Diary: Schwarz

Baltimore-based producer and DJ, Schwarz will be spinning at this month's KAHLON and just had his new video and song, "Open Up Yr Mind" premiere over at Noisey. Check out his diary entry from True Laurels Volume 3 below and be sure to follow him on Soundcloud! 

February 26, 2014

Even though the music i make and public image I keep up is overwhelmingly positive, I know for sure one thing: life is really hard. Everyone has their own individual struggles. I know I struggle a lot. Money is a constant worry for me and I'm always questioning my "lifestyle" of being a weird artist and not "growing up" and getting a "real job" or whatever. This is all on top of miscellaneous kind of struggles we all face with our work and our families and loved ones. 

Music has always been the thing I've turned to as an artist and a fan to make sense of this world, feel good and learn to relax about whatever problems I have. This is a pretty universal thing. I think for most people, one of the primary functions of music is more or less an escape and a release. 

This is partly why I connect so much with the music of Lil B and his #Based ideology. Sometimes a positive or important message is right at the forefront of his tracks. Other times, often like in his more silly like "bad" songs, the message is more to forget about the pain in the world momentarily and feel good about yourself. You know, "swag" "woop" etc.., sometimes it feels good to goof off and just feel confident. 

I want to make music where people have a similar feeling I have with Basedgod's music. Where people really connect, and they can come away with a positive experience. Having emotion in your music and connecting to people and making them "feel some kind of way" is what I think is most important. Hopefully my music can be a therapy session of sorts for me and for my listeners. 

 A lot of the people who are critical of my music think that I am being insincere or ironic somehow because of how I come across. Feeling good to me is really serious and it's not a joke. There is no irony or joke or even "winking" in the art that I do. I really truly believe all people are beautiful and should believe in themselves, and even through rough patches when you are feeling down, it is important to remember life is beautiful and things always get better. 

So I may question myself all the time "Why am I doing this?" "What is wrong with me?" etc etc. But I know really that what I am doing is important and I can feel good about it, even though I am a weirdo and I might come off as corny or crazy or "ironic" or whatever else people want to think. Sometimes it is really important just to do you. Lets live life. Let's Love.

MUCH LOVE ALWAYZ

Diary: HI$TO

HI$TO is one of the more well-versed producers in Baltimore right now. Originally from Houston, he's immersed himself into the city's underground electronic and rap scenes where he's produced for collectives like 7th Floor Villains and last month at KAHLON, he completely ripped his DJ set. Last month he also contributed to True Laurels Vol. 3, as he touched on his journey as an artist and looked back on SWSW 2013. Read the full entry below and check HI$TO's SoundCloud. 

March 11, 2014

Yo, you know the cool thing about spirit? When you truly listen to it, destined things happen. I moved to Baltimore from Houston after graduating high school with pursuing my music career burning deep in my spirit. There were some, even people closest to me, that couldn’t understand my actions and grind (some still to this day). But I remained true to myself and where my spirit guided me. 

I’ve been around here almost 4 years and I’ve experienced a lot acting out on this journey. From countless studio sessions to DJ gigs I got, and deal-ing with different artists. Living here pursuing this dream sharpened me all around from the good and sometimes crazy situations I been in. Some people said they didn’t believe in me, some flaked, some faded away, and some stayed down. But now after some time and a more conscious mindset, it’s seems the right people have been placed in my life in the craziest ways.

March  2013  I  went  to  go  visit  Houston  for  SXSW  in  Austin.  Everyone I planned on going with flaked most of the week and I really wanted to go. The night before I sat down and thought about going alone. I didn’t have enough for a place to crash there over night and I thought staying on the streets would be risky. I woke up the next morning and it was burning in my heart to just go so I bought my MegaBus ticket for noon and got my mom to drop me off at the station. As I boarded this guy already seated instantly gave me a CD and said he rapped. I sat across from him and said I produced. There was another guy boarding that over heard me saying that and asked what type of stuff. I told him I was pretty versatile. He sat in front of me then he asked if I knew a producer named “Juke Ellington.” I said I had a homie in DC that just did a remix for him and he said the same, plus he runs a Juke collective in Chicago. His name was Rashad. 

From  that  point  we  exchanged  SoundClouds,  listened  to  each  other’s sounds, talked about the events going on and ended up teaming up the whole night in Austin hitting up events. We ran into so many positive people together and went on a random adventure after everything ended. Next afternoon on the way back on the Megabus, we kept talking until I figured out he lived 5 minutes from where I was staying in Houston. Rashad and I kept hanging while I was in town. We made music, discussed ideas, and kept building. In January we put out a huge mixtape called Juke World Order that’s been featured on Rewd Bull, Do Androids Dance, FACT Mag and more. 

Crazy experience but I went where my spirit led me to. Ever since, I’ve gotten to meet more people who are really down and positive. These people show love, keep me motivated and do positive things together. We’ve gotten far doing what we do. Not just for ourselves, but what the universe destined us to do. I’ve come a long way and I’m seeing how things are getting better for myself and the people I surround myself with. We still have a way to go but persistence is the key. So if you have a vision or passion burning in your heart, just go for it and don’t be afraid to find your full potential. Life’s short. So what do you have to lose when you could gain the whole time? Peace. 

KAHLON w/ B L A C K I E

I'm happy to announce the next installment of KAHLON which goes down Thursday, April 24th at The Crown in Baltimore! Houston's B L A C K I E will be coming up and headlining (his set will be nuts), Abdu Ali will be rocking as usual with his frequent producer, Schwarz, providing sounds. There will also be sets by NYC-based singer Richard Kennedy and Baltimore punk band Sex Gender. Doors open at 8:30 p.m and there will be issues of True Laurels, too! Do not miss this shit. 

RSVP here. 

Diary: Neuport

I met producer and DJ, Neuport around the time of January's KAHLON. He came down to DJ that night, played a great set and kicked it in Baltimore for a little while. We stayed in touch and I eventually asked him to submit a diary for True Laurels Vol. 3. He sent it to me within days and, because of Neuport's transparency, it's one of my favorite True Laurels diaries, to date. Read the full entry below. 

Thursday Night / 11:28pm / March 7, 2014

I'm smoking a newport and looking down at Bushwick Ave from my 4th floor Brooklyn apartment. The air is cold coming in from the open window. My stomach hurts. My boy, Tony bought me dinner tonight, Indian food. I wanted to get the most of my one good meal of the day. The feeling in your gut when you've ate too much food feels similar to anxiety. I know that feeling well. I've always physically felt anxiety in my stomach. Its a sensation that I hate. The sensation that heroin and pills always took away.

I haven’t used heroin in years now. It almost killed me. It did kill me. I woke up in the back of an ambulance one summer night, in a grocery store parking lot. "Woke up" to the medics asking me if I knew my name. It took me a moment. I was drenched in sweat and the front of my t-shirt was cut from top to bottom, exposing my chest. They cut my shirt open to resuscitate me. The lady medic told me I was purple and not breathing when they arrived. I had OD'd in my car and somehow had the sense to get out right away. As soon as I opened the car door everything turned black. Someone saw me fall in the parking lot and called 911. I can say for certain that if I didn't open my door and get out of my car I wouldn't be here right now.

At the time I didn’t see this as a blessing. Now I do. I was pretty miserable after the incident. I was facing some pretty major legal charges and my family wanted to send me to a treatment center in Minnesota. I eventually obliged. If I thought I had bad anxiety before, I was in for a rude awakening. One thing about being sober is you don't have those tools you once had to cope. Those tools that worked. Not having control of your emotions is very real. Learning to deal with these emotions is a struggle. Someone asked me a question that helped me a lot with this process, “What made you happy before you started using drugs?”.

