OnlyOne rips a scathing social commentary over a six minute production from Smoke M2D6. Most of the lyricism deals with the police and their brutality in the Black Community. It’s an interesting take from a person outside the racial context but he hits everything like hammer to nail. He also does it with the typical flair that Only has become known for.
Single You Out: Venomous2000 & Trilian – Products Of The Environment (ft. Shabaam Sahdeeq & Cella Dwellas)
Venomous2000 and Trilian just released a new album entitled The Great Ones, and let me tell you…it’s impressive! This is easily my favorite project from Venomous. His style over Trillion’s production seems so seamless. Enjoy this track!
Single You Out: Revalation – Justice For Justin (prod. by Juno)
Sometimes music just has to be a vehicle for our emotions and that’s what we have here from Revalation. This was song was admittedly one of the hardest for Rev to write as he reflected upon his cousin’s recent violent death. It’s passionate and personal and if you can’t feel this then you are just plain numb.
If you are interested in making a contribution to assist the family with funeral expenses. There is a GoFundMe page up.
Single You Out: M-Dot – Chrissy (prod. Buckwild)
Can you feel the excitement? It’s in the air my friends! M-Dot is set to drop his long awaited album, Ego and the Enemy, on January 27th. Chrissy is the 4th single from the project and showcase M-Dot’s ability to narrate a tale over some riveting production from Buckwild.
You can feel the depravity and hopelessness as M-Dot weaves his tale of a girl straying off the beaten path into a sick and twisted world.
Single You Out: Nino Bless – Neo Genesis (MK Ultra Pt. 2) (ft. Souljah Bless)
Nino Bless is back and bringing lyrical fury back to your eardrums. This guy must stay amassing verses for these 6 minute + tracks. I mean he piles bars upon bars and not just simplistic material. His rhymes have a certain density to them.
Single You Out: Illmaculate – Cupid (ft. ePP) (prod. Calvin Valentine)
Illmaculate and Calvin Valentine have really outdone themselves with their latest project, The Red Tape. The way Valentine weaves the boom-bap around select Otis Redding samples is simple breathtaking. Illmaculate continues to show elite skill level on the microphone. He truly is a master of the art and a complete emcee.
The track Cupid is my personal favorite off the album. The subject matter is that of making our relationships stronger. Both Illmac and ePP aim their discourse at taking their imperfections and making stronger bonds. The chorus is also super smooth.
Definitely show some love for this project and put forth a few coffers for the download!
Single You Out: Cayoz – Valley Of The Kings (ft Ill Conscious, Raf Almighty & Bamboo) (Prod O*Zee)
Cayoz delivers us another heater with an assortment of ill emcees. It’s a unique blending of Baltimore styles with Ill Conscious, Raf Almighty, and Bamboo each spitting some ill sixteens. Its actually these diverse stylings that make this track all the more interesting. We’ll, that and the underutilized OZee’s production.
Single You Out: M-Dot – Days Are The Same (prod. Hi-Tek)
This is by my count the third single from M-Dot’s forthcoming project, egO anD The eneMy. And as of right now, this is my favorite track out of bunch of great songs. Days Are All The Same features some absolutely brilliant production from Hi-Tek. The integration of the “organ feel” and that killer sample usage is simply brilliant. M-Dot knows what to do with a beat like this. He narrates tales where each day is a grind and a repetition of the last. We are slaves to convention and the monotony of it all. Struggling to keep up with the Joneses.
Single Yout Out: C-Rayz Walz – The Sound Of Guns (ft. Echo 1 x Dro Pesci x Oktober Zero)
C-Rayz Walz, independent hip hop artist, and legend if you ask me, has a new project out, Bad Fame: Music To Run With. The project dropped a few days ago, and it’s really dope. But in particular I am enamored with this J-Scrilla produced gem that features, Echo 1, Dro Pesci, and Oktober Zero. It’s just a banging track and that snaking sample Scrilla uses is sooooo on-point!
Single You Out: The AbSoulJah – Normally
If you follow the site, then you know we rep a few artists pretty hard due to their consistency in dropping gems. The AbSoulJah is one such artist. If there was one artist that I thought typified that NYC Golden Era sound, it would be Ab. The way he spits. The production he uses. They both smack of that vintage boom-bap.
With that being said, Ab and producer Alf (yeah I’m not sure about the name), dropped a new project around Thanksgiving entitled, RealCore. You should hear what I am hearing if you give the album a spin.
Here’s some flavor from the album, Normally.
Hip Hop Dependency 