The Beeshine is a refreshingly unique endeavor, offering a more positive and introspective take on rap culture than the thirsty beef-mongering and glorified tabloid reporting that normally dominates web coverage. Whether obscure, well-known, profound or hilarious, The Beeshine’s features definitely have something for every sort of rap fan.

Detroit is a hell of a city. Perhaps the very epitome of urban decay, it’s history and legacy are often overlooked, save for a few well-known outliers like ICP, Kid Rock, Eminem, J Dilla, Danny Brown, and Big Sean. Despite “8 Mile” and more, the Midwest’s rap mecca is still treated like a footnote outside of hardcore heads, which is why this week’s edition of The Beeshine is such a treat. On this episode, Veteran Motor City producer House Shoes dishes on the Detroit scene and his role in it, Proof, his formative rap days, what “classic” means to him, and more.

Check out this week’s candid sit-down above, and be sure to subscribe to The Beeshine for more in-depth interviews with rap’s best.

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Everybody Knows is that kind of relatable rapper. Possessing the kind of self-deprecating humor you’d expect from one half of a crew named “Los Feo Faces”, his mixtape, $ave Me Quentin Tarantino is a look into someone who, refreshingly, doesn’t see any reason to exist as a series of acceptable rap affectations.

Plenty of rappers have made careers off the darker aspects of their lives and idiosyncracies, but the difference between EK’s takes on drugs, loss, and life and other underground records is that there’s no ultimately triumphant alpha posturing or distanced assessments in his tracks; he’s frequently just as emotive as he is cool, coming across small, vulnerable, and thoughtful. It adds layers to the record, feeling like you’re listening to someone go through it, particularly when the soundtrack to his slurred raps are as downbeat as his subject matter.

Not to say that the record is at all depressing. It’s more contemplative than anything, with Everybody Knows coming across on record just as he does in battles: someone who’s completely self-aware and prone to deep thought, but also at times barely holding it together. After all, no album sporting a full length Lil’ Troy homage could be truly considered sad.

“Baller” is definitely a random track to re-make on your album, but EK’s take is both playful and reverential, an aspect of his work in general that makes it more endearing than a straight beatjack would be. It’s not just a preview of him as a rapper, but also of him as a person; lo-fi records usually offer an off-the-cuff experimentation and intimacy that gets lost once ideas and production budgets start gets grandiose. EK benefits from the home recorded feel of the album, which allows all of his quirks shine and make him come across as himself, and not some idealized pose. Just as off-the-cuff as Los Feo Faces’ City of Mammon, $ave Me Quentin Tarantino taps into the same stream-of-consciousness rap that fellow West Coasters like collaborator Kool A.D. turn into high art. The effect is that he’s rapping better than you think he is, and he’s saying more than you think he is. It creates a memorable, trippy experience; between the “unfinished” rawness of the tape, its esoteric sample sources, and the combination of meandering adlibs, sharply observational lyrics, and heartfelt crooning, $ave Me Quentin Tarantino is the rare mixtape that actually carves out its own identity.

$ave Me Quentin Tarantino is available for download via Bandcamp.

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For episode ocho, we got cinco on it as Dan and the gang form like Voltron (or a really degenerate Backstreet Boys) to once again balloon the ranks up to five. This time, the show welcomes St. Louis’ Remy D and Oakland’s Pass to the garage as the “Aclatraz” opponents help Dan, Caustic, and Skylar G in their struggle to stay on track and not let their hilariously tangential substance-fueled conversations overrun the show. On this episode, the guys discuss more of Dan’s ridiculous tour anecdotes from the Blast! Hip-Hop Festival, the perils of bringing your significant other to battles, the concept of “too soon” in battle rap, which racial gang Dan would have to sit with in jail, and get down to the bottom of just what exactly is the purpose of a battle rap crew. Plus, as always, the gang breaks down the top 5 most topical battles of the last week.

Check out episode eight of The Dirtbag Dan Show above, and be sure to subscribe on iTunes and follow the show on Twitter for updates on show streams and Q + A submissions.

