I put together a compilation of some overlooked and/or underrated songs for the good peoples over at Passion Of The Weiss. Not meant as a comprehensive overview or a best of anything, just a bunch of random enjoyable tracks that mostly went under the radar. Full tracklist and dl link are below, please go read the fully annotated write up over on P.O.W.
Emcee Jermaine – Crazy 88
Flatbush ZOMBiES – Gucci Gucci
Troy Ave – Motion Picture
Shady Blaze – Machine Gun Spit
Western Tink – Practice Looking Hard Jr. Ft Shady Blaze
Hail Mary Mallon – Table Talk
Rittz – When The Sun Goes Down Ft. Starlito
Silky Johnson – Fast Life Instrumental
Danny Brown – Cartier Glasses
AZ & Cormega – murder on the daily
Yelawolf – Shit I’ve seen Ft Trae the truth
Ethereal – Recovery RMX ft. Micah Freeman and Opio
Zilla – Like A Jungle Ft Clova and Bentley
Marq Spekt & Kno – All Smiles (Plastic Mask)
ShowYouSuck – All Chill Everything
LG – Kool & The Gang Ft. Bonka
KD – Let Me Ride ft. Freddie Gibbs
The Outfit – The D-Funk Era
Davinci – Pangea
Sleepy Brown – You’re My Lady
Wow, Chopin’s ‘Funeral March’ + visuals reminiscent of live action anime (the Japanese narration likely responsible for my mind making that particular connection) + recurring morphing patterns that usually signal the mushrooms kicking in + Yela reviving the preacher role he played so well on ‘Looking For Alien Love’. Very nice. And that’s not even accounting for the song itself being dope.
This video feels like a spiritual cousin to G-Side’s ‘Inner Circle’ video, although it’s far more unexpected. Spacey outre experimentation is big part of G-Side’s m.o., of what makes them so unique and appealing. The ‘Inner Circle’ video shouldn’t have been a surprise as I think it represents a natural and necessary progression of their visual representation. Rittz on the other hand never struck me as afflicted with this particular brand of madness, I never associated his music with anything resembling this kind of imagery. And it works well for him. Kudos to both of these acts for taking these stylistic chances.
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
Errybody is going crazy for the Yelawolf/Gucci Mane collaboration, but to me this song is way more interesting (and better). There are a couple of really cool things happening here… He starts with a soft spoken word delivery which gradually rises to an intensity of a mad preacher’s sermon and finally morphs into fast rap. The beat evolves from minimal keys with chipmunk vocals into a drone, then adds layer after layer of drums until things get vaguely jungle-ish. It’s all a bit weird and proggy and experimental and doesn’t even feel like rap in the traditional sense of the word. This is a different side of Yelawolf, I’d like to see more of it.
Let’s close up for the weekend with a deceptively smooth banger from Paul Wall’s Heart of a Champion. I say deceptively because while the beat sounds like Christopher Cross orgasming all over the Flying Wasp, the subject matter gets rather heady.
White-on-White commentary is fascinating for a variety of reasons. In this episode we find one paste superhero sizing up (nh) another paste superhero:
Dude is definitely not a new guy.
He’s been around for a very long time. Seems to want to play the big major label route, though, and has been kinda sitting around on major label shelves for a while.
He’s got the image put together, and can rap very well.
I absolutely despise the fabricated country bumpkin/hillbilly element of his rapping, though, because in interviews the dude talks like a surfer dude who grew up in Orange County. But besides that, yeah, I see this working on some big levels.
I really thought Yelawolf was a classic trailer trash, rags-to-riches story. But rap can be some crazy shit. Can anyone comment as to Y-Y-Y-Yela’s station in life prior to becoming an iPod/internet/blog darling?
Say what you will about crackers and their affected styles, this one has a certain je ne sais quoi. Do I think he’ll be the next Eminem? Nah. He might be the next Paul Wall circa ’04, but Yelawolf knows how to play to the crowd(s). In one on one interview settings he could come off like an English major from Auburn State. In others where he’s surrounded by his rap peers he comes off like your local Wal-Mart stock boy with a little sag and swag borrowed from watching too many episodes of 227. Either way I’m a fan of Yela and I think behind good production and a little guidance he could deliver an album worthy of your attention. Here is a glimpse of Yelawolf doing what he does best. And before you tell me about his Native American roots, if this was 1992 he’d be Reginald “Muthafuckin’ Denny to most people. If the race draft ever happened best believe us saltines are drafting Yelawolf in the first round. –Philaflava
Burn One and Yela have a winner here. Some of Yela’s faster flows on tracks like “Trunk Muzik” and “Good To Go” are going to impress a lot of people who normally wouldn’t care about a White guy from Alabama who “sounds like Eminem”. Will Power and Supahot Beats absolutely crush the production. While his previous indie releases were quality, it really feels like Yela has settled into himself on this one and the results are pretty incredible. The mix of raw fast raps and more melodic stylings just plain works.
1. Trunk Muzik [produced by Will Power]
2. Stage Lights (remix) [produced by KP & Malay]
3. Good To Go feat. Bun-B of UGK [produced by Will Power]
4. Pop The Trunk [produced by Will Power]
5. Box Chevy Pt. 3 feat. Rittz [produced by Will Power]
6. F.U. [produced by Will Power]
7. Lick The Cat feat. Diamond of Crime Mob [produced by Will Power]
8. Speak Her Sex feat. Nikkiya [produced by Will Power]
9. I Wish feat. Raekwon [produced by KP]
10. In This Club [produced by Will Power]
11. Love Is Not Enough [produced by Will Power]
12. Mixin’ Up The Medicine (remix) feat. Juelz Santana [produced by Kane Beatz]
