Metal Lungies

Although rappers giving themselves titles like “King of [insert geographic area here]” often appear overzealous, self-indulgent, and tend to cause more negativity than anything, there was a time when Xzibit could’ve been a contender for the Los Angeles “crown”. His guest spots on Snoop’s “Bitch Please” and Dre’s classic 2001, followed by his incredibly-dope Restless LP, brought mainstream attention to the man who had been L.A.’s best kept secret for 2 albums prior. On top of that, his affiliation with the Likwit Crew and the side project Golden State Warriors (with Ras Kass and Saafir) kept his local popularity strongly in tact.

Sadly, not much went well after that — none of his follow-ups matched the success of Restless, J-Ro dissed him (though that beef has since been squashed), Snoop dissed him (allegedly after X backed down from a confrontation with Suge Knight), and Pimp My Ride didn’t exactly work wonders for his rap career. In between all of this, he formed Strong Arm Steady with Cali undergroud vets Phil The Agony, Krondon and Mitchy Slick, but soon after the crew got signed to Talib Kweli’s Blacksmith Records, X split from the crew on peaceful terms.

Despite being abandoned by the face (and founder) of their group, the Steady gang has remained hard at work, and their debut album, Deep Hearted, is scheduled to drop August 28th on Nature Sounds. Similarly to how Snoop Dogg put together the groups War Zone (comprised of MC Eiht, Goldie Loc and Kam) and Western Union (comprised of Damani, Bad Lucc and Soopafly), Steady presents 3 talented West Coast rhymers, primarily solo artists, who are likelier to acheive greater success as a group. Agony, a long-time Likwit crew-affiliate, has a solo LP under his belt, ’04’s Aromatic, but the songs with guest appearances (among them Kweli, Raekwon and Planet Asia) were the album’s highlights. Krondon, whose West Coast slang-heavy rhymes and rough voice make him a bit of an acquired taste, has a number of dope 12″‘s out. I’ll admit that I haven’t heard much of San Diegoite San Diegoan San Diegan Mitchy Slick’s work, but he’s got a few independently-released albums out, and is currently the feature interview over at DubCNN.

The Rap Up has the hook up on Deep Hearted: The Sampler Mixtape, and, after the jump, check out some early and some more-recent material from SAS.

Download: Phil The Agony – “Blunted”

Download: Krondon – “James Worthee”

Download: Phil The Agony – “Back Up” featuring King Tee

Download: Phil The Agony – “The Opera” featuring Mitchy Slick (off Aromatic)

Download: Hi-Tek – “Money Don’t Make U Rich” featuring Strong Arm Steady (off ’06’s Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip)

Download: Strong Arm Steady – “One Step” featuring Talib Kweli (1st single off Deep Hearted)