A nice surprise in December was the 777 compilation from L.A.’s Hit+Run crew featuring a swath of the city’s most exciting beatmakers. Deep breath: Mono/Poly, Jeremiah Jae, Zeroh, Kutmah, Gonjasufi, J.Rocc, Dibia$e, Ras G, Gaslamp Killer, Computer Jay, and Knx. Come for the progressive beats, stay for the latent Jewishness — song titles include “The Synagogue” and “Beta Israel” and the latter is on some blunted klezmer shit. Yo, I think I just named Ras G’s next album.
My soundtrack to the frozen tundra of New York City this Winter was Philly rapper GrandeMarshall’s super sparse “Time” which will appear on his My Brother’s Keeper, My Son’s Teacher project dropping this Spring.
Not gonna lie, I’ve never paid much attention to Nocando, Open Mike Eagle, Busdriver, and their Los Angeles ilk. But their collective Hellfyre Club compilation Dorner vs. Tookie surprised me with one of my favorite tracks of last year. “Fabian Cortez” by Rheteric Ramirez and Nocando is a strange animal. The track has a creeping stillness to it and Rheteric and Nocan spit the goofiest shit-talk this side of Kool Keith. What you get is a psychedelic trip grounded by resounding Max B shout-outs.
In October, Coca-Cola commissioned fashion designer Darren Romanelli (DRx) to make “a capsule collection of pieced-together retro Coke clothing found at flea markets and in vintage stores around the world.” Still with me? They also tapped Alchemist to make this track to with it, in which Al flips vintage Coke jingles and in the process, shames every producer currently working. Here’s hoping that Alchemist gets more corporate gigs in 2014. FreeCreditReport.com could use some heat.
Details are scant on this gentleman’s SoundCloud page, so I asked him to tell me more about this track. His response:
‘spek
seent this bitch on okcupid ‘right,
her name was ralph. and I like that. bitch wita androgynous nam n shit ‘right.
she had this link on her page to some shit i never heard on heard island,
but i fux. so Im like fuckit am just show hoe what it is ‘right..
I recorded that shit straight off youtube and made this fucking thing
‘course I ended up making this with the rob way joint. cuz it was the only thing i could think of when i heard that link she had up. I fuck with rob. he ill
so I’s like listening to rob and like then I like just thought yo we ralph today. so I freak the rob shit. I’m a freak tho ho, ‘fuck yeah’ heard mountain. recorded myself speaking. that’s my real voice too. #nofilter
I make rob ralph
and i just sat the link she had on the beginning of the joint. made them shits one. procreation
now when I’m with the homies i be like goin to the bodega by the igloo palace’n shit and I be like, yo you ralph ho’? and my man tell me if he need some shit like a snickers ice cream or a bag of tea
ralph is when you got everything you need. see yo, you wanna be ralph but you are human and fallible forever in an ever changing eternal realm of eternal hunger. sharks swimmers 2014
and it just kind of went on like that. Then he said,
if you prefer a less colorful response that doesn’t come from my asshole, feel free to let me know
Shout out to rappers who aren’t friends with Gwyneth Paltrow. Don’t Drink The Kool Aid was one of my favorite rap albums of 2013 for its casual vibe. It’s like the kids banging on the desks grew up and got jobs, but kept the same fun, scrappy approach to rap but now with a worldly sense of humor and better beats. If you’re pressed for time, check out track 15, “Wootie” — I’m still parsing Cavalier’s verse three months later.
Baltimore beats: producer MoGiLLah serves a beat tape that veers from chaotic to smooth and back again with fresh ideas the whole way through. Shades of J Dilla. A personal favorite is “Sound Garden” which sparkles but cuts and loops on some hip-hop shit.
I struck SoundCloud gold when I found this. Producer Swarvy created a beautiful, chaotic beat for the Stones Throw Beat Battle, where aspiring producers make beats from preselected samples and share the results on the Stones Throw forums. “Shiver” is even more impressive when you consider that it stands out among dozens of beats made from the exact same source material. Hopefully the folks at Stones Throw have an ear on their forums.
I think I’ve finally figured out why I hate most indie rap videos: too many dudes. The video for “Never Too Much” by Tanya Morgan remedies this with the beautiful Nitty Scott, MC. And while it’s not the assfest that is Schoolboy Q’s “Collard Greens” (also a great video), “Never Too Much” is a good reminder that fun and irony are not mutually exclusive.
The keeper from the latest Flatbush Zombies album is “Club Soda” with Action Bronson where forgotten early 90s rap styles come out to play. It helps that the beat is the perfect crescendo to an underground rap concert.
