Another interview for the books! I spoke to NBA photographer Nat Butler while he was in hotel lockdown at the league’s playoff facility. Nat was generous enough to share some beautiful HD images and had so many good stories. It’s not often you get to have an hour long conversation with a guy who went to Shaq’s college graduation, knows Michael Jordan and has been to Lebron’s house. Nat’s been around so long that he shot the first basketball magazine I ever bought.
As per usual, modern funk
authority B. Bravo combines old and new to form a potent dance elixir that
makes involuntary toe-tapping a certainty. The L.A. beat architect appeared on
Salva’s Peacemaker project along with partner Teeko last year and welds the
vocoder like few other boogie cyborgs can.
“Nights (Feel Like Getting
Down)” is a tribute to Billy Ocean’s classic disco floor filler and keeps the
vibe going over thirty years after the original. During my interview with B.
Bravo last year, he co-opted Dam Funk’s mission to uplift people with funk
rather than chase success and this track doesn’t deviate from the game-plan.
Synths, talk-box and drums, B. Bravo keeps it simple because when you’ve got
interplanetary vibes this strong you don’t dare mess with the groove. A free
download to celebrate his upcoming Europe mini-tour, this belongs in your
playlist next to Zapp’s finest.
I wrote about Big L's titanium debut as part of Passionweiss' Hardest Rap Albums Of All Time. You can read the rest here.
“So don’t
step to this ‘cause I got a live crew / You might be kinda big but they make
coffins your size too / I was taught wise / I’m known to extort guys / This
ain’t Cali, it’s Harlem nigga, we do walk-by’s.”
Spite incarnate, Big L’s music was forever shadowed by death. Every other line
was a blast of threats aimed at enemies, doubters, competitors and anyone who
had something to lose. Lamont Coleman was undermining parent’s attempts to
raise well-adjusted children, years before Shady gripped a chainsaw. L
splattered his bars with an encyclopedia of offensive content and spat them
with enough malice to traumatize a Juggalo. Who else would end a song by
shouting out murderers, thieves and people with AIDS?
Coleman’s debut was the only full-length album recorded during his short life
and he named it in direct opposition to television showLifestyles of the Rich
and Famous. As someone who had no time for caviar dreams, Big L was the
quintessential disaffected youth. He was too poor to afford a conscience and
rarely paused between dome cracking bars to reflect on social issues. Cold
angst permeates throughout the record and as a fan of horror films, L relished
playing the villain and shocking the listener. While other emcees claimed the
means justified the ends, Lamont laughed off constraint and poisoned eardrums
with comparisons to the devil.
The power of Lifestylez doesn’t just lie in dark imagery though. Big L was a
paradigm of technical ability with internal rhyme schemes and caustic wit. “I
got styles you can’t copy bitch, it’s the triple six, In the mix, straight from
H-E-double-hockey sticks.” Coleman’s lyrical bloodbath was also backed by
D.I.T.C’s production and the album knocks front to back. Unfortunately,
Columbia couldn’t predict suburbanites enjoying jokes about killing nuns and
found Illmatic’s conscious spin on street-life was easier to market. Big L was
dropped a year later and gunned down before he could record a proper follow-up
making this project a haunting reminder of the realities of Harlem in 1995.
In 2011, Yelawolf was on a victory run. The half-Cherokee rapper born Michael Wayne Atha had escaped a dangerous career in deep-sea fishing, weeks of homelessness and being dropped from Columbia by Rick Rubin to prove he was rap’s next big star. Atha had raw talent and could rhyme over any style of music, even embracing his country roots without coming across as yet another novelty act. Trunk Muzik released the year prior had amassed a huge online following and Eminem quickly signed Yelawolf as one of the first acts on the newly revived Shady Records. Spirits were understandably high when he told XXL in an interviewthat year: “I can tell you that when you’re willing to give your life up to see a dream through, the reward is great. And now that I’ve become an apprentice to one of the greatest artists in the world, my potential reaches beyond anything I ever imagined.”
Unfortunately his debut album Radioactive never delivered on his potential. Atha sounded misplaced on several tracks containing uncomfortable collaborations, uninspired beats and forced crossover attempts, later admitting he had given up creative control to his formerly trusted production company. In 2012 he suffered a ruptured spleen during a performance in Wisconsin and was placed in the Intensive Care Unit, an accident that he credits for putting his life under renewed focus. Determined to put out a project that his fans deserved, Yelawolf released the Trunk Muzik Returns mixtape last year. He spent the latter half of 2013 recording his second LP in a secluded Nashville studio with only a few close collaborators. During our interview we talked about the recording process this time around, convincing Big Boi to let him rap, working with Eminem and which “Box Chevy” chapter is his favourite. Recharged and shaking off the ghost of Radioactive, Yelawolf is convinced sophomore album Love Story will continue his return to form. I for one believe him.