As a kid I always loved music, skateboarding, and drawing. It wasn't exactly easy to just jump back into but I knew it what I had to do. Somehow I got linked up with some pretty like minded people going through the same shit that I was. Its crazy to look back now and see what some of us have accomplished. For others its a revolving door of jail, drugs, sickness, and treatment. Others have sadly passed since. For me, I had a second chance to do something different. Sometimes it's easy to forget this. I have to remind myself now and then.

My anxiety hasn't gone away but facing anxiety and fears is the best way to overcome. If you're scared to do something, do it. You realize it's all in your head. You move forward. You have nothing to lose, only so much to gain.

Rewind: #GOODCOULDBEBETTER: Asaad's Push To Redeem His Rap Career

From True Laurels Volume 2 (January 2014): In recognition of Asaad's Flowers II dropping today, here is the cover story from Volume 2 where I met up with him to discuss the album in its development, the issues he'd be dealing with in his absence and what plans he had for his career, moving forward. 

Last month I headed to Wilmington, Delaware to meet Assad—the controversial & talented Philly rapper who I’ve been following for about three years. I drove up from Baltimore with my friend Keem—who snapped the photos—on what was a strange, but favorable, 70-degree Saturday. We went to Delaware, not by either party’s preference, but because Asaad had a role in a video being shot for Philly rapper, Theodore Grams’ song, in which he is featured. The meeting-spot was an independently-owned insurance office in the middle of a huge highway that belonged to one of Grams’ friend’s’ parents. About ten minutes in, Asaad showed up with his manager, Kevin. As he walked over towards me, he cracked a smile as if we had met before. The approach was funny when I thought about how much it belied the crazed & unpredictable persona that he’s had on the internet. When he learned that I was from Baltimore he immediately went into fan-mode about The Wire. “A lot of people don’t know that some of The Wire was shot in Philly,” he said. “They used to be on my block, offering kids $50 to be in a scene. Man...my life is like The Wire.”

The first project Asaad dropped, Flowers, came out in November of 2009 when he was just 18 and resembled soulful rap from the likes of a Common and The Roots. It was an emotionally-driven record that showed a street kid’s dealings with relationships, getting blunted and having fun. Over beats that were felt like they were meant for open mic sessions, there was a joy in his voice that hasn’t been consistent in his work since then. In 2011, Asaad’s project, Dirty Middle Class, carried on the theme of Flowers but his flow and lyrics became sharper and more hard-hitting. From the project’s “Dirty White Leathers”: “True this: stressed genius would rather be clueless/ Instead I'm X-ing dream-girls off of my to-do list/ With a Pac moxy, a working-class hero's hubris/ With the world on my shoulders, damn et tu Brutus!” Dirty Middle Class is also where Asaad started to adopt trap instrumentals (see: “Mr. White Lighter (27)”). Since that sonic shift in his music, he’s been tireless with his self-releases, putting out six projects between 2012 and now, including White II, which had over 30 songs and was promoted as a “triple-disc” mixtape. A lot of material? Hell yeah, but for a person whose early-childhood room was his beat-making dad’s studio before he was born, he sees it as second nature. “Yeah I’ve been around it since I was a baby so it was like fate,” he said. “All the stuff I did in the past is light compared to what I’m doing now. I was always in an uncomfortable situation while I was recording. This time everything was set up great. I was in great studios. Had good people around me. Another thing is that, this time around I physically wrote all my songs instead of putting them together in my phone.”

A common theme throughout the day was Asaad’s denouncing of his previous music-making methods. He continuously brought up being around the wrong crowd of people over the past few years. As a speculating fan, I figured that’d be why his music went from Flowers to Black History Month II, a Carter II-esque mixtape that he put out last March where he unofficially changed his name to Saudi Money. The focus in each of its 11 songs was money and doing whatever it took to get it. “Before, I would be in a room full of dickheads and they’d just be praising me for no reason,” he tells me while eating a turkey hoagie. “So I was taking that energy in and I’d rap just to rap and then end the song.” To him, Kevin has been the biggest catalyst in his newly-altered outlook. Since the two linked up, Asaad has given up smoking, drinking, his phone, Twitter & Instagram—all of which were probably tools in creating his online persona as a livewire. He said that Kevin, as a manager, gives him a sense of direction that he never had. Together they’ve started a new hashtagged movement, #goodcouldbebetter, a slogan that was also in “Dirty White Leathers”. “When you think about #goodcouldbebetter, it’s like our motivation,” Kevin told me in the insurance office’s parking lot while we waited forever for Grams’ team to properly set up the video. “You see what’s going on up and down the East Coast: every city is getting gentrified. The people being removed don’t know where to go. This new music is a product of that. It’s really intelligent. He’s talking about some recent struggles and mistakes he’s made. You look at him and you see the tattoos on his face and you can easily stereotype him but you gotta get into the story.”

For the most part, I was buying most of what they were selling. Sure, Asaad’s former friends probably did have some impact in who he was becoming. I’ve gone through the questionable friend stage too, but an equal part of me sensed that there was some restraint in Asaad’s story. Either that, or he was so focused on telling me about his new music that he began to skim over the past. The new project that he’ll drop this year will be called Flowers II—a fitting way to start over. Our plan was to meet in Wilmington, kick it while Asaad finished his part in the video and then head to Philly to pick up the new project’s masters so we could all listen together. That never happened, though. For having a fairly simple setup, the video shoot took entirely too long. The bulk of my ten hours there were spent trying to tune out Theodore Grams’ lackeys as they told corny jokes and playfully shot blanks from the fake guns that were used for the video’s shootout scene. I couldn’t ignore Asaad’s energy, though. While he probably wasn’t as annoyed at the situation as Keem and I, he was clearly somewhere else mentally. He’d occasionally break from his anxious zoning out to joke around but mostly, he stuck to himself; he seemed focused.

By the time the sun went down, Grams finally called Asaad into one of the office’s rooms to shoot his part. Kevin asked me, “Yo, you wanna hear the unmastered version of Saudi’s new shit?”. I yelled “Hell yeah!” and got out of that office in a matter of seconds and headed to my car where he played us 25 minutes-worth of new material. It didn’t take long for me to notice how much more polished and locked-in he sounded on the new songs. Instantly, I was reminded of last June’s Cold Blue, which SPIN listed in one of its “most slept-on” lists. To date, Cold Blue is Asaad’s best showcasing of his versatility; on “Burn Tha Church/Family” he showed his ability to work auto tune, “New Drug” chronicled a failed relationship and “Holy Matri” is his best trap song yet. Still, for all of its positives, Cold Blue felt a bit thrown together and his high level of energy wasn’t maintained throughout. What Kevin played me felt like proof that Asaad had been in better studios with a clearer head. In a song called “Womp” he says, “Sleep don’t pay a bill/ I’d rather chase than fuckin’ chill”. “Angels” is a song that he had been raving about the whole day. After a night out with Kevin where he met some major-label executive-types that recognized and even approached him, he said he had to unload as soon as he got home. “Man, it was just a different kind of motivation. Knowing that top people are watching just made me go write.” I could hear the spilled-over inspiration, too. “Angels” is an inside-out revelation where Asaad sounds like he finally knows that he belongs. But the page-turning point of the night was an untitled track Kevin introduced by saying that it was the first song Asaad recorded after they’d come together. Over a simple soul-sampling beat, Saudi vented about being disowned by his parents, reluctantly having to return to his old neighborhood and how bad he wanted to succeed. It was the first time in a long time that, as a fan of his music, I didn’t have to lean on his skill or potential; he laid it all out so there could be no questioning. He was bare. The #goodcouldbebetter concept became real to me. As it wound down to its last bars he screamed, “Pusha T stole from me! He ain’t do me right.”

