I’ve been anticipating this ever since Squadda sent the excellent cover you see above. I feel like the image they chose may be a sign of the group becoming more and more comfortable in their own strange niche, and that growing confidence is translating into both better presentation and better music. Hence a kind of polished feeling is prevalent throughout the mixtape, ‘polished’ not in the sense of them embracing a cleaner sound but in the sense of an improved more masterful execution of the dirty weird sound that attracted me to the group in the first place. Mild spoiler… the mixtape makes really good use of the old hidden track gimmick, I wont give away too much but lets say you’re actually getting approximately 1.7 mixtapes instead of 1.
An extra thought on the rectangular shape of the cover – it’s a small and possibly even unintentional detail but this idea has tons of potential for artists who release internet-only material; no cd/lp = no point in keeping the cover art square = lots of interesting artistic possibilities. I wanna see somebody send me a mixtape with a cover that’s a tetrahedron made of dragons and titties, let’s make that happen.
I need to transfer this from one computer to another via Divshare, so I figured I’d throw the link up here as well. This is a classic mixtape, a summer staple for me since it was released, imo slightly better than Waiting Our Turn and way better than the last few Devin outings. The Brothaz pretty much do god’s work for weed music here.
Some dope shit from our inbox. Chicago’s F.Stokes is a versatile rapper, with a manner ranging from fast and forceful to mellow and measured. I usually prefer the latter, but in Stokes’ case the slower cadence didn’t engage me as much as the brisk delivery heard in the songs below. This rapid-fire approach works particularly well on Jo Jo Dancer, where Stokes avoids the southern-ish inflection and just exhales his verse with much intensity but little stylization.
Wi-Fi is the standout on Clova’s new solo mixtape, the song that showcases both his underrated rapping abilities and his developing production skills. It’s also the most G-side-ish track on the whole thing (obviously not counting the actual G-side tracks). The rest of the Koolest Kid is no slouch either, being especially valuable in presenting a side of Clova not usually seen in the group setting. There is a bit too much interference from the DJ for my taste, but that can be overlooked.
Based on the early leaks and the two Prologue Eps I’m expecting some quality Blacklight Poster Rap. So far Aleon and SMKA have managed to stay away from the fruitier aspects of that particular subgenre, hopefully that’s the case here as well.
It’s nice to open the SteadyB inbox to find music I actually want to hear. Case in point – I posted Squadda’s excellent but short Dear America a few weeks ago, and now he sent us his new project (thanks). I have it on right now, so far it’s up to par with the EP and then some. The general tone here is somewhat lighter, but it’s carried in a way that doesn’t feel like a big departure from the druggy pitched down occasionally jittery sound that attracted me to Squadda/Main Attrakionz to begin with.
Here’s the write up Squadda sent along with the file:
Fresh off the online release of “Dear America EP” Squadda B of Main Attrakionz delivers a new “private” project showing off the other side of his musical demeanour. Warming up the world for the upcoming Main Attrakionz mixtape & solo side project fully produced by Clams Casino he quotes “hate it or love it I’m not going anywhere but up, get to know me while its still easy & meet the music head first its nothing but a good time and steady improvement from here family.” enjoy, spread word.
Some of the tracks from here are on youtube, including a nice short video for Hoody Got Holes that draws inspiration from Blacula and shitty tv reception. You can see all that below.
DZA did will in his recent collaborations with Curren$y, plus the production credits and the guest list are impressive. So this this seems promising, certainly worth a try.
01. Continental Kush Breakfast (ft. Den10) [prod. Kenny Beats]
02. Sour Hour [prod. Ski Beatz]
03. Etc Etc (ft. Curren$y & Big K.R.I.T.) (prod. Ski Beatz]
04. Sounds Of The Indo (ft. Den10 & Teri Walker) [prod. Ski Beatz]
05. Code Orange (ft. Mad Max) [prod. Ski Beatz]
06. The Secret (ft. Big K.R.I.T.) [prod. Ski Beatz]
07. GoodTalk (ft. Dom Kennedy) [prod. Big K.R.I.T.]
08. Im Saying [prod. Big K.R.I.T.]
09. Im Your Pusha (ft. June Summers) [prod. Ski Beatz]
10. My Life [prod. Steve-O Of GFCnewyork]
11. We On (ft. Kent M$ney & Skotch Davis) [prod. Ski Beatz]
12. Lost [prod. Ski Beatz]
13. It Ain’t My Fault (ft. Mickey Factz) [prod. G14]
Here is the long-awaited (well, by myself anyway) debut project from Kent Money. Ive talked about this kid’s potential before, and on Becoming we can start to see it’s materialization. Kent drops his intricate couplets over gritty space pop beats from his Suf Club bros Chase and Hit-Boy, some fantastic and diverse work from the UPS guys, a banger from Boi-1da and a beat and verse from newly crowned King Of The Net Big KRIT, who drops off some country Swizzy greatness. Kent really delivers here, dropping soulful and gritty street tales over Spragga Benz-ready block beaters, crisp boom-bap, minimalist alien funk, 110th Street soul jamz and even a little Hall & Oates. When his flow is on, there aren’t many new rappers out that can fuck with this guy. Another Surf Club victory.
