The Incomparable Shakespeare - Four Point oh

However you would like to define the genre, i've personally never been a huge fan of recent "Gangsta" rap. Rap is basically like poetry. Someone who consumes any form of poetry usually enjoys a written perspective of what they value, want or envy in life. Broads like greys anatomy quotes, some seem to really enjoy popping bottles, some use rap to express their political beliefs, and some go for the Adele route and just get real emotional. What ever your poison,  we all listen to rap because we connect with what the poet or rapper is talking about.

Well after being snubbed by Universal The Incomparable Shakespeare has moved on and decided to spit whats true to him and apparently thats something i'm way to familiar with... book learning. Four Point oh is a song about the trails and tribulations of Shakespeare's rap career thus far. As I watched this video I couldn't  help but compare him one of my favourite artists, Shad K. Although he is unique in his own right, theres not many talented artists out there that discuss the actual educational aspect of college life. Apparently its not all about having a time, some people leave university having advanced themselves intellectually... crazy concept.

K.Flay's still Coastin'

There's a type of artist that's been carving themselves quite the niche over these last few years. Female hip hop is typically not a genre that's exposed but that only leaves room for an artist like K.Flay to have her say. I first heard K.Flay on the classic Zion-I track "Coastin" that stayed on repeat for multiple seasons during my college career.

This post-Standford student handpicks her samples from popular indie tracks like a lot of other college rappers, but she also does her own thing, with her new album Eyes Wide Shut having a much more obscure feel than her past work. See below for a few examples of what she's been up to; with a track off her new ep, an older track she did sampling the XX's Crystalised, as well as a track of her with Grieves + Budo from the Rhymesayers crew. This girl's definitely been following the right line so far. 

K.Flay - Easy Fix


K.Flay - 2 Weak

Greives + Budo - Lost In The Sun (feat. K.Flay)

Album Review: Sol - "Yours Truly"

Hot damn Seattle just can't stop producing true hip-hop stars. Sol has been one of my favourite Seattle artists for some time now and he has just proved himself even more with his newest album Yours Truly. The man speaks some realness and chooses some true hip-hop head production every time. With the success of the previously leaked tracks "Stage Dive" and "2020" there was so much anticipation for this album and it did not disappoint. The man is one of the most versatile rappers in the game now-a-days as he can rock some solid stoner rap tracks but can also get real epic and emotional. I've been listening to Yours Truly on repeat for days and am having a hell of time choosing my favourites from the project. I haven't seen triple digits in my bank account in soo damn long and this was one album I actually purchased. The guitar riff on "Need Your Love" is absolutely intoxicating and is complimented perfectly by vocals from Ray Dalton. Over all the album is one of the best true hip-hop projects I've heard in a while and I would suggest saving up your pennies and purchasing "Yours Truly". You can grab a physical copy from http://solsays.com/  or the digi copy from Itunes.

Sol-Need Your Love featuring Ray Dalton

Hella Class Like a Bidet

You may or may not have noticed that I've been absent from the blog game for quite some time now. This is due to a tragic accident that involving an audio jack being broken off inside my macbook, thus rendering it audio-less for the foreseeable future. I actually completely dropped of the music world since Christmas and I'm just now starting to get back into things.
For my comeback post, I'm sharing the visuals for possibly my favourite song off of Blue Scholars' most recent album Cinematropolis, Seijun Suzuki. Despite my posting of songs for this album leading up to its release, I feel that Cinematropolis ended up being overlooked by a lot of people, even those that were fans of previous work by the Seattle MC-Producer team of Geo and Sabzi. I'm hoping this video can convince some of you sleepers. I would almost put Blue Scholars on the same level as The Black Keys when it comes to putting out entertaining videos and this one is no different.

Blue Scholars - Seijun Suzuki

Adventure Club - Do I See Color

The rising Canadian dubstep duo, Adventure Club, has decided it's time to show they're more than just a remix act, dropping a large original track a few days ago called Do I See Color. Recently famous for their remixes of Flight Facilities' Crave You and Metric's Collect Call, Adventure Club now shows their high energy dubstep can stand on its own. Subtle drops laced over top of that driving, fast paced beat, AC continues the pattern to not rely on big rises or falls for the passion in their music, but rather hooking you on the subtle intricies in between. Turn this one up, this group has momentum.

