Blog — Page 272 of 282

This hip-hop train just keeps on rolling.  And although I would like to think I’m fully on board, it feels more like I’m running beside it, trying to keep up, wondering what will happen if I take the proverbial leap of faith.  Will I catch this locomotive and ride it all way, or will I be left on my hands and knees, huffing and puffing as it roars on into the future without me?  Even if I caught on, it’s likely I’d lose my grip and end up crushed beneath its steamrolling speed and weight.  I am aware that hurling oneself towards a train, whether metaphorical or otherwise, is a bad idea, but here’s the thing: good decisions and I don’t exactly have a great relationship.  For example, if there’s a box of Girl Scout cookies sitting on the break room counter, instead of taking just one, I’ll grab five.  It’s this same tactic that fuels my consumption of rap music.  While the side effects may differ, I would surmise they are equally unhealthy when ingested in large quantities.  One will make you fat; the other will make you an asshole.  Seeing as how this column isn’t called Too Many Cookies, I’ll focus on the latter. 

In the New Mixtapes department…

Casey Veggies – Life Changes

At just 19 years old, Inglewood, CA’s Casey Veggies has already been rapping for five years—originally a founding member of Odd Future, he dipped out to pursue a solo career, citing a difference in creative direction.  While he still maintains a casual acquaintance with his old crew, Life Changes is definitely unlike any material coming out of the OFWGKTA camp. Although, it’s a tape, it’s structured more like a concept album.  The basic premise being, that when you’re 19, poised to (possibly) become really famous, your life, ah, changes—so the title is on point.  Unfortunately there’s nothing really outstanding about it.  I mean, it’s certainly paced well, and Casey is a worthy emcee, but it falls a little flat.  I wouldn’t necessarily call it soft, but it does lack the gut punch of more traditional rap music—perhaps the fault of the beat selection.  It’s more on the lush, vibrant side of things than the bangin’.  But to be fair, like Brother Ali, Skyzoo and to some extent, Kendrick Lamer, Veggies lands just outside my sphere of rap preference.

Gunplay – Cops & Robbers 

“Bet That,” the first song on Gunplay’s new tape Cops & Robbers starts off with the MMG loudmouth boasting, “I just beat a life sentence. Fuck ya!”  This is a guy that is fresh off of house arrest, mind you.  It’s clear Gunplay doesn’t give a fuck.  I mean, come on, dude has a swastika tattoo.  Like with past releases, his approach to tapes falls in line with the traditional template set forth in the days when they actually came on cassette or CD-Rs that you had to buy at the corner store or from the dude in the parking lot of A&J Fish & Chicken—he raps over second hand trap beats, the audio quality is poor, and it’s a collection of songs largely void of a thematic cohesiveness or album continuity.  The guy’s name is Gunplay and this is called Cops & Robbers, so there’s that type of thing going on in every song, but there was likely no real thought to how they are assembled.  It’s raw, ignorant, and completely unapologetic.  And, well, it’s pretty great actually.    

Pusha T – Wrath of Caine

Pusha T is undoubtedly commanding and imposing in his delivery—whether as half of the late great brotherly duo Clipse, or as a solo artist, he makes totally listenable rap songs—but goddamn if he doesn’t talk about the same thing all the time.  When you’re not banging your head to this, you’ll be screaming at your iPod, “We get it dude, you sold cocaine!”  Even when Pusha attempts to go the emo route, as he does several times on Wrath of Caine, he seemingly can only take it as far as the sentiments of a drug dealer.  It’s nice to know he has a conscious though.  This tape doesn’t really drum up much excitement for the upcoming album, which, if I’m not mistaken, is one the primary reasons pre-album mixtapes exist.   That’s not to say it isn’t fairly enjoyable.  I’m just saying that since this tape comes without a price point, it’s unlikely that people will pay for an album that’s probably going to just be more of the same.

