Here go one for uall early 90s hip hop heads. I was introduced to the Diggin' In The Crates crew through Big L. The Harlem emcee was ahead of his time and would have played an immeasurable role in the current hip hop landscape. The D.I.T.C. collective of producers and emcees came together in 1990 with members: Big L, Lord Finesse, Diamond D, O.C., Fat Joe, Buckwild, Showbiz and A.G.
With ups and downs over the past 16 years, the remaining members (Big L was killed in a drive by shooting in '99) will finally come together to release the album Sessions later this month. The single "Rock Shyt" features Fat Joe, Lord Finesse and Diamond D. The guitar and drum heavy sample calls back to the grimy New York block parties where emcees would master the crowds. With braggadocio bars and metaphors, the trio of spitters bless the track and make you yearn for that golden era rap.
Peep the video for "Rock Shyt" below, and keep an eye out for Sessions dropping October 28th.
The Mecca of Hip-Hop has
always and will probably forever be New York City. In recent years, a lot of
New York natives as well as fans, A & R’s, and even other artists have
fluently expressed their disdain for the city’s culture and musical sound. Most
would say that New York has no sound or that there isn’t an artist that
captivates and embodies what NY hip-hop is; whether it be that gully and grimy
LOX vibe or story telling abilities like Nas & Raekwon. With what has been
dubbed as “mumble-rap,” catching onto many artists of the younger generation in
all regions of the culture, many fans in NY aren’t pleased with the trend.
Through what seems to be a small pandemic in the culture, there is a light. One
true MC is being called “New York’s savior” and he goes by the name of Dave
East. Hailing out of Harlem, Dave East was a part of this year’s XXL Freshmen
class and voted #1 of the bunch and not without reason; East isn’t anywhere
near the mumble rappers he’s of a completely different caliber.
From garnering the attention
of Nas and being signed to his label MASS APPEAL, to a deal with Def Jam, Dave
East’s respect has been growing with each passing verse he spits. Since
attracting so much acknowledgment, it’s only right that we are given a current body
of work to delve into as a follow up to the hype and recent success, right? As
fans we received not only that but a gem in this newer era of rap. Naming his
newest mixtape after his newborn daughter, Kairi Chanel, Dave East pulls no
punches with the quality in his track selection. From start to finish this tape
is nothing but raw, genuine lyrics. His lyrical ability as well as his demeanor
is why he has been heralded and welcomed into the game by accomplished vets
like Styles P, Jadakiss, Cam’ron and more.
“The only rookie getting
respect from the veterans” lives up to the statement with tracks like, “The
Real Is Back” featuring the Broad Street Bully himself, Beanie Sigel. While
damn near every track is complete flame emojis, this one will definitely be one
of the fan favorites. “The Real Is Back” is four minutes of these two MC’s
bridging the gap between generations and absolutely destroying the track. As
the track develops, fans can hear the influence of older generations of rap and
why Dave East has received the accolades he has. This track is also special
because this is probably one of the best verses to date from Beans since coming
home from prison and recovering from his gunshot wounds.
My personal favorite off of
this mixtape would definitely belong to “Don’t Shoot.” “Don’t Shoot” is what we
as Black Americans have been dealing with in regards to our violent and fatal
history with police across the nation. The song starts off from a ten-year-old
Dave’s point of view as he describes his brief first encounters with the
police; one of which he was accused of looking like a suspect from a robbery.
With no chorus or hooks, the song naturally shows its progression through the
maturity of East’s voice. In what would be considered the second verse of the
track in a teenage voice, Dave is in high school and has hopes of making the
varsity Basketball team. While growing into his own individual, Dave becomes colder
and more exposed to life as a lot of his friends were sent to group homes with
more being interrogated & harassed by law enforcement. Time has come for
him to enter college and he has scholarship offers to hoop, but not without
getting pulled over by two police for DWB (Driving While Black) after graduation.
While stopped, East attempts to show the officers his diploma but to no avail causing his hate for the police to build.
As the story continues Dave continues his life story of going to college,
getting expelled, selling drugs, spending time in jail, career success all the
way up to the birth of his daughter Kairi Chanel. After the birth of Dave’s daughter,
he is stopped by an officer yet again with a final conversation that ends with
Dave East begging the officer (with his hands up) not to shoot for the sake of
his newborn, but does anyway. Seems all too familiar doesn’t it? I feel this is the most pivotal song on the album because it directly correlates and reflects what has been going on in countless communities for years.
