’s when I felt I had to take it a different direction and start making my own music.
Your sound is clearly influenced by NYC boom-bap of the Golden Era. I hear J. Dilla and Madlib influences in Cheap Heat, but name some other artists that you listen to and who inform your style. Name one or two musicians/producers that you dig that might surprise folks.
I mean, the Golden Era was the shit I was listening to growing up and apparently I never grew out of it. I feel like the overall vibe and feelings you get from music today is a lot different than that of the music back when. Not saying “Golden Era this, Golden Era that” — it’s just a certain emotion I think that the time provoked that’s missing today.
Dilla, Madlib, Preemo, Pete, RZA, Supa Dave West, Jake One, Vita, Nottz, 9th, Alchemist, are definitely the usual suspects for me and a lot of other producers out there and I definitely take inspiration from them on a daily basis. I can’t forget my mans Damu the Fudgemunk out of D.C.!
As for something that might surprise folks? I mean, Boney James got hits…haha!
What type of equipment or software do you primarily use to make your beats?
The equip I use is my MPC 2000xl, mixing board/hard disk recorder, Technics, a synth that I bought for 50 bucks off ebay and a few old Casio keyboards, not to mention the records. That’s it for now.
How did you connect with Language Arts (now known as, La) for Gravity? How’d the creation of that album come about exactly?
I connected with La (pronounced Lah for those who still call him L.A.) through the dude Ronnie, aka One-Eighty. I was trying to put together a mixtape with artists from the town to get on my beats and La was the first dude I stepped to. I heard him on a DJ Premier beat and a Dilla beat and I was like, “Yo…this is the emcee I been looking for.” So I got his number from Ron, if I remember correctly. I gave him a CD with 24 joints on it, and he just told me, “Lets make an album.” That’s when Gravity took its first baby steps back in ’07.
What’s your general take on the SEA hip-hop scene? In your opinion, does it have a particular sound or style and if so, how do you think your sound fits into that? What specific SEA groups or crews are you feeling?
In my opinion, Seattle definitely has its own sound and style. If you go from Blue Scholars to Macklemore to Grynch to Sol to other local heads I do feel like there’s a reccurring theme/sound that a lot of people can relate to, which is dope because there has been a big following in the past few years, locally, which I feel is necessary first before we expect to blow up nationally as a city with dope music. As far as my music fitting in with that sound, I do feel my stuff takes a different direction but I hope I’m still recognized as a Seattle head with Seattle music.
What upcoming projects can folks look forward to?
You can definitely expect a lot more releases from me soon. I’m trying to put out as much material as possible before the world ends in 2012…just joking. But seriously though…Gravity 2 is something I’m trying to get rolling with La, and a 96 (Pickup) tape with the people I consider my fam. Few know what 96 is about and what we plan to do for the town but hopefully it’s something that will be recognized in the coming year. (And) a few more beat tapes I’m planning on releasing before 2012.
PEACE to 206UP.COM for taking the time to do this interview! Keep supporting that good music!
Click image for D/L link.
A new joint from the team that brought you Gravity, 206UP.COM’s best SEA hip-hop album of 2010. Def Dee and La back on their grind with, “Magic” — more of that “Golden Age with a twist.” Under-appreciated local cat Chev on the guest bars. SEALAB 2012 dropping soon from La.
Press Play to hear “Magic.” Click here to get it.
Click image to listen.
Grynch raps about his “Timeless” style on his new track of the same name from the forthcoming EP of, well, also the same name. The smoothed-out, keys-heavy joint also features Jon Hope and your rapper’s favorite rapper, La. Timeless is set to drop in early March.
Click here to listen at DJ Booth. Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can talk the homie out of a download-able version.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 