His seemingly one-sided feud with Pusha T, whom he says stole music from him, has gained him some not-so-positive attention. That, and the infamous artwork attached to his 2012 single “Boss Status” that displays Biggie & Tupac having sex which has, to an extent, overshadowed the music he’s been working on over the past few years. When I asked him about what impact he thinks the drawing has had on his career, he denied any affiliation to it and said that it was tampered with through whatever channels the song traveled. Whatever the case, he couldn’t disagree with when I brought up the unique space that he’s in as a rapper—having fans that have followed him from the beginning while there’s still people who’ve never heard of him in the same hip-hop circles. “On one end, I look at it like, I’ve never done shit,” he said wearing the same smile he did when talking about Flowers II. “On the other end, it’s like I got people that fuck with what I do. It’s weird. Rather than letting myself feel unbalanced, I just take it as motivation and I put all the energy from the support into this next project. Nobody is gonna be disappointed.”

Stream Flowers II below via Billboard:

Photos: SXSW 2014

A couple weeks ago I went down to Austin to experience my first SXSW Music Festival. There was a lot of bullshit going down but it was matched by all the unexpected experiences I had while down there. I'm being vague because my full day-by-day log of the festival lives over at Frank 151 (Read it!). Before you get into the recap, check some of the photos I snapped at the many showcases I went to. 

B L A C K I E

Lunice

Problem

Kelela

Mykki Blanco

Tweet

Kevin Gates

BLXPLTN

Fat Tony

Cakes Da Killa

Cam'ron

Photos: True Laurels Volume 3 Release

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who came out to support the release of True Laurels Volume 3 at Printed Matter, this past Saturday. The cozy bookstore was packed out and having people come by, eager to learn about a project I just thought of five months ago felt great. Skinny Friedman DJ'd an amazing set that went from Soulja Boy's "Ocean Gang" to Baltimore Club legend, Miss Tony's "Pull Ya Gunz Out".  Derrick Adams gave an insightful artist talk that touched on young artists' need to experiment, the representation of Baltimore in his work and how he incorporates pop culture into his work. The highlight of the night was Abdu Ali's performance. I'm not sure if anyone who hadn't seen him before, was prepared for the energy he was about to project. And putting out an elevated amount of energy seemed to be Ali's mission as he performed his most hard-hitting tracks: "Machete Warz", "Mad Ambrosia" and "Say Somethin". Probably the rarest performance to go down in a bookstore (lol). His performance was documented by Erik Puotinen, who got some great shots of Ali at his most energized moments of the night. Check them out below. 

Favorite Rap Of The Week: Nicki Minaj, Butch Dawson, Bodega BAMZ + More

Nicki Minaj- Lookin' Ass Niggas

Nicki Minaj's new track isn't quite a surprise but it sure is a relief. Scrap the flack she caught for not being "inventive" on her remix of Young Thug's "Danny Glover" (she was) because she's been shaping into form as of late (see "Boss Ass Bitch" too). "Looking Ass Nigga" is more like the latter, in that, her rap-for-sport flexing and parading of effortless lyrical superiority over most rappers (both male and female) frame her flip-the-script on misogynistic rap not as the bitter chick but as the empowering one. "Looking Ass Nigga" has enough fem power and fire to hold over Nicki fans who had one finger left on the towel before throwing it in. By the way, Nabil is king. 

Butch Dawson- Yada Yada

A murky, weed-induced joint from Baltimore's Butch Dawson, per usual, but that's no slight. "Yada Yada" is a slow paced, key-heavy track quickly reminiscent of Earl Sweatshirt's "Chum" where Butch tightly jumbles words into bars. And like "Chum", the song fades into an alternate instrumental ending, but here Butch is singing a surprisingly beautiful, melodic harmony over his own production.

New single from Butch Dawson. new project soon. Follow Butch Dawson for more updates. Twitter: @ButchDawson_ Facebook: /ButchDawson butchdawson.bandcamp.com

Bodega BAMZ- Recap

Bodega BAMZ is one of the few young NYC rappers that has been able to join old guard New York rap conventions with contemporary aesthetics in the least gimmicky way possible. He just raps well, no matter the beat or the not-so-original subject matter. The recent "Recap" is an introspective rundown of his 2013, good and bad: "Took a label meeting with a legend/ Told the O.G. I couldn't sign. The digits ain't add up to seven". 

Recap of 2013

Buddy- Kids On The Block (Featuring Freddie Gibbs)

Compton's Buddy kinda tiptoes his way through this one. His energy combined with this beat make for a good vibe but the attention-grabbing verse comes from Gangsta Gibbs, who, when not tearing down Madlib beats, fairs best on sun-kissed, chill West Coast-styled production like this one. Here, he adds onto his consistent list of socially-charged, intelligent street rap. "We survive and get gentrified. They build condos in our projects./ Instead of books and shit they give us dope to flip. You want the powder pack then we got that." 

Listen to Buddy - Kids On The Block (Ft. Freddie Gibbs) by ILLROOTSRADIO | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.

GrandeMarshall- Open

More cruise rap from Philly's GrandeMarshall. Tailored for weed clouded car rides, there's a girl in pursuit (like a lot of his tracks) as he rolls up the green and hits on her. "Open" has a rappity rap neon glow to it like an early 2000's Rap City "Tha Basement" freestyle session. Grande flows endlessly to a beat he crafted himself. 

New sounds (self-produced, and why not?) leaking on the road to GrandeMarshall's third project My Brother's Keeper. Be on the lookout for more leaks, and the eventual release of MBK in the Spring of 2014. #OPEN twitter.com/grandemarshall

Premiere: Time Spent Featuring Cunt Mafia

Time Spent has carefully showcased underground rap artists in Virginia, Baltimore and NYC through nostalgic VHS recordings of a cappella rap sessions. Their work has spanned from Mykki Blanco, to Abdu Ali, to Little Pain and most recently they hooked up with Cunt Mafia—a collective staple of New York's alternative underground. The video is set in the group's resident club on Friday nights—The Flat, in Brooklyn—and feature members Quay Dash and Count Contessa exude style, confidence and color, as they usually do, spitting deep-cutting, brash boom-bap flows. With the setting and pure New York style, it's reminiscent of Smack DVD freestyles (like this). Peep the video above. 

www.timespent.biz

Review: Cities Aviv- Come To Life

From his more distorted, syrup-paced 2012 release, Black Pleasure, Memphis alternative rapper Cities Aviv's song “Simulation”, in hindsight, can be seen as a precursor to his newly released album, Come To Life.  The Internet vs. Your Humanity was its main focus as it questioned how real can someone be when their time is primarily spent in the digital realm. At the top of the second verse he shouts, “I don’t know what you are dude. With 30,000 usernames, which is the real you?/ You bees on this internet. You bees in the trap/Discography your mixtapes that bees in a trance.” Come To Life’s first full track, “Fool”, starts off with, “Don’t be foolish nigga. Yeah you must be stupid/ if you think they give a fuck about this message in your music/The trouble and the bass, now a trending topic/ But tomorrow such a phase. A name without a face.” In the next track, “Head”, he says, “Surfing through the surface but we never through the cracks.” He doesn’t waste time establishing the album’s theme: finding and holding onto your identity without being an android, while the world grows increasingly digital and distracted from reality. 

On production alone, Aviv made a compelling record with Come To Life just by slightly tweaking Black Pleasure's sound; most of the album would be enjoyable with or without vocals, and that's no slight to his execution. Here he takes age-old rap conventions like soul-sampling and speeds it up to create instantly danceable tracks. Considering how unconcerned his music seems to be with adopting any popular conventions, his attempt at getting a rouse out of people feels genuine which, when paired with the dance-encouraging beats, alludes to Memphis rap’s past. Project Pat clearly didn't give a fuck about how the internet affected us but his music was eerily intimate. Robbery and selling dope never seemed so reasonable before Pat’s nursery rhyme flow crammed entire scenes into a couple bars. “First of the year, tax time keep me with a smile/ Ima get a extra couple of G’s claiming your child/ Yeah it’s wild but this is the world that we livin’ in,” is what he said in Layin’ Da Smack Down’s “Choose U”. It puts you right into the middle of his story and his conscience. There's a weighted narrative, but you can easily enjoy the song if you just focus on the beat. Other Memphis natives like Three 6 Mafia, 8Ball & MJG, Yo Gotti and Playa Fly have had songs that possess dual appeal as well. That's what Cities Aviv pulls off here. The album’s strongest combination of lyrics and production comes with its lead single, “URL IRL” (acronyms for YOU IN REAL and I IN REAL). In the self-produced track he accelerates and loops a sample while he shouts “Coming back to life until you know what’s good,” during the hook. The first verse's opening bars are: "Realize. You recognize. Come to life my nigga/ Do you know what's good? Like you should. Rep your status. Rep your hood/ Fuck that gossip shit you talkin'." Lyrically, the song is a guide to the album’s digital therapy session take on tackling some of millennial's key issues with narcism, entitlement, instant gratification and self-identity.

