Category Archives: MUSIC

[MUSIC][REVIEW] BLUE CHIPS 7000 -ACTION BRONSON

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If you don’t know who Action Bronson is AND you like rap – you need to get educated.

If you don’t know who Action Bronson is AND you do not like rap – he might be your gateway drug.

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C’mon. Just look at this loveable face.

Bronsolino has had quite the career from starting as a chef in NYC to (now) having 10 projects out. He’s toured with Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, and Eminem. He hosted a traveling food show called Fuck, That’s Delicious not unlike an Anthony Bourdain and Guy Fieri crossover. Recently he got the greenlight to host a late night cooking show on Viceland premiering October 23rd.
As for his latest album, Blue Chips 7000, let’s get to it. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv4OzhIxaA8

Wolfpack – Prod. by Party Supplies 

Always a family man, Action starts off with a clip of him asking his mother how high she is presumably after getting her really high. Then he goes into a great intro track – rapping about food and life events that seem plausible; classic Bronson.

The beat is minimalistic and jazzy. Smooooth. Good time to not that Party Supplies has a 2013 album called Tough Love that’s best described as ‘dance music for introverts’

La Luna – Prod. by The Alchemist

Probably my favorite track on the project due to the sheer creativity on it. He’s starts the track by asking his friend to call him a car and after his friend does so, they’re put on hold with the fictional ‘La Luna Luxury Car Services.’ Hold music starts to play and Bronson starts to rap over it.

The track transforms as the audio quality changes from that of a cell recording to that of a studio. Funky as fuck. The Alchemist is a mastermind producer.

 

The Chairman’s Intent – Prod. by Harry Fraud

The second single off the album. Bronson shows off his knowledge of sports, cars, and overall life experience. Harry Fraud is another amazing producer.

The video is just… ridiculous.

 

Hot Pepper – Prod. by Knxwledge

Apparently this track is the second collab between Bronsolino, Meyhem Lauren, and Jah Tiger. The idea of a spontaneous track just happening because the stars align and the vibe is right makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. In the age of the internet this is something more old school.

 

Bonzai – Prod. by Harry Fraud

This track takes a step back from all the action and energy. Very mellow. I love the idea of Bronson hanging off the side of a mountain trimming a bonsai.

 

Let It Rain – Prod. by Party Supplies

Party Supplies again! The energy is still going on a mellow vibe again. Rain starts playing through the track alongside a really dope sax solo.

The best part here is the outro into the intro of the next track. I’m a big fan of part 1’s and part 2’s…

 

My Right Lung – Prod. by Party Supplies

Only makes sense that Party Supplies keeps the vibe going. The storm is in full effect as Bronson gets introspective on this track. Bonus points for the Cruisin’ USA reference.

I’m not sure what I would give to dunk one time. Not my right lung tho.

 

TANK – Prod. The Alchemist

The Alchemist really just knows how to let Action shine on a track. The sample of Harri Stojka Express is damn near perfect.

Bronson’s pal Big Body Bes has a ‘verse’ if you can call it that. He mostly just shouts the lyrical equivalent of Action Bronson’s raps. Still entertaining.

 

Let Me Breathe – Prod. by Harry Fraud

HF again this time with the first single off the project. Bronson claims this was the first single because everyone else puts out singles that pull people all different types of ways. He also apparently needs an inhaler in between dabs. Let him breathe.

 

9-24-7000 – Prod. by Harry Fraud

HF keeps it smooth and almost nautical on this track. Reminds me of some underwater adventure in Mario or Zelda. Bronson bats and swings with an opener about Ryu (from streetfighter you uncultured fuck)

Lil surprise from Ricky Rosay only after Bronson jumps into the water.

 

The Choreographer – Prod. by Daringer

Damn this one is my 2nd favorite of the album. The opener makes me feel like I’m sitting at a concert venue with suede tabletops and smoking is still allowed. Everyone’s wearing bell bottoms. Big hair is in.

The production is tight. We see an outsider step into the arena.

One of the longest tracks on the album but it goes by fast cause you don’t want it to end!!

 

Chop Chop Chop – Prod. by Daringer

Looks like the outside won us over. He produces yet another track. This one reminds me of a cowboy coming home for a victory lap. We only get 1 verse here and there’s a general feeling of things winding down.

 

Durag vs Headband – Prod. by Knxwledge

This one seems like more of a brotastic jokey for fun collab between Bronsolino and Big Body. It was apparently released after an episode of Fuck That’s Delicious last October. Holy shit it’s been a year.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Really solid project from Action Bronson. The way he splits up bars is fascinating. His patchwork story telling is also extremely entertaining. Always glad to seem him on something. I love that he reps the cultural intersection of food, travel, and hip-hop.

7.5/10

 

Love you like your momma.