SpaceGhostPurrp – B.M.W. EP

The first thing that must be addressed here is the blatantly misleading label, “EP.”  B.M.W.—which stands for Black Man’s Wealth—is 13 songs long.  Now that’s not terrible, considering some tapes can be twice as lengthy, but an EP is seven songs at most.  It’s a little concerning that there’s no one in Black Raider Klan that will pull Purrp aside, and be like, “Hey man, you know what an EP is right?”  SpaceGhostPurrp puts out some stupid-ridiculous gangsta-ass rap music—misogynistic, repetitive and largely meaningless. That is not to say I am unthankful off what he does.  In fact, that’s exactly what I like about his stuff (call it escapism, if you will) but I have to admit, this tape is fairly puerile.  Take this lyric from “Cum & Git Yuh Some” for example: “Finna get your pussy wet, and I know you gonna like it. / I like the way you pop that pussy.”  Uh-huh, okay then.  While his lyricism is laughable, his drugged-out, hypnotic beats are as seductive as ever.  I’ve never popped Molly, smoked an sherm-laced blunt, sipped on syrup, and then fell asleep in a pile of strippers and money (at least not in that order anyway) but I imagine this is what it would sound like.

Underachievers – Indigoism

The Underachievers are the latest duo to spring from New York City’s rap collective, Beast Coast; a crew that also includes Flatbush Zombies, Pro Era, A$AP Mob, and Smoke DZA.  Against a backdrop of beats that range from conventional boom-bap to the trap’d gradations of modern-day tape rap, emcees AK and Issa Dash exasperate wordy lyricism at a rate that is both impressive and slightly overwhelming.  The only drawback being that at times it sounds like they are trying to cram every single rhyme they have into too small of a space.  Audibly, Underachievers are analogous with Flatbush Zombies.  Similarly they go heavy on the sour diesel and psychedelics but they disguise it via well-written, clever similes rather than easily decipherable one-liners.  Whereas Pro Era are reviving classic NYC rap, Underachievers are strangely enough, reinventing classic NYC rap.  Admittedly, Indigoism arrived without prior notice, but it has since held a place at the top of my most-played list of the month.  If you download one tape from this list, make it this one.  Snatch ‘em while they’re free—I can’t imagine their next outing will come without a price tag.

February has seen the release of some great hip-hop visual entertainment as well.  In the Rap Videos You Should Watch department...

Timeless Truth - Leave It Alone

This is a track from Timeless Truth's EP Brugal & Presidentes, which holds a special place in my heart because it came out on cassettte.  (Cop it here.)  That's Roc Marciano on the beat, lending it a very RZA-ish / Ghostdog: Way of the Samurai nuance.

Kid Tsunami - Bang Exclusive (feat. Sean Price)

This Sean Price feature will appear on beatsmith Kid Tsunami's upcoming album, The Chase.  Old heads like myself will love the Yo! MTV Raps tribute.  And look at Sean P with that outfit.  How old is that dude now, 40 somethin'?  Yet he's dressed like a backpack rapper at Scribble Jam in 1999.  But that's one of the best things about hip-hop.  Like punk rockers, rappers don't ever have to grow up.

Flatbush Zombies - MRAZ

You don't have to drop liquid LSD in your orange juice to feel the same effects that Flatbush Zombies do.  With it's vibrant colors (especially in emcee Zombie Juice's absurd sweater) and pulsating edits, watching this video will catch you a contact high strong enough that one minute you'll be solving all of the World's problems with your best friends, and the next, you'll be begging them for a ride to the emergency room.

Black Dave - Banned From B.E.T.: Quartersnacks Re-edit

Black Dave is both an emerging emcee and an amateur skater from New York.  He's released two mixtapes, and has another on the way.  NYC skateboarding blog Quatersnacks recently remixed a bunch of his skate footage, including stuff that was shot for Zoo York.  I gave my brother the Zoo York Mixtape, Vol. 1 skate VHS for his birthday in like, '97 or '98. With its all rap soundtrack, it still remains one of the best skate vids of all time.  This totally reminds me of that.

