Rap & Hip-Hop Music Reviews, News & Interviews

Saukrates :: Season One
Frostbyte Media Inc.
Author: Matthew 'Matt G' Gutwillig

"Though he may lack the international recognition of other Canadian emcees such as Drake, K'naan and Kardinal Offishall, Toronto artist Saukrates has proven to be one of the key hip-hop figures in the Great White North. Having been in the music industry for 18 years, Bigg Soxx has collaborated with Drake, Nelly Furtado, Method Man and Redman among others. He was also signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1996 and Def Jam in 2000, though he was dropped from both labels. After almost 13 years since his independent debut studio album "The Underground Tapes," Saukrates has finally come back with the April 2012 release of "Season One." The introspective material of "Season One" is the main reason Bigg Soxx stands out as an emcee and vocalist. "Before We Go" featuring Michelle Nyce contains a nice blend of orchestral and electronic sounds as the Toronto emcee reflects about his rocky relationship with a girl while he vows toward the end to make amends. As well, Saukrates' ability to seamlessly switch from rapping to singing at appropriate times during the tune is interesting. Similarly "Doorite" featuring Nickelus F and k-os is another solid track where the rapper reveals his past struggles where he misbehaved, yet his life experiences have made him more mature in the end. The standout tune on the record is the highly emotive "Sometimes" which contains effective buzzy keys and persistent drum line."

http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2012_05F_saukrates-seasonone.html

"Four years ago when I first met Atherton, I knew less than I would have liked to about him, even though I'm a self-confessed fan of most things Canadian ranging from hockey to hip-hop. To be fair though it seems to be one of my foibles to be a "grass is greener on the other side" kind of guy, as I've long believed that Japanese animation is more intriguing than its American counterpart, and if you gave me a choice between a German beer and one from here there's a good chance I'd take the former first. The older I get the more I recognize this is a fairly common human failing - the desire to seek out that which is different from what we know, what we are, what we're accustomed to in daily life. It's easy to overrate something than what you know as better, just because the sheer difference is itself enjoyable. It's only through experience that you learn to appreciate the subtle differences. There's thousands of hours of anime out there, but some are clearly better to watch than others. There are hundreds of German beers, but some clearly exceed others in the quality of flavor or alcoholic potency when consumed. In that same fashion I've come to appreciate that although Atherton can be defined as "a Canadian rapper," that there's an incredibly deep and wide variation in what a rapper from Canada can be. A first time listener might simply be impressed that dopeness springs forth from his beats and rhymes, but upon deeper inspection and comparing him to his peers, it's clear that he's something special."

http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2012_05_nothreat.html

The Jet Age of Tomorrow :: Voyager :: Odd Future
** RapReviews "Back to the Lab" series **
as reviewed by Steve 'Flash' Juon

"If you're going to journey to a far away destination like 5th Echelon, it probably helps if you have a spaceship that can carry you there. Even if that journey is a metaphorical travel to the inner recesses of your mind, to see what dark and strange thoughts you can find, you still need a way to take that trip. Judging by the music and lyrics of OFWGKTA they probably trip a lot, and The Jet Age of Tomorrow duo of Mart Martians and Hal Williams probably trip more than most. Jet Age is best served by the fact their first official album "Voyager" was released for free in 2010 through their Tumblr page for a variety of reasons. In their typically rude and in your face manner, Golf Wang describes this album as a "fucking album full of off-kilter and unorthodox sounds" and just to make sure they make up for a lack of lyrics on it swear a little more and call it "fucking instrumentals on some space type sci-fi shit." Well how a-fucking-bout that? The description is accurate though. If this was pressed up on a physical CD, record stores would have a hard time figuring out where to shelve it. It's not quite hip-hop, even though there's a hard slapping beat to the opener "Welcome Aboard Voyager." Eventually a flight attendant informs you that you're over 53,688 hours from getting back to Earth. That works out to 2,237 days or over six light years away. "

http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/BTTL_jetage-voyager.html

