The first single from Kristmas’ upcoming W2 Boy album, to be released on April 15th. I feel like this (selectively edited) Encyclopedia Britannica quote describes what Kristmas does here pretty well:
“The orator need not be a first-rate logician, though a capacity for good, clear thought helps to penetrate into the causes and results of tentative premises and conclusions and to use analogy, generalizations, assumptions, deductive–inductive reasoning, and other types of inference… Oratorical greatness is invariably identified with strong emotional phrasing and delivery. When the intellectual qualities dominate with relative absence of the affective appeals, the oration fails just as it does when emotion sweeps aside reason. The ideal orator is personal in his appeals and strong in ethical proofs, rather than objective or detached. He enforces his arguments by his personal commitment to his advocacy.”
This orator persona is only one side of Kristmas, W2 Boy is going to be this AND a whole lot more.
#DB4XMAS – Southern Hospitality links up with one of the best new talents emerging from the Huntsville scene for a little something to help you get through the joys and horrors of spending quality holiday time with your family. Go to Southern Hospitality to read more details and say thanks Back cover with full tracklist is below the jump.
This is all sorts of awesome but not really that surprising – the kind of lush intricate production SMS is known for lends itself well to adaptation by a band, and this beat in particular has tons of little pieces and flourishes that can be riffed and expanded on. Plus Joi Tiffany & Blue Magic are just tight as fuck period, apparently veterans performers all around, I gotta find more of their stuff.
As an added example of the potential of these collaborations, check out Kristmas performing with the same band a few weeks ago.
Here’s another good compilation of recent Alabama music, this one presented by GMane/Alabama Hustle Unit. Props to them for including the one really weird Yelawolf song, I’m a big fan of that one + it just seems like a pleasantly left field choice in this particular context. There are a couple of new (to me at least) songs on here too, I think I’m liking the PT/GMane/Lyrix song the most out of those so it gets a separate individual link.
1. Rich Green ft Bravo Money- 84′s
2. Untamed ft ST- Talkin It
3. Attitude- Hamstrang
4. Kristmas ft DJ Cunta- Somebody
5. PRGz ft Big Pope- Anutha Night
6. DJ E- I Got Dat
7. G Side ft Chris Lee- Money in da Sky
8. DB49- Can’t See
9. PT ft GMANE & Lyrix- Feelin Good
10. Ric Atari ft Bentley, GMANE & Sam Freeze- So Hard
11. DJ Cunta ft Swagg Buddies- Whut u do it 4
12. Scragg Lee- Boyz n da Gump
13. Yelawolf- Lookin for an Alien Love
14. Victoria Tate- Hello Baby
Here’s another good example of how O’Third Ent. is becoming a force both in their own right and as part of the SMS stable. Check out their In The Box Mixtape for more. Their next project Next Day Air should be coming soon.
This is dedicated to Mrs. Forsythe who told my mama I would either be a drug dealer or a factory worker based of them BS state test. This also dedicated to anybody else who said I wouldn’t be sh*t. Hopefully you can take this as your motivation to keep pressing as well.
- Codie G
The visual accompaniment to the anthemic Somebody, directed by ST Trillsburge. Some context and commentary courtesy of Codie G:
This video was shot in the same neighborhood as Antione Dodson a few days before all his viral bonanza started. It’s great that it’s coming out after that because this is our version of what’s going down in Huntsville. We have highlighted over the years so much of what’s makes this city such as NASA, Redstone Arsenal, etc but this is the first time we dove into the gentrification going on in our city i.e. the Starshipz and Rocketz cover. Well this is the first video.
The contrast in this is the two schools shown and the two sets of housing projects. One we show the past, Boarded up schools and projects to a school that just closed down “For Sale†to a housing project on the chopping block for closure. The mural is from library satellite in another housing projects, Mason Court. The irony in this work of art is it’s hidden from the major thoroughfare running parallel to the library for the world to see. I call it hidden hope. With that said i give you the “Somebody†video
One detail about the video I want to point out – note that everyone is holding microphones. This is a clever touch that connects the dots between documentary and performance aspects of the video, underscoring the song’s compelling relationship of medium and message. Props to whoever came up with that idea.
Today we conclude the promotional portion of DB49 week with two exclusive solo DB49′er efforts, one from Bentley and one from Kristmas. DB49′s debut album Happy Hour drops tomorrow, you might as well start pre-gaming now. The album is conveniently free, so you have more money to spend on beer and weed and DB49 merch or whatever you like to get fucked up on. As of post time it’s around 9 only in certain parts of Europe and Africa, the rest of you got no excuse.
First up alphabetically we got Bentley’s I Know. The song is a slightly off-kilter/drunken take on typical rapper/r&b chick collaborations, dedicated to the universal subject of bitches. You get a nice mellow nod-inducing beat from Mr. Beatnik, two hilarious Bentley verses as bookends, and some sweet crooning from guest songstress Ahu in the middle (her phrasing of ‘I know all the bitches’ is profoundly bonerrific). There’s also a nice little bit reminiscent of the ‘vertical hold’ gag from The Man On The Moon, you’ll know it when you hear it.
Next we got Why I Wanna from Kristmas. Here Professor Kristmas gets his Harvard on to give a 301 level class about the in and outs of the W2 Boy philosophy, with detailed arguments and examples and an appropriate soundbite from ATL to drive the point home. The song was co-produced by Bossman and R.Dot. It premiered officially last night on Baller’s Eve radio.
Big thanks to Codie G for blessing us with the exclusives. Art credits go to Bentley (who came up with the idea for the pic above) and John Turner Jr (who brought it to life).
This is good day for mixtapes, first Gibbs now this. You know SMS puts out quality product, and the O’Third crew has been on a particularly winning streak lately (see here). And you know releases from Huntsville are always family affairs, so there’s bound to be a cast of luminaries involved. So you know you gotta download this one.
EDIT: Had to revise the post a little after listening. There are nowhere near as many guests on here as I thought there would be. It’s an O’Third showcase all the way through, and it does a great job of displaying their considerable talents. Calling it a mixtape doesn’t do it justice either, as a cohesive statement of purpose it’s better than many ‘official’ albums released this year (granted, these semantic distinctions don’t matter much anymore).