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They say “battle rappers can’t make [good] music.” There was a time that it was hard to argue against that, but of late there have been lots of underground releases striving to challenge the stereotype. Granted, not every album, EP, or mixtape is going to upset the DatPiff rankings in terms of quality and consistency, but the written acapella era is rich with battlers dropping quality singles and videos at a rapid pace. That’s where “While You Were Sleeping” comes in, compiling some of the most notable music video releases from independent battle rappers and RapMusic emcees for your easy consumption.

BELOVED. Battling is a tricky proposition for anyone who’s just as concerned with their catalog inside the ring as they are out – this column’s own intro touches on the long-standing stigma around battle rappers. To be frank, there’s truth to it, but only in as much as most rappers in general are godawful at making music and having such a specialized skill set does nothing toward your odds.

So naturally, in an era where both battle culture and hip-hop in general are fueled by the internet, some of the most successful battling-to-music transitions have either been for who battling was some small part of their past (French Montana, Meek Mill) or people who managed to parlay their niche net notoriety into something more substantial. Not since maybe Soul Khan and Dumbfoundead has a rapper found himself the talk of non-battle fans like Harlem’s own Loaded Lux. After delivering an electric “Summer Madness 2″ performance against Calicoe that blended the pomp and theatricality of the black church and the swagger and coded lyricism of hip-hop, Lux naturally decided to strike while the iron was hot, becoming a regular fixture on rap programming, releasing merch capitalizing off his catchiest phrases, and, most importantly, dropping new music.

Even nine months later, he remains just as looming and mythic of a figure as he did during his original hiatus from the scene, allowing him to make connections with and inspire fans in industry figures with clout to spare, culminating in his newest clip, “Rite”. Featuring Method Man and Redman, it’s a sort of victory rap for Lux, who could easily have gone the way of those before him and let his buzz lapse, but is clearly savvy enough to know a good thing when he sees it.

This past week also saw the release of heartfelt dedications from Harlem’s Jae Millz (“I’ll Make It Up To You”), a typically stylish performance clip from Vancouver’s Madchild (“Tiger Style”), and NY’s Mysonne gets contemplative with the man in the mirror (“Mirror”). Check out the rest of this past week’s clips below, and be sure to support underground hip-hop.

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The post While you were sleeping: The RapMusic video round-up (5/14-5/21) appeared first on RapMusic.com.

All that time hosting and performing at LA’s vaunted “Low End Theory” surely had an influence on Nocan’s style, which is simultaneously forward-thinking digital maximalism yet rooted in contemporary rap forms. This is nothing new of course; Busdriver, who gave Nocan his initial boost with a guest verse on the former’s own wonky, electronic 2009 LP, Jhelli Beam. Since then, Nocan himself has been entrenched in Cali rap digitalism, floating around the busy production of Jhelli Beam, Jimmy the Lock, and his latest release, Tits ‘N Explosions as the wisecracking human touch grounding his music in the physical.

Of all the battlers making music, Nocando joins Sahtyre and Fresco in being savvy enough to latch on to the future sounds of today rather than circle their tail rehashing the soulful boom-bap and morose piano loops of so much 00s underground rap. It helps that Nocan has been mining the style for years, making the kind of rap/electronic hybrids that have led to things like TNGHT a natural fit for his rapping. As opposed to Fresco and Sahtyre, there’s very little commercial appeal to a lot of Nocan’s output, in the past coming across just as noisy as Jhelli Beam, or endearingly indulgent in that very California way.

Tits ‘N Explosions works in a very California way. The album’s sounds might not translate for everyone, but it’s essence it firmly grounded in Golden State hallmarks. The menace of ratchet lurks in the background as much as the cool relaxed air of Pacific boom-bap and the LA beat scene. Nocando’s lyrical approach is at once matter-of-fact and funny, hood and nerdy. The vibe is the same, it’s just the sound has changed. After all, Tits ‘N Explosions is the product of a hyper-modern world where rap, long the referential, post-modern art form, is being widely filtered through an electronic lens. In a way, its a return to rap’s roots and a discarding of the comforting facade of “organic” hip-hop. Rap, at its core, is just as digital as trance, house, and techno, but the warmth of vinyl sampling and boom-bap production created a disconnect that innovations in Southern rap, indie rap, and grime have all but remedied. Now we’re, depending on who you ask, four-to-ten years deep into hip-hop that sounds as dirty, nasty, and alien as its 1980s forebearers.

