Archive for the ‘Los Angeles’ tag
When I saw this new video on UGSMAG, purveyors of new hiphop media for those seeking refuge from the swag and trap stylings of the day, I rushed to the record shop and copped the album Dialogue. After listening through and blabbing to the homies about how dope the whole album is, I was surprised to find out that the album actually came out in 2009. I’m more than a little embarrassed for managing to sleep on Thavius Beck, cause the album is more creative and cutting edge than most of the hip hop I’ve heard for a minute.
“Go” and the rest of Dialogue speak to my love for lyricism. Beck’s rapid fire delivery kinda reminds of me of Living Legends Eligh, however unlike many dense rhymers he shares space with his epic, degenerate beats in a sonic dialogue that shatters the standard verse/bar formula. If I had to go into battle against an army of soulless terminators – this is what I would bump before facing my fate. A Mush records signee and certified Ableton guru, Beck boasts collaborations ranging from Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta, Saul Williams’, and 2MEX. I will be watching/hoping for some new face-mashing music from dude soon.
One of the brightest lights of the seemingly ever-bubbling Los Angeles hip hop scene is producer Swiff D. Though his main claim to national fame is his ongoing involvement with everyone’s favorite fresh hop ambassadors (that would be Pac Div), his resume is padded with production credits ranging from a who’s who of LA names to stylistic outliers like Jadakiss and Method Man.
But enough about the past! To celebrate the new year that is upon us, Mr. D is giving away his latest installment of instrumental bounce, aka the easy-t0-digest LaDDers. The FreEP comes with 15 tracks, the longest of which tops out at just over two and a half minutes, and many not cracking the 120 second mark. It’s a taste test sampler that will whet the appetites of mc’s looking for writing music, producers who are looking for inspiration, and fans who just enjoy good music in the chambers.
Full tracklist below the jump (be forewarned, it’s out of order from the list below…).
True students of the creative renaissance/legacy emerging from the Los Angeles hip hop underground of the mid 90’s should be no stranger to Alex Ocana a.k.a 2mex.
Originally part of a duo called Of Mexican Descent alongside fellow emcee Xololanxinco, 2mex is a distinguished alumnus of the Good Life Café in South Central Los Angeles. Between 92 and 98 the open mic at this Muslim health food cafe became a space where rigid lines of gender, race, and accepted forms of hip hop in LA were obliterated and transformed – as creativity, skills and style on the mic reigned supreme. Click here for the trailer of This is the Life, an amazing documentary on the Good Life Cafe.
2mex has gone on to make literally hundreds of tracks with anyone gutsy enough to grant him a a guest verse, gaining respect from starry-eyed backpackers to the Dogfather himself. Download this track “Deadhand Control” for freezy from the just released full-length My Fanbase Will Destroy You – featuring collabos with Murs, Busdriver, Ikey Owens of the Mars Volta and bunch of other cool people, available on Strange Famous.
Catch 2mex at on Nov.7th at Nectar with Free Moral Agents if you’re in the 206, otherwise check 2mex on tour.
Filthy. One of my favorite producers going is Los Angeles MPC wizard Exile. His album Radio is a certified classic in my book (yes, I have a book), and seeing him live with DJ Day was one of the more impressive shows I’ve been to. Having said all that, it’s delightful to find out that other folks feel the same way.
Pretty hot off the presses (as in yesterday), Exile, along with sonic purveyors Dirty Science, released an album of Radio remixes and unreleased cuts. And they are excellent. Amongst the remixers are LxNxM favorites Rhettmatic and Mr. Dibiase (me happy). Given the original album’s specificity (all samples came off L.A. radio) and the wide-ranging cast of characters involved with this project, the end result is something short of unified concept, and something beyond a simple collection.
The hits hit (Marco Polo goes hard!), though a couple of the remixes lose too much of the original without enough added value from the new artist involved. So it goes. This shit is heavy and you should get it. It’s free, dammit.
Tracklist after the jump.
One of my favorite beatsmiths going now is L.A. heavyweight Mr. Dibiase. I recently strolled over to his Soundcloud page, and found a clutch of new tracks he put up a few days ago for the streamings. Lots of good stuff, but here are my favorites. If only they were downloadable (cough cough, hint, cough).
Also, check the previous post I put about him to get the full sludge mix – and yes, that’s a good thing.
Hot spit from Mister Los Angeles himself, Dam Funk. Here’s a new video for Mirrors off the new album Toeachizown, and it’s a burner. Dam Funk never brings less than the real business, and he’s going extra with this one. Enjoy!
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.905669&w=425&h=350&fv=mediaId%3D24e81c34de8747798514ad87f5e4b98e%26playerForm%3D88a26316a62d4655a806dda0da4e95ca%26%3Dtrue]
Some music is just plain dirty. And the music made by Los Angelinos the Hawthorne Headhunters fits squarely, heavily, filthily under that category. I could talk about the whole crew all day, but I want to get into some more specifics around one member of the crew, Proh Mic. Proh’s an old Seattle head who migrated down the coast some years ago. I came across Hawthorne Headhunters before I knew he was involved, and when I found that out, well damn, that just about made my day. Apparently the sun’s treating dude right, because he has blossomed into something beastly in the music department.
In addition to his HH production, Proh Mic’s dropping free monthly mixtapes off his myspace, Volume 5 of which has been on repeat all day. You should download that right now, and I’ve thrown up the link for the Hawthorne Headhunters’ podcast for the HVW8 crew. Get that ish now, it’s for real.
