Southern heart/midwestern work ethic best describes Atlanta’s Sonny Bamboo. Part of a litany of WRC/Grindtime vets on their music grind but part of a select few actually putting out consistent quality work, the Grindtime Midwest founder and Indiana transplant recently dropped his fourth LP, The Leprechaun Don, as a free/name-your-own-price download.
Bamboo’s known for his intensity and fearlessness in his Grindtime battles, and it’s palpable in his tone on each of the album’s 18 tracks, a plate-scraping hunger befitting a small-statured MC who’s far more “Rudy” than Napoleon. More than scrappy, the self-proclaimed “Leprechaun Don” is about perseverance, a theme of overcoming struggle and rolling with the punches that shows up on tracks like “Nikes Laced” and the knowing title of the album (a moniker that could easily be a cruelly ironic comment from an outsider but in Bamboo’s hands is defiantly swagged out and endearing).
Many acapella battle rappers have had trouble gaining fans and notoriety due to the disconnect between their ability to rock a stage without a beat and their inability to style or, much less, ride one. Sonny Bamboo is not one of these MCs. Arguably more impressive here than in some of his battles, the Atlanta native spends a good portion of the album nimbly spitting in-the-pocket double-time/fast-flow raps over skittering Southern hi-hats while being able to actually slow it down and fill negative space on the slower/more introspective beats on the LP, like the aforementioned “Nikes Laced.” Featuring production from Brown Bag All Stars’ J57, Spittzwell, Big Boy, and Rapmusic/WRC/Grindtime alum Ness Lee, the album features a little something for everyone: poppy synth-laden Southern rap tracks, mellow sample-based tracks, songs with a live-band feel, and slow-burn 80s guitar solos, all with a mix of self-reflection, weed rap, autobiography, and braggadocio.
Check out the album stream/download link, the preview commercial for the album, and Sonny Bam’s own take on cribs (for the vertically challenged) below.
Official Sonny Bamboo Site
Sonny Bamboo on Facebook
Sonny Bamboo on Twitter
Sonny Bamboo on Dat Piff
Sonny Bamboo on Youtube
The Making of The Leprechaun Don
this album’s sick as fuck! mad props for puttin’ it on the homepage! don’t fuckin sleep on it!!!