In the Personal Propaganda department...

Along with my partners in crime, I put out a couple of different print zines.  One of which is a rap, punk and graffiti love affair called The Soda Killers.  It's jam-packed with reviews, columns, photos and all sorts of sub-culture-y stuff.  There are still copies of the first two issues available for free, donation, and/or trade.  Hit me up if you're interested.

Well, that's all for now.  In the time it took to read this, approximately one million mixtapes were released.  My work is never done.  Too many rappers!

With the recent site relaunch, we've made the commenting system much easier to use, so please feel free join the discusssion.  Otherwise I can be reached via email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @OMG_NOB.

Well, here we are, a whole month into the New Year, and as usual January was spent catching up on all the music I slept on last year.  Normally the first part of the year is slow when it comes to new stuff, but hip-hop, with its ever-increasing abundance of releases, is not like other forms of music.  Long gone are the days of a rapper releasing an album every other year, or at the most, once a year—nowadays, it’s not uncommon for an artist to drop multiple mixtapes, a collaboration (or two,) and a lengthy retail album, all within the span of 12 months.  Keeping up with it takes a little more than just an unrelenting love of the art form; it takes ridiculous, stupefied, dare I say ill-advised dedication.  And even then it’s impossible to catch it all.  The simple fact...and I don't have any problem calling this a fact...is that there are just too many rappers.  Being a lifelong fan of rappers, and a weirdo completionist to boot, this little fact really frustrates the shit out of me.  But still, I plow ahead, doing my best to rack up as much of it as I can. 

While the primary purpose of this column will be to shed some light on mixtapes and other notable releases that fall outside the realm of typical full-length albums, admittedly it's also going to be a way for me to keep track of all the rediculous rap music I mess with throughout the year.  So from time to time I may also address some key singles, videos and other hip-hop odds ‘n’ ends that are worth a mention.   Full-length hip-hop album reviews will continue to be posted in our reviews section alongside all the numerous other musical avenues that we here at Scene Point Blank cover. 

Even though I was able to narrow down a list of 20 for our year-end feature, there are still a number of good tapes that didn’t make the list, simply because I could not find the time to listen to them and/or they were released right at the end of the year.  In the Late Slip department…

Meyhem Lauren – Mandatory Brunch Meetings

In December, only a few months after dropping the Respect the Fly Shit mixtape, Meyhem Lauren released another stellar free download, the awesomely-titled Mandatory Brunch Meetings.  Meyhem, alongside Action Bronson, Roc Marciano and Joey Bada$$ has positioned himself at the epicenter of the current NYC boom-bap revival.  His rhymes are filled with advisory street stories and complimented by an apropos selection of beats.  Up ‘n’ comers Tommy Mas, Harry Fraud and Mike Finito contributed tracks, as did veteran Alchemist, but the majority of the production was handled by ATG.  The J-Love-laced “Beautiful Areolas” is one of the tape's strangest songs.  Meyhem gives his misogynistic tale an oddly-sweet spin thanks in part to his tender-voiced hook, “She had beautiful areolas.”  

Pro Era – PEEP: the aPROcalypse

Although this is a posse outing, it’s also more or less the third Joey Bada$$ tape, following 1999 and Rejex, of 2012.  Unfortunately Capital Steez, who was poised to be the Earl to Joey’s Tyler, passed away just three days after the release of PEEP at the tender age of 19.  So not only is this the last we will hear of Steez, it’s also the first time, aside from a posse cut on 1999, that we get a really good look at what Pro Era is capable of as a crew. Chuck Strangers, Cj Fly, Kirk Knight, A La Soul, Dessy Hinds, Dirty Sanchez, Deymond Lewis, Nyck Caution, Kwon, and Rokamouth aren’t so much paying homage to Golden Era NYC boom-bap, as they are completely aping it.  The results are phenominal.  Espceially considering these kids were toddlers when Biggie, Wu-Tang and Nas were the in their prime. While Joey shines brightest, the aPROcalypse proves that he’s not Pro Era’s only star.  