 

-Neel

[MUSIC][VIDEO] BROCKHAMPTON – JUNKY

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If you haven’t heard Brockhampton yet, you should.

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BROCKHAMPTON via Pigeons and Planes

Quickly gaining popularity, the 15 person collective had to add a late show in NYC and has already sold out in Boston. Funny enough the group grew in numbers when they recruited new members from KanyeToThe. They started out online, then they moved in together in Texas, and are now living together in South Central.

The collective stands for self expression and is a creative powerhouse as they have their own members producing, rapping, singing, directing, managing, and building their web platform.

Their upcoming project SATURATION II is a follow-up to June’s SATURATION. 

Check out their latest release JUNKY below.

 

Here’s SATURATION:

[MUSIC][VIDEO] JAY-Z – THE STORY OF O.J.

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So Hov is back.

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via @kodaklens (Lenny S photography)

 

A lot of people wrote him off due to being 47 in the rap game and allegedly having nothing to rap about…

…well he came back with some of the arguably most relevant/conscious work of his career. I wasn’t even a Jay-Z fan before this but this album along with a nifty Tidal free trial let me dig through his old works. Brooklyn’s Finest is one of my new old favorites now!

Just peep this video for the stand out track (and now single), The Story of O.J.

TKAY MAIDZA – HIP HOP @ BOSTON CALLING

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TKAY MAIDZA

SAT @ 1:00

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Tkay Maidza’s music is full of energy and good vibes. She’s a singer/rapper hailing from Adelaide, Australia. Her debut album Tkay made Rolling Stone’s list of ’20 Best Pop Albums of 2016′.

She’s been compared to MIA, and Nicki Minaj but she’s all about finding her own lane. She claims she’s Australian in that Aussies are sarcastic and ‘chilled out’. A self proclaimed workaholic, Tkay graduated when she was 16.

Check out her 2013 breakout track Brontosaurus which sounds like a 2013 club banger:

 

Here is her collaboration Carry On ft. Killer Mike:

 

 

COUSIN STIZZ – HIP HOP @ BOSTON CALLING

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COUSIN STIZZ

SAT @ 3:15

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Cousin Stizz is a 25 year old carrying the weight of Boston’s hip hop reputation on his back.

The Dorchester native started rapping years ago with the support of fellow Boston talent Michael Christmas and Tim Larew. After debuting with Suffolk County and some music videos for singles like No Bells, Dirty Bands, and Shoutout the buzz started to grow. The music was already cool – polished beats from the likes of Obeatz and DumDrumz with nonchalant rapping from Stizz but once Drake put up a video with Shoutout in the background buzz grew even faster (video was probably a Vine – RIP).

He followed up with MONDA in 2016 which featured front runner 500 Horses and racked up 1.7M plays on soundcloud. In 2017 Stizz has followed up by going on tour with Kyle and some collaborations like Want Me Bad with Kyle and Headlock with Offset. He’s also been teasing his next project titled One Night Only.

I’m excited to see where this next project will go, where it will take him, and where Boston can end up in the world of hip-hop. Will he stay in Boston and foster the scene? Will he have tons if A-List features? Who know. Catch him on Saturday at Boston Calling.

 

 

[MUSIC][NEW ALBUM][TIMETRAVEL?] T-PAIN & LIL WAYNE – T-WAYNE

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Remember this song? You do. It’s ’08/’09 maybe even 2010 and you’re in highschool or just starting college. This song come on and evvvveryone starts dancing. Even that nerdy indian kid.

I still say ‘Wiscansin’ during inappropriate times in my adult life.

 

Hell you probably even remember this one! You can’t forget ‘This-a-wayyyy! That-a-wayyyy!’

 

Well what if I told you we had a whole album of Wayne + Pain called… T-Wayne? Go ahead. Dance like it’s 2009. You deserve it.

DANNY BROWN – HIP HOP @ BOSTON CALLING

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DANNY BROWN

SAT @ 4:40

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Danny Brown is a self proclaimed homebody. He hails from Detroit and has been rapping from a young age. Known for his unconventional flows, drug use/references and generally comedic demeanor Brown really hit his stride after his album XXX came out in 2011.

Through his music he’s been transparent about his struggles with metal health. In a day and age where the conversation has become more important than ever before it’s essential for celebrities to address these issues – especially in hip-hop. His collaboration with Jonah Hill on the video for Ain’t it Funny off of his 2016 Atrocity Exhibit is really dark but hopefully it opened a lot of eyes.

 

Catch his interview on Hot Ones here (its pretty damn funny):

 

Check out his album Atrocity Exhibit

RUSS – HIP HOP @ BOSTON CALLING

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RUSS

SAT @ 2

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Russ is an interesting guy. He’s been self made the whole way. He loves gin. He needs toothpicks. He recently signed a 50-50 deal AND put out his major label debut album.