For this to be a mixtape it
sounds a hell of a lot like an album. Songs like “Keisha” will make you think you
are listening to Biggie’s, “I got a Story to tell” except over a Wu-tang style
produced beat. Other tracks like “Type of Time” produced by Cardo, showcases
more of Dave East’s raw ability to flow over a track. I don’t know if this just
my biased opinion but there’s not one track that can be considered a miss.
Solely focusing on rapping in his own lane and not trying to imitate what is
popular or make music that will just get radio play, the Harlem bred MC shows
he is not only comfortable within his own shoes but knows not too many rappers
can fuck with him, and I agree.
When it comes down to it,
Kairi Chanel is a body of work that hip-hop fans will love. This mixtape
channels and resonates with a variety of different New York hip-hop greats from
all five boroughs, which is why I believe this project has had such great
reception. Peaking at No.3 on Billboard’s top Hip-hop/ R&B albums, only behind
the sisters Solange and Beyonce, Dave East can celebrate the success he has achieved
thus far. With his debut album on the way with the executive producer being Nas
himself, I can only imagine what is in store for fans. Please do yourself a
favor and go cop this.
It's crazy to think that a whole year has come and gone since the last BET Awards. And yet again, I did not have it on my radar. That is until the flood of cyphers hit the net like clockwork after the show. I normally just view the ones I assume I'll like, but this year I decided to watch all 8 (including the Lil Wayne vs Chocolate Droppa, aka Kevin Hart, battle). And to switch the format a bit, I will give specific reviews for my top 3 cypher that I choose to share, because some were...damn (stank face).
3: Oswin Benjamin, Locksmith And Dead Prez This is my first time hearing about or hearing Oswin Benjamin, but this cat is def a Dead Prez disciple. His verse is filled with social and political commentaries. I've heard of Locksmith, but haven't peeped any of his work yet. The Cali emcee spits with an evolved spoken word flow as he continues the theme of social commentary. And of course Stic and M-1 round up the politically charged set with their brand of intellectual wordsmithing (is that a word?). Overall it was great to see these emcees use such a public event to speak on something more substantive than whips, jewels and chicks.
2: Millyz, Jaz the Rapper, Your Old Droog, John John Da Don And Chris Rivers I have no shame in saying that I KNOW NOTHING JOHN SNOW when it came to about 3/5 of the cats in this cypher. Honestly this group only caught my eye off of the strength of Your Old Droog and Chris Rivers. But I was extremely surprised with the whole collective. Millyz starts the cypher off with some clever wordplay but takes a drastic turn and dedicates the rest of his verse to police brutality and racial tensions. Jaz follows up with a solid flow, and probably my favorite verse from the female rappers. Droog jumps in the cypher with his cool laid back cadence juxtaposed with tough metaphors and Brooklyn flow. John John Da Don takes the baton and holds him own while being put between the two strongest lyricists in the cypher. And as you know, you end the cypher with your strongest emcee. Chris Rivers proves just that as this young emcee takes over the track and flips his flow so many times it'll make your head spin.
1: Peedi Crack, Neef Buck, Omillio Sparks and Freeway (and.....) Man, I've been a fan of Peedi since the the early oughts. The Puerto Rican spitter stood out in the State Property click (besides Freeway of course) since his breakout track "One for Peedi Crakk". Neef and Sparks follow up with cyphers that compliment each other perfectly. You can tell this whole collective has been around each other for years. The cyphers play off of each like an actual single. Freeway was the first artist Beanie Sigel brought with him to Roc-A-Fella. Appearing on Jay Z's "1-800-Hustler" (off of The Dynasty: Roc La Familia), Freeway became the second in command in Beans' State Property family. So it makes sense that Freeway would end this State Property cypher. Now damn near 40, the Philly emcee hits you with a less aggressive cadence but proves that with age comes wisdom. And this is what we call making a smooth transition. The BET cyphers are known for having that "oh snap" moment. This year there were a few, but my favorite was seeing none other than State Property's capo, Beanie Sigel, casually stroll into the cypher after Freeway. Beans dropped so much knowledge and wisdom (callback to said smooth transition) that he took ALL these young social media rappers to school. Beans sprayed a buck shot towards all these dress wearing, skinny jean sagging, hair coloring, Instagram gangster rappers. Two years ago Beanie Sigel was the unintentional victim of a drive by shooting. During the complicated surgery to save his life, Beans lost a lung. All that background is to help you understand how the Broad Street Bully ended the cypher with the HARDEST bars of the night: "Its the realest, the bully, here I come/ The cypher I just murdered them with one lung".