Raider Klan – Black Money World Greatest Hits, Vol. 1

In response to his rival A$AP Rocky releasing the A$AP Mob crew tape, Lord$ Never Worry, SpaceGhostPurrp amassed a gigantic collection of songs culled from Black Raider Klan’s back catalogue and put it out as Black Money World Greatest Hits, Vol. 1.  Not sure how Mike Ness feels about them appropriating Social Distortion’s signature skeleton character for the cover, but it’s not the first time rappers have blatantly borrowed imagery from punk rock.  The Misfits logo comes to mind.  Anyway, it goes without saying that at 47 goddamn songs this tape is way too freaking long.  You’d lose a year of your life listening to this thing in its entirety.  But if you break it up into four different sections, it’s a great representation of SPG’s prowess as a producer—Southern-leaning, ‘90s style gangsta-ass shit—and an excellent starting point for anyone not familiar with the man or, ah, the klan.

Smoke DZA – K.O.N.Y.

While 2012 saw Harlem’s Smoke DZA release a full-length album, Rugby Thompson, and an excellent EP, Cuz I Felt Like It, arguably his best work came at the end of the year with the K.O.N.Y. tape.  With a bevy of guests in tow—A$AP Twelvy, Ab-soul, Big K.R.I.T., and Fat Trel among them—the Kush God rhymes over beats from the likes of Harry Fraud, Lee Bannon and Ski Beatz.  The tape’s standout track is the Joey Bada$$ feature “Gotham Fuckin’ City”, which also happens to be laced with a previously-unreleased J.Dilla beat.

On top of all the stuff that arrived late last year, there is also an equal amount of material that dropped in the first weeks of the New Year.  Most of which, I have not yet fully processed.  In the New Stuff I'm Still Mulling Over department…

I’m not totally sold on Casey Veggies’ Life Changes, Gunplay’s Cops & Robbers, or Pusha T’s Wrath of Caine just yet. And I haven’t even gotten to listen to SpaceGhostPurrp’s B.M.W. EP either…but I can tell you by looking at it, that at 11 songs, it’s not a fucking EP!  Rappers, I tell ya.  I am however, pleasantly surprised by and completely feeling the Underachievers’ Indigoism.  I will tackle all of these next time around.

In the meantime here are some songs you should listen to…

Quelle Chris – “Rappin’ Ass” 

This is the Detroit emcee's new track from Mello Music Group’s 7” series.  It features Denmark Vessey and was produced by House Shoes.  “Rappin’-ass (rappers) always tryna rap.”  Yeah, aint that the truth.   Too many of 'em too, if you ask me.

Joey Bada$$ & DJ Premier – “Unorthodox”

Joey Bada$$ teams up with DJ Premier for this single on Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound.  The ironic thing here is there is nothing unorthodox about this East Coast pairing whatsoever.  And that’s also what makes it so awesome.

Karriem Riggins – “Matador Posse Cut”

This is from Karriem Riggins’ Stones Throw album Alone Together.  It features new verses by Krondon, Homeboy Sandman, Guilty Simpson and Jonwayne; and cuts by J Rocc.  Like most things Krondon or Guilty Simpson are on, it's quite exceptional.

Gensu Dean & Planet Asia – “Faces on the Dollar”

This is a track from beatsmith Gensu Dean and emcee Planet Asia’s upcoming collaborative album. Abrasions will come out on Mello Music Group later this year.  MMG has a knack for pairing the right producers and emcees up with favorable results (see: Apollo Brown & OC - Trophies and Guilty Simpson & Apollo Brown - Dice Game) and judging by this, Gensu & Asia looks to be no different.

In the Other Stuff department....

