L*Roneous – Notes Of The Righteous Outlaw (2011)

Artist: L*Roneous

Album:  Notes Of The Righteous Outlaw

Source: Itunes

Tracklisting:

  1. The Notes (ft. DJ Cue) (Prod. By Gennessee)
  2. Outlaw (ft. Haze Of 40 Love) (Prod. By Miko)
  3. My Name (Prod. By Rick D)
  4. The Message (Prod. By Essence)
  5. Full Metal (ft. DJ Bizkid) ( Prod. By Russel Fong)
  6. Saks Piff Avenue (ft. Great Muta) (Prod. By Freshchuck)
  7. The Sound Of Color (ft. DJ Troubleman) (Prod. By Def-1)
  8. Happiness (ft. Gigio) (Prod. By Dren Doh)
  9. Gas (ft. Spank Pops) (Prod. By All_Key)
  10. Righteous (Prod. By Def-1)
  11. No Titulo (Prod. By Equal)
  12. Complexity (Prod. By Static Elastic)
  13. Ducking The Dogs (ft. Flight27) (Prod. By Static Elastic)
  14. Evrybody (ft. Subverse and Equipto) (Prod. By Cozmo)
  15. Beat Sing (Prod. By Scienz)
  16. Fade Away (Prod. By Russel Fong)

Note:

You need this in your life.  You need to listen to this release right now!  Is that direct enough?   This is one of those albums that has massive replay value.  I could listen to it again and again.  There are no weak tracks and there are certainly some bangers.  Lyrically, L*Roneous  has complex and sometimes abstract wordplay, with  a lot of message to back it up.

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Classified – Ups & Downs (Video)

Classified’s new album drops next week entitled, Handshakes & Middle Fingers.  This song will play the intro to that album so you can get the gist from where the man is coming from.  This man makes great music and some of the best videos in the last couple of years have come from his camp so please make sure you cop this album  ins support of what he does.  You can listen to the snippets now on Itunes.

Mohammad Dangerfield – Self-Titled (2011)

Artist: Mohammad Dangerfield

Album: Self-Titled

Source: Itunes

Tracklisting:

1. Express Intro
2. Mo Danger
3. Hero Sandwich
4. Deep Shadows
5. The Gospel
6. Rhyme Like No One
7. See You Again
8. Break Of Star feat. Immortal Technique
9. Mo Danger Intermission
10. Valley Of The Kings
11. Truly Yours feat. I.mpac
12. The BBQ Joint feat. Kendal
13. Generation Kill feat. Decora
14. One The Creep feat. Swave Sevah
15. Unredeemed
16. Wrek Center feat. Bad Sportt
17. Rodney Outro

Note:

I have always been a fan of Hasan Salaam.  His voice and message were always just raw and insightful.  I have the majority of his mixtapes so when I saw he had a new project with Rugged N Raw, I bought it on the strength of his reputation alone.   I didn’t even need to listen to it.  I knew it was going to be a dope project but what I didn’t really count on is how diverse it is.  I had always considered Hasan Salaam to be strictly a political activist on microphone but this project goes in a lot of different directions.

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King Mez x Khrysis – The King’s Khrysis

Artist: King Mez x Khrysis

Album: The King’s Khrysis

Source: DJ Booth

Tracklisting:

1. Reaching Out (Intro)
2. Nightmare
3. Shine
4. From The South (feat. Thee Tom Hardy, Sean Boog & DJ Flash)
5. Something’s Missing
6. The King’s Khrysis (feat. Phonte)

Note:

King Mez’s release last year, The Paraplegics, produced entirely by Commissioner Gordon, was one of the best releases in 2010.  I became an instant fan of King Mez and swore I would try and make sure I listened to all his releases from here on out.   And sure enough, King Mez does not disappoint me one bit on The King’s Khrysis.   He is backed by one of the most established producers in the game.  Khrysis is excellent on switching up production, giving the listener a different look/listen within the same song. Case in point is the first track, Reaching Out.

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Grynch – Timeless EP (2011)

Artist: Grynch

Album: Timeless EP

Source: DJ Booth

Tracklisting:

  1. So Long
  2. Timeless (ft. Jon Hope x La)
  3. All I Wanna Do (ft. Sol)
  4. Out Of Sight, On My Mind
  5. Randy The Ram
  6. Got Ya Numb (D-Sane Remix) (ft.  Wizdom)
  7. My Volvo (Sabzi Remix)

Notes:

I check for Grynch ever since I heard his first EP, Chemistry.  He’s got an above par flow and seems to work with dope producers.   The Timeless EP is probably his best effort to date and thus it was worth mentioning here.   I like the ‘chemistry’ (no  pun intended) with producer Jester.  Often times when an emcee works with just one producer on a project I find that the beats get stale.  That is not the case with Timeless.  There’s enough variation to make the whole EP very listenable.

If I have to pick standout tracks (which you know I will) I am going to go with  Timeless, Out Of Sight, On My Mind, Randy The Ram.  The vibe on all of these tracks is pretty mellow, but Jester uses different instrumentation to give each song a different vibe.

Timeless features the venerable Jon Hope who is really up there on my list of emcees to blow.   This guy hasn’t even come close to peaking so please watch out! Back on topic, Jester finds a very sonic back drop and then just enhances it with some piano and what sounds like guitar in some places.  I really feel the musical effort on this particular track.  Obviously, the emcees are putting something together that will stand the test of time and they use their verses to discern between the flash-in-the-pan emcees and themselves. Grynch says it s best:

…Look in the mirror, yeah you the flavor of the month / Years from now I’m trying to be a cat they saying they still bump….

Out Of Sight, On My Mind is an ode to the lady in your life that’s not where she should be: In your life.   Jester puts together a very engaging production that is layered in different sound.  He’s got some banging piano chords that drive the track.   Grynch details his feelings for a woman that is not around but he still feels that attachment.  Think of it as a love lost song without the sappiness.  I think most of us can appreciate a track about the one who got away, or went missing as the case may be.

Randy Ram is the joint for those of us who have ever considered  giving up on our dreams.  This is Grynch’s ode to making things happen and pursuing that elusive dream.  The title’s namesake is for Mikey Rourke’s  character in the award winning movie, The Wrestler.  A figure who only knew how to do one thing, and that was to entertain through wrestling.   Grynch isn’t trying to wind up disgraced like Randy The Ram.  He is trying to make moves and plans for his future doing what he loves.

It is a forgone conclusion.  Go download this EP and get acquainted with what Grynch is doing musically.  (Check out any of the links above to DL)  You can also check out his website to see videos and listen to previous releases.