Spank Pops isn’t a new jack on the scene, but is really hitting his stride as an MC. In support of his newly released Beautiful Noise EP he presents “Make It” an instant head-nodder with sharp cinematography to match. Read the rest of this entry »

Never in my most intoxicated imagination would I have imagined that Dame Dash and The Black Keys would link up to do a project. The way Dame tells the story it makes sense though and it’s actually pretty ingenious. The Black Keys music really is that addictive and Read the rest of this entry »

“Off The Pacific” finds Frisco and Oakland shining together with the always fresh Casual trading verses with unappreciated SF vet San Quinn. The pairing makes sense, with each artist offering up different lyrical stylings but weaving through the kicks and snares with the same smooth criminal approach. Off producer TD Camp’s Face To Face compilation Read the rest of this entry »

Gottdamn this song is hard. Whether it’s a late pass or second listen, “Rare Form” is too dope be lost in the shuffle. Locksmith is talking that shit,and flexes the skill to back it up. Sure there is a line or two for shock value (Kanye!), but amidst the slaying he’s actually spitting with substance. Be on the look out for his debut Frank The Rabbit (huh!?).

Hip-Hop in its rarest form applies double for today. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t find good Indie Rock music, I need to be led to it. Read the rest of this entry »

KRS might scold me for my choice of words, but I really do love everything Brazilian. I spent four days in Sao Paulo and it changed me forever. Admittedly, I’m more on a first date status Read the rest of this entry »

You probably hadn’t heard of Finale prior to his A Pipe Dream And A Promise release. He didn’t have the blog buzz, he wasn’t throwing out music for free as fast as he could record it, and he wasn’t forcing himself onto the masses in an effort to win folks over with everything but music. Instead, he has utilizing the the Bob Wylie approach; taking it one step at a time ensuring that each move is correct and not premature. It’s a method the Detroit native has used throughout his career, which as he describes in this interview is one unique to the rest of his peers in Rap.

Finale’s patience and self-discipline laid the foundation for his debut, the bluntly titled A Pipe Dream And A Promise. Recorded over a 5 year period the album plays out like a meticulously crafted collage. Boasting a dream team of producers from Nottz, Dilla, Flying Lotus, Black Milk, Oddisee and others there is surprisingly high level of cohesion that carries throughout, which is a direct reflection of Finale’s vision. The same precision carries into his lyrics, with each word in each bar playing a specific position and covering a wide range of topics rooted in reality. All the elements of a great album are in place, and it’s just a matter of time before listeners catch on. If it happened over night it wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be Finale.

TSS: I gotta kick it off with the most basic question; what originally sparked your interest in Hip-Hop?

Finale: I used to write a lot. All the way through High School I was always writing, but not even rap lyrics. But uh, after I graduated High School I went to Morehouse. When I was out there I linked up with a crew called who now goes by Shaman Works. I don’t really do the whole crew thing, but that’s my family. They showed me the ropes and taught me how to write bars and structure songs. That’s when I fell in love with rhyming and that’s when I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I remember someone gave me a tape of OC’s Jewelz and I just listened to that non stop for like two semesters straight. That album really made me want to write. Read the rest of this entry »

This one caught me by surprise.

Stresmatic, the dude from The Federation who threatened to put a hole in your head the size of a Susan B. Anthony, is rapping over a strumming guitar about having a fridge full of Mad Dog 20/20 Read the rest of this entry »

It baffles how abused and misused the word mixtape is. If you aren’t actually mixing songs, meaning using another song that you have slowed, sped up or scratched in, get a new fucking name like Skilless CD-R.

That’s all null and void because for this one, we have two Bay Area Kings. Mista B and B Cause, both members of 4 One Funk (the illest DJ crew in the world that isn’t Skratch Piklz or Space Travelers), who brought real talent and deep crates to Technics plates. Named after E-40′s introductory slaying on The Hall Of Game, Record Haterz is a strictly vinyl 33 track Read the rest of this entry »

Props if you know him from Emanon, and if it wasn’t until Below The Heavens with Blu that convinced you of Exile’s musical genius, welcome. Since the early 90′s the Los Angeles-bred and buttered producer has been steadily building a resume of work few can rival. From underground 12-inches to commercial gems (think: Mobb Deep’s “Pearly Gates”), he covers all ground with a sound identifiably his. Not to be outdone by his works with other artists, Exile has two solo albums of his own: Dirty Science and his latest conceptual masterpiece, Radio. Sampled purely from the radio (yes, you read that correctly), the aptly titled album is his first purely instrumental endeavor and without the use of vocalists.

Yet, Exile is able to say more than most rappers choose to. He is a true master of the MPC, with turntable skills to match. An innovator. A visionary. Smart. Humble. Funny and for real with it.

If my words sound bold, check the facts, and without further adieu…

TSS: What was the first instrument you got your hands on?

Exile: The first instrument was an accordion. I was living in my Grandfather’s garage and he would give me accordion lessons. It didn’t really stick though.

TSS: Have you applied some of those lessons to your music later in life?