Check out Luke Sick's Bay Area zine, Let's Side.  It's two issues deep, with a third on the way.  Aside from the hip-hop stuff, there's also articles on black metal and Mexican horse thieves, as well as graffiti flicks.  It's done in the classic scissors /glue stick / Xerox style, and only costs $2.  Order yours here.

Well that's it for now.  Look for a full-length review of Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric's collabo album, Czarface coming soon.  As well, I may attack Oh No's Disrupted Ads, but don't hold your breath.  I mean, come on, there's just too many rappers.

Please feel free leave comments.  Otherwise I can be reached via email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @OMG_NOB.

The tiny Black Heart in Camden holds court to an evening of droned out sludge, traditional heavy doom, and more English black metal than you can shake a stick at tonight. Despite the snow and ice and downright awful weather, the turn out is solid and the promise of a little something special from Winterfylleth is enough to drag even the most anti-people person out on a cold and miserable evening. At least, that's the reason Scene Point Blank made it out!

First up, are Bast who go on pretty early, but still draw a decent crowd for their mighty sludge-driven atmospheres. Blackened coils of doom wrap around their mesmerising and filthy drawls of guitar which move and shift towards the occasional hint of beauty before forgoing all that nonsense for effortlessly deep and crunching rhythms of might. The trio are tight and even a couple of technical issues (their fancy projections are occasionally interrupted by an Acer screensaver, kinda funny) aren't enough to throw them off their pace. Bast are certainly a band to keep your eyes and indeed, ears on.

Witchsorrow take to the small stage next and fill the venue with darkness and heat, their take on doom rolling through occultic and ritualistic vibrations via cavernous depths and expansive melodies. Hypnotising structures of gloom meander throughout the enraptured audience and whilst Witchsorrow aren't exactly breaking any rules here, their precision and passion is evident throughout and their performance is delightfully majestic.

Winterfylleth arrive on stage to the instrumental strains of "Æfterield-Fréon," taken from their incredible latest record, The Threnody of Triumph. Winterfylleth never fail to impress on the live stage and this last year has seen them progress from tiny little pubs, playing to three people and a bunch of uninterested locals, to major festivals whilst never forgetting the fans who have supported them from the very beginning. Tonight is full of promise, new material and old material alike was touted, along with a couple of tracks that the band hadn't yet played live and damn, Winterfylleth deliver.

From The Threnody of Triumph, "Void of Light," "A Soul Unbound" and the monumental "The Swart Raven" breathe with a mythical energy, and older tracks such as "The Ghost of Heritage" and the always triumphant "Defending the Realm" show that Winterfylleth have consistently and constantly moved forward whilst staying true to their roots. They play with urgency and a clear and obvious pride in themselves and their creations, and the audience are at their mercy at any given second. It's wonderful to experience and if the looks on Winterfylleth's collective faces are anything to go by....they feel exactly the same. The band close on the magnificent "Mom Tor (The Shivering Mountain)" during which glasses are raised, fists are flung and shouts of complete joy are thrown at band and crowd alike. Extraordinary.

The Unicorn is suffering from a severe lack of air con tonight, the tension in the air made all the palpable by the insane levels of heat and the anticipation for the very first UK performance by French black metal quintet The Great Old Ones. 

First though, are London based grind/tech/what the fuck is going on chaps Oblivionized who kick off tonights proceedings with a sub-fifteen minute aural assault. Wild groove and screams make up a good portion of the short time the trio spend on stage, but the lack of bass or a second guitar tends to give the music a little too much space on the stage. There's only so much one guitar and a drum kit can really do, but Oblivionized are not to be thwarted and time will only improve this set-up. The band are tight and work incredibly well together and this slight curiousity will likely give them that extra advantage over other bands of their ilk.