In his early twenties, Cities Aviv is not only suggesting you to grapple with cyberspace but he’s also talking to himself as he falls right into the middle of the millennial generation. He tells someone to hit him via text but to not use emojis in the B L A C K I E- produced “Perpetuate The Real”. "CTL1" is a recording of Abdu Ali giving his take on what "Come To Life" means. Towards the end he says, "Bring magic into real, breathing, living life. You know? And just be alive." Minor details like these validate the album, in that, you get that this isn't just soapbox bullshit when the looking glass is turned onto the speaker. Aviv's heavy sampling and use of early computer-sound synths also bring a full-circle perspective on the album—which is him admitting his own use of a necessary evil, while in the process, trying to keep himself in tact while using it. On all fronts, Come To Life is relevant, thoughtful and engaging. 

Purchase "Come To Life" HERE. 

Available Here : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/come-to-life/id797088204 "URL IRL" VIDEO EXERCISE ~ filmed by : Sean Stout Cities Aviv - COME+TO+LIFE | 1.28.2014

DON'T EVER LOOK BACK Cities Aviv, from Come to Life (2014) Directed by Rimar Villaseñor A COMMON Force Project. Details: http://bit.ly/1dsPha8

Quay Dash: On Being From The Bronx, Cunt Mafia & Wack Industry Bitches

As a fan of rap music, I got really excited in 2012 when artists like Mykki Blanco, Zebra Katz and Le1f started to get some recognition. At the time, their music—which had a lot more weight to it than your average run-of-the-mill rappers—was marginalized into a quasi sub-genre called Queer Rap (whatever that was supposed to be). Every kinda-alt publication hopped on it, asked questions that made the artists seem outrageous and as 2014 starts to settle in, a good deal of these talented artists are on the way to being forgotten; I guess teenagers getting shot up in Chiraq is a bit more juicy. What makes these artists worthy of being cherished is the unique narrative they have to offer to hip-hop. Have you heard anything like Mykki Blanco's shit before? Hearing someone spit as gutter as Cakes Da Killah over trip-hoppy ballroom-incorporating beats is some of the most entertaining shit out. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to traditional subject matter in rap but I'd be lying if I said the shit doesn't get boring.

At the end of 2013, I found out about Quay Dash. She's a transgender rapper from The Bronx whose rap style is of her NYC boom bap roots. Though her catalog is short, I heard enough to want to pay close attention to whatever she has dropping. As a part of Cunt Mafia—a collective of alternative kids who champion queer culture—her aesthetic is unforgiving and raw which never gets tired in rap. We spoke recently and I got to find out what unique narrative a transgendered woman can offer to hip-hop, what food spots are the best in the BX and where her style comes from. Peep it below:

Photo: Marie Tomanova

When you decided to be a rapper, did you feel that it was already something you had to offer that would set you apart from the pack or are you still crafting it?

Quay Dash: I started off writing music three years ago. It started off as poetry and metaphors i wrote out of anger. I don't consider myself a rapper-- more like a lyricist. Being apart of the LGBT community and being a transgender rapper from the Bronx definitely sets me apart from the pack which is why I must come much harder than your average everyday female or male rapper . I don't feel the need to craft it because I already perfected what I needed to. It's pretty much a piece a cake for me.

At this point, a lot of active rappers are repeating a handful of familiar narratives. The story of a trans rapper is one that hasn't been heard on a large scale, though. Does that fuel you?

QD: It does which is why I am here to put it out there so people can understand the actual reality and life of a transgender woman. People will gag but they also will get the full effect on this lifestyle that they're totally unaware of instead of listening to all the false uproar and stereotypes of the trans community. 

NEW YORK.... PRODUCED BY NICKY TROUBLES.

You’re a member of Cunt Mafia. As a family and a rap group, what unique values do you all have that help shape your aesthetic and identity?

QD: We're all just different in our own ways and we all have our own personalities, demeanors, style and originality .

How did you get down with Cunt Mafia?

QD: I met Contessa back when I used to party in whorehouse when I was 19. From there me and her became really good friends.

On the songs that I’ve heard from you, delivery seems to be a priority. Is that something you put a lot of work into?

QD:  Of course. Delivery is one of the main things other than flow that I put lots of work into to become a beast as a lyricist (lol). 

UM... EVERYTHING YOU SHOULD KNOW. PRODUCED BY NICKY TROUBLES.... MERRY X-MAS

Your style is of New York’s  traditional boom-bap sound. As someone from NYC, do you feel that it’s a responsibility to carry on that legacy or is that how you naturally flow?  

QD: It's just how I naturally flow honestly being that 90's hip-hop always was a big influence on my music but it's not necessarily a responsibility .

Other than Nicki Minaj, there hasn’t been a strong female voice in rap for some time. Why do you think that is and what would need to happen for that to change?

QD: It's 'cause the industry is too busy co-signing these wack rap bitches talking about your everyday basic bullshit and the audience for these people are brainwashed and don't know any better so they follow that basic bitch aesthetic of female rap. For this to change the industry must co sign CUNTMAFIA. 

What’s your process when putting a song together?

QD: I usually have to hear the beat I'm working with a couple of times to actually start. Usually, I'll have something written already and work it into the track .

What music in 2013 personally encouraged you to keep pushing?

QD: None .

Why does the game need Quay Dash?

QD: Put me in a room with my so called competition and you'll see ;)

Favorite food spots in the BX?

QD: I love Giovanni's near Grand Concourse. It's really tasty Italian food introduced to me by my best friend. I also love Crown Fried Chicken—typical around-the-corner grub food after you just finished blowing a couple of spliffs to the face.

Photo: Amos Mac

Interview: Olivia Obineme

When it comes to putting together the True Laurels zine, from the start, I always wanted to put an emphasis on collaboration. In Volume 1, out of necessity, I snapped a lot of the photos but this time around I made sure to work with people who have a real passion for being behind the lens. A big help in making True Laurels Volume 2 happen is Olivia Obineme—a photographer and blogger living in Baltimore. I first met her while walking downtown in the early part of last year. She approached me and I remember being kind of flustered with how polite she was (LOL). She asked could she take a few photos of me for her blog Strangers With Style and I was down. I didn't see her again until the backend of summer when she stopped a friend of mine for the same reason. Since then we've stayed in touch and agreed to work together for the zine. Recently we chatted about her passion and I got to know her a lot better. Peep the conversation below. 

To you, what is a photographer's responsibility?

Olivia Obineme: I'm not sure if it's a responsibility per se --perhaps that specifically for photojournalism. Regardless, I think when one captures something using a camera, one would hope to evoke something --a feeling--in those who view it. It's one way many people are able to express themselves. You know how they say pet owners and their pets have similar personalities? Or something of the sort. Anyway, it's like photography and the artist behind it. There are many photographers I know whose photography carries their essence.

What was your first camera and did you value it as much as your cameras now?

O.O: I mean, the first camera I ever had was a Polaroid ProCam. Still have it. Was pretty much a family camera, but I definitely made it my own. Funny how technology evolves and what becomes the latest trends. All of the original stuff. I own a DSLR now -Canon 70D, it's a relatively new purchase, actually. Still trying to get used to it. Felt much more comfortable borrowing my friend's 60D. My mind tends to go blank when I encounter similar, but new things sometimes. Weird.