Adventure Club - Do I See Color

OCD: Moosh and Twist- The Vestibule

 Moosh and Twist are back at it with a new mix-tape called “The Vestibule”. They’ve always intrigued me as a group as they are two very mature 18 year olds one black one white. They usually have some pretty entertaining beats and although Twist looks like he should be working at Abercrombie the kid spits with some hard as fuck flow. Moosh on the other hand is the calmer of the two who I can’t really compare to anyone but I think that’s what I enjoy. Any ways, no more rambling … these are my two favorites from the mix-tape… enjoy

Moosh and Twist- Hold it Down 

Moosh and Twist- Street Lights 

Ground Up- Clutch

Ground up has consistently been producing quality hip-hop music since I heard them a couple of years ago. My theory behind their success is the fact that they are a complete group that includes a variety of both rappers and producers/DJ’s. This combo in rap groups is on point, as it ensures variety in their production and music in general, while still maintaining a consistent group sound. Ground Up's newest track “Clutch” is from their up coming mix-tape The Get Down which is sponsored by one of my favorite music sites GMAD. The song features an entertaining whistle oriented beat and some solid flow from each rapper, which has come to be expected from Ground up. I have recently found my self overwhelmed with the amount of solid music I have to blog and yet this song has still been on repeat. The video is also mad entertaining and has solved all my parking ticket woes, as they’ve established that all you have to do to get out of a ticket is get a child with a snapback to breakdance in front of those asshole ticket writers… who knew.  So until The Get Down comes out, have fun jamming this addictive track.

Tony Williams - Blazin High (feat. Wale, Emilio Rojas and Macklemore)

Recently I came across an absolute jam from a rapper named Tony Williams. Apparently he’s got a pretty gangster collection of friends, as his newest mix-tape is aptly titled Some of My Best Rappers are Friends. “Blazin High” features Wale, Emilio Rojas and Macklemore, which in its own is a crazy sick collection of hommies. The number one thing that bothers me about both Wale and Emilio is their production, which is usually a little to hood for my taste, but the instrumentals on this track are sick and if you listen closely you can here the background beat from Jay and Kanye’s hit “N*igga’s in Paris”.  Tony Williams doesn't rap on the track himself, but does sing a pretty nasty hook that is complemented at the same caliber by three verses from the rest of the crew. Get it below.

Tony Williams- Blazin High feat Wale, Emilio Rojas and Macklemore 

R3K's Approach to Remixes

The artist that's getting the most recognition for his remixes these last few days has been a DJ out of Boulder, Colorado named R3K, that's gone ahead and put his ubiquitous touch on some more popular hip hop tracks. Taking on the unique voices of Lil Wayne, Cudi and Wiz Khalifa, R3K does well to create interesting, smooth environments for select attributes of their sound to be further exposed. Pairing strong rappers with female vocalists, sampling Imogen Heap or Florence and the Machine, R3K subdues his remixes while still giving them that driving intensity. An intriguing approach that more and more of the hip hop sound seems to be moving towards. Contrast always makes things interesting.   

Kid Cudi - Falling Star (R3K Remix)

Lil Wayne - Fly By Night (R3K Remix)

Wiz Khalifa - Youngin on his grind (R3K Remix)

LiLa - 8 Bit Kid

This place has been a little quiet lately, which may be in part due to my lack of attendance. I moved more-downtown in Toronto and had to do the whole internet dance all over again, apparently they can't change that shit in a day's notice. It's all good now though and I'm going to use this as an excuse to post some music that is a few weeks old, but definitely still worth looking into if you didn't catch it. Starting with a track I heard about a month ago on the blog Sunset in the Rearview, this song has stuck around on my iTunes as a go to subway/traveling song. The lyrics match the almost autistic feeling that comes from the instrumentals, as the repetitive strings create an atmospheric nature that seems to take you in if you'll let it.

