I've been doing my bi-annual thread recap lately, picked up some great stuff. Phonte and Murs really stand out. Great albums from both that'll be in the rotation for a while. Also enjoying Rapsody. Thanks to whoever posted those originally.
Not overly keen on the new Prhyme so far but will give it a bit more time. Any know what Pharoahe Monch is up to these days? Doesn't seem to be any word of an album in the works but would love some new material from him.
Danny Brown's Twitch channel.
Danny Brown's a huge underground rap artist for those who don't know him.
Especially in the US.
He's started streaming recently, and it's good shit.
He's currently playing through Persona 5 which alone is worth the time, because the game is awesome, and Danny is a funny fuck.
But... He streamed an entire uncleared selection of tracks that could only be heard on the stream. Basically dropping a free, official, live mixtape/album.
That's pretty new. Basically using Twitch for what was it's original purpose as a video based MySpace rehash (justin.tv - some of the fightman massive will remember it well).
There are far worse rappers out there, and he used his platform (he had a load of middle class American fans, as you can imagine) to surface some real underground talent, if only in cameos.
"I didn't get it. BUUUUUUUUUUUT, you fucking do your thing." - Roujin Ninty Code: SW-7904-0771-0996
I really like that Mona Lisa track with Kendrick that's on there, heard it on the radio last night, not available on YouTube yet so can't link. It's not a lyrical tour de force and its neither wayne or kendrick at their best, but I am a sucker for a good concept track and also storytime songs.
"Let me tell you, when yung Rouj had his Senna and Mansell Scalextric, Frank was the goddamn Professor X of F1."
Just watched the Black Thought Freestyles on Flex video again, which would probably make the top half of a 'best things ever' list. For anyone who missed it:
Looking at their wiki page - I've got nine Roots albums (missing their first and their most recent. So I think that easily places them top on a list of purchased albums for hip hop artists. Might queue them up for next week. Apparently they've been busy.
This one's a bit different, hadn't heard of it until a colleague recommended it:
Room 25 by Noname. She's got a sort of spoken word style that manages to fit the beats perfectly. I'm only halfway through atm but it's definitely worth a go. Probably one for a full-attention listen though.
I've never gotten into The Roots. I bought Illadelph Half-life back in the day and didn't like it so never bothered listening to anything else. What's a good starting point?
Game Theory
The Tipping Point
Undun
Things fall apart.
Phrenology
There's a bunch of stuff on other albums and soundtracks that's great too, but the top 2 are super rootsy, and super solid. Game theory is longish and expansive. Tipping point is a great little 10 tracker.
Undun is low key fav of mine, but is a concept thing.