Are you consciously thinking about taking a great photo while shooting or does that come after?

O.O: I'm still growing as a photographer. Sometimes, I feel I still need to shoot more and get more critiques in order to take on the title of 'photographer'. But many who have seen my work have said I have a good eye for things. So, I try to be in the moment as I'm shooting, keeping mind of some things seasoned photographers have told me to avoid. They see great potential, so that means you should all want to work with me. But seriously, I'm pretty chill on shoots, which allows for my subjects to be themselves and allows more of a creative flow. And, I was only semi-joking. Let's work together on something. It's a win-win!

What's the best photo you've ever taken and what separates it from the pack?

O.O: I don't know, to be honest. Sometimes after a couple of shoots, there's a photo that comes to mind --that stands out. Any favorite of mine usually is based on the whole experience. I can say that capturing the beauty and realness of Deana Haggag, has always been an all-time favorite of mine. I guess having one of the photos I took of her set as my desktop for the longest time, makes it one of my best? Everything about her, interacting with her, assisting her with styling, and being able to direct her during the shoot was sublime. Hoping to to capture her essence again, soon. There's a shot of Eze Jackson I took for my blog that's always stood out to me, too. Dude looked so cool, crown and all.

How important is music, if at all, to your creative process?

O.O: Music just opens up parts of me that I didn't even know existed and allows me to create with an open mind. I can listen to pretty much anything. I mean I do have limits. Sorry, Taylor Swift. Not about that life. And I'm also not the avid 'I know the title and musician of every song I've ever listened to" music type of person, either. I'm not even sure that people who know me the best (besides my family) know that I love classical music. I used to write poetry on a daily basis and the stuff that would manifest from this brain of mine when Mozart was turned up, would just be unbelievable. And then again, Erykah Badu would channel a whole different vibe for me; but pretty much, if my body is swaying or the beat triggers my brain, the creativity will be ever flowing. Oooh, African music is always on point for me. Could listen, dance and work to that all at the same time and still get stuff done. I'm Nigerian. I'll always find a beat to rock to, haha. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if whatever is playing allows me to focus on my work, on my thoughts, then it's fine in my book. I don't want to focus on the fact that Katy Perry is a firework. Catchy, but I get nowhere with that.

Have mobile apps helped you grow as a photographer?

O.O: Instagram. No, don't go checking out my account. It's not amazing. But, I think since I have been using the app, and have been seeing what others have captured, it has allowed me to see more when using my DSLR. Not sure if that makes sense. It's quite beautiful, some of the images many of these IG users capture in such a small space. I mean, that is for those who only use their phone cameras to shoot for IG.

Have you ever felt stuck in your progression? How did you pull yourself?

O.O: I feel like I have hit some obstacles, both personal and professional that have stalled my progression, but only temporarily. I try to find some inspiration. I love checking out local photographers' works. I love looking at Glenford Nunez's work. From sitting back and winding down to some Wendel Patrick, to checking out what other, I consider great locals are doing, helps. I look for vibrancy that will brighten my life and help me see things clearer. And at the same time, I'm rooting for the home team. If anything, Baltimore should be known for its self-starters, its self-motivating city slickers that grind it out each and every day. I was talking to a close friend of mine about this new age Baltimore I think is happening. It's the younger folks in this town that are the real grit of Baltimore and I can foresee those same young people taking over this city. Have I gone off on a tangent? I guess I like checking out the success of other folks in the city to help inspire and push me to keep going. Meditation, pulling myself away from the problem for a bit to just breathe and then go back in with a clearer mindset helps. Everyone gets stuck, but what you make of that situation is all that matters.

True Laurels Volume 2 Cover + Details

I'm proud to announce the details of True Laurels Volume 2! Copies will be sold at KAHLON this Saturday  at The Crown (1910 N. Charles St.) and there will be live sets by Abdu Ali, Butch Dawson, Neuport and Natural Velvet. Big S/O to Kristin Tata for illustrating the feature artist, Philly rapper Asaad. Others featured in the issue are B L A C K I E, Butch Dawson, Go Ddm, Rusty Burke, Kenny Evans and Al Rogers. Contributors for the issue are Brandon Soderberg, Kristin Tata, Olivia Obineme, Keem Griffey and FAM. If you can't grab a copy Saturday, no worries, it will be for sale in the site's shop Monday! 

Interview: Rock512Devil's Emphasis on Collaboration & Selectivity

Since I started putting together the True Laurels zine in November, the most challenging part hasn't been putting stories and diaries together, it's been learning how to market it as a product. What spots to get it in. Who to send it to. Who to work with. All that shit, you know? Other than the online shop, my stockists are Smash Records in D.C. and Atomic Books in Baltimore, which are working out great. This past weekend, the list got a little longer when I finally stopped by Rock512Devil (512 W. Franklin St.) , a new start-up bookstore and gallery in Baltimore that was established in November by Max Guy, Chloe Maratta and Flannery Silva. I really got interested when a few friends were carrying around zines that caught my eye and after asking where they'd come from, everyone told me to go check Max's spot—so I did.  

In space, Rock512Devil is pretty small but you'll probably forget about that once you get into what's on the shelves. They have self-help guides in the form of zines, comics, political cartoons, VHS tapes of local bands performing, cassettes, an issue of Girls Like Us magazine with New York's Venus X on the cover, locally made perfumes and art that goes up bi-monthly. I got lost pretty fast. What makes the space so intriguing isn't its quality of inventory, though; it's the nerve to exist. Baltimore's small creative scene needs more young, driven people to be willing to try things and not be so polished with their efforts. It also needs a more organized attempt at unity and collaboration, which these guys do with hosting readings and exhibitions. Mostly everything there—while not being something I'd normally snatch up—was new to me. Nothing felt pretentious and I walked out with a few more zines and products to check out. Rock512Devil isn't trying to be perfect and that's something I appreciate—rawness without sloppiness. I couldn't bounce before making sure that True Laurels joined the well-versed collection. 

Wanting to learn more from the curatorial side, I chatted it up with Max. Peep our conversation below:

What was the motivation to create Rock512Devil?

Part of the goal was networking for our individual projects as curators, publishers and artists. Chloe and I colluded sometime in June to discuss moving into a small storefront on the West-side or close to Lexington Market. Initially the gallery was going to be a traveling curatorial project where I would occupy or "possess" a space with my own exhibition style and brand. In hindsight it seems like a bad gimmick, but I liked the potential for a less "provincial" conversation on art. Becoming an anomaly or antagonist of sorts in order to introduce some fresh talent and criticism.

I flipped a coin between Angel and Devil for the name, but I think Rock was set in stone. Rock is the name of the bookstore run by Chloe and Flannery, and Devil the name of the gallery. Rock512Devil alludes to the two projects' cohabitation of the storefront on 512 W. Franklin St., which has become increasingly more collaborative. So if you don't know how to say the name yet just call it what you want, we know what you mean :-)

What's the process of choosing what zines and books fit in well with you guys' aesthetic?

Chloe says we are "critical and inclusive, intensely curated but also not curated at all."

Her and Flannery keep a real healthy and diverse stock of publications, including zines, literature, photobooks, tapes and records. Being selective early on is important, but we stock what is on our radar and frequently tell people to submit samples. Most of it seems to boil down to a unique attitude. Sometimes publishers will surprise us with a whole bunch of extra zines by their friends. I'm most interested in books that introduce new perspectives on literacy. Nowhere Zone by Nick Vyssotzky, Woman In Trouble by the Kingsboro Press (Anything by Kingsboro really) and Ma Vie en Bleu by Milano Chow are some favorites in this regard. I enjoy the way these books make me "read" an image or consider text as an image.

Zine shops aren't too common in Baltimore. Do you see that changing or do you think people are still too wired to the interwebz?