LiLa - 8 Bit Kid

2 AM Club Featuring Chiddy Bang - "Every Evening"

I've been listening to this song on repeat for days so I feel the need to share it with the vast fans of Straight Goods Music. I don't know much about this 2 AM club except that they are a 6 person band that features a vocalist Marc Griffin, Emcee Tyler Cordy and then a 4 person band. This Marc Griffin character has a dope voice and the instrumentals from the band are absolutely intoxicating. Both Chiddy and Tyler Cordy complement the beat perfectly with some smooth flow and solid lyrics. As we are currently enjoying some sunny January days here in Canada, this song provides the perfect background music as I stare out my window and pretend its summer time again... enjoy

2 AM Club - Every Evening (feat. Chiddy Bang)

Sammy Adams "Into the Wild" mix-tape

Sammy Adams has always intrigued me as an artist, but I often find my self defending him as a rapper to friends. For me Sammy is the definition of frat rap in its purest form. Does he have the most meaningful lyrics? obviously not, the kids in college living the god damn dream. The biggest decision of his week is if he wants to drink Pabst or some Old Milly’s. Sam’s Newest Mix-tape “Into The Wild” is a prime example of what I’ve always enjoyed about his frat rap sound. The man makes some damn good party jams like “Lost”, “Big Lights” and “Take The World” that I assume have frat houses around Americaland poppin off. Actually twitter has proven this, as there is a cult like following of college kids that adore the Boston native. His songs may not be meaningful or have more than 10 words in them but to many hip-hop fans or to those who black out 3 times a week he preaches the glory life that the youngens are currently living. But don’t get me wrong the man still has solid lyrical ability that is showcased in songs like “Thunderstorm”. So if your about to enjoy your first couple weeks back at school I strongly suggest you turn this shit to max volume and forget about the fact that your supposed to read at some point this semester. 

Sammy Adams- Big Lights 

Sammy Adams- Thunderstorm

Sammy Adams- Take the World 

Walk Off The Earth- Somebody That I Used To Know (Gotye Cover)

5 band members and one guitar. The original track by Gotye, posted here earlier by Surebuds, has absolutely blown up. It's got a hypnotic and haunting vibe that is like nothing I've heard in a while. And now we get a nice twist on the song brought to you by a local Canadian talent. Straight outta Burlington, Ontario, Walk Off The Earth's cover is receiving widespread recognition and has quickly become a youtube sensation. The view count went from 3,000 to 3 million almost overnight. This isn't even the first time we've seen the ol' "multiple people, one guitar" trick, but that takes nothing away from these guys. Oh, and blondey's voice is as sexy as she is. Enjoy.

Sleeping Giants - Not Another Teen Mixtape Preview

The remix of Rill Rill wasn’t the only thing that needed to be posted out of the SG mailbox. Sleeping Giants, the hiphop duo I post every now and then, have been making some major moves with their music lately. The duo is now a trio, adding featured artist Mary Zheng to the group, so you can look forward to hearing that haunting, real soul sound in their hooks permanently. To top this off, Sleeping Giants have their debut release, Not Another Teen Mixtape, in the oven and well on the way. Check the two tracks below that they linked over and keep your head up for the full release to drop shortly.

Sleeping Giants – Follow Me

Sleeping Giants – MNG

Rill Rill - Phi Unit Remix

Digging into the SG mailbox is always a good look when things are a little bleak in the general music world. Personally I think that Christmas makes for one of the worst times for music, with artists trying to include that spirit into their lyrics that won’t get played again once Dec 25th has passed. Rather than going that route, I’d rather listen to music that gets me in a good mood, but leaves out all the reference and religious overtone. Not that it doesn’t have a place, but when everyone tries to jump on something like that it seems too fake for me. That little rant takes me to Phi-Unit, a DJ out of New York that sent over his, (and my), interpretation of a good Christmas song he did some work to. Rill Rill is a song by Sleigh Bells that I posted a while ago with a Clique NewTrends remix to go along with it. Phi-Unit adds a little more hype than the other remix or original, but still keeps it light as it dashes onward. Check it below.

Sleigh Bells – Rill Rill (Phi-Unit Remix)
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill (Phi Unit Remix) FREE DOWNLOAD by Phi Unit

Sol - Stage Dive

For the past 2 years when people asked me who my favorite rappers are I’ve always had a couple of Seattle artists on my list. Sol is the one artist from the west coast that always flies under the radar. He’s got an amazing formula for making the best laid back hip-hop tracks in the game.

Hip hop today has obviously gone in a different direction, but thankfully for old-school hip hop heads like myself, artists like Sol and the rest of Seattle have been supplying me with some solid head bumping tracks. “Stage Dive” is his newest track and it is no disappointment. This is the first single from his 2012 album Yours Truly, So take a break from the liquor, get a little lifted and enjoy the lyrical mastermind that is Sol.

Sol- Stage Dive