Obviously he falls under the hip hop umbrella but what sets him apart is that he raps on his own beats and he mixes everything too – complete vertical integration. He’s been putting out music for 10 years and rapping for 4. At the tender age of 24 that’s not bad at all. His aim is to expose the rap game frauds and to do it while building and maintaining a base of real fans.

You should listen to his latest album There’s Really A Wolf that boasts a generous 20 tracks.

 

[MUSIC][REVIEW] MARTY G RAW -MARTY BALLER

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I found Marty in an odd way; I was on Instagram and Kanye’s latest Yeezy Season had just premiered. Under my ‘suggested’, I found a video of some guy looking goofy as he inched his way closer and closer to Kanye for a photo. It was pretty funny to me so I clicked a couple more links and found myself on his Spotify page while thinking about braids in the hip hop game.

I listened to the project a few times and found myself really liking it. It was a refreshing approach on the hip hop scene that I wasn’t getting with some of the newer artists I had found. As I always do – I started to dig. Couldn’t find too much more than speculation of Marty being Ferg’s brother and that he had been Ferg’s hypeman for some time. He appeared on Ferg’s project ALWAYS STRIVE AND PROSPER with Lil Uzi on this track.

 

On twitter he’s goofy in a fun way as he has Kanye-esque stream of consciousness tweets like this: Screen Shot 2017-03-28 at 6.21.48 PM

Overall seems like he isn’t trying to ride the ASAP wave. Lets get into it.

RIP  – Prod by J Tell

Off the bat Marty has a nice flow. Beat selection is interesting. Vaguely middle eastern vibes and booming drums. Surprised he didn’t open the project with a trap beat since he’s so closely affiliated with the self proclaimed Trap Lord. Track definitely acts as an engaging and curiosity-piquing intro to the project.

Best part – he’s not boasting about fucking bitches or stunting. He’s talking about trying to make it in the game and how his old life is behind him.

Inferno – Prod by Lord Prynce

Spoke too soon on the trap beats but I ain’t mad. That first ‘skrrt’ really resonated with me. It was creepy sounding in a cool way due to the harmonies on it – sad that we didn’t hear more of them. His adlib game is strong; got some auto-tuned crooning in the back, some military stuff, and some good ol ‘skirrrrt’s. He introduces himself as part of the ASAP mob. The flow at some points is vaguely reminiscent of Travis’s flow on coordinate. Low key but I’m still engaged.

Best part – Adlibs. Duh.

Flex – Prod by Loot Franklin

Now this is a song about.. well flexing. Can’t say he didn’t tell us what we were getting into! In terms of style this definitely sounds like some classic ASAP shit. It’s energetic for sure and i think I hear a sample from Nelly in Dilemma going ‘oooh’. he really sounds like ferg on the last verse. If they’re brothers that explains it.

Best part – nice and energetic.

Everywhere We Go – Prod by Don Alfonso

Probably one of my favorites off the tape. The beat is really good, props to don alfonso. Flows are so good and he really shows he’s got bars. The hook is damn catchy too. I love that there isn’t an obscene amount of auto tune on the verses in an age where more projects have it rather than don’t. He really has a unique voice.

NYU – Prod By Staccs

this is my favorite track for sure. He’s just so versatile on the track. Beat selection is smart even though it’s not an especially intricate beat; his vocals just compliment it really well as the track is mostly 808s, drums, bells, and some ambient pads while his voice is higher and more melodic. feelin some bieber vibes here.

I liked the song so much I remixed it! After listening to my version so much this version seems really fast. Give it a listen:

Best part – I don’t know what to say.

Big Timers Feat. Asap Ferg – Prod. By Slade da monsta

Marty and ferg bro out on this track – it sounds like they might’ve had a good time but the track isn’t anything that stands out to me.

Rolly Two – Prod. By Ben Jayne

Not feeling this track either – sounds like a freestyle off the dome and I guess he says ‘I’m just trying to hit a 16 so I can hit the big screen’

Best part – the ‘bye byee!’ ad lib

Bag First – Prod. By Ben Jayne

This one is about the same as the last one but slightly better. It reminds me of a discount version of Shmurda’s Hot N*gga. Lyrically it’s better than Rolly Two but the beat isn’t of the same caliber as the rest of the project.

Ima Dog Feat. Asap Ferg x Migos – Prod. By Lord Prynce

Lighthearted and funny. Ferg’s on the track again with some great lines. We are graced with ATL’s finest, Migos.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall not bad. He made my list of people to watch as I think he could make a good project with his alternative angle and better beat selection. This project came off as a little bit juvenile but hey, it’s his first one! Always a lot more impressive when someone with access to high profile cosigns doesn’t drown their own project/get stuck in the shadow of their features. He’s been teasing some new music for a while and I hope he drops it soon!

6/10