Tag: Hip Hop

Categories
Classics Music Writing

DivineRule – (CLUE) WHO KILLED 2PAC and BIGGIE SMALLS?

You have the most to lose when you are ahead of the game.  The higher you are in this world the more people want to hate, the haters are always out for blood. Believe me I know this, I have always been a go getter, a really hard worker, I don’t believe in failure and if you tell me I can’t do something I work even harder because boy to I love to prove people wrong and I usually do.  People don’t like confidence because the majority of this world doesn’t have it, so much insecurities in this world, people could actually learn a thing or two from the confident few but they would rather hate, sad but true.  I think it’s just easier for people to focus on the negative, I wish I understood why, I can sometimes rationalize it in my head but I just don’t live in that type of head space.  I know what it’s like to feel like there is just this dark cloud hovering over your head at all times but that’s no way to live, it’s a shit way to live people.

I think the lives of Tupac and Biggie tell a true story of what happens when people live in a hateful head space, when jealousy and rage take over and you can’t appreciate someone else’s hustle.  To much competition since the beginning of time, how do we get rid of that, we probably never will but for a few of us and hopefully more and more as time goes on the word competition can leave our vocabulary. Who knows, all I know is I don’t focus on what everyone else is doing, I focus on my grind and what I need to do to keep pushing forward and eliminate haters, your haters are actually your biggest fans so learn to love them hard working badasses of the world, learn to love em’!

Thanks DivineRule for this jam and a reminder not to be afraid of the hustle, but watch your back if you got somethin’ special!

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/316488085″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Categories
Music Writing

Darci – Arts and Crafts

You ain’t seen nothin’.”

We all have a guard up when we are unsure of what it is we really want.  Sometimes this comes off the wrong way, I think we all care and want something substantial whether we want to admit it or not, you just have to find your “ride or die”, that one person that gets you.

This track definitely sets the mood for the rest of the weekend to come.  You want to play it cool like you don’t care, you gotta have that swag so she/he thinks you don’t care, but then you glance back real quick to show them there might be something.  Maybe this will be a weekend that comes and goes and you forget everything that happened, maybe it’s one that lasts in your mind and the people you meet last as well.  You just never know but that is the feeling I get from this track.  It’s got that hip-hop beat that makes you want to dance ever so slowly that every curve on your body has it’s own vibration.

The weekend is upon us like weekdays don’t even exist anymore, fuck yes!

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/312354881″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Categories
Music

TOKiMONSTA ft. Arama – Drive

A new set of wings I’m trying on

LA-based producer TOKiMONSTA keeps it light and energetic with this track, “Drive”. Her dynamic piano synths at the beginning set a hoppy vibe for the remainder of the song. It’s catchy, with its harmonies set forth by Arama, set amongst the hip-hop elements. I feel like my insides are trying desperately to active my physical being. Isn’t it crazy that through our ears, these sound bytes are traveling deep down to our soul? Yes, we hear the sounds; we can choose to listen only at that level of conscientiousness- a passive state of hearing. Or we can let the music penetrate us; to affect our moods, to let our minds hear what the sounds have to offer.

Let this song in. It doesn’t have any deep meanings, per se, but you can at least let it add rhythm to your life- to tap your toes along to.

Enjoy the hand claps, shallow percussion, sweet twinkles, and snappy rhythm! And be sure to check out TOKiMONSTA’s latest album, out back in September called “Desiderium”.

TOKiMONSTA ft. Arama – Drive

Categories
Music

Adam Tensta – My Cool (Al Azif Remix ft. Dr. Alban)

Due to some administrative confusion, my earlier post on Autograf’s “Gust of Wind” remix has been taken down…as the track was written up already yesterday! Ah, the pitfalls of an international remote team sharing a Dropbox account.

So in the interest of keeping all you EMPTers satiated with Sunday summer jams, I offer you this rare example of good dance rap. It’s very Euro, and I never heard a peep out of any of the artists after I initially discovered the track a few years back. But fuck if it isn’t the perfect soundtrack to a sunny day. I’m a major sucker for elated reggae vocals and happy-hardcore synth lines, and this little number has both in excess.

Regular readers know that I’m all about the summer jams, and I advise you to be on the lookout this week for my entry into EMPT’s nascent playlist series, “Les Auteurs.” It will be beachy.

Adam Tensta – My Cool (Al Azif Remix ft. Dr. Alban)

 

Categories
Music

Cookin Soul x Trademark Skydiver x Young Roddy x Curren$y – Jet Life to the Next Life

Trademark_Da_Skydiver_Young_Roddy_Curreny_Jet-front-large

Unattributed quotes to live by:

Turn on, Tune In, Drop Out.

Keep It 100.

Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously.

Pedal To The Metal.

I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.

Stay Fly.

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.

Just Do It.

Maybe this world is another planet’s hell.

Cookin Soul x Trademark Skydiver x Young Roddy x Curren$y – Jet Life to the Next Life

Categories
Music

Paperboys – Boatdrinks

Paperboys

Øyvind “Vinni” Sauvik and Ole Aleksander “Pope Dawg” Halstensgård.

I am in absolute awe of the awesomeness of these names. The two Norwegian MCs are Paperboy, a hip-hop group with little to no internet presence, but more than enough lyrical prescience.

Two standout stanzas:

1. “Koolaid and cannabis I’m sick of these scavengers
i’m like a anarchist standing in panic demanding damages
they only flash cameras at muthafucking amatures
wanna trade a good review for some bandages?”

