I like this song right here. It’s Parker (of SOTA) and Sinseer rhyming over The Black Keys’ “Psychotic Girl”. Parker really finds his flow, Sinseer has mad personality, and The Black Keys further show their hip-hop influences. This sh*t belongs on BlakRoc. Somebody run ‘n tell Dame.
From Caffe Vita’s GIVE project, and directed by imagineer Chase Jarvis, comes this hyper-creative music vid for “Director’s Cut”, a track by electronic outfit Head Like a Kite and Saturday Knight-liver, Tilson.
Electro piano licks + Familiar breakbeat + Tilson’s addictive flow = A party-starting neck-breaker of the most danceable variety.
Check out Chase Jarvis’ blog entry here for a dope making-of write-up.
Unfortunately I’m stranded on Manhattan, so I wasn’t able to attend. (There could be worse places to be stranded, I know.)
Shout to the homie Stephan Gray for bringing unfortunate souls like me as close as possible to the MADness without physically being there. Peep the video:
Geo sounds right at home trading bars with KRS-One, Talib Kweli, and Buckshot on the track “Oh Really (Remix)” (click on the pic below for the DL link).
And why shouldn’t he? He’s probably the best rapper in the 206, and a track featuring those heavyweights deserves our very best.
Which reminds me, why doesn’t the Who’s The Best Rapper debate come up more often on the blogs? I’ll start it: Geologic, of Blue Scholars, is the BEST EMCEE IN SEATTLE. I know I’m not breaking any new ground with that statement, but we should at least be having the argument. Shouldn’t we? Who else is in the Top Five?
GMK’s Songs For Bloggers was proof positive that this young rapper is also a talented-beyond-his-years producer. In the same vein as Tay Sean, futuristic hip-hop with a funk bent is on the right track in Seattle as long as it stays in the hands of these two artists.
Listen to GMK’s new song, “Show You” (featuring Young Murph and Choice) here. The Golden Mic King has (temporarily?) relocated to California, and it shows. This track has Cali sunshine and beach sand all over it. A warm treat for those of us stuck in the doldrums of a Northwest (and Northeast) winter.
New Year’s Eve prediction #1: In 2010, hip-hop in Seattle will be ruled by two entities — rap veterans The Physics and the (relatively) new-school Cloud Nice collective. (Thig, Monk, and Justo just need to get that sophomore full-length out pronto to claim their spot!)
Tay Sean and company have already done an excellent job of keeping it moving with a series of free leak, mixtape, and EP drops, with no real prominent LP release. That will change in early 2010, with Helladope’s already highly-lauded Return to Planet Rock. There’s gotta be something in the air up on Beacon that’s causing all of this dopeness. (Come to think of it, the cause of the dopeness might actually be dope — but whatever.)
Cloud Nice is positioned to take over hip-hop in The Six with their brand of futuristic, highly-danceable northwest-coast g-funk. Tay Sean’s production is simple enough to appeal to the young kids, yet advanced and clever enough (musically that is) for older heads to appreciate. If TS were an NBA player, he’d be Chris Paul: playground flashiness combined with a heavy dose of old-school fundamentals.
Here’s the latest from CN’s Beacon Hill lookout, a brief six-track EP from Mister Mikey Nice called Chillin’ In the Future. Click on the album cover below for the DL link.
(A quick note on my download posts: one of my few rules for linking to these downloads is that I absolutely must listen to the material, preferably a minimum of two times, before I comment or post on it. I hold to this philosophy because the whole point of 206up.com is to provide thoughtful commentary and criticism on the music. And how can I do that if I haven’t actually heard the ish? Anyway, my point is, I’m trying not to get caught up with being the fastest blogger [I don’t have time for that anyway] or the most exclusive — though I do appreciate being included on artists’ email lists with the more venerable local bloggers. Anyway, that’s all. Just wanted to share.)
How many “How The Grynch Stole Christmas” jokes do you think homie has to put up with this time of year? A f*cking lot, I’m sure.
No matter, dude keeps dropping bombs. Especially this one, called “You’re On”, with production by P Smoov. (An abridged version was featured on Smoov’s Face Scrunchers mixtape.) I’m pretty sure P could mic up a bunch of yowling hyenas, put ’em on a track, and they’d still sound freaking great.
And another while we’re at it: This one’s called, “The Right Way.” More rapping about rapping from the G-man. Still sounds hella nice, though. And it’ll appear on Illmind’s forthcoming mixtape, Blaps Rhymes & Life. Big things, Grynch!
Yo, I can’t think of a better way to promote his new video for “Man Crush (No Homo)” than this sh*t Type came up with here:
By now, all you Seattle hip-hop aficionados already have your flyest club wear picked out for tonight (and tomorrow’s) Go! Machine sessions. (Let me guess: burgundy silk shirt, white loafers, black pleated dress slacks?)
You’re probably on your way to gettin’ scrubbed, mani’ed, pedi’ed, exfoliated, waxed, and whatever the hell else it is you kids do before trying to get laid, even as I type this.
As if you needed any more motivation to go, here are the flyers one last time:
And here are two more reasons (courtesy They Live!) as to why tonight and tomorrow will soon be remembered as The Best Nights of Your Sad and Sorry Little Lives:
Now…Go!
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 