Headphones & Backpacks

The months Jan-March are traditionally the least interesting months in terms of music releases, but in 2011 we’ve seen quite a few of interesting releases:

Here is a list (in tentative order from best to worst with a tentative rating):

1. CunninLynguists – Oneirology (9.5 out of 10)

Easily the year’s best release comes from the ‘Lynguists. Their current 9.5 rating could easily turn into a perfect 10 by the year’s end, as I’m picking up something new with each listen.

2. Big K.R.I.T. – Return of 4eva (9 out of 10)

Admittedly, I slept on K.R.I.T.’s 2010 release, K.R.I.T. was Here and that was a BIG mistake. R4 is a phenomenal release. The release displays is excellent emcee skills and songwriting ability as well as his classic southern production which gives me flashbacks of 94-96 era of Dungeon Family.

3. Saigon – The Greatest Story Never Told (9 out of 10)

The long awaited Saigon debut was finally released this year, and it was well worth the wait. Top notch production from Just Blaze, and socially and politically conscious lyricism from the former Entourage star, will make this record one the year’s best.

4. Reks – R.E.K.S. (8.5 out of 10)

This Boston emcee paired with top tier boom bap production from the likes of DJ Premier, Pete Rock, The Alchemist, Sean C & LV, Nottz, Hi-Tek, and show stealer, Statik Selektah make up a record that sounds like it come out in 1996.

5. Stalley – Lincoln Way Nights (Intellectual Trunk Music) (8 out of 10)

This Ohio emcee has released one of the year’s most interesting mixtapes. With hard hitting production from Rashad, Stalley raps mostly about his sound system and his cars, which may sound boring and cliche, but he does it damn well.

6. Apollo Brown – Clouds (8 out of 10)

This Detroit beatsmith released an excellent instrumental album, with amazing samples and hard hitting drums. This atmospheric record is a great listen even without rymes, but I’d still really like to hear some dope emcees rip these tracks apart.

7. Chip Tha Ripper – Gift Raps (7.5 out of 10)

His latest release, Gift Raps, with producer, Chuck Inglish, is the Cleveland rapper’s best release of his young career. This focused effort will probably land Chip a record deal, and the emcee is starting to fulfill his potential.

8. Scavie Scoobs (of Custom Made) – Trap Star Vol. 1 (7 out of 10)

The Custom Made emcee branches off to release his first solo project, Trap Star. Noticeably more aggressive and focuses more on gangsta rap themes than the group’s 2010 release Hi-Def, Scoobs finds his own voice on his solo debut, while staying true to his Custom Made family.

Here is a list of releases that I’ve listened to a few times, but need to listen to more before I can give them even a tentative listen:

#. Pharoahe Monch – W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)

This politically charged record has some bangers on it for sure, but I need to give it a few more spins before I can decide how I feel about it.

#. Pac Div – Mania!

The West Coast group’s third mixtape in as many years, has the potential to be their best. While they’re prepping their major label debut, their independent work has made them one of my favorite groups of the past few years.

#. Money Making Jam Boys – The Prestige: Jam Boy Magic

This Philly-based super group that features Black Thought, Porn, Dice Raw, STS, and Truck North released their debut mixtape this year. I’ve given it one or two quick listens, but still need to give it a close listen to decide how I feel about it.

#. Grynch – Timeless EP

I’ve only give the Seattle emcee’s new EP only one quick listen but the title track and the Sabzi (of Blue Scholars) produced remix to his excellent 2010 single, “My Volvo” are two excellent tracks.

Here are two albums that I am highly anticipating but due to lack of funds I have yet to listen to:

#. Talib Kweli – Gutter Rainbows

#. Raekwon – Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang

Click to stream or for FREE download
I know, technically K.R.I.T. is no longer an independent artist since he recently inked a deal with Def Jam, but his 2nd self-released project, Return of 4evais independent project, so I’m going to post about it.

After his highly acclaimed 2010 album, K.R.I.T. Was Here he started to make a lot of noise on-line getting rave reviews from outlets including Okayplayer, Pitchfork, and many others. Admittedly I slept on the album, and I did try downloading the album a couple of times, but the link wasn’t working and I wasn’t compelled to keep trying.

When his second release came out, I decided to finally check in on what the hype was about. And almost instantly I became a believer of the Mississippi producer/emcee.

His style is a hybrid of all of my favorite southern artists. His production sounds a lot like Organized Noize, and his vocal delivery gives me flashbacks of the late/great Pimp C.

With obvious influences from Outkast, UGK, 8Ball & MJG, and Three Six Mafia, K.R.I.T. has brought a sound back to the south, that has for the most part, been absent for years.