I'd also recommend peeping the set with Dave East because the kid went HARD. But he was surrounded by a bunch of simple bars..so..yeah. East should have def been the last to spit. Especially over Young M.A., but I did see an article title saying she was mad because her set was cut (don't know if that woulda helped). There was also a real cool Bell Biv DeVoe reunion with Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe jumping on the mic. But again, other two youngins in that cypher were sub par. And the cypher with Consequence and Jidenna was also dope. Unfortunately the other rappers where spitting to some kind of tempo, just not to the beat they were given. But Jidenna may surprise those who just know him as the "Classic Man". But if you've seen him on Luke Cage or peeped his other work, you know this is a multi-talented dude.
One of my Maryland boys has been mentioning Eze Jackson to me for quite some time now. But like the BITM crew talked about in our podcasts, there is just SO much music being cranked out there now that I haven't had time to peep dude yet. But when said boy mentioned his new single was called Un-Apologetically Black, I knew I had to make some time to give it a spin.
The current state of social unrest in our nation requires people with influence to voice their concerns and champion change. Of course this should be spearheaded by our government, but we know how that plays out. While it is not in an entertainers job description to speak on such matters (it is not something we are used to, at least not since the Civil Rights era), we have seen a handful of public figures talk and walk for their beliefs. Athletes like Kaepernick or musicians like Common or T.I. have used their platforms to bring this social injustice to the forefront. Kaepernick's now famous kneel has sparked conversations and birthed a slew of public protests from other NFL players. Common and T.I. have taken to the booth to use their gift to speak on the subject of police accountability in regards to the rampant killings of unarmed men of color.
Baltimore native Ezekiel Jackson provides another point of view of this terrifying new reality. Now in his mid 30s, this indie emcee is well aware of who he is in the rap arena. Eze is a new breed of the socially conscience emcee, and he uses his intellect to address the ever changing social landscape. Un-Apologetically Black is a complex song that takes on the complex issues facing our country today. In two verses Eze touches on: guns, Donald Trump, voters, false minority stereotypes, civil rights, Malcolm X, jazz, slavery, soul food, our embarrassingly sub par public schools system, Tupac, self hate, skin bleaching, privilege, police brutality, Fox News, street violence and single parent homes (and I'm sure a few other themes I might have missed). While that might seem like a lot to tackle in a single track, it is actually a perfect microcosm to the current issue. There is no simple solution. Police brutality has been around longer than the invention of the camera phone. Distrust and fear of law enforcement is not new to people of color. Stop and frisk was not invented by Giuliani. Racist people were around before social media. Even if every cop that killed an unarmed person faced some sort of consequence, we still would not solve the root of the problem. Like Eze raps, it starts with kids going to schools with no heat and old books, it continues with the constant barrage of fear mongering and false stereotypes promoted by "news" stations, and of course culminates with who we choose as our government leaders.
Eze Jackson would be disingenuous if he would finish the track with a solution. There are singular steps that should be taken, yes. Like, if possible, police should stop shooting to kill when faced with an unarmed person. Instead Eze takes the approach of a good teacher, providing all the information and letting the students come the conclusion on there own. Of course Eze has his perspective, but it comes from a genuine place. If people didn't know about Baltimore before the 2015 riots, they know now. Like most low income and predominantly black/Hispanic neighborhoods, many areas in Maryland have a strained police-citizen relationship. Eze can speak on this from his perspective. And it is his perspective that has the most power. Many people that "don't get it" need to hear as many perspectives as they can. If after that they still want to hold up an All Lives Matter sign, then there is nothing else you can do.
Peep the deep track Un-Apologetically Black below.