In 1996, G-Funk was still the soundtrack to bouncing cars, block parties and Malt Liquor bottles. DJ Quik dropped the classic Safe + Sound the year prior and 2pac was yet to introduce rap music to suburbia with “California Love.” Oakland’s Moe-Man took influences from G-Funk as well as the Bay Area’s Mobb Music on Straight Real, which he released independently the same year. Sadly, the project went unheard in the mainstream despite its quality. Considered an underrated Bay Area gem and a rare find even in the golden age of music piracy with copies selling on Ebay for $800.00, Straight Real deserves to find its way to your stereo.
Producer K.T. The Orchestrata laced the album with bass heavy beats and fly synth jams. Moe-Man shouts him out various times on record and claims they’re brothers. Whether he means brother in blood or soul isn’t clear, but K.T’s relationship with the funk is evident as soon as you hit play. The keys on “Don’t Take The Streets Lightly” are slicker than Eazy-E’s Jheri curl and the instrumental for “Is It Like That?” sounds good no matter who’s rapping on it. Samples from The Isley Brothers, Afrika Bambaataa and Too $hort prove K.T has excellent taste and the album is populated with classic R&B to add further flava. He raps on the album as part of the Kapitol Click alongside Big Daddy-O and Shoddy Shod, but K.T’s best work is as the groove constructor behind the boards.
Moe, not to be confused with Houston’s Big Moe, rhymes quickly and confidently. He can’t be faded, talks shit and lays game down like Nino Brown. His style and delivery is a paradigm of West Coast rap in the 90s. Moe sticks to classic rap tropes for the majority of the album and it sounds great. His wordplay is simple and lacks the charisma N.W.A packed during the same era, but it works. Moe-Man speaks on the struggles of poverty on “Young Bro,” while his producer switches style to something more akin to a Native Tongues record. Only during “40 Oz. Kid” does he sound completely out of place, attempting to emulate Slick Rick’s smooth paced delivery without the necessary creative wordplay.
Where are K.T The Orchestrata and Moe-Man now? If Google’s crack surveillance team only has four relevant links about your output, you’ve either stopped making music or avoided the internet. In the age where even struggle rappers and local stars have some mention online, it seems sadly inconceivable that either has established prolific careers. K.T’s vanished despite his tunes having more bounce than a fatty on an inflatable castle. Whilst Moe-Man has supposedly performed in Vegas under the name Moetrouble and this YouTube account which sporadically posts videos just might be him. Maybe our Bay Area readers/local rap detectives can help uncover the mystery? Any information will be rewarded with one low quality pirated copy of Straight Real, a picture of E-40 holding his glasses between his thumb and forefinger and a Walkman with foam headphones.
Originally published at Passionweiss Young Scooter’s struggle bars ensure the “Drugs” [Remix] won’t be
making an appearance on anyone’s song of the year list, but only the heartless
won’t appreciate Rich Homie Quan’s sincere croons dedicated to brain altering
chemicals. Originally written off as a Future clone, the 24 year old has
croaked himself a different lane and a few undeniable hits along the way. It’s
not entirely fair to write off Scooter’s mumble mouthed rhymes as they’re
entertaining enough, but it’s his perpetually affluent hook man who owns the
track.
Kevin Gates comes along in the last minute with a tacked on guest
verse and though his feature could have been better used elsewhere, complaining
about a free verse by one of the best is punishable with ten Lil Twist bars.
The sensitive thug takes a damaged view on substances and exposes detail about
friends who’ve changed, the impact of bad drugs and his daughter learning to
walk while he was incarcerated. Quan and Gates also appear on remix of “Two Rounds” by Houston MC Propain. The original debuted on the latter rapper’s very solid albeit uncreatively named Ridin’ Slab mixtape from last year. This is another jam boosted yet again by the Rich Homie’s melancholic vocals and intricate couplets from Gates, who at this stage I must refrain from writing further praise about lest I enter full Stan mode. Sex raps for radio are typically a PG borefest, but the song is anchored by witty reference to the classic “O-o-h Child” (Things Are Gunna Get Easier) by The Five Stairsteps. Listen below and give thanks to the luxurious Homie.
