Prometheus Brown and Bambu are The Bar. They are on a West Coast tour. They have a new EP. Son of Barkada is a self-referential curio; an objet d’art for the Filipino community (and those desperately wanting to be down). Maybe, just maybe, if you’re on that Tyrese artwork, you too could be baptized in The Bar’s holy rap waters.
What’s good, Bay Area family? You’re probably already up on this, but coming up on Monday, September 1st is the region’s annual Hiero Day, featuring an outstanding lineup of hip-hop including (but not limited to) Seattle’s own Sol and The Bar (well, half of The Bar, anyway). Best of all, it’s FREE! #KeepHieroDayFree
The set-up for this video is not exciting but it don’t need to be because the rapping is fairly bananas. The Bar — and La and Kixxie Siete — are for the children.
Barkada is the answer to the question: “Can Prometheus Brown and Bambu just make an album of slick-ass fuckin’ raps over slappin’ beats?” The title track makes it so. Produced by 206 fixture Bean One and directed by Harry Clean of Detooz Films.
The closest thing Filipino rap has to conjoined twins, Prometheus Brown and Bambu present their latest work as The Bar. Barkada is the duo’s sophomore release on Beatrock Music. Full confession: I haven’t listened to it yet but I can tell by osmosis that it’s at least as good as their entertaining run of promo videos on Instagram. More words about Barkada to come.
The Bar’s new record, auspiciously titled Barkada, is set to drop tomorrow on Beatrock Music. Here’s a little preview then: the video for the duo’s “Coming (To America)”, directed by the always reliable DJ Nphared; the track was produced by The Physics’ in-house beatmaker Justo.
Also, the reference point:
The Bar’s Prometheus Brown and Bambu are featured on Power Struggle’s latest drop, “A Round For My Friends”. Nomi (frontman MC for PS) links fundamentally/organizationally with his Beatrock Music brethren. “Fight music ’til there’s nothing left to fight about,” raps Pro Brown. This is fist up, marching music.
Ah, Manny Pacquiao… To carry the weight of an entire embattled nation upon your shoulders is a burden I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. On the new track, “Manny”, The Bar (who is Prometheus Brown + Bambu) lament last year’s KO at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez, but are now likely celebrating last night’s victory over Brandon Rios. (I smell a follow-up track.) The Bar’s Barkada is out soon.
If Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis reunited to make a love song about books and then enlisted the rap stylings of two Filipino brothers this might be what they would come up with. Oh, and also if it were adapted into a sitcom set in the ’80s then you’d have this video. Whaaaaat…
(New The Bar album, Barkada, coming soon.)
Here’s the latest video treatment for The Bar’s “At It Again” off that Walk Into A Bar record you should already have by now. The story about this one via the crew’s YouTube:
Footage shot July 2011 in Honolulu, HI by Canh Solo, lost in a devastating hard drive crash, miraculously recovered in 2012, and edited by Prometheus Brown in one stoned night.
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