Giiiiirl, I heard Chico was outta jail now. Mmm mmm mmm.
I know, girl. Have you seen him? I heard he doing his thing.
It’s true. Paper Route Recordz’ new artist Chico is fresh off six years in federal prison and yes, he doing his thing. The rap promo handbook says you should have some mixtape buzz and preferably an album or two out before you go to jail, but it’s all the same to us. “6 Year Grudge” is the perfect intro track; it bangs hard on the verses and then breaks into a calm, expectant hook. Instead of lashing out with six years of pent up energy, Chico offers a measured flow. The beat comes courtesy of PT Prime Time, the guy with the gun and the baseball bat in the “Wut Chu Lookin At” video.
Torae’s new mixtape Heart Failure is candy and flowers, not grenades and broken glass. But just because the Coney Island slugger is dropping a mixtape on Valentine’s Day with Honey Magazine, it doesn’t mean he’s gone soft. The heartthrob theme is way more interesting than another stale NY indie rapper promising a boom bap revival. And that cover is fucking hilarious. Just listen to the Khrysis-produced “Let It Go” and all your worries will be gone. It’s basically Tor’s take on “Doin It.”
This is Kanye and Jay-Z just having fun. It’s almost like Kanye needed a breather after spilling his soul on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Jay didn’t feeling like conceptualizing something as grand as “Empire State of Mind,” so they got a Lex Luger beat (for you sophisticates, that’s Waka Flocka’s right hand) and blacked out. You can tell Kanye is really enjoying himself as he brings out a casual vulgarity that he usually saves for guest verses (see the “Deuces” remix) and Jay raps faster than the mass audience is used to. It’s great to see rappers this huge throw something cool together without any artistic pontification or market research.
Hip-hop artists have a knack for creating brands around groups and labels. Examples include Wu-Tang, Bad Boy, Roc-A-Fella, G-Unit, and Young Money. These brands are usually built around a philosophy or lifestyle and its accompanying visual style and slang lexicon. On their new album The ONE…COHESIVE, Alabama duo G-Side illuminate the principles of their Slow Motion Soundz imprint.
According to their about page, Slow Motion Soundz is “an entertainment research and development company based out of Huntsville, Alabama.” Founders Codie G and Cory Parham avoid the word “label;” they prefer “incubator.” Slow Motion is at the forefront of Hunstville’s burgeoning hip-hop scene and ST 2 Lettaz and Yung Clova comprise SMS’ marquee group G-Side. The dominant tenet of the SMS philosophy is unity. The buzzwords repeated throughout The ONE…COHESIVE are “one” and “cohesive.” It was released on 1.1.11 at 1 AM.
Despite the spiritual wisdom, familiar underdog rap themes permeate Cohesive. Clova and 2 Lettaz fathom the countless places music will take them on “How Far” and they reject mainstream success in pursuit of riches on “No Radio.” “Came Up” chronicles the trials of the struggling artist (it also has a subtle Antoine Dodson reference: “Like the Lincoln Park rapist, I’m coming through your window.”)
Tracks are reinforced by glossy elephantine beats. G-Side’s inspirational overtures sound even more inspirational when set to shimmering production provided by Block Beattaz and A-Team. Even “Pictures,” a sex anthem, sounds like a brilliant proclamation. For the most part, the musicality on Cohesive is genuine, not self-indulgent; the violin on “Came Up” and the piano on “Y U Mad” are part of an aesthetic of elegance that’s supposed to parallel SMS’ refined approach to music.
Even though Cohesive is G-Side’s fourth album, it has the tenacity of a debut. Cohesive is 2011’s first great release, but some day, it might be the point of entry to some future legacy of the Huntsville/Slow Motion Soundz brand.
You might lose sight of all the shit Trae and Yela have seen while you’re marveling at how many words they can pack into each second. They exchange violent imagery in double time with the occasional boastful stab. Trae called Yelawolf about this song right before I interviewed Yela in November. Watch behind the scenes footage from the video shoot below.
There are precious few rappers out right now who can own a track like Freddie Gibbs. The guest verses on “O.G.” struggle to match the whirlwind flow on Freddie’s, but Burn One’s murderous beat keeps them afloat. The track appears on AshleyOutrageous.com’s The Playlist Vol. 2 mixtape.