Hopefully Def Jam gives him artistic freedom to do what he wants. They did do a good job with Big Boi’s album last year, even though they didn’t promote it well, it’s still better than what Atlantic has been doing with young promising talent (see: the corpses of B.o.B and Wiz Khalifa).

Tracks to check out: “Rise and Shine” “Dreamin'” “American Rapstar” “Lions and Lambs” “Another Naive Individual Glorifying Greed and Encouraging Racism” “Free My Soul” and “The Vent”

BONUS: R4 Theme Song Music Video:

In Studio Sessions: Big K.R.I.T. “R4 Theme Song” from 3 Little Digs on Vimeo.

Pharoahe Monch’s long awaited third album, W.A.R. (We Are Renegades finally saw its release this week. The much anticipated project, and first on indie label Duck Down Music, features a stellar cast including production by: Exile, Marco Polo, and Diamond D and guest spots from: Phonte, Styles P, Immortal Technique, Citizen Cope, Royce Da 5’9″, Jean Grae, and more.

I’ve only listened to the album once so far (on the stream up above), but it sounds like it’s going to be one of the year’s bests. It is a politically charged album reminiscent of Dead Prez and Immortal Technique (who is featured on the album’s title track).

EDIT: After a few more listens, this album has started to grow on me, much like his previous album, Desire did. While Monch’s flow and lyricism is superb throughout, there is some less-than-stellar production on the record.

Monch does an excellent job of balancing politically charged tracks about racism and war with less-serious battle tracks like “Assassins” which features indie-mic slayers, Jean Grae and Royce Da 5’9″. Monch is ultimately at his best taking a Chuck D, Dead Prez-type role on tracks like the Styles P-assisted “Black Hand Side” and “Let My People Go.”

BONUS:

Here is the “extended music video” for the lead-single, “Clap (One Day).” The stunning visual plays more like a short film than a music video.

If embed code is not working, click HERE to stream album at CL’s bandcamp

The ‘Lynguists fifth full-length album, Oneirology will be released next Tuesday (March 22), but Kno, Deac, and Natti decided to unleash the effort a week early. So far I’ve listened to the album probably close to ten times on the bandcamp, as I await the physical release. It really is among their best work. It’s unbelievable how much they can evolve their sound in a matter of months. This record sounds nothing like Deacon’s side-gig, N***az Wit Altitude or Kno’s solo opus,Death is Silent both of which were released less than 6 months ago.

Like their 3rd offering, A Piece of Strange, Oneirology is a concept record that revolves around fantasy, death, and dreams. I haven’t really been able to closely examine the narrative yet because I haven’t really listened to it all that carefully because I’ve been playing it mostly while doing homework over my laptop speakers, which definitely does not do the album justice (don’t worry I just ordered a new pair of headphones specifically for this album).

CunninLynguists recently released this live acoustic version of one of the album’s many standout cuts, “Looking Back.” This is a great performance with Natti and Deacon trading verses, Anna Wise singing the chorus, Kno on the drums, and (presumably) Willie Eames on guitar. I would LOVE to see them do the whole album in this format, in an MTV Unplugged-type setting.

Blue Scholars “Cinemetropolis” Kickstarter Campaign from Blue Scholars on Vimeo.

Another highly anticipated independent release in 2011 will be Blue Scholars’ long-awaited 3rd LP, Cinemetropolis. The Seattle duo should’ve been included in my previous post, as one of my most anticipated releases of the year, but I forgot about it (it happens).

Sabzi and Geo released their 2007 opus, Bayani was originally released on Rawkus Records in 2007, then re-released through Duck Down in 2009, but this time they will completely cut out the record label, and release it completely independently. They have started a kickstarter page, asking fans to donate money to finance the album. The duo is trying to raise $25,000 by April 21. So far, fans have raised over $16,000 with 37 days to go.

There are great incentives for fans to donate to Blue Scholars including advanced copies of the album, concert tickets, limited edition posters, and more.

The sound of the album will be largely influenced by music of cinema, and will also include visuals to each track on the new record. Cinemetropolis is expected to be released in June, and a Fall tour will follow.

Here are the most anticipated independent hip hop releases of 2011. Granted there may be some I forgot about, and of course there will be a few that I didn’t know about. Here is the list in no order at all:

• Saigon – Greatest Story Never Told
• Stalley – Lincoln Way Nights
• Chip Tha Ripper – Gift Raps
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – TBA
• Grieves & Budo – Together/Apart
• Atmosphere – The Family Sign
• Blueprint – Adventures in Counter Culture
• Mac Lethal – Irish Goodbye
• CunninLynguists – Oneirology
• Chico & the Man
• Substantial – Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood
• The Cool Kids – When Fish Ride Bicycles
• Evidence – Cats & Dogs
• Tyler, the Creator – Goblin
• Jean Grae – Cake or Death
• Pharoahe Monch – W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)
• Royce Da 5’9” – Success is Certain
• Raekwon – Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang

2009 was a huge year for the Minnesota-based indie rap label with many releases finishing in my personal top records of that year. Last year the label had a handful of interesting releases, but 2011 is definitely gearing up to be the year of the Rhymesayer.