The robots have come, and they smoke menthol, watch Brazzers, and make headphone records for the club.

Tits ‘N Explosions is currently available for digital download.

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The post Giving the crowd what it wants on Nocando’s Tits ‘N Explosions appeared first on RapMusic.com.

The Beeshine is a refreshingly unique endeavor, offering a more positive and introspective take on rap culture than the thirsty beef-mongering and glorified tabloid reporting that normally dominates web coverage. Whether obscure, well-known, profound or hilarious, The Beeshine’s features definitely have something for every sort of rap fan.

From La Coka Nostra muscle to Ben Affleck muse, Boston’s Slaine has had a storied career in the underground. On this week’s edition of The Beeshine, Slaine discusses his influences, writing, drawing from life experience, acting as an outlet, how he’d like to be remembered, and more.

Check out this week’s candid sit-down above, and be sure to subscribe to The Beeshine for more in-depth interviews with rap’s best.

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The post The Beeshine presents: What inspires Slaine appeared first on RapMusic.com.

Fjord fresh from Malmo, Sweden, it’s The Dirtbag Dan Show – Live! After a brief intermission, Daniel the Dirtbag, Daniel the Caustic, and Skylar return to do what they do best: steadily tiptoe toward incoherence on wax and brews and riff on the most notable events in battle rap. On this week’s episode, the gang discusses Dan’s recent trip to Malmo, Sweden for O-Zone Battle’s gala “Blast!” event, interviews Grindtime co-founder Drect on the state of battle rap, Grindtime’s decline, and his current projects, plus hold a mutually groggy pre-bedtime Q&A with URL’s Bill Collector about his battle with Shotgun Suge.

Marvel as they break down the relationship between battlers and “real rappers”! Nod silently as they compare street battlers using gun bars and backpacker’s going on viking murder sprees with dinosaur swords! Chuckle uncontrollably at the revelation that Illmaculate is the ideal size to ride a flying tiger!

Most of all, check out episode seven of The Dirtbag Dan Show above, and be sure to subscribe on iTunes and follow the show on Twitter for updates on show streams and Q + A submissions.

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For some people, this isn’t just a classic Kanye quote, it’s a one-bar summation of their entire struggle. Yeah, Kanye fans can get dramatic like that. Still, it remains a clever Kanye-ism – part almost-dickish frankness, part humor – that probably rings true for every upcoming emcee who tried to break through afterward. In the case of Richmond, California’s Locksmith, the line takes on a cruelly ironic layer: the lockmith can’t break through.

Seemingly conceived as another vault-clearing release of false starts and errant tracks, The Green Box continues the heavy everyday pathos of his previous tape, Labyrinth, but adds on the palpable frustrations of his apparent career limbo. The Green Box‘s opening track, “Everything”, explicitly addresses the situations surrounding its release, touching on Lock’s understandable confusion that a technically gifted rapper with both a SkiBeats association and West Coast vet pedigree would languish on the shelf without much sign of momentum. The funny thing is, The Green Box isn’t just a clearinghouse for Locksmith’s most recent stabs at an official debut, but a persuasive argument for his overlooked strengths as a rapper.

The Green Box is a difficult record in terms of its context, rather than it’s actual presentation. Lock’s clearly pursuing some semblance of mainstream success, but his impeccable beat selection and deftness at detailed storytelling and just plain rapping are often held back by leaden hooks and an orthodox adherence to standard rap structure that stands out in an era of increasingly experimental rappers. It’s not that there aren’t precedents for a rapper like Locksmith; in fact, his closest relative artistically would be Kendrick Lamar. But Kendrick rose from technical wunderkind to pop star off the strength of his own musical experiments and accessible weirdness. As touching, vivid, and impassioned as Locksmith’s verses are, there’s a recurring feeling throughout The Green Box that the problem isn’t necessarily his rap ability or his lyrics or his beats – those are all pretty pristine – but it’s the workmanlike quality of the whole package. Some degree of quirks or idiosyncrasies would flesh Locksmith out as an artist, to give him the requisite amount of charisma that separates the perpetually grinding blog darlings from the people who get to go on tour with Drake. For what it is, The Green Box is an exceptionally solid indie release with mainstream aspirations, but how you see Locksmith depends on whether he wants to be kind of the underground or king of the hill.

