Metal Lungies

Jonwayne owes just as much to Koji Kondo as he does to the beat scene and not just for his surface level video game references. “King” is built on top of classic Nintendo boss level gloom. But not the boss fight itself — “King” summons the ominous tones of the dungeon/level that precedes the final showdown. Anyone who has played Ocarina of Time knows what I’m talking about. “King” will appear on The Death of Andrew EP, which drops October 25.

via Prefix

It’s hard to reconcile Freddie Gibbs’ far flung collaborations with the fact that he’s signed to Young Jeezy. Still, Gibbs is more than comfortable on the electronic track.

Black Milk isn’t the most compelling rapper, so it’s great to see him ceding those duties to the always Danny Brown on their new EP, who takes a more serious tone than he did on the wild and inebriated XXX.

Heart Failure was just a detour for New York rap torchbearer Torae. “That Raw” will appear on his new album For The Record, which drops November 1. For heads who still use payphones.

Download: Torae – That Raw (produced by Pete Rock)

via The Boombox

It doesn’t get more blasé than recording a song and casually posting it on Twitter moments later.

I remember rap.

Starlito’s newest mixtape Ultimate Warrior is a swirl of ambition, regret, and base desire. It’s more a mass of new material than a proper street album, but no less entrancing for it. The Nashville rapper is wildly charismatic and raps in lyrically dense bursts. Even when he adopts familiar topics – drug dealing sagas and misogynist romps – he sits on top of them and sneers at them. Or he transcends them by telling the stories with genuine feeling rather than going through the motions.

Ultimate Warrior starts with “#UW,” a title track for the hashtag age and a confrontational and cheeky introduction. Vitriolic peaks excuse the lack of a hook. Starlito raps from the back of his throat in a strangled croak that sounds like he’s about to throw up. The anticipative beat serves a hostile, outspoken loudmouth. “Antonio Montana” opens with Starlito reciting Scarface lesson number one, “Don’t underestimate the other guy’s greed,” before breaking into a cackle. He wavers between sardonic and aggressive throughout Ultimate Warrior.

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Every so often, I sleep on an extremely talented group. A.Dd+ appears to be one of those groups.

via A.Dd+

Huntsville rap is iridescent, but gritty; starry-eyed, but grounded; and always heavy on bass. It’s pretty much the only hip-hop scene worth getting excited about today. Family Ties came out this week, a new mixtape from O’Third, themselves a subset of great rappers and producers behind Huntsville’s relatively bigger names.

They’re much more grounded in today’s Southern rap sounds and tropes than their affiliate group G-Side. Money, weed, and bitches all make appearances. O’Third’s left turns aren’t as brazen — many of their songs wouldn’t be out of place on Def Jam release, except for the fact that they’re really good. The Auto-Tune verse on “Say My Girl” has no business on an underground mixtape, but it comes as naturally as the Hitchcockian beat on “DeBo.” Producers R.Dot, Snypa, and Bossman are in a league of their own and Monster, Zilla, DJ Cunta, and Mitch all command attention with authoritative performances. My only gripe is the line, “Killin’ ’em all like Auschwitz,” which is tasteless and offensive, even by hip-hop standards.

Still, Family Ties is a milestone in Huntsville’s winning streak and a contender for mixtape/album of the year. Believe the hype.

Despite all the exalting, ST and Yung Clova of G-Side are indeed rappers and they’re not above making horn dog sex anthems.

Download: G-Side – Hot Sex and Cold Wine (ft. Johnny Spanish) (produced by Block Beattaz)

via spin.com