The first RSE release will be the Columbus emcee, Blueprint. “So Alive” is the third video/single released from the up-coming album, Adventures in Counter Culture. “So Alive” along with his other singles “Keep Bouncing” and “Radio-Inactive” are increasingly building hype around his album which will examine American Popular Culture.

The second RSE release of 2011 is also probably the most anticipated one – Atmosphere’s first longplay in almost exactly 3 years, The Family Sign. The album is expected to continue the live instrumentation from guitarist Nate Collis and Key-man Erick Anderson, which were very prominent on last year’s double EP release as well as the group’s 2008 LP. On this track Slug tells a story about taking a loved one for granted. Another great concept for the music video features a dog being neglected by its family until it runs away, then the video concludes with a “Missing Dog” poster.

Grieves had a pretty big 2010: signing with RSE, Re-released his excellent 2008 album 88 Keys & Counting, and releasing a great EP on the RSE. 2011 is to be an even bigger year for the Seattle-based rapper, as he plans on releasing his first LP on Rhymesayers, Together/Apart. His rockstar looks and complex lyricism filled with vivid imagery reminiscent of a young Slug, will once again be complimented by Budo’s guitar licks, piano loops and horns. Together/Apart is expected to see a June release.

Other Rhymesayers who are expecting to see a 2011 release include: Evidence’s long awaited RSE debut Cats & Dogs
Freeway is also expected to see another release following his collaboration LP with Jake-One
The Seattle beatsmith, Jake-One is expected to release his follow up to his 2008 double-disc, White Van Music .

It was November 2009 when Macklemore & Ryan Lewis first performed on KEXP, a radio station in their home town of Seattle. Up until that point, I had heard Macklemore on a great CunninLynguists track and a song called “Otherside.” The track sampled the Red Hot Chili Peppers song of the same name. After watching their performance of the song on KEXP, I instantly became a believer.

This performance of “My Oh My,” a tribute to Seattle Mariners’ legendary play-by-play man, Dave Niehaus, gives me flashbacks of his “Otherside” performance nearly a year and a half earlier. This is the type of track that has an extremely specific topic, but his brilliant songwriting ability and passion he has for the subject is so powerful, you don’t even have to be a baseball fan to feel this track.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have embarked on their first national tour, and judging by their Twitter and Facebook updates, it seems to be going very well. I wish them all the best, and I cannot wait for March 29 to see them perform with Blueprint in Ann Arbor.

Here’s a little bonus video:

Macklemore interviewing his alter-ego, Sir Ravin Bowie, best known for his classic song “And We Danced,” which always fills the dance floors of Troup and Reed house parties.

Grieves and Budo are currently putting the final touches on their debut on indie powerhouse, Rhymesayers Ent. This is the first single off of that project, which is titled Together/Apart. While there has been no official release date for their album, it is expected to see a Summer release.

“Pack it Up” features live instrumentation including a smooth guitar and horns, which has been Budo’s forte with his recent productions. Grieves’ lyrics revolve around trying to get a girl to like him. It’s a pretty simple love song, but Grieves carries the track with his charming lyricism: “I got a pretty good feeling that we could make a perfect couple / ‘Cause I’m a pretty decent listener and love to cuddle.”

Grieves & Budo are about to hit the road starting in April to tour with Atmosphere, Blueprint, Sab the Artist, and DJ Abilities for The Family Tour.

This single along with his Confessions of Mr. Modest EP released last year, makes Grieves’ up-coming album one of the most anticipated Indie Rap albums of 2011.

Atmosphere – Just For Show by rhymesayers

Here’s the first single off of Atmosphere’s The Family Sign, which is the group’s first album in 3 years. The Nate Collis guitar-driven track features Slug airing out his grievances with a love gone awry. The album, due in less than 2 months now, is supposed to be the group’s most personal and mature effort to date, with tracks about love, family, and death.

Tracklisting:

01 My Key
02 The Last to Say
03 Became
04 Just For Show
05 She’s Enough
06 Bad Bad Daddy
07 Millenium Dodo
08 Who I’ll Never Be
09 I Don’t Need Brighter Days
10 Ain’t Nobody
11. Your Name Here
12. If You Can Save Me Now
13. Something So
14. My Notes