Kosha Dillz :: The Jet Lag EP :: DJBooth.net
as reviewed by Mike Baber

"For casual hip-hop listeners, the name "Kosha Dillz" is unlikely to ring a bell. The Israeli-American emcee has remained an underground artist since breaking onto the New York freestyle battle scene as a teenager in 1999, and despite performing at South by Southwest in 2011, few outside the community of underground hip-hop fans are familiar with his body of work. Millions of Americans, though, myself being one of them, were unwittingly exposed to his music through the popular "Here We Go" Bud Light commercial, which features a portion of his song "Cellular Phone," after it aired during the 2012 Super Bowl. While the dog in the commercial steals the show, fetching beers for partygoers anytime someone shouts "Here We Go," I was nonetheless impressed that an underground artist was chosen for such a high-profile advertisement. I was even more intrigued after doing some background research and hearing RZA call him "one of the rawest Jewish kids I know" after the two collaborated on the track "Operator," with Kosha spitting alongside the legendary Kool G Rap. With my interest heightened, I dove into his latest release, "The Jet Lag EP," excited to hear what else he had in store. At only six tracks in length, "The Jet Lag EP" doesn't leave any room for filler material from Kosha Dillz. He makes the most out of the short time he has, though, aided by production from Nate G., who samples from the Black Keys, Wavves, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, among others. "

http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2012_05_kd-jetlag-ep.html

Oh No :: Ohnomite :: Brick Records
as reviewed by Steve 'Flash' Juon

"What do you get when you combine Michael Jackson with Rudy Ray Moore? "Ohnomite." I know that doesn't sound right, but you have to consider that there's more than one Michael Jackson, and this one is better known as Oxnard, California's own "Oh No." I suppose whether or not you're hyped about the end result at this point is strictly based on whether you're familiar with the Dolemite legacy of comedy albums and blaxploitation movies. If you're not, let's talk about the guest stars that Oh No roped into this album instead. Roc C and Chino XL both star on "Time." Green Eyed Bandit slash Funklord Erick Sermon drops in on "Runnin' The Show." You can hear Sticky Fingaz on "Whoop Ass," Termanology on "Sound Off," Damani on "Let's Roll," Rapper Big Pooh and Phil Da Agony on "You Don't Know Me" and Phife Dawg on "Dues N Don'ts." Is that not enough for you? Then peep this: MF DOOM is on "3 Dollars." Oh No has long been one of the best rated producers in reviews on this website, so if you even have the least inkling of how funky giving Oh No "unlimited access" to the archives of Rudy Ray Moore would be, I think you realize how enjoyable it would be to let him loop these beats and cherry pick his favorite emcees to flow over them."

http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2012_05_ohnomite.html

Wordburglar :: 3rdburglar :: URBNET Records
as reviewed by Steve 'Flash' Juon

"It's possible that in 2012 being a punchline rapper has become passé, but Wordburglar proves on "So Much Time" that he never got the memo, proudly proclaiming "I rap for people who really love rapping/heard so much crap that they stop and say 'WHAT'S THAT?'" Both things encapsulate Matt Tomer's reaction to him in 2006. In short Tomer appreciated that Word was "lighthearted enough to avoid stagnancy" yet simultaneously disappointed Word felt "being silly [was] an adequate excuse for dropping wack rhymes." Since I own a copy of the album he covered, I feel both statements were accurate, but they also define Wordburglar as he was six years ago. Perhaps Wordburglar has evolved. As it turns out SOME of this criticism of Word is still fair in 2012. There's no question he's still a lighthearted, comical dude who believes in punchlines first in his rhymes. There are times you might even think he's only writing to amuse himself, but that's not necessarily bad. The late Mitch Herberg built his entire shtick around writing down anything he thought of that seemed funny, and as it turned out most of the time when he told other people they found it amusing too. By the "3rd" go around though, Word has delved even deeper into another thing Tomer mentioned that may or may not have been complimentary - nerdy topics."

http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2012_05_word-3rdburglar.html

Zomby :: Dedication :: 4AD
as reviewed by Patrick Taylor

"The line between instrumental hip-hop and other types of electronic music gets hazier every day. Producers like Clams Casino and AarabMuzik make hip-hop beats that draw from ambient and electronic music. On the other end of the spectrum are albums like British electronic producer Zomby's latest, "Dedication." It is classified as dubsteb, but it sounds an awful lot like hip-hop. The album opens up with "Witch Hunt." With its skittering hi-hats and gunshots, it sounds like Southern street rap. "Alothea" has icy synths and the pulsing beat of downtempo dance music, but it has a bounce that you could imagine A$AP Rocky rapping over. "Vortex" has a nice grimey feel, and the gunshots, hi-hats, and snapping snares return in "Things Fall Apart." Even some of the more straightforward electronic songs, like the sinister and stripped down "Riding With Death," throw in what sounds like Lil Wayne saying "Yeah!" Not all of the album could be mistaken for hip-hop. "Natalia's Song," a collaboration with Brazillian producer Reark, has a hiccuping beat, female vocals, and swelllng synths. "Vanquish" is a straight ambient piece; "Lucifer" sounds like 90s rave music; "Black Orchid" is a 90-second keyboard solo punctuated with video game sound effects. "

http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2012_05_zombydedication.html