Exile: Yeah, definitely. That was my first time really learning keys, and I still play keys today.

TSS: What about in terms of beat machines?

Exile: It was actually tape loops first. I had one turntable and two tape decks and I would loop em up. I think it was the “Genius Of Love” sample (Hums beat). Rewind it and then leave a silent part. I’d do that for like three minutes, so I’d have a tape of that playing over and over with silent parts that I had to fill in. I’d play that and then fill in the gaps. So I could take a full loop, put it into the other cassette deck and play that. Then I would record on the other one and put stuff on top of it. I pretty much had infinite tracks.

TSS: Damn. How long were you doing that?

Exile: I did that for a couple of years and then eventually I got a push button sampler and a 4-track. That was when I first started putting out music. Making tapes and I even pressed it up on vinyl like that. Then I moved to the Roland MS1 and then eventually the MPC.

TSS: How are old were you when you were looping the tapes?

Exile: Eighth grade, but I actually started scratching on one turntable in sixth grade. I had one one of those home stereo component systems with the tape deck, radio and turntable up top. What I’d do was press the tape button down while hitting the phono button so it’d act like a transformer button. I used to scratch Star Wars records and stuff like that.

TSS: Since you were creating and cutting up sounds so young, when did the idea of being producer really resonate?

Exile: I always wanted to be a Hip-Hop producer and DJ. Ever since Junior High I knew. I used to fantasize, like when I was getting ready to scratch, I used to fantasize that I was at a KRS-One concert and Kenny Parker was sick or something and KRS would call out, “Can anybody DJ!?!” And then I would start scratching like I was on stage with KRS-One. I don’t know if that has to do with anything, but I thought I would let you know that (Laughs).

TSS: So it’s always been in the plans?

Exile: Yeah, I mean I know this sounds strange, but I used to think like if I had to make a record with just noises from my mouth, like a record label said that’s what you have to do, then I would do it. Again, I don’t know what that means (Laughs). I guess it just shows how much I really wanted to do it that I would just fantasize on some weird shit like that.

TSS: Was there a turning point in terms of your sound and productions? I ask thinking about the earlier mellow Emanon stuff to the “Algae” joint and the more upbeat or electric stuff. Read the rest of this entry »

Just as Shan stated, I love to hear the stories again and again. It wasn’t my childhood, but what Diamond lays out in his new video “Bad/Good” is the foundation of this music and culture. And if someone is going to dictate that history to me, I want it to be a fully decorated tried and tested OG of the game. Read the rest of this entry »

Pic Property of Rap-Up

More than anything else on Christmas Eve, I wanted to walk out of the home of the Golden State Warriors able to affirm everything Wayne has boasted from being the best rapper alive to the embodiment of music itself. I’ve seen Jay-Z in his prime, Big Daddy Kane years past his but still raw as ever, and James Taylor rock an arena with a guitar and microphone. I know what great is. Don’t get me wrong, Weezy did his thing but as a whole the show failed from trying to do too much. With such a broad audience it would be hard to please everyone, but put it this way the Bald Bull looking motherfucker in front of me was up and buck through “The Block Is Hot” but in the heat of all the teenage screams he was fast alseep. True story. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t expect the rest of the Rap world to hold E-40 in the same regard as I do. It’s a case I’ve taken to trial for years, with similar results each time; motherfuckers ain’t trying to hear it. People are comfortable handing him the crown of the Bay, but it ends there. It’s not a situation of props or respect, that’s already been paid. But for whatever reason, 40 is never credited as a great MC; one of the best to ever never do it. One of the best still doing it years after surpassing fellow legends who started the race at the same time and are now watching from the sidelines.

Maybe he needs a Primo track for folks to really look at him as a “real” MC. Maybe it’s a song with Jay to be considered a legitimate contender for lyrical heavy weight. Maybe it’s record sales, or a number one single. At the rate things are going now maybe it’s a blog or a YouTube channel. I don’t know what it will take, but I know what it hasn’t been. Read the rest of this entry »

I get it.

I’m not mad at it. But damn, Read the rest of this entry »

In celebration of VH1′s Hip-Hop Honors show , The Crew is taking a look at a few of the honorees & their impact on Hip-Hop culture. This entry, Oakland’s own Too Short.

“I sold tapes everyday, me and Freddy B/ Been famous since 1983/ Give me $10 and you’ll straight get blessed/ A rap all about you, called the ‘Special Request.’”

Take a second to really think about that line: In 1983 Too Short was selling his own tapes out of the trunk of his car, and for $10 he would record a song about you. In 1983 Short’s debut Don’t Stop Rappin’ — a prophesied title released on the independently operated 75 Girls label (in my opinion, one of the greatest label names in the history of rap.) And in 1983 Run DMC also debuted with “It’s Like That,” two years before “La-Di-Da-Di” and four years before Eazy let the world know about the “Boyz-N-The-Hood.”

“You can’t do it like this homie, so just pass it/ And stop kissing them white folks asses.”

A man about his money, Short embodied the entrepreneurial MC from the start. He was a hustler with a knack for Read the rest of this entry »