TKAY MAIDZA – HIP HOP @ BOSTON CALLING

TKAY MAIDZA

SAT @ 1:00

Screen Shot 2017-05-23 at 7.55.39 PM

 

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

COUSIN STIZZ

SAT @ 3:15

Screen Shot 2017-05-22 at 7.45.10 AM.png

 

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

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

DANNY BROWN

SAT @ 4:40

Screen Shot 2017-05-17 at 5.18.29 PM.png

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

RUSS

SAT @ 2

Screen Shot 2017-05-14 at 9.54.01 PM.png

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

Marty_Baller_Martygraw-front.jpg

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

[MUSIC] [VIDEO] [NEW] KENDRICK LAMAR – HUMBLE

Oh man oh man, it’s Kendrick season?!?! After dropping The Heart Pt. 4 he drops Humble which we hope is off his next album which we hope is dropping April 7th.

April 7th would be cool because Tupac is also being post-humously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that day.

If you’re sleeping on either track..what are you doing?

Screen Shot 2017-03-30 at 7.11.52 PM.png

[MUSIC] [NEW] FRANK OCEAN – CHANEL

I’m a few days late but Frank’s back at it again. His first solo work since August when he dropped Blonde and Endless, which if you haven’t check out you really should. Those two projects really pushed bounds and cemented Frank as this elusive bard that no one understands on a first listen but everybody loves after a first listen.

To understand the level of uniqueness Frank operates on just look at how he posted his lyrics below. Seriously – who does that?? Frank. Frank does that.

$.jpeg

Here’s the original track which he debuted as part of his new beats1 radio show.

 

CHANCE THE MUTHAFUCKIN RAPPER (and the Grammys)

Props to the homie for having more Grammies than he has sold songs. Very happy to see him win but I have to admit, him winning over Kanye ran a few thoughts through my head…

How did Kanye react to losing Best Rap Album to Chance?

A. He texted/called Chance and left and endearing message
B. He cursed out whoever was with him at the time and claimed to own Chance AND his newly acquired Grammys
C. He gave no fucks and continued to do whatever he was doing
D. He hit the studio to record/produce something to make a cultural impact sometime in the future
E. He made the below face
F. A and D
G. B, E, and D

Screen Shot 2017-02-13 at 5.34.31 PM.png

 

Forreal though. We are now in a world where powers, thrones, and crowns are transitioning gradually. I’d be damned if every minute of it wasn’t exciting to me though.