Next, Dutch black metal group Terzij de Horde take their place on the stage and vocalist Joost Vervoort extols such passion and fire, falling to the floor and reaching to the heavens for mercy. Terzij de Horde are glorious tonight, the highlight coming when they play their track "A Chosen Hollow" off a recent split with fellow countrymen Starve. It's a stark and moving piece that bodes well for, hopefully, more new material this year. Terzij de Horde cut their mesmerising tones with intense movements of speed and passages of sheer delight and it's obvious that those who didn't know of them before have come away from this experience with a new favourite act.

Finally, The Great Old Ones arrive on stage and within mere seconds have opened up torrents of pure, unadulterated magic. Playing songs from their debut Al Azif, a record so beautifully rendered through shades of H.P. Lovecraft worship and post-black metal moments of joy and horror that it quite rightly, is starting to be seen as one of the most affecting debuts of recent times. From the sublime "Jonas" to the grandly epic "Al Azif," The Great Old Ones show that they are desperately in control of their sound and their performance is as stunning in the live arean as it is on record. Long may they continue to call upon the Ancients and let us hope that they grace these shores and more in 2013. 

The view that Scene Point Blank has been afforded for tonight’s performance is beautiful, and the sea of heads below on the floor is all the more astonishing seen from the balcony area of the iconic Kentish Town Forum in London. Neurosis make a much welcomed and desperately sensual appearance as part of the All Tomorrow’s Parties series of events that are now held throughout the year and this time around they are joined by the industrially crushing tones of the mighty Godflesh.

Neurosis appear on the back of the slowly fired sounds of Honor Found In Decay, a record that saw them bring to the table a somewhat gentler side to the Neurosis palette whilst simultaneously overwhelming their audience with true and clear concepts of desolation. Godflesh are here to engulf those present with majestic beats and cries of pure disaster and Justin Broadrick shouts his way through a set list of wild and imposing pulses of sound and clamouring wails of guitar and drum machine.

Godflesh (8) suffer some regrettable sound issues at the beginning of “Love is a Dog from Hell” and those problems seem to continue and follow the duo through most of their layered set. Broadrick never sounds quite loud enough, although even from way up here, it looks as though he is savouring every tortured second. The screen behind Broadrick and bassist G.C.Green flits from disturbing and uncomfortable religious imagery to stark images of breakdown and Godflesh tailor their monumental rhythms to fit the disquieting atmosphere that curls around the Forum in shadows and throbs of motion. “Like Rats” is a massive and obvious fan-favourite and the band drop it into their set early which serves to heighten the tension as to what may come next. Godflesh are far from disappointing, which is made evident due to their time being cut short by their own hand as many attendees are still waiting to even get into the venue at the time Godflesh were billed to start. It’s a noticeable delay but “Streetcleaner” is as delightfully huge as “Crush My Soul” is wonderfully frenetic. “Christbait Rising” rages, “Weak Flesh” destroys and Godflesh dominate.

Neurosis (10) take to a stripped back stage, the band shrouded in darkness for much of the time having recently parted ways with their visual artist Josh Graham. Steve Von Till and Scott Kelly twist their words around harsh and often beautiful lines of guitar, their voices rough and edged with a distinct and powerful knowledge and the newer songs from Honor Found In Decay weave their way around older classics with a deadly and bittersweet melody. The vast sounds of “Times of Grace” punctuate the deep and affecting aura surrounding the band, their audience moving as one entity, completely entranced by the moments of pure and brilliant catharsis emanating from the stage. “At The Well” is gorgeously rendered and swirls with a heart-breaking melancholy, the lamentations falling from great height with sadness and utter hopelessness until it becomes almost too painful to continue. Neurosis are desperately heavy tonight and the repetitive passages of noise soon dig deeply into the subconscious. “We All rage in Gold” melts whilst “Given to the Rising” closes the evening on disgustingly drawn out screams of feedback. Neurosis leave the stage to cries of total agony – at their departure and at the dreadfully overpowering noise that flows from the instruments left to their own devices. Neurosis are supremely commanding tonight and prove once again that they are masters of their doomed destiny. Extraordinary.