We join the likes of specialty shops such as Normals, Red Emma's and Atomic Books in selling what some might consider "luxury" or "specialty" items. As a shop in Baltimore we can use the the internet as a way of communicating with publishers and distributors far and wide, and promoting local talents. Our strongest presence right now is through our blog, rock512devil.tumblr.com. 

Tell me about the bi-monthly art-shows you guys just started doing and other events you've put together.

The bi-monthly schedule seems more manageable, this also means that for the time being -- unless we change our minds -- there will be something like 6 shows in the remainder of our lease. So we're looking to be selective with the artists that we work with (we do not take unsolicited proposals), and deliberate with exhibition curating. Our first exhibit was Z-1 with work by painter Marisa Takal, which opened on December 3rd and closes this weekend. Next up is Vinnie Smith in early February, a prolific photographer and all-around spiritual guy working between NYC and LA. 

So while we don't accept proposals for exhibitions, we are interested in creating a culture in the space from intermittent screenings, performances and meetings. Our first screening was of Travis Levasseur's What Happens in Vegas, a cross between sci-fi conspiracy theory video on the suicide rate in Las Vegas and its imminent destruction. Flannery directed a performance of the Glass Menagerie in November. Coming up on January 17th is a screening of the post-apocalyptic vampire sexploitation flick BLOODRAPE,  about an all-girl-vampire-hardcore-thrash band. Shout outs to the Director Teer Maman. On Valentine's Day we will have A Night of Unnamed Feeling, a night of ASMR erotica. We're having a poetry reading by Diane Young in conjunction with the Open Space Publications and Multiples fair in March.

Baltimore's creative world is still strangely not controlled by youth culture. Where does Rock512Devil fit into changing that?

Chloe and Flannery have a real vision, and I think the vibe of the store is kind of in-line with their band Odwalla88. To be honest, I have a bit of an "old man" complex; I see this as growing up a little. But the name has Rock and Devil in it for a reason, and I think part of our agenda is to introduce challenging new work to Baltimore City, perhaps challenging standards by creating our own. 

For Devil, I like the quote from Goethe's Faust, "I am part of the power that forever wills evil and forever works good." Rock is the X-Ray Spex of bookstores. 

Describe the best day Rock512Devil has had so far.

That one day when we started a bookstore and gallery in Baltimore. We're open Saturday and Sunday noon-6 and its great to have consistent visitors. 

Rock512Devil is open on Saturdays & Sundays from 12-6 p.m and located at 512 W. Franklin St. Visit their blog @ rock512devil.tumblr.com

Mykki Blanco's Sick Holiday Initiation Tour

This past weekend I was lucky enough to catch Mykki Blanco live for the second time in Baltimore this year, as his Initiation Tour is coming to a close on what seemed to be an eternal string of shows. As always, and something that's stood true since I first saw him play in Boston in the summer of 2012, Mykki gave a great fucking show. He kept the crowd engaged from the jump and played the best shit from his catalog (except "NaS Gave Me a Perm" which I was dying to hear). "Wavvy", "Feeling Special", "Bugged Out" and "HazeBoogie" were all jamming and the production from the unreleased material he played was crazy. Seriously, in hip-hop, we really have to start championing these artists that are putting in overtime on creating QUALITY performances; with Saturday being my third time witnessing Blanco live, every time has gotten more interesting and entertaining. When he's on the stage, he leaves Earth for a bit and as audience members, myself and others, have taken that trip with him—you can't help but to. The green stage-lighting was perfect for his mutant persona, too. His shit just makes sense, and even though it's supposed to, it happens so infrequently. Yeah, I'm probably rambling but I can't help but to get excited when a rap show in 2013 doesn't include pointless moshing from dudes who've never been in the pit, 39 people on stage being cool and the rapper standing in one spot his entire performance before bouncing up and down because he couldn't think of anything else to do. Whew. Anyway, in the midst of enjoying the show, I snapped some photos of Mykki, DJ Larry B, T.E.A.M.S. and TT The Artist (from True Laurels Volume 1). Check them in gallery above and share your thoughts. 

Photos: True Laurels + Abdu Ali

A couple weeks back, I interviewed my friend Abdu Ali for Frank 151, which went live last week (check it here). In the process of completing the story, we got together to take some shots, which, like everything with Abdu, turned into an entertaining situation. A big S/O goes to DUOX (from True Laurels Volume 1) for tossing us their studio and putting up with us for a couple hours. Check out the photos below and share them with your friends. Oh, and follow Abdu on Twitter: @AbduAli.  

Favorite Albums of 2013

1. Kelela- Cut 4 Me: What makes Cut 4 Me special is its production—it isn’t set up to be sang over yet it’s being contrasted with lyrics about failed relationships. The choppy sounds that give Bmore Club and D.C. go-go are more suited for warehouse dance parties but Kelela maneuvers through them with ease.

2. Kanye West- Yeezus: Kanye didn’t come to the table with a completely unheard-of sound, but for nerve and and being abrupt, he does get some points. Weird video game synths, industrial beats and an elevated level of fire and passion are the keys to this record. And even without his routine soulful samples, he’s still telling stories.

3. B L A C K I E- ONLY 4 THE REAL:Houston’s B L A C K I E is a fixture in the underground punk-rap scene with a small internet following. So naturally, his album, ONLY 4 THE REAL, was easily overlooked. But his pro-feminist practices in the pit, motivational sermons and healthy aggression are some of the year’s real gems.

4. Various Artists- Saint Heron:The first record from Solange Knowles’ label, Saint Records, Saint Heron is a masterful display of what modern-day R&B is and where it can go.  The compilation features eleven artists including Jhene Aiko, Kelela, Cassie and Solange, who closes out. Atmospheric, foggy production topped with echoey vocals at its finest.

5. Migos- YRN:Champions of trap right now. Access to Zaytoven on-demand. Flows that haven’t been tapped into, and that would otherwise be annoying as fuck, slice through the insane production.

6. Drake- Nothing Was The Same:Albeit a douchey coming-of-age soundtrack for a bitter dude who’s always getting fronted on, Nothing Was The Same is Drake at his most polished. There’s more umph behind the rhymes, his confidence is at its height and his producer Noah “40” Shebib has never been so in sync with him.

7. Abdu Ali- Push + Slay:Some shit most of our music brains haven’t experienced yet. Categorizing it—damn near impossible. Rapping, creepy nasal chanting, harmonizing and screaming cut through the bass heavy beats. The theme of triumph vs desperation, mixed with extreme passion drive this where it needs to be.

8. Shy Glizzy- Law 2:Genuine street tales with the best voice in the rap game since Lil’ Boosie. Shy Glizzy, who seemed lost at times in earlier work, uses his nasal tone as an instrument over the slapping, trap-friendly beats. A collection of hard luck stories help you feel his desperation to make it.

9. The Weeknd- Kiss Land:Hazy, drugged out sound and echoey vocals crafted a modern classic with The Weeknd’s House of Balloons. On Kiss Land, his sound’s mystery has transitioned to a combination of gloomy and climactic. The crying victim and “too complicated for love” thing is getting old but the sound is still flawless.

10. Asaad- #COLDBLUE:Though much darker and cutting than usual, Saudi hasn’t spit like this in two years. It feels like a big audition; he’s showcasing his full repertoire of auto tuned crooning, flowing over soulful beats, diss tracks, endless bars. “Holy Matri” is one of the year’s best tracks. Feels like Asaad is onto something big.

11. Da Mafia 6ix- 6ix Commandments:It’s been more than a decade since this many members of Three 6 Mafia have been together but they show no signs of rust on their comeback tape, going by Da Mafia 6ix. Koopsta is creepy as fuck. DJ Paul has the best intros ever. Gangsta Boo and Lord infamous are still spitting like crazy. Just like old times. Even Juicy J put giving out twerking scholarships on pause to come hold it down on the outro.