The Green Box is currently available for free download.

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The post Locksmith tries to break the cycle on The Green Box appeared first on RapMusic.com.

They say “battle rappers can’t make [good] music.” There was a time that it was hard to argue against that, but of late there have been lots of underground releases striving to challenge the stereotype. Granted, not every album, EP, or mixtape is going to upset the DatPiff rankings in terms of quality and consistency, but the written acapella era is rich with battlers dropping quality singles and videos at a rapid pace. That’s where “While You Were Sleeping” comes in, compiling some of the most notable music video releases from independent battle rappers and RapMusic emcees for your easy consumption.

Oun-P‘s got a serious hustle. Many artists threaten to, but few actually follow through on the threat to record an album’s worth of videos. Impressive still is the fact that the Bronx native is filming original clips for mixtape style beatjacks, suggesting a high amount of dedication and investment for such low-stakes. Ya gotta give him his due, though; for an indie rapper straight out the Bronx, he’s kept a steady pace, churning out new clips almost bi-weekly. He’s even given Mysonne’s weekly drops a run for their money, dropping two videos themed around classic songs by beefing rappers. The first of which is an endearingly no-nonsense visual for “Sky’s The Limit/Keep You Head Up”. Rapping conversationally to an at-risk youth in a way that’s actually real instead of “real”, Oun-P explains the traps of the hood and taking the right paths in a way that isn’t patronizing or corny, producing a rare example of legitimately affecting head nod material.

This past week also featured a behind-the-scenes studio performance from Bill Collector and D Chamberz (“Bring That 4 Out”) the latest from NY’s Mysonne (“My Moment”), another beef-themed drop from the Bronx’s Oun-P (“Takeover/Ether”), another take on Drake from the BX’s Rich Dolarz (“5am Freestyle”), and a fresh trip into vegetative states from LA’s Sahtyre (“Broccoli”). Check out the rest of this past week’s visuals below, and be sure to support underground hip-hop.

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The post While you were sleeping: The RapMusic video round-up (5/7-5/14) appeared first on RapMusic.com.

For most rappers, especially in an age where we can’t even be bothered to peep free music, dropping an entirely new release a mere three months after your last one can be a hard sell. Just what else do you have to offer that you haven’t already shown? Interestingly, for Jae Millz, this means a full-fledged, luxurious weed rap tape in the vein of Curren$y and “International Jones”-era Fiend. Like Fiend, the change in production style and pace actually suits Millz to a tee, with the Young Money vet’s switch from prototypical Harlem punchline mixtape material to hazy strains of luxury rap.

There’s something to say about propriety and the effectiveness of congruity in sentiment and approach. Millz’ subject matter isn’t necessarily dramatically different on Property of Potentness 2, but the change in instrumentals allow his lyrics and voice room to breathe. Millz has always had the trademark cockiness of a Harlem kid, but the well-worn rasp of his vocal tone was obscured by busier, louder productions.

In contrast, his latest tape diddy-bops in turtle time, a slow-burn mix of soulful boom-bap, floaty synth pads, R&B chimes, and blaxploitation funk. Considering Millz produced some of the tracks himself, you can tell that “laid-back” is his mode of preference; throughout the tape, Millz sounds more invigorated than usual, delving more into detail-driven story raps and equally descriptive consumption-bragging over POP2‘s 14 tracks. Hell, you can tell a dude is feeling it/himself when he starts in with the Kid CuDi crooning on the hooks of tracks like “Whataday”.

Or maybe it’s the weed. Now, if you were at all curious as to what the “potentness” – and forgive him for not knowing the word is “potency” – of the tape’s title referred to, the Birdman and Gucci Mane-assisted smoker’s anthem, “Sky High” spells it all out for you. Over a pitched-down homage to Pimp C’s classic “smoke somthin’, biiiiiiiiiiiitch!”, Millz transitions from the imperial cool of “Barstool Flow” to some 1000 thread count soft jazz, furthering the feeling that the album was not only inspired by weed, but completely written on it. There’s a freedom, an openness to the tracks that is the “aw shucks…like, ya know?” kind of philosophizing that only comes with weed. Much of the record abandons the rote, worn-out gangsta rap cliches of the YMCMB roster in exchange for the kind of touchy-feely ruminations about vibes and elevating that you expect from people who stores their frayed hardcover copies of the Cannibible next to their strobe lights.

