From The Underground: Nico B.

26 Oct, 2008 From The Underground, Hip-Hop, Mixtape, Recommended, Video

I got an email a few days ago from Chicago emcee Nico B promoting this EP he put together. I don’t normally post stuff by people who don’t reach out to me directly, but this album is ill. Sabada Gigante is Nico’s tribute to salsa legend Hector Lavoe, produced entirely by DJ Noble. The beats are dope, all based around Lavoe samples, and Nico is pretty nice on the mic, although he does quote classic lyrics a bit excessively at times (lemonade was a popular drink in the 90s and apparently still is!) Can’t forget that fantastic album cover either.

I got into salsa pretty recently through the great Willie Colon compilation, A Man & His Music: The Player, and I’ve been wanting to flip salsa samples for a while. This EP is a breath of fresh air and very welcome on a shitty winter day, highly recommended. You can stream tracks off the tape at Nico’s MySpace too, if you’re not sold.