12. Prodigy & The Alchemist- Albert Einstein:In 1999, The Alchemist produced two songs for Mobb Deep’s Murda Muzik. Since Mobb’s gotten on shaky grounds, duo-member Prodigy & The Alchemist picked back up on collaboration with this year’s Albert Einstein. Alchemist’s syrupy slow beats topped with sci-fi and horror-movie sound effects has Prodigy sounding more menacing and effective than ever.

13. Chief Keef- Almighty SO:Keef is doing a lot with his voice; most of this tape isn’t strict rap. In place of spitting, a lot of times, he’s flowing and harmonizing. Yeah, he’s mumbling his way through raps, but he’s engaging. The autotune packed emotion is one of the key things to take away from the tape.

14. Chance The Rapper- Acid Rap:One of rare occurrences when someone is trying to come off as eclectic and it works. Acid Rap is rap, jazz, blues and spoken word all at once. There’s nothing new being offered here. It’s soulful rap and he sounds like so many distinguishable rappers wrapped in one...but it works out.

15. Matic 808- Yeezus: The Baltimore Club Edition:The first Baltimore club record I’ve been excited about since middle school. Matic made this shit fun again. The hilarious loops of Kanye’s most memorable lines like “Hurry up with my damn croissant!”, signature “ay”’s in the background, and bumping base make a more danceable version of Yeezus

16.M.I.A- Matangi:Nothing out of the ordinary for M.I.A, which is still better than the vast majority of shit. She continues to do what makes musical artists dangerous: creating meaningful, politically charged content and placing atop the best danceable production that’s out.

17.Marian Mereba- Room For Living Remixes:An up-and-coming singer out of Atlanta, Marian Mereba takes the atmospheric trend in R&B and layers her strong and calming vocals on top, in contrast to the airy, echoed voices that most of the genre's songstresses display right now. Each track is remixed by guest DJ's so, like Kelela, they  double as dance songs. Her voice is amazing.

18. The Underachievers- Indigoism: Rap that rappers like. Issa Gold and AK reach back to their Brooklyn roots with the heavily-90’s influenced style in their raps. They also take it back to psychedelic rap, filled with hallucinogens, Egyptology and do-the-knowledge themes. If none of that gets you, the stamina they display by tightly packing words in each bar will.

19. Earl Sweatshirt- Doris: Somehow this album seems like it’ll hit way harder in the next decade. It’s free of hits and the run-on sentence flows are tailor-made for stoner kids eating chips on the couch playing Xbox. Earl’s unique and unconventional delivery of jam-packed bars make this album special.

20. Death Grips- Government Plates:This was a fairly disappointing record when you pit it against earlier Death Grips work but their give-no-fucks attitude and refusal to do the expected works here in patches. The first track bangs then there’s a scattered amount of gems within the album, which is 75% instrumental. Still, those instrumentals are insane.

21. Danny Brown- Old:Arguably the year’s heaviest rap album. It paints a vivid story of Danny Brown’s troubled past—mostly due to drugs (what he’s seen others do and what he’s done to himself)—and the chilling realization that he’s still an addict. Solid production that loses value because of his intentional compartmentalizing of his two extremes.

 22. Tyler The Creator- Wolf:This album is a helluva lot more cohesive than Goblin, but its impact is minimal in comparison. A good deal of songs, especially in the album’s middle, start to sound the same and the Neptune’s influence is a bright red blinking light. Tyler’s vulnerability in “Answer”, his brashness is “Jamba” and his willingness to take the backseat in “Treehome95” are highlights.

23.Cabalerro- Laisse-Nous Faire Vol. 1: Cabalerro is one of French rap’s most polished newcomers. His production is a mixture of 90’s boom-bap and fresh samples from European classical music. He proves that he can flow anything thrown at him here. If you don't speak French, the sound and his style will still keep you engaged.

24. A$AP Rocky- Long.Live.A$AP:Some of the year’s best production, without question. But as the year went on, the absence of lyrical creativity gradually drop this album’s stock. “Suddenly” and “LVL”, where he’s talking about semi-personal stuff, shine the brightest.

25. The Internet- Feel Good:Typical musical from The Internet which, if nothing else, is the best background music in the world. Syd’s content is getting stale but the smooth production and harmonies are A1.

Bonus List: 10 Albums I Really Wanted to Like But Didn’t, Outside Of A Few Songs:

1. Blood Orange- Cupid Deluxe

2. Pusha T- My Name Is My Name

3. SZA- S

4. OG Dutch Master-Blue Light District

5. Young Thug- 1017 Thug

6. Gunplay- Acquitted

7. Sky Ferreira- Night Time, My Time

8. A$AP Ferg- Trap Lord

9. Kid Cudi- Indicud

10. Yo Gotti- I Am

Favorite Songs of 2013

1. B L A C K I E- B L A C K I E...Is A Wasteland

2. Kanye West- New Slaves

3. Kelela- Send Me Out

4. Pusha T- King Push

5. PartyNextDoor- Muse

6. Cities Aviv- URL IRL

7. Abdu Ali- Machete Warz

8. Danny Brown- Torture

9. Asaad- Holy Matri

10. Kanye West- Blood On The Leaves

11. Death Grips- You might think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for it's your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

12. Drake- Wu-Tang Forever

13. FKA Twigs- Papi Pacify

14. Shy Glizzy- I Am DC

15. Young Thug- Danny Glover

16. Pusha T- Numbers On The Boards

17. Migos- Adios

18. Shy Glizzy- Guns & Roses

19. Chance The Rapper- Lost

20. T.D.E.- U.E.O.N.O

21. Chief Keef- Blew My High

22. A$AP Rocky- Suddenly

23. Da Mafia 6ix-Murder on my Mind (Feat. Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony & SpaceGhostPurrp)

24. Kid Cudi- Immortal

25. Tyler, The Creator- Answer

26. Al Rogers- FIN

27. Antwon- Downtown Feat. Big Baby Ghandi

28. A$AP Ferg- Shabba

29. M.I.A.- Warriors

30. Meek Mill- Lil Nigga Snupe

31. BC Kingdom- Lockup

32. The Weeknd- The Town

33. Jay Rock- Number On The Boards Freestyle

34. Prodigy & The Alchemist- Breeze

35. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib- Deeper

36. Kelela- Floor Show

37. Marian Mereba- Last Call Lonely

38. Matic 808- I Am A God (The Baltimore Club Edition)

39. Mykki Blanco- Feeling Special

40. The Underachievers- T.A.D.E.D.

41. Earl Sweatshirt- Hive Feat. Vince Staples & Casey Veggies

42. Jay Z- Beach Is Better

43. CUNTMAFIA (Contessa Stuto & Quay Dash)- NEW YORK BOOM BAP

44. Caballero- Foume ca

45. SZA- ICE.MOON

46. Junglepussy- Picky Bitch Checklist

47. Future- Shit

48. Chance The Rapper- Juice

49. Action Bronson- Triple Backflip

50. Le1f- Cloud So Loud

Bonus List: My 10 Favorite Collabs of 2013: 

1. A$AP Rocky w/ Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T. - 1 Train

2. Tyler, The Creator & Frank Ocean- Bimmer

3. Da Mafia 6ix w/ SpaceGhostPurrp, Bizzy Bone & Krayzie Bone- Murder On My Mind

4. Asaad, Grande Marshall & Wyo- AK47

5. Kavinsky The Weeknd- Odd Look

6. Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica- Control

7. Mac Miller & The Internet- Objects In The Mirror (Live)

8. Dre Green & The GTW- Neymar Night

9. Rich Homie Quan & Young Thug- Get TF Out My Face

10. 2 Chainz & Pharrell- Feds Watching

New Slaves Mentality: The Underlying Defeatist Tone In Kanye's Recent Interviews

Most of the topics during yesterday’s Kanye interviews with Shade 45 and 105.1’s Breakfast Club were typical of the Yeezus period. He was questioned on why fashion was so important to him, why he’s so angry, why won’t he do things on his own. And as all the interviews have been thus far, Kanye was direct, passionate and effective. But Kanye switched roles yesterday. From where it all “popped off” with Zane Lowe being a googly-eyed fan who played Yeezus in intervals throughout the interview while Kanye was fidgeting and looking away as he answered questions, to Kris Jenner peering through his soul on her television show (very creepy), there never seemed to be a complete level of comfort. Even the most intense parts of the hour-long Zane Lowe interview seemed to be sporadic outbursts where Kanye is still holding back; there’s no real release. And though there was no indication of where either interview from yesterday was gonna go, Ye’s increased level of comfort was detectable from the start, given the circumstances of being grilled for thirty minutes straight. Maybe it’s a matter of being seasoned at this point, but Kanye transitioned from spectacle to participant.