The feel is less “rap dude who smokes” than “pothead who raps”, adding an endearingly uncommon feel to an, albeit, low-stakes mixtape release from someone who is by all accounts languishing on Ca$h Money’s shelf. Hustling, girls, balling, and crime naturally come up on the record, but Millz’ new context gives them a freshness that was absent before, a freshness augmented by the glimpses into Jae Millz the person that occur throughout the record. And, I’m not just talking about his recollections of his pop playing Native Tongues when he was a kid or his memories of the streets, but the unexpected reach of Millz’ points of reference. YMCMB’s tastes mainly manifest themselves in Drake’s Pitchfork-esque artist cosigns and Wayne’s Hot Topic lifestyle-branding, but who would’ve known that Jae Millz was a “Portlandia” fan? Or, at the very least, that’s the most likely conclusion to take from Millz sampling the show’s theme (Washed Out’s “Feel It All Around” and re-titling it “Millzlandia” rather than just lazily riffing on some permutation of the source material’s title.

Like a lot of weed rap, Property of Potentness 2 is a laid-back celebration of the pleasures of success, but it’s also a surprisingly successful re-contextualization of someone who has been in the background but, in arguably finally finding his lane, may break out. Featuring production from Harry Fraud, LoudxPack, and Jae Millz himself, the tape is available for free download via DatPiff.

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The post A green light for the lush life on Jae Millz’ Property of Potentness 2 appeared first on RapMusic.com.

The Beeshine is a refreshingly unique endeavor, offering a more positive and introspective take on rap culture than the thirsty beef-mongering and glorified tabloid reporting that normally dominates web coverage. Whether obscure, well-known, profound or hilarious, The Beeshine’s features definitely have something for every sort of rap fan.

The Beatnuts. Now if you’re a brew-sippin’, blunt-rollin’, crate-diggin’ epitome of a head, that name speaks volumes to you. Not only were JuJu and Psycho Les eclectic on the boards, but they also managed to capture the rare perfect balance of humor, cool, and toughness that is arguably the apex of “hip hop”. And yes, the scare quotes are intentional; though hip-hop as a genre can be anything and everything, hip hop as an idea is a very specific confluence of influences, feels, and eras. I’m talking about dudes like Mr. MFN Exquire, MF Doom, EL-P, early Mos Def, and early De Soul who stumbled onto this magical, alchemical way to be creative and weird yet still channel the vibe of rap’s “Wild Style” days. In a word, “fresh”. A glut amount of independent releases from Fondle ‘Em, Stones Throw, Rhymesayers, Def Jux, and more have aimed and/or succeeded in replicating that rare feel, but The Beatnuts were some of the all-time greats at making rap that purists, backpackers, nerds, and thugs alike could get into (it’s no coincidence that their last few videos saw frequent rotation on BET during RapCity’s heyday).

On this week’s edition of The Beeshine, Psyche Les of The Beatnuts discusses what inspired him to get into rap, his first rap memories, personal challenges, dreams, and the key to The Beatnuts’ unique sound.

Check out this week’s candid sit-down above, and be sure to subscribe to The Beeshine for more in-depth interviews with rap’s best.

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What is it about good weather that produces such laid back personalities? Coming straight out of Fort Lauderdale, 24-year-old emcee/producer Hardkore captures the breezy calm of summer beach nights well, with tracks that approach the relaxed haze of cloud rap without the aimless meandering of some of the style’s adherents.

Considering homie’s history, the focus makes perfect sense. According to Hardkore, “I would always have a composition book on me and just write rhymes during class because I got so bored…Before you know it, my friends started asking me to spit my rhymes for them, and a few years later, I started recording songs and taking things more seriously.” Honing his craft since fourth grade, Hardkore further refined his talents in Florida’s vaunted freestyle battle scene during its mid-00s heyday, talents that’ll be on full display on his upcoming solo project, Bells in Lauderdale. What does Hardkore say to expect from his material? “If you enjoy feel good and inspirational music about the every day struggle, high grade trees, and partying with the ones you love, then Hardkore should be on your iPod, a.s.a.p.”

Couldn’t have said it any better myself.

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