2. “Yo, whatever turn of events
it’s only paper that’s concerning ma gets
this tournaments leaving permanent dents
I’ve got a burning of earning cents and I’m bent
only human, thinking bourbon or rent? hmmm..”

l’m not a big “conscious” rap guy, though Kendrick has definitely moved the needle for me. And you know those Norwegians, always conscious. But I dig Paperboys, and I respect them for continuing to utilize grassroots efforts to push out music in a tough commercial environment.

Enjoy the track, and give Vinni and Pope Dawg some love next time you’re in Norway.

Paperboys – Boatdrinks

Categories
Music

Rihanna – Cake (Sweater Beats Bootleg)

timthumb

Rihanna instantly makes me feel sexy. Her music is gritty and dirty and sexy and generally just makes one giddy.

This is a dark and hypnotic mix from Sweater Beats, who has taken his signature trap sound and made this song even dirtier. A song which sounds like something you are going to hear in the back room of a dodgy club where you could get drunk of the sweat of the beautiful people grazing against you. The producer from Brooklyn, on the HW&W label, delivers on his promise to “make your booty bounce”. Although, it looks like he has not released his full first album yet, you can bet that this young producer is creating more tunes to listen to in the dark back room of your choosing.

Rihanna – Cake (Sweater Beats Bootleg)

Categories
Music

EMPT Classic: Large Professor – I JusWannaChill

There was a time when the music in Entourage and How To Make it In America was so closely in sync with EMPT that I use to joke to my friends that someone who picked the music must have been checking out the Space Age. A few years later in a Wired interview with Scott Vener, the guy responsible for selecting music, it turns out that was actually the case –

How to Make Sure No One Else Finds It: Don’t Reveal Those Blogs to Prying Journalists

“I use Et Musique Pour Tous. Rollo & Grady. Stereogum.”

Check out the whole interview here.

One of the songs this happened with was Large Professors I JusWannaChill, I remember posting that and then two weeks later hearing it on How To Make It In America and looking at my friends like what is going on!

Anyways, this is a classic hip hop track that represents exactly how I feel right now. I recently met a very spiritual person who told me that I needed to rediscover the chilled out and relaxed part of me that’s been suppressed by a lack of love expression and acceptance in my life. The problem is that in order to find your zone you have to clean out the trash and get rid of the very things that cause the friction. You simply can’t move into the future while dealing with the past. You have to get past it and the people who are close to you have to as well. You just gotta approach it with love, let things happen and keep it moving.

That’s not always an easy process but if you’re dedicated to flying high that’s exactly what you have to do. I’ve been dealing with some love challenges recently and there things that are making me act out of character. I don’t mind because I find myself growing in the process, learning more about trust and believing in people. There’s always something positive to gain from every situation and when you know that you know that no matter what happens you’re going to be ok. To anyone trying to test what I love, you’re officially fighting yourself cause…

I don’t wanna ill, I just wanna chill and keep my hands around a hundred dollar bill.”

Re-enjoy.

Original post February 25th, 2010

______

Back In The Day New York City 1996:

I was 12 years old when I heard this song and it’s been my mantra ever since.

I don’t wanna ill, I just wanna chill and keep my hands around a hundred dollar bill.”

Some people would disagree but I think a persons mood is a decision you make based on your perspective. Thoughts are things and we manifest our own reality so if you focus on something negative don’t be surprised if that negativity comes into fruition. For example, you can choose to be mad at someone and have a crappy day by focusing what pissed you off or you can focus on how to make the situation better. Of course, its easier said then done but it really is an option that most simply ignore.

But nevertheless, in 3-D’s Large Profess
With what I would call a bullshit-proof vest”

I get so confused when someone acts hostile because in the grand scheme of things it just doesn’t matter. I think this applies to love, business and everything in life. So the next time someone brings some negative energy your way tell them to hold on a minute, go to iTunes and put this records on. Enjoy.

Shit, I’m wit cha, I ain’t mad at cha
Got nuttin but love for ya, do your thing…” – 2 Pac

Large Professor –  I juswannachill

Categories
Music

EMPT Presents Indaba Music Weekly: Dirare – Anything

Dirare-border

If there’s one thing about hip-hop, and really modern music in general, it’s that there’s a paradigm shift every few years. In fact, the cycle gets continually shorter with each large scale release. In recent years, the sound has been getting darker. Whether it’s the lo-fi, violent approach of Odd Future; the sophisticated word-smithery of Kendrick Lamar; or the dreamy, drugged out gangsterism of Juicy J; the constants are new textures and hard hitting beats.

Enter British upstart Dirare. There’s scant information about the producer/singer-songwriter from West London, but what’s apparent is the quality and concept of his music. “Anything” is anything but your run-of-the-mill hip-hop beat. Wrapping unexpected samples around the hip-hop standard 808s, Dirare creates something wholly current. Everything, from the chopped samples to the catchy, pitched-up vocal hook, will have you wanting to listen to the track on repeat.

Dirare – Anything

Check out Dirare on Indaba and Soundcloud.

Categories
Music

EMPT Presents: Indaba Music Weekly – AmYx “Sexy Time!”

avatars-000032568602-g9k45g-t500x500

It’s not everyday you come across a track that’s so vibrant, so full of the kind of originality that only comes from mature audio theft, that you can’t help but be taken aback. Listening to AmYx’s whimsically titled “Sexy Time!” is an aural trip. With the emergence of trap, there’s been an obvious injection of hip-hop into dance tracks, and generally they follow the tried and true, Baauer tested tradition of repackaged Lex Luger (dare I say, Lil’ John) beats. AmYx injects hip-hop into his track, but that’s where the comparison with trap music begins and ends. “Sexy Time!” is an ever evolving, expertly crafted piece with shuffled future-garage drums, flipped samples, and understated synths.

Sexy Time!

Check out AmYx’s other work on his Soundcloud page.