Co$$ (or Cashus King) is a rapper from South LA whose name first began to circulate last year alongside more well-known underground artists like Blu & Exile and Shawn Jackson. Since dropping his mixtape Tomorrow’s Yesterdayin February, Co$$ has begun to step out of his crew’s shadow and carve out a niche for himself on the West Coast. His debut album Before I Awoke, coming this Winter, features production from Exile, but is based around and a host of exotic unknowns from as far as Rotterdam and Finland.
ML: How would you describe your sound?
Co$$: As far as my style, I haven’t taken much influence from many artists. It might be subconsciously, like I’m rapping like artists but I just consciously don’t recognize it. I’m really doing me. It’s 100% me. One of my favorite lyricists is Ras Kass and another one is 2Pac and another one is Black Thought, but I don’t think I rap like any of those MCs. A lot of people say I sound like Ras Kass as far as my cadence. I don’t think I rap like him schematically or flow-wise.
ML: How would you describe your production? [AaronM] called it a “futuristic thump.” I called it a psychedelic-type sound.
Co$$: I was blessed to link with a producer out of Finland named Fonetik Simbol. He’s kind of like the Premo to my Guru, but when you hear my solo project, the foundation of it is going to be this production team out of Rotterdam called Spaceship Status. They’re really on some spacey-meets-Dr. Dre-spacey type shit. I don’t think I put too much of the Spaceship out there, so you guys haven’t gotten a taste of that sound, but you guys got a nice taste of the Fonetik sound, which is similar to the Spaceship sound. It’s kinda like eclectic in a way, but it can gel in with the commercial sound. Like they bang hard but they’re also very soulful. I’m big on soulful. Anyone that knows me as an artist will tell you that. I love soul samples, I love live-instrumentation, but then I like that West Coast flavor too. So I would describe it as a mixture of soul, what I call outer-space, and the West Coast, the G-funk vibe. My goal is to do the next project with Flying Lotus. I think he has the sound that I’m looking for. Or Exile. I’m supposed to do my next album with Exile
B.o.B. aka Bobby Ray plays a lovely acoustic version of “Yesterday” off his upcoming (fingers crossed) debut, The Adventures of B.O.B. I’m not crazy about a lot of the Bobby Ray stuff on the B.o.B. Vs. Bobby Ray mixtape, but I like this song a lot.
As a bonus, check out this great compilation of untagged B.o.B. joints that Shake at 2dopeboyz put together. Hopefully some of these will show up on his debut!
Sometimes tracks leak sporadically or on an artist’s whim. I don’t think that’s the case with “Killer.”
Major labels exercise the utmost scrutiny when it comes to a new artist’s image. Especially rappers. When Asher Roth joked about nappy-headed hoes, his people sent a sweeping apology to eskay. When Charles Hamilton’s credibility was nose-diving, his camp leaked a half-assed track with Crooked I (it didn’t help).
While Drake’s knee is getting national attention, his people are going to subtly remind the core audience that he’s still Jenny from the block. It’s a very calculated balancing act. Yes, he’s canoodling robo-wenches with Jamie Foxx and Kanye, but he’s also leaking a hot joint with Nipsey on his own blog. I imagine his people are also trying to distract some Internetters from his repackaging of 7 songs from his free mixtape as an EP. The EP is for the mass market who need something substantial on store shelves or on iTunes; the Nipsey track is for us.
Or maybe someone just got the thumbs up to let the track go and I’m just talking out of my ass.
I do like “Killer.” It’s like “Successful” without the whimpering pop stylings of Trey Songz.
My interest in Del The Funky Homosapien has waned recently, but his and Tame One’s banter on this track is great. The two trade metaphors and pop culture references over a paranoid beat. Off Del and Tame’s collaborative album Parallel Uni-Verses, dropping October 31.
Sene, along with the homie Co$$, is another underground West Coast rapper (originally from Brooklyn) from Blu’s camp. Blu’s production on here is a far cry from the dreary jazz-samples on his EP from February; it’s more upbeat and funky. Sene spits quick wordplay-enriched brag rap. Off the Transmitting Live mixtape dropping Tuesday.
It’s been 9 years since the last proper M.O.P. album but I’m happy to report that Mash Out’s latest, The Foundation, drops on September 14. Beats by Premo & DR Period, among others. Warriorz is my favourite album of the decade.
The Brown Bag AllStars drop the video for the joint ML premiered. The video was filmed at Fat Beats as the BBAS all work there. Cameos include Marco Polo, Homeboy Sandman and DJ Eclipse. Show some love for one of NYC’s greatest bastions of hip-hop.
Also, if you can stand the 90 degree weather, swing by tomorrow at 7 for a free performance by Fresh Daily, Tanya Morgan and Homeboy Sandman. Flyer after the jump.