Both interviews started by the interviewers giving their take on the Yeezus tour which propelled Kanye into the usual explanation of his music just being a small fraction of what he can offer to the world, in terms of creating product. He talked about how pairing his genius with larger corporations would be crucial to his impact on the world and would give his product a chance to reach its full potential. And as he continued to make the case for his drive and desire, Charlamagne Tha God took every chance he got to say how much he didn’t like Yeezus--crying “I wish Kanye was still conscious". It never seemed to sink in. Nothing new here. Charlamagne routinely plays heckler of the cast—even if he was in full chest-swole mode yesterday. The blaring issue in both interviews is the subconscious discouragement from Sway, DJ Envy and Charlamagne.

One of the high points of Lowe and West’s exchange happened when Kanye talked about the controversy behind “I Am A God”. He pointed out the self-hate or self-racism amongst blacks in America. He said “When you got shipped over to the country that you’re in and your last name is a slave owner’s. How could you say that? How could you have that mentality?” He asked would it have been better to say, “I am a nigga. I am a gangsta. I am a pimp.” Those questions resurface when, during a segment of the Breakfast Club interview, Kanye talks about his sour dealings with Nike and how much more of an impact he would have had on fashion if he was granted the chance to design more than two sneakers. Charlamagne goes on to ask why does he need all this money and DJ Envy suggests that he take the Don C route and have his own “little thing on the side”. On a similar topic during the Shade 45 interview, (which ignited Kanye’s explosion) Sway too asked, “Why do you need these people?” It all feels like it comes from an insecure place being projected onto Kanye during the interview. Kanye’s blowing up at Sway and containing himself with Charlamagne didn’t feel like attempts at upstaging anyone. They came off as an earnest “Why don’t you get it?!” The glass ceiling presented to an industry being marginalized as just “urban culture” is what Kanye is trying to shed light on, while the radio hosts simultaneously showed that the ceiling has already taken hold of their psyches. Sway took the time to mention a clothing venture he spent hundreds of thousands on, all in a subconscious way of discouraging Kanye, while dressing it up as well-meaning advice.

I question, why not? Why shouldn’t he go as hard as he can to get backing from corporations with abundant resources, to later propel himself to own one of those corporations? Witnessing a black person ask another that question after he’s articulated himself crystal-clear on the subject is pretty deflating. If Kanye were to take their advice and be satisfied with creating a brand similar to what hip-hop has seen already, what real contribution to advancing the culture would he accomplish? At its height, Phat Farm was sold for $140 million in 2004. Rocawear was sold in 2007 for $204 million. Wu-Wear and Sean John are sold at places like J.C. Penney. Those are pennies to the corporations that own them (what Kanye is trying to get at continuously). This all felt like Kanye’s failed visit to the old neighborhood where he thinks he can bond with everyone during conversation but it ends up never working out. Here’s the guy at the most relaxed we’ve seen him since he’s started this interview saga, where he’s more comfortable amongst a group of people he feels may have a better understanding of the point he’s trying to get across—where he doesn’t seem like he’s explaining himself. He’s discussing his desire to wrestle with the most powerful figures in the fashion and production design industry—to become a billionaire—and the bulk of feedback he receives from interviewers that are in the same field as he, is to settle for less. What Charlamagne wrote off as “rich nigga problems” seem more, if anything, like a crazed passion that unfortunately doesn’t seem worthwhile to his contemporaries. For all his craziness and in-your-face moments, he’s proven his caliber in the realm of creativity, why steer him away from taking it to levels never seen?

This Is Fucked: Greedy Promoters, Disadvantaged Aspiring Rappers & My Exploration Of Bmore Street Rap

For the past few weeks I've had debates with friends about the climate of hip-hop in Baltimore. We even debated can we have a "climate of hip-hop" in such a small city that has had no major success in the genre. We discussed the two worlds in rap culture: the internet and the streets. Naturally, I (and most of my friends), absorb the majority of our music online. Most parties I go to have online RSVP's. Artists I know that meet on the internet and wanna perform in each other's cities, will scrape up cash and play a show for $50. That's my everyday world. But street rap doesn't work like that which is where the debate with friends began. One argued, "There are no street rappers in Baltimore. None worth listening to." But I countered that with reminding him that we see sucky rap online everyday , so it can't be a matter of the person not existing. I just knew it'd take some time to explore a local sub-genre that doesn't pop up in my day-to-day life.

Since making that vow to myself, I got my first chance check out some live, local street rap at Paparazzi Nightclub (I found out about it on the internet LOL). Shy Glizzy was listed as the headliner which was enough for me even though he left much to be desired at Trillectro (his music is still the shit). But the journey to actually see him play ended up being more eventful than I'd prepared for. The doors were listed to open at 9 p.m. but when I'd gotten there at 10 they still weren't open. I listened in on some people's conversations as I shivered and learned that there was a shit-load of openers who individually sold their own tickets for $20 (a usual practice in showcase-styled shows: People have to sell tickets to be able to perform and most likely they don't get paid because they're still getting "exposure"). So the door opened and after people started to get settled in, things got underway really fast. I looked in optimistically and got through the first act's set which weirdly went on for twenty minutes. But I obviously had no idea that this was customary, as every act that got on after him was an equal twenty minutes (sometimes excruciating). The third or fourth guy had some bangers. He basically flowed like Project Pat but was really skinny which is a great contrast and will probably always be enjoyable to me. That's probably how I could overlook that his most hype song's hook repeated "On Instagram straight flexin'!" about ten times. Things got really rough after him. The sound got increasingly worse after each artist had it tweaked to their liking (or maybe it was always bad and I looked past it). Somewhere around the seventh (YES, SEVENTH) opener, the mic's volume started to become unbearably loud. And as I stepped back, something hit me really hard.

I leaned on a wall and my eyes latched onto the weasel-y promoter (whose Napoleon Complex was irrefutable) as he paced back and forth with a crazed look. And while another opener screamed on the mic that was now hurting my ears and drowning out the track, it became evident to me that this show had nothing to do with music. My mind flashed back to hearing the people in line talk about the ticket costs then I cut back to what I was actually seeing on the stage. As long as promoters continue to pimp out guys who could actually develop from having a real scene just to pay for their big acts and take a couple grand home, things will be fucked. There was no careful selection of artists who could create a quality street rap show. There was no thought put into ensuring that the sound would be on point. There was no effort put into the atmosphere. And that's where street rap may sadly continue to be in Baltimore: with no encouragement to improve your craft and no driving-force behind creating a scene with a distinctive quality, just for the sake of being seen. By the time the show was on its twelfth and thirteenth act and it was 1:30 a.m., I said screw Shy Glizzy. I bounced.

It was an upsetting thing to experience. Internet rap in Baltimore, with its many issues, does have a group of people occasionally putting money (as primary motivation) on the back-burner to have regular events and showcase talent. Street rap does exist here, but I fear that it's placing the physical act of rapping on a stage (with not much else in mind) over the building-blocks it takes to create quality material. Promoters like the clown from last night sure won't help turn things around because it = $$$ for him.